Mystical Awakening: Starting by Controlling the Person-Hiding Ghost

This time, Jiang Li jerked his head up. A deathly pale ear was attached to him as he whispered hoarsely:

"Get lost."

As the words fell, it was as though a ghost were whispering in his ear, carrying an eerie supernatural force.

The Ghost Crow immediately stopped grinning and stiffly moved aside.

Jiang Li reached it and sent it flying with a kick, then resumed his pursuit of the Ghost Crow carrying the hanging corpse.

But after all that back-and-forth,

it seemed a little too late to catch up. The Ghost Crow had almost reached the cave entrance with the hanging corpse and was about to escape.

Once it escaped with the hanging corpse, finding it again would be as hard as climbing to the heavens. Besides, the Ghost Crow carrying the corpse might grow even stronger.

He absolutely could not let the thing escape him.

Seeing that he had no hope of catching up, Jiang Li stopped. His gaze turned colder and colder as he watched the Ghost Crow.

The Ghost Crow's screech can dispel a Ghost Domain on its own, or cause a small-scale reset.

If I use the two Ghost Crows I have now to screech again and make all four resonate, maybe I can trigger a large-scale reset and turn back time.

It's worth a try. I can't let this thing escape now.

The bird's beak on the mask opened, and another pitch-black Ghost Crow flew out and perched on Jiang Li's shoulder. Together with the first Ghost Crow, it raised its head and opened its beak to screech.

Since the Ghost Domain had already dispersed, the darkness that had filled the cave entrance was now completely gone.

Faint sunlight reached in from outside, falling below the entrance and casting indistinct patches of light and shadow.

The Ghost Crow was barely a few meters from the entrance.

But just before Jiang Li's Ghost Crows screeched, darkness once again swallowed the sunlight at the entrance, sealing everything inside.

The sound of a body being dragged rang out again, accompanied by a thick stench of decay.

The Corpse-Dragging Ghost had recovered from the earlier overlapping screeches and returned to the vicinity, dragging a corpse along with its Ghost Domain.

But this time, the darkness was nowhere near as thick as before, and its overall supernatural strength had diminished greatly.

Simply wearing the Ghost Crow Mask was enough to see through the darkness of the Ghost Domain.

Jiang Li narrowed his eyes slightly. He noticed that the Corpse-Dragging Ghost now had only one corpse behind it, and the oppression and despair brought by the ghost centipede were completely gone.

But before he left, he had left at least two or three ghost corpses at the scene, so it should not have been left without corpses to drag.

The current situation was much like when his group had first entered the cave. Back then, the Corpse-Dragging Ghost should also have been able to drag only one corpse at a time.

When it had followed He Tianxiong, it had been dragging Master Huijue's body.

Only after it seized the hanging corpse had everything changed.

It seemed that the hanging corpse originally lodged in the cave was the key to its corpse-dragging ability.

Although the hanging corpse apparently could not move on its own and had no supernatural abilities of its own,

without it as a foundation, the Corpse-Dragging Ghost could no longer drag an unlimited number of corpses and increase its horror level at will.

No wonder the Ghost Post Office had sent messengers to deliver a letter to the hanging corpse.

If the hanging corpse were not allowed out of that narrow rock crevice, the Corpse-Dragging Ghost would remain incomplete.

At the same time, driven by its instinct to complete itself with the hanging corpse, the Corpse-Dragging Ghost would never leave this cavern and would wander inside forever.

The Corpse-Dragging Ghost did not pause for a moment after appearing. Dragging the corpse in its hand, it strode toward the Ghost Crow with heavy footsteps.

Even though it had lost most of its previous ghosts, its own supernatural strength was still considerable.

The Ghost Crow instinctively pulled the hanging corpse back a step, then opened its beak to screech.

Seeing this, Jiang Li gave a cold laugh and waved his hand, recalling the two Ghost Crows on his shoulders.

"Trying to reset again? I won't allow it."

The round shadow had long since reached the Ghost Crow's back. It seized the hanging corpse and pulled it toward Jiang Li.

Seemingly convinced that it stood no chance of winning, the Ghost Crow put up only a token struggle before turning and walking into the darkness on the other side.

It seemed to be going to meet up with the other Ghost Crow that had yet to be recovered, so it could look for another chance to escape.

But it had not gone far when a peachwood sword, with only half its length remaining, suddenly stabbed out from ahead and pierced its abdomen.

"Damned fiend! How dare you disguise yourself as a human and harm people everywhere! This poor Daoist will carry out heaven's justice right now!"

With that furious shout came a resounding slap across the Ghost Crow's face, nearly scattering its head on the spot.

A peachwood sword indeed could not inflict any substantial damage on a ghost, but a slap from a female ghost's hand was different.

Jiang Li glanced behind him, then put the hanging corpse he had obtained into the wooden box.

This time, however, he took a precaution. Instead of putting the hanging corpse into the hole in the wooden box's wall, he placed it in a corner of the basement.

Paired with the Corpse-Dragging Ghost, this thing made for an extremely terrifying combination, and it was somewhat more controllable than a ghost like the Hunger Ghost. Keeping it was definitely a good choice.

He would recover the last Ghost Crow first, then focus on dealing with the Corpse-Dragging Ghost, whose horror level had been greatly reduced.

With that thought, Jiang Li used the Person-Hiding Ghost's supernatural power to conceal his presence right in front of the Corpse-Dragging Ghost, then came to Daoist Priest Simu's side.

"The ghost is ahead. Go back."

Without stopping, Jiang Li reached down, grabbed the Ghost Crow on the ground, and picked it up.

After the Ghost Crow's scattered form was caught in his hand, it quickly reverted to the appearance of a crow and a ghost from the cave.

Jiang Li threw the ghost into the wooden box and swallowed the Ghost Crow in one gulp, successfully recovering it.

But what followed was an even stronger sense of the ghosts stirring restlessly.

The strange sensations in his body were growing more obvious. It seemed this was not the time to continue controlling the final Ghost Crow; at the very least, he needed to balance the supernatural forces in his body first.

Jiang Li held his head with one hand, forcibly suppressing the tearing pain in his mind, and asked Daoist Priest Simu in a low voice:

"There's another ghost in the cave disguised as me. Have you seen it?"

"Yes, but the beauty in the qipao from our group was chasing it, so I didn't pay it much attention."

Daoist Priest Simu replied, "Though you're wearing a strange mask, you must be young friend Jiang Li. You saved my life, and words cannot express my gratitude. If you want to capture that ghost, I'll do everything I can to help."

Jiang Li glanced at his strange, slender left hand, then replied:

"I didn't save your life for a reward. It was something I did in passing, so you don't need to dwell on it. Besides, I don't need your help. Just keep yourself and that gatekeeper alive."

Daoist Priest Simu fell silent at that. After quite a while, he nodded slightly.

They had not gone far, walking bent over, when a woman in a qipao appeared ahead. She sat cross-legged on a small outcrop of rock, holding something in her hand.

When she saw Jiang Li and Daoist Priest Simu, Liu Qingqing immediately raised her head.

"You're... Jiang Li?"

"I thought you were dead. Luckily, you're still alive. Otherwise, the clue I finally found would have gone cold again."

Jiang Li slowed his pace slightly and said:

"I'm also glad nothing went wrong with you. Otherwise, I'd have a headache on my hands. But what are you holding?"

"Hm?"

Liu Qingqing was taken aback, then lifted the thing in her hand.

"You mean this? It disguised itself as you and attacked me while you were away. It got mud all over me. I'm filthy."

"When I woke up, I happened to find this thing with its back to me, so I used a few methods. I didn't expect it to be a dead ghost and a crow. What rotten luck."

Jiang Li was stunned for a moment, then came up to Liu Qingqing and said earnestly:

"It really is rotten luck. Give them to me. I'll take care of these filthy things for you."

"If you want them, take them. The ghost is no use to me anyway, so consider it a favor," Liu Qingqing replied.

Jiang Li reached out and picked up the ghost, whose body was rotten all over, then stuffed it into the wooden box with his back to Liu Qingqing and Daoist Priest Simu.

But when Jiang Li turned his gaze back to the Ghost Crow, a bold thought suddenly appeared in his mind.

These Ghost Crow clones that had left him shared a trait: they almost always acted while attached to a ghost, seemingly to temporarily increase their own supernatural strength.

And the killing patterns of the ghosts they attached themselves to did not seem to be triggered unless the Ghost Crows deliberately exposed the ghosts inside.

In that case, could he use this trait of the Ghost Crow to try to make contact with and control the Corpse-Dragging Ghost? Perhaps that would allow him to balance the supernatural forces within himself.

The Corpse-Dragging Ghost's own horror level was clearly considerable. Combined with the Person-Hiding Ghost he already had, perhaps it would be just enough to balance the Ghost Crow's supernatural power.

With that thought, Jiang Li cupped both hands around the Ghost Crow, preparing to bring it into contact with the Corpse-Dragging Ghost.

The Ghost Crow had recovered from Liu Qingqing's attack by now, but it made no obvious move, merely lying quietly in his hands.

The effect of the Ghost Crow Mask was now apparent.

As the source of the Ghost Crow feathers, it possessed an inherent, absolute suppressive force over the Ghost Crows scattered outside.

No matter what state a Ghost Crow was in, once it fell into Jiang Li's hands while he wore the Ghost Crow Mask, it would have no chance of breaking free.

The Ghost Crow cupped in his hands had feathers that were cold and stiff, and it carried the smell of rot, without the slightest trace of a living creature.

But Jiang Li's gaze grew increasingly fervent as he looked at it.

If his plan to control the Corpse-Dragging Ghost succeeded, not only would the problem of balancing his ghosts be resolved, but his weakness of having no Ghost Domain would also be remedied.

The supernatural powers of the Ghost Crow, the Corpse-Dragging Ghost, and the Person-Hiding Ghost were all considerable. The first two, in particular, were clearly far stronger than ordinary ghosts.

By then, he would truly have the ability to flip the table, the ability to make those who had displeased him watch his mood.

Chapter 69: The Corpse-Dragging Ghost Covered in Ghost Crow Feathers

In the darkness-shrouded cavern, the Corpse-Dragging Ghost, its back severely twisted, walked slowly along, dragging the body of a ghost.

The ghost's body scraped against the ground, making a considerable rasping sound.

Not far away, a haggard He Tianxiong lay facedown on the ground, his face full of unwillingness as he stared fixedly into the darkness ahead, where the dragging sound came from.

When the ghost centipede had gone out of control earlier, he had spoken up to stop it and barely managed to save the Person-Treading Ghost from Jiang Li.

But before he could reach the scene and recover the Person-Treading Ghost, the Corpse-Dragging Ghost had recovered again and, by an unfortunate coincidence, picked the Person-Treading Ghost once more from the few ghosts left on the ground.

Faced with the ghosts constantly twisting and writhing before him, and his own Person-Treading Ghost being dragged away by the Corpse-Dragging Ghost, He Tianxiong could not help feeling a wave of helplessness. He wanted to cry but had no tears.

Wearing the Ghost Crow Mask, Jiang Li took in the scene, quietly came up behind He Tianxiong, and spoke as though he knew nothing.

"President He, what are you doing lying here? Be careful or you'll catch cold."

He Tianxiong looked back at Jiang Li, then said through gritted teeth:

"That damned ghost thing took my ghost away again."

"Brother Jiang Li, give me a hand. Get my ghost back from that thing."

Hearing this, Jiang Li rubbed his chin and said in a low voice, looking troubled:

"That's going to be difficult. You should have seen how terrifying that ghost is. It's much fiercer than an ordinary ghost, not something you can deal with casually. If it were outside, I'm afraid even a few dozen more ghost controllers wouldn't be able to do anything about it."

"I understand what you mean. Money isn't a problem," He Tianxiong said. "If you want something else, I can give you that too. Whether it's a Ghost Candle or some other supernatural item I own, as long as I can get my ghost back, everything is negotiable."

Jiang Li pondered for a moment, then replied: