Mysterious Revival: Starting by Controlling the Person-Hiding Ghost, Section 48

"Caw-"

Only when the last Ghost Crow left his body did Jiang Li feel a complete sense of relief, as though a great burden had been lifted.

It was like the relief a dying man felt eating ice when his chest burned, or the ease a patient with high blood pressure felt after blood was drawn from the tips of his ears. It was a peculiar sensation only ghost controllers suffering the erosion of a fierce ghost could understand.

When the Ghost Crow landed on the back of the Corpse-Dragging Ghost's head, its feathers rapidly spread across the back of the ghost's head and toward its face.

Jiang Li went around the Corpse-Dragging Ghost and slowly approached a spot not far from it, observing it closely.

The first three Ghost Crows had each covered a considerable portion of its body. In theory, the last Ghost Crow should have been more than enough to cover its head.

But for some reason, when the Ghost Crow feathers reached the Corpse-Dragging Ghost's deeply wrinkled face, they could not advance another inch, as though some supernatural force was holding them firmly back.

The Corpse-Dragging Ghost's weathered old face hung low, but the blackened blood and dirt on it were clearly visible. Its shriveled eyeballs had no texture to them and were utterly clouded.

Its brow was tightly furrowed and its teeth clenched, as though it were suffering immense pain, or perhaps gritting its teeth and holding on out of some unwillingness to give in.

At the sight, Jiang Li frowned.

He had already used the Ghost Crow's full supernatural power. He had not expected that even this would fail to subdue the Corpse-Dragging Ghost.

Perhaps all it needed was an opportunity to break the deadlock between the Corpse-Dragging Ghost and the Ghost Crow.

With that thought, Jiang Li immediately directed the Ghost Hand toward the Corpse-Dragging Ghost, intending to pull part of its body underground and restrain it to some extent.

But when the shadow approached the Corpse-Dragging Ghost from behind, the ghost suddenly reacted. Its twisted, enormous blue-black hand instantly seized the deathly pale palm before it could emerge and yanked it out.

My Ghost Hand was seized instead? How is that possible?!

Before Jiang Li could react, the Corpse-Dragging Ghost moved again, walking toward the depths of the cavern at an extremely slow pace.

Seeing this, Jiang Li promptly formed a rough guess.

It was heading for the place where the Hanging Corpse had been stuck. It seemed to be looking for it.

At that thought, Jiang Li immediately took the Hanging Corpse out of the wooden chest and placed it on the ground.

To be safe, Jiang Li held on to one of the Hanging Corpse's withered ankles, in case the Corpse-Dragging Ghost underwent another change and snatched it away.

As soon as the Hanging Corpse was placed on the ground, the Corpse-Dragging Ghost stopped walking and slowly turned its whole body around.

"Hm?"

"It really did react."

Quick as lightning, Jiang Li tossed the Hanging Corpse back under the wooden table in the wooden chest's basement, while keeping his guard fully raised against the Corpse-Dragging Ghost nearby.

But the Corpse-Dragging Ghost made no further move. It merely stood there motionless, its cloudy eyeballs turning slightly.

"Sigh..."

After a sigh that seemed full of regret,

the Corpse-Dragging Ghost slowly lowered its head and closed its cloudy, bewildered eyes completely.

And so its long trek through the dark cave came to an end.

The Ghost Crow instantly began to spread and erode, covering its entire face with crow feathers and leaving no part exposed.

Jiang Li was taken aback at first, but soon formed a rough guess.

"Although I didn't understand exactly what happened, my plan seems to have worked. The Corpse-Dragging Ghost is restrained by the Ghost Crow now. There's only one last step left."

"I haven't yet decided exactly how to control it, but that stirring in my body seems to have given me the answer."

Jiang Li spoke to himself as he walked up to the Corpse-Dragging Ghost, now covered in pitch-black crow feathers, and reached out to touch it.

The moment he touched the Corpse-Dragging Ghost's corpse, the deathly stillness of a fierce ghost climbed over his entire body and began eroding his body, which was still more or less that of a living person.

Despair, numbness, bewilderment... until only pure eeriness remained, and he became a corpse with a deathly gray face.

Gradually, the two bodies wrapped in Ghost Crow feathers became one, noticeably smaller overall.

But the supernatural conflict and changes had yet to stop.

The blue-black corpse spots that had once covered the Corpse-Dragging Ghost's body now appeared on Jiang Li's back, spreading wildly to every part of him.

Soon, the rampant spread of the corpse spots was suppressed by the other supernatural forces in Jiang Li's body, and they began to recede.

The countless Ghost Crow feathers covering him pierced beneath his skin one by one, clashing with the terrifying corpse spots.

The clash of supernatural forces was eerie and violent, and it utterly rejected the aura of the living.

Jiang Li, who had been completely motionless, suddenly dropped his head, his cheeks bulging sharply.

Pfft...

Mouthfuls of bright red blood gushed out, spilling onto the cavern floor as though it cost nothing.

Blood splattered everywhere, a gruesome and terrifying sight.

The blood gradually gathered into a stream that flowed to the feet of Zhang Mao, Guo You, and the others.

Looking at the blood at his feet, Zhang Mao could not help backing away several steps, his hair standing on end.

With that much blood loss, an ordinary person would probably have been beyond saving, fit only to become neutrinos. But Jiang Li's body still twitched from time to time, as though he might rise from the dead the next second.

Guo You, squatting nearby, rubbed his head and said in a low voice:

"So while I was just taking a nap, you dealt with the ghost? I really did get carried to victory that time."

Liu Qingqing glanced at him and said:

"Actually, in a sense, we were all carried to victory. Jiang Li is the only person who's actually come into contact with that ghost so far. The others and I haven't been much use."

"By the way, where did Sun Xin go? Wasn't he with you?"

At that, Guo You's face turned deathly pale. He kept looking back as he said quietly:

"I was with him, but I passed out on the way. When I woke up, he was gone. Didn't he meet up with you during that time?"

Liu Qingqing was silent for a moment, then took out a white slip of paper.

"I picked this up in the cave. It seems to have belonged to Sun Xin. We'll look for him elsewhere in the cave later. If we really can't find him, there's nothing we can do."

"He was a very responsible teammate. We can pool some money and send it to his family."

Guo You nodded. "That's all we can do. I hope he's still alive."

The people present sat watch a short distance from Jiang Li, silently observing him, afraid that some other bad change might occur.

By now, the surrounding darkness had almost completely dissipated, leaving only a layer of deep blackness around Jiang Li.

He Tianxiong had also withdrawn his Person-Treading Ghost. He looked much calmer, though his earlier ordeal still left him shaken.

"Perhaps we should leave this cave and wait outside. If Jiang Li fails, that fierce ghost might revive again. By then, it'll be too late to run."

Daoist Priest Simu covered his mouth and coughed a few times, then said calmly:

"You should go out. I'll keep watch here. If anything happens, I'll let you know in time."

"Also, sorry for the trouble, but could you help me carry the old monk's body out? I'll take him home and lay him to rest afterward. If you can help, I'll be deeply grateful."

"That's a small matter. Although the master is gone, we should still show him basic respect. I'll help you carry his remains out now, and I'll double the payment for both of you as a little compensation."

He Tianxiong nodded slightly, then set off in a direction deeper inside the cave.

But just a few steps later, Daoist Priest Simu frowned and called out coldly:

"Wait."

He Tianxiong froze, mistakenly thinking that his plan to fish in troubled waters and slip away had been seen through.

But when he looked back, he saw two furtive figures approaching Jiang Li. They were already less than ten meters away.

On closer inspection, they were Chen Mo and Shen Sheng. Covered in dust and blood, their faces full of fear and bewilderment, neither of them looked quite right.

In particular, the man named Chen Mo seemed to be holding something with a metallic gleam.

It looked like a handgun, and one made of gold at that.

He Tianxiong hurriedly felt his waistband and discovered that the handgun tucked there had disappeared at some point and fallen into their hands.

What did they intend to do with the gun?

Near the rock wall not far away, Chen Mo and Shen Sheng could not see He Tianxiong and the others behind the wall to their left rear from where they stood.

Chen Mo's forehead was covered in cold sweat, and the hand holding the gun trembled constantly. He looked back and asked with great difficulty:

"Shen Sheng, are you sure this is the ghostly thing that bit your ear back then? What if he's human? If I shoot him dead, wouldn't that make me a murderer?"

"It's definitely him. I could never forget the bastard who disfigured me. So what if he's human? Shoot him dead, then wipe off the fingerprints and find somewhere to bury the gun."

After hearing Shen Sheng's words, Chen Mo still hesitated, but his finger on the trigger tightened more and more, as though it would not obey him.

But Shen Sheng caught sight of the people behind the rock wall and realized they could not delay any longer. She immediately urged Chen Mo:

"Stop standing there and shoot!"

"Kill him, and we'll leave this place."

Chen Mo hesitated no longer. He walked up to Jiang Li with the gun and shakily raised it, aiming at his head.

"Kill him, and we'll leave this place..."

The instant he pulled the trigger, fire burst from the muzzle.

The gunshot was not the only sound that rang out. It was accompanied by a hoarse, deathly crow's cry.

"Caw-"

Chen Mo stared at Jiang Li in astonishment, then looked down at the gun in his hand, his face full of disbelief.

But before he could react further, a pitch-black, twisted hand reached out and seized him by the throat.

As though provoked by something, the darkness around Jiang Li began expanding wildly once more. It was not particularly fast, clearly leaving the people behind him ample time to escape.

Seeing the darkness spread, Daoist Priest Simu tightened his grip on his broken peachwood sword, bent forward, and said in a low voice:

"We can't stay here. Everyone, go!"

Before he had finished speaking, He Tianxiong and Guo You had already dragged Master Huijue's body several dozen meters away. Even Liu Qingqing had disappeared from sight.

Only Shen Sheng, caught at the edge of the darkness, was completely unable to escape and could only watch as it bore down on her.

"Damn it, what's happening? Did Chen Mo miss and anger this ghostly thing?!"

Looking at the scene before her, Shen Sheng was filled with shock and anger. She instinctively turned to run.

After being affected by that ear, her and Chen Mo's perceptions had become extremely strange and abnormal. She had grown exceedingly perverse and could not think normally about what was happening before her.

The moment the darkness completely engulfed her, Shen Sheng's last thought was only why she had not killed the fellow in front of her sooner.

Once everyone else had withdrawn, the cave fell silent, leaving only the faintest sounds of skin splitting.

The two people being dragged through the darkness had deathly gray faces and were completely lifeless, but the changes in their bodies grew ever more apparent.

Ghost Crow feathers kept piercing their skin, only to be driven away by blue-black corpse spots, altering their bodies and faces.

Bright red blood flowed out, replaced by thick, pitch-black rotten blood.

At the same time, a deathly pale palm joined the horrifying transformation, finally settling on the hand of one of the bodies.

Gradually, their appearances and physiques changed noticeably, until they were almost completely unrecognizable.