Mysterious Revival: Starting by Controlling the Person-Hiding Ghost

Jiang Li kept his eyes tightly shut, his face equally ashen, but he continued dragging the corpse forward.

Time passed little by little.

Outside the cave, the others waited until the sun had completely set. Seeing that darkness still filled the cave, they gradually dispersed.

Daoist Priest Simu had wanted to wait a while longer, but he went back with He Tianxiong first to take care of the master's funeral arrangements.

Liu Qingqing and Guo You also seemed to have some personal business to attend to and left early. They only left their phone numbers and told Zhang Mao to contact them once Jiang Li came out of the cave.

Once the others had gone, only Zhang Mao, the gate guard, remained outside the cave, waiting anxiously.

But his wait did not last much longer.

Late on the night of the second day after the others left the cave, torrential rain fell over nearly all of Dayi City, including He Tianxiong's Cloud Summit Club and the surrounding area.

After Zhang Mao left as well, Nut Cave returned to its former state, with no one paying it any attention.

But afterward, large flocks of crows continually circled and lingered outside the cave, as though watching over something.

Zhang Mao once returned and tried to drive away the crows nearby, but for some reason, he ultimately had to leave without success.

Seven days later, on a night deep in the darkness, rain poured down.

Water washed over the muddy road, erasing most of the traces everyone had left there.

A figure emerged from the exit of Nut Cave, holding his head as he silently removed the mask from his face.

Two crows perched on his shoulders, one black and one white. Their eyes resembled the Ghost Crow's from before, but there were clear differences.

Jiang Li looked up expressionlessly at the gray, rain-filled sky, then stepped toward the woods ahead.

The crows in the trees flew down one after another, circling above Jiang Li's head and shielding him from the falling rain of their own accord.

With rain this heavy, the crows alone could not have blocked it. Yet not a single drop fell on Jiang Li, and there was not even a trace of moisture on the circling crows.

A closer look revealed a thin layer of darkness shrouding each crow. The instant the falling raindrops touched the darkness, they vanished, as though evaporating into thin air.

Chapter 71: White Crow and Black Crow (Please Keep Reading)

Inside the guardroom, a steaming bowl of instant noodles sat on the small table, while the computer beside it displayed surveillance footage from inside the club.

But the guard sitting in the chair looked weighed down by worries and had no appetite. He merely kept taking a lighter from the drawer and flicking it in silence.

Gradually, however, he seemed to hear footsteps outside. They sounded so familiar that Zhang Mao could not help leaning out to look through the door.

In the pouring rain, a young man was walking alone, his expression indifferent, as though the downpour before him had nothing to do with him.

"Jiang Li?!"

"You really are alive! I knew you wouldn't die so easily!"

At the sight of the figure in the rain, Zhang Mao, who had been smoking to drown his worries, froze. Then he sprang up from his chair, paying no heed to the ash that fell on his hand. He immediately ushered Jiang Li inside and switched on the heated table that had not been used in a long time.

But he soon noticed that Jiang Li, who had walked in from the rain, did not seem to have a drop of water on him. His clothes were even drier than Zhang Mao's security uniform, carrying only the lingering stench of corpses from the cave.

Zhang Mao figured Jiang Li must be hungry after spending several days in the cave.

So he brought out a small pile of snacks, including sunflower seeds and spicy strips, along with a can of Red Bull and a bottle of mineral water, and set them in front of Jiang Li.

Even so, he still felt he had not done enough to receive his guest and asked Jiang Li tentatively,

"Jiang Li? You don't look so good. Should I call you an ambulance, or should I notify the club's front desk and have them prepare a table of dishes to help you build up your strength?"

Standing by the door, Jiang Li merely shook his head slightly, then said stiffly:

"No need. I came back here only to find the woman in the qipao. I made an agreement with her, and now it's time to keep it."

Hearing this, Zhang Mao nodded gravely and said with a serious expression:

"I understand. She did leave me her contact information. I'll get in touch with them for you right away. I'm sure we'll hear back soon."

As he made the call, Zhang Mao cautiously but curiously glanced at Jiang Li a few times, growing more and more shocked.

The right sleeve of Jiang Li's casual clothes had burst open, revealing a twisted, thick, blackened arm.

His whole appearance was now extremely ashen and somber, as though he were keeping people a thousand miles away. But it was not the aloofness of someone cold and proud; it was more like the numbness of a dying man, someone with one foot in the grave.

Also, had the crows perched on his shoulders, one on either side, been there all along? How had he failed to notice them before? Or were they pets Jiang Li had picked up after leaving the cave?

While waiting for the call to connect, Zhang Mao awkwardly picked up the cigarettes on the table and held one out to Jiang Li. Halfway there, he remembered that Jiang Li did not seem to smoke, leaving his hand suspended in the air, unsure whether to offer it or pull it back.

"Um, those crows you keep... they're pretty unusual."

Before he could spend much longer stammering, Jiang Li raised his eyes. One black and one white, they looked especially terrifying and strange.

"No need to hide it. If you want to ask something, just say it."

"You really shouldn't find these two crows unfamiliar. After all, you've seen them a few times before."

"Huh? I've seen them before?"

Although Zhang Mao was a little confused, he did not give it much thought. He only felt that Jiang Li's eyes were indeed very strange; he had never seen them like that before.

But he was not afraid of them. Instead, those black-and-white eyes gave him a sense of reassurance, and he felt they were unfathomably deep.

"The call's connected. Here."

A few seconds later, Zhang Mao handed him the phone.

"Hello, this is Liu Qingqing. Who's speaking?"

"It's Jiang Li. I'm at the Cloud Summit Club now. I trust you haven't forgotten our agreement," Jiang Li said quietly.

"It seems you made it out of that cave. I'm glad you still remember our agreement. I'll be there soon. I won't keep you waiting long."

After a few brief greetings, the call ended.

Jiang Li put the phone back on the table and prepared to leave the cramped guardroom and wait in the woods where he had met Liu Qingqing before.

Seeing that Jiang Li was about to leave, Zhang Mao finally made up his mind to take something out. He called Jiang Li back and asked:

"Jiang Li, do you know what this thing is for?"

Jiang Li stopped and looked back at the sound of his voice, then frowned.

It was a yellow paper envelope, unsigned and unsealed. It had an antique texture and carried a mysterious, eerie air.

Although it was Jiang Li's first time seeing this envelope, he quickly recognized where it came from and what it did.

It was an initial envelope from the Ghost Post Office, used to select new messengers.

Once the envelope was opened, a terrifying curse would take effect, forcibly bringing the chosen person into the Ghost Post Office and making them a messenger on the first floor, where they would begin receiving letter-delivery assignments.

Even if the envelope was left unopened, one probably could not evade the Ghost Post Office's selection. What was meant to come would come eventually; it was unavoidable.

Jiang Li had simply not expected an envelope like this to end up in Zhang Mao's hands.

After a moment's silence, Jiang Li said:

"This thing is very strange. Don't touch it for now. When the time comes, I'll tell you how to deal with it. But it will be a very difficult road, so you should prepare yourself mentally."

"So that's how it is. I understand. I won't touch this thing of my own accord again. You should go to your meeting," Zhang Mao said gravely.

Jiang Li said no more. He turned and walked into the rain outside the guardroom, his figure gradually disappearing.

Less than half an hour later.

A man and a woman appeared once more in the secluded woods.

Liu Qingqing stood beside a tree, holding a small oil-paper umbrella. Looking into Jiang Li's eyes, she said softly:

"You've changed a great deal. It seems a lot really did happen to you in that cave. I also didn't expect you to take the initiative to keep our agreement. Perhaps my first impression of you was wrong. You aren't as lecherous and unreliable as I imagined."

Jiang Li showed no reaction. He merely said expressionlessly:

"I gave my word, so I followed through. That's all."

"You want to know about the woman attached to you, so I'll tell you. I hope you'll remember this favor and not repay kindness with enmity when the time comes."

Liu Qingqing walked up to Jiang Li and shared half of her oil-paper umbrella with him as she said:

"Just tell me. I, Liu Qingqing, am a woman of flesh and blood, not someone who forgets a kindness. You can trust me a little more."

"..."

"..."

After Jiang Li had given her a general account of the existence and circumstances of Zhang Youhong, the woman from the Republic of China era, Liu Qingqing's expression turned extremely ugly.

"So the supernatural items I have are actually all things left behind by another ghost controller from the Republic of China era who died long ago.

"Her intention in leaving these things to me was to protect me and erode my body, until I could no longer hold on, so she could revive in my body?"

Jiang Li nodded slightly.

"That's about right. You can choose to resist, but the outcome will be hard to change. Since she chose to use her methods on a weak woman like you, she naturally did so with the intention of leaving nothing to chance."

Liu Qingqing bit her lower lip and said unwillingly:

"Is there really nothing I can do to resist? Can I only watch helplessly as someone else takes my place? If that's true, what was all the hardship and wandering I've endured along the way for?"

Jiang Li shook his head.

"I'm afraid it was for nothing."

"If no one else intervenes, your fate from here on will basically be to rely completely on the supernatural items she left behind through countless supernatural incidents, until you're entirely eroded. Then you will no longer be Liu Qingqing, never again."

"Now that you've learned of such an outcome in advance, are you willing to accept it? Can you resign yourself to it?"

Liu Qingqing lowered her head slightly, seemingly gazing at the qipao she wore, which did not belong to her. Then she threw aside the oil-paper umbrella in her hand and said coldly:

"I will never bow my head to fate. Even if the ending has long been destined, I'll fight with everything I have to rewrite it."

"Since that woman can revive by relying on the supernatural items she left on me, I'll stop using everything related to her and continue on my own."

"What happens afterward is your choice. I've only told you what I know," Jiang Li said. "I intend to take a look at the Ghost Post Office. Do you have a spare unsigned envelope?"

Hearing this, Liu Qingqing took a yellow envelope from her person, identical to the one Zhang Mao had.

"I didn't expect you to know about the Ghost Post Office too. But it's not a good place to visit. Once you go in, it's very difficult to get out again. Even someone as strong as you will run into walls in there."

Jiang Li accepted the envelope and said calmly:

"Whether I go in is my own choice. If you're willing, you could look after and give some guidance to the gate guard at the Cloud Summit Club. He received a yellow envelope from the Ghost Post Office too."

"All right, I understand," Liu Qingqing replied. At the same time, she departed like a ghost in a certain direction through the woods.

After Liu Qingqing left, Jiang Li was the only one remaining in the dim woods.

And this was just the setting he wanted, with no one else to disturb him.

The wind howled, and the rain fell without pause.

The branches and leaves overhead swayed from time to time, scattering droplets of water.

When a crystalline raindrop fell in front of him, the crows on Jiang Li's shoulders suddenly stirred. They spread their wings and flew down to the ground, their bodies gradually twisting and swelling until they became two human figures, standing before Jiang Li, one on either side.

They had clearly inherited their original features. One was black all over, like a person born to walk out of the darkness, with a terrifying ghost face lying on its shoulder.

The other was its opposite, pale from head to toe without a trace of color. One of its arms gave off an especially chilling aura, and a circular shadow lay dormant beneath it, as though waiting for its chance to strike.

Judging by their faces, both looked like Jiang Li. There were only a few slight differences in their overall details, but these did not affect Jiang Li's attitude toward them.

Looking at the two figures before him, Jiang Li murmured: