Chapter 49: Painted Skin
“It’s getting late, you guys chat slowly.” Li Yan yawned and prepared to stand up and leave.
“There are still so many corpses here, aren’t you going to help watch them?” Zhang Qian pointed at the curtain on the ground.
He had thought Li Yan came here with the intention of supervising, but unexpectedly he really came to deliver things.
“No way. I already said I’m here on vacation, I don’t want to get involved in any more supernatural events.” Li Yan decisively refused, “Using fierce ghost power now is no different from suicide for me.”
Although Li Yan’s ability was indeed very strong, the fierce ghost corrosion was also very severe. Previously, he had gone for a CT scan, and the condition inside his body was even worse than late-stage lung cancer.
Late-stage lung cancer at least still had one lung, but Li Yan’s chest cavity was already empty. The reason he could still move was all due to the smoke ghost’s maintenance.
“If you can’t use fierce ghost power, what will you do if you encounter danger?” Zhang Qian asked, “Does headquarters feel at ease letting you run around outside alone? If you die, it probably won’t just be an ordinary supernatural event.”
Li Yan chuckled, patted his belt, making a clapping sound.
“What thing is that?”
“Of course it’s a good thing.” Li Yan slightly lifted his shirt, revealing a golden handgun prominently on his belt.
“Real gun?” Zhang Qian was somewhat surprised.
“Nonsense, what’s the use of a fake gun.” Li Yan removed the magazine, revealing shiny golden bullets, “Not great for fighting ghosts, but no problem for shooting people. Although my marksmanship isn’t great, up close it’s easy to take one down with one shot.”
“Your status is actually this high, already equipped with a gun…” Zhang Qian said.
Their country had extremely strict gun control; you had to be at a certain level to be equipped with a gun, right?
“Actually, it’s to prevent ordinary people from courting death and provoking ghost controllers.” Li Yan explained, “I recommend you apply for one too. For ordinary people, a gun is much more intimidating than fierce ghost power.”
Zhang Qian nodded, feeling that made sense.
Just now in the private room, if he had a gun, it would definitely command absolute obedience; at least when he told his classmates to squat down, no one would dare run around everywhere.
“And to put it bluntly, a ghost controller’s life is far more precious than an ordinary person’s.” Li Yan said, “Equipping a gun can also prevent ordinary people from blindly provoking ghost controllers and wasting the ghost controller’s supernatural power.”
“Headquarters is actually this pragmatic. Isn’t it said that ghost controllers can’t use supernatural power against the public?” Zhang Qian asked curiously.
Previously, after headquarters heard about Xiao Fan’s matter, they were very concerned and directly sent people to encircle and suppress him.
“Not all public, it should be called innocent public. If they blindly provoke a ghost controller, they can only blame their bad luck. We can’t expect ghost controllers to just stand there and take hits, right?” Li Yan said, “We’ve tried that approach before, and the result… was pretty miserable.”
Ghost controllers were actually like little supermen one by one; it was already considered kind of them not to indiscriminately attack ordinary people after gaining power.
Expecting them to be cowards was even more impossible. Resolving supernatural events was risking their lives to protect others; why should they yield to ordinary people who didn’t contribute anything?
“Then I’ll go find Yu Xin later to ask for a handgun to try.” Zhang Qian touched his chin and probed, “How are ghost controllers generally handled if they kill someone?”
“It’s not like you haven’t killed anyone before; just handle it as usual.” Li Yan glanced at Zhang Qian, “If they obstruct a ghost controller from handling a supernatural event, or pose a threat to a ghost controller, then even if they die, it’s in vain.”
“I see…” Zhang Qian changed the subject, “Have you tried controlling a second fierce ghost?”
“Still too early. The ghost inside me is in a special situation, and the plan is hard to formulate.” Li Yan sighed.
Fierce ghosts being too strong wasn’t necessarily a good thing. Currently, controlling a second ghost relied on balance, and headquarters couldn’t find a fierce ghost comparable to the smoke ghost for the time being.
Zhang Qian probed, “If a ghost controller kills someone, how is it handled?”
“You have to take care of me during my time at the flower market. I can handle ordinary people, but if I encounter a fierce ghost, I can only wait to die.”
“Depends on my mood; what if I’m not free?”
“Tsk, really heartless. But you’ll have time. I feel like I’m at least worth one ghost candle, right?”
“Then if you encounter a situation, remember to call me. Don’t let such good business benefit others.” Zhang Qian said sincerely.
After saying that, he led Li Yan to the doorway. “The scenery at the flower market is pretty nice. Stay alive; you’re the first ghost controller I’ve met. At least die after Feng Quan.”
“Don’t worry, I’m very stable now. And Feng Quan doesn’t know what’s wrong with him, insisting he has a way to suppress fierce ghost revival. I’m planning to find time to go check it out.” Li Yan walked out the door.
He looked at Jiang Yu Xin’s flawless face and joked, “Take the opportunity now to experience the things you should experience sooner rather than later. Otherwise, once your fierce ghost revives, you won’t have the mind for it.”
“Get lost.”
After seeing Li Yan off, Zhang Qian returned to the private room.
However, he didn’t rush to deal with the human skin on the ground. He just closed the door and looked at Jiang Yu Xin, asking, “Now that no one else is here, explain how you became a ghost controller.”
Jiang Yu Xin obediently sat on the chair and explained everything in detail: “I don’t know. I still don’t even know what a ghost controller is. I just went for a manicure and gained some strange abilities.”
With that, she stretched out both hands. Her ten fingers were slender and delicate, with blood-red fingernails that were as striking as agates embedded in white jade.
“A ghost controller is someone like you who, due to various coincidences, gets possessed by a fierce ghost. But I thought you’d try to argue.” Zhang Qian said, somewhat surprised.
“As long as you want to know, I’ll tell you.” Yu Xin shook her head.
“Then those four, Liu Yu and the others, were killed by your ability?”
“Not four, only Liu Yu and Wang Ying. That Fang Jun and Zhuang Min didn’t die.” Yu Xin honestly explained.
Zhang Qian turned his head to look and found that Fang Jun’s body actually still had faint ups and downs.
“Then you’ve been controlling Liu Yu and Wang Ying’s actions all along?”
“I couldn’t make those seductive poses, and even go seduce others…” Yu Xin said with some resentment.
“As for why they could move, I’m not entirely sure either. After Liu Yu and Wang Ying swapped skins, their bodies still retained the original memories and could live normally. But I can give them orders in my mind, and they obey unconditionally.”
The time since she became a ghost controller was still too short; she wasn’t clear on many of her abilities.
“An ability related to skin… No wonder you asked me back then if I believed in the existence of painted skin.” Zhang Qian said thoughtfully.
It seemed Jiang Yu Xin had given hints long ago; he just hadn’t noticed at the time.
Zhang Qian looked at Jiang Yu Xin’s exquisite face and perfect figure. In legends, painted skin could disguise an evil ghost as a beauty; he wondered if that’s how she was.
