Chapter 297: Nie Yingping’s Life And Death
Chen Hao stared at the sky of Dajing City, the gray-white haze enveloping everything pressing down on his heart like a massive stone.
He knew that every moment of delay deepened the Ghost Painting’s erosion of Dajing City by another degree.
Once this city and everyone in it were drawn into the Ghost Painting, even with Jiang Shan’s Ghost Domain protection, he would very probably have to go through that ordeal with Jiang Shan.
As for why?
Chen Hao knew clearly in his heart that if the source Ghost Painting and Yang Jian both vanished without a trace, then he, bearing the Ghost Painting Curse, would be the best tool to draw the Ghost Painting.
“Chen Hao, there’s nothing for you to do next. I’ve already had Cao Yanhua arrange for Zhou Deng and the branch’s person in charge to come over. You just need to continue waiting here and leave after they arrive.”
“Right, when the time comes, tell them in detail about the Ghost Messenger’s situation. Tell them not to act rashly. Handle that Ghost Wielder first. As for the Ghost Messenger, leave at least ten Ghost Wielders to guard it, and ensure no one is left alone.”
After pondering for a moment, Jiang Shan looked at Chen Hao and said calmly.
“That ghost’s codename is Ghost Messenger? Ghost’s errand boy, not a good name. That turtle grandson Zhou Deng actually joined his team long ago? Damn, his luck is pretty good. He hugged a thigh too.”
As he thought about it, Chen Hao suddenly seemed to realize something and immediately asked in doubt:
“Huh? No need for me to go with you to find that guy? I still carry the Ghost Painting Curse. If nothing goes wrong, as soon as I enter the Ghost Painting World, that ghost will come find me first.”
“It’s precisely because of this reason that you don’t need to participate in the next action. No one except Yang Jian knows the current state of the Ghost Painting, but at least it doesn’t look that bad yet.”
Jiang Shan lit a cigarette, his gaze turning to the dormitory building where Yang Jian had disappeared, his brows slightly furrowed as he continued:
“If your appearance breaks some kind of balance between him and the Ghost Painting, leading to control failure, that consequence wouldn’t be good news for anyone. So you stay here next. Remember, don’t stay too far from that Ghost Wielder.”
From Chen Hao’s description, he had roughly guessed what the Ghost Messenger’s current killing pattern was.
But a guess was still just a guess. The Ghost Messenger was currently within the Ghost Painting’s Ghost Domain.
Yet it hadn’t launched an attack on the Ghost Painting like in the original work, which was enough to indicate that its killing pattern had undergone a major change.
At least it wouldn’t be as unsolvable as before, making one’s scalp tingle just from knowing about it.
Even so, Jiang Shan didn’t dare relax. He planned to leave a clone behind when he entered the Ghost Painting World to find Yang Jian, just in case.
It was precisely because of this premise that he dared to have Chen Hao stay here to guard the Ghost Messenger and Nie Yingping.
Old Qin had no news; the Ghost Painting’s whereabouts were unknown; Headquarters was completely destroyed; foreign Ghost Wielders’ involvement; and Wang Chaling’s plan.
All these events combined had already left Jiang Shan overwhelmed. He could only do his best to patch things up wherever possible to stabilize the situation.
This wasn’t because Jiang Shan lacked ability or brains.
Even if anyone else were in his place, even if Yang Jian had his strength facing the current situation.
The first things to handle would still be those within his power that could show results the fastest.
Use the already limited time to investigate Wang Chaling’s conspiracy?
Then let the Ghost Painting go out of control, invade the present world wantonly, leading to Headquarters’ complete destruction and morale collapse?
Or,
First handle the Ghost Painting, stabilize the overall situation, and then deal with the human issues?
Compared to ghosts, Jiang Shan always believed people were easier to handle. After all, death could effectively silence some voices and instill fear in certain rats.
As for Old Qin,
As the Ghost Wielder who ran through the entire story of the supernatural revival, one of the top strongest.
Right after the plan to detain the Starving Ghost began, he had no news, and even nearly an hour after the Dajing City chaos erupted, he still hadn’t appeared.
Very possibly, he had been targeted by some highly specific supernatural power, and Jiang Shan didn’t think he had the ability, or rather the qualification, to rescue this “natural Ghost Wielder” from the restriction.
The supernatural means left by that group of Ghost Wielders from the Republic of China era—even though Jiang Shan now had the qualification to compete with them wrist-to-wrist, he still didn’t want to wade into that muddy water.
Saving Dajing City,
Was simply because Jiang Shan purely didn’t want the domestic situation to become too chaotic, leading to the expansion of supernatural events and the emergence of certain extremely terrifying fierce ghosts.
But if doing so required taking great risks, even his own life, Jiang Shan would absolutely not make that choice. Use his life, which didn’t belong to this world, to exchange for the lives of people in this world who had nothing to do with him?
“Right, my phone was smashed. After I leave, call Cao Yanhua and tell him not to send people over rashly. Without figuring out the Ghost Painting’s condition, it would just increase casualties.” Jiang Shan’s gaze was cold, his tone brooking no doubt.
Chen Hao said, “I understand. I’ll handle the follow-up matters clearly.”
Once everything was arranged, Jiang Shan didn’t rush into the Ghost Painting World but instead walked toward Nie Yingping.
For this Ghost Wielder whose strength rivaled a top captain, Jiang Shan’s goal was clear: try to persuade him. Even if Nie Yingping didn’t choose to join the branch, letting him live could at least handle some supernatural events.
Moreover, from his participation in Zhang Xiangguang’s Peach Blossom Spring Plan, although his motives for joining weren’t as pure as Zhang Xiangguang’s, ultimately, whether it was his loyalty to Zhang Xiangguang or his original intent in joining the plan, there weren’t too many issues.
For such a Ghost Wielder, Jiang Shan’s arrangement for him was the same as for Zhang Xiangguang.
If he was willing to yield, he lived, regardless of identity; but if not, only death awaited him.
“Dong~”
As the black long whip struck Nie Yingping’s body, the terrifying revival of the fierce ghost within his body finally freed him from the illusion of the Ghost Eye Ghost Domain.
“Impossible, how could a junior possibly achieve something like this?!”
Nie Yingping saw Jiang Shan in front of him, his pupils suddenly contracting.
He couldn’t believe he had been affected by the Ghost Domain’s illusion without realizing it, and for so long without noticing.
But what shocked him more was that Jiang Shan, who had used the Ghost Domain to restrict him and Chen Qiaoyang, had survived alone against five Zhang Xiangguangs.
And upon seeing the old great saber behind Jiang Shan, Nie Yingping was horrified, somewhat unable to believe his eyes.
The appearance of this great saber meant one thing:
Zhang Xiangguang had lost,
And lost thoroughly.
Even his most important supernatural weapon in hand had been taken, so he had very probably died too.
“Did the plan really fail?”
Nie Yingping felt a sense of powerlessness and helplessness.
He wanted to fight, but the Dead Face Ghost’s Ghost Domain combined with the Ghost Characters’ suppression pinned him firmly in place, preventing any supernatural means from being used.
And Zhang Xiangguang, Du Hong, and Zhang Ying seemed to be dead already, not to mention Zhang Xiangguang’s main body. Although he was the administrator of the Ghost Post Office, he himself didn’t have much supernatural power.
Now, whether killed or detained by Jiang Shan, there was no information.
As for Chen Qiaoyang.
When Nie Yingping broke free from the illusion and awoke, he found himself alone around.
Based on his understanding of Chen Qiaoyang, unless unexpected, Chen Qiaoyang had very probably already run away.
Excluding Chen Qiaoyang the half-baked one, the only true participant left in the Peach Blossom Spring Plan who could be confirmed alive was just him.
And at this moment,
What Nie Yingping had to face was Jiang Shan, who had restricted him and Chen Qiaoyang with just a Ghost Domain and alone killed five Zhang Xiangguangs with the same supernatural power that was extremely hard to handle.
This kind of crushing on the supernatural level was something he couldn’t achieve even if he fought to fierce ghost revival.
“Looks like you’ve already guessed something. I have to say, Zhang Xiangguang was indeed very strong. He was the strongest Ghost Wielder I’ve encountered. Unfortunately, your plan was too absurd. Your timid, hesitant manner is no different from rats?”
“Zhang Xiangguang might not be a coward, but Chen Qiaoyang and those two Ghost Wielders were. I think you are too. You’re afraid, right? If you beg me, I might let you go leniently.”
Noticing Nie Yingping’s gaze, Jiang Shan stared at him and spoke calmly.
Actually, he didn’t have much malice toward the Peach Blossom Spring Plan.
Although the plan was indeed very risky and had certain uncontrollability, it represented an era’s Ghost Wielders and their practical vision for ending the supernatural.
The key wasn’t whether the plan was feasible, but the “hearts” of this group of Ghost Wielders.
And the reason Jiang Shan deliberately mocked the plan was precisely this.
He wanted to see if Nie Yingping’s “heart” was red or black.
“Absurd? Afraid? Hahaha, arrogant little thing. Calling us rats? You’re just a rat living in the cracks of the supernatural, stealing power. Beg you? Hahahaha.”
When Nie Yingping heard those two words, his calm expression instantly turned somewhat gloomy:
“I became a Ghost Wielder at twenty-three, dealt with the supernatural for so long, and survived to now. Do you think I’d be afraid? Zhang Xiangguang and I schemed for decades. I can tell you clearly that the Peach Blossom Spring Plan is currently the only way to save the world.”
“Unfortunately, it was intercepted by you juniors blinded by supernatural power. If I didn’t see wrong, your people are trying to control the Ghost Painting, right? Looks like he’s going to fail. What a tragic era.”
As he spoke, he slowly looked upward.
At the same time,
The scarlet, eerie Ghost Characters covering his body were gradually dimming bit by bit, and the suppression was weakening. But Nie Yingping seemed to have paid an extremely heavy price for this.
In a place Jiang Shan couldn’t observe, Nie Yingping’s internal organs had developed varying degrees of frostbite. At this moment, his organs, affected by the supernatural, were almost shattering at a touch.
It could be said that even if an ordinary person punched him now, he might be on the verge of death due to severe internal injuries.
“So, you’re very confident in your plan? If that’s the case, your current performance doesn’t seem that upright and frank.”
Hearing Nie Yingping’s words, Jiang Shan didn’t refute but calmly continued asking:
“The tattoo on your body is pretty good. Looks like you found a way to master supernatural balance. And you’re right, something went wrong with that Ghost Wielder controlling the Ghost Painting. If the balance between them breaks, the Ghost Painting will completely go out of control.”
“And you know what this place is. You must be clear about the impact of Headquarters’ destruction. If you’re willing to tell me this tattoo method, that Ghost Wielder might still successfully control the Ghost Painting.”
After seeing the fierce ghost tattoo on Nie Yingping’s skin, Jiang Shan thought of the topic to continue.
He remembered that before coming to this world, he had seen some speculations about certain supernatural things on some forum.
For example, the place called Fengmen Village that Li Jun once mentioned; the yizhuang in Liu San’s jurisdiction; and how the Ghost Post Office and Caesar Grand Hotel formed.
What this world showed in the original work was too little, like the tip of an iceberg in the ocean, revealing only a corner.
And Jiang Shan, who had always been busy striving for self-preservation ability, never had time to dig into this world’s hidden weird supernatural secrets.
But upon seeing that tattoo, he suddenly thought of these, and a name involuntarily emerged in his mind:
“Terror Tattoo Studio”
Jiang Shan just didn’t know the true location of the Terror Tattoo Studio and hadn’t deliberately searched for it.
He only knew it was mentioned once in the original work, but he never knew where this place actually was.
“Heh, do you think I’m an idiot? Trying to trick intelligence out of me with a few words? Give up on that. I won’t tell you.”
Nie Yingping glanced at the tattoo on his body, a flicker of hesitation in his eyes, then continued:
“Don’t think of threatening me with Dajing City. After I die, let the floods rage. What does it have to do with me? Without the Mummy Bride’s supernatural power, you want to control the Ghost Painting? A bunch of crazy fools who don’t know the heights of heaven and earth.”
Hearing Nie Yingping’s words, Jiang Shan already knew what role he played in Zhang Xiangguang’s plan.
Very obviously,
Nie Yingping’s goal was the same as Zhang Xiangguang’s: use the Ghost Painting to end the supernatural, and he was a real action-oriented type.
Compared to Yang Jian, Jiang Shan didn’t have much killing intent toward such Ghost Wielders.
Although he knew he had no personal charm, Jiang Shan didn’t think he could definitely get Nie Yingping to join the branch.
He just didn’t want Ghost Wielders like Nie Yingping to become sacrifices in the conflict due to differing ideologies.
Perhaps if the situation reversed, Zhang Xiangguang and Nie Yingping wouldn’t do this.
But he was Jiang Shan, the winner of this conflict. History is always written by the victors, so no one was more qualified than him to decide these people’s life and death.
