Chapter 52: Natural Enemy
After a bit of tugging, Zhang Qian had no choice but to compromise with Zhang Yao Cheng. He took the intact Ghost Candle himself, while Zhang Yao Cheng collected the Ghost Candle that Wang Xiaoming had used.
“Try not to let others know… This thing is not only attractive to ordinary people, but it’s an invaluable treasure for Ghost Controllers. For a Ghost Candle, who knows what shady things they might do.”
Being immune to supernatural attacks gives Ghost Controllers several more chances to experiment, and it’s even possible to forcibly imprison a Fierce Ghost despite its Killing Pattern.
Once the Ghost Candle is lit, it’s like having several extra lives. Some Ghost Controllers might get crooked ideas.
Zhang Yao Cheng carefully put the Ghost Candle back into the briefcase and said seriously, “I understand the principle of not flaunting wealth. Don’t worry, I’m not one to show off. I won’t let others know.”
“That’s good…” Zhang Qian also tucked the Ghost Candle into his pocket and casually asked, “How’s the progress on the Safe House renovation? I might need to use it soon.”
During the first alchemy session, the Ghost Hand was very docile, so Zhang Qian dared to handle it directly in the rundown Factory without any safety measures.
But this time, he planned to use some dangerous materials, so he felt more at ease inside the Safe House.
It was both to prevent the Fierce Ghost from escaping and to avoid interference from others.
“Since it’s being renovated on the existing foundation, the speed is pretty fast.” Zhang Yao Cheng glanced at the work progress on his mobile phone. “The Safe House on your floor already has the rough structure, but the one in the Basement will probably take a bit longer.”
Zhang Qian was a bit surprised.
This speed was quite fast. He hadn’t been living at home during this time and thought it would take at least ten days or half a month to finish.
“As long as it’s sealed, that’s fine. Skip the decoration. Anyway, it’s just for storing things, and I don’t plan to live in it. Next time, I’ll extort some gold from Headquarters and expand the Safe House in the Basement a bit.”
Zhang Qian planned to use this Safe House on the third floor as a storage room for supernatural items and Fierce Ghosts.
But for now, its main purpose was to serve as an alchemy room.
“Yeah, come up and take a look.” Zhang Yao Cheng walked ahead to guide.
They took the elevator to the Main Entrance of the third-floor Safe House.
After entering a string of passwords with beeps, the silver-white Main Entrance slowly opened, revealing the silver metal floor and walls inside.
“Time was tight, so we haven’t had time to decorate yet,” Zhang Yao Cheng explained. “To save time, I didn’t disrupt the house’s structure. I just selected a room with a regular shape and appropriate size, then wrapped it with a layer of special materials on the outside.”
“Although I initially wanted to use pure gold, gold is too soft and prone to wear. I was afraid an alloy wouldn’t work, so I made it with two layers of steel sandwiching a layer of gold in the middle.”
“It’s pretty good, sufficient for use.” Zhang Qian walked into the room interior.
Because it needed to be completely sealed, there was no power inside the Safe House. For lighting, they could only rely on the corridor lights.
The room wasn’t large, only twenty or thirty square meters, perfect for storing things.
After closing the door, the room plunged into pitch darkness where one couldn’t see their hand in front of their face, but Zhang Qian’s eyes faintly glowed white, allowing him to see normally.
Since there was no ventilation inside, the air quickly became stuffy. Zhang Qian was fine, but Zhang Yao Cheng’s breathing clearly quickened, obviously unable to adapt.
Zhang Qian noticed this and decided to consult Headquarters about Safe House construction issues.
If the Basement was built the same way, ordinary people probably wouldn’t last more than a few days inside.
“Hoo—”
After exiting the door, Zhang Yao Cheng took a deep breath, then took a key from the neighboring room and handed it to Zhang Qian.
“This is the mechanical key. To prevent the password lock from failing, I specially set up double insurance.”
“Good.” Zhang Qian took the key and reminded, “You and Mom should try not to go in later. I plan to put some dangerous things inside, which isn’t too safe for you.”
Zhang Yao Cheng’s body stiffened, and he guessed, “Is it ghosts?”
It requires gold to isolate, and only Fierce Ghosts are this luxurious.
“Yes, although they’re all securely imprisoned, no one can guarantee there won’t be accidents.”
“Fierce Ghosts, what exactly are they?” Zhang Yao Cheng asked. “Do you have any photos or something? It’d be good for me to understand and prepare mentally.”
“Shapes vary, forms are unpredictable…” Zhang Qian thought for a moment. “Maybe ink, maybe a skeleton, or even a Phantom. But Fierce Ghosts appear with omens. Usually, when a Fierce Ghost appears, it changes the surrounding environment, manifesting as signal disruptions, circuit shorts, and the like.”
Seeing Zhang Yao Cheng somewhat confused, Zhang Qian simply clapped his hands.
“Just like this.”
The lights in the corridor flickered with a sizzling sound, and an inexplicable chill suddenly blew from the dark corner.
After rustling friction sounds, a pale white palm crawled out from the shadows.
“This is!” Zhang Yao Cheng’s pupils contracted sharply, his breathing involuntarily quickening. “Is this what a ghost looks like?”
“Appearance doesn’t matter; ghostly forms are unpredictable. What’s important is this chilling sensation—it’s one of the characteristics of the supernatural,” Zhang Qian said.
“Even knowing it won’t attack me, I still can’t help but feel afraid. Those experts used to say humans’ only natural enemy is themselves, but now it seems these ghostly things are our true natural enemies.” Zhang Yao Cheng took a small step back, away from the manifested Ghost Hand.
“Natural enemy, huh… Fierce Ghosts are indeed like the natural enemies of humans. Our proud technological means are all useless; we can only rely on their own powers to have any chance of imprisoning Fierce Ghosts…” Zhang Qian zoned out a bit.
Not to mention Ghost Controllers—even he, a cultivator, wasn’t using the supernatural power of Fierce Ghosts to elevate his realm and strength?
The Ghost Hand slowly retreated back into the darkness, and the flickering lights returned to normal.
“In the future, if you encounter anything or anyone with this kind of aura, try to avoid it. Mom doesn’t go out much, so you’re more likely to run into danger,” Zhang Qian reminded.
Zhang Yao Cheng didn’t put on any parental airs and instead earnestly promised, “Before, I was clueless and got schemed by that Xiao Fan once. From now on, I’ll be more careful.”
“I’m planning to stay in the Safe House tonight, so absolutely don’t come in,” Zhang Qian instructed. “If I haven’t come out by tomorrow, leave first, then call this number.”
As he spoke, he saved a number on Zhang Yao Cheng’s mobile phone. “No matter what the other side says, just tell him my situation.”
“Okay, you… be careful.” Zhang Yao Cheng wanted to say something but realized he couldn’t offer Zhang Qian any help, not even knowing what Zhang Qian was going to do.
Helplessly, he shook his head and entered the elevator.
What a failure as a dad… Time to find my wife for some comfort.
