Chapter 131: The Surviving Xu Zhou, The Annihilated Coffin Nail Team
Lin Qian left with Ye Zhen and Li Jun.
Yang Jian stood in place, looking at the music box in his hand.
Ghost controllers kept appearing from behind him.
Cao Yang, Li Lepeng, Jiang Shangbai, and Xiong Wenwen walked out of the meeting room and stood behind Yang Jian.
Fang Shiming walked out of the meeting room, with Liu San, Wang Chaling, and Shen Lin beside him.
“Jiang Shangbai, act fully under Yang Jian’s command.”
Hearing Fang Shiming’s words, Jiang Shangbai nodded.
“With Xiong Wenwen here, it will be stable and there won’t be any problems.”
Yang Jian put away the music box.
“Yang Jian, if the intelligence is correct, you should only have controlled two ghosts,” Li Lepeng said.
“No.”
Yang Jian shook his head, “That was before.”
“Before?” Li Lepeng was stunned.
The next moment, Li Lepeng’s pupils contracted slightly.
Jiang Shangbai understood.
The expressions of the ghost controllers who walked out of the meeting room changed.
Fang Shiming’s expression was calm.
Cao Yang cursed inwardly, “Pervert.”
Yang Jian took out a golden box from somewhere and opened it.
a pale hand appeared, and Yang Jian grabbed it.
A strange scene occurred; Yang Jian’s hand detached abruptly, and then, the pale hand was directly attached to his.
Yang Jian reached out, picked up his detached hand, put it into the golden box, and then closed it.
“There are three now.”
Yang Jian flexed his hand. “Let’s go.”
Since Lin Qian said that thing had a method to temporarily deal with ghost messengers, it shouldn’t be wrong.
And Lin Qian said that thing was afraid of ghost messengers and starving ghosts.
Jiang Shangbai didn’t speak and followed.
Li Lepeng, Cao Yang, and Xiong Wenwen also quickly followed.
“Let’s go too.”
Fang Shiming tidied his sleeves and stepped forward.
Shen Lin, carrying an axe, followed with large strides.
Wang Chaling lowered his eyebrows and followed without speaking.
Liu San, with a sallow complexion, seemed to float as he walked.
Soon, a new team emerged.
Feng Quan, Tong Qian, Zhong Shan, Guo Fan, and several veteran ghost controllers.
The group quickly rushed towards the place where the starving ghost was previously detained.
The remaining ghost controllers formed their own teams and dispersed to various locations.
The Ghost Painting had completely pulled Da Jing City into the world of the Ghost Painting.
Thus, they saw the true Ghost Painting.
Eerie, inverted buildings.
Roads without patterns.
Strange arrangements.
“Is this the Ghost Painting?”
Li Jun stood beside Lin Qian.
“It’s truly eerie.”
Li Jun took out a cigarette and lit it.
The current Da Jing City made him feel very uncomfortable.
Too many ghosts.
“What do we do?”
Ye Zhen rubbed his hands.
“No rush for now, the source of the Ghost Painting is very special.”
A mask appeared in Lin Qian’s hand.
He covered his face with the mask.
Instantly, the Ghost Eye opened.
Lin Qian scanned his surroundings.
“What are you looking for?” Ye Zhen asked, puzzled.
Lin Qian smiled, “Looking for one of my members.”
Suddenly, Lin Qian sensed the medium he had left behind.
Instantly, Lin Qian smiled. “Still alive.”
Ye Zhen became more confused.
Li Jun was also bewildered.
But the next moment, Lin Qian reached out and drew a line forward.
A terrifying supernatural phenomenon flashed by.
A small path filled with eerie winds immediately appeared.
Paper ash swirled wildly on the path.
Soon, the two saw a figure at the end of the path.
The figure was wearing a black death robe.
Behind its neck grew a hideous, pitch-black ghost eye.
The figure seemed to be struggling against something.
But suddenly, the ghost eye behind its neck twitched, as if it had seen them.
Instinctively, an attack came.
But a strange thing happened.
The figure seemed to recognize one of them, and the supernatural attack quietly disappeared.
Immediately after, the person grabbed something and then turned, walking onto the path.
Ye Zhen and Li Jun clearly saw that the person was holding a ghost in their hand.
But this ghost visibly merged into the person’s body.
The figure walked amidst the swirling paper ash.
The strong wind billowed its clothes.
The figure quickened its pace.
Soon, it emerged from the path.
It was a man, his expression numb, but with a spark in his eyes, a man possessing terrifying supernatural power.
“A master!” Ye Zhen immediately sensed that this person was a master.
Lin Qian smiled, “Good, still alive.”
The man instantly appeared beside Lin Qian.
“I thought I would need some time to come find you.”
The man grinned, “But you came to me.”
“Call me President,” Lin Qian said.
Without hesitation, Xu Zhou immediately called out, earnestly and sincerely, “President!”
Lin Qian didn’t ask about the others because he sensed the ghost within Xu Zhou.
A completely deadlocked ghost.
“It must have been hard,” Lin Qian asked.
Xu Zhou nodded, then shook his head. “Before I killed them, it was indeed hard.”
“But after killing them, I wasn’t that tired anymore.”
Xu Zhou was very calm, and when he spoke of killing his teammates, he seemed to have no burden.
“They wanted to kill me, even that dead child did.”
“Before killing them, I led them through three Ghost Paintings.”
“But in the end, they changed.”
“So, I killed them and took the deadlocked ghosts from within them.”
“I obtained a complete ghost, and with this ghost, I repeatedly fought against fierce ghosts and controlled them.”
“Finally, with the help of a notebook, I brought all the ghosts within me into balance.”
“However, that notebook wanted to take my body.”
“I threw it to a ghost that I couldn’t contend with.”
Xu Zhou calmly narrated his experiences during this time.
He spoke very casually and calmly, as if he were just talking about what he ate that morning.
But the danger involved was unimaginable to ordinary people.
Lin Qian patted Xu Zhou’s shoulder. “It’s good that you’re alive.”
“I couldn’t take you away before, but now I can.”
Xu Zhou nodded.
He wasn’t overly excited.
Surviving within the Ghost Painting had long since made him lose too many emotions.
“How about we have a fight?” Ye Zhen eagerly looked at Xu Zhou.
Xu Zhou’s numb eyes shifted slightly, looking at Ye Zhen.
Then he looked at Lin Qian.
Lin Qian glanced at Ye Zhen. “Don’t talk nonsense.”
“You’ll have a chance to act later.”
Then he looked at Li Jun. “Later, I will draw out the source of the Ghost Painting.”
“If you notice anything wrong, immediately take Xu Zhou and leave. After that, don’t hesitate; take as many people from this city as you can.”
Lin Qian’s expression was grave.
“Is the Ghost Painting that terrifying?” Li Jun asked, confused.
“The Ghost Painting isn’t terrifying; the terrifying thing is the ghosts within the Ghost Painting.”
Lin Qian gestured around, ghosts were appearing.
Ghost controllers were already fighting fierce ghosts.
But most ghost controllers couldn’t contend with the ghosts within the Ghost Painting.
“Prepare for the worst.”
Lin Qian looked at Li Jun. “Ghost messengers aren’t easy to deal with, and neither are starving ghosts.”
“It’s still uncertain whether the coffin nails can be obtained. You need to understand that the starving ghost didn’t escape on its own; it was released.”
“This means there’s another existence behind the scenes.”
Lin Qian said, without elaborating.
“Watch from the side.”
Then he looked at Xu Zhou. “Stay here with him.”
“President, I can help,” Xu Zhou said calmly.
“With my current strength, defeating him is no problem.”
“It only takes one second,” Xu Zhou said, glancing at Li Jun.
Lin Qian smiled, his grim smile looking extremely chilling.
“Xu Zhou, it’s not that your strength is too weak; it’s that what we’re about to face is too terrifying.”
Lin Qian looked ahead, his smile slowly fading from the corner of his mouth. “Da Jing City, three supernatural events. At this stage, the most terrifying thing isn’t the Ghost Painting, nor the Ghost Painting itself.”
“It’s one ghost.”
“Ye Zhen, you fight the Ghost Painting.”
“I’ll fight the ghost you encountered in Da Chang City before.”
“What do you think?”
Ye Zhen heard this. “That ghost is here too?”
“Of course.”
He knew very well whether the Wish Ghost had come.
It definitely had.
And it had been inside the Ghost Painting for a long time.
The other party was waiting for him.
Ye Zhen’s expression changed.
Moreover, he had been inside the Ghost Painting long ago.
The opponent was just waiting for him.
Ye Zhen’s expression changed.
He stared grimly, thinking for a moment.
“Alright.”
Lin Qian nodded.
Li Jun wanted to ask something else.
But the next moment, he realized that besides him, the other three all looked up at the strange wheat field wilderness ahead.
That withered yellow wheat field looked ordinary, but ghosts were wandering within it.
But the next second.
The wheat field was abruptly covered by a thick gray mist.
Immediately after, a strange woman emerged from the gray mist.
“Is that the source of the Ghost Painting?”
“What a grand display!”
Within the gray mist, figures appeared and disappeared; in the sky, illusory cities could be faintly seen flashing by.
But each time they flashed, a figure would fall from the sky.
Those were ghosts.
“Interesting.”
“Ye Zhen, go. You can go all out now, as long as it doesn’t affect this area.”
“Don’t let the other party bring ghosts into here.”
The Ghost Painting had enveloped Da Jing City, so this was a city.
If the Ghost Painting brought fierce ghosts into the city, things would become troublesome.
“No problem.”
Ye Zhen stepped forward, instantly appearing in the sky above the wheat field.
He overlooked the gray mist below, emitting a dazzling radiance.
“Today, I, Ye Zhen, will forge the path of invincibility here!”
Lin Qian: “…”
All Ghost Controllers in Da Jing City looked up at Ye Zhen at this moment.
The figure enveloped in light spoke words that spread throughout the entire Ghost Painting.
Yang Jian looked at the figure, “Is that Ye Zhen?”
“Stay calm, Ye Zhen is like this. He’s capable of doing such things.”
Jiang Shangbai said calmly, “With Ye Zhen making a move, the situation over there is likely quite troublesome too.”
“After all, only with a grand spectacle does this Chuunibyou cause such a stir.”
When Ye Zhen fought Director Fang before, he didn’t cause such a scene.
His current high-profile appearance clearly indicates Ye Zhen believes he has encountered an equally matched, or even stronger, opponent.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t act this way.
“Yang Jian, we’d better hurry. Our objective isn’t to detain the Ghost Messengers, but to temporarily restrict them.”
“Understood.”
Yang Jian wasted no words and quickly led a few people towards the training base.
Without a Ghost Domain, they could only travel on foot.
“This idiot.”
Fang Shiming looked up, expressing his disdain.
“Is there still no movement from over there?”
Fang Shiming asked Liu San.
Liu San shook his head, “They are still heading to where the Starving Ghost was previously detained.”
“Just wait. This ghost will eventually grow to a point where even coffin nails can’t restrain it.”
Shen Lin propped up his axe, looking down at the Starving Ghost wandering on the street below.
Truly a terrifying ghost. Those pitch-black eyes seemed to see where fierce ghosts would appear.
The ghost waited there directly, waiting for fierce ghosts to appear, then directly grabbed and swallowed them.
They all witnessed the Starving Ghost, without a Ghost Domain, eating other ghosts.
“Can a ghost like this be restrained by a single coffin nail?”
Liu San expressed doubt.
Fang Shiming stared at the ghost, “Hope they hurry.”
Fang Shiming’s side wasn’t in a hurry because they needed to wait for the result of the coffin nail.
If the coffin nail was still in place, they could secure one victory.
Then they could go help deal with the other two ghosts.
If not, they would have to brace themselves and fight.
At this moment, at Headquarters.
Wang Xiao Ming was closely monitoring the movements of all the Ghost Controllers.
“Professor Wang, Squad Fifteen has been wiped out.”
Lu Zhiwen, the captain hidden at Headquarters, no longer concealed himself and appeared beside Wang Xiao Ming, taking over Li Jun’s duties.
“Which one is it now?” Wang Xiao Ming asked with a grave expression.
“It’s the fifth one.” Lu Zhiwen said.
Five squads had been wiped out.
These Ghost Controllers did not die at the source of the Ghost Painting, but at the hands of the fierce ghosts that appeared.
“How are the evacuation arrangements proceeding?”
Wang Xiao Ming asked.
“The evacuation of civilians is underway, but its effect is limited.”
Ghosts killing people doesn’t require much effort; triggering a pattern directly leads to death.
When one dies, a large group follows.
“Yang Jian has entered the training base.”
Wang Xiao Ming heard this and said, “Yang Jian’s success rate is around fifty percent.”
“Lin Qian won’t let Yang Jian go to his death.”
“What’s the situation with Fang Shiming’s group?”
Since Yang Jian had already arrived, Fang Shiming, who could lead people out of the Ghost Painting, should have arrived earlier as well.
“They have reached the vicinity of the Starving Ghost and are currently waiting for news about the coffin nail.”
Wang Xiao Ming rubbed his face, “What about Feng Quan and the others?”
Lu Zhiwen frowned upon hearing this, “We don’t know the situation yet. I can’t contact them.”
Hearing this, Wang Xiao Ming closed his eyes.
“Notify Fang Shiming. Tell them to try detaining the Starving Ghost. There’s no need to wait for the coffin nail.”
Without a doubt, Feng Quan and the others had met with misfortune.
Lu Zhiwen quickly contacted Fang Shiming and his group.
At this moment, Fang Shiming sighed, “Let’s go. No need to wait.”
Liu San’s eyes narrowed slightly. His clone had lost contact.
It had only just happened.
But Fang Shiming had already received the news.
Was it from Headquarters?
“It looks like we’ll have to go all out next,” Shen Lin said, picking up his axe, his gaze flickering.
“From now on, no one should hold back, or don’t blame others for not saving you if you die.”
Fang Shiming gave a reminder.
“Our goal this time is only to attempt detention. If we can’t detain it, we’ll leave directly and go support the other teams.”
“We don’t have time to waste.”
Fang Shiming cast a cold glance at Wang Chaling and Liu San.
Wang Chaling remained silent. Liu San was quiet for a moment, then nodded.
The four stopped wasting words, each displaying their abilities and heading towards the Starving Ghost.
Meanwhile, at the place where the Starving Ghost was being detained.
Feng Quan’s eyes widened, “What a joke!”
Bang~!
A rusty coffin nail directly pierced his head.
A person holding a newspaper slowly walked over. His expressionless eyes swept over Feng Quan’s pierced head, then tilted to look beside him.
Tong Qian had lost her face, kneeling on the ground.
Zhong Shan’s body folded backward, also having lost his face.
The remaining Ghost Controllers had all lost their face skin, their deaths gruesome.
The person holding the newspaper retracted his gaze, looked up at the sky, and a strange smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
But soon, the red newspaper covered the smile.
Then, a strange and chilling scene appeared.
