Chapter 99: My Name Is Lin Qian; When You See This Message, I Am Already Dead
Ghost Cabinet, one of the Ghost Bride’s puzzle pieces, a supernatural item that knows it is a ghost, knows what it is, and knows most of the secrets from the Republic of China period.
Speculation suggests that the Ghost Cabinet might be the remnant of the Ghost Bride’s consciousness transformation.
There is also speculation that the Ghost Cabinet independently birthed its own consciousness.
The specific situation is unknown.
Lin Qian knows how to transact with the Ghost Cabinet.
He walked to the cabinet, and on top of the cabinet were three very ordinary old items: a bottle of long-dried ink, an exquisite Republic of China period pen, and a small notebook.
Lin Qian picked up the notebook. He had brought his own pen, so he didn’t need to look for one. He very straightforwardly wrote a passage on it.
“Have the Human Skin Paper give me a method to become an anomaly that causes all the fierce ghosts in my body to crash, with no concealment whatsoever, no traps appearing, and this method must guarantee my survival.”
Lin Qian looked at the passage he had written, thinking about what he might have missed.
The Human Skin Paper tells only the truth, but truths combined can become lies.
“My survival…”
Lin Qian looked at the last words he had written.
The me that survives, is it really me?
Is it certain it’s not a ghost with my memories?
Erase his memories, then copy new ones out, that would work too.
Whether this copied memory is really him still needs verification.
Lin Qian pondered for a long time, then added a sentence after this passage.
“And I must still be me.”
But Lin Qian always felt it wasn’t safe enough, that something was still missing.
The ballpoint pen spun in his hand as Lin Qian looked at the passage on the notebook.
After thinking for a long time, Lin Qian silently crossed out this passage.
Then he rewrote:
“Have the Human Skin Paper give me a method to become an anomaly, absolutely successful, with no concealment, no traps, no schemes or tricks.”
“At the same time, I must still be alive, alive in the form of an anomaly.”
“I must still be me.”
After writing this, Lin Qian tore off the paper, put the notebook back in its original place, and used supernatural means to erase the traces of the text he had written.
Then, he stuffed the paper into the cabinet.
As soon as the paper was stuffed in, a force immediately pulled it, as if something had grabbed it directly inside, and it disappeared instantly.
Lin Qian didn’t pay attention.
He quietly waited.
About ten seconds passed.
The paper slid out from the gap and fell to the ground.
Lin Qian picked it up to check and found that at the bottom of the paper, in black handwriting, crookedly written, was a passage:
Give me that ghost you just obtained, and I will have the Human Skin Paper give you this method.
Seeing this passage, Lin Qian’s eyes flickered slightly. The ghost he had just obtained.
Was it the Ghost Performer’s puzzle piece?
No, the ghost he had just obtained was the one that Ye Zhen had helped hammer into a crash.
That was the source of an S-level supernatural event, a genuine S-level fierce ghost. Wang Xiaoqiang and Lu Lin named the supernatural event caused by that ghost ‘Plague’.
And that ghost’s code name naturally became ‘Plague Ghost’.
After sorting it out, Lin Qian looked at this cabinet. “Want an S-level fierce ghost?”
That fierce ghost had already crashed. Even if he didn’t control it, giving it to one of his members to control would be an excellent thing.
Joking aside, once that ghost is controlled, the ghost controller created would be a top-level one, with the strength to hard-counter S-level supernatural events.
A-level supernatural events wouldn’t stand a chance against him.
Use such a ghost to exchange for a method to become an anomaly?
Worth it?
Lin Qian pondered.
After a long silence, Lin Qian removed his Ghost Mask, and the mask quickly disappeared from his hand.
Da Jiang City, inside the club.
Lin Qian appeared in the storeroom and silently took away a ghost.
Afterward, in Da Chang City, in the room where the Ghost Cabinet was, Lin Qian’s body was suddenly torn open.
Immediately after, a Lin Qian wearing a Ghost Mask crawled out from the corpse.
Lin Qian glanced at the gutted corpse. The corpse was faceless and fell to the ground.
He felt it was somewhat strange—crawling out gutted from his own corpse felt very odd.
But he didn’t pay attention.
Ghost Domain opened, and an illusory opera stage appeared.
He reached out and grabbed, pulling a eerie corpse out from the opera stage.
The opera stage had a supernatural space that could briefly detain fierce ghosts.
But the terror level of the detained ghost couldn’t exceed the total of his own supernatural terror, or it would counter-suppress him.
It was fortunate that this ghost had already crashed; otherwise, he couldn’t even put it into the opera stage.
The fierce ghost was taken out, and Lin Qian directly threw it in front of the Ghost Cabinet.
He wanted to see if this was the ghost the Ghost Cabinet wanted.
It was just an S-level fierce ghost. As long as he was still alive, he could piece together such ghosts even using ones with lower terror levels.
Time slowly passed.
Suddenly.
A bloody smell strangely appeared in the room.
Then Lin Qian discovered that dark red blood began flowing from the gaps in the Ghost Cabinet’s cabinet.
The blood increased, flooding most of the room.
Lin Qian stood at the doorway. The moment the blood touched the fierce ghost on the ground.
Something strange happened—the fierce ghost began to sink.
Extremely fast, as if afraid the ghost would fly away. In just over ten seconds, the ghost fully sank into the blood.
Then the blood rapidly receded.
Soon, the anomaly disappeared.
Lin Qian narrowed his eyes slightly, looking at the Ghost Cabinet.
The Ghost Cabinet fell silent. After waiting nearly a few minutes, there was no movement.
Lin Qian wasn’t anxious; he was very patient.
After a few more minutes, suddenly, a photo and a note appeared from the cabinet’s gap.
Lin Qian frowned, approached, and reached to pick up the photo and note. But the moment he touched them, a smear of blood-red blood instantly sank into his skin.
“What?”
He quickly checked his body and found no abnormality.
He thought for a moment and immediately understood the situation.
This was the guarantee from the Ghost Cabinet.
The transaction was complete; he just needed to ask the Human Skin Paper for the method to become an anomaly.
Under the Ghost Cabinet’s guarantee, the method from the Human Skin Paper wouldn’t have any schemes, tricks, or traps.
Thinking of this, Lin Qian felt slightly reassured and looked at the photo and note.
The photo showed a Republic of China period woman, black-and-white photo, wearing a qipao, with a folded fan covering her face.
Judging from her figure alone, she was a beauty.
Lin Qian looked at the note again, puzzled. Could the Ghost Cabinet want him to find this woman?
But soon, he knew he was overthinking.
The crooked black handwriting on the note didn’t tell him to find that woman.
Instead:
Within three months, find the red fan in the photo, then give it to me.
It was that fan.
“Red fan?”
Lin Qian looked at the photo—black-and-white photo, the only colors he saw were black and white.
“Red one? Ghost Bride’s puzzle piece?”
Lin Qian stroked his chin, put away the photo and note, turned, opened his Ghost Domain, and left the room.
Outside, the residential community was brightly lit, especially one villa.
It seemed like this could give them a sense of security.
But actually, it had no effect.
Inside the villa.
Splash~!
“Completely defeated.”
In the bathroom, warm water rushed down, and Yang Jian couldn’t help but sigh.
He looked at his body. At some point, some areas of skin had started turning bluish-black, especially his nearby shoulder where the fourth-stage Ghost Infant had grabbed, leaving a clear dark bruise handprint. This handprint was exactly like the one on Wang Shanshan’s wrist back then, just a bit larger.
The appearance of the handprint meant he was also cursed.
“In my current state, contacting the fourth-stage Ghost Infant again would be a dead end.”
Yang Jian rubbed his bruised shoulder, looking at the bluish-black handprint that wouldn’t wash off, his face very grave.
“The curse has imprinted on my body. Although the Ghost Eye’s power might dispel it, I’m afraid I can’t bear the cost of using the Ghost Eye now. Though no ghost has come yet, it’s only a matter of time. But I have the Ghost Mirror, so I have a chance of revival.”
Thinking of the Ghost Mirror.
Yang Jian glanced at a small golden box placed next to the bathroom.
Inside was that dark brown Human Skin Paper.
This Human Skin Paper recorded a very dangerous method of controlling fierce ghosts. Before, he wouldn’t consider using it no matter what, but now, at the end of the road, any method was worth trying.
Moreover, Lin Qian had said he could try it.
He stared at this Human Skin Paper for a long time.
For some reason, Yang Jian had a strange feeling.
The text revealed on this Human Skin Paper seemed to subtly lure him down the path it had laid out.
It showed future events, which he rejected at the time, but at some moment, the result matched exactly what it revealed.
Was it psychological suggestion as science says, or could it really predict the future?
Or perhaps, it could control your future.
“Rest for a few days first, build the safe house, prepare the escape route, then consider trying it.” Yang Jian finally looked away, not looking at the Human Skin Paper anymore.
Although this thing was very eerie, not many people knew of its existence.
Zhang Wei, Wang Shanshan, Miao Xiaoshan, and other surviving classmates had all seen it, but they didn’t think much about it. Jiang Yan had seen it too.
But this thing absolutely couldn’t be known to Wang Xiao Ming.
Wang Xiao Ming’s research on fierce ghosts was deep. For one Ghost Coffin, he even altered files to prevent news from reaching abroad, meaning the Ghost Coffin’s existence might have the ability to change the current situation. But this Human Skin Paper was even more special; so far, it was the only harmless ghost temporarily beneficial to the user.
Yang Jian finished showering and walked out of the bathroom, but suddenly, his Ghost Eye snapped open, staring dead at the sofa.
There, a person was sitting.
The other was facing away from him, legs crossed, leaning on the sofa, holding something in hand and looking at it, like a newspaper.
Yang Jian’s heart chilled; this scene was extremely familiar to him.
“The fierce ghost is about to revive, yet you open the Ghost Eye so frequently. Yang Jian, you don’t seem afraid of death.”
A familiar voice rang out, and Yang Jian instantly recognized who it belonged to.
The Ghost Eye quickly retracted, and Yang Jian looked surprised at that back figure, soon arriving in front of the sofa.
One look, and sure enough, it was him.
“President?”
“Didn’t you say on the phone earlier that you couldn’t come?”
It was Lin Qian.
The person least likely to appear in Da Chang City was now in Guan Jiang Residential Community.
And right in front of him.
Lin Qian put down the newspaper.
“I’m here for something.”
“Due to some special circumstances, I can’t act. Everything still depends on you.”
“Moreover, Ye Zhen was intercepted outside Da Chang City. Once I’m done here, I’ll head over.”
“Ye Zhen? Who?”
Yang Jian sat down, casually placing the box in his hand on the table, and wiped his wet hair with a towel.
“Sea Market, Supernatural Forum, President, Ye Zhen.”
“He’s not a low-key person; everyone in the circle knows him.”
“Da Jiang City’s supernatural event has been resolved. I teamed up with Ye Zhen and Circle of Friends’ Fang Shiming to handle Da Jiang City’s supernatural event.”
“Da Jiang City now has less than one in ten survivors, almost no different from being overrun.”
“Your Da Chang City situation is much better than Da Jiang City now.”
Lin Qian explained.
Yang Jian was stunned. “So, President, although you’ve come, you’ll leave once your business is done?”
Lin Qian nodded.
“Can I ask why you can’t act?” Yang Jian asked.
Lin Qian shook his head. “Can’t. Everyone has their own path to walk, and you’re no exception.”
“Long story short, let me tell you my purpose first.”
With that, Lin Qian pointed at the box Yang Jian had placed on the table.
“I want to borrow your Human Skin Paper to look at, only here, and give it back after.”
“Of course, as exchange, I can answer some of your questions, those I can answer.”
“What I know and can tell you, I definitely will.”
Hearing this, Yang Jian’s hand wiping his hair paused slightly.
He looked at the box on the table.
“President, you should know some of the Human Skin Paper’s effects.”
“Since you know, then I have a question.”
“The President has the ability to make fierce ghosts dormant. Logically, you don’t need the Human Skin Paper.”
Lin Qian shook his head upon hearing this. “I made a wrong choice. To pursue higher terror level of the supernatural in my body ghost, I used a dormant ghost as a puzzle piece for a revived ghost.”
“This caused the revived ghost in my body to become extremely terrifying. Once suppression is lost, it will instantly revive.”
“At full count, I have five ghosts on me now.”
“Among them, one is dormant and not used by me as a puzzle piece for revival. One is used for suppression and has no abilities. The other three are all revived.”
The Ghost Messenger’s suppression power is just suppression power. Without encountering the Ghost Messenger, it won’t revive.
The crashed ghost is the Faceless Ghost on the Faceless Person.
He didn’t use it as a puzzle piece to increase the revived ghost’s terror level.
Three revived ghosts: Ghost Performer, Killer Ghost, Ice Ghost.
All three ghosts’ terror levels have reached S-level, with the weakest being the Killer Ghost.
Next is the Ice Ghost.
His paper strength is extremely terrifying now.
Actual combat strength is too.
But once he encounters a ghost he can’t handle and can’t escape.
Then what?
He doesn’t dare use the Ghost Messenger’s suppression power to suppress the other ghosts.
With his current strength, going to Taiping Ancient Town would probably still flip the car.
Wanting to instantly kill He Liansheng is very difficult; He Liansheng isn’t He Yin’er.
The opponent is extremely seasoned; soul summoning speed at the limit is extremely fast.
Hearing this, Yang Jian’s gaze sharpened. Five ghosts?
One for suppressing the revived ghost, one crashed, three revived.
“President, your current strength…”
Lin Qian waved his hand. “Can only say, very strong.”
Yang Jian fell silent.
He didn’t speak, just pushed the box over.
Lin Qian didn’t stand on ceremony, reached out to pick it up and open it, revealing the brown Human Skin Paper inside.
He picked up the Human Skin Paper, and the text on it instantly disappeared at that moment.
“Ask it what you want to know, and it will give an answer, but be careful—the answer it gives might contain traps.”
Yang Jian reminded. “Don’t fully believe what’s on it.”
Lin Qian didn’t speak, just looked at the Human Skin Paper.
After the text disappeared, new text quickly emerged.
The first sentence at the beginning made Lin Qian’s gaze chill.
“My name is Lin Qian. When you see this sentence, I am already dead…”
