Mysterious Awakening

"Time’s up."

Half an hour passed quickly, and Yang Jian took note of the time. As soon as it was up, he immediately spoke up.

It wasn’t that he cared about one or two minutes, what he cared about was that the longer Wang Xiaoming researched, the more reliant he would become on the people-skin paper. Once he felt that the benefits brought by the people-skin paper far outweighed the cost, there was a chance that Wang Xiaoming would forcefully keep it, regardless of the consequences.

His words brought Wang Xiaoming, who was sitting not far away on the ground, back to his senses. He looked up and then said, "The method you use to control the fierce ghosts came from this?"

"What did it tell you?" Yang Jian asked.

"Everything I wanted to know."

Wang Xiaoming slowly closed the people-skin paper: "It’s indeed very special. I’ve never encountered a supernatural item like this people-skin paper."

"But right now I can’t be certain whether the information on it is true or not. This will take some time to verify."

"So what do you mean?" Yang Jian asked.

Yang Jian’s gaze flickered slightly, and from his ambiguous words, it wasn’t difficult to infer that this guy had obtained an enormous amount of information from the people-skin paper.

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After all, the dense writings that previously covered the people-skin paper were the best proof.

Since the people-skin paper tried to convince Wang Xiaoming, it would inevitably reveal plenty, and valuable, intelligence, a point Yang Jian was very sure of.

"But now, my need for it is no longer that strong, the direction is already clear, and just that is enough. If I continue to follow the guidance of the information on it, perhaps I will also fall into its trap, and that is not allowed to happen, so this is enough."

After Wang Xiaoming finished speaking, he threw the box containing the people-skin paper over.

"It seems you’ve also developed a wariness of it," Yang Jian said with a light smile after catching it.

"Not wariness, but fear, fear of the future."

Wang Xiaoming’s face was expressionless, hiding his emotions very well.

"Since that’s the case, then this trade is considered complete. I think it’s getting late now, and I should be leaving," Yang Jian said.

Wang Xiaoming did not speak.

Cao Yanhua, standing nearby, immediately said, "You’re not allowed to leave J city within a week. If you want to leave after that, you have to report to the headquarters. Everything else I can tolerate."

"I understand. And don’t forget about my overtime fees, deputy director. Send the items to the Ping’an Hotel where I’m staying within three days. As for this place... which item I will take from here will be decided after I think it over and notify the deputy director," Yang Jian said.

He did not linger any longer.

He did not like this repressive and gloomy environment, so as soon as he finished his business, Yang Jian left immediately.

Cao Yanhua frowned deeply as he saw Yang Jian leave: "He wants to use the condition of recovering Coffin Nail in exchange for giving up competing for the team leader position, which presents us with a difficult problem."

Although Yang Jian promised to give up becoming the team leader, the condition was quite harsh.

Extracting Coffin Nail carried huge risks.

That was evident as Yang Jian did not allow Jang Shangbai’s plan at the previous meeting, which showed his concern, and therefore proposing such a condition seemed to be an implicit rejection.

"I think it is a fair exchange," Wang Xiaoming calmly said. "He resolved an S-level supernatural event, so the headquarters naturally have to offer something of corresponding value. However, it seems like the headquarters got a better deal because, after all, Coffin Nail was originally discovered by him. It’s understandable that he wouldn’t want the item to end up in others’ hands."

"Yang Jian’s previous concerns were normal. If the people from the friend circle got it, it might lead to very bad consequences," Cao Yanhua said with a wry smile. "Of course I know that. After all, we can’t let the friend circle dominate everything. Otherwise, why would I have allowed Yang Jian and Jang Shangbai to start their argument during the meeting? Even though it left him in a weaker position for a while, he’s the only one who dared to oppose the people from the friend circle, which is why I think Yang Jian is very suitable to be the team leader."

"If he becomes the team leader, it could play a very important role in maintaining the strategic balance."

"Let’s drop this topic. You didn’t have any problems after touching that people-skin paper a while ago, did you?" Cao Yanhua abruptly changed the subject and asked.

Wang Xiaoming replied, "No problems, just a bit tired. Remembering a large amount of information in a short time is quite draining."

"Then you should go back and rest early. I still need to get back to work," Cao Yanhua said.

"Mhm."

Soon, the group of people left the scene.

However, Cao Yanhua was somewhat concerned. Which supernatural item would Yang Jian take from here?

After all, if certain items were taken away, they could be very dangerous. He hoped that Yang Jian’s choice would be conservative.

Yang Jian didn’t stay in the headquarters’ rest area. After leaving there, he also left the headquarters, because the following actions had nothing to do with him. He had some matters of his own to attend to. However, when leaving the headquarters, he took a box with him.

That box contained the ghost of Gao Zhiqiang.

Since he had already reached an understanding with Cao Yanhua, it was natural that this thing could not be left here.

In the afternoon.

Yang Jian had already returned to his room at the Ping’an Hotel alone.

He quickly found some paper and a pen and began to record the information about the paranormal items he had come across while at headquarters. Although he had forgotten a lot of things, he still remembered some key items. Although it was just a rough idea, it was enough.

Several months ago, Yang Jian had started to build his own supernatural archives.

Backing up the events and some important items he came across, so that he could review them in his spare time, could increase his chances of survival.

Because Yang Jian also felt that supernatural events were related in certain ways, although the information he had was limited, which made his findings scarce.

As the most direct proof.

It was the incident in Z city.

The owner of the blood-stained old newspaper— the ghost that could manipulate memories—was looking for Ghost Face. It just so happened that Tong Qian’s Ghost Face, as well as the Ghost Face he obtained on the haunted bus, were its targets.

This event was stopped by him, preventing the ghost from obtaining Ghost Face.

But supernatural events were not just one or two incidents.

He thwarted one ghost from obtaining its piece of the puzzle, while others might not necessarily be able to stop them.

So in the end, the number of ghosts finding their puzzle pieces would increase, and the consequence would be the continuous escalation of supernatural events.

And moreover... Yang Jian touched his forehead.

His own ghost eye was also part of the fierce ghost puzzle. Would the tall, dark shadow nailed to the tree by the Coffin Nail come one day seeking this piece of the puzzle?

Although he had temporarily solved the problem of the fierce ghost’s resurrection and the deterioration of his body, the sense of urgency in Yang Jian’s heart never relaxed. He couldn’t stop. Only by staying ahead of the ghosts could he survive. Once he stopped, the only outcome would be despair and death. It was a road of no return.

The day ended quickly.

But that evening, at the very top floor of Ping’an Tower, a small meeting was convened.

People in the circle knew that Ping’an Tower was funded by a group of capitalists from the friends’ circle. While its purpose was to accommodate the family members of spirit wardens at headquarters, it also served as a regular meeting place for some in the friends’ circle.

"What? So much happened at the daytime meeting at headquarters? Gao Zhiqiang was actually killed by that Yang Jian right there in the headquarters?" At the start of the friends’ circle meeting, someone was shocked after hearing the news.

"Damn it, the Captain’s plan had just started, and we lost someone important in a confused mess, right on our side. And that was a very important person. Someone dared to take action in the headquarters, and no one stopped this behavior? There should have been quite a few of us there at the time, right?" someone complained, puffing on a cigarette.

"How could you stop a conflict that ended within a few minutes? And who would dare to stop? That guy is Ghost Eye Yang Jian. The Ghost Envoy incident a few days ago was handled by him personally. He fished out Wang Xiaoming, Li Jun, Feng Quan, and a bunch of others. Yang Jian of today is no longer some naive kid from the countryside. I had a confrontation with him at the meeting table, and he was ready to jump over and finish me off."

At the meeting table, Jang Shangbai was also in a bad mood, his face dark the entire time.

After all, he had a belly full of anger that he wasn’t able to vent out during the day.

"How did the headquarters deal with this matter? Killing a spirit warden within headquarters, Cao Yanhua couldn’t just say nothing, could he?" asked a slightly overweight middle-aged man in a suit, frowning.

"What else could they do but give him a penalty of three drinks? Since he had just made a merit, punishing Yang Jian at that time would be killing the man’s heart, wouldn’t it?" said Jang Shangbai. "Gao Zhiqiang died for nothing."

"I think Cao Yanhua wants to use this Yang Jian to suppress our friends’ circle." The middle-aged man spoke with a grave voice while smoking, "He wants to balance the powers, and Yang Jian is a good knife in his hand—an impulsive young man with little wit, Cao Yanhua will surely make use of him."

"Perhaps."

Jang Shangbai said, "But whether he’s impulsive or not I don’t know. What I do know is that he poses a great threat, and a lot of people supported him when I had a confrontation with him: Li Jun, Feng Quan, Cao Yang, and that Zong Shan."

"Zong Shan? Shen Liang’s person?" someone exclaimed softly.

"Yes."

"This complicates things. It seems they all tacitly agree with Yang Jian’s rise, trying to curry favor. It’s a signal, and this proves that Yang Jian must be one of the candidates considered in the Captain’s plan."

Beside the meeting table.

The tall and attractive woman, Li Yao, was keeping a tense face while paying attention to the contents being discussed at the meeting table.

She also didn’t expect that these big shots from the friends’ circle would convene a meeting specifically to discuss Yang Jian’s affairs. But it seemed that it wasn’t a good thing; instead, it was a dangerous sign.

Everything discussed in the meeting proved that Yang Jian had become a menace to the friends’ circle and was hindering their interests.