Mysterious Revival

"What time is it now?"

In the underground fifth floor of the laboratory, Wang Xiaoming had just woken up. After washing his face, he heated a packet of emergency food with an alcohol lamp and asked while eating.

Wei Jing still stood not far from the experiment room, staring at the movements inside. He was like a corpse, not needing to eat or drink, not needing to sleep, never feeling tired, capable of working non-stop for twenty-four hours.

"It's already eight in the evening. According to the time we determined before, the curse of the Eight-Tone Music Box will erupt in four hours," he answered stiffly, without a hint of emotion in his voice.

"At this time, the operation against the Ghost Painting should have already started," Wang Xiaoming's expression shifted as he continued to eat. "How's Guo Fan's condition?"

"It seems like he fell asleep. He lay down in the Ghost Coffin five hours ago and hasn't moved since. I can't see what's inside," Wei Jing said.

Wang Xiaoming pulled up the surveillance, swiftly scanning through it.

Indeed, five hours earlier, Guo Fan, controlling Yang Jian's body and yawning and stretching, lay down inside the Ghost Coffin.

"Wake him up at eleven if Guo Fan isn't awake by then," Wang Xiaoming frowned.

"Alright," Wei Jing nodded in response.

"What's the situation with Doctor Chen? Is he dead?" Wang Xiaoming asked.

Wei Jing replied, "We confirmed the situation through headquarters earlier. There indeed is a ghost wandering in the building, its danger level unknown. However, Gao Ming has come into contact with the ghost in the building, and the ghost's image was captured on surveillance as well, with the data on the computer next to you, Professor Wang. As for Doctor Chen, he's alive for now."

"Let me take a look."

Wang Xiaoming turned on the computer and saw indeed, there was a new folder.

After opening it, there were surveillance videos and photos that had been processed technically.

In the photos was a corridor of the building, and in this corridor, a child whose skin was blue-black and wearing the shroud of a dead person carried a rotting Dead Man's Head in their hands, looking up at the camera. Those eyes lacked pupils and glowed an eerie red, appearing just like... a pair of Ghost Eyes.

"A Hungry Ghost?" Wang Xiaoming's gaze sharpened.

"Did you look up relevant information?"

Wei Jing answered, "We did. The shroud worn by the ghost is the Ghost Shroud that used to belong to Jang Shangbai. After Jang Shangbai's death, Yang Jian stripped it off of him, and the rotting Dead Man's Head is the ghost left behind by a spirit controller named Liu Dong who died. The ghost of the Dead Man's Head is highly dangerous; a living person can't be stared at by it, otherwise, within a few seconds, the living person would die. Similarly, if a ghost is stared at by the Dead Man's Head, it will be suppressed."

With the gathering of information about spirit controllers as well as other ghosts, the Ghost Child's characteristics were thoroughly understood in many cases.

"Moreover, we've checked Yang Jian's files and found that the appearance of this ghost is almost identical to Yang Jian's when he was a child."

Wang Xiaoming nodded, "I see."

He found a photo of young Yang Jian in the folder and, after comparing it, realized the ghost looked exactly like Yang Jian, only the Ghost Child was a supernatural version of young Yang Jian.

Wang Xiaoming's eyes flickered, "Yang Jian is deliberately nurturing this ghost. He has put other supernatural objects and Ghost Puzzles on this ghost, enhancing its horror. Aside from the ghost's own presence, with that shroud and the Dead Man's Head, just these two ghosts are enough to confront the most top-notch spirit controllers."

"Gao Ming must have suffered after the encounter; otherwise, Doctor Chen wouldn't still be trapped in this building."

"Incredible, truly incredible. I wonder how Yang Jian commands this thing."

The existence of the Ghost Child piqued Wang Xiaoming's interest.

If Yang Jian really could control it, then as the Ghost Puzzles on the ghost increased, it would become an insoluble S-level dangerous ghost in the future.

The most important thing was that this ghost didn't have to worry about the resurrection of dangerous ghosts, because it was a ghost in its own right, with no possibility of resurrection. But control was key.

If uncontrollable, this little ghost would be a potential disaster.

"Do we need to deal with it?"

Seeing Wang Xiaoming silent in thought, Wei Jing, thinking he was concerned, said directly.

Wang Xiaoming's lips revealed a slight smile, "Deal with it? Why would we do that? It's an intriguing existence, a deviant among deviants, a product of clashing supernatural phenomena. It belongs neither to the Hungry Ghosts nor to Yang Jian, and while I don't know how he managed to control this ghost, I'm sure he has been successful. Otherwise, considering the Hungry Ghost's killing pattern, Doctor Chen and the others would be dead by now."

"I didn't expect Yang Jian to have such a trump card up his sleeve; he has indeed given me a surprise."

Wei Jing said, "Professor Wang, this is not the time for research. If Yang Jian has control over this thing, then it will be incredibly dangerous in the future. If it loses control, it could become another S-level supernatural event."

"You also said 'loses control.' What if it doesn't? So there's value in keeping it around. And that thing is not so easy to deal with; no need to take the risk now," Wang Xiaoming assessed the situation calmly and felt that the Ghost Child's value in being kept was greater than the value of destroying it.

"Let headquarters handle the related files; don't let any of it leak out..."

However, while the two were discussing,

Bang! Bang!

Suddenly, a dull thumping sound echoed in the lab. Although the sound was isolated, it still reached the ears of the two men, causing ripples in the alcohol of the alcohol lamp in front of Wang Xiaoming's desk.

Hmm?

Almost at the same time, Wang Xiaoming and Wei Jing looked towards the experiment room.

The sound came from inside, more precisely, from the coffin. Inside that wooden, old coffin, there seemed to be a living person violently struggling, banging against the coffin and creating such a loud disturbance.

"What's happening?" Wei Jing immediately turned to focus on the shaking Ghost Coffin in the room.

Wang Xiaoming once again checked the time. There were still more than three hours until the curse was set to erupt at midnight; it should still be Guo Fan controlling Yang Jian's body at this moment.

"Is there a problem with Guo Fan, or is the timing of the curse's eruption off, happening earlier?" he pondered.

Looking at the Eight-Tone Music Box on the other side,

it was still open, not closed, proving that the curse persisted, undispelled; otherwise, the box would have immediately closed, as it had before.

Bang!

The huge impact continued, and even though the room was well soundproofed, it was still very clear.

The wooden black coffin shook violently, and cracks even appeared in some places as if the Ghost Coffin had reached its limit and was no longer able to contain what was inside.

But the Ghost Coffin had no lid because what imprisoned its contents was not the strength of the coffin itself, but an incomprehensible eerie force. The Ghost Coffin could suppress a ghost, but not a living person.

"Guo Fan, can you hear me? If you can hear me, stand up from inside the Ghost Coffin," Wang Xiaoming said, turning on the walkie-talkie to transmit his voice into the room.

But Guo Fan inside did not respond; the heavy Ghost Coffin continued to shake violently, and the number of cracks on it was increasing. He could even hear the sound of wood splitting.

This way, the Ghost Coffin would completely shatter, destroyed.

"Is it unable to suppress the ghost within Yang Jian's body?" Wang Xiaoming speculated.

He believed that during Guo Fan's rest, Yang Jian's body had undergone some unfathomable eerie change, a change that led to the ghost's revival, which then conflicted with the Ghost Coffin's own power, causing this problem.

As the Ghost Coffin continued to shake, the room underwent another change.

A pale hand suddenly emerged from the pitch-black Ghost Coffin, gripping the edge tightly, clawing into the wood, leaving deep marks.

It seemed as if the person inside was struggling with great force, trying to climb out.

The strength of one hand appeared insufficient; soon after, another hand emerged on the coffin, also gripping the edge tightly, the fingers looking rigid from excessive force.

"It's not Guo Fan struggling; are these two right hands?" Wang Xiaoming's face slightly darkened.

He had studied human anatomy and recognized at a glance that both pale hands grasping the coffin's edge were right hands. Since a living person has only one right hand, the other hand likely belonged to the ghost in Yang Jian's body, or perhaps both hands belonged to the ghost.

This was a sign of revival.

Wei Jing's numb expression also shifted slightly. "Do you want me to go in and check? Pulling Guo Fan out of the Ghost Coffin poses no difficulty for me, and I don't even need physical contact."

After saying this, he glanced at the black, old hemp rope hanging at his waist.

"No need; the curse has not yet reached its critical point, the experiment is still underway. There'd be no point in you going in, even if the ghost in Yang Jian's body really revived, it has to wait until the curse erupts before we restrain it," Wang Xiaoming said quickly and decisively, without a hint of hesitation.

"Continue observing; just make sure Yang Jian doesn't run out of there."

Although the room was specially constructed, he was still somewhat worried about whether it could contain Yang Jian in this state.

The shaking of the Ghost Coffin continued.

But Wang Xiaoming chose to ignore it, continuing to wait for the time to arrive.

As time went on, the movement and anomalies of the Ghost Coffin became increasingly clear.

Before, only two palms were grasping the edge of the coffin, but now the darkness within seemed to be struggling, trying to spill out. Upon observation, it was a person's silhouette — resembling the deceased Yang Jian, but also like another unfamiliar face.

When there was one hour left until the curse erupted,

the room containing the Ghost Coffin seemed to be invaded by supernatural forces; the surrounding environment suddenly darkened, as if enveloped by a layer of darkness, and the cracks on the Ghost Coffin had become more numerous. Many boards were shattered, revealing gaps that were blocked by countless dark hands.

It seemed like an attempt to seal the Ghost Coffin, and at the same time, prevent outsiders from peeping.

As time marched on,

and there was half an hour left until the curse erupted, another strange event occurred.

The eerie spiritual portrait of Yang Jian at the side began to seep fresh blood incessantly, the blood red and viscous, quickly covering the image of Yang Jian, making it impossible to discern his face anymore.

The blood flowed down, soaking through the spiritual portrait,

turning the originally dirty and darkened portrait into a reddened hue, as if painted with a layer of red paint.

The violent shaking of the Ghost Coffin intensified once more, even bouncing off the ground several times. The heavy wood splintered in all directions, the floor littered with broken wood chips; the Ghost Coffin had surpassed its limit of endurance.

Were it not for an incomprehensible supernatural force sustaining it, the Ghost Coffin would have completely fallen apart.

"Incomprehensible anomaly," Wang Xiaoming's heart sank.

This experiment seemed not as simple as he had thought; some unpredictable potential hazards were emerging.

When did it start...

A few hours ago, something went wrong after Guo Fan went to sleep.

At the same time,

on the ground floor of this building,

the Ghost Child, who was holding a Dead Man's Head and walking barefoot through the hallway, suddenly stopped, then cocked its head in a direction.

Immediately after, the Ghost Child ran out quickly towards the front door on the first floor.

It seemed to sense something had invaded the building, invisibly triggering its inherent murderous impulse.