The car drove into a small grove, and the three of them entered a spacious building.
Yang Jian had already grown used to this kind of utterly illogical change of scene, while Lin Bei and Xiaoyuan were long since accustomed to it. Both of them were veterans who had experienced dreams many times.
The three got out of the car.
“Headquarters.”
Yang Jian slowly swept his gaze over their surroundings. This was a large shelter on the third underground level of Headquarters.
“Tap, tap… tap, tap.”
“What’s that sound?” Lin Bei’s expression changed, and he turned to look into the depths of the darkness.
Countless footsteps sounded in the dark. Someone was approaching them.
“Captain Yang, the entrance is gone. We’re trapped.”
Yang Jian said nothing, staring fixedly at a smear of dark red in the darkness.
A woman in red, her features blurred and indistinct, walked out.
Ghost Painting!
Yang Jian recognized those pale arms at a glance. Even now, they still looked eerie.
The footsteps grew denser and denser, and more and more figures emerged from the darkness.
An infant with bluish-black skin, dragging an umbilical cord.
A tall male corpse carrying a coffin on his shoulder.
A dried corpse wearing a red veil and red robes.
Yang Jian even saw himself—a version of himself whose entire face was wrapped in human-skin paper.
The ghosts were drawing closer, and their numbers were still increasing. Countless figures swayed in the darkness, as though they might rush out at any moment and tear the three of them apart.
At that moment, rain actually began to fall from the ceiling.
Xiaoyuan pulled up the hood of her raincoat and asked in confusion, “What are all these things? And those female corpses from before—why couldn’t we kill them no matter how many we killed?”
Yang Jian’s face was grave. “The supernatural incidents I’ve experienced, the ghosts inside my body… these things can be said to be the embodiment of my fears. This dream seems to know what I’m afraid of, and has begun targeting me specifically.”
Gathered here were all the fears Yang Jian had experienced in the past, and the true source ghost of this nightmare might be hidden among them.
“Xiaoyuan, can you tell which one is the real ghost?”
Xiaoyuan shook her head. “I don’t know.”
She took out a dagger.
“Cousin, let’s just do it. If we keep killing, we’ll kill that ghost sooner or later.”
She was a reckless brute, never one to think too much. In this dream, she had always killed anyone she saw.
Yang Jian said nothing. Looking at the crowd of ghosts gradually closing in before him, his expression grew heavier.
The rain from the ceiling gradually intensified, and the floor began to grow damp.
Although the entire shelter level was extremely spacious, the ever-increasing number of ghosts was filling the empty hall.
Lin Bei stood to the side, holding a shard of glass as he said, “Captain Yang, have you thought of any method? With these numbers, they’ll exhaust us to death even if nothing else.”
Yang Jian remained silent, sorting through all the information he had grasped so far.
The world within the dream, the Great Buddha in that mirror space, the collision between two kinds of supernatural forces, and this group of fierce ghosts that kept manifesting.
He was analyzing the crucial point within it all, trying to find a sliver of survival from the two entangled supernatural forces.
Yang Jian had always believed that as long as it was a ghost, it would certainly have rules.
And rules often meant they could be exploited.
Discern the rules of the ghost.
Only ghosts could contend with ghosts.
No matter how terrifying a fierce ghost was, these two iron laws still applied.
Turning his head, a trace of madness flashed through his eyes. “I have an idea. It just depends on whether you dare to try it.”
Lin Bei was stunned by the look in Yang Jian’s eyes. He did not dare imagine what someone with Yang Jian’s personality might do.
Lin Bei asked cautiously, “Will we die?..”
“You sound like you’re talking nonsense.” Yang Jian tightened his grip on the dagger in his hand.
“When facing a supernatural incident, there have never been many choices. That’s true for anyone, myself included.”
“Risk and reward are often directly proportional. In supernatural incidents, survival has always been found by walking toward death. I’ve been through scenes like this several times. It depends on whether you trust me.”
Lin Bei stood there in silence, seeming to make a choice, weighing the pros and cons.
Perhaps because he had become an ordinary person again, Yang Jian, at this moment, inexplicably felt that there were some emotions he wanted to express.
Seeing that Lin Bei was still somewhat hesitant, Yang Jian continued, “Lin Bei, I can tell you’ve been a ghost controller for quite some time. Why are you so timid when it comes to doing anything? The Buddha speaks of delivering all living beings, but has he delivered them?”
“Get out alive, and become your own Buddha.”
Lin Bei was taken aback by Yang Jian’s words.
“Damn it, I’ll risk it.” He raised his head and looked at Yang Jian.
“Captain Yang, from this point on, I’ll trust you completely. Let’s begin.”
“Good.” Yang Jian nodded, then said to Lin Bei, “Take out all the mirrors you have on you.”
Just now, he had heard clinking sounds coming from Lin Bei’s body. It seemed he had searched out quite a few mirrors inside Furen Mall.
Then he turned to Xiaoyuan and said, “Xiaoyuan, hold back these ghostly things. It won’t take too long.”
“Okay.” Xiaoyuan had long since wanted to charge in and start killing wildly. She immediately took out that handgun, gripped a dagger, and rushed forward.
Yang Jian glanced at the gun in Xiaoyuan’s hand. He still felt that something about it was off. The gun’s overall design was extremely harmonious, and its power was greater than any handgun he had seen at Headquarters. If this gun was some kind of privately made civilian weapon, then the craftsmanship was far too exquisite.
But he had no time to think about that now.
Lin Bei had already taken off his overcoat. The inside was filled with bright, gleaming mirror shards.
Looking inward through the mirrors, a Great Buddha was sitting upright in a world within the mirror. Its face was hazy and indistinct, yet it gave the impression that three faces were appearing upon it at the same time.
Yang Jian pointed at the ground beneath them and said:
“Lay the mirrors on the floor.”
Lin Bei nodded and immediately began laying the mirror shards flat on the floor together with Yang Jian.
Although he could not understand what Yang Jian intended to do, since he had decided to trust him, he could not hesitate now.
Piece after piece of mirror was joined together by the two of them.
Yang Jian looked up at Xiaoyuan. Her petite figure leapt among the crowd of ghosts, flipping and shifting, darting and weaving. Every pause was accompanied by a fierce ghost collapsing to the ground.
This cousin of his hid far too many secrets. Her exquisite killing techniques were like those of someone who had undergone professional training. Every movement was clean and efficient, aimed straight at the heads of these fierce ghosts.
And then there was that strange gun…
“Captain Yang, it’s done.”
Lin Bei fitted the final mirror shard into place. On the floor, a mirrored surface had formed, large enough to accommodate the three of them standing on it.
Yang Jian immediately shouted to Xiaoyuan, “Xiaoyuan, come back!”
“Oh, coming.” Xiaoyuan immediately trotted back and tilted her head as she looked at Yang Jian.
“What’s wrong?”
Yang Jian pulled Xiaoyuan over and said, “Stand on the mirror.”
Lin Bei looked at the mirrors covering the floor. He seemed to understand what Yang Jian wanted to do.
Without Xiaoyuan blocking them, the fierce ghosts swiftly surrounded the three of them.
The first fierce ghost approached. Its stiff legs stepped onto the mirrored surface, and the mirror immediately reflected its body—a dried corpse wearing a red bridal veil.
Yang Jian still did not understand what connection there was between the female corpse he had encountered with Ye Zhen in Dahai City and the dried corpse he had encountered when the bus stalled.
But now was not the time to think about that. He stabbed the knife into the corpse, then violently tore off the red bridal veil.