As far as Lu Ming knew, the supernatural source of the Grave-Crying Ghost was the mourning robe on its body, as well as a weeping ghost face.
Unlike a normal person, the Grave-Crying Ghost’s crying face did not truly grow on its face. Instead, it was imprinted on the strip of mourning cloth wrapped around its head.
Taking away the mourning cloth would not be difficult.
The difficult part was how to control the crying face on that cloth.
“The bloodstained old newspaper in the Newspaper Ghost’s hands can remove human faces and alter memories. If I can get my hands on that newspaper, perhaps I’ll be able to control the Wailing Ghost’s crying face.”
Lu Ming now had a rough objective.
The current point in time was shortly after the Starving Ghost incident in Dachang City.
Before the Starving Ghost incident, Yang Jian’s classmate Zhao Lei had been replaced by the Newspaper Ghost and had found Yang Jian.
Because those bloodstained old newspapers could restrain Yang Jian’s Ghost Eye ghost domain, Yang Jian had always taken this matter rather seriously.
“If I remember correctly, Yang Jian will next be lured to the dangerous Caesar Grand Hotel. The Newspaper Ghost is inside Caesar Grand Hotel.”
“Knowing all the information in advance, and being able to appropriately use the supernatural powers of the dried-corpse bride and the mourning robe, barring any accidents, it shouldn’t be too difficult to obtain the bloodstained old newspaper.”
That said, the thought that he was about to face the Newspaper Ghost still made Lu Ming feel somewhat apprehensive.
Ghosts only killed according to their rules.
In other words, if one could make reasonable use of the rules between evil ghosts, terrifying ghosts could be turned into one’s own tools.
Humanity’s advantage lay in wisdom.
However, the Newspaper Ghost inside Caesar Grand Hotel happened to be one of the rare few intelligent evil ghosts.
The terrifying thing about this kind of ghost did not lie in the strength of its supernatural power, but in the fact that it could also use strategy—even setting traps and waiting for you to jump in.
“If I want to take the bloodstained old newspaper, I absolutely cannot be careless. One wrong step, and it will be eternal damnation, with no chance to start over.”
The sun set, and the entire city of Dachang sank into darkness. During the gray fog incident that had happened in this city some time ago, many people had died, and it had also had a considerable impact on the normal operation of Dachang City.
Lu Ming’s mind was very clear, without the slightest trace of drowsiness.
He sat before the window, gazing at the darkness in the distance shrouded in thin mist, lost in thought.
Time passed without him noticing.
Very soon, the night was torn apart by the dawn.
It was the next day.
············
Elsewhere.
After meeting Jiang Yan and Zhang Wei, Yang Jian once again came to the old residence behind Guanjiang Residential Compound.
He used his ghost domain to directly pass through the second-floor wall of this Republic-era old house, and in a secret room, he saw an old cupboard.
“Who are you?”
After writing these three characters, Yang Jian handed the paper to the cupboard door. In the next moment, the other end of the paper was seized by something, which kept pulling it inward.
Yang Jian let go, and the paper disappeared into the wooden cupboard.
In less than ten seconds, the slip of paper was pushed out again through the crack beneath the cupboard.
Only one word was written on it.
Ghost.
Yang Jian communicated with this ghost cupboard for a while, then frowned and began to ponder inwardly.
At first, he thought this ghost cupboard was another anomaly, like an alternative form of human-skin paper.
But Yang Jian quickly dismissed that idea.
Even the human-skin paper did not possess this cupboard’s ability to communicate. Rather than calling it communication, it would be more accurate to say that the human-skin paper was some kind of guidance aimed at its holder.
After trying to make a transaction with the ghost cupboard, exchanging dog blood for egg fried rice, Yang Jian finally understood this ghost’s rules.
The trader made a request of the ghost cupboard, and the ghost cupboard would fulfill that request. In turn, the trader needed to complete the ghost cupboard’s task.
If both sides fulfilled their conditions, that meant one round had ended.
After the first round of transaction ended, they would enter the second round.
The ghost cupboard would take the initiative—that is, it would be the one to make a request, and the trader had to complete that task.
This meant that if one wanted the ghost cupboard to help do something once, one needed to fulfill two conditions.
Most people would feel that exchanging two conditions for one condition was too much of a loss, and so they would continue making wishes to the ghost cupboard...
From then on, it would become an endless cycle. The ghost cupboard’s conditions would become harder and harder to fulfill, until the trader died during a task, or failed to complete one and was killed by the ghost cupboard.
“Help me move the cupboard out.”
This was the ghost cupboard’s second condition.
Yang Jian suddenly thought, “If I don’t complete the ghost cupboard’s condition, what will it do to me?”
After waiting quietly in the secret room for fifteen minutes, a strand of crimson blood actually flowed out from the cracks of the ghost cupboard.
This viscous blood quickly gathered into a mass and continued spreading outward.
With an old creaking sound,
a soaked, somewhat swollen and bizarre hand stretched out from the lower cupboard door, trying to open it. Yang Jian immediately felt his scalp go numb.
There was actually a swollen female corpse inside this ghost cupboard!
Yang Jian hurriedly followed the ghost cupboard’s demand and moved the entire cupboard out.
“This ghost cupboard is fundamentally exploiting the greed in people’s hearts. Things related to the supernatural really do come with a price. This thing is still far too sinister...”
The next day.
Yang Jian investigated Shangtong Tower, taking down the people that overseas forces had planted domestically, while also obtaining three ghosts.
In this way, he could be considered to have some capital for trading with the ghost cupboard.
Although he knew that making a deal with the ghost cupboard was no different from Faust bargaining with the devil,
just as Lu Ming had previously thought, Yang Jian had been thoroughly intrigued by the sudden appearance of his classmate “Zhao Lei”—or rather, the Newspaper Ghost.
In the end, Yang Jian still chose to come to the Republic-era old house, using one ghost as the price to exchange for Zhao Lei’s whereabouts.
After the condition was met, less than ten seconds passed before there was a clang, and a metal plaque fell into the previously empty cupboard.
A number was written on the doorplate.
13.
On the back of the doorplate, a crooked line of words was written: Caesar Grand Hotel, ZS City.
“This doorplate should have been taken from that place by the ghost cupboard through supernatural means. Zhao Lei should be inside this Caesar Grand Hotel right now.”
Knowing Zhao Lei’s whereabouts, Yang Jian waited quietly for the ghost cupboard’s next move.
It was about to make its second condition.
Just like before, a slip of paper fell into the cupboard, and on it was another crooked line of words.
“Find within one year.”
In the photograph was a woman. This woman was incomparably beautiful and even wore a faint smile, but if one looked carefully, one would discover that the smile was actually extremely stiff, like that of a marionette. It was clearly not an expression a normal living person could make.
She wore a red wedding dress and sat on a wooden stool. Behind her was an old door.
Yang Jian was startled and immediately thought of Lu Ming.
“Is the woman in this photograph the dried-corpse bride that Lu Ming controls?”
“No, the dried-corpse bride’s body has already completely withered, and there’s also a strange veil covering her head. The face beneath that veil might not necessarily be this one.”
An existence that even the ghost cupboard could not find would definitely be very difficult for Yang Jian to locate.
Fortunately, the time limit was still one year.
For a ghost controller, one year was already a very long time.
Thank you to My Mysterious Revival for the 600-coin tip. Big shot, you’re awesome.
Thank you to Fairy Miaoyin Loves Playing the Flute for the 100-coin tip ＼(`Δ’)／
Also, a quick report: tomorrow, the book will be entering the library. Recommendations will begin, along with PK results. I hope everyone can keep following along. Thank you all very much.