In the outskirts of the city, on a dimly lit and deserted road, a light murmur could be heard. The nearby ground was smeared with plenty of still fresh blood traces, and a strange, pungent smell of blood wafted through the chilly air.
A person sat weakly by the roadside, panting heavily, his brows furrowed and teeth clenched, seemingly enduring some intense pain.
"An accident still happened, but I really did my best this time. Who would have thought the ghost that Guo Fan released would be so horrifying? I almost couldn’t hold on and died right here.”
He didn’t think there was anything wrong with the plan this time; drawing in the ghost painting to suppress the Ghost Envoy was a great success.
Luring away the ghost painting also had no issues.
But something went wrong with Guo Fan’s part—why had the ghost already lost control when he was not yet due to be revived?
At that moment, suddenly a voice appeared nearby, followed by a figure that seemed to appear out of nowhere, standing eerily in front of him in the next second.
Only then did Chen Yi open his eyes and look up slightly: “Jang Shangbai? Did headquarters send you, someone with a ghost domain, to ? How is the situation now?”
"You still seem quite rational, so I guess you’re not as badly off as I imagined,” Jang Shangbai said with a light smile, simultaneously letting go of some of his caution.
If Chen Yi died, he’d be facing more than just one person.
"The situation isn’t great but not terrible, the ghost drawing plan is still underway, but the two missing ghosts are nowhere to be found. At least, I’ve been all around the city and haven’t found anything suspicious; those things seem to have completely vanished,” Jang Shangbai said, his smile fading as he also slightly furrowed his brow.
"They must have gone into hiding
Chen Yi’s gaze darkened: “After all, a Ghost Envoy was just handled, and even a ghost painting of such caliber must have been affected. Otherwise, their ghost domains wouldn’t have just disappeared out of the blue. Professor Wang’s deduction was right; the ghost painting has been suppressed. Right now, the ghost painting’s level of danger definitely does not reach that of a true S-class. If nothing unexpected happens, we will resolve two S-class paranormal incidents in one go.”
"Makes sense; ghosts naturally suppress each other, especially since Ghost Envoy has an unrivaled ability to suppress other ghosts. It’s logical that the ghost painting would be affected,” Jang Shangbai nodded. “But accidents are always hard to avoid, aren’t they? Although the ideal is to solve two difficult cases, reality does not permit it.”
"I think you should stop worrying about this for now, take a rest. The ambulance is on its way.”
After speaking, he took another deep look at Chen Yi as he was now.
A vehicle passed by in the distance, and under the illumination of its lights, the figure of Chen Yi, hidden in the darkness, became visible.
He was drenched in blood, with skin no longer visible on his body. Muscles oozing blood were exposed, even his scalp and facial skin had all disappeared, as if someone had brutally skinned him alive, making onlookers’ hearts quiver.
Scientifically speaking, with injuries of such severity coupled with the blood loss, Chen Yi would have long been dead. Yet aside from enduring immense pain, he showed no signs of dying.
Since his ghost has returned, where is my skin coat?” Chen Yi’s gaze shifted slightly, no longer pondering over the special case of Guo Fan.
That matter would naturally be investigated by the headquarters; it was not his concern.
"Still standing over there, I know that thing is dangerous, and I haven’t dared to get close,” Jang Shangbai said, pointing to a spot not far away.
There, a dim figure stood motionless. If one were to observe closely, they would discover in horror that this was not a person at all, but a complete skin devoid of a body, empty inside. This skin had the appearance and facial features that Chen Yi had earlier.
No, it would be more accurate to say that Chen Yi’s appearance was not his own to begin with, it had always been that of the skin coat he presented in front of everyone.
As for Chen Yi’s true appearance, probably only he himself or his former relatives and friends would know.
The skin coat stood like a living person near the woods, motionless, but those in the know understood that this skin coat was waiting for a living person to pass by.
Once someone approached within a dangerous range,
The empty skin coat would be forcibly filled by a living person, becoming a part of the ghost.
The rule for murder was quite simple, but when Chen Yi first came into contact with the skin coat, it would not actively stand up on its own.
Now… the skin coat had become increasingly bizarre and uncontrollable.
Chen Yi struggled to his feet and moved towards the skin coat.
He was now inseparable from the ghost; previously, due to an attack from Guo Fan’s ghost, the skin coat had been suppressed, and to save his own life, he had to discard the ghost and shed his skin to escape.
However, Chen Yi would not survive long without the skin coat.
He had worn the skin coat for quite some time, and his own body had already been eroded by the ghost to an unrecognizable point. Only by maintaining the previous balance could he stay alive.
Otherwise, within an hour, Chen Yi would die from another ghost revival.
After Chen Yi approached the skin coat, pained howls emanated from the dim woods, as if someone was being brutally forced to sew a skin not their own onto their body, a pain far worse than when he had to tear off his own skin to survive the ghost’s attack.
Most people, having gone through such torment twice in one night, would have already taken their own lives; even if they did not, their sanity would collapse, and they couldn’t maintain a sound mind.
However, half an hour later, Chen Yi emerged from the dark woods, perfectly intact and calm.
He was neither insane nor had he committed suicide.
"Surviving wasn’t easy, was it?” Jang Shangbai spoke up.
Chen Yi did not answer but passed by him and continued walking forward, towards the direction of departure.
He seemed unaffected, yet his slightly slack facial skin and bloodshot eyes lacked some of the liveliness of a human, and had gained an emptiness and numbness closer to that of a genuine ghost.
Jang Shangbai watched him leave without following, instead heading in a different direction.
He still had to ensure the newly lit Ghost Candle did not go out.
He had been protecting Chen Yi, but now after the ghost’s attack left him in a bad state, somebody else had to take over. Fresh chapters posted on novel✶fire.net
The horrifying night would eventually dissipate with the passing of time.
The vast majority of the city’s residents could not imagine what had happened that night, but when morning arrived, this international metropolis still operated in its usual rhythm.
Incident, Yang Jian figured he would still be scraping by in Dachang City, certainly not coming here.
At that moment, his personal phone received a message.
Yang Jian took out his phone and glanced at it, “A message from Li Yao? Good, since the headquarters has handled the Ghost Envoy incident, it’s time for me to make a move. I can’t avoid it anyway; it’s better to take the initiative. Whoever throws the first punch in a fight tends to gain the upper hand.”