Chapter 19: The Meeting Reconvened

Dachangshi

Xiaoqiang Club

Chen Shoushan and the three others leaned on their chairs to rest; at this moment the meeting room only had the three of them, Wang Xiaoming was heading this way from the hospital, and the other Ghost Masters were likewise.

"Chen Shoushan, how many of those ghost infants do you think are still hidden in Dachangshi?"

Ye Feng asked with a face still full of lingering fear, apparently just making conversation.

Chen Shoushan? Is that still the arrogant Ye Feng? When did they get so close?

Wang Xiaoqiang couldn't help but glance at Ye Feng and mutter.

"I don't know, but I think it won't be too few."

Chen Shoushan also gave face and answered.

What Ye Feng didn't know was that his fate had already been changed; in the original story, at this point he had already been tricked by Zhao Kai Ming into the belly of a Starving Ghost.

The two chatted back and forth for a few sentences, then the meeting room door was pushed open; Yang Jian walked in, saw the three sitting, directly ignored the two beside Chen Shoushan, and joked with Chen Shoushan: "Your luck is pretty good! Others searched half a day and couldn't find a single ghost infant, but you ran straight into a group."

Chen Shoushan glanced at the box in Yang Jian's hand and also smiled: "Your luck isn't bad either! Looks like this time Professor Wang's task is the first you've completed."

Yang Jian gave a "don't even mention it" look: "Damn, don't bring it up—these ghost things have been crawling all over me; if Jiang Yan hadn't called me back in time, I might have been robbed!"

"Where are your teammates?"

Chen Shoushan peered behind Yang Jian but didn't see Sun Yi and the others.

"I split up with them; they should be heading this way, right?"

Yang Jian said as he sat down opposite Chen Shoushan.

Ye Feng, sitting aside, hadn't spoken since Yang Jian came in, to avoid conflict with him; without the mystical item that restrained the Ghost Realm, he had no chance against Yang Jian, and most importantly, this hot-headed Yang Jian really dared to fight.

Wang Xiaoqiang wouldn't speak either, coldly taking his seat.

Chen Shoushan chatted a bit more with Yang Jian, and soon heard Sun Yi's voice: "Whoa, everyone, just on patrol there was a girl with a huge figure! If my mortgage weren't unpaid, I'd definitely chase her."

The Ghost Master teammate who came with Sun Yi, face full of embarrassment, walked past Sun Yi and found a seat; along the way Sun Yi acted like he'd never seen a woman before, overreacting to everything, losing all face.

Everyone present also looked speechless; seeing no one answer, Sun Yi wasn't embarrassed, chattering on as he found a seat beside Yang Jian.

After a while longer, the Zhang Han squad from the southern patrol also rushed back; everyone except Sun Yi, who kept telling dirty jokes, sat silently in their seats waiting for Wang Xiaoming to return.

Finally, Wang Xiaoming came in, dusty and weary, glanced at everyone, was about to speak, when a voice came from behind.

"Sorry, everyone, I'm late."

Zhao Kai Ming, leaning on a cane, hobbled past Wang Xiaoming and took his seat.

Wang Xiaoming gave Zhao Kai Ming, who had just passed him, a deep look.

"Zhao Kai Ming, where are your teammates?"

A Ghost Master asked.

"I don't know; we got lost and separated."

Zhao Kai Ming said coldly, the two Ghost Masters following him were of course fed to the Starving Ghost; that's why the Starving Ghost's Ghost Realm expanded again half an hour ago, cutting off communication with the outside.

"Since everyone's here, let's begin!"

Wang Xiaoming didn't wait for the opinions of the remaining two Ghost Masters, because he knew it was surely more bad luck than good.

Thus the meeting that had been held an hour ago unfolded once more, but the original Ghost Masters were now two short, making the atmosphere a bit heavy.

"Just a dozen minutes ago, Chen Shoushan's team encountered a large number of ghost infants at Shangtong Building, but fortunately they resolved it successfully."

As soon as Wang Xiaoming spoke, Zhao Kai Ming's expression changed.

"Shangtong Building? I recall it's in the west of the city; why would you, Chen Shoushan, be there?"

Zhao Kai Ming gloweringly questioned Chen Shoushan.

You should know the Starving Ghost is hidden in the Seventh Middle School in the west of the city; if Chen Shoushan's team discovered it, that would be trouble!

Chen Shoushan met Zhao Kai Ming's gaze and gave a faint smile: "We also got lost; we don't know how we ended up in the west of the city."

"You!!"

Zhao Kai Ming's fists clenched with rage—this was clearly his excuse!!

Just as he was about to continue speaking, Zhao Kai Ming froze; he saw Yang Jian, Ye Feng, and others all staring at him, a cold sweat instantly trickling down—what's going on? Yang Jian aside, why did Ye Feng and Wang Xiaoqiang also stand on Chen Shoushan's side?

"Gentlemen, there's no need to argue over these trivial details!"

Wang Xiaoming interrupted everyone's conversation, saying to Yang Jian:

"Yang Jian, take out the thing!"

As soon as he said that, everyone immediately turned their gaze to Yang Jian.

Yang Jian leisurely placed the box in his hand on the table, opened its lid; inside lay a fist-sized dead infant, firmly pinned by a withered finger.

"A ghost infant? He actually managed to catch one."

The Ghost Masters present whispered among themselves.

Wang Xiaoming also nodded and said: "We happen to need a ghost infant for the experiment; Yang Jian, state your demands—I'll try to meet them."

Yang Jian, not holding back, shouted loudly: "I want ten ghost candles! Red ones!"

Wang Xiaoming also directly refused: "Impossible! Unless you single-handedly take care of the Starving Ghost!"

Yang Jian also, with a "let's try" attitude, seeing Wang Xiaoming's opposition, curled his lip: "If not, forget it—how about exchanging it for all of Dachangshi's gold reserves?"

Compared to ten ghost candles, Dachangshi's gold reserves are utterly insignificant; Wang Xiaoming agreed without hesitation, completely disregarding Zhao Kai Ming's feelings—after all, he is the person in charge of Dachangshi, and theoretically the city's gold should be distributed by him!

But given Wang Xiaoming's position, Zhao Kai Ming could only glare and reluctantly accept.

"Although we have this ghost infant, it can only study the first-stage ghost infant killing pattern; to understand higher-stage patterns we would need a third- or even hypothetical fourth-stage ghost infant!"

"We divide ghost infants by age into stages: infants are first stage, children second, youths third; we estimate that each time a ghost infant reaches a new stage it gains a new killing pattern, while the one before you is merely a first-stage specimen!"

As Wang Xiaoming spoke, he displayed photos of the Starving Ghost at different stages: there were infants, children, and finally an adult; these are all pictures taken by surveillance in Dachangshi over the past half month, and the last photo of the Starving Ghost is just a back view, no front.

"Can it still upgrade? It's leveling up faster than my mortgage payments!"

Sun Yi complained.

Zhang Han also nervously said, "This has already exceeded our handling capabilities; let the person in charge outside deal with it!"

Wang Xiaoming ruthlessly cut off Zhang Han's hope: "We've lost contact with the outside, just half an hour ago."

"Moreover, we can't wait that long; the early stage of a paranormal event is the best chance to resolve it, and most of the ghost infants are currently at the first stage—this is our opportunity! If ghost infants of the third stage were everywhere, that would be a disaster for Dachangshi and even all of China!"

Wang Xiaoming's words calmed the panicked crowd; indeed, they still have a chance now!

(End of chapter)