Chapter 23: Corrosion!

Half an hour later.

Inside the meeting room of the Xiaoqiang Club.

Sun Yi was going on and on about how he paid his mortgage, while the others closed their eyes to rest, mainly because they didn't want to listen to Sun Yi's nagging.

"It's fine if Yang Jian and them are late; isn't Professor Wang's lab just nearby? Why hasn't he come either?"

A Ghost Master asked somewhat impatiently.

"Damn! My brother stayed up all night researching, got tired and rested—what's wrong with that?"

Hearing someone complain about his older brother, Wang Xiaoqiang immediately got angry and started cursing.

In a corner of the meeting room, Zhao Kai Ming silently watched the two argue, his brows slightly furrowed; Yang Jian, Ye Feng, and that mysterious Chen Shoushan were actually not present.

He remembered that last night he had only killed two civilian Ghost Masters; to be precise, he used a wish to make those two Ghost Masters lose their way into the Hungry Ghost's territory, and to avoid slipping up he didn't even lay a hand on Yang Jian, instead choosing two unprepared Ghost Masters.

"Don't argue, Dachangshi is so chaotic now, traffic jams on the road are normal!"

Seeing the two arguing more fiercely, Zhang Han had no choice but to step in to stop them.

"Right, right, it's also possible to be stuck at home by loan sharks!"

Sun Yi also nodded in agreement.

Just then, Chen Shoushan's voice came from the doorway.

"Sorry, everyone, we're late! The car broke down on the road."

Chen Shoushan walked in with a beaming smile, and Ye Feng silently followed behind him.

The moment he entered, Ye Feng instinctively glanced toward Zhao Kai Ming; he was late because he had received a call from Wang Xiaoming asking him to cooperate with Chen Shoushan.

Chen Shoushan didn't even glance at Zhao Kai Ming, apologizing with a smile as he found a seat, while Ye Feng honestly sat down beside Chen Shoushan.

"Where's Yang Jian?"

Zhang Han asked doubtfully.

"Right, and what about Wang Bi and Qi Tian?"

The Ghost Master who had been arguing with Wang Xiaoqiang also asked.

"Those two have gone missing; Yang Jian was sent by Professor Wang to search their home."

Chen Shoushan gave a half-true, half-false excuse without changing his expression.

"What? Missing?"

"Two missing at once?"

As soon as Chen Shoushan spoke, the atmosphere in the room grew heavy; they all realized the seriousness of the situation, and at this time a disappearance likely meant an attack by Hungry Ghosts.

Suddenly, everyone at the meeting felt endangered, for who knows if tomorrow's missing person might be themselves? In just one day, four Ghost Masters had died silently, making everyone understand the value of an S-rank paranormal event.

"What Chen Shoushan said is correct; two people indeed went missing last night, and the likelihood of an attack is high—I've already called Yang Jian to go search."

Wang Xiaoming rushed in wearing a pure white research coat and a pair of black-rimmed glasses.

With Wang Xiaoming's supplementary evidence, no one now doubted the truth of Chen Shoushan's words.

Zhao Kai Ming also gradually let down his guard; assigning Yang Jian, who possesses the Ghost Realm, as the first choice to search for the missing Ghost Masters was indeed reasonable.

"We can't just sit and wait for death anymore; we must take the initiative to capture the Hungry Ghost. I've already guessed a few possible hiding spots for the Hungry Ghost—you need to verify them."

Wang Xiaoming calmly stated his idea.

Just as Zhao Kai Ming had let his heart settle, it rose again—he naturally knew where the Hungry Ghost hid, but how could Wang Xiaoming know?

But hearing Wang Xiaoming mention a few place names, Zhao Kai Ming put his heart at ease again—there is no Seventh Middle School in the west city!

"Professor Wang, the Hungry Ghost is so strong; wouldn't splitting up be unwise?"

Zhang Han hesitated, then said, "My idea is for everyone to gather together and check each location one by one; although it's slower, it's safer."

"You don't need to directly confront the Hungry Ghost; just finding its hiding place is enough. Splitting up like this will be faster and prevent mishaps."

Wang Xiaoming directly rejected Zhang Han's suggestion, since the whole point was to create an opportunity for Zhao Kai Ming to be alone—how could he possibly agree with Zhang Han's proposal?

"...... Alright!"

Although Zhang Han felt this was wrong, the speaker was after all Wang Xiaoming! Wang Xiaoming had no reason to harm them, so Zhang Han didn't object either.

Among the remaining people, Zhao Kai Ming felt indifferent; Wang Xiaoqiang need not be mentioned—since he learned his lesson, he has never gone against Wang Xiaoming's words; Sun Yi, being from headquarters, naturally wouldn't oppose Wang Xiaoming either; only one civilian Ghost Master, Liu Guang, remained, but he too had to follow the majority.

"Since no one objects, let's form teams of three: Zhao Kai Ming, Chen Shoushan, and Ye Feng in one team; Sun Yi, Zhang Han, and Liu Guang in another; Wang Xiaoqiang will stay at headquarters to provide support."

Wang Xiaoming made no effort to hide his favoritism toward Wang Xiaoqiang, but although the others felt a bit uncomfortable, they also thought it normal—after all, they're brothers.

Zhao Kai Ming also felt nothing was wrong, and even happily thought of letting Wang Xiaoming be even more blatant—then everyone would complain about Wang Xiaoming's favoritism and pay even less attention to himself.

After the meeting ended, Ye Feng secretly gave Chen Shoushan a glance; Chen Shoushan nodded slightly.

"Mr. Zhao, shall we set off? I can't drive—may I hitch a ride in your car?"

Chen Shoushan kindly asked Zhao Kai Ming, and at the same time handed him a cigarette, which Zhao Kai Ming instinctively took.

At the instant Zhao Kai Ming took the cigarette, Chen Shoushan activated his extraordinary ability—bribery—Charm!

"Good! No problem!"

Although Zhao Kai Ming was somewhat puzzled as to why Chen Shoushan didn't just ride with Ye Feng, he for some reason suddenly found Chen Shoushan very pleasing, his favorability greatly increased, and thus didn't refuse.

Thus the two rode together in a car toward their destination, while Ye Feng's car followed far behind.

In the car, Chen Shoushan and Zhao Kai Ming remained silent, but secretly Chen Shoushan used the Corrupt Baron's extraordinary ability—Corrosion!

Corrosion: It can gradually darken the minds of those within ten meters, making them greedy and prone to irrational choices.

This is also why Chen Shoushan didn't let Ye Feng ride in the same car—this is a non‑selective attack skill! It could easily corrupt allies as well, and at this moment Zhao Kai Ming was completely unaware.

"Who would have thought that Yang Jian, who never does anything without profit, would personally go do those thankless, labor‑intensive tasks—do you think there might be something fishy going on?"

Zhao Kai Ming broke the silence first, maliciously speculating about Yang Jian on purpose; he wanted to hear Chen Shoushan's answer to infer the relationship between Chen Shoushan and Yang Jian.

"What Mr. Zhao says isn't impossible, but such baseless talk had better not be spoken recklessly—it could easily undermine unity!"

Chen Shoushan was also happy to talk more with Zhao Kai Ming; corrosion takes time, and the longer Zhao Kai Ming is corroded, the more advantageous it is for Chen Shoushan.

(End of Chapter)