Chapter 49: North City Riot!

Inside the tent, only Chen Shoushan and Tong Qian were present; Yang Jian and the others had already gone in, and of course Chen Shoushan had already secretly told Yang Jian about the killing pattern of the tall black shadow in the hotel.

He still needed Yang Jian, and the circle of friends still needed to be left for Yang Jian to resolve—not that Chen Shoushan couldn't resolve it, but their purposes differed: Chen Shoushan wanted to take over the circle of friends, while Yang Jian simply wanted to wipe them out.

"Why is the Newspaper Ghost clinging to me?"

Tong Qian couldn't suppress the doubt in her heart and blurted out a question to Chen Shoushan.

"Because the ghost face you are controlling is one of its supernatural puzzle pieces."

Chen Shoushan explained with a smile.

"Supernatural puzzle? Is that the puzzle I was thinking of?"

Tong Qian asked, somewhat uncertain.

Chen Shoushan nodded, confirming Tong Qian's thought: "Yeah, that's exactly the literal meaning."

"How do you know all this? I'm also the head of headquarters—why don't I know?"

Tong Qian asked, somewhat doubtful.

"Maybe your rank isn't high enough."

Chen Shoushan said with a smile.

Tong Qian nodded, half-understanding, then looked at Chen Shoushan's smile and couldn't help saying: "Chen Shoushan, can you stop smiling? When you smile, the ghost face behind me wants to smile too."

Chen Shoushan's smile instantly froze; to prevent any mishap, he obediently lowered the corners of his mouth.

Just as Tong Qian was about to continue asking, Zhang Gao rushed in anxiously: "Tong Qian, something's wrong—we just got a police call saying that in the lecture hall in North City, many people suddenly started killing each other."

"They're killing each other? How many?"

Tong Qian asked with a solemn expression.

"Yes, the exact scale isn't clear yet, but I believe this definitely involves the supernatural; please handle it as soon as possible."

Zhang Gao nodded anxiously; ZS City had never before experienced such a serious supernatural incident.

Tong Qian rose solemnly, instinctively preparing to set out, but noticing Chen Shoushan's thoughtful expression, she immediately stopped and asked: "What do you think?"

"The Caesar Hotel is in the south city, while the supernatural incident occurred in the north city—don't you think that's too much of a coincidence?"

Chen Shoushan said with a blank expression.

"Hmm!! Transfer, transfer the tiger away from the mountain?"

Tong Qian said, somewhat incredulous.

Actually this plot is very obvious; Tong Qian just didn't react in time—this time we're facing a supernatural event backed by a strategist.

"It could also be luring the enemy deeper... after all, the Newspaper Ghost's target is you!"

Chen Shoushan glanced at Tong Qian and said lightly.

"What should we do? We can't let it carry out slaughter in the north city."

They originally came to the Caesar Hotel to reduce casualties in ZS City, but now the Newspaper Ghost is slaughtering people in the north city—how could Tong Qian bear it?

"It can't kill many; it hasn't been in ZS City long enough to control too many people."

Chen Shoushan said in a cold tone; this is a necessary trade-off—entering the trap set by the Newspaper Ghost and fighting it is undoubtedly dangerous.

"You…… can……"

Tong Qian was somewhat lost for words; she knew Chen Shoushan was right, but……

"Bureau Chief Zhang, call the Public Security Bureau right now, lock down any armories—no one is to approach before the incident ends, not even the officers!"

Chen Shoushan stood up and ordered Zhang Gao.

Bare-handed thugs and thugs wielding firearms pose completely different dangers.

"Good! Should we reissue weapons to the nearby patrolling troops? I worry some controlled citizens might storm the Caesar Hotel."

Zhang Gao proposed worriedly.

Chen Shoushan rebutted: "No, there might be someone controlled in the military; Yang Jian and the others just went in, and then the north city erupted—this isn't a coincidence, we're being monitored; just have the external troops heighten their guard."

Zhang Gao nodded in understanding and hurried out to make arrangements.

As if Chen Shoushan were the person in charge of ZS City, Tong Qian stood aside, at a loss, not knowing how to interject.

"You don't need to worry too much; the Newspaper Ghost's target is you—even if the plan to lure you out fails, it won't easily give up."

"I understand."

Tong Qian nodded calmly; she had been convinced by Chen Shoushan.

Chen Shoushan took out the Ghost Candles he had brought—two red, three white—these are what remained after giving three to Ye Feng.

But they seem useless against the Newspaper Ghost, since those it controls are humans, outside the Ghost Candles' range.

……………………

At that moment inside the hotel, Yang Jian and the four others were cautiously exploring the hotel.

"There are so many rooms in this hotel—when will we finish searching them one by one?"

Guo Fan said, somewhat weary.

"Exactly, Yang Jian, hurry up and think of a solution—I, Bear Dad, am sick of the nervous feeling every time we open a door."

Guo Fan's words this time resonated with Xiong Wenwen, who, being just a ten-year-old kid, naturally lacked much patience.

"Fine, this is what you asked for."

Yang Jian glanced at Xiong Wenwen, then took out a white Ghost Candle.

"White! Hold on—didn't Chen Shoushan say there might be other ghosts in this hotel? What if they all show up together?"

Xiong Wenwen panicked; he of course knew what a white Ghost Candle signified.

"You're the one who talks too slow, you're the one who talks too fast—kids have endless trivialities, shut up."

Yang Jian glared at Xiong Wenwen; since he'd already taken it out, that meant he'd already decided.

Yang Jian naturally wouldn't care about the opinions of the few beside him; he directly lit the white Ghost Candle, and in an instant the black, eerie candlelight invaded the surrounding environment—walls and carpet seemed to be covered with a thin black gauze.

Feng Quan did not stop Yang Jian's actions, but remained vigilant of ghosts that might appear around them; he knew that sometimes dealing with supernatural incidents required decisiveness.

After the white Ghost Candle was lit, Xiong Wenwen obediently closed her mouth, and Yang Jian and the other two silently surrounded Xiong Wenwen in the middle.

The corridor suddenly fell silent, with only a black flame swaying in the air.

Ten seconds

Twenty seconds

Finally, at thirty seconds, a heavy footstep sound came, the footsteps were stiff, accompanied by a strong corpse stench and dense dripping sounds.

When Xiong Wenwen heard the footsteps, she trembled, reaching out to grab Yang Jian's sleeve; in her subconscious, Yang Jian was undoubtedly the strongest of the three.

Finally, a tall black shadow appeared before everyone; to be precise, it was a tall corpse appearing before everyone, except its body and clothes had corroded together into black rotting flesh, and even more shocking was that it clutched a rusty firewood axe in its hand!

And in its eye sockets, some nauseating yellow-green viscous liquid slowly oozed from the hollow eye sockets, then flowed down along the rotting flesh of its body, dripping onto the floor with a pattering sound.

This is the dripping sound Yang Jian and the others heard.

This is the tall black shadow Chen Shoushan mentioned?

Yang Jian solemnly gazed at the tall male corpse not far away, while the tall male corpse slowly approached the white Ghost Candle.

"Shall we attack?"

Feng Quan stared fixedly at the approaching tall male corpse not far off, the stench around them growing stronger, and he couldn't help but ask.

"This isn't the ghost behind the human-head balloon; wait a bit longer!"

Yang Jian tightly gripped the ghost rope in his hand and said calmly.

As it turned out, this ghost was exactly as Chen Shoushan had said, so its killing pattern should also be as he described; and during their entry, he had already used the Ghost Realm to wipe away the top layer of footprints on the tiles, so it should not trigger its killing pattern.

"Damn it, if we don't strike first, are we just waiting for it to come over so we can kill it?"

Guo Fan couldn't help cursing, and at the same time he produced a blank spirit tablet from somewhere, gripping it tightly.

(End of chapter)