Chapter 115: Wei Jing

Cao Yanhua, Deputy Minister, Dazhuang City has an incident.

Headquarters, Cao Yanhua is patiently investigating various reports concerning the Ghost Lake Supernatural Incident.

However, at that moment, a staff member anxiously knocked the door open and barged in.

"What's the matter? You're so panicked you rushed in without thinking."

"I'm still busy retrieving various data about Ghost Lake; can the issue wait until later?"

Cao Yanhua kept a stern face, but did not let the person leave.

Although the Ghost Lake matter is urgent, letting someone under his command barge in at this time clearly isn't a trivial matter.

"Dazhuang City has an incident."

The person paused, then said gravely.

"The entire Dazhuang City is shrouded in a cold mist, everything inside is frozen, even the signals are cut off."

"Now we can't even receive any news about Dazhuang City's officials."

"What!" Upon hearing that, Cao Yanhua shouted in surprise.

"Can satellites retrieve images of Dazhuang City?"

"No, the whole city is a white blur; we can't see any details inside," the person shook his head.

"At most we can occasionally glimpse some buildings, covered with a layer of ice debris."

"According to our preliminary estimate, this Ghost is very likely an A-Class Paranormal Event."

"If we give it more time to brew, it may become even more terrifying."

Hearing that, Cao Yanhua's complexion darkened.

A Ghost that possesses a Ghost Domain is, at minimum, an A-Class Paranormal Event.

Although we haven't yet obtained intelligence on this Ghost, the mere sight of a cold mist that can cover the whole city makes it obvious that this Ghost has a Ghost Domain.

A Ghost Domain is born when a Fierce Ghost's influence on the real environment reaches a certain degree, forming a world exclusive to that Ghost that it can manipulate at will.

Under such circumstances, Ghosts of water, fire, wind, and the like can easily generate a Ghost Domain.

And this Ghost, judging from the current situation, is a mist-type Fierce Ghost; whether it has a Ghost Domain is no longer a guess.

"What's the situation outside Dazhuang City now? Can it be isolated?" Cao Yanhua asked, pondering.

"Is that Ghost showing any signs of roaming to other places now?"

"Isolation is temporarily impossible; although Ghost Tamers have been summoned from nearby cities for support, once our people enter the cold mist they will be attacked."

"Even merely approaching the cold mist causes the fog to spread further," the person hurriedly shook his head.

"Based on speculation, the Ghost's Killing Rule may be linked to body temperature; once one steps into the cold mist and temperature drops, they are attacked."

"The Ghost isn't showing strong roaming signs now, but there is a faint trend toward Dajing City."

Upon hearing that, Cao Yanhua's face turned completely grim.

While moving toward Dajing City, its speed isn't fast now, but a Ghost with a Ghost Domain cannot have its advance judged by ordinary logic.

Its current slow pace may be because it has other targets to handle.

Once that Ghost finishes dealing with the Ghost Domain and all Ghost Tamers near the domain who trigger the Killing Rule, the Ghost Domain will allow it to reach Dajing City from Dazhuang City in no time.

"We must prepare in advance."

"Excluding the Captain, who else is still available and possibly able to handle this?"

Cao Yanhua closed his eyes to contemplate, then quickly fetched paper and pen and wrote names one by one in his notebook.

"Liu Qi, Wen Zhong, Zhou Deng, Lin Bei, Lin Long."

But soon, Cao Yanhua erased those names.

Liu Qi is currently at his hometown and seems to have encountered a Supernatural Incident.

Wen Zhong, on his side, has also recently been involved in a Supernatural Incident.

Zhou Deng went to handle Ferocious Ghost Road, Lin Bei's condition has recently faltered and is balancing his own issues.

Lin Long, although currently idle, just went through a Supernatural Incident and his condition isn't good; using him again might cause a Fierce Ghost to revive.

Cao Yanhua crossed out the names one by one, and finally found that there isn't a single person capable of handling this Supernatural Incident.

Recent Supernatural Incidents have erupted like a volcano, all at once, with various terrifying events emerging, leaving Headquarters severely understaffed.

【5】 "Do we have to deploy Wei Jing?"

Do we have to use Wei Jing?

Cao Yanhua's mind fell into contemplation.

After much hesitation, he seemed to have made up his mind and spoke slowly.

"First transfer Lin Long to Dajing City, then send Wei Jing to Dachuan City."

"Finally, notify Lu Zhiwen to covertly come to Dajing City, to avoid a repeat of the last Headquarters Fierce Ghost theft."

It must be said, Cao Yanhua truly lives up to being the top leader at Headquarters.

Facing this dilemma, he quickly made the best choice.

Lin Long's current strength is quite good; although he hasn't reached the present Captain Level, he has attained the Captain Level as it was when the position was first established.

Anyway, wherever he is, it's rest; so coming to Dajing City to rest is the same.

With Lu Zhiwen covertly arriving in Dajing City, the two together can fully ensure Headquarters is worry‑free.

And Wei Jing, who originally needed to guard Headquarters, can now act freely after a replacement is in place.

After all, given Wei Jing's uniqueness, when facing a lone Fierce Ghost, simply exposing him to the Source Ghost can easily imprison it.

As Headquarters' great machine whirred, the patrolling Wei Jing soon received a message.

"In these troublesome times, leaving now—hopefully nothing bad will happen."

Wei Jing, upon hearing he was to handle the Dazhuang City incident, had no intention of refusing.

However, before leaving, he glanced back at the underground vault used to imprison Fierce Ghosts.

The loss of the starving ghost has a huge impact on Headquarters.

Not to mention, they also lost the newspaper ghost, and after the newspaper ghost was lost, the Ghost Newspaper Agency suddenly went out of control, beginning to frequently report various Supernatural Incidents.

One newspaper ghost, one Ghost Newspaper Agency, with so many people at Headquarters, it's hard for anyone not to make that connection.

Upon receiving the news, Wei Jing rushed to Dazhuang City at top speed; to make haste, he didn't even use a helicopter, but directly utilized the Ghost Domain.

Soon, he saw that vast white‑washed city.

"How's the situation?"

Wei Jing arrived at a camp and asked the people inside.

"The Cold Fog Ghost hasn't started roaming yet; the Killing Rule is most likely related to body temperature dropping."

"And that chill will cause a person's body temperature to drop; in other words, that ghost kills indiscriminately."

A person in charge stepped forward and answered.

He looked at the all‑blackened, ice‑cold, numb Wei Jing and silently swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

Facing Wei Jing, he felt as if he were confronting a Fierce Ghost, a terrifying Fierce Ghost with no ability to resist.

It seemed that the Wei Jing before him could, at will, take his life at any moment.

"I understand. You keep patrolling outside; I'll go in and take a look."

Wei Jing reconfirmed the Killing Rule from the Ghost Tamer, then without looking back headed toward Dazhuang City, having little desire for conversation, as these people could hardly help him.

On the city's streets, a thick layer of frost had already formed; merely walking on it inevitably gave one the feeling of slipping.

Wei Jing looked around at everything; the white‑misty Cold Fog made the city contain many oddly shaped humanoid ice sculptures.

It's easy to guess that these were all living people killed by that ghost.

After spotting Wei Jing, these ice sculptures began walking toward him.

However, Wei Jing simply waved the ghost rope in his hand; as the ropes fell from mid‑air, they bound the victims' necks and hoisted them, easily dealing with those Ghost Slaves.

At the same time, the surrounding chill covered Wei Jing's body surface, causing his already‑low body temperature to drop further.

This seemed not to be a supernatural erosion but a physical phenomenon.

His body, because the surroundings were too cold, also felt the chill.

Wei Jing sensed for a moment, found no feeling of supernatural erosion on him, and thus paid no mind to the approaching Cold Fog.

Conveniently, this ghost's Killing Rule is body temperature dropping; his own body was already dead, so his temperature wouldn't change.

Conveniently, letting the Cold Fog lower its own temperature can also attract the Source Ghost.

As Wei Jing kept moving forward, more and more ice sculptures appeared on the streets.

What puzzled him was that the Source Ghost never appeared.

"Could it be that their speculation is wrong? The Fierce Ghost's Killing Rule isn't body‑temperature dropping?"

Wei Jing frowned, couldn't help pondering. "Strangely enough, walking through this city, even I feel a bit cold."

Wei Jing had long been dead, now merely a ghost; logically, even if his body cooled, his heart shouldn't feel cold.

After speaking, Wei Jing seemed to notice something amiss.

His own movements were becoming Ghost's Stiffness, a feeling of being clumsy even when commanded.

Wei Jing looked at his body; an unknown time had left a layer of ice shavings on his skin.

Within the Cold Fog, faintly, a human silhouette emerged, exuding a grim aura.

That seemed to be the Source Ghost, because such an aura cannot be sensed from Ghost Slaves; it is a mutual sensing between Fierce Ghosts.

"No, something's wrong; the Killing Rule isn't body‑temperature dropping."

"It's that it becomes aware of the cold."

Wei Jing was very experienced; after noticing his own abnormality, he quickly overturned his previous conclusion.

"Also not correct; for ordinary people and regular Ghost Tamers, body‑temperature dropping does count as a Killing Rule."

"But for top‑tier Ghost Tamers, body‑temperature dropping isn't a Killing Rule at all."

After body temperature drops, bodily functions naturally cease.

If an ordinary person faces this, they naturally die; even Ghost Tamers who ride a ghost cannot resist this bodily death.

And those Ghost Tamers or ordinary people, until they die, never see the Source Ghost.

But for an Abnormal like Wei Jing, no matter how far his body temperature drops in physical terms, it won't affect his survival.

Only by withstanding the consequences of this temperature drop can one trigger the true Killing Rule, causing the Source Fierce Ghost to appear.

Fortunately, this erosion isn't an unbeatable supernatural phenomenon for Wei Jing.

He shivered, and the layer of ice shavings attached to him quickly scattered to the ground.

And the Fierce Ghost, in turn, truly appeared before his eyes.

It was a person who seemed frozen to death, his complexion ghastly pale, his body marked with purple and blue bruises—the traces of freezing.

The Fierce Ghost, upon seeing Wei Jing, attacked him.

However, when that ghost was less than three meters from Wei Jing, its movement suddenly froze in a bizarre way.

Alone, certain death; the number of Fierce Ghosts inside this ghost did not exceed Wei Jing's Suppression Quantity, so during the attack it was directly suppressed instead.

"It's resolved, but dealing with the mess left behind is still troublesome."

Wei Jing watched the ghost frozen in place, unmoving, and instead of hurrying to imprison it, he looked toward the city.

As the Fierce Ghost was suppressed, the city's Cold Fog thinned, though it didn't vanish entirely.

Because the city is extremely cold now, even without the Fierce Ghost's influence, it still feels like being in an icy wasteland.

This is a cold that comes from within, which won't disappear just because the supernatural fades.

Restoring the city to normal temperature so that living people can survive there will take at least a month or two; it won't be impossible.

"Fine, let Cao Yanhua and the others worry about this. I don't even know how much longer I can hold on; as long as I'm not dead yet, I'll just do as much as I can."

Wei Jing took the Golden Box from his waist, used the Ghost Domain to compress this ghost to the extreme, and sealed it inside the Golden.

However, just as he was about to close the box, his complexion suddenly changed.

Unexplainedly, a feeling of unease appeared in him.

It was as if something terrifying and incomprehensible was approaching this place.

Wei Jing hurriedly closed the Golden Box, tried to leave, but it was already too late.

The city shrouded in ice and snow turned even paler at that moment, a pallor not of white hue but of a colorless pallor.

"Red and White Double Evil?"

Wei Jing murmured softly, watching the already pale city become even more bleak, his face sinking completely.

This unease, this supernatural influence, and the trap‑like situation now can only be explained by this.

Ordinary ghosts would not set such a snake‑out‑of‑the‑hole trap; at most they would, with the help of Ghost Slaves, lay traps to make a Ghost Tamer trigger the Source Ghost Killing Rule.

As expected, the next scene confirmed Wei Jing's suspicion.

The ghost he feared most and most wished not to meet appeared before his eyes.

A Fierce Ghost dressed in white Funeral Clothes, kneeling on a Coffin, was being carried by four ghosts toward Wei Jing in this white‑washed world.

Those four ghosts were familiar to Wei Jing; they were Fierce Ghosts representing the Suppression Quota within Ghostly Servants.

"Escape!"

Without hesitation, a swath of black appeared on Wei Jing, and the coffin‑like Ghost Domain tried to flee outward.

But could he really escape?

Know that this city now covered in ice and snow has completely lost its color.

As Wei Jing fled toward Dajing City, before he could exit the city, a Coffin blocked his view.

A patch of dark Ghost Domain abruptly invaded Wei Jing's Ghost Domain.

No, it cannot even be called an invasion.

Because that dark Ghost Domain and Wei Jing's Ghost Domain share the same origin.

When encountering that Ghost Domain, Wei Jing's Ghost Domain did not even resist.

Even though Wei Jing himself tried desperately to expel that black Ghost Domain from his own, it could not affect its entry.

The feeling was as if the other side's control over that Ghost Domain was stronger than Wei Jing, the releaser, himself.

Seeing that Coffin invade the Ghost Domain and be carried right beside him, Wei Jing's face turned grim, revealing a desperate smile.

"The bug that makes Fierce Ghosts misjudge ultimately still cannot withstand the Fierce Ghost that begins correcting its own flaw."

Having said that, the two dark Ghost Domains began to merge.

Wei Jing's once insightful gaze turned numb and cold at that moment.

The Ghostly Servant rebooted itself; since a Ghostly Servant is itself a Ghost Domain, its reboot directly rebooted the entire Ghost Domain.

As time within the Ghost Domain constantly shifted, Wei Jing soon returned to a state where he did not consider himself Wei Jing.

"Finally completed."

Zhang Hao appeared within the dark Ghost Domain, and the completed Ghostly Servant regained its growth ability.

"It's also time to fully complete the Ghostly Servant as a Puzzle."

Zhang Hao stepped onto the Ghost Coffin without a lid, and the black Ghost Domain vanished with his arrival.

Even after completing Wei Jing, the Ghostly Servant's Suppression Quota only restored to six.

Not to mention, under the effect of the Black and White Portrait and the Ghost Spirit Tablet, Zhang Hao had already mastered the Ghostly Servant.

The reason Zhang Hao has not yet fully completed the Ghostly Servant as a Puzzle is simply because the Ghostly Servant bears a defect.

Having lost the portion of the Ghostly Servant belonging to Wei Jing, once Zhang Hao fully masters it as a Puzzle, he will inherit the Ghostly Servant's traits.

The terrifying aspect of the Ghostly Servant is its growth; as it seizes Suppression Quota from Fierce Ghosts, it continuously improves.

Without Wei Jing's part, the Ghostly Servant's physical state cannot change; neither strengthening nor weakening can occur.

If Zhang Hao masters it, he will become the same.

And now, the Ghostly Servant, having regained its growth, will no longer have this problem.

"Madam, let's return to the Painting World."

"I need a little time."

Zhang Hao led the Ghost Bride away from the city, returning to the memorial hall beside the Republic Era manor.

He placed the Ghost Coffin back into the memorial hall, and without hesitation, Zhang Hao lay inside it.

Darkness engulfed Zhang Hao, and his consciousness seemed suppressed at that moment, giving him an irresistible urge to sleep.

This was not the Ghostly Servant's Mindless Suppression, but the effect of the Ghost Coffin; a ghost lying in a Coffin instinctively does not want to move.

As Zhang Hao lay inside the Ghost Coffin, everything in the memorial hall began to change.

A Black and White Portrait resembling Zhang Hao suddenly appeared on the memorial hall wall.

On the table before the Ghost Coffin, a spirit plaque engraved with "Zhang Hao's Spirit Tablet" appeared, and a Black and White Portrait was affixed to it.

In front of the Spirit Tablet, a cup of Blood Wine appeared.

Under the Coffin, many paper copper coins were scattered on the ground.

At the same time, white curtains suddenly descended in the memorial hall, sealing off the hall's doors and windows.

On a beam inside the memorial hall, a straw rope hung down, tied to a white bone club.

At the top of the bone club was a skull, making the memorial hall eerily strange.

(End of Chapter)