Chapter 169: The Dispatch Teams, Headquarters' Arrangement

On the desolate, dim Highway.

A red and a white team are marching forward, the sound of a double-reed horn drifting over the empty Highway, making it unusually eerie.

As the two teams pass, Paper Money and Hong Bai Shuang Sha paper are scattered on the Ground.

Behind the teams, a crowd lingers as if just joining the fun, but these people trailing the teams look extremely strange.

Some of them have Ghost's Stiffness, their steps slow, yet each step carries them far.

Others are gaunt, exuding a corpse stench, their skin as if merely covering bones.

Some are missing arms or legs, some are drenched, yet they still trail the teams, for reasons unknown.

Clearly these are teams carrying Coffins or Flower Sedan Chairs, yet the red and white teams advance at an oddly rapid pace, each step seeming to span over ten meters.

"Zhang Hao, where are we heading next?"

He Yuelian sits behind the Coffin, glances at the trailing Fierce Ghosts, and her face shows curiosity.

They have been out of the ancient mansion for three hours, yet this Highway seems endless, causing He Yuelian to feel puzzled.

Hearing He Yuelian's question, Zhang Hao looks around, his words calm.

"We go wherever there are Ghosts."

"The invitation must be delivered into the hands of everyone eligible to attend the wedding."

Unwittingly, Zhang Hao and the others cross the Highway that runs beside the Old Forest, and now arrive at a Graveyard.

On both sides of the Road, dense burial mounds rise like small hills; some are marked with tombstones, faintly bearing a portrait of the deceased.

Some mounds are sunken, as if something inside has left, unable to support the raised earth mound.

At a glance, this expanse of burial mounds seems boundless, stretching into distant darkness; though the number is unknown, the piles are certainly countless.

"So many graves? Could they all be imprisoning Fierce Ghosts?"

He Yuelian looks around left and right, a hint of worry in her eyes.

That many mounds make one's scalp tingle, every corner exuding an ominous eeriness, as if a massive cemetery; if the Ghosts here run amok, it would be extremely dangerous.

"No need to worry, just send out more invitations here; extra ones cause no problem."

Zhang Hao, seeing He Yuelian's demeanor, says calmly.

He has been here before; though only passing through, he still remembers clearly.

This is the Graveyard left by Luo Qian; regarding where Fierce Ghosts are most numerous, aside from the ancient mansion and Caesar Grand Hotel, this Graveyard should rank the highest.

Even the Ghosts in Caesar Grand Hotel and the ancient mansion may not outnumber those in the Graveyard.

"Ah, fine."

He Yuelian, hearing this, quickly nods.

She is indeed a bit worried, because she is unsure whether the Ghosts here pose a threat to Zhang Hao.

Although He Yuelian knows Zhang Hao is powerful, she has not experienced many Supernatural Incidents, mainly dealing with Ghost Tamers.

Facing this Spiritual Realm full of Ghosts, it is still her first time seeing it.

He Yuelian produces a bundle of Hong Bai Shuang Sha paper in her hand and throws it straight into the sky.

At that moment, a chilling wind seems to rise.

With the cold wind, the Hong Bai Shuang Sha papers drift outward; some land on the Ground, others fall precisely onto the burial mounds.

The Hong Bai Shuang Sha paper seems to possess an extremely eerie supernatural quality; as it lands on the mounds, the raised burial mounds eerily sink down.

Within a grave, a gaunt, withered Ghost Hand emerges from the Grave Soil, beginning to scrape the dirt off the mound, as if trying to crawl out from beneath the grave.

"No way, it actually crawled out?"

He Yuelian watches the scene, eyes wide open.

She then looks to other directions; the Hong Bai Shuang Sha paper continues to flutter, and before long, more graves may be stained and crawl up, right?

"Keep moving forward; the graves here are far more than just these few."

Zhang Hao seems unfazed, calmly letting the Coffin-carrying Ghost Slave continue forward.

As the team advances, the endless burial ground along the Road suddenly ends, leaving a clearing.

On the clearing, a Road leads straight up to a small hill.

In this dim, lightless world, a hill surrounded by burial mounds hosts a small Wooden Cabin.

The cabin is old, as if long neglected, wobbling as if about to collapse, crudely built with wind seeping from all sides, as if a few kicks would make it fall apart.

He Yuelian watches the centrally located cabin cautiously, her intuition telling her that some danger lurks there.

However, with Zhang Hao beside her, He Yuelian does not become overly worried because of this intuition.

Since Zhang Hao has already indicated there's no need to worry about the Graveyard's danger, He Yuelian naturally chooses to trust him.

She takes out fresh Hong Bai Shuang Sha paper and continues to scatter it outward.

"Creak!"

As the Hong Bai Shuang Sha paper floats, the small Wooden Cabin standing in the middle of the Graveyard creaks open its wooden door.

A figure steps out of the cabin, indistinct, only a tall, thin silhouette.

The person stands at the doorway until a Hong Bai Shuang Sha paper drifts before him, then he reaches out to pick it up.

Strangely, after the tall, thin figure from the deep Graveyard cabin takes the paper, he does not follow the others like the other Fierce Ghosts, but instead closes the door and returns inside.

"Zhang Hao? What's happening?" He Yuelian asks, a bit puzzled.

Why does this Ghost, after receiving the paper, not join the bridal procession but go back inside? "This Ghost is the master of this Graveyard; its existence sustains the Graveyard itself."

"Until all Fierce Ghosts here break free, it will not leave this place."

Zhang Hao looks at the sunken mounds; although many have already collapsed, for such a vast Graveyard, waiting for all Fierce Ghosts to crawl out of the burial ground is still far off.

"Ignore him; just keep sending invitations. When the time is right, he will lead the subsequent Ghosts that emerge from the Graveyard to the ancient mansion."

They set out from the ancient mansion, yet Zhang Hao's ultimate destination remains the ancient mansion.

He just needs to deliver the letter to the proper place before returning to the old mansion.

The team marched on and soon passed through the Graveyard, but by then dense red paper had already been left along its edge.

As the red paper stained the Grave Soil, the burial mounds began to collapse one by one.

"Are we about to enter Reality?"

After passing through an unknown number of Spiritual Realms, He Yuelian looked at the Road ahead that was beginning to brighten, surprise flashing in his eyes.

"Hmm, some Spiritual Realms cannot be reached via that Highway and must be accessed from Reality."

"Moreover, our target for delivering the letter isn't limited to those Spiritual Realms." At this moment, the team walked along a winding Road.

The Road seemed as if it had been drawn, winding and spiraling while branching into multiple diverging paths.

Following the drawn Road, Zhang Hao and the others soon entered a city.

The Red and White teams set out simultaneously, quickly drawing the attention of the people.

Some people approached, watching the strange wedding procession from a distance, curiosity and worry evident in their eyes.

"Is this to fetch the bride? How can the White Affair start and the Red Affair follow behind?"

A few elderly onlookers stared at the scene, their eyes full of astonishment.

However, that astonishment lasted only a brief moment.

Because as the Red and White Affair team passed, the following team quickly startled the onlookers, who fled in all directions.

The wedding procession was bizarre, its members barely recognizable, but what on earth was the trailing team? Those strange crowds were like a single Fierce Ghost.

"Thump!"

At that moment, a thudding sound of someone falling rang out.

At an unknown time, a person who had been running backward suddenly turned deathly pale and collapsed lifelessly onto the ground.

That sound was like a beginning; after the first thud, various other falling sounds followed.

After entering Reality, the Fierce Ghosts behind the wedding procession began killing.

Although the red paper kept them trailing the team, once someone triggered their Killing Rule, the Fierce Ghosts could still kill and were not fully controlled.

Headquarters.

The Fierce Ghost team led by the Red and White Double Evil was quickly noticed by Headquarters.

"Deputy Minister Cao Yanhua, what should we do next?"

"We had just calmed down for a few days, and the Red and White Double Evil reappeared in Reality, leading a parade of so many Fierce Ghosts."

"This already exceeds S‑level, even an X‑level Supernatural Incident."

Wang Qiang looked at Cao Yanhua, despair filling his eyes.

"Yang Jian and his group formed a team to counter the Red and White Double Evil, but they haven't reported back yet; instead the Red and White Double Evil appeared first."

Cao Yanhua listened to Wang Qiang's words and couldn't help but frown.

"You ask me, I have no solution either."

"How is the Safety Room construction going? Is it ready for use?"

Hearing that, Wang Qiang hurriedly produced a report on the Safety Room.

"Our people have renovated the Basements that housed the captured Fierce Ghosts separately."

"Now each Safety Room can accommodate over ten thousand people for year‑round living."

"Additionally, one hundred thousand Safety Rooms that can house people but cannot sustain daily supplies have been completed."

"Is that so? Then let's first arrange for people to move into the Safety Rooms for living," Cao Yanhua nodded.

"Prioritize placing elite individuals from all professions into the self‑sustaining Safety Rooms, then layer by layer filter elites from each field into the non‑self‑sustaining Safety Rooms."

"Deputy Minister Cao, are you reserving any slots?" Wang Qiang asked.

"Me? Forget it," Cao Yanhua said with a wry smile upon hearing about his own slot, then shook his head.

"The Red and White Double Evil issue arose because I failed to handle it in time, allowing them to grow."

"I am a sinner of humanity; how can I still have the face to crawl for survival in a Safety Room?"

"Allocate the slots to others," Cao Yanhua said gravely.

"But Deputy Minister Cao, what about your family?" Wang Qiang said heavily.

"No problem; Cao Yang had left some Safety Rooms before, and although they hold few people, they're enough for my family's temporary stay."

"As for matters further in the future, let's leave them to others."

"In fact, if humanity truly loses control, those non‑self‑sustaining Safety Rooms are not much different from staying in Reality."

"Unless one can enter a Safety Room already equipped with internal circulation, entering an ordinary Safety Room is merely a matter of dying sooner or later."

"That works," Wang Qiang nodded, not pressing further.

Since Cao Yanhua doesn't want any slots, there's no need to force it.

After all, this concerns humanity's continuation; setting aside personal feelings, Wang Qiang still hopes that only human elites enter.

"Wang Qiang, remember to reserve a slot for yourself," Cao Yanhua suddenly said, startling Wang Qiang.

"In fact, if anything happens to me, you'll be the one to take my place."

"Putting aside the Ghost Tamer, in terms of understanding the Supernatural, you are also an elite, a top‑most among elites."

"Even if we could hide in a Safety Room and have internal circulation, I doubt that life would last long."

"Sooner or later we'll have to return to Reality life, and then we'll need people who have studied Supernatural Incidents."

Hearing that, Wang Qiang recovered, quickly nodding.

"By the way, prioritize scientists, component workers, and agricultural scholars," Cao Yanhua continued.

"Scientists are essential for ensuring our exploration of the outside world from within the Safety Rooms."

"Component workers are needed to manufacture various products, and agricultural scholars to study the ecology of the Reality World when we return."

Only if scientific development and agricultural output meet the standards can the population grow rapidly.

Doctors are also a necessary condition; as for other things like celebrities or officials, they can be secondary considerations. As long as someone handles administrators and entertainment methods, that's enough, but they're not required.

As for the specific arrangements, go discuss them with the higher-ups; these are just some of my suggestions.

"Alright, I understand," Wang Qiang nodded.

"Go ahead, I still need to figure out the Reality World matters; if those Ghost Tamers learn about the Safety Room plan, it will be a huge trouble."

"If they actually come to seize Safety Room slots, dealing with them will be extremely troublesome."

Ghost Tamers are already near death, but they survive only temporarily because of the Fierce Ghost.

If these Ghost Tamers truly realize they are a discarded group, their uproar would be unstoppable.

After all, the captain is already dead now.

And even the captain might still have his own thoughts and ideas.

(End of chapter)