Chapter 373 - Chapter 373: Chapter 372: Tong Qian's Crisis
Chapter 373: Chapter 372: Tong Qian’s Crisis
Supernatural forces invaded the headquarters’ communication room.
Though the real ghost was hundreds of kilometers away in Z city, the terror it spread had already revealed the tip of the iceberg, instilling in these operators—who had never encountered supernatural events—fear of imminent death and unease.
After a brief commotion, normalcy was restored.
All communications were cut off, and the strange laughter ceased.
However, the damage from this brief terror invasion was significant.
In an isolated communication room, tasked with receiving Yang Jian’s calls, Liu Xiaoyu walked out curiously after hearing the noise outside.
“What happened, why did the alarm suddenly go off?” She was working alone, unaware of the events that had just unfolded.
“A call to Z city caused a supernatural invasion at headquarters, and a colleague was killed.”
A colleague standing guard nearby whispered, “It’s related to the incident Yang Jian is dealing with right now. Aren’t you Yang Jian’s operator? Don’t you know anything about it?”
Liu Xiaoyu was well-known in the communication room because she was responsible for the Ghost-Eye, Yang Jian. Others envied and resented her for it.
“His satellite-positioned phone is off; I can only determine his exact location, not contact him. The line has been down for some time. Earlier, Team Leader Zhao said Yang Jian is fine, that he cut off the connection himself due to some special circumstances,” Liu Xiaoyu explained.
“It seems Yang Jian anticipated this and disconnected proactively,” the colleague assumed, believing that Yang Jian knew the ins and outs, thus taking precautions against the eerie phone-induced killings.
“How are the other people in the communication room?” Liu Xiaoyu felt a strong unease.
The guard glanced around and whispered, “Thankfully, after the last incident in Z city, you were assigned to an isolated communication room. Otherwise, you might have been involved this time. I’m just in charge of maintaining order; I don’t know much more, but judging by the seriousness of the situation, the casualties must be significant.”
“The higher-ups have ordered you not to worry about anything else. Headquarters is currently safe, so you must continue to attempt contact with Yang Jian. The event in Z city is nearing its end.”
Liu Xiaoyu nodded subconsciously, ready to return to work.
But just as she was about to turn and enter her office, employees dressed in protective suits like those used in hazardous environments were carrying out body after body from the communication room.
Each body had eyes wide open, faces adorned with eerie smiles. From the attire, it was clear they were all operators from the communication room and Liu Xiaoyu’s colleagues, some of whom she was quite close with, often chatting together after work.
But now, those familiar colleagues of Liu Xiaoyu lay on stretchers as lifeless corpses.
Seeing those familiar faces with weird smiles in death, Liu Xiaoyu felt an unnamed fear within her heart.
This fear seeped through her, making her feel icy cold all over.
At that moment, her mind was a blank canvas, but somehow she thought of one person.
That person was the ghost controller… Yang Jian, Liu Xiaoyu’s charge.
Was Yang Jian dealing with things like this every day?
Watching body after body pass by her, the expression in Liu Xiaoyu’s eyes shifted from fear to numbness, and then to a madness that radiated from within.
She started to realize that the work she had done before was utterly meaningless.
She was too fragile, so were her colleagues, and so was Team Leader Zhao… Just one phone call, merely a single connection, had turned the communication room into this.
The communication room at headquarters, once thought to be incredibly safe, now felt to Liu Xiaoyu like a sinister cage of death, where no one could leave alive. Whether it was today or eventually, she felt it was inevitable that everyone would die there.
Without a sound.
“Bang~!”
Liu Xiaoyu didn’t know when she came back to her senses, but she suddenly returned to her office and slammed the door shut.
With emotions running high, she grabbed the communication equipment and frantically pressed the buttons, desperate to establish contact with Yang Jian.
Trembling, fear, anxiety, and the occasional flashes in her mind of her colleagues’ weird smiling faces.
All of this was becoming too much for Liu Xiaoyu to bear.
The regular training and guidance were of no use at that moment.
“Hurry, hurry, open the line,” Liu Xiaoyu didn’t know why she was so desperate to connect with Yang Jian.
All she knew was that it was the only thing she could do at the moment.
Or perhaps, just hearing Yang Jian’s indifferent voice would allow her to retrieve the self she was during her switchboard duties.
It was a form of escape and a way to seek comfort.
Sudden fear could crush a person’s heart, and Liu Xiaoyu evidently did not possess a very strong psychological quality.
“I am Yang Jian, communication is now restored.” However, in Liu Xiaoyu’s almost collapsing state, Yang Jian on the other end took the initiative to open communication.
Because Yang Jian was about to make a move against Tong Qian.
Considering Tong Qian might be a ghost in disguise, communication had to be maintained so as not to suggest he was up to something shady.
“Yang Jian, it’s, it’s me, Liu Xiaoyu.” Liu Xiaoyu was emotionally agitated, her voice tinged with a hint of crying. She wanted to say something, but once she actually maintained communication with Yang Jian, she didn’t know what to say.
She had become accustomed to being a listener for Yang Jian, not a storyteller.
“I know.” Yang Jian didn’t chat with Liu Xiaoyu, just casually responded and then turned his attention elsewhere.
Liu Xiaoyu, with her headset on, lay in front of the communication console, head buried, quietly listening to Yang Jian’s action reports from the other end.
As per usual.
Yang Jian, who was outside of The Third Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Dachang City, did not know that a single phone call from Zhao Jianguo almost caused everyone in the communication room to perish. His current priority was to pinpoint Tong Qian’s location and deal with her.
“Tong Qian is in a special ward on the top floor of the hospital, at least that’s the information I have, but I cannot be certain if her location has changed.” Yang Jian got out of the car and looked up at the hospital building.
Honestly, the thought of entering the hospital cast a shadow over his heart.
Back in Dachang City, Yang Jian had nearly died in a hospital.
“Now that Tong Qian’s identity is confirmed, Brother Tui, do you have any action plans? We’ll follow your lead,” Feng Quan chimed in.
Luo Su Yi and Lin Luomei also turned their attention towards him.
Although they were forced to come and assist, if Yang Jian was willing to devise a plan, they would comply with it, which was definitely better than acting recklessly on their own.
“No plans. That ghost’s Terror Level is not very high. The only thing to fear is that it can alter memories, steal others’ identities, and has strong infiltrative abilities. Luckily, the scope of this ghost’s infiltration isn’t large. If it had run abroad and messed with a foreign president, taking control of a country, that would be extraordinary.”
“So just go directly and be cautious,” he concluded.
Yang Jian didn’t find this ghost particularly difficult to deal with; with so many ghost controllers acting together, success was almost assured.
Hearing this, the others also gained confidence.
The group strode toward the hospital.
And just as they passed the main gate, a security guard on watch gave Yang Jian a strange, eerie smile.
Yang Jian noticed the security guard.
His gaze hardened, his flesh stretched tight, revealing his Ghost Eye, which watched the security guard with an indescribable eeriness.
“The ghost knows we are here. It seems we don’t have time for a slow approach. Let’s be more aggressive. I’ll use the Ghost Domain to lead you to it.” Yang Jian withdrew his gaze, ignoring the strangely-smiling security guard.
How many Ghost Slaves with altered memories were there in this city, only heaven knew.
Now, he had only one target.
His Ghost Eyes opened one after another, his body emitting a red glow, and the Ghost Domain instantly enveloped the entire hospital.
While the Ghost Domain spread over the hospital,
Tong Qian stood eerily in front of a window in a ward, watching Yang Jian drive from afar and then stop downstairs, seemingly watching Yang Jian enter the hospital all along.
Concurrently, as the Ghost Domain covered the hospital,
a smile gradually appeared on Tong Qian’s face, a strange, sinister laugh emanated from her lips, spreading from the ward and diffusing in all directions.
Soon, the entire hospital was echoing with this terrifying laughter.
But, no matter how horrifying this laughter was, Yang Jian knew this was going to be his final encounter with this ghost.
Either Yang Jian would die here or the ghost would be captured and confined.