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Chapter 142: Chapter 60: Slaying a Ghost

He had the head. It was still warm. Ai Ning’s face was frozen in an expression of terror, her pupils constricted, but her eyes could still move. When they landed on Gao Tian, her mouth clearly opened, as if trying to form words. But with only a head and no windpipe, she couldn’t make a sound.

After decapitating the female Ghost Hunter, Ghost Cave had clearly used some kind of Supernatural Artifact to keep her alive. He was just waiting for the Memory Ghost to alter her memories before reattaching her head. She would be sent back to headquarters as if she were still a normal, living person.

"How do you want them changed?"

Gao Tian asked.

Ghost Cave slowly stood up, his other hand holding a headless female corpse, its neck still bleeding. It was Ai Ning’s body.

"First, we erase any memory she has of meeting us. After escaping the Rainy Woman in the alley, she passed out inside Liberation Mansion. She never encountered any Fierce Ghosts."

"Right now, the Spirit Disaster Bureau’s Ghost Hunters are searching everywhere for survivors. When this Ghost Hunter returns to her post, she’ll still be combat-effective, so she’ll likely be integrated into their rank-and-file units. However, she won’t be qualified to enter the Shadow Headquarters, much less meet the Director of the Spirit Disaster Bureau."

"So, we need to implant something much more important in her mind—"

"That in Liberation Mansion, she met a dying Ghost Hunter and obtained a piece of extremely important intelligence. This intelligence must be reported to the Director in person, face-to-face. Every second of delay will result in the deaths of tens of thousands."

With his right hand, Ghost Cave dragged another corpse out of a dark corner. This one, however, was in an advanced state of decay. Its eye sockets crawled with writhing white maggots, and the flesh on its limbs was sloughing off, revealing the bone beneath.

"This is another Ghost Hunter I killed in Shanghai three months ago. An American named Adam, an expert on the Inner World."

"Using special detection methods, he obtained a great deal of data on the Inner World. He even discovered the existence of the Divine Tree and the secret of how we in the Jialan Society preserve our minds after death. This is intelligence that even their Director, Old Man Sun, would be desperate to solve."

"The American came looking for the Spirit Disaster Bureau. As luck would have it, the high-level contact he made was a mole who had already become a ghost. Naturally, Adam was lured to this abandoned mansion. When he arrived, the two of us were waiting. The poor doctor was ’put to sleep’ before he even knew what was happening."

"After killing him, I didn’t destroy his body. I left it here, along with Dr. Adam’s notes and research sketches from before his death. Everything is here. I knew at the time this corpse would be useful someday."

"I used a special Supernatural Artifact to render the body ’invisible.’ Despite all the pedestrians coming and going outside the mansion, not a single one noticed the corpse."

"Three months later, the Supernatural Artifact’s effect conveniently wore off. And so, Dr. Adam’s body was revealed."

"And by a great ’coincidence,’ our dear Miss Ai Ning passed out right here after entering Liberation Mansion. Upon waking, she smelled the potent stench of decay. Following the scent, she made her way to a lower floor and stumbled right upon Dr. Adam’s corpse. Then, driven by a Ghost Hunter’s professional instinct, Ai Ning examined the body and discovered all the intelligence related to the Divine Tree, as well as Dr. Adam’s true identity."

And thus, a perfectly logical story came into focus.

Ghost Cave tossed the corpse to the ground and said with a smile,

"Once she has this ’intelligence,’ Miss Ai Ning will rush back to the city center without a moment’s hesitation and meet up with the local Ghost Hunter units. Spurred on by her false memories, she will vehemently demand to see their highest-ranking leader."

"At that point, one or two commander-level Ghost Hunters will inform her that she doesn’t have clearance to enter the real headquarters. They’ll tell her that if she has intelligence, she should just report it to them."

"But, having been deceived once before at a fake headquarters, and now seeing how Dr. Adam was deceived, Miss Ai Ning will know there are traitors in the high command. Jumpy as a startled bird, she’ll refuse to easily part with this ’vital intelligence.’ She will continue to insist on meeting the supreme leader, to personally ensure that he is, in fact, human. Only then will she reveal everything about the Divine Tree."

"The Ghost Hunters downtown won’t let her go to the real headquarters just on her word alone, not at first. But after a series of rigorous examinations—including thermal imaging, lie detectors, telepathic probes, and evaluation by micro-expression experts—the Ghost Hunters will come to one conclusion—"

"This woman is, one hundred percent, not lying. She truly possesses extremely urgent intelligence that she will only divulge to the Director."

And if, even then, the Ghost Hunters still refused to grant her passage?

It wasn’t a major concern. To the Jialan Society, Ai Ning was merely an expendable pawn.

If the plan failed, they would lose nothing.

Gao Tian nodded.

"I understand."

"That’s all you need, right?"

’For him, erasing the woman’s memory and then guiding her to "discover" Dr. Adam’s body step-by-step after she awoke wasn’t a technically difficult task.’

But Gao Tian was in no hurry to do it.

The Fierce Ghosts surrounded him in the flickering light and shadows, radiating palpable aggression.

’This was clearly Ghost Cave’s doing, a show of force to put me in my place.’

’Although Xu Yuan had explicitly told me not to stir up trouble, this Ghost Cave still seemed to hold a grudge.’

’Did he lure me to this ghost nest today to try and settle the score?’

’If I just do this for them, what happens when I’m no longer useful? The next thing I know, Ghost Cave will probably turn his attention to the "Memory Ghost" himself.’

’I can’t just reveal my abilities until I’ve crushed any ideas Ghost Cave has about messing with me.’

’This was a life-or-death power play.’

Ghost Cave said amiably,

"Mr. Memory Ghost."

"You may now display your miraculous abilities."

Ai Ning’s head, cradled in Wind Attendant Buddha’s hands, began to tremble, letting out ragged, wheezing breaths. She had overheard the ghosts’ plot against her, and it was clear Ai Ning didn’t want her memories altered.

Gao Tian smiled.

"Let’s not be so hasty."

"The night is young. We have plenty of time."

"What are so many of you ghosts doing, gathered in this abandoned mansion? Surely not just for this one female Ghost Hunter."

"You mentioned an altar earlier. What altar? Who is it for?"

Ghost Cave replied,

"That matter doesn’t concern you, Mr. Memory Ghost."

"Just do the job you were brought here to do."

Gao Tian retorted,

"What, am I not a member of the Jialan Society?"

"Or is my rank too low to be worthy of this knowledge?"

In the middle of the hallway, the horrifying conjoined figure slowly looked up and spoke.

"Memory Ghost."

"Just do what you’re supposed to do."

"Don’t ask about things that don’t concern you. There’s no benefit in it for you."

"We all work for Xu Yuan. There’s no need to make things unpleasant."

Gao Tian’s gaze shifted from Ghost Cave to the conjoined being, a fusion of two separate bodies.

"And what if I insist on knowing?"

The half of the conjoined creature facing Gao Tian, its internal organs a tangled mess, spoke slowly.

"Then I’m afraid we’ll just have to kill you a few times to make you understand your place..."

Before it could finish, something strange and sudden happened.

One of the two bodies that made up the conjoined being suddenly exploded in a shower of gore, splattering the nearby Fierce Ghost Superpower Users.

At the same instant, Gao Tian drew the Terror Blade from his mirror, its sacrificial ritual complete.

Through keen observation, he had deduced that the conjoined being was part ghost, part human. The ghost had no internal organs of its own and could only survive by parasitizing a living person, sharing their host’s organs.

The parasitized human had become nothing more than sustenance for the ghost. He wouldn’t have lived much longer anyway.

The instant the conjoined being provoked him, Gao Tian activated the Terror Blade, sacrificing the human half. He followed up with a vicious slash, wasting no words, and cleaved the remaining ghost body into three pieces. The face on the torso let out a terrified shriek.

A double kill with a single move.

Even if a ghost couldn’t truly die, the agony of losing its host’s organs and the pain of dismemberment were very real. The force of the blow sent one of the sections flying to Gao Tian’s feet. He immediately stomped on it, pinning it to the ground to prevent the severed body from reassembling.

He had dispatched the conjoined being cleanly, in a single motion. Some of the other Fierce Ghosts recoiled, not expecting the Memory Ghost to have so many ways to kill. Others, however, grew restless, their own viciousness stirred, looking as if they were about to swarm him.

Gao Tian ignored the murderous Fierce Ghosts. His expression was calm as his gaze returned to Ghost Cave.

"Back at Jin Hai Mansion, I beat the two of you once."

"If anyone here still isn’t convinced, I don’t mind giving you all another thrashing."

"I’ll ask again: am I qualified to know what you’re building an altar for?"

His hands were thrust into his pockets, seemingly at ease, but one was actually gripping his mirror and the other a black card. He was ready to bolt the second things went south.

’If I really ignite the fury of this mob of ghosts right here in the Jialan Society’s lair, I won’t be able to withstand so many of their killing abilities being unleashed on me at once.’

’Still,’ he estimated, ’the situation probably hasn’t deteriorated to that point yet.’

’After all, Ghost Cave and the others still need my abilities as the Memory Ghost. If things really go sideways, they’ll have a hard time explaining it to Xu Yuan.’

A moment later, the entire mansion fell silent, save for the wretched screams of the conjoined ghost that had lost its body.

PAT. PAT.

The long-legged ghost walking on the ceiling slowly moved past the crowd of specters and positioned itself between Ghost Cave and Gao Tian, playing the role of peacemaker.

"We have all witnessed your strength, Mr. Memory Ghost."

"No one questions it."

"How about this: I’ll tell you the purpose of the altar, and then you can begin using your abilities on the female Ghost Hunter."

"We all work for Mr. Xu Yuan, so why must we make things so unpleasant?"

"How does that sound to you?"

Gao Tian breathed a small sigh of relief.

’There was no way I could actually start a war with so many ghosts here.’

’They were giving me an out, so I might as well take it.’

"Fine."