Chapter 657: Chapter 525: Phone Call
When Lu Wencheng picked up the corpse cone again with his purplish-black hand, the feeling Yang Xiao got changed entirely. His intuition told him that it wasn’t a person using the magic artifact but a ghost. Almost instinctively, Yang Xiao slipped his hand into his chest and secretly pulled out the Human Bone Staff.
Lu Wencheng’s eyes turned cold and indifferent, his face also took on an ominous hue. A few seconds later, his movements became stiff as he raised his left arm, zombie-like, without bending his wrist, and harshly stabbed the sharp end of the corpse cone into the wet mud in front of him.
After a moment, he pulled it out and switched to a different spot, continuing to stab.
Lu Wencheng kept repeating, beads of sweat the size of soybeans running down his neck, these seemingly effortless actions consuming a great deal of his spiritual power.
Until the fifth time, as the corpse cone pierced the earth, Yang Xiao couldn’t help but widen his eyes. He saw the five tender sprouts stuck in the mud withering at a pace visible to the naked eye, eventually rotting into black residue.
The next second, Lu Wencheng let go, and his body uncontrollably leaned backward. Yang Xiao, quick-eyed and quick-handed, caught him, preventing a fall. "Are you alright?"
"I’m... I’m okay." Although Lu Wencheng was extremely weary, he was obviously in high spirits. Staring at the mud sand table, he pointed excitedly to the spot the corpse cone had marked. "I found it, I found it!"
"That half a corpse... is it here?" Yang Xiao was skeptical.
Lu Wencheng nodded vigorously. "Indeed!"
There was no time to lose, and after a brief rest for Lu Wencheng, the two of them immediately set out to search the area marked by the corpse cone on the mud sand table.
As the night deepened, visibility worsened, and the two moved cautiously. Using a flashlight in this kind of environment might attract something unwanted, Yang Xiao decided not to use it unless absolutely necessary. The Human Bone Staff, however, was always in his grasp.
The position marked by the corpse cone was some distance from where they had set up the sand table, but even with their extreme caution, trouble still arose. Lu Wencheng, walking in front, suddenly stopped and put up his right fist. Yang Xiao also stopped immediately.
Following Lu Wencheng’s gaze, Yang Xiao couldn’t help but gasp. Under a messy bush, a pair of bare feet were sticking out.
Judging by their position, this person must have been lying in the bushes, face down. This wasn’t a living person but a half-body corpse.
More precisely, a Chang Ghost.
Now only three meters from the Chang Ghost, at the next moment, Yang Xiao saw the ghost’s left foot twitch without reason.
The Chang Ghost had sensed someone approaching and was waking up. At that moment, Yang Xiao had only one thought: to escape quickly. Turning on the flashlight, they turned and ran. Yang Xiao’s first choice was his own Apartment 3, where he was the only remaining resident, a relatively safer place, especially since it was closer to Apartment 3.
Lu Wencheng dared not stray and followed closely behind Yang Xiao. But as they skirted the small square not far from the front door of Apartment 3 and ran through the gate, what they saw splashed a bucket of cold water on Yang Xiao. A bloody half-body stood on top of the security room’s table, toes pointed straight at the door through the glass.
How could a Chang Ghost be in the security room?!
Yang Xiao couldn’t understand it, but the pressing reality no longer allowed him to ponder. Although the ability of the Soul-Capturing Mirror was no longer stable, there was no other choice at the moment. Just as he was about to pull Lu Wencheng into the Mirror World, a patch of the night outside the door suddenly emptied, and a lace-trimmed foreign umbrella appeared. As the umbrella was lifted, three figures stepped out.
A girl held the umbrella with one hand, and the young team member dashed forward. Approaching the Chang Ghost, he pulled out a hammer from his old shoulder bag, held the wooden handle with both hands like one does in golf, and with a ’thud’ sent the Chang Ghost flying like a kite with a broken line, arcing through the night sky, flying dozens of meters away.
Meanwhile, the Chang Ghost that had stood on the security room’s table had stepped down and was walking stiffly towards Yang Xiao when a gunshot sounded, and the ghost collapsed backward onto the ground.
The silver-haired man put away his revolver and approached Yang Xiao and Lu Wencheng, but his gaze was fixed on Lu Wencheng, who was staring in shock. Being stared at by those eyes was more frightening to Lu Wencheng than a ghost’s gaze; these people were outrageously strong.
"Are you a student of Ru Lin Academy?" the silver-haired man asked.
When he said this, Yang Xiao was also stunned. Facing the silver-haired man’s gaze, Lu Wencheng didn’t dare to lie and nodded. "Yes."
"Whom do you study under?"
"I am... under Elder Qingmu of the Law Enforcement Hall of the Academy," Lu Wencheng confessed.
Yang Xiao: "??!"
Expecting the silver-haired man to ponder for a moment, he then shook his head, which likely meant he didn’t recognize the name or hadn’t heard of it. "I saw what you just did. The Upper Three Bookshops’ Ru Lin Academy specializes in Yin and Yang Secret Techniques, as reputed. You can find the location of that ghost, correct?"
"I can only determine the approximate location," Lu Wencheng said truthfully.
"That’s enough. The next ghost fog is coming. You should rest nearby first and pay attention to your safety. We’ll meet here after the fog dissipates, and you will lead us to the ghost," the silver-haired man said, looking at Lu Wencheng.
The young man who had hammered the Chang Ghost chewed his gum dismissively and glanced at Yang Xiao and Lu Wencheng. "Captain, shall I stay behind to protect them? These two are too weak; we can’t have them getting killed by a ghost first."
"That would be great," Yang Xiao agreed readily, appearing eager. Free bodyguards were not to be passed up. "We’re weaklings."
