Chapter 966: Chapter 684: Warning
The team member who committed suicide outside the factory’s small building’s safe room died in exactly the same way as Deputy Team Leader He Tong, both by shooting themselves, their faces filled with despair, presumably having witnessed their already deceased teammates resurrect. He Tong even left one last text message, warning not to trust anyone, including herself.
Yang Xiao realized that Wu Zhengwu and his group might be phonies when he saw the man in room 402 resurrect, but it wasn’t until recently, when he personally witnessed the revival of the corpse in room 601, that he truly confirmed it, also crushing the last shred of hope he had left.
After briefly gathering themselves, the two headed to the door of room 402. This time, as the door opened, they were greeted by three corpses.
Qi Cheng and his sister were dead, their bodies lying against the wall. However, Yang Xiao was certain; he had only knocked them out with the Human Bone Staff, which was not lethal. As he moved closer and examined them with the Ghost Lantern, he found the Ghost Handprint on the back of each of them.
In addition, Yang Xiao looked up towards the upper corner of the room. The lighting inside had gone out at some unknown time, but he clearly remembered that during the resurrection of the man in room 402, as well as after the revival in room 601, the lights in both rooms were on.
His thoughts returned to the moment he arrived in Jingping Town. Neither they, including the members of the Dark Army, had made or received any phone calls. That is to say, the true reason they suffered ghost attacks was because they came into contact with the living dead, namely the resurrected Wu Zhengwu and his group.
Not long ago, the target of the female ghost’s attack was Beibei, who was also the first to pry open the door of room 402 and the first to appear in the sight of the middle-aged man’s corpse. Coincidentally, the deceased member of the Dark Army was also the one who pried open the safe room door, the first person to be witnessed by Wu Zhengwu and his "people".
"Send a report, add related clues regarding Jingping Town’s paranormal incident, there’s suspicion that living individuals first seen by the living dead are targeted by ghosts and trigger the revival of the living dead corpses."
"The living dead enter a comatose state when either unconscious or in an enclosed space out of sight and will automatically go into hibernation, reverting to a state of false death, the specific cycle is unknown."
"Upon resurrection, the living dead appear to have an effect on their surroundings, specifically by illuminating lights within the room, even if the switch is turned off. Please immediately cut off all electricity supply to Jingping Town."
"Please immediately dispatch reinforcements, but do not enter Jingping Town for the time being, stand by nearby, Find the tech department to cooperate, have them send over the operation manual for the experimental equipment issued by the Luming Bureau investigation team."
"Attention, the Luming Bureau is very likely to be attacked by ghost calls, suggesting immediate implementation of communication control. Furthermore, since the entire Luming Bureau investigation team has been wiped out, the paranormal incident in Jingping Town is now being taken over by the Lin’an Patrol Office investigation team. Should Team Leader Yang Xiao lose contact, Captain Qu Muzhi of the City Center Official Residence investigation team will take charge."
"Warning, without the permission of us two, no one should enter the vicinity of Jingping Town!"
"Repeat, without the permission of us two, no one should enter the vicinity of Jingping Town! Be wary of all acquaintances, do not trust anyone within the range of the paranormal incident! All communications must be converted to text transmission!"
After completing these tasks, Yang Xiao closed the door, and he went downstairs with Beibei. It was time to confront Wu Zhengwu.
Back on the ground floor, another corpse had appeared; it was that member of the Dark Army. Moreover, the atmosphere around them was very delicate. Captain Qu was standing to one side, clutching a rifle, a few pistols at his feet. Meanwhile, Wu Zhengwu and his four men stood together about 4-5 meters away, both sides barely concealing a stalemate.
Seeing Yang Xiao and his companion emerge from the stairway, Wu Zhengwu, who looked troubled, seemed to have seen a savior and quickly approached, "Captain Yang, finally you’re back. Captain Qu has disarmed us all, what in the world is this about?!"
As Wu Zhengwu approached, Beibei instinctively drew her gun and aimed it at his forehead, shocking Wu Zhengwu, "You... Beibei, what are you doing?!"
"Step back!" Beibei growled with a complicated look in her eyes.
Seeing their leader treated this way, the three remaining subordinates wouldn’t stand for it, drawing their daggers immediately, but at that moment Yang Xiao had already pointed his gun at them, "Nobody move!"
"This..." Wu Zhengwu stepped back with the gun pointed at him, and his normally good temper couldn’t hold back any longer, angrily saying, "Yang Xiao, Qu Muzhi, what the hell do you two bastards want to do?!"
When Yang Xiao saw that Qu Muzhi had disarmed these guys, he realized Qu Muzhi must have discovered something, likely the death of this Dark Army member. After all, it made no sense that every time, it was someone from their side that died.
These two Dark Army brothers were not weak, at least not inferior to Wu Zhengwu, but oddly, it was they who died, while Wu Zhengwu’s men were unharmed. This was too suspicious, leading Qu Muzhi to direct his suspicions towards them.
"Use your lantern to shine on them; there’s something wrong with these people," Qu Muzhi said frankly upon their return.
However, Yang Xiao keenly noticed something: Qu Muzhi was holding the gun in his left hand, with his right hand constantly tucked into his sleeve, presumably clutching the other Magic Artifact he had, the seal that could be thrown to strike others. He was also on guard against Yang Xiao himself.
Seeing this, Yang Xiao actually felt relieved; this precisely indicated that Qu Muzhi was real. After all, he and Beibei had been out of his sight for a while, and who knows if what returned was human or ghost. Such vigilance was necessary.
Asking Yang Xiao to shine the Ghost Lantern on Wu Zhengwu and his group was not only to identify the truth of these people but also to test Yang Xiao himself. If he was unable to use the Ghost Lantern, then there would be a problem with him, and Qu Muzhi would not hesitate to take out both him and Beibei.
Even knowing that the Ghost Lantern was useless, Yang Xiao lit it and recounted the important events that had occurred during this time to Qu Muzhi.
This shocked Wu Zhengwu, "I... we’re dead? Now we’re ghosts? Impossible, absolutely impossible!"
Wu Zhengwu, in a state of confusion, defended himself, "Captain Yang, you must believe me, would I not know if I were a ghost? You must be under the illusion created by that ghost; everything you think you saw is fake. That ghost wants nothing more than to make us brothers kill each other!"
Seeing Wu Zhengwu’s clumsy defense, Yang Xiao’s heart ached. How could he not know that what Wu said was true? Wu truly did not realize that he was already dead. Yet faced with damning evidence, these so-called defenses became increasingly pale and weak.
"Big brother Wu, I’m sorry, everything I said is true. If you don’t believe me, come up and see for yourself. Your deputy captain and that team member, they’re both upstairs." Yang Xiao’s tone was heavy with sorrow.
Suddenly, a team member hidden behind made his move. He drew a gun and pointed it straight at Yang Xiao. The next second, "bang," the gun fired.
The team member let out a miserable scream, fell to the ground, clutching his shoulder, howling in pain. Yang Xiao had fired the gun a step ahead of him.
This scene set off the already tense atmosphere like a powder keg. The remaining two team members’ eyes flared with anger, clenching their daggers as they were ready to fight for their lives against Yang Xiao and Qu Muzhi, "Captain, they are the fakes, don’t believe them!!"
"Put your weapons down. Don’t force me to act!" Beibei pointed her gun at them, her eyes filled with conflict and reluctance. They were all brothers of the Patrol Defense Office, and this was the first time she had to aim a gun at one of her own.
"Enough! Put your weapons down!!" Wu Zhengwu yelled at his subordinates and then slowly, very slowly, pulled out the dagger on his body and threw it on the ground. Seeing this, his two reluctant subordinates also tossed their weapons away.
Wu Zhengwu, with eyes bloodshot, raised his hands and spoke with a trembling voice that was almost pleading, "Don’t shoot, they have all been my brothers for many years. I believe this is a misunderstanding. I’ll go with you."
Feeling the injustice and bewilderment deep in Wu Zhengwu’s eyes, Yang Xiao’s own eyes began to moisten. He too wished this was all a misunderstanding, even if it meant Wu would hit him later to vent his anger, but unfortunately, this was reality.
With Yang Xiao and Beibei leading, followed by Qu Muzhi, and Wu Zhengwu sandwiched between them like a prisoner, they quickly arrived at the 6th floor, where they saw the bodies of Deputy Captain He Tong and another young team member.
After hearing Yang Xiao’s story, the injured team member did not believe it one bit, struggling as he shouted, "Captain, don’t believe them. What’s this about doors opening and closing, people dying and then living again? I don’t believe it, I’m willing to go in and try!"
"Young brother, do you have any last words or unfulfilled wishes? Please tell me." Yang Xiao looked at him seriously.
"Damn Deputy Director, blinding Nolan Shuo’s eyes!"
The young team member ignored Yang Xiao completely, clutching his injured shoulder as he walked through the doorway and slammed the door shut with force.
Time ticked away second by second, no one spoke, and the atmosphere was oppressively frightening. Wu Zhengwu’s face turned the color of iron, and Yang Xiao noticed that his fingers were trembling slightly.
"Zhi Cheng?" Wu Zhengwu called gently toward the door.
"Zhi Cheng?"
...
Several times, his voice grew louder and louder, but to no avail— there was no response behind the door. By this point, the others also realized something was amiss, considering the area around was very quiet, and the sound insulation of such an old building was poor, especially since it was just a door away.
Beibei wiped away tears from her face and stepped forward to unlock the door. The moment the door opened, Wu Zhengwu’s face turned ashen. The team member who had been full of life just moments ago now lay on the ground, eyes open, breathless.
Seeing this, the remaining two team members were even more terrified, almost unable to stand steadily.
"Dead, truly dead..." someone muttered, despair flooding their eyes, and the next second, large teardrops spilled out.
On the other hand, Wu Zhengwu, after a moment of staring, nodded slowly and let out a sigh, "So it is..."
Yang Xiao knew in his heart that Wu Zhengwu must have realized something was wrong quite early on, but he also did not want to believe that he was already dead. His subconscious also kept telling him that he was human, not a ghost.
The black blade was still strapped to his back, and he began to draw it out little by little with a reverse grip. But at this moment, no one interrupted him. The three looked at him with complex expressions in their eyes, full of reluctance to accept the unfolding scene.
As Wu Zhengwu exerted force, the blackness on the Black Blade became more intense. This was his weapon, his old friend. He looked down at the Black Blade that had accompanied him for many years, "Actually, I had my suspicions earlier. I felt something was wrong with my memory, but... but when I drew this blade, it still felt so familiar. I thought I was just overthinking. Later... later, when I was with you guys, I refused to think about it. We had the strongest brothers of the Rongcheng Patrol Division here, I thought..."
He paused, his lips pressed tightly, his voice becoming choked, "It turns out I was wrong. I am sorry, Wu Zhengwu almost got you all killed."
