Chapter 38 - Imprint

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Just as Liu Xiaoyu was about to leave work and return to her dormitory to rest, she received a call from Yang Jian.

She immediately took it seriously.

Generally speaking, ghost riders would not casually make calls from their satellite positioning phones. Once they did, it was highly likely that they had encountered a supernatural incident and a ghost.

At such moments, the tasks of the operators were of utmost importance and intensity. The operators had to collect the relevant information, sort out the files, as well as appraise the level of the ghost and the incident… … They were a very important cycle in maintaining regional stability.

Therefore, even if an operator was asleep, once the phone rang, one still had to immediately go to work.

Listening to Yang Jian’s description, Liu Xiaoyu opened Ghost Baby Zhou Zheng’s file. She frowned and was wearing a very grave expression as she said, “You’re saying that the ghost baby that ran out of Zhou Zheng’s stomach is growing… A few days ago, it was only in the form of a baby, and now, it’s already a toddler, plus it is showing the tendency to use the ghost realm?”

“Yes, that’s the general situation. Also, a classmate of mine was left with two palm prints by the ghost baby. The ghost baby seems to have had its eyes on her from then, and it’s currently focused on wanting to eat her. It’s just like the case with being cursed by the door-knocking sound. Do you have any similar cases on your side? Have you thought of a way to solve the situation?” Yang Jian said.

“In the previous supernatural files, there were indeed people who encountered a similar situation. Usually, two conditions have to be satisfied for ghosts to have a clear target to kill. One is a hard trigger condition, and the other is the killing pattern. These two are akin to the killing motive and modus operandi of an ordinary person. Previously, the trigger condition of the door-knocking ghost was the door-knocking sound, and its killing method was through knocking on the door itself. Of course, other killing methods are not excluded. The ghost baby’s killing method should be… … Through eating. It kills by eating its victim. The trigger condition should be coming into skin-to-skin contact it. Based on some information, I can determine that the minute it can, the ghost baby would eat the person it touched, and the same goes for anyone who touches it. It is only targeting your classmate now because she has had contact with the ghost baby,” Liu Xiaoyu explained

Yang Jian said, “I have not had contact with the ghost baby before, but the ghost baby still attacked me.”

He was the first to be attacked by the ghost baby.

“Most ghosts have the ability to kill without discrimination. Under the circumstances that the conditions are not triggered, they will randomly attack the people around them. It might also be because the first person the ghost baby saw after leaving Zhou Zheng’s body was you, so it treated you as its prey. However, such a ghost with the ability to spread and wander is generally defined as a B-rank ghost. Besides, when you encounter a ghost, it’s not certain that if you don’t meet the requirements, you will be safe and sound. It’s only that your chances of surviving will be imporved if you see through the ghost’s movement pattern,” Said Liu Xiaoyu.

Yang Jian’s mouth twitched when he heard this. He finally understood why Fang Jing would sacrifice others to survive.

“Regarding the handprint on your classmate, I think it might be a ghost slave seal,” Liu Xiaoyu said.

A ghost slave seal?

Yang Jian said, “What’s that? What’s the difference between it and a ghost slave?”

“Every ghost that can use the ghost realm has the ability to turn a dead person into a ghost slave. A ghost slave has no intellect, and other than still looking the same as it did before death, it has nothing to do with the original person. It’s a different kind of ghost, so don’t be fooled by the ghost slave’s appearance that is the same as when it was alive. On top of that, ghost slaves obey their ghost masters unconditionally. You should have met one before, though the rank of the door-knocking ghost is too high, so the number of ghost slaves it can control is beyond your imagination. We have already defined it as an A-rank.”

A-rank.

Yang Jian’s heart trembled. So the door-knocking ghost was that terrifying.

“As for the ghost slave seal, it is actually the mark of a malicious ghost, just like the trademark of a company. Although that classmate of yours isn’t dead, she can already be considered a ghost slave of the ghost realm. Once she dies, she will be controlled. These are the only information I have here for the time being,” Liu Xiaoyu said.

When Yang Jian heard this, his heart sank, “So that means that the ghost baby isn’t even mature yet but is already planning to build his harem? I thought it was a serious ghost, I didn’t expect it to be a little pervert.”

“… From our current information, ghosts don’t have any desires. It doesn’t see beauty or ugliness in its eyes. It probably targeted your classmate because she’s a girl. The ghost baby had just crawled out of Zhou Zheng’s stomach at that time. After it failed to attack you, it would naturally choose to attack someone who looked weaker. That’s all,” Liu Xiaoyu said.

“Is there any way to remove the seal?”Asked Yang Jian.

Liu Xiaoyu said, “No, but there is a possible solution, though no one among the ghost riders has tried it.”

“Why?” asked Yang Jian.

“The requirements are too high,” said Liu Xiaoyu.

“What are they?”

Liu Xiaoyu said, “The most basic requirement is that the ghost rider has to be able to use the ghost realm. A professor had speculated that if ghosts can have ghost slaves, then the ghost rider should also be able to have ghost slaves. They can use a new ghost slave seal to replace the one left by the malicious ghost and with that, help the victim get rid of the malicious ghost’s pursuit.”

“Aren’t you talking nonsense? There will still be a seal on the body,” Yang Jian said.

“It’s not the same. Malicious ghosts are dead while ghost riders are living people. Even if one becomes the ghost slave of a ghost rider, it won’t lose its mind. There is a fundamental difference between that and being the ghost slave of a malicious ghost… Of course, if you die from the revival of the malicious ghost, then your ghost slave will be under the control of the ghost in your body.”

“…” Yang Jian’s face darkened.

Ghost riders were all short-lived people. If they did it this way, wouldn’t the victim be jumping from one fire pit to another?

Death was still the end.

“I got it. Let’s talk next time,” Yang Jian said.

“Wait, wait a minute,” Liu Xiaoyu suddenly remembered something and hurriedly stopped him.

“Is there anything else?” Yang Jian asked.

Liu Xiaoyu said, “I want to create a file for you and I hope you can cooperate with me. It’s best if you have some understanding of the ghost in your body, such as its abilities, characteristics, form… … If you still don’t cooperate, I won’t cooperate with you next time.”

“Fine,” Yang Jian thought for a moment and felt that it didn’t matter, so he told her about the eye.

After Liu Xiaoyu finished recording the information, she said, “We have already asked someone to arrange your mother’s matters. She has been arranged to enter a lawful enterprise, and will be returning to Dachang City soon. You can rest assured about her matters. By the way, how were things with your father last time? Can you tell me in detail?”

“Father? Didn’t my father die when I was young? Which matter are you talking about?” Yang Jian asked.

Liu Xiaoyu was stunned for a moment and said, “Didn’t you say that your father was next to you in your rented house last time? I suspected that it was a ghost, so I asked you to leave that place.”

“That ghost is that ghost. Why are you mentioning my father?” Yang Jian said, “Don’t tell me you think that the ghost is my father? Stop joking, okay?”

“…” Liu Xiaoyu did not get angry. Instead, she frowned.

From Yang Jian’s tone, it did not sound like he was joking.

The only explanation was… … His memories had been tampered with again.

A ghost that could probably tamper with one’s memories? Plus the one who had his memories tampered with was unable to discover it… The same went for ghost riders. Yet, why wasn’t her memories tampered with?

Liu Xiaoyu quickly jotted down the information and prepared to hand this matter to the highly intelligent think tanks to reason with. This was not her job.

“Alright, if there’s nothing else, we’ll talk next time,” Yang Jian said.

“One last question. How’s your mental state recently?” Liu Xiaoyu suddenly asked again.

“It’s fine. There’s no problem,” Yang Jian hung up the phone.

Then he looked at Wang Bin and Wang Haiyan who were also in the car and said, “Did you hear all that? This is a call from an operator in the Asian Division of the International Ghost Rider Organization. What she said represents authority. In fact, she has been involved in this for a long time. Now that you guys have come into contact with this matter, I won’t hide it anymore. Otherwise, some people will say that I’m a fraud and a lunatic.”

Wang Bin’s family fell into a deep silence.

Their hearts were in turbulence.

Yang Jian looked at Wang Shanshan again. Suddenly, his expression froze.

He saw a faint red mark that had appeared unknowingly on Wang Shanshan’s wrist. The mark seemed to be… … an eye, but it was so dim it had almost disappeared.

“When did this appear?” Yang Jian abruptly grabbed Wang Shanshan’s hand.

Wang Shanshan shrank back and whispered, “It appeared after you grabbed me.”

This was the ghost slave seal!

Yang Jian was stunned. He recalled that he did grab Wang Shanshan’s wrist when he was saving her.

Had he left it behind at that time?

Yang Jian understood now.

The reason why Wang Shanshan didn’t die after being pestered by the ghost baby for so many days was because of his seal… … However, the ghost baby had grown now and its strength had increased, so his seal was about to disappear.

“This seal can save but also hurt people,” Yang Jian’s expression changed constantly as he fell into deep thought.

Not long after Yang Jian had hung up the phone, a file about him appeared in the archives room of the Asian Division of the International Ghost Rider Organization.

On the first page of the file was a line of words in caps: GHOST EYEBALL… YANG JIAN (not hired)..