Chapter 105: Chapter 105: The Truth About the Village
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The person who sat up from the coffin wasn’t a ghost.
It was none other than Feng Quan, the first person in charge of Dachang City.
He had disappeared because of the supernatural events in Huanggang Village, and by now, he should have been missing for over three months.
After being missing for so long, Feng Quan was still alive.
This was already an incredible occurrence.
Living alone in this terrifying Ghost Village for such a long period, anyone else would have died by now.
Although Yang Jian did not know how Feng Quan survived, he was not in the mood to care about that at the moment.
But faced with Yang Jian’s questioning,
Feng Quan calmly said, “Actually, I have already reported the situation here to headquarters. If you were to take action, you should be able to get that document. Anyone who has seen that document should know my situation… To be honest, with my current state I cannot personally tell you everything, and I can only barely control the villagers to give you some hints. But this kind of control is very fragile, after all, my condition is very bad.”
“Moreover, at the beginning, I couldn’t be sure what the true intentions of you ghost manipulators were in coming here.”
“As for that old lady, indeed, it was I who led her to you. That cough was not meant to mislead you. I simply wanted to remind you that someone was helping you, and that I was not your enemy. I intended for you to focus on that ghost rather than on me.”
“Unfortunately, you misunderstood my intentions.”
Yang Jian expressed his anger, “Don’t think you can just shake everything off that easily. In fact, without your hint, I wouldn’t have known that there was another person like you here. I have read that document, which was redacted, and the critical information was erased.”
“It seemed like you were trying to help me, but in reality, you have led me astray. Originally, I only needed to deal with one ghost. Your presence has made this supernatural event much more complicated.”
“I’m sorry, that was something I did not anticipate,” Feng Quan apologized, but his expression remained as cold as ever, showing no sign of remorse.
Yang Jian continued, “Didn’t anticipate? Or did you deliberately want us all dead? I’ve been to the spirit hall before, and I tried to open the coffin, but you stopped me.”
“You didn’t want me to open the coffin. What are you afraid of? Afraid of being killed by the Vicious Ghost?”
“The only safe place in this village must be inside this coffin.”
Feng Quan looked at him numbly, without offering any explanation, only saying, “The reason I can’t get out of the coffin isn’t that I’m afraid to die, but because I cannot allow the ghost outside to return to the coffin.”
“Once it enters the coffin, its terror level would rise to an unimaginable extent.”
“Not just a village, even a city could fall. If your appearance here means things will turn for the worse, perhaps dying here might be a good outcome. The ghost was right by you when you were trying to open the coffin. I couldn’t take that risk.”
Fear tinged with anger crept into Yang Jian upon hearing this.
So, the Vicious Ghost had been right beside him when he was opening the coffin?
“Impossible, there was no ghost in the spirit hall when I first tried to open the coffin; I checked.”
“Are you sure you really checked?” Feng Quan countered.
Yang Jian suddenly realized something and glanced at the portrait on the altar.
At this moment, the photo was missing from the frame of the portrait… leaving nothing but a blank space. The photo had still been there when he first entered the village.
It was of a handsome, young man.
“That portrait?”
He sharply caught on to this point, staring intently at the empty frame.
“Is the man in that portrait… the ghost?”
Feng Quan confirmed, “Yes, it is the ghost, and it has always been by the coffin. Wherever the coffin is placed, that’s where the portrait is. I can’t get away from it… so, at the time you were trying to open the coffin, the ghost was watching you, too.”
“It’s just waiting for an opportunity, a chance for the coffin to be opened. Once it enters the coffin, not only will I die, you will too. Everyone here will die. Under that circumstance, if you were me, would you allow the coffin to be opened?”
“Moreover, the reason you sat in the spirit hall all night unharmed wasn’t because the spirit hall is safe, but because I was in the coffin… so at that time, you weren’t alone, and the ghost didn’t find the chance to strike at you.”
“I must admit, you are smart, though your guess was wrong, the outcome was correct. The spirit hall is both the most dangerous and the safest place—the ghost is here, I am here, and as long as you stay here without messing around, you are temporarily safe.”
“I’ve said what I wanted to say. Do you have any more questions? If not, I think we can join forces to imprison that ghost and thoroughly resolve the supernatural events of Huanggang Village.”
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Yang Jian’s mood was very complex after hearing all of this.
He didn’t know whether to be angry with Feng Quan or to blame fate for toying with him.
There was no justification for blaming Feng Quan,
since he had indeed reminded everyone to stay together to avoid being picked off alone.
It did have an effect afterward,
but some later cues and hints led Yang Jian and others to misunderstand, thinking that the old lady was the ghost.
In reality, Feng Quan was using the old lady’s presence to remind them that he was on their side.
“I have a few questions; were those villagers we encountered before human or ghost?” Suddenly, Zhang Han, who had been silently listening, immediately asked.
He had confirmed that the body rising from the coffin was human.
But he still had doubts in his mind.
“They were non-existent people.”
Feng Quan said, “I don’t know how to ascertain their existence, only that these villagers exist solely in this village, similar to Ghost Slaves but not quite the same. Ghost Slaves exist because of vicious ghosts, but they exist because of the Ghost Coffin, and it’s not a ghost lying in the coffin, but me. Perhaps that’s why they seem more human-like.”
“And because I’ve been lying in the Ghost Coffin all this time, I’ve been able to influence some of their thoughts, using them to attempt communication and information transfer with you.”
“You said this coffin is called the Ghost Coffin; what’s its use?” Yang Jian asked.
“I’ve reported on the Ghost Coffin before, and since you haven’t seen it in the records, it means your clearance isn’t high enough, or perhaps… you are not yet an international ghost controller. Regarding this, I cannot tell you; it would be leaking state secrets,” Feng Quan said.
Yang Jian’s expression darkened.
Feng Quan said, “Don’t be angry. You will naturally know when it’s time. In any case, it’s imperative that we three don’t let this coffin fall into the hands of that vicious ghost.”
“I emerged voluntarily this time because the balance here has been disrupted, its Terror Level increasing with the number of ghosts in this village. It was the death toll among you that led to the ghost completely taking over this village. However, your tactic earlier was impressive, facing almost certain death, yet you managed to think of releasing other ghosts to wrest control of the village ghosts, weakening it.”
“Weren’t you also planning to release my ghost?” Yang Jian said.
Feng Quan replied, “No, the man coughing outside the door that night was the villager named Liu Genrong, controlled by me. I just wanted to scare you into grouping up instead of being alone. Afterward, when I lost control, Liu Genrong fell under the control of the ghost here, and then it entered your room.”
“So, at that time, it was trying to take the ghost from your box, not me, but it… just for some reason, it eventually gave up.”
As he spoke, he glanced at the portrait on the altar.
“I’ve said it before; the situation here is unusual. Those people you see are sometimes human, sometimes me, sometimes ghosts… but I can tell you that this village has been devoid of living people for a long time, except for us three. Everything here exists because of this Ghost Coffin.”
“So, our mission on the surface was to resolve supernatural occurrences, but in fact, it was to rescue you,” Yang Jian said.
“That’s one way to put it, but the risks of failure are significant, including the potential to disrupt the balance and cause the ghosts here to lose control. I think you shouldn’t have come to rescue me, but if the higher-ups insist on it, I suspect it’s not for my safety, but for this object.”
Feng Quan pointed at the vermilion-coated coffin.
For the Ghost Coffin?
Yang Jian stared at the coffin for a moment.
It looked like an ordinary coffin.
But even ghosts were competing for it,
It must be quite special.
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However, only Feng Quan knew about this uniqueness, and he wasn’t inclined to share.
“Have you finished talking? Because I feel like something is off outside,” Zhang Han said nervously all of a sudden.
He pointed outside.
The village, which had returned to brightness, was now starting to darken again.
Although it wasn’t darkening as quickly as before, it clearly signaled a very ominous development.