LABMY CH42
Three days had passed since the tragedy. Jiang Tang requested leave from his counselor, without explaining what had happened, only saying that he couldn’t attend school for the time being.
During these three days, Jiang Tang didn’t stay at home but temporarily moved into a hotel near his house. His home had been taken over by the police, turned upside down in search of clues. However, from the reactions of the officers who came to see him, Jiang Tang could tell they hadn’t found anything substantial.
Due to the words of the ghost residing in the jade pendant, Jiang Tang had already anticipated this, so he wasn’t too disappointed. It only further confirmed his belief that the one who killed his three closest family members wasn’t human, but a ghost.
Today marked the fourth day. When Jiang Tang woke up in the hotel bed, the first thing he did wasn’t wash his face or brush his teeth, but instead, he used a small knife to cut his palm and let his blood drip onto the jade pendant.
Watching the jade turn red from the blood and then slowly revert to green, even though he had witnessed this process many times, Jiang Tang still found it astonishing.
Jiang Tang hadn’t told anyone about his family’s tragedy, not relatives nor friends. Over the past few days, he would occasionally talk to the ghost attached to the jade pendant, but after three days, even Jiang Tang, who was rather slow to notice things, realized that this ghost didn’t seem interested in building a relationship with him.
After another drop of blood, Jiang Tang felt that the book in his mind had become more solid. The three words “Ghost Taming Technique” were no longer faint and drifting but were now firmly imprinted on the book’s cover. At that moment, he heard the voice of the man in his head:
“Are your family’s bodies still at the police station?”
Jiang Tang replied with a low “mm,” feeling a bit down but still explaining, “Because it’s a criminal case, an autopsy is required, so the bodies are temporarily stored at the police station.”
Jian Yuanbai asked, “Can you retrieve the bodies within two days?”
Jiang Tang shook his head without hesitation. “I’m afraid not.”
Jian Yuanbai said, “You must find a way to touch your family’s bodies within two days. Since they were killed by a ghost, the bodies will definitely retain the aura of that vengeful spirit.”
“That aura might be the only clue to finding the ghost that killed your family.”
Jiang Tang’s expression turned cold. “Why didn’t you tell me this when I first discovered their deaths?”
Jian Yuanbai replied calmly, “At that time, you had no connection with the Ghost Taming Technique. Even if I told you, you wouldn’t have been able to see the ghost’s aura.”
The reason Jian Yuanbai revealed this now was because he was following the plotline from the original script.
According to the script, after seven days of blood dripping, Jiang Tang would be able to fully unlock the Ghost Taming Technique. But the ghost, played by Jian Yuanbai, deliberately revealed this information on the fourth day to force Jiang Tang to unlock it early.
Of course, this was also part of his scheme.
The morgue, where the bodies were stored, was filled with yin energy and wandering spirits. Ordinary people couldn’t see these weak spirits, nor could these spirits harm regular people. However, for Jiang Tang, who was gradually connecting with the Ghost Taming Technique, he would be able to see them.
In other words, these wandering spirits could now harm Jiang Tang.
Under panic and the threat of death, Jiang Tang would be forced to unlock the Ghost Taming Technique ahead of time. However, this would leave hidden dangers for the future.
Before the Ghost Taming Technique fully recognized its master, the first ghost tamed through the technique would form a fragile contract. With Jiang Tang’s current weak power, the ghost could easily turn on him and seize his body through this unstable contract.
Yet, Jiang Tang, who knew nothing about ghosts or the Ghost Taming Technique, was completely unaware of this.
This was all part of Jian Yuanbai’s plan, and now he was perfectly following the script.
Jiang Tang suddenly asked, “Weren’t you present at the scene when my family was killed? Shouldn’t you know what the ghost looks like?”
Jian Yuanbai began to regret the identity he had made up. According to the script, the ghost claimed to be an ancestor of the Jiang family who had been sealed in the jade pendant and awakened due to the weakening of the pendant’s restriction. Naturally, he wouldn’t know what the ghost looked like.
But who was Jian Yuanbai? With a quick turn of thought, he replied without any hint of hesitation, “I only know that it was very powerful.”
“The survival rules among ghosts are far more brutal than among humans. When it appeared, I blacked out immediately.”
“Now that I’m bound to this jade pendant and weakened from absorbing your blood every day, I can’t leave the pendant’s five-meter range.”
This also blocked off any possibility of Jiang Tang asking him to investigate alone. The ghost in the script had used a similar excuse.
Jiang Tang’s doubts were dispelled, but he still faced a dilemma. “I can’t think of any excuse to see my parents and sister’s bodies.”
The bodies were stored in the hands of the coroner, and it wasn’t yet time for them to be released to the family. If he asked to see them just to take one last look, he would definitely be refused.
Jian Yuanbai easily provided a solution: “Have you ever heard of ‘Ghost Veiling’?”
Jian Yuanbai continued, “Take the jade pendant with you. I can make you invisible to both people and surveillance cameras.”
“But it must be after midnight.”
After midnight, the wandering spirits in the morgue would become slightly stronger. For Jiang Tang, who was still half an ordinary person, this was enough to cause him harm.
Time passed agonizingly slowly as Jiang Tang waited. Sitting silently on the hotel bed, he stared at the clock on the wall. When the hands finally pointed past midnight, he stood up and left the room.
He could see a faint black mist surrounding his body, wrapping around him lightly.
The police station wasn’t far from the hotel. By the time Jiang Tang arrived, most of the lights in the building were already off. He didn’t take the elevator but instead climbed the stairs, searching floor by floor for the autopsy room.
Under the dim green glow of the emergency lights, Jiang Tang saw the morgue on the third floor. Perhaps because no one expected anyone to steal corpses, the door was left unlocked. With Jian Yuanbai’s help, Jiang Tang easily slipped in.
He saw the cabinet with his mother’s name on it. When he opened it, a cold chill poured out.
Jiang Tang looked at his mother’s lifeless body lying inside the narrow compartment. His eyes trembled, and he nearly burst into tears. He forced himself to suppress the overwhelming sorrow and asked Jian Yuanbai in his mind, “What should I do?”
Jian Yuanbai replied, “Focus on the Ghost Taming Technique in your mind and touch the corpse.”
Jiang Tang closed his eyes, and the increasingly solid book in his mind slowly appeared. He reached out and held his mother’s cold hand. In the deep night of September, this icy touch sent chills deep into his heart.
No one would ever again pinch his face with warm hands and ask with a smile, “Is our little Tang Tang hungry?”
He had lost his mother, and all his family.
Jiang Tang’s eyes remained tightly shut, his eyelashes trembled, and tears rolled down his cheeks. Suddenly, he seemed to “see” the dense black aura lingering around his mother’s chest.
This black aura exuded an ominous presence, and he could even smell a nauseating stench — foul and rotten, like the sludge at the bottom of a river filled with decaying flesh, mixed with the damp and earthy smell of stagnant water.
Unable to bear the thought of his mother’s body being forever tainted by the aura of the one who killed her, Jiang Tang instinctively reached out and waved the black aura away.
If the ghost from the original plot were here, it would be shocked by Jiang Tang’s talent. With only a minor connection to the Ghost Taming Art and without even stepping into the world of the occult, he could effortlessly dispel the aura left by a thousand-year-old vengeful spirit. Given time, he would surely become a prodigy in the occult world.
However, the one accompanying Jiang Tang was Jian Yuanbai, who showed no interest and didn’t even glance at it.
After also clearing the aura from his father and sister’s bodies, Jiang Tang said to Jian Yuanbai, “I’ve memorized the aura. Let’s go.”
Jian Yuanbai didn’t respond. Instead, within the jade pendant’s space, he silently changed into modern clothing.
At that moment, the system suddenly spoke, “Are you really going to let him be forced into unlocking the Ghost Taming Art under the threat of wandering spirits?”
“This will damage his body.”
Jian Yuanbai replied indifferently, “A ‘protagonist destined for greatness’ grows through hardship, doesn’t he? He’ll be able to recover from this small loss. Besides, this is my mission.”
The system fell silent, anxiously watching Jian Yuanbai. Just by erasing a bit of memory, how had his personality changed so drastically?
Noticing Jian Yuanbai’s suit, the system suddenly realized that from the moment he entered this small world, Jian Yuanbai hadn’t met Jiang Tang face-to-face.
In an instant, a ridiculous thought popped into the system’s mind… Could Jian Yuanbai be obsessed with appearances?
Outside the jade pendant, Jiang Tang had already left the morgue. He still avoided the elevator and chose to take the emergency stairs.
Step by step, he descended, with the eerie green glow of the emergency exit signs resembling countless green eyes, staring at the young man who was descending the stairs alone in the dead of night.
As he walked, Jiang Tang suddenly stopped. Without turning back or looking around, he calmly asked Jian Yuanbai in his mind, “I feel like I’ve gone down countless floors, but the stairs still haven’t ended.”
“The morgue is on the third floor, but after ten minutes, I still haven’t reached the ground floor,” Jiang Tang’s voice trembled slightly. “Am I trapped in a ghost loop?”
Jian Yuanbai replied, “Don’t panic. Keep walking and see.”
Hearing his voice, Jiang Tang barely managed to steady his nerves and continued downward. Soon, he saw the closed exit door.
In that instant, Jiang Tang felt a pang of confusion. He distinctly remembered that the emergency exit door on the ground floor had not been closed when he came up.
But now, Jiang Tang couldn’t dwell on this oddity. He quickly approached the door and reached out to open it.
Suddenly, a pale, swollen face with an unnaturally long neck shot out from behind the door, grinning hideously, “A living person… a living person.”
Having grown up in a world of materialism and pampered by his family, Jiang Tang had never witnessed such a terrifying sight. The horrifying head stared directly at him, rendering Jiang Tang frozen in fear.
In his mind, he cried out to Jian Yuanbai, “Th-There’s a ghost…”
His voice was full of panic. Although he knew the one inside the jade pendant was also a ghost, this was Jiang Tang’s first time seeing one — and such a terrifying one at that.
Seeing that Jiang Tang didn’t move, the ghost tilted its head, slowly extending a crimson tongue. “Eat you… If I eat you, I can leave this place.”
Jian Yuanbai’s voice sounded, “Run! Focus on the Ghost Taming Art in your mind. Make it recognize you as its master.”
“As long as you master the Ghost Taming Art, you’ll be able to see me. I’m bound to the jade pendant. Once you form the contract, I can manifest physically and help you.”
Hearing this, Jiang Tang turned and ran, enduring the increasing pain in his mind as he tried to connect with the Ghost Taming Art. However, the faster he ran, the quicker the ghost’s head chased after him, dragging an increasingly long neck behind.
In that moment of life and death, Jiang Tang finally saw the book clearly.
The ancient book slowly flipped open before him.
Suddenly, a figure appeared behind him and struck the long-necked ghost, sending it screaming and retreating.
Jiang Tang’s eyes lit up with joy as he saw the figure, his voice trembling with both fear and relief, “Brother-in-law!”
Jian Yuanbai slowly turned around. As Jiang Tang called him “brother-in-law” with tear-filled eyes, his expression stiffened.
If he wasn’t mistaken, this beautiful and delicate young man’s soul was exactly the same as his little pillow.
And everyone knew — his power was unparalleled, and he never mistook souls.
“…Brother-in-law!”
Jiang Tang was saved. Overwhelmed with fear and needing an outlet to release it, he suddenly threw himself into Jian Yuanbai’s arms and tearfully said, “That ghost looked so terrifying, brother-in-law.”
Each heartfelt call of “brother-in-law” left Jian Yuanbai completely unable to smile.
