Chapter 650 - Chapter 650: Chapter 647: The Participation of the Naughty Child

Chapter 650: Chapter 647: The Participation of the Naughty Child

As time trickled by, Yang Jian had less than twelve hours left before his curse would erupt.

Meanwhile, the operation against the ghost paintings had officially begun.

Not many people were involved because manpower was needed to handle the ghost paintings that kept emerging in the city. Only one team was necessary for the source painting—this wasn’t a Ghost Envoy operation that required playing a numbers game with ghosts. It was only essential to locate the paintings and then secure them.

Leading the team were Li Jun and Leuk San, among the members was the newly initiated ghostbuster Li Yang, and one of the team leaders, Chen Yi.

There were only four of them, which seemed like too few, but it was to be on the safer side. If they encountered unimaginable danger, the team wouldn’t suffer substantial losses, and headquarters would still have a chance to reorganize. Therefore, part of the reason for this initial operation was also to probe the situation.

“Wait here for a second, I’ll go up and look for one more person,” Li Jun said as he and his team arrived at the bottom of a residential building.

“Who is it? Someone important?” Leuk San asked.

Chen Yi glanced over; as one of the city’s leaders, he was familiar with the residences of most ghostbusters and immediately replied, “I remember this community is where some of the more critical figures’ relatives live. It’s usually a key area of focus. This building should be where Xiong Wenwen lives.”

“Ah, that kid Xiong,”

Leuk San’s sickly, sallow face revealed a strange smile, “If that child Xiong is willing to join us, it will indeed save a lot of time. But wouldn’t Su Fan be a better fit?”

“Although the Premonition Ability isn’t as strong, it’s a bit more stable than that of the child,”

Chen Yi remarked, “Someone has to look after the city. We can’t pull everyone into the team; after all, we need to consider the arrangements in case our mission fails.”

“So Su Fan is a contingency, and Xiong Wenwen is leading?” Leuk San said, “That’s rather cruel for a child.”

“The world is cruel. We don’t have a choice. When it’s time to step up, everyone has to do it, no exceptions. Xiong Wenwen’s Premonition Ability is too important. According to what Li Yang said before, Yang Jian had previously explored the area suspected of harboring ghost paintings alone but had encountered attacks from two ghosts in succession, nearly losing his life there.”

Chen Yi was usually quite hot-tempered, but this time he was much calmer.

“I think, in that situation, if it had been anyone else but Yang Jian, they would probably be dead now. Therefore, we can’t follow his old path; we must avoid all dangers and locate that one ghost painting. As long as we find it, we can consider our mission 70% successful,” he said.

“It’s not as simple as all that,”

Leuk San shook his head slightly, “The pattern of the ghost paintings isn’t clear, and the reason for the complete annihilation of the foreign ghostbuster team hasn’t been found. The real danger of the ghost painting is still hidden, as no one has truly come into contact with that painting so far.”

“Defined by the international community as an S-class supernatural event, it must be extremely terrifying and hopeless. Think about the Hungry Ghost event: almost all of Dachang City’s ghostbusters were wiped out. The Hungry Ghost was almost unsolvable, if not for that Coffin Nail… So the ghost paintings must also have some kind of taboo.”

“Didn’t Yang Jian manage to come out alive before?” Chen Yi countered.

Leuk San replied, “That’s because he hadn’t found the actual ghost painting yet. Maybe he was close, but being close also meant that he was very near to grave danger. One doesn’t pay attention to the abyss beneath their feet when walking in darkness until the moment they step into the void. But we are different; this time, there will be contact, and we will have to bear all the risks.”

“One misstep could lead to total annihilation.”

Li Yang, the newcomer standing by, couldn’t help but shiver upon hearing the discussion among these higher-ups.

He was only a novice and never imagined that he would be swept up into this terrifying operation so soon after the ghost painting incident, and there was no refusing it.

“This time, I’m doomed…” Li Yang turned pale, realizing that although the mission’s reward was high, it would likely only serve as his Settlement Fee.

Chen Yi said, “Keep your worries to yourself; we still have to continue with the mission.”

“I’m not worried about myself; I’m worried about all of you.” Leuk San squeezed out a smile on his gaunt, jaundiced face.

“Then there’s even less to worry about,” Chen Yi responded.

While the two were conversing downstairs,

Upstairs, in one of the apartments,

Xiong Wenwen and his mother, Chen Shumei, met with Li Jun.

“Basically, that’s the situation. We need Xiong Wenwen’s help for this operation. His participation is crucial for the success of the mission, and I hope the lady will agree,” Li Jun said, sitting straight on the sofa, his face unnaturally tinged with green and marked by a severe expression.

He had just given Chen Shumei a brief explanation of the operation and the specifics.

But the crucial details had been omitted and kept secret.

“Another mission?”

A look of worry immediately came over Chen Shumei’s mature and beautiful face, “Captain Li, Xiong Wenwen is just a child. Can’t someone else be assigned to the mission? There was someone named Yang Jian who came here before; can’t he do it? And Director Jang seemed quite capable.”

Her circle was small, and she had really only met Yang Jian and Jang Shangbai; she couldn’t name many others.

Li Jun answered gravely, “Their situations are a bit complicated. They had a fight over something a couple of days ago. Jang Shangbai is dead… And Yang Jian is about to die.”

“How could this happen?” Chen Shumei gasped in astonishment, covering her mouth.

It hadn’t been that long since the young man, who had dined at her home, was now on the verge of death.

Not just her, Xiong Wenwen beside her also widened his eyes in disbelief. This was the first time he had heard about what happened to Yang Jian. He was unaware of the previous conflict in Yang Jian’s circle of friends—after all, no one had discussed it with him, as he spent most of his time at home gaming.

“The fact is, the conflict between them has become quite intense and has greatly affected the current situation so we really need Xiong Wenwen’s help now because time is pressing.”

Li Jun said, “Therefore, I hope you will agree to let me take Xiong Wenwen with me.”

“This is no longer a personal matter but a matter concerning the safety of the city. I guarantee that this operation will take good care of Xiong Wenwen. He will be well protected, we just need to use his ability at a critical time.”

“That’s all.”

Chen Shumei hesitated.

She really wanted to refuse, but she also knew that Captain Li Jun’s personal visit must be for an extremely important task and that Xiong Wenwen, now part of headquarters, naturally had to comply with orders and arrangements.

It has indeed been quite a while since the last business trip.

“I, I need to think it over,” Chen Shumei said, her gaze darting away slightly; she didn’t know how to respond to Li Jun.

“All right, I’ll give you ten minutes to decide; I’ll wait outside,” Li Jun said after downing the steaming cup of tea on the coffee table, then stood up and left the room.

Ten minutes?

Chen Shumei was taken aback. That was hardly enough time to consider, she had been hoping to ask for three to five days.

“It seems this situation is even more urgent than before.” She sighed helplessly and glanced at Xiong Wenwen next to her.

Xiong Wenwen might be a child but he wasn’t utterly naive. In the fifth grade, he had already developed some personal thoughts, and under the influence of the ghost inside him, he was precociously attuned to supernatural events.

“Mom, if Li Jun has come to our door, this task is definitely inescapable,” he said.

Chen Shumei was somewhat flustered and indecisive: “What should we do? It’s definitely dangerous for you to go, I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

Xiong Wenwen scratched his head, “Since there’s no helping it, I just have to go. Judging by Li Jun’s demeanor just now, he’s not going to be persuaded.”

“But what if they can’t protect you when you’re in danger?” Chen Shumei asked.

Xiong Wenwen didn’t know what to say; he was under pressure no child his age should have to bear.

After thinking for a moment, Xiong Wenwen said, “Well, in case something really happens to me, you can call Yang Jian to rescue me. I don’t know if he’ll agree; this is his private number, unknown to others, and it’s the only way to contact him.”

As he spoke, he wrote down a phone number.

“Isn’t that Yang Jian nearly dead?” Chen Shumei hadn’t forgotten what Li Jun had just said.

“He’s only nearly dead, not dead yet. If he really dies then forget it, leaving someone else’s number won’t make a difference as no one else would come to help me anyway,” said Xiong Wenwen.

The ghost’s severe influence on his body left him with a hunch that Yang Jian was not dead, and this premonition was very accurate, not the type of nonsense someone would spout without thinking.

But that was the extent of it.

As for where Yang Jian was or what danger he was in, he had no clue. For now, he could only instinctively make these very simple and undemanding predictions.

Chen Shumei stared at the phone number on the piece of paper, stunned.

At that moment, she remembered the conversation she had with Yang Jian the first time they met and felt a twinge of shame.

Last time, she hadn’t even waited for him to finish his meal before rushing him out the door. Now that Xiong Wenwen was in trouble, the only person she could turn to for help was Yang Jian, as no one else would care about Xiong Wenwen’s life or death.

“I’ve really made a mess of things,” she chided herself.

About ten minutes later.

Li Jun, waiting outside, saw Chen Shumei bring Xiong Wenwen out.

“Thank you for your understanding, ma’am.”

Li Jun immediately said, “Xiong Wenwen, we need to leave now; we can’t keep the others waiting too long.”

“I always feel like you’re setting me up,” Xiong Wenwen muttered, pursing his lips.

Li Jun pretended not to hear and continued, “I promise to take good care of Xiong Wenwen, ma’am. He will be returned to you safely.”

Chen Shumei still wore a worried expression and said nothing, merely nodding slightly.

Soon, the two of them went downstairs.

“That kid is Xiong Wenwen? Codenamed Spirit Child?” Li Yang asked, looking over with mild curiosity.

Xiong Wenwen immediately spotted the stranger among the team and pointing at Li Yang, said, “Li Jun, who’s this dumbass?”

“…”

Li Yang’s hand twitched involuntarily, the urge to throw a punch overwhelming him.

Now he understood why Leuk San called him a brat; he initially thought it was because of the surname Xiong, but now it was clear that it had nothing to do with the surname; the kid was simply a purebred brat.

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