Chapter 903 - 870 Confrontation

Chen Qiaoyang stared intently at the familiar yet unfamiliar young man before him, his face somewhat grim.

He had already inquired with Zhang Qing and Wan Tong, the two errand runners, back at the old mansion and knew a lot about the person in front of him. For example, his name was Yang Jian, codenamed Ghost Eye, and he was a captain-level figure at headquarters. He was also the first person to resolve an S-level supernatural event.

He also heard that not long ago, he defeated Ye Zhen, who was known as the number one Ghost Tamer…

There were many such pieces of information, and Chen Qiaoyang was tired of hearing them.

He only knew one thing.

This Yang Jian was related to that person with the surname Yang, most likely a descendant.

“Back in the old mansion, I killed quite a few people, but I didn’t see you. So, who are you?” Yang Jian’s Ghost Eye peered, his voice cold as he asked directly.

He doesn’t recognize me?

Chen Qiaoyang immediately noticed this crucial piece of information.

Thinking it over carefully.

Indeed.

He and this Yang Jian had never met, and he had heard that Yang Jian became a Ghost Tamer less than a year ago. Previously, he was a student and entered the supernatural circle very late.

“Ghost Shepherd, Chen Qiaoyang.” He restrained his expression and introduced himself.

Ghost Shepherd Chen Qiaoyang?

Yang Jian furrowed his brows, searching through his vast memories for these words, but found nothing.

He was neither in the headquarters’ files nor a known Ghost Tamer because even Liao Fan’s memory lacked information about Ghost Shepherd Chen Qiaoyang.

“In the old mansion before, the clock kept ringing and resetting, was that your doing?” Yang Jian interrogated.

Chen Qiaoyang smiled slightly, “Why should I tell you so much?”

“My patience is limited. You’d better cooperate, or else I won’t be able to resist killing you.” Red light flickered in Yang Jian’s pitch-black eyes.

“So rude. You’re more impulsive than the young man from before, always ready to fight and kill upon meeting someone, without a hint of respect for the elderly or love for the young. I heard that society is a peaceful place now, fighting lands you in jail. But it seems things haven’t changed.”

Yang Jian coldly replied, “Peace? This world will be peaceful once people like you are eliminated. Looks like you don’t want to talk. That’s fine. If you don’t want to talk, I’ll just kill you first and search for useful information from your corpse.”

He didn’t have that much patience.

Moreover, he didn’t necessarily need to ask anything. At worst, he could suppress the opponent and forcibly steal memories using the Ghost Shadow.

“Wait, wait.” Chen Qiaoyang suddenly raised his palm to signal.

It was his first time encountering such a young man who didn’t even show any willingness to talk and just wanted to act without a reason; it was simply monstrous.

“Go on, it doesn’t affect our confrontation.” Yang Jian’s gaze was calm.

The confrontation had already begun.

The shadow underfoot had already invaded Chen Qiaoyang’s side, intending to secretly steal his memories. But when the ghost shadow invaded his vicinity, it stopped.

It seemed there was some unseen terrifying presence around Chen Qiaoyang blocking the ghost shadow from eroding him.

Chen Qiaoyang also sensed Yang Jian’s probing; his expression stiffened slightly, and he quickly said, “I just want to know if your father, Yang Xiaotian, is still alive.”

Yang Jian’s expression abruptly changed, “You know my father?”

His father had been dead for a long time and was involved in the supernatural circle. During his life, he was extremely mysterious, and not many people knew his name. Yet, the person in front of him, Chen Qiaoyang, could call out his father’s name.

“Your face is too familiar, looking just like your father. It’s hard not to recognize. I interacted with your father before I was trapped in the Wang Family old mansion.”

Chen Qiaoyang said, “Your father was a very outstanding man. No, he was naturally talented for this circle. Honestly, I admired your father a lot.”

“He is dead,” Yang Jian said, “dead for many years.”

“I figured as much.”

Chen Qiaoyang slightly lamented, “Seeing his son entering this circle, I knew he must be dead. If he were alive, he wouldn’t allow you to meddle with these dirty things. But it’s still hard to believe, a person like your father would also have a day of his death.”

“Everyone dies, and no one is exempt,” Yang Jian’s eyes were cold, showing no sadness or nostalgia.

Like a person without feelings.

“That’s right, everyone meets their end. No one is exempt. But aren’t you curious about how your father died? I know a few people who were very close to your father during his life. Maybe you should investigate the cause of your father’s death.” Chen Qiaoyang said, trying to divert Yang Jian’s attention.

“If you’re interested, I can give you names, giving you a chance to avenge your father.”

“I’m not interested in those old grudges. Digging up past enmities is meaningless when the person is already dead. What surprises me is you, knowing my father and many things from the past… You’re not a Ghost Tamer of this era.”

“You’re from the same era as my father.”

Yang Jian examined Chen Qiaoyang, as if discovering something valuable.

Knowing his father and being a Ghost Tamer of the same era as his father were two different things.

He had been pursuing the root of the fierce ghosts, discovering the supernatural phenomena were all connected to the Republic of China Era. However, there was a significant gap from the Republic of China Era to the present.

The only confirmed person alive from the Republic of China Era is Old Qin.

There’s also a grandfather named Luo Yong, the horrifying fierce ghost called Door Knocking Ghost.

But little information could be obtained from fierce ghosts; only living people can know more.

Therefore, Yang Jian sought a second-best option. The Republic of China Era is too distant, nearly a hundred years ago. Many people are dead, making it difficult to dig further. However, finding someone from his father’s era might yield important information.

For them, pursuing the Republic of China Era was much easier than for Yang Jian.

“I entered this circle slightly earlier than your father, so I can say we’re of the same era. But are you not really interested in your father’s death and his experiences during life? In this circle, the more you know, the better it is for your survival.” Chen Qiaoyang said.

“No, I’m more interested in you now. I want the memories in your head today,” Yang Jian said.

“Is this how you treat your elders? Your father owed me a favor during his life, yet today you want to attack me?” Chen Qiaoyang reprimanded severely.

Yang Jian sneered, “I’ve never met you, and I haven’t seen my father for a long time either. Whatever your relationship was with him isn’t up to you to dictate. Trying to fool me with a few words? Do you think I’m a child? Even if you really were a friend of my father, so what?”

“In the Wang Family old mansion, you manipulated the clock, resetting the time, attempting to release the fierce ghost locked inside. Even if you were my father’s friend, I’d still have to kill you, and I’d do it even more ruthlessly because my father was wrong to befriend a scourge like you.”

“Fine, very fine. You speak so righteously. The Yang Family brat is indeed one of a kind, disgustingly hypocrite.” Chen Qiaoyang was also angered by this.

He initially wanted to deceive Yang Jian as these young people lacked experience. That Li Jun was impulsive but lacked experience, and that Wang Chaling was cautious but lacked courage.

Unexpectedly, Yang Jian turned out to be ruthless and decisive, unlike what his age should suggest.

“Righteous? Hypocritical? You’re wrong. I’m not bothered by you causing trouble in Dadong City, but I want your memory now. But you’re not willing to give it to me, so I might as well kill you easily, saving your chaotic actions in the future. In the end, I’m also a captain. Killing you earns me a bonus.” Yang Jian clutched the cracked spear.

The Ghost Eye opened another eye.

The world became increasingly eerie, everything around seeped in red light, as if about to melt away.

This is the fifth layer of the Ghost Domain.

Within the fifth layer of the Ghost Domain, Chen Qiaoyang’s fierce ghosts manifested.

These were four bizarre, terrifying corpses. One was pale and bloated, as if drowned. Another was covered in wounds, as if hacked to death with sharp objects while alive. The third was withered and black, as if dried for a long time. The last one seemed freshly dead, neither decayed nor damaged, but its attire was from the Republic of China Period, out of place in modern times.

These four corpses were four fierce ghosts, only able to manifest in the world within the five layers of the Ghost Domain.

And terrifyingly, these four fierce ghosts formed a circle, surrounding Chen Qiaoyang, isolating the invasion of the Ghost Shadow and the coverage of the five-layer Ghost Domain, like guards protecting him.

No.

They’re not guards.

Those four ghosts were hand in hand, standing there, looking like a prison.

Chen Qiaoyang was a prisoner in the prison.

He was both trapped and protected.

“Do all of you want to oppose me? When did I, Chen Qiaoyang, have to endure this insult, and you, the Yang Family brat, think you can steal my memory?” With the facade torn, Chen Qiaoyang didn’t hold back. He glared at Yang Jian, his wrist bleeding.

The thickening black blood emitted a stench like rotting corpses.

The blood dripped on the ground, squirming eerily, forming several weird characters.

“Kill Yang Jian.”

The words formed by blood quickly dispersed, then turned into thick blood flowing into the adjacent scar-ridden, damaged corpse.

The fierce ghost was initially inactive but suddenly seemed reborn, starting to move.

The body was shaking, the neck twisting.

This scar-ridden, damaged fierce ghost turned its head, strangely staring at the roadside to the right. It didn’t look at Yang Jian, who was standing at the street corner.

Because that Yang Jian was false… an illusion created by the Ghost Domain.

Living people couldn’t tell the difference, but a ghost could.

“Is this guy manipulating fierce ghosts?” Yang Jian narrowed his eyes at this scene.

No.

This Chen Qiaoyang wasn’t manipulating fierce ghosts, definitely not. No one could truly manipulate fierce ghosts. His earlier approach seemed to use his own supernatural ability to influence the fierce ghost, as if granting it a new murder pattern, making himself, who wasn’t initially targeted by the fierce ghost, instantly conform to the killing rule.

But this influence should be time-limited, meaning that granting the fierce ghost a murder pattern is only temporary. After his supernatural influence ends, the fierce ghost will become uncontrollable again.

Is this what’s called the Ghost Shepherd?

“Attack.”

Yang Jian only analyzed the situation briefly but didn’t hesitate. Facing a Ghost Tamer from his father’s era, he was not careless.

In an instant.

The Ghost Domain morphed.

The Yang Jian standing at the intersection talking to Chen Qiaoyang was gone, the whole world shrouded in red light.

The sixth layer of the Ghost Domain activated.

This layer of the Ghost Domain could temporarily immobilize fierce ghosts. Yang Jian wanted to decide the outcome in one second.

The effect appeared.

In the six-layer Ghost Domain, the four fierce ghosts surrounding Chen Qiaoyang fell into a temporary pause, and the scarred, incomplete corpse that had just been assigned a killing rule lost its movement.

But just as Yang Jian was about to act.

Suddenly.

Chen Qiaoyang, surrounded by the fierce ghosts, moved, turning to stare coldly at Yang Jian, seemingly able to see him in the Ghost Domain.

“Even the sixth layer of the Ghost Domain can’t pull Chen Qiaoyang in? What exactly is the ghost beside him?” Yang Jian was astonished.

Since that’s the case, he’ll just eliminate the ghosts around Chen Qiaoyang first.

The next moment, the red light receded.

The six-layer Ghost Domain vanished.

Everything around returned to calm, but there was one less ghost around Chen Qiaoyang.

A cracked golden spear pierced the scarred, incomplete fierce ghost, pinning it firmly to the opposite wall.

“Brat, your Coffin Nail is just one, I don’t believe you have more.” Chen Qiaoyang’s face darkened, eyes fixed on Yang Jian’s blackened hand.

That was the Ghost Hand.

It was said to have the ability to suppress other fierce ghosts. This information was gathered from that errand runner, Zhang Qing, though its truth was uncertain.

Chen Qiaoyang’s wrist continued to bleed, causing the thick blood to trail toward the nearby pale, bloated corpse.

The second ghost was given a new murder pattern by Chen Qiaoyang.

Also aimed to kill Yang Jian.

The moment the ghost targeted Yang Jian, the air was filled with a cold, damp scent.

Yang Jian’s body was chilling; his clothes getting damp, dripping water. It was a mixture of flesh and skin.

His body was melting.

Soon.

Yang Jian would become nothing but body fluid on the ground.

This situation reminded him of Ghost Child’s maneuvering of body fluid.

Could it be that the body fluid was a piece of this ghost’s puzzle? It seemed interconnected with another Water Ghost encountered before, Ye Jun.

If these are all puzzles, then clearly, the ghost released by Chen Qiaoyang is a bigger, more terrifying piece.

Because while other puzzle pieces were unshaped supernatural phenomena, only the ghost beside Chen Qiaoyang seemed relatively complete.

Yang Jian’s body was gradually vanishing, not melting, but slowly sinking into the pitch-black ground, entering the Ghost Shadow to shield himself from the ghost’s influence.

The Ghost Shadow could attack enemies, but also protect his own body.

“You’re indeed troublesome. All the more reason I can’t let you leave.”

All that was left was Yang Jian’s head on the ground. His form vanished, submerged in darkness, and as he finished speaking, even that head was engulfed by shadows.

Next instant.

Suddenly.

Cold, stiff, black hands emerged from the pitch-black ground, writhing and crawling, tightly gripping the swollen, pale corpse.

The fierce ghost struggled, the body shaking.

Also slowly being suppressed.

“This brat… is extraordinary.” Chen Qiaoyang’s expression changed.

The second ghost was rapidly slipping from control, no, had already slipped.

Thinking Yang Jian only relied on supernatural items in hand, unexpectedly, the fierce ghosts he wielded were equally formidable, capable of suppressing a ghost beside him.

“Bang!”

The water-soaked, pale, bloated corpse toppled onto the ground. The shadow covered it, countless blackened hands encased it, leaving just a silhouette with its real form unseen.

The ghost was engulfed by darkness and hands.

“While this brat deals with the ghost, should I escape or finish him off and solve this trouble?” His eyes flickered, contemplating, and hesitating.

Then he glanced over, noting the golden spear pinning down the other ghost, not far away.

With no one holding it, just abandoned there lonely.

Supernatural items don’t recognize owners; anyone who holds can use them, if successful not only retrieve the Coffin Nail but release the restrained fierce ghost as well.

“Chance!”

Chen Qiaoyang felt this was a turning point, a chance to completely escape the captains’ pursuit.

If successful, not only could he take down the Yang Family brat, but he could also figure out a way to eliminate the Wang Family’s third generation.

His wrist was still bleeding.

Soon.

The third ghost left his side.

But just at that moment.

Within the dark shadow, a human-like silhouette flickered nearby, like a shadow, yet resembling a living person, observed by a crimson Ghost Eye on the dark shadow.

The third ghost leaving Chen Qiaoyang was that desiccated corpse, like a mummy.

But the mummy lacked one arm, seeming somewhat unbalanced.

Nonetheless, the mummy cackled weirdly and gradually crouched down.

Its movements were strange.

Yet the mummy’s hand grabbed at the Ghost Shadow, holding fast.

At this moment.

Chen Qiaoyang rushed out, heading straight for the cracked golden spear on the wall.

“Old fool, you’re ultimately greedy.” Seeing this, the Ghost Eye in Yang Jian let out a cold laugh.

“Chen Qiaoyang.”

Suddenly, a strange yet familiar voice called out Chen Qiaoyang’s name from behind him.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by novlove.com

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