Free Web NovelChapter 100: Chapter 18: Aftermath of the Great Battle
But asking him to give up the Ghost Infant in the urn was like asking Gao Tian to claw out a piece of meat he had already swallowed.
On the other end of the line, Xu Yuan waited quietly. It was very patient, waiting for Gao Tian to give his final offer.
"Of course, after the Ghost Cave gets out, I will discipline it thoroughly. The two of them will absolutely never bother you again. I can guarantee this.
"Memory Ghost, I am not a great negotiator. I don’t know how to haggle.
"The offer I’m making now is my most sincere one. I cannot go even a little bit higher."
Xu Yuan’s meaning was already very clear.
The terms it offered were more than generous. If Gao Tian still didn’t agree, then Xu Yuan would personally pay a visit to Jin Hai Mansion and take who it wanted by force.
At that point, forget about holding on to the urn; Gao Tian himself might be captured by Xu Yuan instead.
Gao Tian didn’t dare to directly ask what the small bottle on the Divine Tree was.
If he asked, he would expose his own ignorance. Xu Yuan might become suspicious and rethink the deal they had just settled on.
In any case, it had to be something extremely valuable. Even someone as calculating and deep as Xu Yuan couldn’t hide the wistfulness in its voice when speaking of it.
’Bratty kids, always costing a fortune.’
Gao Tian knew that the negotiation had reached a point where he had to agree, whether he wanted to or not.
Xu Yuan wasn’t an unreasonable ghost, but it could choose to be unreasonable.
But besides that, there was one small question that needed confirmation.
Gao Tian:
"Why should I believe you?
"What if I let the ghost go and you go back on your word?"
Xu Yuan said haughtily:
"What kind of nonsense are you spouting, Memory Ghost?
"I am the dignified leader of the Jialan Society. Would I go back on my own words? How little you must think of me.
"We’ve talked this much, and still you refuse to believe me. Fine.
"I will swear an oath before the Fallen Evil Buddha that our deal will be honored. Furthermore, I will repeat our agreement in front of all the ghost users in the chat group, so that every user in this group can bear witness and see if I am someone who goes back on my word and breaks my promises.
"Will you believe me now?"
’What in the world is a Fallen Evil Buddha?’
The more Gao Tian interacted with these ghosts, the more he realized he was like a country bumpkin who had just arrived in the city, completely clueless.
But he didn’t dare ask too many questions, terrified of exposing not only his ignorance but also his disguise as a ghost.
’Forget it. Based on what Xu Yuan said, this thing must be a Supernatural Artifact used to enforce oaths. Even ghosts can’t break a vow made before it.’
He knew that even without the oath, Xu Yuan wouldn’t break its promise. This wasn’t just because of the pride of a powerful figure, but also because Gao Tian’s streak of incredible luck was still going strong today.
Gao Tian:
"I believe you, leader of the Jialan Society.
"A promise is a promise. In that case, as we agreed, I’ll release the ghost now."
As for how the other party would deliver the small bottle from the Divine Tree and the lifespan, Gao Tian didn’t press the issue.
Since Xu Yuan said it would guarantee delivery, then it would definitely deliver.
Gao Tian took out two urns from the mirror and began to check which one contained the Ghost Infant.
’Can’t release the wrong one. Don’t want to let the Shattered-Face Ghost out instead.’
His hand rested on the second urn, and he gently lifted its lid.
Inside lay a blood-stained doll with vacant eyes.
After being contained in the urn, the Ghost Infant had regressed to its initial state. Even if it were shaken out of the box and dropped on the ground, the blood-stained doll remained completely still, as if it had truly become an inanimate object.
Xu Yuan’s instructions came through the phone again:
"Put the phone next to the Ghost Infant’s ear. I have something to say to it."
Gao Tian could tell that although Xu Yuan’s voice was extremely restrained, it was like the calm of a black sea just before a storm.
Beneath its deep, calculating tone hid a thunderous rage.
As Gao Tian crouched down and placed the phone beside the blood-stained doll, he didn’t know if it was a trick of the eye, but out of the corner of his vision, he thought he saw the tattered doll tremble slightly.
From the phone, Xu Yuan’s voice was as steady as ever:
"The Spirit Disaster Bureau’s vanguard unit, ’Abyssal Echo,’ will arrive in Shanghai in fifteen minutes.
"Unlike those slow-moving humans, I expect you to take the Ghost Cave, leave Shanghai within five minutes, and return to the Divine Tree. I’ll deal with the two of you later.
"Have the Ghost Cave dismiss its Ghost Realm. Isn’t today’s mess big enough already? Does it plan to bring the entire ruins of Jin Hai Mansion back as a gift for me?"
The blood-stained doll slowly grew human arms and legs, once again transforming back into the humanoid monster with a woman’s face on its back.
The restored Ghost Infant didn’t even glance at Gao Tian, let alone attack him. It walked straight toward the Ghost Cave, which was still slumbering in its cocoon.
First, it stopped the several Ghost Infants inside the cocoon from gnawing on and tearing at the Ghost Cave.
When Gao Tian opened the urn, he naturally lost control of this killing rule. The rule returned to the Ghost Infant’s possession, and it was promptly canceled.
At this moment, the Ghost Cave was left with only half of its empty head. The Ghost Infant said something into the cocoon. Then, the two of them slowly sank into the ground, a feat presumably accomplished by the Ghost Infant activating another one of its Supernatural Artifacts to take them both away.
With that, the great battle came to a close.
In the distance, the sirens of countless fire trucks and ambulances wailed. Amidst the raging inferno, a reporter even risked their life to rush into the blaze, broadcasting live in front of the camera with the ruins as a backdrop.
With the Ghost Cave’s departure, its Ghost Realm—the "Cave" that had swallowed all of Jin Hai Mansion—was also dispelled. The sounds and crowds of the outside world could once again reach the mansion as it rejoined the normal world.
What happened here today would soon become the top trending headline on every major platform. Although many supernatural incidents had occurred in the past, one like the Ghost Cave’s, which made an entire skyscraper vanish, was truly beyond comprehension. News of this explosive magnitude would be impossible to suppress.
Gazing at the rubble and wreckage, at what was once the magnificent Jin Hai Mansion, now littered with corpses and filled with the dead and injured, Gao Tian felt a profound sense of guilt.
’So this was what Yu Sheng was talking about. The death calamity that was supposed to arrive before the fourth green-text mission... was he referring to today?’
Indeed, by all logic, with two malevolent spirits like the Ghost Infant and the Ghost Cave coming for him personally, Gao Tian’s chances of survival should have been practically zero.
If it hadn’t been for the Ghost Cave’s itchy fingers, its insistence on slaughtering an entire floor, which caused Gao Tian’s luck to skyrocket and forcibly suppress the star of death hanging over his head...
Gao Tian pushed the thought aside. Even though he had won today, it was a pyrrhic victory. Far too many ordinary people in Jin Hai Mansion had died or been injured because of it.
’Oh, right... Wang Wenbo, the man who was waiting for me on the first floor. I wonder what happened to him.’
’He’s probably long dead by now.’
Gao Tian took a look around the floor he was on. The escalators, emergency stairwells, and everything else had long since collapsed. There was a huge hole in the middle of the floor; he could just jump straight down to the first floor below.
’I’ll go check first. Maybe he’s still alive.’
