Free Web NovelChapter 98: Chapter 16: Xu Yuan’s Voice
The Ghost Cave had finished forming its cocoon, hiding away in its own world, completely cut off from the outside.
Its reasoning was simple. Gao Tian’s luck was too strong right now, so it would simply avoid all contact, all combat. It would wait until his luck naturally faded and he became an ordinary person again before resuming the fight.
Moreover, during the ten hours it hid in the cocoon, the Ghost Cave’s Ghost Realm, "Cave," would remain active. Before it broke out of its cocoon, the entire "Cave" would collapse into a single marble, compressing the tens of thousands of people in Jin Hai Mansion within it.
No matter how you looked at it, the Ghost Cave’s strategy was a wise one. Even if it couldn’t defeat Gao Tian in the short term, it had at least put itself in an invincible position.
Gao Tian looked at the Ghost Cave, now encased in the transparent container as if in hibernation, and asked again for confirmation:
"The ability of this Supernatural Artifact is that nothing in the outside world can affect the world inside the cocoon, right?"
The Ghost Cave stood silently within the transparent cocoon, motionless like a piece of art on display in a museum. Naturally, it wouldn’t be answering any of Gao Tian’s questions.
"Well then, here’s a question."
"If a mutation occurs inside your body, the cocoon can’t protect you from that, can it?"
Gao Tian raised a finger and pointed it at the Ghost Cave before him.
The cinerary casket had already copied the Ghost Infant’s killing rule. It could make anyone he pointed at "pregnant," turning them into a vessel for a ghost infant.
He had only been trying it out, but under Gao Tian’s pointing finger, the Ghost Cave’s skeletal, emaciated body actually began to swell slightly inside the cocoon. A pair of black handprints slowly groped its abdomen, and the image of an infant gradually emerged from its belly.
It worked.
’So the Ghost Infant’s killing rule is this overpowered? Even the "cocoon" can’t defend against it.’
After all, the "cocoon’s" rule was that external attacks couldn’t affect the inside, and internal attacks couldn’t affect the outside.
But the Ghost Infant’s ability bypassed this layer entirely. The Ghost Cave’s "pregnancy" was a mutation occurring inside its own body.
"You still want to drag this out for ten hours?"
"Within an hour, your cocoon will be crawling with Ghost Infants. They’ll steal all of your killing rules and devour you until not even a scrap is left."
"How environmentally friendly of you, making yourself a biodegradable Transparent Coffin."
When a Ghost Infant crawled out of a ghost’s body, it could randomly steal one of the host’s killing rules.
If Gao Tian pointed at it ten, or a hundred times, he could steal all its killing rules, even its Ghost Realm. Then the Ghost Cave would become nothing more than a dried-up corpse. At that point, even death would probably become a luxury.
The "cocoon" it used to seal itself off from the outside world had instead become its own perfect prison.
Slowly, the first Ghost Infant tore open the Ghost Cave’s hole-ridden, shriveled abdomen and crawled out.
It let out a piercing wail. Upon discovering it was trapped inside a transparent shell with no way out, the violent Ghost Infant became extremely displeased. It struggled to turn around in the cramped space and began to furiously scrape at the crystalline walls of the "cocoon" with its exceptionally sharp claws, trying to escape.
Just as the Ghost Cave had said, the cocoon’s defense was absolute. Those outside couldn’t attack what was inside, and what was inside couldn’t break through the impenetrable barrier to leave.
After scratching for a long time and finding the transparent barrier before it completely unmoved, the increasingly furious Ghost Infant turned around without hesitation and sank its teeth into the motionless Ghost Cave’s neck!
Outside, Gao Tian watched this scene with satisfaction.
His luck wasn’t great this time. The first Ghost Infant he summoned didn’t steal any of the Ghost Cave’s killing rules. He’d drawn a blank.
But it didn’t matter.
The Ghost Cave would be trapped inside its self-made transparent barrier for ten hours. During these ten hours, Gao Tian could continuously activate the Ghost Infant’s ability, essentially playing a lottery.
Sooner or later, he would drain the Ghost Cave of all its killing rules. It would feel the same despair and helplessness as the ordinary people in Jin Hai Mansion watching the Ghost Realm slowly shrink.
’I wonder what the Ghost Cave, living in its cocoon right now, is thinking as it watches the killing rule of its former best ghost-comrade become the weapon that’s devouring it.’
Gao Tian didn’t need to care about the cold-blooded ghost’s feelings. Or rather, its current fate was the best revenge.
A second finger.
The Ghost Cave’s previously torn belly swelled up again as if being inflated.
The Ghost Infant’s killing rule had activated through the "cocoon" once more. The second Ghost Infant was about to be born.
’What killing rule will I get this time? I’m really looking forward to it.’
Just as Gao Tian was pushing the Ghost Cave into a corner, bit by bit, a jarring noise rang out. Jin Hai Mansion had been reduced to a sea of fire and ruins, a dead and desolate wasteland where nothing could be heard but the shrill cries of the infant and the roar of the flames.
It was a sound that shouldn’t have been there, yet now it was incredibly piercing. It even drowned out the Ghost Infant’s wailing, echoing through half of the collapsing, burning Jin Hai Mansion.
It was a cell phone ringtone.
The phone in Gao Tian’s pocket was vibrating nonstop. The caller was persistent, incessantly urging Gao Tian to answer.
’Who would be calling at such an inopportune time?’
’Jian Yang?’
’He was trapped in the subway station, having encountered the "Rainy Woman" supernatural event. He might be in some trouble.’
’It’s also possible he’s already back at the Living Human Apartment, saw the news reports about Jin Hai Mansion collapsing, and is calling in a panic to ask what happened.’
’Or maybe it’s Xia Ta.’
’She’s finished her business back home and is on her way back to the Living Human Apartment in Shanghai.’
’Or could it be Yu Sheng?’
’He got back from Longshu Temple and called when he found I wasn’t at the apartment.’
Regardless, Gao Tian took the phone out of his pocket.
Despite him having fallen from the eleventh floor amidst an earthquake, a fire, and countless corpses, Gao Tian’s phone was completely unscathed. It didn’t even have a speck of dust on it.
He looked at the screen. The call was from an unknown number, one he had never saved in his contacts.
’How strange.’
’It’s not Jian Yang, Yu Sheng, Zhao Zhenjia, or Xia Ta. Not anyone I know.’
’Then who could it be?’
The ringtone timed out and the call disconnected. But almost instantly, the same number called back, continuing to press him to answer.
Gao Tian looked up at the Ghost Cave inside the cocoon.
Two Ghost Infants had already hatched, crawling out of its body and devouring a third of it. This made the originally cramped space inside the cocoon a little more open.
The Ghost Cave remained motionless, lying silently inside the transparent container with its eyes closed. At this moment, even if it were conscious, it was powerless against the "children" gnawing on its body.
’It’s hard to believe. The Ghost Cave and the Ghost Infant... I defeated two monsters this powerful just like that.’
Gao Tian chose to answer the call.
At this point, he was no longer in a hurry.
’Let’s just hear what the person on the other end has to say.’
After he answered, both sides were silent for a few seconds. The only sound on the line was the endless crying of the infants.
After a long pause, a man’s steady voice came from the other side. He sounded to be around forty, very composed, someone who did everything at a calm, unhurried pace.
"Memory Ghost?"
The man’s tone was questioning, but it was clear he had already confirmed Gao Tian’s identity.
Gao Tian:
"Who is this?"
The man:
"I’m the admin of the chat group, ID: Living Human Apartment."
"Or, you can call me by my real name, Xu Yuan. If you’d like."
Xu Yuan.
’It’s actually Xu Yuan.’
At the tail end of this fierce battle, just as Gao Tian was preparing to clean up, Xu Yuan had somehow managed to place a call directly through the Ghost Cave’s Ghost Realm.
But Gao Tian wasn’t particularly flustered. From the moment the Ghost Cave declared it would kill him a hundred times, he had no room for retreat. He had to fight the Ghost Cave today. It was either suppress it or be killed by it; there was no room for compromise.
When he was capturing the Ghost Infant, Gao Tian had considered that this move might provoke their boss, Xu Yuan.
But if he hadn’t captured it, he would have just died faster. He’d deal with the consequences as they came.
Xu Yuan had intervened faster than he’d expected. If he hadn’t called right then, the Ghost Cave might have really been reduced to just a hole.
Facing the president of the Jialan Society, a legendary figure who had survived ten green-text missions thirteen years ago, Gao Tian had no idea what he wanted or how he would make his move.
Things had already come this far; what was done was done. He could only wait and see, and react as events unfolded.
Gao Tian replied into the phone:
"Is this President Xu Yuan?"
"Ah, sorry, I wasn’t expecting a call from you today."
"I’m a bit busy right now, so it’s not a great time to talk."
"How about this? Let me finish dealing with this thing called the Ghost Cave. I’ll steal all its killing rules, confiscate its Ghost Realm, let its corpse be eaten clean, and then imprison the ghost itself. Once I’ve picked it completely clean, I’ll go find an open spot and call you back. How does that sound?"
"It won’t take too much of your time. I should be able to wrap things up here in about five more minutes."
Having said his piece, Gao Tian waited to see how Xu Yuan would react.
Xu Yuan’s sudden call meant he already knew that the Ghost Infant and the Ghost Cave had been defeated.
When the Ghost Cave came after him through the internet, Xu Yuan had been lurking silently in the group chat. Now that Gao Tian had turned the tables, Xu Yuan was calling at this precise moment.
It meant Xu Yuan had been watching the fight from beginning to end.
’Now let’s see what he demands.’
’Will he fly into a rage, or will he try to have a reasonable chat?’
On the other end of the line, there was another moment of silence.
Xu Yuan’s voice sounded again:
"When the brats at home don’t listen and cause trouble outside, the parents have to come and clean up the mess."
"These two were orphans. They’ve been with me since they were little. They liked to cause trouble when they were alive, didn’t listen to my arrangements, and died where they shouldn’t have. I didn’t expect them to learn nothing after becoming ghosts and just keep on causing trouble."
"Let’s talk, Mr. Memory Ghost."
