Chapter 28: An Unexpectedly Discovered Secret
He looked at Shang Yi, admiration showing on his face. “I didn’t expect you to actually follow through with your words. From now on, I’ll do as you say.”
Shang Yi waved at Tan Gong. “Let’s get Xiong Xia out first. Come with us and help explain things to her.”
With that, he chose the darkest path he could find and quickly moved to the window of another small bungalow. Using the same method as before, he took out his handheld drill, aimed at the edge of a pane of glass, and soon bored a hole through it.
He signaled to Tan Gong, who immediately slipped inside the room and spoke with Xiong Xia for a short while. Then, the two of them climbed out together.
As expected, Xiong Xia had flaming red hair, a petite figure, and wore a camisole and jeans. She looked to be in her twenties.
Now, the trio—one human and three ghosts—all turned their attention to the Forbidden Domain Detector.
Host count: 3
Current host: Xiong Xia
Host type: Ghost
Host level: Half-bodied Vengeful Ghost
Domain type: Death Domain
Domain rank: Medium Risk
Domain name: Infernal Hellfire
Domain effect: The host can spray infernal hellfire, burning targets within five meters.
Domain duration: Fire can be sprayed for a maximum of thirty seconds at a time, with at least a thirty-second interval between sprays, and up to thirty uses within twenty-four hours.
Shang Yi quickly took photos of Xiong Xia’s domain data with his phone.
“Now that everyone’s here, let me explain our plan of action.”
“Step one: Xue Ling will collect data on the enemy’s domains—mainly the three subordinates of the Hanged Man.”
“Step two: I’ll try to break the Hanged Man’s seal on your domains. If I fail, all of you must hide and not reveal yourselves, even when the police arrive. Let them handle the Hanged Man and his people.”
“If step two succeeds and your domains are restored, we’ll have a chance to obtain evidence of the Hanged Man’s crimes. Only then can the injustices suffered by the victims of this apartment be redressed.”
“I’ll give you specific instructions when the time comes. You must follow my lead—do not act on your own.”
“One more thing: Even with your domains unsealed, we still face a formidable opponent—Fang Liang.”
“We don’t yet know exactly what his abilities are. If we can’t deal with this vengeful ghost, even the police who come later may be in danger.”
“So until we clarify Fang Liang’s abilities, even if your domains are restored, you must pretend they’re still sealed.”
“Step three: If everything goes smoothly, we’ll obtain Fang Liang’s domain data first and, based on his abilities, devise a countermeasure.”
“To avoid raising Fang Liang’s suspicions, Tan Gong and Xiong Xia should return to their original bungalows for now. Wait for my signal before coming out.”
“I’ve taken photos of each of your ability data. Take a look and familiarize yourselves with your companions’ abilities so you’ll know what to expect if a fight breaks out.”
Shang Yi showed each ghost the domain data on his phone.
“Any questions? If not, Xue Ling and I will return to the main building.”
Tan Gong and Xiong Xia exchanged glances, shook their heads at Shang Yi, and returned to their respective bungalows.
Shang Yi put away the handheld drill and went with Xue Ling to the first-floor bedroom.
Seeing that Xue Ling’s phone had charged to ten percent, he removed it from the charger, turned it on, opened the camera function, and handed it to her.
“First, scan the black-faced security guard and the bald fat man on the second floor, then the tall, thin, long-faced man on the third. Whatever you do, do not approach Fang Liang.”
“Once you’ve scanned these three and taken their photos, come back immediately. I’ll be waiting in the darkest spot in the southeast corner of the yard.”
“If anything goes wrong and you can’t continue, come find me right away. Don’t try to tough it out alone. We’ll figure something out together.”
Xue Ling was heartened by Shang Yi’s resolute gaze. “Okay, I’ll go right away.”
When Xue Ling headed upstairs, Shang Yi didn’t dare remain in the bedroom. He quickly left the living room and went to the southeast corner of the yard, crouching behind a large tree in the darkest spot he could find.
Only then did he remember the livestream was still muted. He switched his phone to night mode, shielded his body with the tree trunk, and prepared to open the chat to see what viewers were saying.
The screen in night mode was very dim, and his eyes needed a moment to adjust. He habitually squinted one eye, trying to see more clearly.
For an instant, he nearly closed his right eye, relying solely on his left to scan the phone.
Before he could access the livestream, he suddenly noticed a red glow flickering around the phone in the darkness.
“Does night mode on a phone produce a red glow?”
He opened both eyes wide and examined the screen again, but the red glow had vanished.
“No, this red glow doesn’t look like it’s coming from the screen.”
He sharply realized that the red flicker might be something out of the ordinary. Although it had disappeared, there must be a reason for it—he just hadn’t figured it out yet.
He waved the phone around, trying every method he could think of to recreate the red glow, but it did not return.
In the darkness, he closed his eyes and thought things through, eliminating each possibility.
“If the phone isn’t emitting the red light, what else could be glowing red in the dark? Did I just see a ghost or a will-o’-the-wisp?”
He opened his eyes wide, confirming there wasn’t a trace of light nearby.
“My left pupil hasn’t recovered yet; theoretically, I shouldn’t be able to see ghosts. Wait…”
Suddenly, he remembered something.
“That’s right! There’s a ring of red light around my left pupil!” He slapped his forehead and quickly closed his right eye.
Sure enough, his left pupil’s ability had returned!
But before he could celebrate, the scene before his eyes shocked him to the core.
He nearly cried out, almost dropping his phone.
Under the scrutiny of his left pupil’s ability, he saw a crowd of faintly green-glowing ghosts standing right in front of him!
They stood motionless at the roots of the big tree, their bodies overlapping—at least a dozen of them.
The face of the nearest female ghost was less than five centimeters from his own.
Such a horrifying sight sent a chill racing up the back of his neck, freezing his mind.
After staring into the female ghost’s face for over ten seconds, he finally regained his composure and took a careful step back.
In a high-risk environment already straining his nerves, to suddenly have a cluster of ghostly green faces appear before him, with no warning whatsoever, was enough to scare Shang Yi out of his wits.
He hadn’t anticipated the sudden return of his left pupil’s ability either.
Had he been mentally prepared, he might not have been so startled.
Once he calmed down, he stepped back a few more paces and studied the ghosts, noticing that they remained utterly still, simply standing at the base of the tree.
He cautiously approached the female ghost facing him, examining her from various angles.
The ghost seemed to realize that Shang Yi could see her. Her eyes rolled downward slightly, and her drooping right index finger pointed to the ground.
By now, Shang Yi had completely forgotten about checking the livestream comments. Taking the female ghost’s hint, he immediately thought of a possibility.
He glanced around the yard, which was still silent, and a new plan formed in his mind.
He suspected he had stumbled upon an unexpected secret.
He pulled a multipurpose entrenching shovel from his portable space, set his phone at the tree’s roots to cast a weak light, spat into his palms, gripped the shovel firmly, and began to dig hard, illuminated only by the faint glow of his phone.
The soil under the tree was loose, as if someone had already disturbed it, and he quickly dug a pit about a meter deep.
He shined his phone’s dim light into the pit but found nothing. Realizing the depth wasn’t sufficient, he jumped into the pit and kept digging.
Another seventy centimeters down, the pit was nearly as tall as he was. Suddenly, his shovel struck something hard.
He shone his phone on it—it was a human skull.
“At last! My efforts weren’t wasted.”
A surge of excitement filled him. Hadn’t they said there was no evidence? With these bodies buried underground, proving the murderers’ guilt would be much easier.
He scraped away a bit more dirt with the shovel, confirming that there were many human bones below, then stopped digging.
“This should be enough. The rest I’ll leave to the police.”
He climbed out of the pit, put away the entrenching shovel, brushed the dirt from his clothes, and just then saw Xue Ling hurrying over.
Xue Ling was speechless at the scene before her.
After Shang Yi dug the pit, the aggrieved souls had automatically gathered around its edge.
Even after haunting the apartment for two years since her death, Xue Ling had never realized that so many wronged spirits were gathered here.
Seeing Xue Ling arrive, Shang Yi noticed her stunned expression and knew she could see the ghosts.
“We’ll discuss this later. For now, tell me—how did your domain scans go?”
Xue Ling handed her phone to Shang Yi, who flipped through the gallery and saw three new photos.
“These are, in order: the security guard, the fat man, and the thin man?”
Xue Ling nodded. “That’s right.”
Shang Yi quickly used his own phone to photograph each image and told Xue Ling to show them to Tan Gong and Xiong Xia as well, instructing her to delete the photos at once after they’d seen them.
Once Xue Ling walked away, he examined the three individuals’ domain data in detail.
The first photo was of the black-faced security guard.
Current host: Bao Lif
Host type: Human
Host level: Bronze
Domain type: Life Domain
Domain rank: Medium Risk
Domain name: Ironblood Berserk
Domain effect: Can choose to triple either skin hardness or explosive power.
Domain duration: Effect lasts up to five seconds, with at least a thirty-second interval between uses, and up to fifteen uses per day.
The second photo was of the bald fat man.
Current host: Huang Liu
Host type: Human
Host level: Black Iron
Domain type: Life Domain
Domain rank: Medium Risk
Domain name: Weakening Judgment
Domain effect: Any target touched directly by his body loses 50% of their stamina and strength.
Domain duration: Effect lasts up to thirty minutes, with at least a two-hour interval between uses, and up to three uses per day.