Chapter 142: Gathering of Demons

The fragments from the Future Urn remained the same—obscure and difficult to decipher. They showed neither the circumstances that forced him to become a ghost nor what he was fighting.

There was no time to think about it; Gao Tian had already returned to the ground floor.

Strangely, the Women in the Rain outside the glass doors had vanished at some point. The area outside the Apartment was empty. Only the torrential downpour remained.

Jiang Yang and the others were organizing their Supernatural Items, looking ready to head out.

"Gao Tian."

Seeing Gao Tian come downstairs, Xia Ta turned to him. "The friend you guys met at Longshu Temple, Old Man Sun, just called.

"He hopes that in this time of crisis, our Apartment will do its part and head to the most severely afflicted areas in Shanghai City to handle as many paranormal incidents as possible and save more people.

"We accepted his request. We hope that tonight, the Living Apartment can do its part as well."

Jiang Yang extended an invitation. "Are you coming with us?

"If the entirety of Shanghai City is wiped out, our surviving Apartment will have a hard time continuing to exist.

"It seems the Supernatural Disaster Bureau is severely short on manpower. Otherwise, Old Man Sun wouldn't have asked us unofficial ghost hunters for help."

Actually, it wasn't a shortage of manpower.

Not enough people had died yet, and Old Man Sun felt he hadn't placed enough chips on the table.

Gao Tian thought this silently to himself.

Of course, he didn't say that out loud.

Now, he was standing at a crossroads of destiny once again.

On Jiefang Road, Ghost Infant and Ghost Cave were waiting for him in that old building. They needed his Memory Ghost ability to brainwash a captured ghost hunter.

Meanwhile, the residents of the Living Apartment were preparing to head out and fill in the gaps for the official ghost hunters. If Gao Tian chose to join them, he would be directly embarking on a path of confrontation with Xu Yuan.

One face after another looked at him, waiting for his answer.

Gao Tian said, "I have something to take care of.

"I won't be going the same way as you guys."

To make it believable, he casually fabricated a lie. "A high school classmate got trapped at home by a supernatural incident. Her family of four is in extreme danger right now.

"She called me for help and hopes I can prioritize going over to assist her first."

Gao Tian had already made his choice.

He decided to go to the Liberation Building first to check on Ghost Cave and the others.

Of course, this didn't mean Gao Tian was throwing his lot in with the Galan Society. He was just suddenly interested in the organization and wanted to learn more about their upcoming plans, as well as the 'new world' Xu Yuan had mentioned.

It was a reasonable excuse. In this critical moment, no one suspected a thing.

Xia Ta even urged him on. "Your matter is urgent, so hurry over there. Don't waste time here."

Zhao Zhenjia immediately volunteered, "Can you handle a supernatural incident by yourself?

"Do you want me to rush over and lend you a hand?"

As he spoke, he 'accidentally' flexed his massive biceps and revealed the Blood Shroud worn beneath his tracksuit.

It seemed Zhao Zhenjia was quite satisfied with this Supernatural Item.

Gao Tian replied, "It's nothing major. I should be fine on my own.

"By the way, why did all those Women in the Rain outside run away? Did someone use a Supernatural Item?"

Jiang Yang shook his head, looking equally perplexed. "I don't know.

"Those Women in the Rain suddenly acted like they had received a collective order. They raised their umbrellas in unison, turned around, and sprinted wildly in the opposite direction.

"To be honest, I was absolutely stunned when I saw it."

Gao Tian guessed that, in all likelihood, the Galan Society had issued a new command to them.

Gathering them to eliminate some particularly troublesome ghost hunter.

Could the Galan Society command the Women in the Rain?

Forget it, there was no point dwelling on these meaningless questions.

Right before setting out, Gao Tian summoned the Wind Attendant Buddha. He had it push open the doors of the Living Apartment and go out to do a sweep.

After confirming that the Women in the Rain outside had truly left and weren't just hiding out of sight, everyone in the Apartment filed out of their sole safe haven.

The moment Gao Tian, Xia Ta, and the others exited the alley, they parted ways, walking in opposite directions without looking back.

Half an hour later.

Braving the heavy rain, Gao Tian arrived in front of a dilapidated, eerie-looking old building.

The building stood isolated at the edge of the city like a massive, forgotten coffin. Its concrete exterior was mottled, exposing rusted rebar. The creepers climbing the walls had died, leaving only a few withered vines clinging to the window frames like a faded burial shroud.

However, the most shocking thing wasn't its dilapidation, but the layer of material covering it—a thick, slippery, blood-colored fungal blanket.

This had to be the place. He hadn't gone the wrong way.

The surface of the building was covered by a writhing, seemingly living, disgusting mucous membrane. Gao Tian didn't know what it was. It was probably the Galan Society testing some new Supernatural Item here in preparation for dealing a heavy blow to all of Shanghai City.

The pitch-black entrance looked like a waiting maw, ready to devour any passersby who stepped inside.

Gao Tian kept his hands stuffed in his pockets. Beside him, the Wind Attendant Buddha held an umbrella over him like an armed bodyguard. Because of this, even though he had walked all the way here through the downpour, he hadn't gotten very wet.

Even in death, a tiger refuses to drop its stance. He was about to go inside and meet Ghost Cave and the others. Although Gao Tian's heart was racing, he had to put on an unbothered, big-shot facade. He absolutely could not let Ghost Cave see that he was actually nervous.

As soon as he stepped into the dark corridor, the Wind Attendant Buddha behind him closed the umbrella. It then flicked on a flashlight, sweeping the beam toward the pitch-black second floor.

In the distance, the sound of slow clapping echoed out.

First, it was a single pair of hands, then two pairs, then three. Dozens of hands clapped rhythmically from the dark corners of the building, as if welcoming Gao Tian's arrival.

Two stiff, hideous figures slowly walked out from the far end of the corridor. It was Ghost Infant, along with Ghost Cave, who was dragging a human head.

A head with a chaotic jumble of facial features poked out from the second floor. Eyes, nose, and mouth—not a single organ was in the right place. It was Dead Man's Head, whom he had met briefly at the Divine Tree.

Following that, from deep within the building, more and more demons and ghosts slowly revealed themselves.

From around the corner came a dragging clack, clack sound. A Long-Legged Ghost slowly crawled up. Its torso was shriveled like a child's, but four disproportionately long, thin legs extended from its waist. The joints were twisted backward, resembling the legs of a spider.

Next was a Multi-Eyed Ghost. Its body looked forcibly pieced together. Three or four heads sprouted from its shoulders, and each head bore only a single massive eyeball—no nose or mouth, just bloodshot sclerae. The eyeballs dripped with slime.

A Faceless One. Its face looked as if it had been shorn flat by a blade, leaving only a blurry, flesh-colored plane. It had no features, only gashes of varying depths. It advanced with stiff movements, but its neck twisted weirdly, as though hoisted by invisible strings.

In the center of the corridor, two Conjoined Ghosts 'stood' back-to-back. They shared a single chest cavity but each had their own head—one on the left, one on the right—with tangled organs in between them. Moving in unison, they hoisted their footless upper bodies and slowly closed in on Gao Tian.

On the floor, a lump of flesh writhed. It had no fixed shape; countless arms and legs extended and retracted from the fleshy mass like a pot of overcooked meat. Pale tongues darted out from the fleshy seams, licking the grime on the floor and leaving behind slick, gleaming trails of moisture.

Gao Tian gave a brief sweep of his gaze.

Just within his line of sight, at least seven or eight Fierce Ghosts were present.

Deeper in the building, in places the flashlight's beam couldn't reach, new deformed silhouettes continually surfaced. Up high, pairs of unfriendly eyes stared coldly at him, their hands still clapping to produce that welcoming applause.

At the entrance he had just stepped through, the main doors of the building were sealed off by a thick layer of something. It looked like a solid mass of dark red fleshy carpet that had surged up from underground—layers of slippery, squirming meat spilling over the doorframe to isolate them from the outside world.

His retreat was also completely blocked by a Fierce Ghost.

"Holy crab."

Gao Tian muttered the name of a seafood dish in a voice only he could hear.

Just how many members had the Galan Society dispatched to Shanghai City tonight? In this remote Liberation Building alone, there were no fewer than twenty Fierce Ghosts.

Xu Yuan hadn't even arrived here in person yet. The Fierce Ghosts and superhumans by his side were probably even more numerous.

Since he was already here, he might as well make the best of it. Looking at the surrounding demons, it was clearly a setup for a deadly trap. Gao Tian never once took his hands out of his pockets, and the expression on his face barely changed.

To show cowardice was to inch closer to death. The more airs he put on, the less the other side could gauge his true strength, and the greater his chances of retreating in one piece.

"Welcome, welcome, Mr. Memory Ghost. Thank you very much for taking the time to come here tonight. Your ability is incredibly important to our upcoming plans."

Ghost Cave's tone was extremely polite. It was as if the massive battle back at the Jinhai Building had never happened.

Xu Yuan had already given his guarantee. Ghost Cave wouldn't suspect him of being a living person again. What was more, Memory Ghost's ability was crucial for tonight's great battle in Shanghai.

No matter what Ghost Cave thought on the inside, on the surface, he was incredibly courteous to Gao Tian, even a bit deferential. "The head of this female ghost hunter named Ai Ning is right here. Now we are just waiting for you to use your ability and modify her memories.

"As for exactly what memories to plant in her mind, I will explain that to you in detail in a moment.

"Also, all these friends up on the second floor are mine. They were originally following Lord Xu Yuan's instructions to build an Altar in this building. After hearing that the famous Memory Ghost was arriving, I couldn't stop them; they all ran out on their own, wanting to see your miraculous Killing Rule with their own eyes.

"These ghosts are all fans of yours. You won't mind this, will you?"

Ghost Cave spoke with the utmost politeness; not a single flaw could be found in his words. Yet every word concealed poison, his intentions entirely malicious.

Gao Tian said calmly, "It doesn't matter.

"Toss that girl's head over here."

The two of them were separated by a corridor. Ghost Cave's hole-ridden arm gave a jerk, and Ai Ning's still-living head spun through the air like a basketball, flying toward Gao Tian.

Gao Tian remained standing in place, his hands tucked in his pockets. Beside him, the Wind Attendant Buddha stepped forward, opened its arms, and steadily caught Ai Ning's head.