Chapter 143: Slaying the Ghost

The severed head still carried residual warmth. A look of sheer terror lingered on Ai Ning's face. Her pupils were contracted, and her eyes could still dart around. As she looked at Gao Tian, she visibly opened her mouth, trying to form a word. Unfortunately, with only a head left and no windpipe, she couldn't make a single sound.

After chopping off the female ghost hunter's head, Ghost Cave had clearly activated some Supernatural Item to preserve her life.

It was just waiting for the Memory Ghost to alter her cognition before reattaching her head to her body and sending her back to headquarters as a living person.

"How should I change it?"

Gao Tian asked.

Ghost Cave slowly stood up, its other hand gripping a headless female corpse with blood still spurting from the neck. It was Ai Ning's body. "First, wipe away any memory of her seeing us. After she escaped the Woman in the Rain in the alleyway, she fell unconscious inside the Liberation Building and never encountered any Fierce Ghosts.

"Right now, the ghost hunters of the Supernatural Disaster Bureau are searching everywhere for survivors. Once this female ghost hunter returns to her station, she will still retain some combat capability and will most likely be incorporated into their grassroots units. However, she won't have the clearance to enter the Shadow Headquarters, much less meet the minister of the Supernatural Disaster Bureau.

"Therefore, we need to implant something far more important into her mind—

"That she met a dying ghost hunter in the Liberation Building. She obtained an extremely critical piece of intelligence—intelligence she must report to the minister face-to-face. Every second delayed will result in the deaths of thousands, even tens of thousands, of people."

Ghost Cave's right hand dragged another corpse out from the darkness in the corner. This one was highly decomposed. White maggots thrashed wildly in the eye sockets, and the flesh on its limbs was peeled back to reveal the white bone underneath. "This is another ghost hunter I killed three months ago in Shanghai City. He's an American—Adam, an expert on the Inner World.

"Using a special detection method, he obtained a lot of data on the Inner World. He even discovered the existence of the Divine Tree, as well as how our Galan Society maintains its sanity after death. This intelligence is a mystery that Old Man Sun desperately wants to unravel.

"The American came here to find the Supernatural Disaster Bureau. Fortunately for us, the higher-up he contacted was a mole who had already turned into a ghost. Naturally, Adam was invited to this abandoned building. When he arrived, the two of us were waiting for him.

"The poor doctor dropped dead before he could even understand what was happening.

"After killing him, I didn't destroy his corpse. Instead, I left it here. Along with it were Dr. Adam's notes and research drafts from when he was alive. They are all here. I knew back then that this corpse would definitely be useful in the future.

"I used a special Supernatural Item to 'turn this corpse invisible.' At the time, with pedestrians constantly coming and going outside the building, not a single person noticed its existence.

"Now that three months have passed, the Supernatural Item's effect has just expired. Dr. Adam's corpse has naturally revealed itself.

"'By sheer coincidence,' our Miss Ai Ning fainted here after entering the Liberation Building. When she woke up, she smelled a heavy stench of decay. Following the scent, she went downstairs and happened to stumble upon Dr. Adam's corpse. Driven by her professional instincts as a ghost hunter, Ai Ning examined the body and discovered all the intelligence related to the Divine Tree, as well as Dr. Adam's true identity."

At this point, a logically flawless story surfaced.

Ghost Cave tossed the corpse onto the ground and smiled. "After obtaining this intelligence, Miss Ai Ning will undoubtedly rush back to the city center without stopping. She will meet up with the local ghost hunter forces. At that time, spurred by her false memories, she will strongly demand to see their highest-ranking superior.

"At that point, one or two commander-level ghost hunters will tell her that she doesn't have the clearance to enter the real headquarters, and that she should just pass any intelligence on to them.

"However, having been deceived once at the fake headquarters, and having seen Dr. Adam get deceived, Miss Ai Ning will know that there is a mole among the higher-ups. Like a frightened bird, she will absolutely refuse to easily hand over this 'critical intelligence.' She will insist on seeing the highest person in charge to ensure the other party is absolutely human before she spills everything about the Divine Tree.

"At first, the ghost hunters in the city center won't just let her into the real headquarters based on a few words. But after a series of strict inspections—including thermal imaging, polygraphs, telepathic sensors, and micro-expression expert evaluations—the ghost hunters will arrive at one conclusion:

"'This woman is absolutely not lying. She genuinely possesses extremely urgent intelligence that can only be shared upon seeing the minister.'"

If it reached that point and the ghost hunters still refused to let her through, what then?

It wouldn't be a big deal. For the Galan Society, Ai Ning's existence was merely a casual pawn.

Even if it failed, there would be nothing to lose.

Gao Tian nodded. "I understand.

"That's the only request, right?"

To him, simply erasing this woman's memories and guiding her step-by-step to "discover" Dr. Adam's corpse after waking up wasn't technically difficult.

However, Gao Tian was in no rush to do it.

These Fierce Ghosts surrounded him in the dim light, watching him while exuding an intense desire to attack.

It was obvious that Ghost Cave was trying to establish dominance over him.

Even though Xu Yuan had explicitly told him not to cause trouble, this Ghost Cave still seemed somewhat unconvinced.

Had it invited him to this ghost nest today to reclaim some lost face?

If he handled this matter too easily, once he outlived his usefulness, Ghost Cave's next step would likely be to turn its attention to him, the "Memory Ghost."

Until he completely crushed Ghost Cave's schemes, he couldn't just hand over his abilities like this.

This was a life-or-death battle for dominance.

Ghost Cave said amicably, "Mr. Memory Ghost.

"You may now demonstrate your miraculous memory abilities."

Ai Ning's severed head, cradled in the hands of the Wind Attendant Buddha, began to tremble slightly, letting out ragged, wheezing sounds. She had heard the ghosts plotting against her. Clearly, Ai Ning did not want to be altered.

Gao Tian chuckled. "Let's not be in such a rush.

"The night is still long. We have plenty of time.

"Why have so many of you ghosts gathered in this abandoned building? It can't simply be for this female ghost hunter.

"You mentioned an Altar earlier. What Altar? And who was it set up for?"

Ghost Cave replied, "This matter has nothing to do with you, Mr. Memory Ghost.

"Just do what you're supposed to do, and leave it at that."

Gao Tian shot back, "What, am I not a member of the Galan Society?

"Or is my rank too low to have the right to know?"

In the middle of the corridor, that horrifying conjoined twin slowly raised its heads and said, "Memory Ghost.

"Just do what you're supposed to do.

"Don't ask about things that don't concern you. It won't do you any good.

"We're all working for Xu Yuan; there's no need to make things unpleasant."

Gao Tian's gaze shifted from Ghost Cave to the conjoined twin, which was formed from two merged bodies. "And what if I insist on knowing?"

The conjoined twin, its internal organs tangled together, turned toward Gao Tian and said slowly, "Then we'll probably just have to kill you a few times to make you understand what you should be doing—"

Before it could finish, a bizarre turn of events occurred.

One of the bodies making up the conjoined twin suddenly exploded into a shower of flesh and blood, splattering the nearby Fierce Ghosts and ability users.

At the exact same time, Gao Tian pulled the Terror Blade out of his Mirror, having completed the blade's sacrificial ritual.

Through acute observation, he had deduced that one half of this conjoined twin was a ghost, and the other was a human. The ghost lacked its own internal organs and could only parasitize the living person, sharing a single set of organs through this connection.

Parasitized by the ghost, the living human had already become nothing more than its nourishment. They wouldn't have lived much longer anyway.

The moment the conjoined twin provoked him, Gao Tian directly activated the Terror Blade, sacrificing the living person attached to its back. Without wasting a single word, he swung the fierce blade, slashing the remaining ghostly body into three pieces. The face on its upper half let out a terrified shriek.

A double kill with a single strike.

Even if ghosts couldn't die, the agony of losing its host's organs and the pain of physical dismemberment were very real. A massive shockwave blew one of its severed segments right to Gao Tian's feet. He stomped it firmly into the ground, preventing the dismembered pieces from crawling back together to reform.

Clean and decisive—a single slash had finished off the conjoined twin. Some of the other Fierce Ghosts present flinched back, never expecting this Memory Ghost to possess so many Killing Rules. Others grew restless, their ferocity provoked, looking as though they wanted to swarm him all at once.

Gao Tian ignored the murderous Fierce Ghosts. Appearing completely unfazed, his gaze returned to Ghost Cave. "Back at the Jinhai Building, I beat the two of you up once.

"If any of you here are still unconvinced, I wouldn't mind giving you another brutal beating.

"I'll ask again: do I have the right to know what you're doing by setting up an Altar here?"

He kept both hands casually stuffed in his pockets, but in reality, one hand gripped the Mirror while the other held the Black Card. If things went south, he was ready to bolt at a moment's notice.

If he truly ignited the collective wrath of these ghosts here in the Galan Society's lair, even Gao Tian wouldn't be able to withstand the barrage of so many Killing Rules raining down on him.

However, he estimated that the situation hadn't deteriorated to that point just yet.

After all, Ghost Cave and the others still needed his Memory Ghost abilities. If they really had a falling out, it would be difficult for them to explain things to Xu Yuan.

A moment later, aside from the agonizing shrieks of the dismembered conjoined ghost, the entire building fell dead silent.

Tap, tap.

Walking along the ceiling, the Long-Legged Ghost slowly bypassed the crowd of ghosts and moved between Ghost Cave and Gao Tian to smooth things over. "We have all witnessed your strength, Mr. Memory Ghost.

"No one questions it.

"How about this. I will tell you the purpose of this Altar, and then you can start using your abilities to alter the female ghost hunter.

"We're all working for Mr. Xu Yuan. There's no need to make things unpleasant.

"Does that sound acceptable to you?"

Gao Tian secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

It was impossible for him to actually go to war with so many ghosts here.

Since the other party was offering him a way out, he might as well take it.

"Alright."