Chapter 165: It's Time, Lao Gao

Gao Tian noticed that when Xu Yuan interlocked his fingers with Li Galan on the hospital bed, parts of their skin overlapped.

They were clipping through each other.

At this point in time, no hospital in Shanghai City was operating normally.

The King of All Ghosts had just fought Old Man Sun across half the city center, and all of Shanghai City had long since lost power. Any doctors and patients who could flee the hospitals had already done so. Those left behind were the ones who couldn't even move a finger, completely forgotten.

This was Xu Yuan's memory.

"Li Galan... is dead?"

Gao Tian asked.

Xu Yuan didn't even look up. "She died a long time ago," he said faintly.

"The thing crawling on top of her was a terrifying Fierce Ghost.

"It couldn't be exorcised. It was tantamount to a terminal illness.

"Back then, I was weak. So very weak. Even though my Ghost Eye could see it, I couldn't do a thing. I had no way to drive it off Li Galan's body.

"I watched helplessly as Galan grew weaker and weaker, her life slipping away day by day. Everyone around us thought she had just caught a strange disease. Only I knew she was being haunted by a ghost.

"I begged so many people. My teachers, the ghost hunters of the Supernatural Disaster Bureau. As long as they were willing to help me, I would do anything they asked. In the end, only a few extended a helping hand, but they all failed.

"I even went to beg Old Man Sun. But back then, I was just a nobody. A high and mighty big shot like him couldn't even be bothered to look me in the eye or talk to me for a single minute.

"In the end, all I could do was watch Li Galan die in my arms. The moment I saw her death certificate, do you know how desperately I wished that this world was just an illusion?

"The most important people in my life—my parents, my teachers, her... Fierce Ghosts snatched them away from me, one by one.

"Tell me, if this were a normal world without Fierce Ghosts, without the supernatural... if everyone was still alive, how wonderful would that be?"

He slowly let go of the girl's hand and looked up again. "Let's play a brain teaser, Gao Tian.

"Who in this world wants cavities to disappear the most?"

Gao Tian answered reflexively, "Dentists."

Immediately after, he realized he had said something stupid.

A dentist wouldn't wish for a world entirely free of cavities.

Dentists were professionals who specialized in treating them.

If one day everyone possessed a beautiful, perfect set of teeth, wouldn't that mean every dentist in the world would lose their jobs overnight?

Xu Yuan turned his head. Seeing Gao Tian's expression, he knew the boy had already guessed the answer to his little game.

"Even though you were utterly foolish and chose to stand on Old Man Sun's side, I am still willing to patiently teach you right from wrong in this world.

"You're a young man with little experience of the world. You know nothing. The entire world is black and white to you. In your eyes, Old Man Sun is justice, and I am evil. The Chu River and Han Boundary—an absolute divide with no room for transition between the two.

"But I'm telling you, that has never been the truth. Take me, for instance. Although I bear the title King of All Ghosts, I carry out the mission of saving the world. It's those so-called ghost hunters like Old Man Sun and the Eighth Young Master who are the true accomplices pushing this world toward destruction."

"There's a company in the United States called the Black Cross Exorcism Company," Xu Yuan continued, as there was still plenty of time before the ghost domain's barrier dissolved. "The service they provide is exorcism. If an ordinary person is targeted by a Fierce Ghost, ranging from the lowest E-Level to the highest S-Level, as long as they can afford the fee, ghost hunters of the corresponding rank will take the mission.

"The company's original intentions were good. Driven by the rapid influx of capital and demand, the world's most powerful ghost hunters flocked to work for them. They even fostered several world-class ghost hunters: White Light from Belgium, Skeleton King from Germany, and Bushin Taiga from Japan. As long as you pay them enough, they can dispose of even S-Level Fierce Ghosts as easily as taking out the trash.

"But has this company ever considered ending the supernatural era? Absolutely not. As the conglomerate continuously expanded, reporters discovered that they were deliberately releasing Fierce Ghosts into densely populated areas simply to manufacture panic and demand, all to make their ghost hunting business boom and drive their stock prices up.

"The journalists who investigated these matters all vanished without a trace. Even the FBI wouldn't dare interfere. In the face of powerful ghost hunters, what do law and order mean? What do wealth and authority amount to?

"Old Man Sun, the Eighth Young Master... while they might not be despicable enough to actively release Fierce Ghosts, their true nature is exactly the same.

"Supernatural incidents run rampant in Shanghai City. Have you ever seen Old Man Sun take the initiative to step in even once? With his strength, he could easily ensure peace and stability for the vast majority of the region, yet he absolutely refuses to do so.

"Why is that? It's because the entire meaning behind a ghost hunter's existence is the Fierce Ghost. The more Fierce Ghosts awaken, and the more the supernatural world invades the human realm, the higher the status and reputation of ghost hunters will rise. Without Fierce Ghosts, Old Man Sun is just a sickly elder, and the Eighth Young Master is nothing but the most ordinary of rich kids. And the stock price of the Black Cross Exorcism Company in America would be as worthless as toilet paper on the side of the road."

"If someone in this world," Xu Yuan said, "someone like me, for instance, could completely end this supernatural era one day, the first ones to stand up and oppose it would be top-tier ghost hunters like Old Man Sun.

"Because I would be obliterating their life's work, their sole achievement.

"Without Fierce Ghosts, how else can they prove their worth? Without cavities, what need is there for dentists to exist?

"Of course, I'm not saying the Supernatural Disaster Bureau is pure evil.

"Objectively speaking, they have accomplished many things. Because of their existence, the speed at which this world is being destroyed has been greatly slowed. I admit that much.

"But in order to protect their own interests, these factions must ensure that the supernatural era never ends. What they fail to realize is that one day, an even stronger Fierce Ghost will appear, utterly defying their control and dragging the entire world straight into the abyss.

"The first step to saving this world is to eradicate these groups of ghost hunters. Just like a surgeon operating to cut out harmful tissue from a patient's body.

"Do you understand what I'm saying, Gao Tian?"

Xu Yuan slowly stood up, no longer paying attention to the unconscious Li Galan beside him, nor the female ghost crawling on top of her. After all, these were just events within a memory. Xu Yuan had visited this place countless times before, and he could always return whenever he wished.

The real Li Galan had died many years ago. Even the King of All Ghosts couldn't reverse time and space to travel back to the past and rewrite history.

As he walked out of the room, the environment surrounding the two collapsed once again, undergoing a drastic change. This time, Gao Tian was pulled back onto an elementary school playground.

In the distance, many students were jogging lazily around the track, urged on by the physical education teacher's whistle.

The crisp, clear sounds of reading aloud echoed in waves from the academic building.

Through the window of a classroom directly opposite them, a little boy and a little girl could be seen playfully chasing and wrestling with each other.

The boy had carelessly wiped the chalkboard and claimed he was done. The girl, who was the class monitor, insisted he do it over again. When he refused and tossed the eraser aside, the girl angrily chased him around the classroom, the two of them running in circles.

"This is the elementary school I used to attend, Honglong Primary School."

Xu Yuan's gaze pierced through the distant academic building, as if looking across time and space at his past self and the familiar little girl in the classroom. "You said I was afraid to face my childhood self, afraid to face my teacher. Why would I be afraid to see them?

"As long as I wish it, I can return to Honglong Primary School at any time. I can see little Xu Yuan a thousand times, ten thousand times.

"My teacher, Li Galan, my parents... if they have any awareness in the afterlife, they would be proud of what I've done."

Gao Tian said, "You don't even dare step into that classroom and look at little Xu Yuan with your own eyes.

"You don't even dare take a single look at your teacher within your own memories.

"Why is that? They're just a memory. A string of code.

"You are the King of All Ghosts. You could order your teacher to sit up and personally voice his approval of your achievements. But you didn't do that, because you carry guilt in your heart. You are incredibly powerful—all the ghost hunters in Shanghai City combined are no match for you. And yet, a tiny sliver of memory has utterly broken you—"

Xu Yuan slowly turned around and coldly interrupted him. "Dead wood cannot be carved. Shut up.

"You still haven't learned a single thing from my words.

"It seems I completely wasted the last twenty minutes on you."

Gao Tian watched the elementary students playing under the distant setting sun, and the young Xu Yuan and Li Galan chasing each other in the classroom.

He muttered softly, "You still taught me one thing.

"Everyone's life only happens once. It's so incredibly precious.

"Once it's taken away, it's completely over. No matter what happens, as long as you keep living, there will be hope."

Xu Yuan stopped in his tracks, a hint of a smile slowly surfacing at the corner of his mouth. "I didn't expect you to think that way.

"These twenty minutes weren't wasted after all. It seems you've figured it out and are ready to admit your mistakes to me.

"In order to survive, you're now willing to do anything. Gao Tian."

Gao Tian turned his head and looked directly into Xu Yuan's eyes.

Word by word, he spoke with absolute earnestness. "I am also giving you one last chance, Xu Yuan.

"You aren't a natural-born villain. You have feelings too, and you used to be full of hope for this world.

"I promise you this: if you swear a solemn oath before the Corrupted Evil Buddha to leave Shanghai City immediately and return to the Inner World, never to set foot on this land again in this lifetime...

"...despite everything that happened today, despite all the people you've killed and the tens of millions of people you've displaced...

"...I swear that I won't kill you here for it. A person's life only comes once; it must be cherished."

No words could describe the shifting expressions on Xu Yuan's face.

From the upturned smile at the corner of his lips, to shock, bewilderment, and confusion laced with a hint of fury. He even suspected he had misheard. Using his immense self-control to suppress any loss of composure, he chewed over Gao Tian's words again, plunging deep into perplexity.

Even crossing blows with Old Man Sun hadn't caused his expression to fluctuate this wildly.

Finally, Xu Yuan understood it all. He couldn't hold back his laughter; he threw his head back and guffawed, laughing out of sheer indignation.

"Who.

"Do.

"You.

"Think.

"You're.

"Talking.

"To?"

After laughing heartily for a long time, Xu Yuan understood everything. "I get it now.

"Is it because your brain couldn't accept Old Man Sun's defeat? Have you completely lost your mind? Gone insane?

"I've changed my mind. Gao Tian.

"I won't kill you. I'm going to chop off your head and plant it in a flower pot, leaving you begging for life and unable to die. I'll slaughter every one of your relatives and friends, making you watch helplessly as I slowly torture them. Remember this well—all of this is your own doing."

The instant Xu Yuan raised his hand, the scene around the two of them shattered, returning them beneath the ashes of the Oriental Pearl.

Gao Tian had already raised his hand and drawn the Ghost Transformation Spear. Before Xu Yuan could strike to sever his head, he forcefully plunged it into his own Adam's apple, slicing through his windpipe.

Blood spurted rapidly from his neck. Gao Tian had thrust it in incredibly deep; the freezing metal was wedged tightly inside his flesh, making it impossible to yank out.

Just before dying, he slowly raised his head and said, "I gave you a chance.

"The farce is over."

His consciousness was fading rapidly. His five senses drifted further and further away from the outside world. The surrounding environment seemed to rush backward at breakneck speed.

'Is this what it feels like to die?'

At the same time, he forcefully relinquished the Ghost Card, preventing himself from reviving.

Gao Tian slowly collapsed to his knees, his blood pooling on the ground until his very last trace of life vanished. Beside him, Xu Yuan had completely failed to anticipate that Gao Tian would suddenly commit suicide. By the time he tried to stop him, all he touched was a freezing corpse.

'The utter mess Old Man Sun left behind upon his death, I will be the one to clean it up.'

'Throughout heaven and earth.'

'I alone am the honored one.'