Chapter 99: Xu Yuan's Voice

Ghost Cave had finished spinning its cocoon. It hid inside its own world, completely isolating itself from the outside.

Its logic was incredibly simple. Gao Tian's Fortune was currently too strong, so it would just avoid all contact and refuse to fight. It would drag things out until his Fortune naturally faded and he reverted to an ordinary person, only then resuming the battle.

Furthermore, during the ten hours it spent hiding in the cocoon, Ghost Cave's ghost domain—the "Cave"—was still active. Long before it broke out, the entire domain would collapse down to the size of a marble, crushing the tens of thousands of people inside the Jinhai Building along with it.

No matter how one looked at it, Ghost Cave's strategy was brilliant. Even if it couldn't crush Gao Tian in the short term, it had at least placed itself in an invincible position.

Gao Tian stared at Ghost Cave, who had retreated into the transparent container like an animal in hibernation. "The ability of this Supernatural Item," he asked, seeking confirmation one last time, "is that the outside world cannot affect the world inside the cocoon, right?"

Ghost Cave stood silently inside the transparent cocoon, as motionless as an exhibit in an art museum. Naturally, it didn't answer him.

"Then here is the problem.

"If an anomaly occurs inside your own body, the cocoon won't be able to protect you, will it?"

Gao Tian raised a finger and pointed it directly at Ghost Cave.

The Urn had already copied Ghost Infant's Killing Rule—whoever it pointed at would instantly become pregnant, turning into a living vessel for a ghost infant.

He had only pointed on a whim, but as he held his finger out, Ghost Cave's skeletal, emaciated body inside the cocoon actually began to bulge. A pair of tiny, pitch-black handprints slowly pressed out from the inside of its abdomen, the distinct outline of an infant stretching against the skin.

It worked.

Was Ghost Infant's Killing Rule really this terrifying? Not even the cocoon could block it.

After all, the cocoon's design dictated that external attacks couldn't affect the inside, and internal attacks couldn't affect the outside.

But Ghost Infant's power completely bypassed the barrier. Ghost Cave's "pregnancy" was an anomaly occurring inside its own body.

"Still want to stall for ten hours?

"Within an hour, your cocoon is going to be crawling with ghost infants. They'll steal every single one of your Killing Rules and eat you until there isn't a scrap left.

"Very eco-friendly of you to build your own biodegradable Transparent Coffin."

When a ghost infant crawled out of a ghost's body, it could randomly steal one of its host's Killing Rules.

If Gao Tian pointed at it dozens or even hundreds of times, he would strip away every last Killing Rule until even the ghost domain was stolen. Ghost Cave would be reduced to a simple withered corpse. By then, even death would become a luxury.

The cocoon it had woven to block out the world had become its own perfect prison.

Slowly, the first ghost infant tore open Ghost Cave's shriveled, porous abdomen and dragged itself out.

It let out a shrill, piercing wail. When the vicious creature realized it was trapped inside a transparent shell, it grew furious. Turning around with difficulty in the agonizingly tight space, it raked its razor-sharp claws against the crystal walls of the cocoon, frantically trying to dig its way out.

Just as Ghost Cave had claimed, the cocoon's defense was absolute. No one outside could breach it, and nothing inside could break through the impregnable barrier to escape.

After scratching for a long time only to find the transparent walls unyielding, the infuriated ghost infant whipped around and mercilessly sank its teeth into the motionless Ghost Cave's neck!

Standing outside, Gao Tian watched the scene with satisfaction.

His luck wasn't great this time; the first summoned ghost infant had failed to steal any of Ghost Cave's Killing Rules, drawing a blank.

It didn't matter.

Ghost Cave was going to be locked inside its self-made transparent barrier for ten hours. During that time, Gao Tian could continually trigger Ghost Infant's power and roll the dice.

Sooner or later, he would strip away every single one of its Killing Rules, leaving it with the exact same crushing despair that the ordinary people in the Jinhai Building felt as they watched the ghost domain gradually shrink around them.

He wondered what Ghost Cave was thinking right now as it lay trapped inside the cocoon, watching its former comrade's Killing Rule become the weapon eating it alive.

Gao Tian didn't need to care about the feelings of a cold-blooded Fierce Ghost. This current end was the perfect revenge.

He pointed a second time.

Ghost Cave's torn abdomen actually began to swell once more, inflating like a balloon.

Ghost Infant's Killing Rule had bypassed the cocoon once again. A second ghost infant was about to be born.

What Killing Rule would it steal this time? It was something to look forward to.

As Gao Tian steadily pushed Ghost Cave into a corner, the ruined Jinhai Building around him was a desolate sea of fire and rubble. Previously, the only sounds echoing through the devastation were the crackle of flames and the shrieks of the ghost infant.

Then, a burst of noisy sound rang out, startlingly abrupt.

It was a sound that had no business ringing out, yet it pierced through the air with incredible clarity. It even drowned out the ghost infant's wails, echoing across half of the collapsed Jinhai Building's burning ruins.

It was a mobile phone ringing.

The mobile phone inside Gao Tian's pocket was buzzing frantically. The caller was utterly overbearing, aggressively urging Gao Tian to pick up.

Who would be calling him at such an inappropriate time?

Jiang Yang?

He had been trapped in the subway station and encountered the terrifying Woman in the Rain incident; maybe he was in a bit of trouble.

Or maybe Jiang Yang had already made it back to the Living Apartment, seen the collapse of the Jinhai Building on the news, and was calling in a hurry to see what had happened.

Or perhaps it was Xia Ta.

She had already finished dealing with her family matters and was heading back to the Living Apartment in Shanghai City.

Or again, was it Yusheng?

He could have returned from Longshu Temple and realized Gao Tian wasn't at the Living Apartment.

Whoever it was, Gao Tian still pulled the mobile phone out of his pocket.

Despite plunging all the way down from the eleventh floor amidst the collapse, fires, and corpses, Gao Tian's mobile phone didn't have a single scratch on it. It hadn't even caught a speck of dust.

He tapped the screen. The caller ID showed an unknown number that wasn't saved in his contacts.

How strange.

It wasn't Jiang Yang, Yusheng, Zhao Zhenjia, Xia Ta, or anyone else he knew?

Then who could it be?

The ringtone reached its time limit and automatically hung up. But without even a second's pause, the exact same number called back, continuing to urge Gao Tian to answer.

Gao Tian looked up at Ghost Cave inside the cocoon.

Two fully-formed ghost infants had now clawed their way out of its torso, chewing through a full third of its body. That had actually freed up a little bit of room inside the claustrophobic cocoon.

Ghost Cave remained perfectly still, its eyes shut as it lay in the transparent container. Right now, even if it were fully conscious, it was completely powerless against the "children" constantly feasting on its flesh.

It was hard to believe. Ghost Cave and Ghost Infant—two incredibly powerful monsters—had been defeated by him just like this.

Gao Tian chose to answer.

At this point, he was no longer in any rush.

He might as well hear what the person on the other end of the line had to say.

After the call connected, both sides remained completely silent for a few seconds. The only sound filtering through the line was the ceaseless shrieking of the infants.

After a long time, a deep, steady male voice spoke up from the other end. He sounded to be around forty years old and extremely composed, speaking with the measured cadence of someone who was never in a rush to do anything.

"Memory Ghost?"

It sounded like a question, but the caller had actually already locked onto Gao Tian's identity.

Gao Tian asked, "Who is this?"

The man replied, "I am the owner of the Chat Group, ID Living Apartment.

"Or perhaps you can call me by my real name, Xu Yuan. If it pleases you."

Xu Yuan.

To think it was actually Xu Yuan.

At the tail end of this fierce battle, Gao Tian was already preparing to clean up. And yet, at this exact moment, the man had somehow managed to force a phone call straight through Ghost Cave's ghost domain.

Still, Gao Tian didn't panic too much. From the moment Ghost Cave declared it would kill him a hundred times, there had been no room for retreat. He had to go to war with Ghost Cave today. Either he suppressed it, or it thoroughly killed him—there was no room for compromise.

When he imprisoned Ghost Infant, Gao Tian had already considered that this move might enrage their boss, Xu Yuan.

But if he hadn't imprisoned it, he only would have died faster. As for the consequences, he would worry about them later.

Still, Xu Yuan had intervened faster than he had imagined. If this call hadn't come through soon, Ghost Cave really might have been reduced to just an empty cave.

Facing the President of Galan Society—a legendary figure who had survived ten Green Text Missions thirteen years ago—Gao Tian currently had no idea what he was planning or in what form he would strike.

Things had already escalated to this point, and what was done was done. All he could do was watch quietly and react to whatever came his way.

Gao Tian replied into the phone, "Is this President Xu Yuan?

"Well, I'm sorry, I didn't expect you to call me today.

"I'm a little busy here right now, so it isn't very convenient for me to talk.

"How about this? Let me finish dealing with this one called Ghost Cave. I'll steal all its Killing Rules, confiscate its ghost domain, let its corpse get chewed up, and lock the ghost away. Once it's been utterly devoured, I'll head outside, find an empty spot, and call you back. Does that work for you?

"It won't take up too much of your time. Give me about five minutes and I'll wrap things up here."

With that said, Gao Tian waited to see how Xu Yuan would react.

The fact that Xu Yuan had suddenly called proved he already knew that Ghost Infant and Ghost Cave had been defeated.

When Ghost Cave had crawled through the network to hunt him down, Xu Yuan had lurked in the Chat Group without saying a word; now that Gao Tian had turned the tables, Xu Yuan just so happened to call right on cue.

It proved Xu Yuan had been watching this battle from the very beginning.

Now it was time to see what he would demand next.

Would he fly into a rage, or actually have a proper chat?

The other end of the mobile phone fell silent for a moment.

Xu Yuan's voice finally replied, "When the bratty kids at home act out and cause trouble outside, it always falls on the parents to clean up the mess.

"These two are orphans. They've been with me since they were young. Even when they were alive, they loved to cause trouble. They didn't listen to my arrangements, and ended up dying where they shouldn't have. I didn't expect that after becoming ghosts, they wouldn't learn their lesson at all and would just keep causing trouble.

"Let us have a talk, Mr. Memory Ghost."