Chapter Thirty-Two: The Haunting in Dongchuan City

Shen Lin temporarily set aside the Chen Mo incident. While the kid’s survival was largely due to luck, he had managed to survive nonetheless.

The power of the Ghost Curse was not as formidable as one might imagine. On the contrary, as long as the ghost's power was not abused, the Ghost Curse itself was far more stable than the average ghost, and its recovery would be much slower.

Shen Lin had not gained much information from Chen Mo. That kid still had only a superficial understanding of ghost masters and naturally did not consciously pay attention to ghosts.

The Ghost Staircase was a major problem, and Shen Lin was considering how to deal with it. The headquarters was clearly considering this as well; upon receiving Shen Lin's feedback, they were already deliberating on how to handle the incident.

The Ghost Staircase itself was neither complex nor difficult to deal with. What made it terrifying was its ability to influence other ghosts. This unique trait meant that the Ghost Staircase incident would always be a complex event involving multiple ghosts, which could not be interpreted by conventional logic.

Not long after Shen Lin returned to the hotel, he received a call from headquarters. The operator was still Wu Qiu. She was currently Shen Lin’s exclusive operator and had her own small office. Shen Lin was quite satisfied with this young woman; she was capable, intelligent, and didn't waste words.

"What happened? Why are you in such a rush to find me?" Shen Lin asked directly. These were not the kind of calls for pleasantries; getting straight to the point was the fastest approach.

"Something happened at Longhu Villa." Wu Qiu’s voice trembled. Shen Lin had specifically instructed her to keep an eye on the Ghost Staircase incident, so she contacted him the moment it occurred.

Shen Lin’s expression darkened. He had anticipated that the cursed thing wouldn't remain quiet for long, but he hadn't expected it to happen so quickly.

"Ghost outbreak? What level?" Shen Lin asked.

Wu Qiu countered his question, "Neither. It has disappeared."

Disappeared? Shen Lin was slightly stunned.

"When?"

"It’s unclear. Chen Zuo and his team have been arranging for people to keep watch for the past two days. It wasn't until today that they noticed something was wrong. When they went to check, the entire Longhu Villa had returned to normal. That ghost must have disappeared a long time ago."

This situation was unexpected. A ghost, by its nature, does not simply disappear unless it has moved to a new location.

The Ghost Staircase’s primary ability was to absorb living people or ghosts, and then influence them. To what extent it could influence them, how many ghosts were around it, or what kind of ghosts they were—none of this was clear.

Did it notice something was wrong and change its position?

A storm of thoughts raged in Shen Lin’s mind. If everything was as he guessed, he had greatly underestimated that ghost.

Ghosts themselves possess a certain level of consciousness, which generally acts upon their patterns. They have a conscious drive to attract normal people to trigger their patterns.

Taking the "Knock-on-Door Ghost" that started the Mystery Recovery as an example: after killing the original poster, it mimicked a normal person to post and lured others into listening to the recording, thereby triggering the pattern. The later "Headless Ghost Shadow" continuously switched heads and bodies in the shopping mall to play hide-and-seek with Yang Jian. As for the "Starving Ghost" incident, that S-level ghost, fearing the coffin nail in Yang Jian’s hand, adopted a strategy to lure young Yang in.

At the pinnacle of such ghosts is the "Human Skin Paper," which possesses extremely high intelligence and can outwit people like Yang Jian, even revealing certain information due to its fear of Yang Jian’s repeated threats.

On this basis, some ghosts, after coming into contact with human consciousness or undergoing some form of puzzle transformation, possess highly sophisticated intelligence. A typical example of this type is the "Newspaper Ghost," which even orchestrated a grand scheme to trap and kill Yang Jian.

Shen Lin had reason to suspect that the Ghost Staircase might have gained a degree of consciousness after absorbing human minds or influencing a highly unique ghost.

This would be a world of difference.

"Must confirm this!" Shen Lin told himself. Deep inside, he raised the danger level of the Ghost Staircase by several notches.

"Keep an eye on the movements of the Ghost Staircase and alert me at any time. This is very important." With that warning, he prepared to hang up.

"Wait, Shen Lin, something happened!" Just before the call ended, Wu Qiu cried out after seeing a message on her phone.

"An incident has broken out in Dongchuan City. It is suspected to be the Ghost Staircase. The person in charge of Dongchuan City, Xiang Jie, has gone missing in the incident."

It had made its move. Shen Lin was shocked.

Among the ghosts surrounding the Ghost Staircase was the "Inversion Ghost," a ghost that existed only as a concept. Even Shen Lin could only rely on the uniqueness of his Ghost Aspect’s ability—using a negative to negate a negative—to avoid its pattern.

At this stage, unless the old man Qin from headquarters intervened, no one could handle this ghost—not even Yang Jian or Ye Zhen. Shen Lin was absolutely certain of this.

"Xiang Jie must have fallen. The Ghost Staircase is very special; there is a ghost of a terrifying level around it, currently near the 'unsolvable' level. What is the reaction at headquarters?"

Wu Qiu felt a chill. As one of the people closest to Shen Lin, she knew his capabilities best and understood that he had just barely escaped the Ghost Staircase incident with his life. If Shen Lin called it an unsolvable ghost, its level of terror was definitely far beyond what was on paper.

"The incident happened three hours ago. I received the news a bit late. There are three ghost masters near Dongchuan City. Team Leader Zhao has sent them a message, and they are currently rushing to provide support," Wu Qiu said, relaying all the information from her phone. As an operator, she unconditionally trusted her ghost master, especially since that ghost master was Shen Lin.

"Tell Zhao Jianguo exactly what I just told you. Whether they retreat or not is up to them," Shen Lin said in a deep voice. He had no intention of interfering with the headquarters' decision. It is hard to save those who are determined to die. The number of ghosts around the Ghost Staircase was already sufficient; even if these few were lost and their ghosts recovered, it wouldn't add any benefit to the Ghost Staircase incident itself.

"Okay, I will relay your words exactly. To convince him, I will play the recording of your call for him," Wu Qiu stated cautiously.

Not long after the call ended, Shen Lin’s phone rang again. Since the Longhu Villa incident, his phone had been very busy. The caller was the doctor at the hospital. Before returning to the hotel, Shen Lin had specifically instructed them to contact him at any time and had left his number.

The rushed call gave Shen Lin a bad feeling, and he answered without hesitation.

"Dr. An, this is Shen Lin."

"Mr. Shen, Li Meng’s condition is a bit off. You had better come to the hospital."

An Yimin’s voice sounded anxious. In his career, he had seen many illnesses, both big and small, but this was the first time he had seen something as strange as Li Meng. Clearly, there were vital signs, yet no consciousness; clearly, there was no consciousness, yet the body retained the ability to process physiological information.

"Okay, Dr. An, I’ll be there right away." Shen Lin agreed without hesitation. Li Meng was his best friend; he was duty-bound.

To facilitate coordination, Chen Zuo was also staying at the same hotel, in the room next door. Shen Lin woke him up. His own understanding of cars was limited to bumper cars, so he needed a driver. Chen Zuo was hardworking and obliging, agreeing immediately.

The hotel they had chosen was very close to the hospital, and there was no heavy traffic at midnight. It only took two minutes to get there.

"Dr. An, what happened?"

An Yimin had been waiting outside the ward. Seeing Shen Lin arrive, he stood up to greet him. When asked, he opened his mouth but didn't know how to describe it accurately, so he simply stepped aside to let Shen Lin see for himself.

Through the glass of the intensive care ward, Shen Lin could clearly see everything regarding Li Meng lying on the bed.

The cheeks that had been rosy at noon were now a bluish-black for some unknown reason. The skin not covered by the hospital gown appeared as pale as a corpse. His fingernails had grown long and were gradually turning a dark, bruised color, as if a person was undergoing a subtle transformation into a corpse.

"We discovered this not long ago. His external features are very similar to someone who has been dead for more than twenty-four hours. The strange thing is, when we carefully checked his vital signs, we found everything was normal. Apart from being a bit puffy, he is perfectly healthy," Dr. An explained in detail, but offered no solution.

Shen Lin did not blame him. This was not the realm of medicine; it was the realm of ghosts. He had originally held a glimmer of hope, but now it seemed that Li Meng had been severely eroded by the Ghost Staircase.

"Open the door. I’ll go in and take a look. You stay outside," Shen Lin instructed. The erosion of ghosts manifested in many ways, and the greatest possibility was him turning into a ghost servant. He didn't want any extra complications, so keeping Chen Zuo and the others outside the room was the best choice.

Entering the ward, the smell of disinfectant permeated the air. Because Li Meng couldn't eat, the hospital was maintaining his vital signs through intravenous glucose and nutrient solution. This was not a long-term solution, but it was the only way for now.

Shen Lin tried to approach, and finding that Li Meng made no strange movements, he boldly moved forward. After all, he was the one who brought Li Meng out; since he hadn't been too strange before, he shouldn't be too strange now.

Shen Lin tried to touch Li Meng, but found that his body temperature was similar to his own. This was not a good sign; it meant that, in a sense, Li Meng could no longer be considered a normal person.

After checking repeatedly and finding no clues, Shen Lin frowned. He tentatively placed both hands on Li Meng’s head, using the power of the Inversion Ghost. The Ghost Aspect had high limitations, and the power of the Inversion Ghost existed only as a concept. This meant that the Inversion Ghost’s ability obtained through the Ghost Aspect was very weak and incomplete. It was fine for confronting the Inversion Ghost to avoid patterns, but if he wanted to achieve the transition from life to withering as it did, it was almost impossible.

However, Li Meng’s condition had only just manifested, and for a ghost, his symptoms were quite mild. Shen Lin felt it was worth a try.

The expected result occurred: the state of Li Meng’s head gradually reversed to normal. Shen Lin let out a long sigh of relief. It worked!

He stripped off the hospital gown. The power of the Ghost Aspect’s inversion was too incomplete, and if something else was there, a strange accident could happen at any moment. Under the influence of the Inversion Ghost, Shen Lin seemed to see Li Meng return to normal from the distortion. His entire body transformed from the corpse-like bluish-black back to the rosy hue of a normal person.

Wait, what is that?

Shen Lin frowned. On Li Meng’s back, right around the spine, there was a small, blood-red tattoo. The tattoo was shaped like a staircase, and various strange patterns seemed to gather on the steps. Looking closely, it appeared to be a painting of mountains and rivers.

"The Ghost Staircase!" Shen Lin gasped in astonishment.