Chapter Sixty: Zhao Ziliang

The whistling bullet ultimately failed to hit its mark, as a heavily wrapped man blocked everything.

It was an expected outcome. Since the opponent came prepared, Shen Lin never intended to resolve the problem so easily.

"Young man, you are far too impulsive." Zhao Ziliang flicked his wrists, tossed a few bullets aside, and stretched luxuriously.

"People from the Circle?" Shen Lin raised an eyebrow and asked.

"So what if I am? What if I'm not?" Zhao Ziliang asked with a hint of mockery.

"True, it doesn't make much difference. Either you die, or I die." Shen Lin smiled.

"Going to such great lengths, what makes you so desperate to put me to death?"

"I am merely getting paid to do a job. In our line of work, you should know how it is—we just kill, we don't ask why. If you insist on an explanation, I can only say you are simply out of luck because you happened to cross paths with me," Zhao Ziliang said.

"It seems the price tag wasn't low. It almost makes me tempted, but I'm more curious about where your confidence comes from." Shen Lin asked with a smile.

"All things considered, you are just a newcomer who became a Ghost Controller only about a month ago. The world is vast, and there are far too many things you have never witnessed," Zhao Ziliang spoke at length.

"Do not judge Ghost Controllers by those useless trash from earlier. The world is far larger than you can imagine. Do you know how powerful Asia's top Ghost Controller is? Do you even know that people who have harnessed a second or even a third ghost exist in this world?"

"So? Are you chatting with me about this just to desperately prove how strong you are? To make me lay down my arms and surrender? Grow up, how old are you, and still so naive?" Shen Lin smiled.

At the current stage, apart from that generation from the Republic era, no one in this awakening world probably knew more than he did. Zhao Ziliang was merely a frog at the bottom of a well. Ghost Controllers of this era were all in their rising phase; once the rise stabilized and everything was finalized, that was when the true terror would begin.

"I've read your file. A newcomer who has survived two A-class incidents—to be honest, this record is far better than mine was back then. But that was just the past. I appreciate you, but I was entrusted by others, and I must fulfill my duty."

Both sides had their own hidden agendas. Zhao Ziliang was buying time for Qian Baijun. Stabilizing the ability of the Ghostly Lock required a certain amount of time. After all, it was a Ghost Domain; wishing to suppress someone effortlessly was nothing short of wishful thinking.

However, that was only moments ago. Such a long stretch of time was enough for Qian Baijun to accomplish certain tasks.

The file clearly stated that Shen Lin's sole reliance was his Ghost Domain.

Without his Ghost Domain, the Shen Lin before them was nothing more than a desperate turtle in a jar.

"Youthful arrogance is not a good thing. Before you can soar like a dragon, you must first learn to lie low. If you are a dragon, you must learn to coil; if you are a tiger, you must learn to crouch," Zhao Ziliang said.

"You have a bit too many grand principles. Saying all this ultimately boils down to it being a fight to the death. Come on, today either you die, or I die!" Shen Lin's expression gradually turned ferocious.

"Your only reliance is the Ghost Domain. Indeed, it is a rather tricky type among ghost abilities. But now that your Ghost Domain is sealed, what can you possibly do?" Zhao Ziliang sneered.

"It seems your intelligence reports have quite a few flaws." Shen Lin smiled.

Zhao Ziliang froze, the implication of those words catching him off guard for a moment.

The very instant he jolted awake, he whipped his head around and yelled in the direction of Qian Baijun.

"Not good!"

Looking back at where he stood, Shen Lin's figure was gone.

Dozens of meters away, Qian Baijun, who was holding the door lock, suddenly noticed a figure appear beside him. A dim, dark-red radiance blossomed from the figure, appearing serene yet eerie.

"Shen Lin!"

"I once told Jiang Shangbai that if he didn't kill me, I would find a way to kill him. Today, I'm passing those words on to you."

"You're not old, but you sure talk big."

Qian Baijun sneered, the skin all over his body suddenly bursting open, flesh and blood mixed with a foul stench exposed to the open air.

Qian Baijun's ghost was extremely peculiar. Through a fortuitous coincidence, he had fused with a piece of bizarre flesh, causing the flesh and blood all over his body to mutate to a certain degree.

That piece of meat was continuously transforming everything about him. The moment his physical body completely turned into that kind of flesh, the ghost would devour him entirely.

Stinking black blood dripped from Qian Baijun's body.

The moment Qian Baijun transformed into this terrifying appearance, Shen Lin sensed a bizarre shift in the surroundings.

His figure immediately distanced himself from everything around him.

Repeated lessons had made Shen Lin deeply understand the terror of ghosts; toward the unknown, it was best to maintain reverence.

"It seems you aren't so fearless of death after all." Zhao Ziliang, who had hurried over, mocked upon seeing this.

Qian Baijun's ability was extremely strange. The moment of contact would inflict varying degrees of corrosive impact on the opponent. That kind of flesh seemed to multiply, lodging inside the enemy's body and then feeding back into itself.

"What makes you feel like I haven't made a move?" Shen Lin sneered.

Qian Baijun and Zhao Ziliang felt a jolt of alarm in their hearts.

The dark-red radiance before them suddenly produced a fluctuation, like snow static from a television with an unstable signal.

Amidst the static, Qian Baijun seemed to see figures holding gun barrels aimed directly at him. The specially made bullets had already reached him the very moment he noticed them.

It was the mercenaries from earlier.

Ghost Slaves!

A Ghost Domain possessed many characteristics. In the memories of many, the fear of a Ghost Domain was mostly manifested in its hallucinations and spatial displacement, yet very few paid attention to a rather crucial characteristic of the Ghost Domain: Ghost Slaves.

This was because Ghost Slaves were truly tasteless in battles between Ghost Controllers, which also led to Yang Jian rarely using this ability during the awakening.

Yet, even the most tasteless ability had a moment to shine, just like right now.

"Impossible! When?"

Zhao Ziliang was shocked and furious. Everything before him deviated far too much from expectations.

The powerful impact brought by several specialized firearms directly knocked Qian Baijun flying on the spot. Gold-crafted bullets possessed an extraordinary restraining power against ghosts, and naturally, against Ghost Controllers as well.

"Looking for death!"

Zhao Ziliang took a few steps forward, just preparing to strike, when he noticed that Shen Lin beside him had vanished.

Choosing to fight two against one was the act of a fool; picking them off one by one was the absolute truth in this situation.

Since he had used the element of surprise to inflict heavy damage on Qian Baijun, Shen Lin naturally wouldn't let this opportunity slip.

The dark-red light flickered, and Shen Lin reappeared beside Qian Baijun.

The gunshot wounds inflicted by the gold bullets caused significant trauma to Qian Baijun; a full third of his body had reverted to a human appearance.

Shen Lin stepped forward, grabbed Qian Baijun by the hair, and fiercely unleashed the ability of the Upside-Down Ghost. A decaying aura emanated from Qian Baijun's head, gradually spreading across his entire body.

"What is this? Stop! Stop right now!" Qian Baijun roared, struggling to do something, but his flailing arms seemed to pass right through a holographic projection. This terrified Qian Baijun.

"I don't mind making your life worse than death!" A cold voice came from the opposite direction, and Qian Baijun watched in astonishment as the Shen Lin in front of him vanished like points of light.

No stinging pain, no bleeding, only decay and despair followed.

Qian Baijun felt the flesh and blood inside his body suffer some kind of impact, resisting with all its might. Every single bone in his body was struggling.

Under the influence of the Upside-Down Ghost's ability, Qian Baijun was like someone being slowly burned alive. His body was turning to ashes to varying degrees. Accompanied by shrill screams, a full third of his entire head vanished. Through the gaping hole, one could even see his pulsing brain and tangled nerves.

"Stop it! Shen Lin!"

Zhao Ziliang roared.

Things had deviated from their predictions; Shen Lin could absolutely not be allowed to finish off Qian Baijun. The ghost inside Qian Baijun was far too bizarre, and no one knew what consequences would follow if it were released.

After the ghost's awakening, he might end up getting caught in the fallout as well.

Zhao Ziliang arrived in the nick of time, barely saving Qian Baijun's life. He threw a ferocious punch at Shen Lin, attempting to knock him back and rescue Qian Baijun.

The bizarre phenomenon repeated: his right fist passed right through the holographic projection. This sight plunged Qian Baijun's newly rising hopes back into a freezing abyss.

Unwilling to admit defeat, Zhao Ziliang threw another punch.

Strange, haunting chants spilled from his mouth—sounds so shrill and tragic they seemed to come from the nethermost depths of hell.

The moment it appeared, it inflicted a heavy impact on Shen Lin. The bloodthirsty reaction of the ghost phase on his chest indicated that the eerie chanting was far from ordinary.

Descriptions of ghosts related to chanting were sparse during the awakening, but every single one of them was extremely tricky, especially differing most unusually from Tong Qian's smiling and crying faces.

Shen Lin felt a sense of difficulty. He had a premonition that the eerie chanting before him was on a similar level to Tong Qian's ghost faces.

The triggering condition for such sound-type ghosts was generally being heard; the longer one listened, the deeper the ghost's ability could influence them.

If this freaky thing kept chanting for a year or two, even the heavenly emperor himself would get taken down.

He couldn't let him keep chanting like this.

Shen Lin made a split-second judgment. Qian Baijun was already in a half-dead state and couldn't stir up any storms anytime soon.

He had to prioritize dealing with this fellow in front of him. All signs indicated that the Ghost Controller before him was their absolute main force.

The bloodthirsty desire of the ghost phase on his chest grew increasingly wild, and Shen Lin felt it nearing the brink of suppression. Its awakening was imminent; he had to finish the battle swiftly and leave enough time to find the bus.

Bizarre fluctuations radiated outward. Shen Lin let go of Qian Baijun in his hand and shifted his attack to Zhao Ziliang instead.

Zhao Ziliang's body, hidden beneath his clothes, didn't dodge or evade. He reached out a pair of hands and grabbed Shen Lin's wrists.

Shen Lin began to sneer. No one knew the terror of the Upside-Down Ghost better than he did. This freaky thing could invert life and death for anyone it touched, reducing them to ashes. He had witnessed this horror firsthand; if not for the ghost phase successfully manifesting at the critical moment, he would already be a pile of ashes right now.

Even though the ghost phase's manifestation ability was severely flawed, under the terrifying power of the Upside-Down Ghost, how many people could turn the tables?

Their hands collided, and dark-red light erupted.

Yet Zhao Ziliang stood firmly in place, entirely unharmed.