Chapter 258 Hanging Suicide
A pathway that hasn’t yet been poured with concrete leads directly to the basement of an unfinished villa.
Surrounding the area are scattered construction materials.
Underneath this unassuming villa is a hurriedly completed safe room.
A room constructed of gold, steel, and concrete—not very large, but large enough to accommodate nineteen people.
At this moment, the list of nineteen has been confirmed. Zhang Xiangu, accompanied by a few family members, has begun to enter the safe room in succession. Besides his immediate family, there were Zhang Han’s relatives, two special operations security personnel, Wang Xiaoming, Jiang Yan, and others.
"Zhang Wei, come here for a second. Keep this box with the human skin paper for me. If I die this time, give it to Wang Xiaoming," Yang Jian whispered as he handed the box to Zhang Wei.
"What is this?" Zhang Wei paused.
Yang Jian said, "You’ve seen it before, the human skin paper that was at the school last time."
"Okay, alright," Zhang Wei nodded very seriously.
Yang Jian said, "If you’re not sure whether I’m dead or not, then give it to him on the ninth day after you enter the safe room. If I’m alive, I’ll come back."
"Here’s the key to that villa downtown, you know the place," Zhang Wei handed over a key. "There are only a few of us left from our class. You can’t die, you know. I still want to take you for chicken in the future."
"I’ll try my best. I’m leaving."
Yang Jian took the key and then drove away from the Guanjiang Residential Complex in a pickup truck from Zhang Xiangu’s company.
He didn’t plan to undertake such a perilous act here because should he fail, all the residents in the complex would perish. Hence, he decided to carry it out at the villa in the city center that belonged to Zhang Wei,
a place that could guarantee to be void of people and ensure quietness with no disturbances.
"Yang Jian, he’s gone..."
From a high floor in one of the buildings in the complex, Wang Bin’s family stood by the window watching the departing lights of Yang Jian’s vehicle.
"We really should have asked Yang Jian to spare some slots for us; they’ve all gone into the safe room, leaving our family out here. It’s just not fair," Wang Haiyan lamented regretfully.
Wang Bin said, "We’re not qualified. Didn’t you see who those entering the safe room were? Billionaires worth tens of billions, those who built the safe room, major professors with considerable influence internationally, nationally protected talents, and ghost handlers like Yang Jian..."
"Us ordinary people cannot mix in with them. It’s quite good already that we were allowed to stay in the complex."
"How come Jiang Yan could get in? Isn’t it just because she’s involved with Yang Jian? Our Shanshan is no worse than her," Wang Haiyan said.
Wang Shanshan, with a pale complexion, said indifferently, "If he dies, I will die too. I don’t need to enter the safe room."
"If we have to die, we die together as a family. Even if we begged Yang Jian for a slot, who would go in?" Wang Bin sighed.
However, within the complex, it wasn’t just their family left outside; many of Zhang Xiangu’s relatives were left outside as well. Zhang Han had picked only a newborn child from his family to bring into the safe room. With so many important officials in Dachang City, Yang Jian only gave out three spots.
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Two of those were for the determined and ably skilled special operations personnel.
The reason for bringing two special operations personnel, besides protecting Wang Xiaoming, was also to maintain order inside the safe room.
In short, there were sacrifices from every side.
At this moment, inside the villa.
The lights are out, leaving only Zhang Liqin in this vast and empty building,
She stood at the door watching Yang Jian leave, standing frozen for a long while, her eyes filled with worry and confusion.
It seems that now Yang Jian has left, she doesn’t know what to do anymore.
Subconsciously, Zhang Liqin had relied on this man too many times. In the depths of her heart, she had come to see Yang Jian as the only ray of hope in her despair, like a drowning person clinging to their last life-saving straw, unwilling to let go.
It has nothing to do with emotions; it is the survival instinct of a living being that drives her decision-making.
Jiang Yan might feel the same.
This time, Yang Jian only brought along the Ghost Rope and the Ghost Mirror in the back of the pickup truck.
It was already a gamble, and now Yang Jian had left behind even the human skin paper. Should he die, the item would fall into Wang Xiaoming’s hands. Perhaps with his intellect, he might extract more useful information from the human skin paper. It’s certain though that Wang Xiaoming would use the human skin paper in a more aggressive and bold manner.
But none of that matters to Yang Jian now.
On the road, the vehicle bounces, knocking over several horrifying figures.
But Yang Jian is expressionless, not planning to stop. He even hears some desperate cries for help but doesn’t bother to look or pay attention.
Soon, he arrives at the quiet and luxurious residential area.
The vehicle drives directly into the courtyard of Zhang Wei’s home, knocking over the gate in the process.
Yang Jian gets out of the car, lifts the Ghost Mirror from the truck, and walks towards the house.
The Ghost Mirror is covered with a black cloth and is not translucent. He places the mirror in an empty room on the second floor of Zhang Wei’s home, positioning it against the wall to prevent accidental toppling.
He then brings over a cabinet and places a fully charged phone on it. The phone’s camera has a night vision feature. Although not very clear, Yang Jian can still see everything happening in the room.
The phone connection is successful.
At this moment.
In the safe house, Wang Xiaoming sat on the ground against the wall. He felt a vibration from his phone, and immediately his expression tensed as he looked down.
He saw Yang Jian’s figure in an empty room, with the camera shaking, seemingly still adjusting the angle. After the camera was properly adjusted, he saw a mirror.
A mirror styled from the Republic of China period, shrouded in a black cloth, revealing only parts of the frame.
"What on earth are you going to do?" he wondered to himself.
After Yang Jian had placed the phone properly, ensuring the camera would not intersect with the mirror, he finally relaxed.
He drew the curtains in the room, moved out all other unrelated items, then closed and locked the door securely. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
Sitting before the ghost mirror covered in black cloth, Yang Jian was silent for a long time before finally taking out an object wrapped in gold foil from his pocket.
Inside was an old straw rope.
It was the Ghost Rope obtained from Wang Yue. Ordinary people could no longer control it, as it was already in a state of rejuvenation.
However, compared to other ghosts, this Ghost Rope was not particularly difficult to deal with, as long as it was restrained in time—otherwise, if left unchecked, this Ghost Rope might hang the inhabitants of an entire city.
Without immediately unwrapping the gold foil from the Ghost Rope, he first tied one end of it to the room’s chandelier.
He tested the weight, finding it acceptable.
The quality of Zhang Wei’s home renovation was solid, so it shouldn’t fall.
Next, Yang Jian placed the other end of the rope around his neck, ensuring he would be the first target of the Ghost Rope’s attack. If he didn’t do this, it would be awkward if the thing got loose and ran away.
"The sequence should be correct," Yang Jian thought to himself before walking in front of the ghost mirror again.
The ghost mirror covered in black cloth was harmless to humans and animals.
But only Yang Jian knew how sinister it really was.
Capable of bringing people back from the dead, at the price of releasing an unknown level of ghost from the mirror.
As an object that was suspected to have been left by ghost tamers a hundred years ago, its presence in modern times was enigmatic, and no one knew what it signified.
At this moment, though tense within, Yang Jian was not retreating.
Having come this far, he had no choice but to press on.
He gestured an OK sign to the phone camera and then extended his fingers to begin a countdown.
"Three~!"
"Is Yang Jian trying to hang himself?"
Wang Xiaoming, observing Yang Jian’s series of bizarre actions and seeing him put what appeared to be a rope around his head, realized what he was about to do, even if he was usually slow to catch on.
"No, not simply suicide. The rope is wrapped and entwined in gold foil—it’s a ghost in a state of imprisonment. That mirror whose front can’t be seen has something strange about it. It’s definitely not a regular mirror; otherwise, Yang Jian wouldn’t have deliberately placed it in front of him."
"Is the mirror a ghost? It doesn’t seem like it. Yang Jian hasn’t imprisoned the mirror; it has been quiet the whole time."
Wang Xiaoming was completely unfamiliar with all of these arrangements and no matter how smart he was, he couldn’t guess what Yang Jian was actually trying to do.
If it was just a simple hanging, there would be no need to prepare so much.
"Two~!"
Yang Jian gestured again.
But at this moment, his movements paused, seemingly because his satellite-positioning phone rang.
"Yang Jian, it’s me, Liu Xiaoyu. The higher-ups have approved your action. Vice Minister Cao Yanhua said, whether your action fails or succeeds, all consequences will be borne by the state, so go ahead with confidence and without any psychological burden. By the way, do you need to talk to your mother? I can connect you at any time," came the voice of Liu Xiaoyu.
"I understand. Tell my mom that I am doing very well, and besides, after this call ends, unless I contact you actively, don’t connect on your own. A single call might kill me."
Yang Jian kept his voice low, as he wasn’t sure if any third-stage Ghost Infants were nearby.
"Alright then, the well-being of Dachang City is in your hands," Liu Xiaoyu said with a note of heaviness and respect.
Yang Jian didn’t respond to her but simply hung up the phone, then threw the satellite-positioning phone behind him.
"One~!"
He gestured the final number towards the direction of the camera, and then he violently pulled away the black cloth covering the ghost mirror.
"Come on, let’s see if I can climb out of hell and become an Evil Ghost."
Yang Jian roared in his heart, his eyes filled with the madness of gambling against fate.
As the smooth and bright ghost mirror reflected his entire body.
The terror officially began.
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