Mysterious Revival

A nightmarish night had passed, and it was now light outside.

But what had happened in the village was irreversible, and by this time, most of those who had died in their nightmares had probably already taken their own lives in eerie ways. The cries and heart-wrenching screams had gradually subsided, and those who had lost loved ones were slowly coming to terms with the brutal reality.

For Yang Jian, sitting in silence like this was a kind of enjoyment, even if he was sitting side by side with a Ghost Hand in the trunk, it didn't affect his mood.

He had checked the body several times.

It was decaying.

But the rate of decay was not particularly fast; if it continued at this pace, it would take at least a day or two for the body to decay to over half its state.

In other words, Yang Jian had to suppress this corpse for a day or two.

During this period, he had to avoid using the abilities of other fierce ghosts as much as possible to prevent his own balance from failing.

So far, without the aid of supernatural objects, being able to use the abilities of fierce ghosts for a day or two without the risk of revival was something only he, as far as he knew, could do. Wei Jing might also be able to do it, but that guy seemed to be half-dead, his consciousness eroded by fierce ghosts; whether Wang Xiaoming could save him was unknown.

"Hehe, cousin, why are you here? I just went to your house to find you, Auntie Jiang said you left the house tonight."

Suddenly, a laughter rang out, and a sweet and lovely girl came over from the village. She seemed very enthusiastic when she saw Yang Jian.

"Cousin," Yang Jian's expression shifted slightly, with a hint of wariness in his eyes.

That person in the nightmare had said that Xiao Yuan was an accident and not part of his arrangement.

As for what kind of accident it was, Yang Jian didn't know—the other person might know, but he hadn't said.

"Do you need something from me?" Yang Jian asked.

"Nothing much, just wanted to hang out with cousin," Xiao Yuan said, her gaze wandering over Yang Jian and then looking toward the open trunk.

It was a corpse covered by clothing, with a faint smell of decay wafting over.

Yang Jian said, "I can't accompany you today. Go find Jiang Yan, she can take you shopping in the city."

"Auntie Jiang is busy now, when I left, many people in the village were looking for her,"

Xiao Yuan giggled, and as she spoke, she came to Yang Jian's side, sitting directly on the opened trunk, her legs dangling in the air and gently swinging.

"What do the villagers need her for?" Yang Jian asked with a frown.

"I don't know, I didn't ask... Huh, what's this? A person? Who's sleeping here?"

Suddenly, Xiao Yuan lifted a piece of clothing beside her, revealing a ghastly pale and cold corpse sitting in the car's cabin, eyes closed.

Yang Jian grabbed her wrist, his gaze turning sharp, "Are you curious about this body?"

This was to prevent her from touching the ghost.

You must understand that the ghost was currently in a suppressed state, which was not stable. As soon as he loosened his grip and stopped the suppression, the ghost would awaken from the nightmares.

What kind of accident would happen then, no one could predict; perhaps another supernatural event would occur.

The village had suffered many deaths last night. Another incident like that, and Yang Jian's home might become a deserted village, an outcome he didn't want to see.

"No, I just thought this person looked familiar, like I've seen them somewhere before," Xiao Yuan said, tilting her head, a thoughtful look on her face.

Then she shook her head, "I can't remember; it's so annoying."

"Is there a problem with your memory?" Seeing Xiao Yuan's somewhat pained expression, Yang Jian pondered internally.

Her friend Lin Xiaoxi died yesterday, and she had only felt pain and guilt for a day. With last night's village ordeal, she now seemed oblivious... Even a person with a big heart and a forgetful nature couldn't adjust that quickly. The only possibility was that Xiao Yuan's memory had always been problematic.

She would forget some things, or fail to remember others that made a deep impression on her.

So when relatives or friends died, she couldn't retain the memory of their passing and naturally wouldn't feel sad or distressed.

"If you can't think of it, then don't keep trying. You shouldn't buy knives anymore, nor do you need to sleep in a raincoat. That nightmare has ended, and if nothing unexpected happens, it probably won't reappear," Yang Jian comforted her.

"Is that so?" Xiao Yuan pondered something else.

But she failed to recall many things, as if she had overlooked something important yet, at the same time, not.

Yang Jian went on, "Don't touch this body. Stay away from this thing; it's very dangerous."

"Okay, then."

Sitting in the trunk, Xiao Yuan jumped down and said with a smile, "If Cousin isn't busy, come fishing with me. I don't think I've ever fished before."

"Fishing?"

Yang Jian was taken aback, not expecting Xiao Yuan to suddenly make such an odd request.

Who fishes in the cold of winter without fearing the chill?

"I'm not free right now, can't leave. If you want to fish, wait a few days. Once I'm done with what I'm working on, I can accompany you fishing," Yang Jian said.

"No need, I don't feel like fishing anymore, hee hee, thanks, Cousin," Xiao Yuan changed her mind just then.

This unforeseen change really confused Yang Jian.

But at that moment, his phone rang.

He looked down to see it was a call from Jiang Yan.

Generally speaking, Jiang Yan wouldn't call him. After all, Yang Jian had already mentioned that he could be dealing with supernatural events at any time and only significant matters should be communicated over the phone.

For this reason, whether it was the company or some of Yang Jian's assets, everything was left in Jiang Yan's care to manage, to avoid the inconvenience of her seeking him out constantly.

"What's the matter?" Yang Jian answered the phone.

Jiang Yan spoke with a hint of urgency and grievance, "Yang Jian, where are you? I'm surrounded by people from the village, and I don't know what to do. I think only you can handle this. Please come back quickly..."

After listening to Jiang Yan's description, Yang Jian roughly understood what was going on.

Actually, it wasn't a big deal.

It was about the compensation.

Yesterday, Lin Xiaoxi died, and Yang Jian generously compensated her family with five million to keep the peace. However, people from the village also died in a nightmare last night. Not knowing who led the charge, they went to Yang Jian's house early in the morning, seeking the same compensation.

Yang Jian had left the previous night, and nobody found him, so they surrounded Jiang Yan and his mother Zhang Fen, demanding the payout.

Five million was enough to arouse envy.

Plus, most of the family members had lost loved ones, emotions ran high, and so Jiang Yan became their outlet.

"I know. I'm sitting by the car, let them come find me," Yang Jian responded calmly, his expression unchanged.

"Okay, okay," Jiang Yan replied as if a heavy burden had been lifted off her shoulders.

After Yang Jian hung up the phone, he immediately contacted Zang Hua, "Hello, Zang Hua, it's me, Yang Jian."

"I'm here. Yang Jian, do you have any missions?" The voice from Zang Hua's end came through quickly.

Yang Jian said, "Jiang Yan must have contacted you before. The situation in Meishan Village is almost settled. When are your people coming over? There are some follow-up matters that need to be handled by you."

"I've already sent Xiao Hu to handle it, and their car is on the way, should be about fifteen minutes before they arrive. Yang Captain, do I need to rush over there?" Zang Hua said.

"No need, have your people bring more over, there are quite a few dead, and it has caused some conflicts." Yang Jian said.

Zang Hua responded, "Okay, no problem, Captain Yang, is there anything else you'd like to instruct?"

"No, I'll contact you if there's anything." Yang Jian no longer elaborated, and hung up the phone.

However, at this moment, he discovered that Xiao Yuan, who had been here just now, had left at some point, and there was no trace of her around.

Gone?

Yang Jian's gaze flickered slightly.

This cousin of his still had other secrets, and the bruises or mottled spots like livor mortis on her body were the best evidence.

It's just that he currently needed to deal with the ghost, and he temporarily had no energy to investigate.

Very soon.

A lot of people from the nearby village appeared.

Jiang Yan, being egged on, took the lead and walked over here. When she arrived in front of Yang Jian, she looked very embarrassed, lowering her head as if she had done something wrong.

"Go sit in the car." Yang Jian motioned.

"Oh." Jiang Yan did not hesitate, obediently following the instructions, opened the car door, and sat in the passenger seat.

Clearly.

The subsequent matters were no longer related to her, Yang Jian was going to handle these issues personally.

But just as Jiang Yan had sat down, the arguing outside began.

"Look here, Yang Jian, when a foreigner died yesterday, his family was compensated five million, but now a local has died, how can you not feel ashamed to not pay a single penny? Your girlfriend already said, if anything happened here, you would take responsibility, now you better not go back on your word."

An unfamiliar aunt spoke up without any reservations.

"Exactly, your girlfriend also said you're the person in charge of Dachang City, now that people have died, are you going to take responsibility or not?"

"We are not asking you to take the full responsibility, but with such a big incident happening, you should at least offer some compensation."

Yang Jian's gaze shifted slightly, looking at those who were speaking.

"Is it just about compensation? Nothing else?"

The others were immediately taken aback, apparently not expecting Yang Jian's response to be so calm, with no intention of arguing or refusing at all.

"Yang Jian, you are also from this village, just handle it as you see fit. You are responsible for this, and you should compensate as necessary, not a dime less." A middle-aged man frowned and said while smoking a cigarette.

As if he took it for granted that this should be the case.

"Strictly speaking, I am only responsible for handling the matter, not for compensation. The compensation yesterday was merely to avoid my cousin being hassled by others, so I settled it privately. Today, people in your families have died, instead of figuring out how to take care of the aftermath, you first encircle me demanding compensation; doesn't that seem a bit unreasonable?"

Yang Jian maintained a calm demeanor.

He thought he was emotionless, but these people seemed even colder.

Their relatives had died not half a day ago, and they were already clamoring for compensation.

It was as if those deceased were no longer important, but the money was of greater importance. Their rational weighing of pros and cons was almost on par with Wang Xiaoming.

"Yang Jian, what do you mean by that? Are you saying you won't compensate?" No sooner had the words been spoken, someone nearby became emotionally agitated.

Someone died and not a cent of compensation could be gotten. That was something they simply could not accept.

Besides, the compensation was a huge sum.

"That's a separate issue," Yang Jian remained indifferent. He now had Ghost Shadow within him, so his emotions were completely unaffected.

"I'll pay you compensation if I'm willing. If I'm not, you won't get a dime. Don't get it wrong. And remember, when asking for help, you should show the right attitude. My family doesn't owe you anything. Besides, you came to make trouble at my house early in the morning, which is too much."

"First, apologize to my mom and Jiang Yan, then we can discuss the compensation," Yang Jian said firmly to the group.

Apologize?

None of these people who came here so aggressively for compensation had thought about apologizing.

"Apologize for what? Yang Jian, if it weren't for you, would so many people have died? If anyone should be apologizing, you should apologize to us. If it weren't for you, Old Liu in my family wouldn't have died... Wah, wah, wah..."

The middle-aged woman started crying again and then pointed at Yang Jian, crying and cursing him.

It seemed as if everything was entirely Yang Jian's fault.

Jiang Yan, sitting in the car, looked worried,

She wasn't worried about what would happen to Yang Jian, but about these ignorant villagers.

These people probably had no idea just what kind of identity, status, and power this seemingly ordinary young man sitting there possessed.

If it were not for considering they were from the same town, they would never even dream of speaking a word with someone like Yang Jian in their lifetime.

That's why Jiang Yan feared they might anger Yang Jian.

Because when Yang Jian got angry, he was truly willing to take action and kill, and it was no joke.

"You have twenty seconds to apologize. After that, we can talk about what comes next," Yang Jian ignored these people's accusations and simply gave them a deadline.

It was a choice.

"What do you mean, Yang Jian? Are you going to pay compensation or not? Just give us a straight answer. The way the village is in an uproar, that person in charge of yours is very much responsible. We saw everything that happened last night, and if you had dealt with it sooner, it wouldn't have come to this."

"An apology? Your family didn't lose anyone, mine did. And you want me to apologize to you? Pah!"

"Look, Yang Jian, I want to say something fair. Making a big deal out of this isn't good. I know you're rich, you've made it, but you can't ignore the people in the village, can you? Just do it like the compensation we discussed yesterday, pay each family a sum and consider the matter closed. What do you say?" said the middle-aged man who was smoking.

Yang Jian looked down at his phone where a countdown was displayed; "You have five seconds left."

"What kind of attitude is that? Don't think you're something just because you have a nice car. I'm telling you, if you provoke me, I won't let you off so easily,"

the woman claimed while crying and picked up a rock from the ground, throwing it at the car next to Yang Jian, denting it.

"Time's up," Yang Jian put away his phone, ignoring their actions.

"You get no compensation, not a penny. Furthermore, I could regard this as an attempt at extortion. If you don't mind, why not sit in jail for a few months first?"

He didn't resort to particularly forceful measures because he didn't think these people were worth the effort.

"What? Go to jail because you said so? Who do you think you are?"

Yang Jian didn't say much, just glanced toward the entrance to the village.

Zang Hua's people had arrived, and a convoy of vehicles drove into the village—the investigation team that had been arranged for this incident.