"Bring the gear over." Howard Lee suddenly jumped forward. In a flurry, several members of the Ghost Burial Squad grabbed a large bundle, pulled out a rope strung with bells and blue talismans, and quickly tied up Lily Qian.
After Lily Qian was bound by the Ghost Burial Squad, they dragged her into the barren field. The sun was still shining, and Lily looked to be in great pain.
I saw several members of the Ghost Burial Squad take out cinnabar and brushes, and begin drawing a ritual array around Lily Qian.
Then I saw the squad place ghost-attracting eggs at specific positions. Lily Qian finally stopped moving and slipped back into unconsciousness.
"If you want to keep that ghost from controlling her, the best way is to gather yang energy and fill her body with it," Howard Lee said confidently.
I responded with a sound of agreement, recalling how he used that ghost-catching bag that night—it had barely worked once. I glanced at him.
"Qingyuan, you don't trust me. Relax. As soon as I heard about this at the hospital, I frantically researched. The books say that high-level wraiths are formidable—especially this one, which is almost a Blue Wraith. So, lots of yang energy is the best solution."
With that, Howard Lee walked over and shouted.
"You guys, eat up now. We might be here until nightfall, and if you get hungry later, there won't be time for food."
I checked the time—it was just after ten. The eight members of the Ghost Burial Squad took out their prepared food and ate heartily. After a short rest, at 11:50, they gathered by Lily Qian's side.
"Is Lily Qian alright?"
I looked at Lily Qian with worry—she hadn't eaten or drunk anything for so long.
"She'll be fine. The wraith is controlling her right now, but with all this yang energy, she'll be even safer. Now, all of you, take off your clothes."
The eight members of the Ghost Burial Squad who had just eaten quickly stripped down to their underwear and sat cross-legged around Lily Qian.
Howard Lee then took a brush and a small dish of cinnabar, and began inscribing different talismans on each of them.
"These eight represent the eight directions. Even if the Ghost Gate opens at midnight, they can hold out for a while. Right now, they're gathering yang energy. As long as the wraith can't control the girl, we can handle her."
"Why not go in now?" I asked.
Howard Lee smiled and shook his head.
"Going in now could be dangerous. Besides, ghosts don't come out easily during the day. I won't bother with something so risky and unrewarding."
In short, we could only wait. The other seven of us started eating.
"What do we do when we get back? Thompson, you must have a plan, right?"
Howard Lee asked, and Hugh Thompson just smiled.
"Not yet," Hugh Thompson replied. As soon as he finished, everyone in the Ghost Burial Squad stared at him in disbelief, and I was also surprised.
"Heh, this hostage situation isn't going to end so easily. We need to find out who that big shot in contact with Principal Roy Chen is, then do something a little drastic to put pressure on them. Ethan, this one's on you."
I stared at him, confused. Several members of the Ghost Burial Squad started laughing, as if they instantly understood, but I was still in the dark.
"Here's the deal, Ethan. When the time comes, have your family's ghosts scare those big shots a bit. At the critical moment, we'll step in and put on a show—then things will go smoothly."
Howard Lee explained. I stared at them, then suddenly understood. They must have done this kind of thing before. The Ghost Burial Squad's huge expenses and borderline illegal tactics probably relied on this method.
Time ticked by, and I grew more impatient. Finally, it was 11 o'clock.
A sudden gust of wind swept through, followed by a piercing scream—it was Lily Qian. She had woken up.
"Let me go! What about that girl? Aren't you going to do anything for her?"
"If you're smart, release Rachel Lan and let's sit down and talk this out. We'll help you with your problems. But if you keep fighting us, we'll have no choice but to destroy you, no matter how great your grievances."
Howard Lee declared loudly. Lily Qian started laughing, her voice chilling and piercing.
"Who knows who'll live or die? If you have the guts, come in. I'm waiting for you!"
After she finished, Lily Qian fainted again. The seven of us got up—it was almost midnight. Each wore a hat with a headlamp and gathered at the cave entrance.
Inside, the cave was about five or six meters high and over ten meters long. Both sides, dried by the riverbed, were walkable. We went in.
The cave seemed ancient, its front a mass of darkness. After a few minutes, the passage narrowed—the deeper we went, the tighter it got.
After about twenty minutes, our shoes were soaked. Ahead was an opening just wide enough for one person, and the water reached our knees.
"Be careful," Howard Lee said, raising his Peachwood Blade and going in first. We followed one by one.
There was no path ahead—just a pool about twenty or thirty square meters wide.
"The path is under the water."
Hugh Thompson switched on a high-powered flashlight and shone it underwater. Sure enough, there was a sloping path below, where the water flowed out, along with a small opening.
"What do we do? If our gear gets wet, we'll be at a disadvantage in a fight," Howard Lee said, glancing at his large backpack filled with blue talismans.
"I remember there's plastic sheeting in the car. Someone will have to go get it, but it'll take half an hour. Ethan, let's go in and check things out first."
(Irrelevant passage, skip translation.)
Hugh Thompson led the way, diving into the water and swimming through the outlet.
I followed closely behind, swimming through as well.
When we surfaced, we stared in amazement at our surroundings—a hall filled with natural stone pillars.
"This place is..." Suddenly, someone grabbed my neck—it was Hugh Thompson, his face twisted and both hands squeezing my throat.
"You..." I tried to speak, but Hugh Thompson's expression was off. I clawed at his arms, unable to breathe, my face turning red.
I had no choice but to clench my fist, letting a trace of death aura seep out, then struck him with a punch.
With a loud bang, it worked—Hugh Thompson let go and stepped back. I looked at him with concern, but then he lunged at me again. Forced to run, I dodged around the stone pillars in the water.
"Snap out of it, Hugh Thompson!" I shouted. What do you do when someone's possessed by a ghost? For a moment, I was at a loss and just kept running.
How could he suddenly be possessed? I glanced around in shock, but saw nothing unusual.
Just then, something grabbed my foot and I fell into the water. Something hard was clutching my leg. I barely got my head above water before Hugh Thompson shoved me back under.
I started gathering death aura, but couldn't shape it—I didn't want to hurt Hugh Thompson. I swung my fists hard and finally broke free. My hand touched bone, and death aura surged out. With a bang, I broke loose and stood up—it was a skeleton, shattered and sunk to the bottom.
Only then did I see that the bottom of the pool was littered with skeletons, and they were moving—rising out of the water and closing in on me.
I clenched my fist, and the death aura in my hand solidified into a sword. I slashed at several skeletons, and when my death aura blade struck them, they shattered instantly.
But the biggest problem now was Hugh Thompson—he was possessed. We hadn't brought any talismans. What could I do?
While I was thinking, Hugh Thompson reached me. I turned, shattered a skeleton, and ran again. The place was huge—there was no sign of any exit.
Panicked, I circled the stone pillars, dodging between Hugh Thompson and the skeletons. Every skeleton had red spots on its bones. After running for a while, I was exhausted.
"Damn it, if you've got guts, come out and face us. Stop with these tricks!"
Suddenly, Hugh Thompson stopped.
"Hmph, none of you are leaving tonight. I'll devour that woman now."
Hearing the wraith-possessed Hugh Thompson say this, I panicked and frantically searched for an exit.
"Ethan, hit his spiritual acupoint—hit hard!" Just then, a light flashed in the distance and Howard Lee's voice rang out.
I charged forward and punched Hugh Thompson right in the forehead.
Hugh Thompson fell back. Howard Lee rushed over, slapped a blue talisman on the top of his head.
After a cry, Hugh Thompson shivered and came to his senses, looking weak and dazed at us.
"It's the water. There's something wrong with the water," Hugh Thompson said as soon as he recovered. Howard Lee nodded.
"Almost everyone outside has been possessed. I told them to keep watch and not come in. If more people get controlled by the she-ghost, we'll be in real trouble."
Howard Lee took out some blue talismans, but we were all soaked. He followed the directions and stuck them on several stone pillars.
After searching for a while, we found an entrance. As soon as I went in, I shouted in surprise.
"Rachel Lan is over there!"
A large mass of white gauze wrapped around something—though I couldn't see Rachel Lan herself, I saw the gauze and rushed over.
"Ethan, be careful!"
Howard Lee shouted. As I turned my head, Helen Chen appeared—her face twisted, cheeks bruised purple, and her mouth wide open as she bit into my neck.