"This thing is neither human nor ghost. It shouldn't exist in this world at all."
I muttered, while Rachel Lan crouched beside me, comforting me. Just now, after releasing the Specter Web, what I sensed was pure chaos—inside this guy's body, everything was tangled together like a mass of glue. It couldn't even be called a soul, yet it could still move.
The guy in front of me kept struggling, looking as if he wanted to tear apart everything he saw.
"Enough, Ethan, let's stop here for now. We can only investigate slowly."
Old Eccentric said, and I nodded. But what I saw just now keeps bothering me. I feel like I've seen this situation somewhere before, but I can't remember. It leaves me uneasy and somewhat desolate inside, yet also irritated. I don't know what to say.
At this moment, I felt deeply uncomfortable inside, though I couldn't explain why. My face was pale. Rachel Lan was beside me, patting my back. Suddenly, with a ripping sound, the guy in front of me broke free of his straitjacket.
Then I saw something slick and black, like an eel, dart toward Rachel Lan's face. I grabbed it in one swift motion.
By now, the guy had completely freed himself. His hands had turned frog-like, and suddenly—smack—he pressed them onto my head, gripping my cheeks with great force. I shoved Rachel Lan aside.
A sizzling sound filled the air. The liquid secreted from his body was burning my skin. His legs were like a frog's, and his whole face puffed up. Then, suddenly, he leaped up, his immense strength crushing me, slamming me into the wall. With a bang, I was smashed so hard I left a dent in the wall.
"Ethan..." Rachel Lan cried out. My whole body ached, but I forced a smile.
"I'm fine."
The guy in front of me screamed wildly, squeezing my head as if he wanted to tear me apart.
"What the hell are you?"
I asked, and suddenly he squeezed even harder. Then, with a thought, Deathbane Aura surged out, wrapping his body.
"Let me handle this, Ethan. If you keep going, you'll kill him."
Just as Old Eccentric spoke, the Deathbane Aura began to freeze. With a creak, the guy was completely encased in black ice. I kept releasing Deathbane Aura, sealing him inside the block of black ice.
"Is this evolution?" Hugh Thompson walked over and looked. I remembered the first time I saw this guy—he wasn't like this. Now, he'd become something else.
"Who could have made something like this?" I stared at the thing inside the black ice, then raised my hand—Resentful Ghost appeared.
"What are you doing, Ethan Zhang?"
"Did you sense anything?" Resentful Ghost looked stunned, staring at the thing inside.
"Who the hell knows what this thing is."
I spoke up. Back in that asylum, I saw monsters stitched together from human flesh—strong, completely devoid of emotion or sensation. Julian Chu made those, and said they were corpses pieced together and controlled by ghostly power.
But this guy is totally different. I can't sense any ghostly energy from his body. He still has a soul, but even that soul is pieced together.
"Doesn't matter. Whatever it is, it's connected to the Immortality Society. Let's go before we lose our appetite—time to eat."
Old Eccentric said, and I nodded. Resentful Ghost returned to my body, and our group left the prison. I was in a foul mood, for reasons I couldn't explain.
After dinner, Old Eccentric brought me to his office. He brewed a pot of tea and looked at my miserable face, smiling.
"Ethan, have some tea. There's a barbecue party tonight. You haven't really let loose in ages, have you?"
I felt inexplicably oppressed inside. I took a sip of tea as Old Eccentric sat down beside me.
"Ethan, just don't think about these things for now. Let me assign you two girls."
I let out a sound of surprise and looked at Old Eccentric, who grinned at me.
"Lily Qian and Claire Zhang—when you go out for your internship, take them with you. You and Rachel Lan together."
I nodded.
"Have you received any news from above lately..."
Before I could finish, Old Eccentric shook his head.
"I don't know what's going on. In the past, every few days, upper management would pressure me, telling the Ghost Burial Squad not to get involved in certain matters. But for months now, no one's pressured us. In fact, our salaries even went up a bit."
"Exactly, Ethan, you need to keep an eye on Claire Zhang."
I nodded. Old Eccentric told me that after Hugh Thompson and I left her, and I went to the Underworld, Claire Zhang came to the Ghost Burial Squad alone, not intending to study anymore. With no other choice, Old Eccentric let her join the squad, and these days, Claire's been studying nonstop, day and night.
"Such a young girl, but her eyes—they're not right, Ethan. I've seen plenty like her before, and none of them ended well."
I understood what Old Eccentric meant. Claire Zhang's condition reminded me of people from the Nether Syndicate—the kind of hatred in her eyes, aimed at ghosts.
"Ethan, I had someone keep watch at that photo studio's location today. Just got word—this afternoon, the studio never appeared there."
"Old Eccentric, can you let me handle this case?"
I looked seriously at Old Eccentric. He nodded.
"Be careful, Ethan. Even though upper management hasn't pressured me in a long time, I still feel something's off."
I glanced around, then asked.
"What about the spies inside the Ghost Burial Squad?"
Old Eccentric lit a cigarette, looking conflicted, and sighed.
"Ethan, from what I can tell, the Immortality Society knows your every move. That day, they got you out of the police station so fast. So you need to be careful."
Just thinking about that day made my teeth grind. The Immortality Society tried to buy me off with money.
"As for your colleague's son, Luo Yang, there's no trace of him. We've checked a lot of surveillance, but haven't found him anywhere."
"Come on, Ethan, let's go have a drink."
I wanted to ask more about the spies inside the Ghost Burial Squad, but Old Eccentric clearly didn't want to talk, so I let it go.
As soon as I went downstairs, I saw people from the Ghost Burial Squad—four to a table, playing mahjong and poker. Even the trainees were joining in. It was lively. Rachel Lan and Vivian Ouyang were at one table, shuffling mahjong tiles.
I wandered around a bit. Then I saw Old Eccentric sitting by himself in the corner, looking a bit lonely, so I went over.
"What is it? Still haven't told your great-grandson?"
"Sigh, I just haven't found the chance, Ethan. Take it slow."
Just then, I thought of Mason Yu. I casually asked the Ghost Burial Squad about him. He was still in his dorm, so I decided to go check on him.
Mason Yu's dorm was on the third floor, room 309. I walked to the door and knocked. No one answered for a long time.
"Mason Yu, are you there? It's Ethan Zhang."
I heard from the Ghost Burial Squad that ever since Mason Yu came back from Ghost Rakshasa, he'd changed. Old Eccentric had talked to him several times, but he still refused to leave his room.
Many colleagues from the Ghost Burial Squad tried to persuade him, but gradually, he stopped seeing anyone. Justin Huang said it's been almost a month since Mason Yu left his room, though someone brings him food every day.
I saw some food set aside in the room, already cold. I sighed, then called out loudly.
"Mason Yu, can you open the door? It's Ethan Zhang—please, open up."
Feeling helpless, I decided to turn into a ghost and go in to talk with him. We're friends, and I didn't want to see him sink so low. I planned to tell him about meeting Suyuan at Halfway Crossing.
Deathbane Aura kept pouring out as I slowly transformed into a ghost. I tried to enter the room, but something stopped me—I crashed into something hard and, stunned, landed on the floor.
Staring at Mason Yu's door, I was shocked. For a moment, I thought I saw something strange—some kind of black-and-white, scale-like pattern.
Just then, a few members of the Ghost Burial Squad staggered back, shouting that there'd be a barbecue later. They came to shower and grab beer.
"Hey, do you guys know what's up with Mason Yu?" I called out. One of them was Howard Lee, who looked up at me from below.
"Ethan, that kid hasn't come out for ages. Whatever—everyone's decided not to bring him food. When he's hungry, he'll come out on his own."
"Something's not right, Howard."
I shouted, and the Ghost Burial Squad all stopped and looked up. I kept releasing Specter Web, trying to reach inside and check the situation, but I felt a chill blocking my web from going in.
"I'll go get his room key, Ethan. Wait for me."
Just as Howard Lee spoke, suddenly—bang! The whole door flew at me, passing right through my body and crashing to the floor. I stared in shock at what was in front of me.