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墨書 Inktalez
At that moment, Yan Fan looked out the window, his eyes widening in disbelief as he saw snow falling from the sky! Moreover, the snowfall was increasing in intensity! But it was mid-July! How could this happen? And why could he faintly hear the sound of bells?
At that moment, Yan Fan felt a surge of panic within him. He glanced at his comrades beside him. The squad leader, who had been on the battlefield and fought enemies, was now nervously looking outside the vehicle.
"Comrade Leader, do you also...?" Yan Fan was at the peak of his panic; after all, he was just a rookie who had never seen blood and wasn't very firm in his belief in materialism.
"Yan, don't say too much! Stop the vehicle; we are encountering a situation!"
The investigation team consisted of six members. Apart from Yan Fan, the other five had all been on the battlefield and fought enemies!
The five acted swiftly, retrieving their pre-prepared firearms from the back of the jeep and forming a circle to guard and observe their surroundings.
But just like the stories they had heard not long ago, the snow continued to fall heavily. Although they had set out in the late afternoon near dusk, the sun in the sky shone as brightly as during the day.
Yan Fan noticed that the magnetic instrument inside the vehicle was behaving erratically; he shook his head at his alert comrades. "The magnetic instrument is malfunctioning; there's something wrong here!"
The road leading into the deep mountains quickly became buried under heavy snow, visibility decreasing rapidly until they could barely discern their direction. Even Old Wang, who usually had poor hearing, could hear the sound of bells coming from deep within the mountains.
"Leader, if we don't act soon, it will be too late!" The reconnaissance soldier Old Li shouted after exchanging glances with Old Wang.
"Everyone maintain vigilance and advance! Move towards the direction of the bell sounds!"
All of them set off towards the deep mountains with determination on their faces. They understood that they had entered a place similar to a Ghost Town. If they didn't resolve the source of this issue, they might never find their way out.
They rushed towards the mountains at almost a run. Although it was snowing, the environment around them was even more terrifying than what that old man had described; it felt like they had entered a lifeless realm.
While they could no longer perceive changes in time and space, they sensed that they had been walking for quite some time and eventually encountered a thatched hut—the site of an accident from years ago.
This meant that whatever might resemble a Human Skin Ghost could be nearby!
"Everyone stay highly alert! That ghostly thing must be close!"
Yan Fan gasped for breath in anxiety, not realizing he was the only one breathing heavily. The guns were collectively aimed at a nearby desolate forest. Although heavy snow obscured their view of what lay inside, they faintly saw something humanoid slowly emerging.
When that humanoid creature fully appeared before them, everyone present was utterly stunned!
Although Unit 925 was an official covert organization for investigating supernatural folklore, over all these years, they might have been the only investigation team to encounter supernatural phenomena.
Standing there was a tall, emaciated corpse dressed in tattered burlap robes, with claws that were clearly mismatched with its torso gripping a broken wooden sword—the Yin Corpse grinned eerily.
"Shoot! Don't give it a chance to react!!"
At this moment, everyone was completely on edge, their guns aimed and fingers tightly gripping the triggers. If this Yin Corpse was indeed the Human Skin Ghost, their fragile bodies would meet a gruesome end!
Yet, for some unknown reason, after the hail of bullets was fired at the monster, a large amount of snow dust filled the air, completely obscuring their view of it.
"Everyone, shoot without restriction! Yan Fan, go find the source of the bell! It might be something that can save us!"
All comrades armed with firearms were now frantically shooting at the swirling snow dust. The leader, who was throwing grenades everywhere, issued orders to the stunned Yan Fan.
"Comrade Yan, if you survive and return, you must report everything here accurately!"
"Leader! And all comrades! How could I..."
In that moment, Yan Fan watched as everyone shot desperately into the air with heated gun barrels. He looked at the elderly leader and instinctively shook his head in refusal.
Although he claimed to be timid, he would never be a coward!
At that instant, a massive swirl of snow dust formed a huge void behind Yan Fan, and the Yin Corpse lunged forward, its claws aimed at him.
The speed was too fast; no one had time to react. Just as Yan Fan despaired at the sight of the claws about to tear him apart, a loud ringing echoed from deep within the forest.
The Yin Corpse vanished with a pained howl.
"What... what is this..."
Breathing heavily and with his heart racing, Yan Fan suddenly noticed some strange gases in the air flowing toward the distant forest.
Moreover, he felt an inexplicable force guiding him.
To the leader and others, Yan Fan appeared possessed at that moment, his expression dazed as he staggered toward the depths of the forest.
"Leader, Yan Fan..."
"It's fine, Old Li. The organization wouldn't choose a young person without reason."
"By the way, where is he from?"
The leader said no more but urged everyone to quickly gather their weapons and ammunition to follow Yan Fan.
The sound of the bell grew closer. In a daze, he saw ahead a White-Haired Taoist sitting on a stone with closed eyes, shaking a bell in hand.
Though Yan Fan's consciousness was somewhat hazy, he immediately realized that there couldn't possibly be any living person in this ghostly place. Under intense mental strain, he finally saw what lay before him clearly.
It was a skeleton sitting cross-legged on a giant stone inscribed with magical symbols, its pure white bony fingers continuously shaking a Bronze Bell!
The wind and snow swirled around the skeleton; its ribcage appeared shattered as if crushed by claws, yet those delicate bony fingers remained still as they shook the Bronze Bell.
Yan Fan understood that this had persisted for nearly two hundred years; this skeleton should be their conjectured master of Taoism, Zhang Hongdao!
The leader and others soon caught up and upon seeing the skeleton began discussing their thoughts and perspectives from different fields to arrive at one truth.
The Human Skin Ghost had indeed disguised itself as Zhang Hongdao to escape; however, a ghost is ultimately just that—a ghost—lacking complete souls and spirits!
The Human Skin Ghost, rejected from the Six Realms of Beings, needed to consume souls that could traverse both the yin and yang realms in order to operate in the human world. These included beings like the Paper Folding Master, Pallbearer, Grave Robber, and Corpse Driver.
That unfortunate disciple was marked with a yellow talisman and had Black Dog Blood sprinkled on him to trap his soul, so it could be consumed at the right moment. However, this Human Skin Ghost was too greedy; it devoured two souls, but Zhang Hongdao had tampered with his own soul. If any ghost dared to consume it, they would face restrictions! The Bronze Bell served to protect human souls, but conversely, it also imprisoned a portion of those souls.
The souls consumed by the Human Skin Ghost were incomplete and cursed by the Bronze Bell. The ringing of the bell never ceased, and it would forever be trapped in that place. Allowing the Human Skin Ghost to remain there would eventually lead to loss of life and threaten the great lands of the nation; it had to be eliminated.
Yan Fan exchanged glances with the team leader, who nodded at him. "Yan Fan, take down the bronze bell!"
"I understand, team leader. I have been prepared since I came out of the mountains!" Yan Fan took a deep breath and knelt before the skeleton, respectfully bowing three times. On the third bow, the skeleton released the Bronze Bell, which then rolled into his palm as it transformed into a pile of white dust.
At that moment, the ringing stopped, and an eerie silence fell over the forest. Amidst the fierce wind and snow, the Yin Corpse crawled down from a sturdy old tree.
"Who would have thought you could attempt to counterattack me under such circumstances! You truly have great courage!"
When the Yin Corpse reappeared before them, its body was noticeably more fleshy than before and resembled a human more closely. Yet its expression remained vacant, and its movements were still clumsy imitations.
"After all these years, you still haven't made any progress; you're just a ghost! You can never become human!"
"This is impossible!! I am human! Human!! I have always been human! You are all liars; you are the real evil spirits!!"
The Yin Corpse lunged at them with its sharp claws. A barrage of bullets struck it, eliciting painful howls, but its speed was too great, sending two comrades tumbling off the cliff.
The Yin Corpse's hollow eye sockets locked onto Yan Fan as he charged forward. Perhaps in that moment he recalled many things, but he pressed on regardless. The monster's claws pierced through Yan Fan's chest; however, just before losing consciousness, he gritted his teeth and drove the Bronze Bell through the monster's heart before finally fading away.
When Yan Fan opened his eyes again, he found himself wrapped in bandages, lying on a farmer's bed surrounded by various jars filled with medicine. The team leader and surviving soldiers were guarding him nearby; even those two comrades who had fallen off the cliff were there—though they were expressionless due to some unknown reason—they were alive!
"...Everyone, where is this?" Yan Fan weakly asked.
They informed him that he was home; this was his hometown—the place where the organization found him: Sichuan Youming Mountain, commonly known as Wawu Mountain or Soul Trap!
Everyone wore relieved smiles. The two expressionless comrades looked dazed and moved stiffly but managed to clap their hands while hoarsely saying, "...Congratulations! We finally... made it home..."
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