A voice cried out in urgent alarm.
The one trying to stop Yang Jian was Zhang Han, who, in his eyes, believed that if Yang Jian wanted to die, he still wanted to live.
He truly did not want this transaction to be ruined by him.
However, Zhang Han was powerless; he simply lacked the ability and the means to stop Yang Jian. In his current state, he couldn't even tap into the power of a fierce ghost, and if he were to physically intervene, who knew whether Yang Jian would turn around and shoot him, potentially ending his life.
Yet, the sound of a gunshot still rang out.
It echoed over the fields on both sides of the road.
It wasn't like the imagined scene of a head exploding with blood splattering everywhere.
The bullet passed through Wu Yue's forehead and landed on the road behind, leaving a bullet hole.
Yang Jian furrowed his brows, ready to shoot again.
But a voice suddenly interjected, "Someone will be held accountable for this, but not Wu Yue, it will be me. I was the one who had the files deleted. Wu Yue was just carrying out company business after all, he didn't fundamentally do anything wrong."
At that moment, a group of special individuals made their way from the direction of an RV, walking briskly towards this location.
The leader was a young man around twenty-five years old, dressed in a white lab coat and looking ordinary, flanked by several uniformed special agents.
Behind them were special armed security, with real guns and ammunition, well-equipped like some assault team straight out of a movie poster.
Seeing this, Wu Yue finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Without some kind of preparation, he really wasn't comfortable dealing with this Yang Jian. Now, he was assuredly safe.
"Yang Jian, you didn't see this coming," he squeezed out a hint of a smile, although his body was still shaking.
"To save this Wu Yue from such a distance... this must be Ghost Domain's ability, right?" Yang Jian scanned the scene and ignored Wu Yue in front of him.
He quickly fixed his gaze on a middle-aged man in uniform, who radiated an aura of inherent authority.
This man had a dangerous air about him.
The Ghost Eye seemed almost involuntarily keen to open, as if sensing a threat, instinctively wanting to counter.
But it seemed the Terror Level was very high.
"I was the one who ordered Captain Li to save Wu Yue. Let me introduce myself, my name is Wang Xiaoming, I'm the director of a certain research institute, you can call me Director Wang, Professor Wang, or you can simply use my name," said the young man in the white lab coat, hastening towards him while speaking.
This name seemed familiar.
Yang Jian couldn't help but recall... it must have been in a junior high school textbook.
It couldn't be that Xiao Ming.
"What's your relationship with Wang Xiaoqiang from Xiaoqiang Entertainment Club?" Yang Jian asked.
"He's my good-for-nothing younger brother," Wang Xiaoming stated. "If you have any questions, you can ask me. I will take responsibility for this matter. Could you please put down the gun before then?"
"It's best if someone is willing to take responsibility," Yang Jian put away his gun and glanced at Wu Yue.
Wu Yue wiped the cold sweat off his forehead, nearly fainting.
"Please, have a seat,"
Wang Xiaoming gestured towards some chairs and tables temporarily set up under a nearby sunshade.
"I hope you can give me an explanation for all this."
Yang Jian tossed the body bag onto the ground and then took a seat.
With a calm expression, Wang Xiaoming pointed to two people and said, "Of course, let me introduce you to these two gentlemen beside me. This is Zhao Jianguo from the International Ghostmaster Asian Branch, Captain Zhao, and this is Li Jun."
"Zhao Jianguo?" Yang Jian's expression shifted slightly.
Liu Xiaoyu's superior from the International Ghostmasters?
They had only spoken over the phone before; he hadn't expected this incident to bring out Zhao Jianguo himself.
Zhao Jianguo smiled and said, "A hero indeed emerges from youth. Yang Jian, this must be our first meeting, right? Liu Xiaoyu has not stopped reporting to me about you. I have to thank you for that call—it gave me a legitimate reason to take a paid leave."
That phone call was about Yang Jian threatening the International Ghostmasters.
"It would be best if Captain Zhao could come, otherwise this matter will never be clarified," Yang Jian extended his hand for a shake, then said.
The person named Li Jun next to him didn't speak, but his gaze stayed fixed on Yang Jian.
This must be a heavyweight Ghostmaster, brought in to ensure the safety of this trip.
"It's getting late, so I'll just get straight to the point. It's standard procedure to give you guys a file on the supernatural event you're tasked with handling, in order to increase each Ghostmaster's survival rate and help them solve the supernatural event more effectively.
The fact that the information in your file was concealed was indeed Wu Yue's doing, but he did it out of concern about compromising intelligence. For that, I must apologize to you," Wang Xiaoming said with a serious attitude.
Upon hearing this, Yang Jian immediately narrowed his eyes and gave Wu Yue a deep look.
"You can withhold the company's files, you can conceal them, but can you also conceal the files from the International Ghostmasters?"
Wang Xiaoming said, "Wu Yue doesn't have the authority to do that, but I do. I had someone delete the files from the other side."
"Why would you do that?" Yang Jian's expression turned cold.
"For the nation, for our people, to resolve the supernatural events within our country once and for all."
Wang Xiaoming continued earnestly, "Do you know how many people die every day in the country due to supernatural events? How many new supernatural files are added every day? Big data analysis shows that the number of supernatural events within the country is still increasing, and soon they will reach a point where they can no longer be concealed or suppressed."
"The disaster is showing signs of a full-scale outbreak. If we do not find a way to reverse the situation soon... the consequences are unimaginable."
"In the face of national interest and the survival of the country, individual sacrifices are insignificant, as long as the sacrifice is worthwhile. Maybe a lot of Ghostmasters died in this incident, but in my view, their deaths secured the confidentiality of information and the recovery of the Ghost Coffin... It was worth it."
Having said that, he glanced at the coffin on the sports car not far away.
As long as the Ghost Coffin leaves Huanggang Village, it will be fine.
"Your words sound better than they sing. The ones being sacrificed aren't you. Just for what you just said, I can hardly restrain the urge to kill you right now," Yang Jian said with a somewhat ferocious look on his face.
After he finished speaking, a crimson ghost eye opened on his forehead.
A faint red light emanated from it, spreading outward.
Li Jun, standing by, asserted his authority without anger, "Professor Wang is a treasure of the nation; his value far exceeds yours. If you make a move on Professor Wang, I'll personally end you here and now, even if it's a pity to kill someone as talented as you."
"You were able to protect Wu Yue just now because I didn't use the power of fierce ghosts, which doesn't mean you can really keep them safe," Yang Jian said.
"You can try," Li Jun replied.
Seeing the tense atmosphere, Zhao Jianguo hurriedly tried to smooth things over with a chuckle, "What are we doing here? One of us is a special forces captain, and the other is an International Ghostmaster from the Asian Branch. Essentially, we're all on the same team. If we were to fight here and word got out internationally, wouldn't that be a laughingstock? What time do we think it is now?
Unity and cooperation to solve supernatural events should be our top priority. What's the point of infighting?"
"Yang Jian, I can understand how you feel now, and altering the files indeed brought you a lot of trouble, but you must also understand Professor Wang's perspective, he's devoted to our nation. The existence of the Ghost Coffin has a profound impact on the current situation. If we can uncover its value, we could truly suppress and resolve the supernatural events," Zhao Jianguo said.
"Considering the sacrifices Professor Wang has made for the recovery of the Ghost Coffin, there must be his reasoning," Zhao Jianguo continued. "Let's try to be considerate and understand each other."
"Why should I trust this Professor Wang?" Yang Jian asked.
"You may not trust him, but you should believe in the contributions he has made. He's one of the earliest professionals to study supernatural events. Before the events even escalated, he already confirmed the existence of fierce ghosts and began attempting to analyze them.
At the beginning of the outbreak, he published several important papers which played a pivotal role in suppressing the supernatural events," Zhao Jianguo replied.
"You've been on the international site; you must have seen Professor Wang's papers. Oh yes, the pen name he uses internationally is Bruce Pi."
Yang Jian's pupils constricted.
The author of that paper "The Power of Fierce Ghosts Cannot Affect Gold"?
Wang Xiaoming said, "If you actually want to kill me, I'm not against it. If you can do better than me and contribute more, you can shoot me dead right now, and I won't stop you. But if you can't do that, then I hope you would consider the bigger picture."
"I don't need to lie," Wang Xiaoming replied.
Yang Jian casually placed the pistol on the table and pushed it forward, sliding it towards Wang Xiaoming.
"Prove it to me that you are truly devoted to the public interest, not just your own."
"How do you want me to prove it?" Wang Xiaoming asked.
"You like to measure a person's value and make the corresponding sacrifice. So, I would like to ask you, who is more valuable: an International Ghostmaster who can solve supernatural events or a general manager who maintains the company's operations?" Yang Jian said.
"Of course, the International Ghostmaster is more important. If it meant resolving a supernatural event, I would not hesitate to kill an ordinary person because such a sacrifice would be worthwhile," Wang Xiaoming said earnestly.
Yang Jian said, "Good, if you personally kill Wu Yue, then I will not hesitate to join the International Ghostmasters to solve supernatural events for the country, and we can wipe the slate clean regarding the file issue because I believe you altered the files not for yourself but for the nation. If you cannot do it... your words are just empty platitudes, nothing more."
"As for that side, I definitely won't be going. I can't tolerate stabbing myself in the back while risking my life to solve supernatural events. What do you say, Captain Zhao?"
Zhao Jianguo's expression changed slightly, at a loss for words at this moment.
Yang Jian's reasoning was indeed solid.
If altering the files was just a special case, it could be tolerated since it was for the headquarters.
But if it wasn't a special case and was instead for someone's personal gain?