Mysterious Awakening

"Something's off."

Yang Jian drove on the road, continuously pondering the conversation he had with Zhao Lei.

Although on the surface, it appeared to be a complete falling out, with intentions of revenge, what was the reality?

Zhao Lei had just deliberately appeared before him, left a few words, and after making the first contact, he left without actual thoughts of dealing with him. Moreover, the last sentence he left behind, "We will meet again, now is not the time," posed some questions.

If Zhao Lei believed it was him who had caused the death of his entire family, and wanted to vent his resentment towards him, there was absolutely no need to confront him face to face.

Moreover, he couldn't be certain whether Zhao Lei was entirely controlled by the ghost after their encounter.

Or was it that Zhao Lei had also mastered some part of it, and that's why he had become the vessel for that ghost?

"The information mentioned a key place, which is where I used to live. Zhao Lei's incident happened there," Yang Jian thought to himself.

Then he contacted Liu Xiaoyu again: "Help me check on Zhao Lei's family's situation again. Are they missing, or did any survive? If they are missing, how many are missing? If any survived, who are they? I need precise information."

"Okay, but right now Dachang City is executing a rescue operation, and many departments are temporarily unable to function, so this might take some time," Liu Xiaoyu said.

Yang Jian said, "Just make sure to get the results, and try to confirm it as fast as possible."

"Don't worry, I will handle it for you," Liu Xiaoyu spoke very seriously.

After the Dachang City incident ended, the attitude of this operator had greatly changed, appearing particularly friendly, completely devoid of the previously somewhat annoying tone.

This made Yang Jian couldn't help but sigh at how good it is to have status and power.

With the purpose of seeking the truth, he once again came to the old residential complex where he used to live.

A few months ago, when he was still studying at No. 7 Middle School, he rented a place here on his own, while his mother had always been working out of town.

Because of the supernatural events that began, the headquarters of the ghost controllers seemed to have specially arranged for his mother to work at a well-known company in J City, using various methods to keep her there.

Though he hadn't contacted her for a while, no news was good news, which meant everything was alright, and Yang Jian didn't need to worry.

These invisible benefits, honestly, were quite useful at times.

After all, J City is now the safest place in the country, without compare.

"Here we are."

Yang Jian arrived at the entrance of the residential complex, his car's alarm beeping, signaling some issue.

No one to be seen.

A deathly silence.

The lighting in the dimly lit stairwells was missing, as if they had been abandoned for several years, and the elderly who used to play cards and dance in the square below were now nowhere to be seen.

Although this old residential complex appeared a bit abnormal, Yang Jian knew that it wasn't the complex that had problems, it was his own home.

With familiarity, he entered one of the residential buildings and went upstairs.

Arriving at the door of his former home, he found that the door was already open. If he wasn't mistaken, it should be because he had left in a hurry and didn't close the door, not that there had been a burglary.

Even if there had been burglars, anyone entering this haunted house would be unlucky.

Returning to the old place, Yang Jian felt both familiar and strange. In just a few months, he had nearly lost recognition of himself, with the changes happening too fast.

He walked in.

It was the familiar layout, only the room was now covered in a lot more dust, and nothing else had changed. Even the dining table next to him still had his unfinished instant noodles and sausages from when he was still in school.

He had left the haunted house in such a hurry that he didn't take anything with him, without a penny to his name, and in the end, he resorted to some disgraceful means to scrape together some money.

Thinking back now, those experiences were indeed quite interesting.

"What's this..."

Yang Jian used the light from his phone to illuminate the living room and discovered there was a pile of torn paper on the floor.

He was certain these weren't left behind after he had used them.

The papers were torn by someone but not severely. Randomly picking up a few pieces and piecing them together, he discovered they had words left by Zhao Lei.

"I'm having problems with my memory, and my situation is dire. I must write some things down with a pen..."

"Yang Jian was right, controlling a malevolent ghost is a nightmarish experience. I regret my previous curiosity. It's now in my mind, and I keep forgetting some very important memories, while some that don't belong to me are surfacing."

"It's gotten dark in Dachang City. I came here to seek help from Yang Jian, but I couldn't find him."

"There is a ghost in this house. When you read this note, run immediately. Leave this place."

"My name is Zhao Lei? Then who is Xu Fan? And who is Zhang Xia? Why do I have memories of several people?"

"Not all ghosts can be controlled. I feel that I can't control that thing. It's taking over me. I think I'm going crazy. Look at the notes, quickly. Remember, you must look at the notes."

"Don't believe what's written in the notes. A ghost made me leave them."

"..."

Yang Jian looked at the notes written by Zhao Lei, piecing together the shredded paper to construct an incomplete story.

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Zhao Lei came here alone seeking help, presumably because he saw that the door to his own house was open and entered out of curiosity.

Afterward, he was attacked by a malevolent ghost.

Then the memories in his mind became chaotic, but it seemed that Zhao Lei struggled at some point, as if fighting with the ghost.

But the end result was that Zhao Lei failed to control the ghost. He failed, his memory was completely rewritten, and several different people's memories appeared in his mind. Zhao Lei realized this and tried to remind himself by leaving notes, but another ghost left a message in the notes telling him not to believe these words.

The shattered paper on the ground, the broken pen, and the signs of struggle all indicated a very long and painful time for Zhao Lei.

Struggling to the end, Zhao Lei failed. He lost his own personality, and something else inherited his memory.

"I feel there is no hope left. I'm about to vanish. I don't know how much longer I can stay lucid. I wanted to contact someone named Yang Jian but now I can't even remember who he is. I just know he's important and can help me."

On a piece of paper, Zhao Lei left a message of despair.

Yang Jian fell silent looking at this.

Continuing to pick up scattered papers, he found a repetitive message under a pile of waste paper beneath the sofa.

"Yang Jian, when you read this, you must kill me. Don't think I'm Zhao Lei. I'm no longer myself. It's using my memory to look for you."

"Kill me, whoever it is must kill me. Don't let it succeed."

Many papers bore the plea to end Zhao Lei's life.

But in the deepest part of the pile, he found a special wad of paper that hadn't been torn, as if deliberately hidden there.

"I've discovered one of its abilities. It can alter memories, take them. So, in the last moments of lucidity, I can hypnotize myself and try to implant a false memory for that thing to absorb. I don't know if it will work, but this is my last chance. All I can do is this. Yang Jian, I'm sorry.

I'm too useless and have caused you trouble."

The last of the scattered papers on the floor, written in red ink: Find Yang Jian, take revenge, kill him. I want him to know what he did to me…

"Kill Yang Jian, kill Yang Jian..."

The repetition of these words was filled with animosity and viciousness.

Self-hypnosis seemed effective; the false memories were absorbed. After the disappearance of Zhao Lei's personality, only hatred for Yang Jian remained.

This hatred wasn't really about revenging Yang Jian but rather using this hatred to find him, hoping Yang Jian would solve it before the ghost's purpose was achieved.

It was a ploy of using the ghost's traits to kill indirectly.

Zhao Lei executed it brilliantly.

In a desperate situation, he thought of a way to break the deadlock.

However, Zhao Lei's plan was only partially successful. His self-hypnotic deception worked, but the ghost noticed it.

After all, the ghost had completely absorbed his memory, definitely insight into the plan as well.

That's why Zhao Lei, knowing Yang Jian was formidable, made only brief contact before leaving.

"Damn ghost."

Yang Jian abruptly stood up, an unexpected surge of anger welling up from within after a long silence.

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