Mysterious Revival

At the entrance of Ping'an Hotel.

A red sports car was parked conspicuously and boldly by the roadside, and a tall, beautiful woman wearing sunglasses sat on the hood, her gaze fixed in the direction of the hotel as if waiting for someone.

"You didn't keep me waiting too long, you're more punctual than I thought."

After a moment, Li Yao's mouth curved into a slight smile, and after she took off her sunglasses, her delicately made-up face was revealed, her dark eyes looking toward Yang Jian who had just walked out of the hotel entrance.

Yang Jian glanced around, "I thought you'd send someone else to deliver the item, but I didn't expect you to come in person. Isn't that asking for trouble having your identity exposed so quickly?"

As a pawn Yang Jian had placed within his circle of friends, Li Yao's value would be lost if she were discovered.

Nevertheless, Li Yao approached with a cheerful smile, her long, shapely legs carrying her over. She directly linked arms with Yang Jian, "What's the big deal if I'm discovered? Worst case, I'll go back to Dachang City with you. Don't you have a company? Do you need a beautiful secretary? I can work for free, just provide room and board."

"I already have a free secretary, and she's quite handy. I'm not planning on replacing her."

Yang Jian kept a calm expression, unmoved by Li Yao's flirtation.

"I didn't realize you were such a playboy."

Li Yao squinted her eyes playfully, "No matter, just add another one. I don't mind, after all, I have confidence in myself. In the end, you will surely choose me."

Yang Jian stopped in his tracks, looking at her seriously, "Do you think if your identity were really discovered, you would still be alive to go to Dachang City with me? For people like us, making someone disappear from this world is easier than stepping on an ant."

"I was just joking."

Li Yao dimmed her smile a bit, "I'm not that stupid. It's just that several department heads in the circle of friends are too busy with more important matters to care about the actions of an insignificant assistant like me. After all, however small an ant may be, if it hides well, it can also survive till the end, right?"

"Get in the car, it's rather cold outside."

It was now winter, and the temperature outside was not high; soon it would start to snow.

Having just gotten into the car,

the car heater quickly dispelled the chill from outside. Li Yao promptly gave the driver's seat to Yang Jian and took the passenger seat. Then she removed her thick down jacket, revealing only a thin nightgown underneath.

"To handle the matter you entrusted me with, I worked overtime all night yesterday. You'll have to compensate me well afterward," she said languidly, yawning and then winking at Yang Jian with a coquettish tone.

Yang Jian paid no mind to the woman.

He knew that everything Li Yao was doing was not of her own volition but the result of modified memories.

"You mentioned that the department heads in the circle of friends are all busy? What happened?"

Yang Jian scrutinized her, his eyes sharp as he took note of the information revealed in her previous statement, not distracted by Li Yao's seductive figure.

"Didn't you get the notice from the headquarters? With your current level, that Liu Xiaoyu of yours should have told you about last night's events. It's a rather important matter after all," said Li Yao, then glanced at the time, "Maybe it's not that early yet; after all, news travels faster through the circle of friends than from the headquarters."

"Last night?"

Yang Jian's expression changed slightly, "The business with the Ghost Painting?"

Li Yao turned to the back seat to grab a document bag, "Yes, last night, five ghosts emerged from the Ghost Painting. Three of them were led away by the Ghost Candle as planned, but there was a bit of an incident, and two ghosts went missing. They still haven't been found up to now. Headquarters is already conducting a search, but there are no results yet."

"The last person to handle the case was Jang Shangbai, so the circle of friends has to put in the effort now. If the incident with the Ghost Painting blows up, at least half of the responsibility would fall on our circle of friends, especially since the ghosts slipped from their hands. This is all the member information I could gather to date; take a look."

After saying that, she handed the document bag to Yang Jian.

Yang Jian took it, "A latent S-level paranormal threat is enough to keep the circle of friends busy, especially now, when it's crucial to determine the team leader."

As he said that, he opened the document bag.

Inside were various personal files.

"This many?"

Casually flipping through, there were dozens of files, which made Yang Jian furrow his brows.

There were more ghost controllers who had joined the circle of friends than he had expected.

Li Yao spoke somewhat helplessly, "This is only part of it. That's why I suggest you not be so quick to take action. Once you start targeting these members on the list, you're likely to invoke the rage of the others. You won't be able to handle their retaliation, and headquarters won't be able to protect you either."

Yang Jian looked at the list before him and fell into deep thought.

Indeed, as Li Yao had said, there were more people in the friend circle than he had imagined, and it was simply unrealistic to take them out one by one, not to mention that there might be other entities lurking behind each ghost master.

"Forget it, let's think of another approach. We can't rush this; we need to take it slowly. It would be best to secure the captain's position first."

"If I don't make a move, the people in the friend circle will come after me. They have already made their plans. Am I supposed to wait for them to act?"

Yang Jian put down the documents in his hand and said with a stern expression, "So, I still need to make the first move."

"That will be quite dangerous."

Li Yao was full of worry and had little confidence in her heart.

Yang Jian pointed to the list and said, "How many people do you think on this list are willingly serving the friend circle? Most are just in name only; I understand the nature of ghost masters better than you do."

"What do you want to do?" Li Yao looked at him, voicing her doubt.

"Every power has its core members, right? There can't be too many core members. Take them out, and the friend circle is finished."

Yang Jian handed the list to Li Yao, "You know best. Help me filter them out."

"Disintegrating the core members? That is indeed a method, but is it really effective just like that? Won't others stand up?"

Li Yao took over the materials and said.

"They won't stand up. I'll quickly spread the word, telling people in the ghost master circle that I, 'Ghost Eye' Yang Jian, am going to fight with the people from the friend circle. Those who don't want to die had better stay away," Yang Jian said.

Li Yao immediately understood Yang Jian's plan.

He wanted to use his reputation to deter others and prevent them from acting rashly.

But could he really deter them?

Ghost masters were a bunch of lunatics; their behaviors could not be presumed using normal human logic.

"We can only try this."

Li Yao thought to herself, unable to predict the outcome and unable to persuade Yang Jian to abandon the plan. Therefore, she could only support Yang Jian's strategy.

Soon, she extracted a list from the materials in her hands, "Here, the friend circle's core members are indeed few. If you are going to make a move, I suggest starting with this person. He is the president of Ping'an Tower. If the people from the friend circle plan against you, he will definitely be the one making the plans."

Yang Jian took the list and furrowed his brows immediately, "A regular person?"

"Yes, although President Fei is a regular person, he is involved in many things, and he does the work. After all, the minds of most ghost masters are not normal, and it's not possible to leave such a large company in the hands of such people. Of course, President Fei isn't hard to deal with, but he has bodyguards."

Li Yao finished speaking and handed over another document, "This is the one, Zhang Jian."

"Where are they now?" Yang Jian asked.

"President Fei is definitely in the office now. You can't make a move in Ping'an Tower, so you'll have to find Zhang Jian first. At this time, he should be at a bar, on the street opposite Ping'an Tower."

"Give me directions."

Yang Jian looked seriously at Zhang Jian's information and then started the car.

"Zhang Jian doesn't show up at the office during regular hours. Only after President Fei leaves work to go home does Zhang Jian start driving to follow him, secretly protecting him along the way. By taking out Zhang Jian first, later on, we can drive Zhang Jian's car, pretending he's still alive, and follow President Fei home..."

On the road, Li Yao had already thought through a series of actions.

"With our efficiency, as long as the action goes smoothly, the people from the friend circle won't be able to react in time. By the time they notice something is wrong, we should have almost finished the job."

"We've arrived."

After a while, Yang Jian pulled up in front of a bar's entrance.

The bar's door was tightly closed with a sign hanging that read 'Closed for Business.'

"He's not here?" Yang Jian asked.

"The bar is Zhang Jian's private property; he doesn't open it to the public. You'll have to go in through the back door. I can't show my face now; I can't go with you but can only wait for you outside," Li Yao said.

"Okay."

Yang Jian got out of the car and headed straight for the shuttered doors.