Mysterious Awakening

Chapter 320: Communication with the Ghost Cabinet

The clues left by the previous owner of the Ghost Cabinet provided Yang Jian with some reminders. Although these reminders were insignificant, they enabled him to break the deadlock and begin to understand the Ghost Cabinet.

Ghost~!

On the paper, a black, scrawled character revealed an ominous aura, and it was unclear what it was written with.

It was hard to imagine that something inside the Ghost Cabinet actually responded to Yang Jian.

"Can this thing really communicate?" Yang Jian picked up the paper from the ground, looked it over again, and didn't find anything special.

But his expression was unusually solemn.

Even if it was human skin paper, he couldn't guarantee it had the ability to communicate. Human skin paper was more like guidance for the holder, and whether it could communicate remained a question. But the thing before him had completely broken through some kind of boundary, actively responding.

He stared inside the pitch-black cabinet doors.

An inexplicable curiosity made him feel the urge to open the cabinet doors and take a look.

But his observation from last time, the pair of eyes within the cabinet doors, made Yang Jian wary.

There was no doubt a ghost inside this cabinet.

He wasn't sure if opening the cabinet doors would let the ghost out.

"Just because of my curiosity to open the cabinet doors and disrupt some kind of balance is not sensible. Since this thing has been placed here and preserved intact for over a hundred years, let's just leave it as it is. However, since the thing has responded, it means I can continue some kind of communication."

Yang Jian pondered for a moment, then wrote another sentence on a different piece of paper: Can you communicate with me?

"This question is a bit silly." He thought for a moment, tore up the paper, crumpled it into a ball, and tossed it aside. Then he thought again and wrote down a new question: Can you help me find Zhao Lei?

He didn't ask too many irrelevant questions, but directly stated his purpose.

If this was really a ghost, it would be a good way to conduct a direct experiment.

After writing the question, Yang Jian stuffed the paper back into the cabinet doors.

Just like before, as soon as the paper was halfway in, a force from inside snatched it up, and it disappeared immediately.

Less than ten seconds later, the paper fell from the crack in the lower part of the cabinet.

Yang Jian picked it up and his expression became even more solemn. Beneath his question, scrawled in black ink, was a sentence: Give me eyes, I give you Zhao Lei.

What it meant by 'eyes' was definitely not his own. It was referring to the 'Ghost Eyes.'

The Ghost Cabinet meant it wanted to trade his 'Ghost Eyes' for Zhao Lei.

"This ghostly thing, as expected, is not easy to deal with. The first requirement is for my Ghost Eyes; it's practically demanding my life. How did the original owner ever think to leave this behind? Such a weird and terrifying thing should be buried ten thousand meters underground, never to resurface," Yang Jian cursed inwardly.

But then, as he looked at the sentence in his hand, he noticed some nuances.

The message said, Give me eyes, I give you Zhao Lei.

It didn't say it would tell you where Zhao Lei was, but that it would give you Zhao Lei, whose memories might have been altered by a ghost or who might even be possessed by one.

If such a trade were to be successful, how would Zhao Lei be given?

This was a question worth pondering.

And, if Zhao Lei was now a ghost, how could the Ghost Cabinet deliver a ghost roaming outside directly to him?

That was the second question.

Because in Yang Jian's view, the Ghost Cabinet lacked any factors necessary to fulfill the condition.

"Unless... I attempt a trade," Yang Jian reflected calmly and came up with an answer.

Of course, this attempt wouldn't involve trading his own Ghost Eyes. Instead, he would change the question to see if the content of the trade would change accordingly. If it did, he needed to determine whether the new conditions fell within his tolerance.

As long as it was within his tolerance, Yang Jian could then begin an exchange with the Ghost Cabinet.

After some thought...

Yang Jian wrote down a very simple request: "I need a bowl of fried rice, can you help me?"

"Give me a bowl of blood, I give you fried rice."

After stuffing the paper in, it took less than ten seconds to get a reply. A line of twisted black letters appeared beneath his question.

A bowl of blood?

"Indeed, the condition changed, and the request changed too. I proposed the simplest request, and the thing still responded... but should I do what it says?" Yang Jian pondered again.

If he wanted to understand the mysteries of the Ghost Cabinet, he would have to complete such a trade, unless he chose to give up exploring this peculiar phenomenon.

But giving up was not something he was willing to do.

Because Yang Jian had a hunch that this thing must contain an astonishing value, even more significant than that of the Ghost Mirror.

"I should give it a try, walking the path of a ghost tamer is a one-way journey, with no turning back. Either continue braving it or die halfway, I must grasp as many secrets as possible, and anything that could help me should be explored and understood, just like the human skin paper," Yang Jian murmured.

Without the human skin paper, Yang Jian would have already died in the school, not to mention the Huanggang Village incident.

"However, there's a huge trap in the terms of this trade—it just asks for a bowl of blood, not specifying it has to be my blood, or even human blood," he pointed out.

Yang Jian narrowed his eyes, pondering the answer repeatedly, and discovered some so-called consumer traps.

If an ordinary person saw this answer, they would probably grimace and slash their wrists to bleed. If they did, they might fall right into the trap.

"Get a bowl of pig's blood or chicken blood to try; that should be safe," Yang Jian thought and immediately left the second secret room to carry out this bold experiment.

He believed that even Wang Xiaoming would do the same.

Use the most conservative means to obtain the greatest amount of intelligence, thereby devising the perfect plan for any future event.

"Let's head to the market, by the way, where is the nearest market?" Yang Jian wondered aloud as he walked along the neighborhood road, preparing to drive to purchase a bowl of blood.

"Woof woof!"

Just as he passed a junction in the neighborhood, a large dog burst out from the nearby greenery, barking at him incessantly.

"Whose dog is this, don't they know large breeds are banned in the neighborhood? I don't care if it bites me, but what if it bites a child?" Yang Jian shouted, but no one responded.

It must be an irresponsible owner who chose to let their dog roam free, seeing the lack of management in the neighborhood.

Experience more content on empire

"Woof woof!"

The large wolfhound became even more aggressive, as if ready to charge at Yang Jian any moment.

Yang Jian, deep in thought, suddenly stopped in his tracks as if he had realized something.

A bowl of blood... dog?

Yeah, why bother going to the market?

Yang Jian turned sharply, his eyes shining as he stared at the dog.

The wolfhound, previously baring its teeth and looking ferocious, seemed to sense danger at that moment, whimpered twice, and turned to run.

Shortly after, Yang Jian walked into the second secret room smiling, holding a bowl of dog blood.

He had just entered when the Ghost Cabinet began to make a noise.

The cabinet doors on the Ghost Cabinet started to open on their own, as if moved by an invisible force.

"Hm?" Yang Jian's eyelids twitched, and his expression turned concerned.

He had always thought that the Ghost Cabinet couldn't be opened, so he had never dared to tamper with it. Unexpectedly, it could open by itself.

"Is the Ghost Cabinet signaling me to place this bowl of blood inside?" he wondered, observing cautiously for a while. After noticing no sudden incidents or danger once the doors opened, he surmised the crux of the matter.

Just as he had done with the paper before, he carefully extended the bowl of dog blood toward the open cabinet door.

The other end of the bowl slowly disappeared into the cabinet's darkness. He proceeded slowly, ready to pull back at any moment.

Just as less than a third of the bowl had vanished into the darkness, Yang Jian distinctly felt something grasp the other end of the bowl.

His face changed slightly, and he immediately withdrew his hand.

Most of the bowl floated midair before the cabinet door, then slowly got pulled into the cabinet, vanishing from sight within moments.

"Creak~!"

The sound of the old cabinet doors echo through the room.

The doors on top of the Ghost Cabinet closed.

Simultaneously, the lower doors of the Ghost Cabinet opened.

Yang Jian noticed the lower part appeared quite normal; it was just an ordinary cabinet section with wooden sides, painted sparsely, without any darkness or eerie presence inside, creating a stark contrast to the upper section.

But what made him uneasy was,

Inside the lower half, there was a bowl of egg fried rice, which was still steaming and emitting a savory aroma.

"How did this bowl of egg fried rice get here?" Yang Jian fell into deep thought.

A hundred-year-old wooden cupboard had exchanged a bowl of blood for a bowl of egg fried rice, and it was still hot.

It was utterly inconceivable.

Yang Jian took out the bowl of egg fried rice, intending to verify the authenticity of the item, but then he found a piece of paper underneath the plate holding the fried rice.

Scribbled on the paper was a line of words: Help me move the cupboard outside.