National Guardian's Gone and We're Done

”Shady connections? What’s the use of shady connections?”

Huang Haibo’s expression was grim. ”They’re just a bunch of third-rate thugs, good-for-nothing freeloaders. They’re fine for harassing people and causing a scene, but when it comes to a real problem like this, they’re completely useless.”

”Could someone be pulling the strings from behind the scenes, specifically to target our family?” his daughter, Huang Qiucheng, asked.

”From the look of things, that’s unlikely.

The perpetrator is just some idiot who’s seen too many movies and thinks he’s a real Knight.

But the guy is pretty strong. Among those he turned into Papermen, many were Martial Artists, and even some people who have dealings with Evil Spirits were no match for him.”

As he said this, Huang Haibo’s gaze fell on Zhang Jiancheng.

The family was completely unaware that three figures had stealthily approached the villa from outside,

standing in the shadow of a large tree, unnoticed by anyone.

”Is... isn’t that Zhang Jiancheng?”

Qi Chaoyu rubbed his eyes. He thought he was hallucinating,

or that it was just a man who looked remarkably like Zhang Jiancheng.

Inside the brightly lit villa ahead, a middle-aged man was sitting on the sofa.

The middle-aged man’s face was identical to that of the Paperman named Zhang Jiancheng,

and Qi Chaoyu recognized him at a glance. This completely baffled him.

”It’s Zhang Jiancheng, but it’s also not Zhang Jiancheng,” Yumizakura said, blinking.

”’It’s Zhang Jiancheng, but it’s also not Zhang Jiancheng.’ What does that mean?”

Qi Chaoyu couldn’t understand.

”Take a closer look at Zhang Jiancheng’s neck,” Yumizakura prompted.

Qi Chaoyu quickly followed Yumizakura’s advice and looked. Sure enough, he saw many corpse spots on Zhang Jiancheng’s neck.

This was impossible. Only the dead develop corpse spots,

yet Zhang Jiancheng was clearly sitting there, looking like a living, breathing person.

How could a living person have such spots?

After this discovery, Qi Chaoyu began to notice more strange things.

Whenever Zhang Jiancheng spoke, his eyes would occasionally lose focus before slowly sharpening again, as if his brain could crash at any moment.

”It must be that when Zhang Jiancheng was attacked by the mastermind behind the Paperman incident,”

”he used some bizarre method to escape death, but it came at a price.”

”Regardless, he managed to save half his life, while the other half is tied up in that Paperman.”

Chu He speculated.

He didn’t know the exact details, though.

The Huang family’s entanglement with Evil Spirits was far deeper than what was recorded in that document.

Just as Qi Chaoyu was about to ask why, he followed Chu He’s gaze and saw a horrifying sight.

In front of the villa, tightly embraced by the night,

a small figure hung upside down from the cold stone wall beneath the eaves in a completely unnatural manner.

It was an infant, tiny in stature, yet it radiated an aura of endless terror and strangeness.

Its skin was covered in a deathly, cyanotic hue—a color that bespoke death itself.

The eyes are the windows to the soul,

but this infant’s eyes were a profound, pitch-black, like a bottomless abyss swallowing all surrounding light and hope.

Around its eye sockets, blood surged forth like a contained river—not the fine red threads of bloodshot eyes,

but a viscous fluid that seemed to well up from within its body, slowly trickling along the contours of its sockets until it met the corners of its eyes,

forming shocking streaks of blood that were impossible to look at directly.

The infant’s body clung to the wall, moving slowly in an unbelievable way.

It wasn’t crawling or sliding, but rather seemed to be propelled by some supernatural force, leaving ghastly marks on the wall.

Whenever it moved, its tiny palms would leave purple-blue Hand Seals where they touched the stone wall.

The Hand Seals were clearly discernible, yet they exuded a chill that was not of this world—a physical manifestation of the infant’s baleful aura.

An indescribable sense of oppression permeated the air,

a baleful aura emanating from the Ghost Infant. It silently seeped into every corner, making everything in the vicinity feel unnaturally heavy and unsettling.

Even the night wind seemed to sense this power, growing more bone-chillingly cold and carrying an ominous premonition as it lingered around the villa.

This Ghost Infant was likely a defensive measure employed by Huang Haibo to guard against attacks from the mastermind behind the Paperman incidents.

”What is that?” Qi Chaoyu gasped.

”It’s an Evil Spirit.”

Chu He replied, ”I noticed it as soon as we entered the vicinity of the villa. And it’s not the only Evil Spirit here.”

To avoid being detected by the Evil Spirits, before they had even stepped within the villa’s perimeter,

he had used his Primordial Spirit Power to conceal Qi Chaoyu and Yumizakura.

That was why the Ghost Infant, moving upside down along the eaves, still hadn’t noticed the three strangers standing under the large tree just a few dozen meters away.

Inside the villa, the conversation continued.

”Father, does Jiancheng have to stay like this?”

Huang Qiucheng glanced at her husband.

Zhang Jiancheng, meanwhile, tugged unnaturally at his collar,

trying to hide the corpse spots on his neck, which were slowly spreading and multiplying by the day.

Beneath his clothes, his back and stomach were already almost completely covered,

and even beneath the almost pungent scent of the copious amount of perfume he had sprayed on his clothes,

one could still detect the increasingly inescapable stench of decay.

Spraying so much perfume was a deliberate act on Zhang Jiancheng’s part.

He could smell the stench of decay on his own body, so he knew others could too.

”First, we deal with the mastermind behind this Paperman affair. We’ll talk about other things after that.

If we can successfully take care of this troublesome person,

I’ll use my connections to retrieve Jiancheng’s Paperman from the Huamen Defense Team.

We’ll see if there’s a way to return a part of that Paperman to his body.

If we can, he should be able to return to normal.”

Huang Haibo said nonchalantly.

In truth, he couldn’t care less whether Zhang Jiancheng lived or died.

’If Zhang Jiancheng dies, he dies. At worst, I’ll just have my daughter find a new husband.’

The real headache for Huang Haibo right now was the mastermind behind the Paperman affair, who remained hidden in the shadows and had yet to reveal himself.

There was also Chu He, and whether or not he had taken notice of their family.

”Okay.”

Huang Qiucheng was still very fond of Zhang Jiancheng. Even though he had married into her family,

the two of them had been a loving and affectionate couple ever since he moved in.

Whatever Zhang Jiancheng’s original motives might have been, Huang Qiucheng quite enjoyed the feeling of being doted on.

Seeing her husband in this state, neither human nor ghost, she felt both scared and worried.

”Haibo, oh my god, we’re finished! Look at the local forum! Which bastard posted this?”

Just then, the middle-aged woman beside him let out a shriek.