Chapter 1431 - 1398: The Dangerous Dock

Xiangjiang.

Cao Yang, Lin Bei, and Li Leping arrived here carrying the head of the Manor Lord. Their mission tonight wasn’t easy; they had to trade with people from the King Organization to exchange this head for their captain Zhang Jun’s corpse.

However, during the previous captain’s meeting, Yang Jian had said that even if the trade failed and they had to abandon Zhang Jun’s corpse, the Manor Lord’s head absolutely must not fall into the hands of the King Organization.

In other words, the three of them weren’t here to complete the trade but to snatch back Zhang Jun’s corpse.

“Here we are, this is the trading place.”

A chilling cold wind blew, and the three of them arrived at a dock.

The dock was empty, not even a single boat moored.

Because orders had been received before their arrival, sealing off the entire dock and evacuating everyone from the area to avoid affecting the upcoming operation.

“It seems like the Xiangjiang person in charge isn’t here, is he afraid to come over, or did he meet an unfortunate fate on our way here?” Cao Yang glanced around and spoke.

Lin Bei patted his bald head: “Being in charge of Xiangjiang is tough. I’ve seen the files; the area frequently experiences haunted events, making the position very dangerous. Almost every three months, someone is replaced until headquarters decisively transferred Su Fan, who was eligible to be nominated as a captain, over here. Only then did the situation improve slightly. I saw him at the last captain meeting, but we didn’t interact much.”

“That’s right.”

Cao Yang nodded: “Su Fan is the last person transferred to Xiangjiang. All previous leaders died, and only he has survived until now. Originally, headquarters considered transferring Feng Quan here, but dismissed the idea considering Yang Jian’s side.”

“It’s fine if Su Fan doesn’t come; perhaps he sensed the danger and hid early. I heard his supernatural power lets him anticipate death, so he always survives haunted events well. This ability is somewhat like that Spirit Child who predicts the future.” Lin Bei smiled: “It seems our mission isn’t optimistic.”

“Five minutes until the trade begins, be prepared.” Li Leping, who had been silent for a while, spoke.

The two looked at him, slightly surprised, as if they just remembered he was there.

“Who are you? Could you be Li Leping?” Lin Bei asked.

Li Leping: “…”

Lin Bei laughed: “Sorry, sorry, I can’t remember your face. Every time I see you, it’s like seeing a stranger. Someone might even mistake you for a ghost wandering nearby, startling me. Although I know Yang Jian brought you to use that trait for something, sometimes it does cause inconveniences.”

“If an enemy claims to be Li Leping in front of us, we wouldn’t recognize them immediately, unsure whether to attack or pause. A moment of hesitation in combat can be fatal. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not targeting you, just stating the facts.”

Li Leping said expressionlessly: “If that situation arises, act immediately. If the enemy dies, it means they’re fake.”

“Confident indeed, as expected of an experienced captain.” Lin Bei gave a thumbs up.

Cao Yang said: “Alright, now isn’t the time for chatting. The time is almost up. The others should be arriving.”

Lin Bei and Li Leping knew the importance of the trade, so they stopped talking and became cautious.

The trade time quickly arrived.

At that moment, a light suddenly shone on the dark sea surface not far from the dock, and a small fishing boat wobbled its way over.

As soon as the small boat appeared, the three of them focused their gaze on it.

Quickly.

The small boat docked, and a forty-five-year-old man emerged from the cabin. This man wasn’t a ghost handler, but an ordinary person.

“You all, stop standing around like idiots and come help!” the middle-aged captain shouted loudly.

Cao Yang’s face instantly darkened, not because the captain called him an idiot, but because this boat only had an ordinary person, none from the King Organization, and they might have been duped.

“Let’s go have a look.” Lin Bei patted his bald head, feeling helpless.

The three walked over and had to lend a hand in stabilizing the boat.

“A foreigner gave me a piece of cargo to bring here and trade with you. The goods are on the boat, very heavy; I can’t move it alone. The foreigner said you’d help unload it.” the captain said.

“I’ll go.” Lin Bei jumped onto the boat and went to the cabin, and indeed saw a large box.

The box was heavy, made of gold, impossible for an average person to move.

But for Lin Bei, it wasn’t an issue. He lifted the heavy box with one hand and jumped onto the dock.

“To move such a large box, what strength!” The captain marveled, thinking Lin Bei was a martial artist monk, observing him thoroughly.

Lin Bei ignored the captain’s words, instead staring at the box: “Will Zhang Jun’s corpse be inside? If it truly is, then the King Organization is oddly honest, voluntarily returning the body.”

“Let’s open it and find out.” Li Leping walked over and directly opened the heavy box.

Immediately.

A stench of decay assaulted them, making them nearly gag.

The box indeed contained a corpse, but it was severely decomposed, shriveled, and the internal organs, bones seemed to be hollowed out, leaving only a tattered human skin. Yet from some remaining features, it could still be identified as Zhang Jun.

“Damn.” Cao Yang couldn’t help but curse.

The King Organization had evidently stripped Zhang Jun’s body of all supernatural parts, leaving only irrelevant remnants.

“Take it back, cremate it, and find a place to bury it. Regardless, Zhang Jun was a headquarters captain, returning his remains is at least somewhat good news.” Lin Bei said.

Cao Yang nodded.

The captain then said: “Hey, you’ve checked the goods, where’s yours? I still need to take it back. The other party is waiting for it.”

“Where is the party waiting for the goods?” Cao Yang directly asked.

The captain didn’t hide it, pointing towards the sea: “There’s a cargo ship over there, and the foreigner is on board waiting for me to return with the goods.”

“Should we follow?”

Lin Bei smiled: “It could be a trap; leaving the dock means entering their territory, and we’ll be passive, just like the other party avoided coming here to trade, worried we might ambush them. I advise you to dismiss this idea.”

“What’s the point of this trade then? Simply returning Zhang Jun’s corpse, they know we wouldn’t easily send back the Manor Lord’s head,” Cao Yang said.

“Maybe it’s just to deceive us, making us expend a lot of energy to deal with this transaction. The previous analysis by Lu Zhiwen and Yang Jian was correct, which is why only the three of us came instead of all the captains. I guess something must have happened over in Dadong City at this moment,” Lin Bei said.

Cao Yang nodded, feeling that this must be the case. It seemed like the Manor Lord had been abandoned by the other party.

“Looks like we came for nothing,” Li Leping said.

Cao Yang stopped speaking, simply tossing the prepared box onto the boat and then said, “This is the item for the transaction. Take it back to that person.”

The boatman didn’t care what was in the box and immediately set sail, leaving the dock.

“What’s inside?” Lin Bei, not knowing what was inside, asked curiously.

“It certainly can’t be the Manor Lord’s head,” Cao Yang didn’t reveal the specific contents.

Seeing this, Lin Bei did not ask further.

“Let’s head back; we can’t waste more time here,” Li Leping said.

Cao Yang and Lin Bei agreed; they didn’t linger long and immediately turned to leave the dock.

Having been deceived, there was nothing more they could do; after all, this trip could not be avoided.

However, just as they turned to leave, suddenly, Cao Yang’s phone rang.

A text message had been received.

“Be careful, you’re in danger.” The sender’s name was Su Fan, currently the person in charge in Xiangjiang.

“Hmm?”

Cao Yang frowned. Su Fan’s warning of danger seemed a little untimely. This transaction was clearly a scam; there wasn’t a person in sight at the dock, and the other party had no intention of showing up. The three of them had just made a fruitless trip.

“Su Fan warned us of danger and told us to be careful. It’s very strange.” He put down his phone but still shared the content of the message.

Lin Bei pondered, “It is indeed strange. We haven’t detected any danger; everything seems normal here. But since someone warned us, there must be a reason. It’s never wrong to listen. After all, Su Fan wouldn’t harm us.”

“You’re right. Let’s go now.”

Cao Yang hesitated no longer, using the Ghost Domain to immediately lead the two back to Dadong City.

The cold wind blew, and the three of them disappeared at once.

Yet soon, they reappeared at the dock once more.

“Something’s wrong; it seems we’re trapped. A supernatural power is affecting the area; we can’t leave,” Cao Yang’s expression changed drastically, realizing now what he hadn’t noticed before.

“Indeed, there’s an issue. The position of the distant lights hasn’t changed much, and the clouds in the sky remain unmoved. Besides the boatman, there’s not a single living soul in sight here,” Lin Bei also sensed something off.

“Moreover, I’m certain it wasn’t like this at the start. This change must have happened just now and without us noticing. It seems like the other party has the supernatural power to alter reality, transferring us to a paranormal place from the real world in an instant. This is very similar to my Mirror World,” he continued solemnly.

“No need to panic. If they can replace us here, I can replace us back. I’ll take you to the Mirror World, then back to reality through it. But I need some time,” Cao Yang reassured.

“It seems they won’t give us that time,” Li Leping said calmly.

At this moment.

On the stacks of containers around the dock, cold figures began suddenly to appear. They were like intruders from another world, without any warning signs.

“Indeed, caught three big fish, worth my personal intervention. If I can eliminate you here, you’ll have no power to resist,” a low voice echoed.

In the middle of the dock, another figure emerged, holding an old book, dressed like a preacher. His voice was eerie, giving off an extremely dangerous vibe.

Cao Yang’s gaze sharpened. Although he didn’t recognize the person, it was undoubted that this was a very powerful adversary, surely a King from the King Organization.

However, with the way the adversary hides, it’s impossible they’d only send one person.

Lin Bei suddenly noticed something and turned around quickly.

Behind the three of them, darkness had unknowingly spread. At the end of that darkness stood a terrifying old woman in a western dress, and as time passed, she was quickly closing in.

Just a glance at that horrifying old woman induced a suffocating feeling in their hearts.

Clearly, she was also a formidable ghost controller, likely another King.

“If they’re going to act, it wouldn’t stop at only two people,” Cao Yang tensed up all over, looking again towards one of the dock’s containers.

As if confirming his suspicions, a light appeared from an unknown source, shining onto the container to reveal a blurry image, like an old black-and-white film being shown.

Yet in that black-and-white film image, a figure gradually emerged and became clearer.

“The person projected out is probably also a King,” Cao Yang thought, even though he only glanced, his mind already forming a guess.

The preacher spoke again, “Originally, we didn’t plan to act on this deal. Unfortunately, your captains appeared elsewhere. I doubt they’ll come to support. For us, this transaction presents an opportunity. Although your sudden counterattack tonight cost us some important members, eliminating the three captains like you is worth it.”

“I see, two-pronged plan,” Cao Yang quickly understood the opponent’s strategy.

These people are definitely executing another plan. If the other plan goes smoothly, it indicates that headquarters highly values this transaction, sending most of the captains over. Thus, the opponent wouldn’t show up during the deal to avoid conflicts, seeking gains elsewhere.

But it seems the King Organization’s plan elsewhere was obstructed, redirected by other captains, causing significant losses, hence their need to achieve victory in this transaction.

If they kill Cao Yang, Lin Bei, and Li Leping, other losses elsewhere wouldn’t matter much, still yielding a profit.

“Quite cunning, hedging your bets with gains either way. But if you dare to split actions like this, it means the number of Kings among your ghost controllers this time can’t exceed seven. Can this number handle three of us captains?” Lin Bei said, rubbing his bald head.

“Every plan has risks. I’ve assessed your strengths; it should be fine. Meanwhile, I’ve instructed them to retreat from over there. As long as they don’t get tied down by your captains, it’s fine,” the preacher seriously replied. His Chinese was impeccable, indistinguishable from a native speaker.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by novlove.com

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