The person who sat up from the coffin in front of me was not a ghost, but the first criminal investigator of Dachang City, Feng Quan. He had disappeared for three months due to the mysterious events in Huanggang Village. It was incredible that Feng Quan was still alive after being alone in this terrifying ghost village for so long. Although I didn’t know how Feng Quan managed to survive, I didn’t have the time to worry about that at the moment. In response to my questioning, Feng Quan calmly said, “I have already reported the situation here to headquarters. If you take action, you should be able to obtain the file. Anyone who has seen the file should know my situation… To be honest, in my current state, I am unable to personally explain the situation to you. I can only control the villagers and give you some hints, but this control is fragile. After all, my situation is very bad.”

“And at first, I couldn’t be sure of the true purpose of you and the other ghost tamers coming here.”

“As for the old lady, I did lead her there. The coughing sound was not meant to mislead you, but to remind you that someone is helping you, not your enemy. It was meant to divert your attention to the ghost, not me.”

“Unfortunately, you misunderstood my intentions.”

I was angry and said, “Don’t just push everything aside. In fact, without your reminder, I would have had no idea that there was another person here. I saw the file, but it was edited and the crucial information was erased.”

“You seemed to be helping me, but you actually misled my thinking. Originally, I only needed to deal with one ghost, but your presence made this supernatural event much more complicated.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t expect this.”

Feng Quan apologized, but his face remained cold and showed no remorse.

I continued, “You didn’t expect it? Did you really not expect it, or did you intentionally want to kill all of us? I came to the funeral home once before and tried to open the coffin, but you stopped me.”

“You didn’t want me to open the coffin, what were you afraid of? Afraid of being killed by a fierce ghost?”

“The only safe place in this village should be inside this coffin.”

Feng Quan looked at me numbly and didn’t offer any explanation. He simply said, “The reason I can’t leave the coffin is not because I’m afraid of death, but because I can’t allow the ghost outside to return to the coffin.”

“Once it enters the coffin, its level of terror will reach unimaginable heights.”

“Not to mention a village, even a city would fall. If your presence would cause trouble, maybe dying here would be a good choice. When you were opening the coffin, the ghost was right beside you. I couldn’t take that risk.”

I felt anger mixed with a chill in my heart.

The fierce ghost was right beside me when I opened the coffin?

“That’s impossible. There was no ghost in the funeral home when I opened the coffin. I checked.”

“Are you sure you really checked?” Feng Quan asked in return.

I suddenly realized something and looked at the photo frame on the altar.

At this moment, the photo in the frame was gone… It was completely blank. The photo inside the frame was intact when I entered the village.

It was a handsome young man.

“That photo?”

I suddenly realized this and stared at the empty frame.

“The man in that photo… is the ghost?”

Feng Quan said, “Yes, it is the ghost. It has been guarding the coffin all this time. Wherever the coffin is placed, the photo is placed. I can’t get rid of it… So when you were opening the coffin, the ghost was watching you.”

“It was waiting for an opportunity, an opportunity for the coffin to be opened. Once it enters the coffin, not only will I die, but you will die too. Everyone here will die. In that situation, if it were you, would you allow the coffin to be opened?”

“And when you sat in the funeral home all night without being killed, it wasn’t because the funeral home was safe, but because I was in the coffin… So you weren’t alone at that time, and the ghost didn’t find an opportunity to attack you.”

“I have said everything I need to say. Do you have any more questions? If not, I think we can work together to imprison that ghost and completely resolve the supernatural events in Huanggang Village.”

After listening to Feng Quan, I felt complicated.He didn’t know whether to be angry at this Feng Quan or to blame his own fate.

He had no right to blame Feng Quan.

After all, he had indeed reminded them to stick together to avoid being singled out and killed.

And it did work.

However, some of his subsequent hints and suggestions led Yang Jian and the others to misunderstand, thinking that the old woman was the ghost.

In fact, Feng Quan was reminding them through the existence of the old woman that he was on their side.

“I have a few questions. Were those villagers human or ghosts?” Suddenly, Zhang Han, who had been silently listening, asked.

He had confirmed that the body made from the coffin in front of him was human.

But he still had doubts.

“They are non-existent humans.”

Feng Quan said, “I don’t know how to confirm their existence. I only know that these villagers only exist in this village. They are similar to ghost slaves, but not the same. Ghost slaves exist because of fierce ghosts, but they exist because of the ghost coffin. And the one lying in the ghost coffin is not a ghost, but me. Perhaps because of this, they are more like humans.”

“Also, because I have been lying in the ghost coffin, I can influence some of their thoughts and use them to try to communicate and pass on information to you.”

“What’s the use of this coffin you call a ghost coffin?” Yang Jian asked.

“I reported on the information about the ghost coffin last time. If you didn’t see it in the files, it means your level is not high enough, or perhaps… you are not an Interpol yet. I can’t tell you about this, it’s leaking state secrets.” Feng Quan said.

Yang Jian’s face darkened.

Feng Quan said, “Don’t be angry, you will know when you should. In short, the three of us absolutely cannot let this coffin fall into the hands of that fierce ghost.”

“I came out this time because the balance here has been broken. Its terror level will increase according to the number of ghosts in this village. It was because too many of you died before that this village was completely taken over by this ghost. But your move before was very powerful. In a desperate situation, you actually thought of releasing other ghosts to take away the ghosts in the village and weaken its power.”

“Weren’t you planning to release my ghost too?” Yang Jian said.

Feng Quan said, “No, the person coughing outside the door that night was a villager named Liu Genrong, who was under my control. I just wanted to scare you and make you stick together, not to be alone. But then I lost control, and Liu Genrong was controlled by the ghost here, and then he entered your room.”

“So the one who wanted to take the ghost in your box at that time was not me, but it… I just don’t know why, it finally gave up.”

Saying this, he glanced at the portrait on the altar.

“I told you, the situation here is special. The people you see, sometimes they are humans, sometimes they are me, sometimes they are ghosts… But I can tell you, there are no living people in this village anymore. Except for the three of us, everything here exists because of this ghost coffin.”

“So that’s how it is… So our mission this time is ostensibly to solve the supernatural event, but in reality, it’s to save you.” Yang Jian said.

“You could say that, but the risk after failure is great. There’s the risk of breaking the balance and letting the ghosts here go out of control. I don’t think you should come to save me. But if the higher-ups insist on doing so, I don’t think it’s for my safety, but for this thing.”

Feng Quan pointed at the red lacquered coffin.

For the ghost coffin?

Yang Jian stared at the coffin for a few moments.

A very ordinary coffin.

But even ghosts wanted to fight for this coffin.

It must be quite special.

But only Feng Quan knew about this specialness, and he didn’t intend to say it.

“Have you finished talking now? I feel like something’s wrong outside.” Suddenly, Zhang Han said nervously at this moment.

He pointed outside.

The village, which had returned to brightness, was gradually darkening again.

Although the speed of darkness was not as fast as before, it obviously conveyed a very bad message.