Chapter 145: Believe in Science
Actually, cinnabar was sold in major pharmacies as well. The reason Yang Haoran didn't go to a pharmacy, choosing instead to visit Lecheng's largest hospital, was his concern about buying counterfeit goods.
He was a beginner, with some theoretical knowledge but zero practical experience. To avoid any unnecessary trouble, he felt it would be safer to purchase the cinnabar at Tianhe Hospital.
The moment he arrived at Tianhe Hospital, the sight before him caused Yang Haoran to frown slightly: the entire hospital was unexpectedly shrouded in a layer of Yin Qi.
Hospitals naturally held a strong concentration of Yin Qi, and it was normal for them to be perpetually enveloped by it; Yang Haoran knew this and wasn't surprised by it. His frown stemmed from sensing an unusual presence.
"Tianhe Hospital, I reckon, hasn't been very peaceful lately."
Yang Haoran muttered to himself, then stepped into Tianhe Hospital.
At this moment, Yang Haoran suddenly recalled something: in the past, Lecheng's hospitals, including the cemeteries, had almost all been managed solely by Xu Meijing. The reason she guided such an astonishing number of spirits each month was precisely because of her presence in these hospitals and cemeteries.
But now that Xu Meijing had departed, her former territories naturally lacked anyone to oversee them, and it was only normal for ghostly entities to cause trouble.
During this period, Yang Haoran had been frequenting remote outskirts every night in his search for Places of Extreme Yin, causing him to overlook this matter. Furthermore, during the New Year period, the temple keepers at the Death God Temple were far busier than usual; unless someone actively sought them out, they were highly unlikely to notice the changes in the city.
Yang Haoran's concerns were not unfounded. First, with Xu Meijing gone, Deng Feng was undoubtedly in a foul mood, and he might very well pick someone to be his punching bag.
Among all the Night Watchers, apart from Xu Meijing, Yang Haoran was the only one who wasn't a temple keeper. Compared to the other temple keepers, he was a full-time Night Watcher. If problems arose in Lecheng, who else would Deng Feng come looking for but him?
As for the other temple keepers, they had perfectly valid reasons to completely shed any responsibility. After all, they weren't like Yang Haoran; they were busy in the temple all day, so it was understandable if they were unaware of matters in the city.
But Yang Haoran certainly wouldn't be able to shirk responsibility. When the time came, he was absolutely destined to be that punching bag.
To prevent such a fate from befalling him, the only thing he could do now was to make amends, striving to prevent Lecheng from descending into major chaos.
The moment he stepped into Tianhe Hospital, before Yang Haoran could even attend to his own business, his attention was captured by the scene before him.
Several police cars were parked in front of the inpatient building, and the entire structure buzzed with noise, as if something tremendously important had occurred.
Yang Haoran frowned slightly and walked towards the inpatient building. A familiar figure entered his line of sight.
"Chen Ying, what a coincidence."
The person who now appeared in Yang Haoran's vision was none other than Wang Yiming's girlfriend, Chen Ying.
Chen Ying was on the phone, her face serious, seemingly reporting something to her superiors. Just as Yang Haoran spotted her, she happened to see him walking in her direction.
Yang Haoran's appearance made Chen Ying's expression shift. First, she showed a hint of surprise, then her eyes revealed a touch of sympathy.
After exchanging a few more words, she hung up the phone and walked towards Yang Haoran.
"Why are you here? When did you get back to Lecheng?"
Yang Haoran stopped, looking at Chen Ying in her police uniform, and smiled. "Been back a few days."
Chen Ying frowned, a look of displeasure on her face. "Why didn't you say anything when you came back? Yiming was really worried about you. He wanted to call but was afraid of disturbing you. Who would've thought you'd just sneak back without a word."
Yang Haoran offered an apologetic smile. "It's the New Year, and I didn't want my own misfortunes to bother my friends. Besides, I had quite a few things to deal with right after getting back to Lecheng, so I didn't contact anyone."
The moment his words fell, Yang Haoran's expression suddenly turned peculiar. Seeing this, Chen Ying thought he might be unwell somewhere and quickly asked, "What's wrong? Your face looks off. Is it because your body was affected by that last incident?"
Yang Haoran naturally knew what Chen Ying was referring to by "that last incident," which was, of course, the Yangjiawan corpse puppet affair. When Chen Ying and the others left that time, Yang Haoran had been surrounded by a vast number of corpse puppets. Her current question was essentially an inquiry into whether Yang Haoran had been injured in that battle and hadn't yet recovered.
As an ordinary person, Chen Ying's speculation wasn't unreasonable; from a civilian's perspective, it would certainly be no surprise if Yang Haoran had been injured.
However, the reason Yang Haoran's expression suddenly turned peculiar wasn't as Chen Ying imagined; it was because, just as he was speaking with her, his Enchantment Art had passively triggered.
This was the first time Yang Haoran's Enchantment Art had passively triggered since he successfully cultivated it. What he hadn't expected was for the first person to be Chen Ying, the very female police officer who had once relentlessly tried to deliver a vicious kick to his groin.
Naturally, Yang Haoran wouldn't voice such a thing. He chuckled, steering the conversation elsewhere. "My body's fine. Anyway, what's all this about—"
Seeing Yang Haoran bring up the matter, Chen Ying's expression immediately shifted, seriousness mixed with a hint of lingering fear.
She first glanced around, then pulled Yang Haoran into a corner before speaking. "Lately, there have been many strange occurrences at Tianhe Hospital. Rumor has it a Skin-Borrowing Ghost is causing trouble, appearing every night to ask the living to 'borrow' their skin. Initially, a female nurse died, followed by several others. And today, a master also died."
Yang Haoran's eyebrows twitched slightly, his expression otherwise unchanged. Seeing him so composed, Chen Ying felt considerably more at ease.
The reason she had shown a look of lingering fear earlier wasn't due to the events at Tianhe Hospital, but rather the experience at Yangjiawan. Such supernatural cases genuinely unnerved her.
She now knew a fair bit about Yang Haoran's identity, information naturally divulged by Wang Yiming. However, as a police officer, bound by departmental regulations, she wouldn't carelessly speak of these matters, but she certainly knew the score.
"Because the situation grew increasingly chaotic and the strange occurrences mounted, severely impacting both patients and medical staff, the hospital secretly invited a master to deal with the matter, hoping to subdue this so-called Skin-Borrowing Ghost. But who would have thought that just a short while ago, the master invited by the hospital inexplicably jumped from a building and fell to his death."
Hearing this, Yang Haoran understood why Chen Ying was here.
"A Skin-Borrowing Ghost, huh? Heh heh, do you believe in it? " Yang Haoran asked with a chuckle. RA, and nobes
"I—" Chen Ying was left speechless by Yang Haoran's rhetorical question. Before she could answer, Yang Haoran spoke again.
"How can there be so much supernatural nonsense in this world? We must believe in science."
As soon as he finished speaking, before Chen Ying could react, a plume of black smoke suddenly billowed from Yang Haoran's right hand. With a wave, Chen Ying felt as if something had been drawn away from her, and the persistent coldness that had wrapped around her inexplicably vanished.
At the same time, Yang Haoran's right hand returned to normal. From the moment Yang Haoran acted until the black smoke on his hand dissipated, it all happened in the blink of an eye. Before Chen Ying could even react, it was all over.
"What was that just now. . . ? " Chen Ying felt a comfortable warmth spread through her body; the previous chilling sensation had completely vanished.
"Nothing much. Some things don't belong to you; if they stay on you, they'll only cause you harm. I merely took it away."
With that, Yang Haoran walked towards the incident site. Chen Ying stood dumbfounded for a moment, then came to her senses and quickly followed him.
"What are you planning to do? " Chen Ying asked hurriedly after catching up to Yang Haoran.
"Doing what I ought to do. By the way, will the Spirit Police be coming? " Yang Haoran asked Chen Ying.
"We're just here to handle the scene. The situation here has already been reported to our superiors; I believe the bureau will take action tonight," Chen Ying whispered beside Yang Haoran.
Other police officers might not know about the existence of the Spirit Police, but Chen Ying certainly did now. After the Yangjiawan incident last time, she had gleaned a lot from her boyfriend, Wang Yiming.
Thus, she didn't intentionally conceal anything in response to Yang Haoran's inquiry, though what she said was merely her own speculation.
"Tonight? This is a hospital; the Yin Qi is already heavy here. By nightfall, it'll only grow stronger. If we really drag this out until then, it might be difficult to handle."
Yang Haoran frowned slightly, then pulled out his phone, a look of hesitation on his face.
He wanted to call Wang Yiming to ask about the situation, but then he felt it wasn't quite appropriate. Guiding spirits and subduing evil spirits was, after all, his inherent duty; he couldn't constantly rely on seeking out other helpers.
However, if he didn't seek additional help, he estimated that with his current strength, he would likely find it very difficult to deal with this Skin-Borrowing Ghost alone.
Because, at this moment, he had already sensed the Skin-Borrowing Ghost's presence, and its power was quite considerable.
Up to now, he had only undergone one Soul Qi infusion. Although the Soul Qi he gained from that infusion was astonishing, it didn't mean he was invincible.
Yang Haoran was self-aware; he knew his current capabilities. If he were to face this Skin-Borrowing Ghost alone, nine times out of ten, he would be the one to suffer losses.
Although his duty was to guide spirits and subdue evil spirits, he wasn't foolish enough to rush to his death without any preparation.
This Skin-Borrowing Ghost certainly needed to be dealt with, but he intended to take it down while ensuring his own safety, not foolishly charge in and wait for a miracle. How many miracles could there possibly be in this world?
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