Weird Cards: I've Become a Ghost

Da da da!

As a light, rhythmic footstep echoed in the silent stairwell, Xiao He, carrying the teddy bear in one hand, had already set off for the third floor.

This was his first time going to the third floor.

After all, Spider-Man had specifically instructed that the third floor was their boss's office and residence, and no one was allowed to set foot on the third floor without the boss's order.

As for why Xiao He brought the bear doll along, it was naturally because the leader of the Binhai Guiye Division wanted to see more than just him.

Moreover, because the bear doll was not very tall, it was difficult for it to climb the stairs, which is why the other party asked Xiao He to lift it up.

At this moment, unlike the calm Xiao He, the bear doll named Jack was extremely excited.

It's important to know that not everyone has the opportunity to meet with the head of the Night Demon Division.

Soon, Xiao He and Jack arrived at the third floor.

After turning a corner, a door suddenly came into view.

After putting Jack down, Xiao He walked to the door and knocked on it with a slightly respectful expression.

After all, the person behind the door is your boss's boss, so you still need to behave accordingly.

Boom boom boom!

Three knocks, neither too loud nor too soft, were heard, followed by a deep, resonant voice from behind the door.

"Enter."

As soon as he finished speaking, Xiao He turned the doorknob and pushed the door open to enter.

The room was softly lit.

An elderly man with white hair sat upright in a chair, looking at Xiao He as he walked in with deep eyes.

When Xiao He saw that the leader of the Binhai Guiye Division was actually an old man who looked to be over sixty years old, a look of surprise immediately appeared on his face.

Before this, he had always thought that the boss the spider man mentioned was either a capable man or a shrewd woman, but he never expected that the boss was actually an elderly woman in her sixties.

"This Night Division is so short-staffed, they're even taking on the elderly..."

Xiao He thought to himself.

Logically speaking, an elderly person of this age should be at home holding their grandchildren, even though the other party is not an ordinary elderly person.

Just then, the white-haired old man smiled at Xiao He and said, "You must be Xu Yuan."

Upon hearing this, Xiao He's first reaction was that, as expected, one must admit defeat when one gets old. He even remembered his name... uh... no, it seems that's indeed his current name.

Thinking of this, Xiao He quickly nodded and replied, "Yes, yes."

After hearing Xiao He's answer, the white-haired old man glanced again at the slightly agitated bear doll on the ground: "Then you must be Jack Thompson, that unfortunate private detective?"

Upon hearing the word "bad luck," Jack's slightly excited expression froze.

Although he knew from the other person's tone that it was just a joke, he still nodded immediately and replied, "Yes, that's right," so as not to leave a bad impression.

After saying that, Jack comforted himself again.

Although he had already left an impression of being "unlucky" in the mind of the person in charge of the Binhai Ghost Night Division, it was still a neutral impression.

After confirming Xiao He and Jack's identities, the head of the Binhai Ghost Night Division smiled again and said, "Actually, there's not much to tell you today. Besides meeting you and getting acquainted, I just want to give you a simple test."

"Testing?"

Xiao He was taken aback.

Are you suggesting he get a "pre-employment medical check-up"?

In that case, isn't this physical examination... no, this test a bit too late?

"Don't be nervous, this is just a simple test."

The white-haired old man's voice became somewhat serious as he said this: "However, this test is still of some importance to you."

At this point, the white-haired old man's gaze shifted back and forth between Xiao He and Jack.

"However, the content of your tests is different."

As he spoke, the white-haired old man's gaze had already settled on Xiao He.

"I know your identity, but it doesn't matter. As long as you do your best for the Night Demon Division, then in my eyes, you are just like Ghost and Spider, a member of our Coastal Night Demon Division."

Upon hearing this, a hint of surprise flashed in Xiao He's eyes.

The leader truly lives up to his title; his vision is truly grand.

However, precisely because of this, Xiao He felt that this leader was probably not as simple as he appeared.

At this moment, the white-haired old man continued, "Originally, according to the rules of our Night Demon Division, every newly joined Night Demon Master had to undergo a physical examination."

"The main purpose is to test the degree of control this master has over their body, mind, and abilities."

The white-haired old man looked very kind. He explained to Xiao He with a gentle expression, and then glanced at Jack on the ground: "Of course, not every Ghost Master who merges with the supernatural will retain a human appearance."

"There are also many Ghost Masters with similar appearances, such as tiger heads and human bodies, human heads and fish tails, in the Ghost Night Division headquarters. The physical examination of these Ghost Masters will be adjusted slightly according to the specific situation."

The white-haired old man paused slightly, looked at Jack, and said, "I have a general understanding of your situation."

"As for whether you'll be able to turn back into a human being in the future, I can't say for sure."

Upon hearing this, Jack, who had initially only shown a slight embarrassment, suddenly turned ashen-faced.

Even the leader of the Binhai Guiye Division can't guarantee that he'll return to his original appearance. It's likely that he'll really have to live with a doll-like body from now on.

But what hope is there in such days?

If he had a choice, he would rather give up becoming a Nightshade Master than not return to his old body.

Just as Jack was feeling heartbroken, the white-haired old man changed the subject and said again, "However..."

"The Ghost Masters at headquarters have all sorts of strange abilities. Maybe one of them has the ability to restore you to your original appearance."

However, after listening to the white-haired old man's words, before Jack could rekindle his hope of returning to human form, the old man's next words were like a bucket of cold water poured over him.

"And if you want to get help from other Ghost Masters, you first need to have some leverage."

Jack: "..."

At this moment, his mood was like a rollercoaster, going up and down.

If possible, he would prefer that the white-haired old man, who is also the leader of the Binhai Guiye Division, finish speaking all at once.

"But don't worry, as long as you work hard for our Binhai Ghost Night Division, I guarantee you'll be able to turn back into your original form in the future." The white-haired old man said to Jack with certainty, "Let me tell you, I have quite a few connections at headquarters."

Upon hearing this, Jack's mind raced, and he gave a sheepish smile: "You mean... I'm already a Nightmare Master of the Coastal Night Division?"

Previously, the Ghost Master, whose codename was either "Spider" or "Ghost," had said that he would only be recruited into the Night Demon Division after a specialist sent from headquarters evaluated and tested him.

But judging from the boss's tone, it seemed to Jack that his joining the Binhai Guiye Division was a done deal.

"That's right."

The white-haired old man nodded: "As long as you pass the test of the specialist sent by headquarters, then you will be one of our Binhai Guiye Division members."

Upon hearing the white-haired old man's nonsensical words, Jack's expression immediately stiffened.

After all that talk, I still have to take that specialist's test.

At this moment, Xiao He's eyes also became somewhat strange.

He always felt that the boss of the Coastal Night Division was making empty promises to this bear doll named Jack, and making a very, very big promise at that.

At this moment, the white-haired old man also looked at Xiao He, then he slowly got up, walked up to Xiao He, and said, "You are different from him. You are now an official member of our Binhai Ghost Night Division."

"However, since the Binhai Guiye Division has only been established recently, many things are not yet ready, so your physical examination will have to be postponed. Before that, I will give you a simple test."

"Make it for him while you're at it."

As he spoke, the white-haired old man glanced at Jack, who seemed somewhat resigned to his fate.

Xiao He was silent for a moment, then asked, "What exactly do I need to do for this test?"

Although he didn't really want to do this so-called simple test, now was not the time to break ties with Guiyesi.

After all, for Xiao He at present, it's still worthwhile to latch onto Guiyesi as a powerful ally.

"All you need to do is... stand up."

As soon as he finished speaking, the white-haired old man suddenly stretched out his right hand and grabbed hard in front of Xiao He. However, his right hand did not touch Xiao He's face. Then, he gently pulled, as if he had grabbed something, and a cloud of black mist-like gas was pulled out of Xiao He's face.

"This is......"

At this moment, seeing the black gas being pulled out by the white-haired old man, Xiao He's eyes widened in shock. Even Jack, who was standing next to him, was attracted by this scene and looked up in a daze.

Before Xiao He could even wonder what the white-haired old man had pulled out of his body was, a bizarre scene unfolded the next second. The black gas that had been pulled out began to churn and surge, and in the blink of an eye, it transformed into a tiny figure that looked almost exactly like Xiao He, or Xu Yuan.

If Xiao He hadn't firmly believed that his soul was protected by that black card, he would have almost thought that the black gas being pulled out was his soul.

However, it seems that the thing that was pulled out is a soul, but it is not Xiao He's soul that was pulled out, but Xu Yuan's soul.

"This is your soul, or rather, the aura emanating from your soul."

The white-haired old man slowly explained, "Only the human soul possesses such an aura full of emotions and desires."

As he spoke, he looked at the little figure that seemed to be trapped by an invisible force and muttered, "Black, huh?"

After pondering for a moment, he had a thought, and the little figure suddenly dispersed, turning back into a cloud of black mist. Then, as if drawn by something, this black mist returned to Xiao He's body.

Xiao He, who had been quietly watching this scene the whole time, did not feel anything unusual in his body or soul.

It was as if the thing the white-haired old man had just pulled out had absolutely nothing to do with him.

"But thinking about it carefully, it seems that it really has nothing to do with me."

Xiao He thought to himself that the little man just now only looked like Xu Yuan, the original owner of his current body, and had nothing to do with him.

However, what intrigued him was the meaning behind the other person's use of the word "black."

However, this time, the white-haired old man didn't seem to want to explain. The next moment, he reached out again and pulled out a ball of gas from Jack, who had been watching the show next to Xiao He.

However, unlike Xiao He, this gas was yellow.

Upon seeing this, Xiao He immediately fell into deep thought.

What could be the reason for the different colors?

Just as he was deep in thought, the gas, like the gas he had been before, began to churn and surge.

Seeing this, Xiao He also snapped out of his reverie. He looked at the surging gas and felt a little curious: would the gas turn into a bear doll or into Jack's original form?

At that moment, the yellow gas began to take shape. Soon, a strange little man with one half of his body being a bear doll and the other half resembling a Westerner appeared.

Seeing this, the white-haired old man paused for a moment, then said, "It seems your situation is worse than I imagined."

Upon hearing this, Jack felt as if something was gripping his heart.

After all, the word "terrible" sounds terrible coming from the other person's mouth.

"Your soul is being corrupted by that strange power."

The white-haired old man's tone was somewhat heavy as he said, "Although I can't say for sure whether you'll have a chance to become human again, but..."

"Once your soul is completely corrupted and you've turned into a monster, there's definitely no chance left."

At this point, the white-haired old man's expression grew even more solemn; there was actually something else he didn't say.

That's why Jack's current situation is exactly like those cultists, who have turned themselves into monsters forever.

In the eyes of the Alliance's top brass and even the Night Demon, the soul is the standard for judging whether a person is human.

Although Jack's situation seemed rather dire, the white-haired old man didn't have any good solutions, as he wasn't an expert in this area.

"Alright, that concludes today's testing. You may leave now."

As Jack's strange little figure turned back into gas and returned to his body, the white-haired old man gave him the order to leave.

It was as if the face of this boss of the Binhai Guiye Division was as changeable as the weather in June. Just a moment ago he had a kind face, but now he had a stern face, as if he had reverted to the solemn and dignified expression of a leader.

Seeing this, Xiao He and Jack couldn't say anything and could only leave dejectedly.

After the two left, the white-haired old man sat down again, staring blankly at the empty room.

"One's black, the other's yellow—neither of them are easy to deal with!"

The white-haired old man muttered to himself.

Just then, a voice rang out from beside him.

"Boss, how's it going?"