Mysterious Revival-Chapter 572 - 569: Forming a Team

Chapter 572: Chapter 569: Forming a Team

Yang Jian hadn’t planned on taking action against Jang Shangbai at headquarters; he was merely testing the organization’s stance and demonstrating his own resolve.

The purpose was to see which side the headquarters would take.

If Cao Yanhua chose to stand with Jang Shangbai and isolate himself, then Yang Jian would not hesitate to resign and go home; on the contrary, if Cao Yanhua sided with him, he would feel free to make his move against his circle of friends.

Cao Yanhua would surely understand this point.

No one would tolerate a bunch of restless enemies targeting them from the outside.

Moreover, Cao Yanhua knew Yang Jian’s temperament, so there was no room for compromise, tolerance, or reconciliation between them.

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The brief impulse was soon subdued.

The attendees for the meeting had also nearly all arrived.

In addition to Cao Yanhua and Wang Xiaoming, who were responsible for the content of this meeting, there were also main participants from the previous haunted painting incident: Li Jun, Chen Yi, Guo Fan, Zong Shan… Su Fan, Leuk San.

Those who had attended the last meeting were also present this time, such as Feng Quan, Cao Yang, and that stranger whose face could never seem to be remembered clearly, Li Leping.

This time, there were also a few newcomers, the survivors from the last training base: Zhang Lei, Huang Ziya, and that college student, Wang Jiang.

Of course, the person Yang Jian was most wary of, the old man from the Republic of China Period who had survived to the present, Old Qin, was also in attendance.

The number of people was even greater than last time.

Amongst the crowd, Yang Jian even found an inconspicuous troublemaker.

Xiong Wenwen?

He had worked with this troublemaking kid at Caesar Hotel last time. His Ghost had a very special ability to foresee the future about ten minutes ahead, which was very important in dealing with supernatural events.

Counting Jang Shangbai and a few others.

Looking around, the meeting room was filled with an astonishing number of more than fifty ghost masters, and most importantly, the majority of them were not city heads.

That is to say, many people hadn’t attended this meeting.

Tong Qian?

Yang Jian was reminded of her immediately.

Tong Qian had also come here, but looking around the meeting room, he saw no sign of her. Given the current situation, it was improbable for headquarters not to contact Tong Qian.

And Tong Qian was no longer an ordinary ghost master.

Having tamed two Ghost Faces and survived a simultaneous crisis, she had become one of the top figures.

“I don’t know; I haven’t seen her either,” Yang Jian honestly replied.

“Could she be… dead?” Feng Quan speculated.

Yang Jian immediately responded: “Impossible. Killing Tong Qian is extremely difficult; ordinary people not to mention, an encounter with her would likely result in death. A supernatural incident might be possible, but her survival rate far exceeds that of a regular person controlling two ghosts, so the likelihood of her death is small, not to mention the chances of her ghosts reviving are even smaller.”

Nobody knew Tong Qian’s uniqueness better than he did since he had personally created the anomaly according to the methods on the human skin parchment.

“It seems we need to take some time to look for her. I don’t have many acquaintances left alive; we can’t just neglect this,” Feng Quan mused.

Yang Jian nodded: “You’re right. I’ll keep an eye out for this matter.”

As they were talking, the meeting was about to begin.

At this moment, Liu Xiaoyu passed on some materials from behind, “Yang Jian, this is the documentation for this meeting, take a look first.”

“Hm? You’re still here?” Yang Jian said, surprised, as he took the materials.

Liu Xiaoyu gave him a quirky look, “This isn’t your house, why can’t I be here?”

“What about mine? How come I didn’t get one?” Zhang Lei asked from the side.

“I’m Yang Jian’s operator, not responsible for you,” Liu Xiaoyu rolled her eyes.

“Uh…” Zhang Lei fell silent.

That kind of made sense.

Yang Jian opened the materials, which bore several black characters: Team Leader Yang Jian (candidate)

“It’s the team leader plan,” Feng Quan said, surprised after a glance.

“How come you don’t have one?” Yang Jian asked as he saw that Feng Quan didn’t have this document in hand.

Feng Quan’s face showed an oddly awkward expression, “Not clear.”

He had once been the first person in charge of Dachang City. The second in charge was Zhou Zheng, who died in the Ghost Door Knocker incident. The third in charge (temporary) was Zhao Kaiming, who died in the Hungry Ghost incident, and the fourth was Yang Jian.

By seniority, Feng Quan should be one of the oldest.

Yang Jian looked at the other people around the conference table.

There weren’t a few who had received the team leader position.

Li Jun, Jang Shangbai, Leuk San, Li Leping… Cao Yang.

At this time, Cao Yanhua, the deputy minister, started speaking, “I think some of you have already received the materials in hand, this meeting is mainly because of two issues. The first is to fully confirm the candidate list for the team leader plan, the second is to discuss how to handle the Ghost Face incident.”

“Through recent discussions, those currently holding the documentation have been confirmed as team leader candidates. If no one has any objections, then this list is unlikely to undergo big changes.”

“Wait a second.”

At this time, a man named Xu Yiping spoke up with a stern face, “I want to know, with so many people, what is the basis for headquarters to determine the team leader candidates? It’s not that I don’t trust you, Cao Yanhua, but there ought to be a reason for such a decision. Otherwise, I won’t agree to it.”

Many people didn’t speak up, but their gaze rested on Cao Yanhua.

The so-called team leader plan hadn’t been agreed upon by most people; it had been internally designated by headquarters, which made it hard to convince others.

But Cao Yanhua had his own considerations.

If the plan had to be approved by most people, then countless conflicts might arise, stirring up numerous disagreements; therefore, internal assignment was the best method.

Cao Yanhua said, “Xu Yiping, I’m aware of your concerns, and you’re definitely not the only one with objections. If everyone needs a reason, then this should suffice.”

After speaking, he gave a signal to the staff.

“Turn on the projector.”

Soon enough, a list was projected in front of the conference table.

The list included nearly everyone’s name and each name was followed by a corresponding score, with Yang Jian surprisingly at the top.

His score far surpassed the second place by a large margin.

“Each of you has a score at headquarters, which is based on the supernatural incidents you’ve resolved,” Cao Yanhua said sternly. “You can see that the scores of each team leader candidate are without exception the highest. Xu Yiping, you are ranked twenty-sixth, far from being considered for the team leader role.”

The revelation of the score chart caused many to frown.

Cao Yanhua continued, “Let’s take the top scorer Yang Jian as an example.”

After saying that, the slide advanced to the next image — a comprehensive dossier on Yang Jian.

“Yang Jian has resolved a C-rank Headless Ghost Shadow incident, an A-rank Human Head Balloon incident, and also an S-rank Hungry Ghost incident, plus he saved lives twice in an S-rank Ghost Envoy incident. And he recently dealt with the Ghost Face incident.”

“The scores he received for these incidents are according to internal evaluation standards which are very strict and are also subject to fluctuations based on the actual circumstances. You need not question this.”

Yang Jian, seeing his comprehensive information displayed in front of everyone, couldn’t help being startled.

However, his score did indeed seem somewhat illogical.

Basing on the scoring standards, Yang Jian didn’t qualify as one among the team leader candidates. His score was entirely due to the S-rank Hungry Ghost incident which alone added a hundred points, and it was these hundred points that far exceeded the second place by a wide margin.

Cao Yanhua continued, “If you still have doubts, you might as well roughly estimate your own score against the standards. The variance shouldn’t be significant. See if you can surpass any of the team leader candidates. If you can’t, then please retract your concerns and acknowledge this list.”

“If anyone truly surpasses several team leader candidates, feel free to speak up in front of everyone here, and I will personally provide you with a reasonable explanation.”

“You have ten minutes for self-evaluation. If there are no objections after ten minutes, then the team leader plan will be thus decided. Following that, we will start discussing the Ghost Face incident.”

Cao Yanhua didn’t give a lengthy speech; he simply announced the list of candidates for the team leader plan in a very concise and rapid manner, then moved on to the second agenda of the meeting.

The team leader plan was predetermined—there was no such thing as voting or soliciting anyone’s opinion.

It was merely for the sake of fairness and to avoid conflicts that this explanation was specially given.

The conference room quietened considerably at this moment, as many people quietly assessed their own situation, then shook their heads to indicate their own experiences were, indeed, not sufficient to qualify as candidates for team leader.

Others felt indifferent, thinking what use was there in being a team leader when one’s own survival was uncertain, let alone seeking a promotion or raise? Joining the headquarters was merely a way to stay alive, not a real commitment to lay down one’s life.

“I understand now why I wasn’t on the candidate list.” Feng Quan glanced at his own ranking, which was pitifully low.

He had participated in the Ghost Coffin event, but if evaluated based on the criteria from above, he would only receive a consolation score.

“Beyond that, nothing else has meaning.”

Yang Jian’s curiosity grew as he looked at Jang Shangbai.

Why was this guy’s score so high when he was always lurking around locally?

“His score must have been boosted by his circle of friends, with the credit for many events attributed to him, all to prop up a team leader,” Yang Jian speculated after some thought.

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“Li Jun has issues too; he’s always been Wang Xiaoming’s bodyguard and logically shouldn’t have the score to be a team leader… Pre-determined, maybe?”

“Cao Yang? That guy is also a team leader?”

After giving it some thought, he began to understand what this role of team leader was all about.

Behind every team leader stood a faction.

Take Jang Shangbai, for example—behind him were the capitalists from his circle of wealthy friends.

Li Jun had an obvious backer as well.

Cao Yang? Speaking of which, Cao Yanhua also carried the surname Cao; perhaps he was a relative or a second-generation heir.

Leuk San… not well known to him, and maybe insignificant in this city, but elsewhere he might represent a colossal force.

The only exception was himself, a bona fide nobody—if not for his rise during the Hungry Ghost incident, he’d likely still be a nobody at the conference table, merely listening and observing.

The waters here were deep indeed.

Yang Jian sighed inwardly; indeed, as long as a person breathes, there’s a play of power and interests at hand. No wonder Cao Yanhua advised him to give up on the team leader candidacy.

At the time, he hadn’t delved into it too deeply. Now that he thought about it, this role was indeed unsuitable for him, and Cao Yanhua hadn’t wronged him.

It was as if he was occupying a spot without making use of it—superfluous; after all, he belonged to the kind that if fed well himself, the whole family wouldn’t starve. Minding Dachang City alone was enough for him.

“This team leader position should not be taken.”

Yang Jian looked over the information that detailed the responsibilities, obligations, and of course, the powers that came with becoming a team leader.

But he wasn’t interested because he hadn’t joined the headquarters for these things.

“Maybe I should make another deal with Cao Yanhua at some point; this spot should be worth quite a bit.” He pondered whether it might be wise to trade it for something of actual benefit.

Many people were taken aback by Xiong Wenwen’s words.

To cling to someone’s coattails, you’d even throw your mom into the fray?

“The way you put it, I suddenly feel like I’d be taking care of a child,” Yang Jian remarked.

“Hey, you think you can take advantage of me?” Xiong Wenwen immediately retorted: “Believe it or not, one day I might pee on your head while you’re sleeping?”

“I don’t believe it, what if you wake your mom up? Then you’d definitely get a beating,” Yang Jian replied.

“How would my mom ever be woken up by that?” Xiong Wenwen didn’t catch on at first.

Zhang Lei and Huang Ziya couldn’t help but laugh at this, as adults, they got the meaning right away – Yang Jian took advantage of Xiong Wenwen again.

Xiong Wenwen didn’t quite understand what was happening, but judging from the laughter of the people around, it surely wasn’t anything good.

“You believe I’d spit on you?” he said, fuming with anger.

Yang Jian nodded: “That, I do believe.”

Seeing this scene, Jang Shangbai’s expression darkened even more. What he cared about wasn’t Yang Jian becoming the team leader, but the fact that so many people were willing to team up with Yang Jian from the start. Once such a team was formed, they wouldn’t just be dealing with Yang Jian alone, but a whole group of people.

People in the social circle didn’t take Yang Jian seriously precisely because he was on his own – they didn’t need to worry about numerous intricacies when dealing with him.

“The two rookies are one thing, but if Feng Quan and Xiong Wenwen join his team, then Yang Jian would really be difficult to handle.” Jang Shangbai had also tried to woo Xiong Wenwen to their circle.

This kid’s abilities were just too unique to ignore.

However, there was a hiccup along the way, they targeted the wrong person to persuade, leading Xiong Wenwen to believe they were after his attractive single mother, and thus the plan fell through.

“Time’s up, so the team leader plan is settled. Xu Yiping, do you have any objections?” At this moment, Cao Yanhua spoke up again.

Xu Yiping was silent for a moment before saying, “I have no objections to the team leader plan.”

“What about you, Su Fan?”

Su Fan said calmly, “I’m not interested, you guys can decide as you wish.”

“Zong Shan, what do you think?”

Zong Shan shrugged, “It’s only natural I can’t be the team leader if my score isn’t as high as the others. I have no objections regarding the others, though Li Jun seems a bit lacking to me. I don’t remember him making any special contributions.”

“This time, Li Jun’s leadership indirectly solved the Ghost Envoy incident, with zero casualties, plus he successfully brought back quite a few special items. Is that reason enough?” Cao Yanhua said.

They had specifically arranged for Li Jun to lead the mission this time so he would be eligible to become a team leader; otherwise, it would be difficult for him to convince everyone.

“Then I have no further questions.”

The atmosphere gradually became more solemn.

Those four characters seemed to possess some weird power that made it impossible for anyone to relax.