Chapter 897 864: The Evacuating Crowd

After Yang Jian investigated the existence of the red wooden bench, he had developed a general understanding of the supernatural incident.

But the more he understood, the more uneasy he felt.

So, after leaving that office building floor, he and Feng Quan returned to the top-floor office of Wang Chaling.

“Captain, what’s the situation? What’s the deal with this red wooden bench? Can it be resolved?” As soon as Yang Jian appeared, Huang Ziya couldn’t contain herself and stood up, asking urgently.

Xiong Wenwen yawned: “Xiao Yang, can you do it or not? Daddy Xiong is so bored I’m about to fall asleep. Can we go home tonight? My mom just called me again, asking me to be home before midnight. She also said she had something to tell you.”

“It’s hard to handle, isn’t it? If it were easy, it’d already be resolved by now.”

Tong Qian looked at Yang Jian, roughly guessing that the investigation process had hit a snag.

Someone like Yang Jian, wielding the Coffin Nail and Firewood Knife, could usually resolve ordinary supernatural incidents within minutes.

The fact that the eerie red wooden bench was still present in the building indicated that the incident had yet to be resolved.

“This supernatural incident is a bit different from others. The ghost is sitting on this red wooden bench; the problem is, you can’t see it,” Yang Jian said, glancing at the red wooden bench in the middle of the corridor not far away.

“The red wooden bench is the medium. Only people sitting on it can see the ghost sitting there. However, once they meet the ghost, they’ll be attacked immediately. I triggered this killing mechanism deliberately to lure the ghost out, thinking I could deal with it easily. To my surprise, without the medium, I couldn’t use this supernatural weapon to touch the ghost.”

“The ghost, on the other hand, could touch me, and I ended up being killed by it.”

As he said this, Yang Jian raised his arm.

The dull, lifeless skin resembled that of a corpse, covered in mottled patches, as if he’d been dead for some time.

“Your body is dead now?”

Tong Qian pondered briefly before coming to a conclusion.

Yang Jian had lost every characteristic of a living human. The only reason he was still alive was that his consciousness was sustained by the Ghost Shadow.

This was an anomaly.

Neither a living human nor a full-fledged ghost.

“So you guys can’t fend off this attack either, including Feng Quan,” Yang Jian said.

Xiong Wenwen jumped in: “Well, what about Daddy Xiong? If I pull a lucky draw, I’ll definitely be fine. Right, Xiao Yang?”

“Wanna give it a try?” Yang Jian glanced at him.

Xiong Wenwen immediately shrank back: “No way!”

Who would dare try that? If things went wrong, you’d lose your life.

“If this killing mechanism works as described, then as long as no one sits on the red wooden bench, there should be no danger. This makes the level of threat for this supernatural incident relatively low, doesn’t it? Just instruct everyone in the building to avoid the bench, and the ghost killings can be prevented,” Huang Ziya said.

“So it shouldn’t be that nerve-wracking.”

“Yeah, yeah, I agree with Daddy Xiong too,” Xiong Wenwen nodded.

Yang Jian said, “The ghost is awakening. The number of red benches is increasing, and the killing mechanism is evolving. Don’t oversimplify supernatural incidents.”

“You have a point. So what should we do next? The clock in the mansion is still ringing, and the recalibration should still be ongoing. Someone is controlling the pendulum clock, rebooting the dangerous time sequences within the mansion. This means that every time the mansion’s clock chimes, it represents a reboot, and the number of ghosts inside the mansion will increase.”

“At this rate, it won’t take more than a few hours before the number of ghosts inside the mansion reaches an alarming level. Dadong City will face unimaginable horrors.”

Tong Qian frowned, showing visible concern.

Although Li Jun and Wang Chaling had already gone to intervene, the continued clock sounds indicated that their progress was not going well.

“I know, which is why I plan to take you all out of here,” Yang Jian said.

Feng Quan asked, “What about the red wooden bench incident?”

“We’ll deal with it if we can; otherwise, leave it for later. Everything will have to wait until tonight’s over. If the mansion loses control, the area at risk won’t just be this building… Anyway, I’ll take you all out of here first.”

Yang Jian spoke, his Ghost Eye scanning the surroundings, and he had already noticed that there were more and more red wooden benches in the building.

Previously, they were only scattered in corners and corridors; now, they were almost everywhere.

The signs of supernatural corrosion within the building were becoming increasingly evident.

If they stayed here any longer, Yang Jian’s team could likely face danger.

“Should the ordinary people in the building also evacuate with us?” Tong Qian suddenly asked.

Yang Jian replied, “No, it’s better for them to stay here and not move around. We’ll deal with the situation outside first and then decide on this.”

“Why?” Tong Qian asked.

At some point, Feng Quan had lit a cigarette. “Probably to avoid spreading the ghosts from this building,” he said while taking a drag. “Any wandering person might take the ghost with them, which would make the situation worse.”

“We can’t possibly control everyone in this building. They won’t listen to us,” Huang Ziya added.

“We can’t manage everyone, but that thing will help control them.” Yang Jian pointed to the red wooden bench.

“Do you think an ordinary person has a high chance of leaving this building alive without the help of people like us?”

Tong Qian replied, “If a normal person gets targeted by a ghost, then they’ll definitely die. However, there may be some people who aren’t being targeted.”

“If someone isn’t being targeted, their leaving the building doesn’t matter. But we can’t interfere in that process,” Yang Jian said.

“Understood.” Tong Qian fell silent for a moment.

This was indeed the best solution.

If they forcibly took all the occupants of the building out, the ghost might follow one of them out too.

So, for the people here, they either stayed put for the night until the mansion situation was resolved, or they took their chances leaving on their own.

Because those targeted by ghosts had no way of escaping, only those untouched by ghostly influence would be able to leave safely.

“However, to prevent further escalation, I have an emergency plan in mind. Let’s talk more about it after we leave.” Yang Jian resumed his actions.

He led Feng Quan, Tong Qian, Xiong Wenwen, Huang Ziya, and the Ghost Child to evacuate the building.

The red wooden benches blocking the path seemed to have suppressed Yang Jian’s Ghost Domain, forcing them to use the most mundane method to leave.

The elevator.

Yet, unfortunately, all the elevators in the building had malfunctioned.

An unknown supernatural force had interfered with the system, triggering the safety mechanism and halting the elevators mid-floor.

The team could only use the emergency stairway.

But the building was so tall that descending floor by floor might take an unknown amount of time.

“Feng Quan.” Yang Jian stood at the stairway entrance and looked down.

He could see many red wooden benches placed throughout the stairwell. These benches were stationed on every floor, increasing in number as they descended, seemingly intent on blocking everyone’s way.

“Let me give it a try,” Feng Quan understood Yang Jian’s implication.

Yang Jian’s Ghost Domain was restricted, but Feng Quan’s might be different.

Each person’s Ghost Domain was unique. In different environments, the effects of suppression varied.

Feng Quan’s expression slightly shifted.

The entire floor soon began to fill with thick fog.

The fog engulfed everyone’s figures, becoming denser and denser before gradually dissipating. When the fog vanished, the group had disappeared along with it.

The fog descended.

It seeped down the building from the upper floors.

“My Ghost Domain is also affected. The red benches are like a wall, blocking even the Ghost Fog. However, the blockade isn’t total; I’m still able to operate within a limited area. But the suppression deepens as we go down,” Feng Quan’s voice echoed faintly as his figure flickered within the fog.

At the same time, the environment within the fog was rapidly shifting.

“This indicates the supernatural intrusion is coming from the lower floors. We just noticed it late because we’re on the upper floors,” Yang Jian analyzed from within the dense fog.

“But it seems the ghost hasn’t completely blocked off the building. We still have a chance to get out.”

His speculation proved correct.

The Ghost Fog descended from the upper floors and finally stopped at the building’s ground-floor lobby.

The fog dispersed.

The figures of Yang Jian, Feng Quan, and the others emerged.

They immediately scanned their surroundings, instinctively staying alert.

“No wonder the elevators stopped; they were blocked here,” Yang Jian said.

Turning back, he saw several elevators with open doors. The inside lights flickered erratically.

Within the elevator cabins.

Red wooden benches were crammed in like random stacks of building blocks, filling every inch.

Among them were several twisted corpses wedged into the gaps between the benches.

These were ordinary people from the building, victims of the supernatural attack, who had died inside the elevators.

However, the group’s attention was not on the broken elevators but on the lobby itself.

Where it had once been empty, the lobby was now full of seated figures.

No.

It was full of corpses.

Each corpse sat stiffly upright on a red wooden bench, their skin pallid and lifeless.

Their sitting postures were peculiar—it wasn’t centered on the benches but off to one side, as if purposely leaving space for someone else to sit.

“So the supernatural occurrence has indeed evolved. Judging by this, it seems the ghost is inviting us to take a seat,” Feng Quan said, inhaling deeply, his already grim face looking even darker.

“I think these red benches are more of an obstruction. They’ve been blocking our way since the beginning, trying to trap us here,” Tong Qian suggested.

Xiong Wenwen shrank behind Yang Jian: “Who’s going to scout ahead?”

At this point.

The Ghost Domain couldn’t extend further; the nearby red benches had impeded its growth. To leave, the only choice was to physically move the benches and exit via the main door.

Everyone turned to look at him.

“Don’t look at me. I’m not going,” Xiong Wenwen said.

“Maybe you should try foreseeing the outcome—see what happens if we charge straight ahead,” Huang Ziya proposed.

Xiong Wenwen replied, “Using my supernatural foresight for an as-yet untriggered supernatural event isn’t reliable. Don’t blame me if something unexpected happens.”

It wasn’t that he couldn’t foresee events, but predicting the outcome of a supernatural incident directly was imprecise. He’d faced this challenge before at the Caesar Hotel.

As a result, most of Xiong Wenwen’s foresight was focused on predicting the life or death of ghost tamers, using individual survival as a medium to assess nearby dangers or ghost presence.

So his foresight required a person as the medium.

Predicting ghosts directly was a challenge.

“Let it go scout,” Yang Jian suggested, remaining cautious and not reckless. He pointed at the barefoot Ghost Child standing nearby with its head tilted.

“That’s actually a good idea,” the others agreed.

Everyone knew that the Ghost Child was wearing the Ghost Shroud.

The Ghost Shroud itself was both a ghost and a horrifying supernatural artifact. When worn by a living person, it could fend off attacks from malevolent spirits. But as a trade-off, it could never be removed, the wearer would be eroded, and eventually become a ghost in the shroud.

Thus, Yang Jian had dressed the Ghost Child in the Ghost Shroud.

Thanks to this, no ghost had yet managed to harm the Ghost Child.

“Go forward and leave this building,” Yang Jian ordered the Ghost Child.

The Ghost Child, an enigmatic being with traits of both a ghost and a living creature, never hesitated to follow Yang Jian’s commands.

At the command.

The Ghost Child immediately began running barefoot towards the building’s entrance.

It ran straight ahead, without pausing or hesitating even as it passed rows of corpses seated on the eerie red benches.

The group watched the Ghost Child closely, anticipating its encounter with any further developments.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by novlove.com

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