The night vigil on the second day went awry.
As soon as Zhou Deng left the rear hall with the white lantern, the previously stable situation took a sharp turn for the worse.
This was because everyone speculated that Zhou Dengâs departure had caused the mourning ritual to happen prematurelyâa fatal development. With the ghost still wandering inside the ancient haunted house, starting the mourning now was akin to informing the malevolent spirit that someone had died in the rear hall.
Even though ghosts lack thoughts and cannot weigh pros and cons,
the situation in this ancient house couldnât be judged by common logic. After all, supernatural matters often defy reason.
At times, such events constantly shatter peopleâs understanding of reality.
âThe rear hall is no longer safeâthe ghost is invading. Yang Jian, what should we do now?â
Fan Xing was panicking at this point. Unable to come up with a better idea, he could only place his hopes on Yang Jian.
After all, Yang Jian was a bona fide Captain Level top-tier ghost manipulator, having survived several S-class supernatural incidents. Both his abilities and the supernatural powers he wielded were leagues above what Fan Xing could compare to.
The back door was now wide open.
Outside, it was shrouded in darkness. On the doorstep sat a pair of old, worn black cloth shoes, looking as if they belonged to the malevolent ghost, poised to step inside at any moment.
Moreover, faint and eerie silhouettes seemed to loiter outside the rear door, as if waiting for the right moment to enter.
There was no longer any point in trying to close the door now.
Earlier, they had all tried together, but they still couldnât shut it. Continuing to waste time on it carried the risk of causing the ghostâs resurrection. Debating whether to close the door was meaningless at this juncture.
What they needed now was a plan to respond to the current crisis.
Everyone turned to Yang Jian.
It seemed that only he could handle this situation.
âIf we donât come up with a countermeasure soon, Iâm afraid all of us will die here,â someone said in a grave tone.
âDamn Zhou Deng! Itâs one thing if he wanted to seek death, but he had to drag us down with him.â
âShould we abandon the vigil and hide in our rooms instead? Would that improve the situation? Or maybe I should just rush out of this back door and try to escape this haunted house?â
But as soon as this suggestion was made, the other couriers immediately rejected it.
They had to stay in the haunted house for seven daysâthey couldnât leave.
Zhou Deng might be able to wander in and out of the house freely, but they couldnât. Leaving too far or staying away for too long might make the Ghost Post Office consider their mission to deliver the letter a failure. If that happened, the curse of the Ghost Post Office would kick in, and their fate would be even worse.
Yang Jianâs gaze flickered as he thought deeply.
Facing the malevolent ghost head-on would at best buy a little time. Eventually, many of them would dieâif not the entire team. A total wipeout wouldnât be surprising.
âThe mourning ritual for the third day has been triggered early. In that case, we can ignore the vigil for the second day and skip ahead to the third day. Itâs impossible for us to deal with both the ghost of the second-day vigil and the ghost of the third-day mourning at the same time. So the only choice is to disregard the ghost of the second-day vigil.â
Yang Jian remained calm and quickly formulated a plan to break this stalemate, even if it was barely feasible.
âCaptain, what should we do exactly?â Li Yang asked urgently.
Fan Xing and the others also looked at Yang Jian, as if ready to take action the moment he gave the word.
âIf today is treated as the day of mourning, we proceed as we normally would on the third dayâstabilize the ghost that usually appears on the third day and focus all our efforts on confronting the ghost of the second-day vigil. If we can hold on until midnight tonight, time will correct itself,â Yang Jian explained quickly.
âHold on until midnight? Good grief, Yang Jian, youâve got to be joking. Itâs just past 4 a.m. now. From now until midnight, thatâs close to twenty hours. Weâre ghost manipulators, not Jesusâwe canât possibly endure that long,â someone said, his eyes widening in fear. He shivered at the thought, his whole body turning cold.
The idea sounded plausible as a way to break the stalemate, but implementing it was practically impossibleâit was too difficult.
The team member known as Eagle composed himself and said, âYang Jian, the key to the third dayâs mourning ritual is the lantern. We must acquire that lantern. Right now, itâs hanging at the front door. To retrieve it, someone has to either circle around from the rear door to the front or make a direct run through the main hall toward the door. Either way, theyâll encounter the malevolent ghost.â
âIn addition, someone must remain to guard this coffin. If the old manâs corpse inside the coffin is disturbed, the ritual for the seventh day might be triggered prematurely. At that point, the haunted house will spiral out of control, the letter delivery mission will fail, and the Malevolent Ghost will fully return. There would be no survivors then,â Wang Feng added calmly.
âSo the only solution is for most of us to stay and guard this coffin against the ghost, while one person is sent to retrieve the lantern. And they must succeed. Failure means we all die.â
âNow, who will take on this task?â
As soon as Wang Feng finished speaking,
everyoneâs expressions changed.
It wasnât that they were afraid of death; they simply lacked confidence in surviving the ordeal. To accept this task was essentially to accept death.
âIf I go to get it, I can guarantee bringing back the lantern. But can you all hold out against the ghost while Iâm gone?â Yang Jian said coldly.
At that, silence fell over the group once more.
The answer was obvious.
They couldnât hold out.
The moment Yang Jian left, they would quickly succumb to the malevolent ghostâs resurgence. The rear hall would become a congregation point for vengeful spirits. Even if Yang Jian returned with the lantern, it would probably be too late by then.
âLi Yang, you go,â Yang Jian decided immediately, looking toward him.
âUnderstood, Captain,â Li Yang responded, taking a deep breath. He didnât hesitate and agreed immediately.
âDonât take the exterior route. Make a direct dash through the main hall. Once you get the lantern, circle back through the rear door to re-enter. Donât stray or linger outside. This way, you can use the lantern to fake the mourning ritual, warding off attacks from the ghosts outside. If you take the original path back, the ghosts inside the haunted house will surely attack you.â
After Yang Jian finished speaking, he threw something to Li Yang.
It was a heavily scarred and worn-out human-like doll.
âYou know how to use this, right? And you still have the last Ghost Candle with you. Donât be stingy with it,â Yang Jian said. âItâs a pity my substitute doll is gone; otherwise, we wouldnât be in such a dire situation.â
Li Yang received the doll and nodded solemnly.
âStep on my Ghost Shadow as you proceed. Iâll clear the way for you. Remember, the moment you step outside the range of my Ghost Shadow, light the Ghost Candle without delay.â
With those words, the Ghost Shadow beneath Yang Jianâs feet began to ripple, extending toward the direction of the main hall.
Without another word, Li Yang stepped onto the dark and icy trail formed by the Ghost Shadow and strode forward decisively. The chill beneath his feet was bone-deep, yet it gave him a faint sense of reassurance. The Ghost Shadow could repel many supernatural forces, preventing him from being marked by other ghosts.
âAhhh~!â
Suddenly, one of the ghost manipulators turned pale, let out a pained wail, and collapsed to the ground, coughing up thick, viscous blood in large gulps. It felt as though his entire bodyâs blood was being drained, with something writhing inside him.
He had been invaded by a malevolent ghost.
âNo time to wasteâmove!â Yang Jian barked sharply.
Li Yang immediately sprinted forward along the shadowy, frigid path toward the main hall without hesitation.
At this moment, everyone was gambling with their lives. Even though Li Yang was acting alone, he didnât feel like the most endangered person here.
With the Ghost Candle and the human-like doll in hand, he had some confidence to rely on.
In the oppressive darkness, it was easy to lose oneâs sense of direction.
However, Li Yangâs movements seemed guided, as he never strayed from the path.
The Ghost Shadow influenced Li Yangâs steps, steering him forward along a certain route.
Yet within the confines of the haunted house, Yang Jianâs Ghost Shadow was also being impactedâbecause the surrounding darkness belonged to a malevolent ghostâs Ghost Domain. Using the Ghost Shadow within the Ghost Domain created a clash between supernatural forces, limiting how far Yang Jianâs shadow could extend.
At roughly ten meters, the Ghost Shadow reached its limit.
This happened to leave Li Yang in the middle of the main hall.
Li Yang sensed that his feet were free once againâno longer disturbed by the icy chill. He realized the Ghost Shadowâs reach had ended.
âThe rest of the way is up to me,â he muttered, inhaling deeply before decisively lighting the Ghost Candle.
Instantly.
A sinister green flame erupted from the red wax.
As the Ghost Candleâs eerie light illuminated the surrounding darkness, Li Yangâs vision was restored, allowing him to discern his immediate surroundings.
But the moment the Ghost Candle was lit, Li Yang felt his hair stand on end.
He saw a stark white, lifeless face pressed close to him. The face was abnormally largeâseveral sizes bigger than a normal human face. Though its features were blurred, its gaping mouth suggested a scream, though no sound emerged.
The Ghost Candleâs flame suddenly flared, burning fiercely in response.
The next moment,
a pale, skeletal figureânot wearing any clothesâflashed past him and vanished into the darkness to his left. Whether it was driven away by the Ghost Candle or some other reason remained unclear.
âDamn it!â
Li Yang was drenched in cold sweat, his heart still racing. If his body werenât already altered, he believed he wouldâve been scared to death just now.
No time to linger on fear, he glanced at the dwindling Ghost Candle in his hand.
Nearly half of it had already burned away.
In other words,
that confrontation had just consumed half of the Ghost Candleâs power to repel the ghost.
âOne attack consumed half the Ghost Candle. How terrifying,â
Li Yang thought, his heart filled with dread. Not daring to hesitate, he moved quickly toward the front door while the light of the candle still held.
He moved at a rapid pace,
but the Ghost Candle was burning equally fast.
The haunted house was rife with wandering ghosts, causing an extraordinary drain on the candleâs energy.
Li Yang knew he had to exit the haunted house before the Ghost Candle burned out. Otherwise, he risked becoming lost in the darkness.
Even if he were just a step away from the front door, supernatural interference could still keep him trapped inside.
After all, the nature of these supernatural occurrences was always inexplicable and treacherous.
Li Yang crossed the main hall quickly, reaching the courtyard. From there, he advanced toward the front yard at full speed.
In the oppressive darkness,
as he hurried past the courtyard, Li Yang glimpsed a ghostly figure standing in a corridor to the side. The figure seemed somewhat familiarâa hunched old man holding a bamboo basket.
However, when he tried to confirm what he saw, the figure had already vanished.
The limited illumination from the Ghost Candle couldnât reach far enough.
Li Yang didnât want to stop, and as the distance grew, the area he had just passed fell back into darkness, making it impossible to see clearly anymore.
Source: Webnovel.com, updated by novlove.com
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