Shen Linâs appearance was a bit unexpected for several people.
Yang Jian, Leuk San, Li Jun, and Ah Hong watched him emerge from the drain of the sewer, not only soaked but also wearing a womanâs dress.
âShen Lin, what happened over there?â Li Jun immediately walked over, pulling Shen Lin away from the sewer.
Leuk San asked, âYou just said you know where Ghost Lake is? Have any new clues?â
âGhost Lake is not in Zhongzhou City, is it?â Yang Jian frowned, having some rough guesses.
Shen Lin shook off the water from his body, took off the soaked clothes, and said, âI previously managed to enter Ghost Lake and survived, obtaining some crucial information. But unfortunately, I havenât encountered the source ghost. However, I have roughly pinpointed Ghost Lakeâs location.â
âWhere is Ghost Lake located?â Li Jun pressed.
Shen Lin smiled, walked to a roadside clothing store, casually picked up a menâs shirt and put it on, then said, âIts location isnât actually important.â
âWhat do you mean?â Li Jun frowned.
Shen Lin said, âGhost Lake can appear anywhere, be it Zhongzhou City, whether itâs Daxia City or even Dachang City⊠Every place affected by paranormal phenomena will have a Ghost Lake. It can affect reality yet doesnât exist in reality; itâs an indescribable supernatural place.â
âThatâs as good as saying nothing.â
Leuk San frowned and said, âAnd not only have you entered Ghost Lake, I have also entered Ghost Lake, Yang Jian has figured out the killing pattern of Ghost Lake, and if activated intentionally, you can also enter Ghost Lake.â
âWe all have ways to enter Ghost Lake.â
âReally? But after entering Ghost Lake, you likely would die, wouldnât you? Cao Yangâs downfall was possibly because of this reason. That lake water should not be ventured into lightly, otherwise, even a captain-level ghost controller would drown in the lake water. To solve it, there are just two methods.â
âEither pull the ghost into the real world, or enter the supernatural space where the ghost is, but the premise is not to trigger the ghostâs killing pattern, otherwise you might not be able to handle it once inside and perish there.â
After Shen Lin finished speaking, he looked at the three of them and said the most important thing: âI have clues on how to enter Ghost Lake without triggering the killing pattern.â
âJust say it, donât hide anything.â
Yang Jian said in a deep voice, âDo you think we have the patience to chat with you here?â
âTrue, I need to change my slow nature.â
Shen Lin said, âThen Iâll say it straightforwardly, after entering Ghost Lake, I saw a river leading to Ghost Lake. That river exists both in the supernatural space and extends into reality. If my guess is correct, the Ghost Lake incident originated from that river.â
âAre you saying the lake water from Ghost Lake came into reality through that river, thus brewing the supernatural incident? If we find that river and follow it upstream, we can smoothly enter Ghost Lake?â Yang Jian immediately understood Shen Linâs point.
Li Jun was a bit anxious, âWhereâs that river?â
Shen Lin pointed ahead with his hand, âThat direction.â
âThen what are we waiting for? Letâs go.â
Yang Jian didnât waste time and immediately deployed the Ghost Domain, taking everyone in the direction Shen Lin pointed.
Soon.
They temporarily left the city center of Zhongzhou City and arrived at the outskirts.
Indeed, there was a river here, not large nor small, the river water was murky and cold, and faintly there were a few corpses floating in the water. Around the corpses, there were no maggots or flies, just a faint corpse odor.
âThis river indeed has problems, is this the place?â Yang Jian stopped and looked at Shen Lin.
Shen Lin said, âItâs this river, but itâs just one of the places affected by paranormal phenomena, not the correct connection point; itâs further ahead.â
After finishing, he pointed again with his hand.
In the distance.
A small town came into everyoneâs sight.
It was a relatively historical town, with green bricks and gray tiles, stone-paved roads, and faintly many colored lanterns hanging on the houses, full of ancient charm.
âAh Hong, check it out.â Li Jun immediately said.
Ah Hong quickly started checking the information, and shortly said, âThatâs Pingâan Ancient Town, a characteristic tourist town heavily developed by Zhongzhou City in recent yearsâŠâ
She quickly recited the information about the town.
âBased on the information, thereâs nothing weird about it.â Li Jun looked at the others, âDo you have any other opinions?â
Leuk San frowned, âA town with historical significance is out of the ordinary.â
âIts history can be traced back to the Republic of China period, not recently built,â
Yang Jian suddenly said, âThe source of Ghost Lake is coming from there, the town must be unusual.â
Sure enough.
The most worrying thing still happened.
The Ghost Lake incident isnât accidental but involves an ancient town.
This makes things complicated.
âThere have already been many tourists visiting there without any problems before.â Ah Hong said.
Yang Jian said, âBefore the Door Knocking Ghost incidents appeared in Dachang City, I was just attending classes at school, without any problems either, but after leaving, it was a different story.â
âNow people still reside in the town, including old residents of the ancient town, tourists temporarily staying there, and some citizens from Zhongzhou City.â
Li Junâs gaze slightly tightened, âWeâve got to evacuate all those people.â
âThe matter isnât certain yet; evacuating them is not urgent, letâs go over and see first.â Yang Jian said.
Leuk San said, âI agree, nothingâs happened over there so far, why should we disrupt the balance unnecessarily? If something does happen, evacuating people later isnât too late. With Yang Jianâs means, he can empty a city in seconds, let alone a town.â
âWhat if supernatural interference occurs?â Liu Jun said.
âSupernatural interference has already occurred.â
Yang Jian, with ghost eyes watching, saw some buildings in the town becoming distorted, the vision was affected by something, and it seemed like something special was mixed in the town, but the influence wasnât severe; he couldnât conclude whether there was a ghost in the town or if there was an elder ghost controller present.
âGoing over there will make everything clear; the source is in that ancient town. Maybe weâll find some clues.â Shen Lin said.
âLetâs act together.â Li Jun reminded them.
Soon.
They walked along the road paved with bluestone slabs, arriving at the stone archway at the front of the town.
Taiping Ancient Town.
The archway is new, a modern construction built in recent years for Taiping Ancient Town, not the old archway.
Without hesitating further, they directly entered this ancient town.
The town had some newly constructed streets, but when Zhongzhou City initially funded the construction of this town, they preserved the historical appearance of the town, with some old streets and old buildings well preserved.
The few people seemed to sense something, or as if drawn by something, although they didnât know the way, they all moved towards the old streets of Taiping Ancient Town, heading in the same direction.
âSeems there really is something unusual here, you must feel it too, right?â Leuk San lowly murmured.
âYes.â The others replied softly.
Yang Jian said, âFeng Quan, donât come along, stay in the newly built streets, just in case, I need someone to respond outside.â
âUnderstood.â Feng Quan didnât say much, just nodded and turned away.
Because as they continued forward.
They saw another archway.
Also made of stone but eroded by wind and sun, this archway was heavily weathered and worn, blackened and old, with missing parts, even the words âTaiping Ancient Townâ were blurred, at a glance resembling âShikou Town.â
However, this town seemed less affected by Zhongzhou City.
It still had a lot of vitality.
There were pedestrians on the streets, along with some open shops.
âThis place being so close to Zhongzhou City isnât sealed off?â Li Jun said a bit in surprise.
Ah Hong said, âDownstream cities where incidents have occurred havenât been sealed off, and although this place is close it hasnât had incidents, hence itâs not sealed off.â
âI see.â Li Jun nodded, understanding now.
The influence range of Ghost Lake is too large. If itâs simply because of proximity, then who knows how many cities would need to be sealed off.
At this moment, Yang Jian was walking through this ancient town. His ghost eyes peered everywhere, able to see many things ordinary people couldnât.
However, he hadnât found anything particularly unusual yet.
This place seemed just like any ordinary tourist town, unremarkable, but from observing outside the town, there was indeed something wrong here. Just what the issue was still needed some exploration to uncover.
At this moment.
Yang Jian saw a young couple walking towards him on the street of the ancient town.
Ghost eyes glanced.
Confirmed without mistake, these were just two ordinary people, nothing strange about them.
However.
Yang Jianâs ghost eyes suddenly noticed that the young woman was holding a mask in her hand. The mask was a toy and very new, probably bought at some nearby stall.
Masks like this are very common at any tourist attraction.
But what Yang Jian noticed was that the design of this mask was somewhat peculiar.
It resembled a human face, but with glaring eyes, appearing extremely angry.
This mask style for some reason reminded Yang Jian immediately of the two eerie ghost faces on Tong Qian, though Tong Qianâs ghost faces were one smiling and one crying.
Suddenly.
As the couple passed by Yang Jian, he suddenly stopped and grabbed the womanâs wrist, asking coldly, âWhere did you buy this mask?â
âWho are you? Are you crazy? Let go!â The woman was suddenly confused and began to struggle and resist.
âHey, what are you doing?â
Beside her, the womanâs boyfriend immediately rushed over, questioning loudly.
Yang Jian glanced at him, his gaze cold and dangerous, âIâm asking her a question, it has nothing to do with you, get lost.â
This man was taller and stronger than Yang Jian, but for some reason, he felt fearful at these words, instinctively wanting to escape.
Danger!
This thought surfaced in the manâs mind.
Suddenly, he stood there at a loss.
âTell me, where did you buy this mask?â
Yang Jian turned back to continue questioning, âI donât have much patience. Youâd better cooperate.â
âYang Jian, donât cause trouble.â Li Jun reminded.
Yang Jian ignored him and snatched the strange mask, âIâll ask you one last time, where did you buy this mask?â
The woman seemed scared by Yang Jian, hurriedly pointed to the street, âBought it on that street over there.â
âWhich street? Be clear.â Yang Jian asked again.
The woman said, âStraight ahead, over the bridge, on the street to the right. I forgot which stall.â
Only then did Yang Jian release the womanâs wrist and push her away, âYou can go. Iâm confiscating this.â
âWho are you to dare to steal?â The man beside her said angrily at this moment.
âWeâre investigating a case, hope you cooperate a little. My colleague has such a temper. If thereâs anything offensive, you can call this number to complain.â Li Jun came over, took out a badge, and handed over a business card.
The man took the card, looked at Li Jun, as well as Leuk San, Shen Lin, and the others beside him.
âThereâs no such way to conduct an investigation, I will definitely complain about you.â The man took the card and left angrily with his girlfriend.
Li Jun said, âYang Jian, are you always like this outside?â
âWhy care about ordinary peopleâs opinions? I havenât used supernatural intrusion to probe her memory, already showing restraint.â Yang Jian said indifferently.
Shen Lin looked and changed the subject, âHave you discovered anything?â
Yang Jian tossed the mask in his hand to him, âThis mask looks very similar to a ghost face I saw before. If no one has seen the ghost face, itâs impossible to create this kind of design.â
âIndeed, it doesnât seem like something a normal vendor can produce.â Shen Lin inspected it, scrutinizing the ghost face.
The maskâs style indeed exuded a kind of eeriness.
But it was just a strange style; in truth, it was a very ordinary item, nothing special.
âOver the bridge, right-side street?â
Yang Jian squinted his eyes, âHaving a bridge means thereâs a river. It seems the river you mentioned runs through this ancient town.â
âLetâs take a look.â Leuk San quickly strode away.
The group set off again.
Soon.
A stone bridge appeared about halfway down the street.
The stone bridge was very old, clearly having at least a hundred years of history. The railing was stainless steel, likely added in recent years; originally, there was no railing.
Under the bridge was a river.
The water was very clear and cold, just standing on the bridge, one could feel a chill rising from below.
âYouâre right; this river connects to that one outside Zhongzhou Cityâs suburbs,â Shen Lin said, then glanced ahead, âBut after crossing the bridge, thereâs no street on the right. You were deceived.â
After crossing the bridge and walking forward.
There was no street.
No street on either side, only old residential buildings, some with shops open, and pedestrians passing by.
âThereâs only this one street, no other street.â Leuk San also looked around.
Yang Jian stood on the road calmly, âYou think I was deceived as well?â
âThat woman wasnât lying.â Leuk San added, âHer words were true, I can tell truth from lies.â
âIf her words were true, then the street is also real.â
Yang Jian said, âQuite interesting, an invisible street within the ancient town.â
âWe came to enter Ghost Lake, handle the Ghost Lake incident, not to get distracted.â Li Jun said, âWe can revisit and investigate if needed; thereâs an order of priorities.â
Yang Jian replied, âHow do you know that this street isnât related to the Ghost Lake incident we are to investigate?â
âI want to check out that street. Are you interested?â
Shen Linâs eyes flickered slightly, âIâm not very interested. I will continue with Li Jun to confirm the connection point; if you want to investigate first, do so. Let us know if anything comes up. Since weâre in the same place, just inform us.â
âI want to stroll around the ancient town.â Leuk San said.
âSplitting up again?â Li Jun frowned.
âThe town is just this small, itâs no big deal.â Yang Jian said, âJust let me know when youâve confirmed the location; Iâll be there immediately.â
âSame here.â
âHope so.â Li Jun didnât say anything further.
Being captains, itâs sometimes hard to follow each otherâs arrangements, preferring to act according to personal preference, making unified command difficult.
âYang Jian, once Shen Lin, and I confirm the location, Iâll notify you. Maybe ten minutes will be enough, be ready.â Li Jun reminded once more, then left with Shen Lin.
He didnât want to waste time on this matter.
As for Shen Lin, it was unknown what he thought; knowing the street was problematic, yet he didnât want to delve deeper into the investigation.
Leuk San remained where he was, unmoving, but elsewhere in the small town, other Leuk Sans appeared.
His paper figures had already begun to explore every corner of the town.
Source: Webnovel.com, updated by novlove.com
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