The slightly chubby man standing in the doorway seemed like a three-dimensional projection. The out-of-control Liu Mingguang passed straight through him without the slightest resistance.
He dimly sensed that something was wrong, but the Fierce Ghost had eroded his consciousness too severely. His mind was filled with violent killing intent, and he simply couldn't calm down enough to think.
Just then, the light around them suddenly dimmed. Darkness spread like ripples in water, sweeping in from every direction in an instant and devouring all light. Everything was shrouded in darkness.
The situation was slipping somewhat out of control. Hu Jiu frowned deeply. The darkness blocked his vision, leaving him barely able to make out vague outlines, and he had no idea what kind of ghost had been summoned. Fortunately, the ghost had set its sights on Liu Mingguang first.
They were still inside Liu Mingguang's mansion. Aside from the boundless darkness, nothing else had changed. Liu Mingguang stood in the doorway, apparently unable to see anything, spinning around like a headless fly.
Hu Jiu was preparing a tactical retreat, intending to let Liu Mingguang and the unfamiliar Fierce Ghost wear each other down before reaping the benefits. But the next second, his pupils contracted sharply.
A hunched figure abruptly appeared behind Liu Mingguang.
Liu Mingguang noticed nothing. The figure resembled an old woman, with graying, half-length hair and sunken cheeks. Her yellowish-brown skin clung tightly to her bones, her flesh dried and withered. She looked profoundly eerie and ominous.
Drip, drip~
An unidentified liquid flowed from the old woman and dripped onto the floor. The floor rapidly corroded, giving off a strong, foul stench that gradually overwhelmed the scent of the Ghost Perfume.
At the same time, everything around them began to decay. Black spots spread across the snow-white walls at a speed visible to the naked eye, and patches of plaster peeled away. The metal door rusted, then crumbled into reddish-brown fragments when a gentle breeze blew past.
Even now, Liu Mingguang hadn't noticed the ghost behind him. It hadn't actively attacked him, probably because he had yet to trigger its killing rule. But even without triggering the rule, close contact with a Fierce Ghost would inevitably have adverse effects.
When a human and a ghost shared a room, the human would be contaminated by supernatural power. Someone who encountered a ghost and survived would be more likely to encounter one again in the future.
Hu Jiu observed her briefly. The ghostly old woman seemed extremely terrifying. Merely standing there, she had warped the surrounding environment beyond recognition.
Hu Jiu withdrew the Ghost Hand and the illusion. The head of Liu Mingguang's mother fell to the floor and instantly decayed into dust, scattering like dandelion seeds.
With those stimuli gone, the satellite phone suddenly vibrated at that very moment. Liu Mingguang regained his senses for an instant and seized the fleeting opportunity to pull a test tube from his clothes. It contained a cloudy, pale blue liquid.
He drank it in one gulp, and the Ghost Perfume, which had been on the verge of revival, immediately grew quiet. His reason returned, but Liu Mingguang felt no joy at surviving the ordeal. All that remained was a fierce look in his eyes.
"Damn it!" Thinking of his mother's gruesome death, his heart bled. The violent surge of emotion caused the Ghost Perfume, which had just fallen dormant, to stir again, but he couldn't calm down.
His own mother was dead. How could he be rational?!
The ringtone sounded like a summons to the grave. Liu Mingguang impatiently answered the phone.
"Something terrible has happened..." The operator had barely gotten halfway through the sentence when a Ghost Hand suddenly descended from above.
Liu Mingguang thought the Ghost Hand was targeting him and instinctively dodged, only for it to reach straight for the satellite phone in his hand!
"Crack!"
The phone was crushed to pieces, abruptly cutting off the call.
Having done that, Hu Jiu hesitated no longer. Before the darkness deepened further, he quietly backed away, climbed swiftly through a window, and ran far away.
No matter what, he had to leave the dark area first. The Mirage Ghost's ability needed light, and an environment without it made it hard for him to use his advantage.
This sudden turn of events hadn't been part of his expectations, but there was no getting around it: not everything in this world went smoothly. He wasn't a genius, and being reborn hadn't made him any wiser. He couldn't account for every possibility.
Besides his advantage of foresight, the main reason he had made it this far was that he was willing to stoop low enough. He truly would use any means necessary, and his only bottom line was self-interest.
Liu Mingguang was even angrier now. In a furious rage, he cursed at the top of his lungs. Unable to see his surroundings, he was like a blind man, and his agitation had reached its peak.
Even so, he quickly drew on the extensive experience expected of a veteran Ghost Tamer. He swiftly deduced that the ghost was behind him and dared not make any large movements, afraid of inadvertently triggering its killing rule.
He had summoned a ghost to break the deadlock, only to trap himself instead. It was all because of that damned fucking idiot!
He didn't know how that person was doing. Was he hiding in the darkness, waiting for a chance to act, or had he seen things going badly and already retreated?
Liu Mingguang still couldn't understand when he had offended such a ruthless person, but it didn't matter. An irreconcilable grudge had already been formed, and as long as he lived, he would never let the other man go!
That was assuming he survived!
He had to get away from the ghost he had summoned as soon as possible!
Although the Ghost Perfume was temporarily dormant, the damage its earlier revival had inflicted on his body was irreversible. Liu Mingguang felt extremely uncomfortable. An eerie presence surrounded him, and his anxious heartbeat and steady breathing were unusually clear in the uncanny silence.
Liu Mingguang moved quietly, doing his best not to make a sound. He suspected this darkness was a Ghost Domain. Once trapped in a Ghost Domain, escaping was troublesome. Fortunately, he was still in his own home and was relatively familiar with it, so even with his vision obstructed, he could roughly determine where he was.
As long as he didn't trigger the Fierce Ghost's killing rule, he wouldn't suddenly die, and he should have a chance to escape.
The Ghost Perfume's abilities were fairly versatile, providing both offensive and supporting capabilities. As far as he was concerned, if not for the Ghost Perfume, he would have died in a supernatural incident long ago.
Following the route he remembered, Liu Mingguang headed outside. He had no expectations of Headquarters. The power structure of the domestic Ghost Handler Headquarters was extremely convoluted, and most Ghost Tamers wouldn't lift a finger without something to gain. Even in an extremely urgent situation, they would have to follow procedures in order and spend some time arguing. The so-called support might as well have been called corpse collection.
Duang...
His forehead collided with a wall, and Liu Mingguang's heart sank. Why was there a wall in front of him?
Was he no longer in his own home?
The space and objects within a Ghost Domain were controlled by the Fierce Ghost. Perhaps the Fierce Ghost had rearranged the environment. After pondering for a moment, Liu Mingguang changed direction and walked along the base of the wall, keeping a hand against it as he headed outward.
But the wall seemed endless. After walking for quite a while, he still couldn't see its end, and panic gradually welled up in his heart.