Wen Jingyan's Yin-Yang Road can forcibly create a passage, and the black box given to him by the mastermind can also destroy the Ghost Domain.
However, he didn't dare use the black box lightly because no one had told him whether it had side effects. Such a powerful Supernatural Item would surely come at a huge cost.
The carefree time of slacking off didn't last long. One evening, Cheng Linzhou called each of the three men, demanding that they take immediate action.
Upon receiving the order from his superiors, Wen Jingyan had no choice but to take action. When they set out, the sun had already set halfway down the west, and by the time they arrived at Lan City, it was already getting dark.
Du Yan sensed something was amiss. "Why do we have to operate at night?"
Feng Qian retorted, "The bureau chief has come personally to urge us; we can't just stay holed up in the guesthouse, can we?"
Wen Jingyan also said, "Whether it's day or night, it doesn't affect the killing patterns of Fierce Ghosts, Fierce Ghosts are not afraid of sunlight."
Seeing that the two didn't understand him at all, Du Yan could only be more direct. "No matter what, nighttime is always more dangerous, at least visibility is limited. The Investigation Bureau should understand this too, so why are they urging you to take action at this particular time?"
Wen Jingyan was taken aback. His mind seemed to have caught something strange, but he still couldn't quite put his finger on it. His understanding of the Supernatural was different from that of modern people, and he didn't think there was anything wrong with dealing with Supernatural events at night.
Feng Qian was even more obtuse; he rose through the ranks thanks to his incredible good fortune and had lost his sensitivity in certain aspects.
Du Yan sighed and said helplessly, "I heard that the Investigation Bureau is conducting experiments on the fusion of humans and Fierce Ghost. If this results in the creation of even more powerful and obedient Ghost Tamers, then you two..."
"Bang--"
A sudden voice interrupted Du Yan's words.
It sounded like some monster was emitting a sharp screech, as if some terrifying creature was quietly awakening.
Wen Jingyan felt a strong sense of oppression and almost immediately activated the Supernatural within his body, creating a pale, circular path that surrounded and protected the group.
However, the oppressive feeling did not lessen in the slightest. The surrounding light and shadows shifted, and a grayish-white light was encroaching on Wen Jingyan's path.
The situation was far more dangerous than Wen Jingyan had imagined; at this rate of erosion, he could only hold out for a maximum of three minutes.
"Come help me quickly!" Wen Jingyan shouted, waking Feng Qian from his daze.
Feng Qian snapped out of his daze. The extreme sense of oppression he had just felt had instilled fear in him instinctively. His mind went blank for a moment, and he could clearly sense that some kind of terrifying horror was brewing around him.
"Damn it!" Feng Qian cursed under his breath, his eyes flashing with bright golden light. He put his hand in his pocket and gripped a strange die tightly.
He knew that this was not the time to run away or back down; it was too late to escape now, and he could only fight with all his might.
With Feng Qian's help, the gray light's corrosive influence on the Yin-Yang Road was reduced somewhat.
At that very moment, a fantastical scene unfolded in the wilderness left behind after Lan City vanished.
Space seemed to be distorted and fluctuated constantly, with the phantom of a city appearing and disappearing intermittently. Then, a bright light shone from afar, covering the city, and the scene quickly transformed into a village.
It was a village filled with an ancient and desolate atmosphere, and it was difficult to see its entirety. At the entrance of the village stood two large black stones, one of which was already broken, and the other was engraved with the character "wind". The cries of women and infants could be faintly heard from the sound of the wind blowing.
This was the second time Wen Jingyan and his two companions had seen this village.
An indescribable sense of dread immediately gripped the three of them; they could not forget the strange things that had happened when they last encountered this village.
The scene before us was also bizarre and indescribable. Lan City seemed to have transformed from reality into illusion and been covered up, while the village had moved from illusion into reality.
Compared to the village called Wind Village that I first saw in the Starlight Cinema, Wind Village now felt more real and simple. There were no strange villagers gathered at the village entrance, and I could even see wisps of smoke rising from the village and faintly hear the voices of the villagers. It was no different from a real village.
This excessive realism sent chills down Wen Jingyan's spine.
It was evening when the three of them set off from the guesthouse, and the sky was already dark, but the Wind Village ahead was still in daylight, only the thick clouds made it appear very gloomy.
The world seemed to be divided into two sides, light and darkness, but it was precisely the side of light that was more terrifying.
"The Investigation Bureau didn't require us to solve the Supernatural events in Lan City; they just needed to understand the situation. I think we're completely incapable of handling this situation right now, so we might as well retreat," Feng Qian said decisively.
He was simply terrified, and he didn't want to hide his fear. He'd already seen just the tip of the iceberg of the Supernatural events in Lan City, enough to produce a hastily written report and get away with it. Why risk his life?
Du Yan nodded in agreement; he was more afraid and less willing to put himself in danger than Feng Qian.
Seeing this, Wen Jingyan nodded in agreement. Although he hadn't finished the task that so-and-so had asked him to do, he knew that since he had seen the eerie Wind Village, he would probably encounter Ghost Wall and be unable to get out, just like last time, so he wasn't in a hurry.
The three of them retraced their steps, and sure enough, they found themselves back at the entrance of Wind Village.
They tried changing directions, but nothing changed. No matter which way they went, they always ended up back at the starting point, wasting a lot of time.
As time passed, the Wind Village ahead underwent some changes, appearing like a giant screen with strange spatial fluctuations. In a daze, the distance between the village and them shortened.
"The village ahead seems to be moving closer to us," Du Yan said, his voice trembling.
"It's not that the village is getting closer, it's that we're being sucked in," Wen Jingyan corrected.
"It seems there's no way we can escape easily. Last time we encountered this village, we were only able to leave because the female ghost clashed with the village. Now that the female ghost is gone, we probably won't be able to run away." Feng Qian's tone was somewhat dejected and frustrated.
He was indeed very scared, but that was about it; he didn't break down emotionally because he had survived so many close calls and always trusted his good luck.
"Since we can't escape, we might as well face the predicament head-on and go straight in, so as to avoid any further changes happening in the village if we delay any longer," Wen Jingyan said.
Feng Qian nodded. "That's the only way."
After saying that, he lifted his leg and walked forward.
The three of them stepped into the strange village before them.
When passing by the village entrance, they discovered that the word "" on the black stone at the entrance of the village actually meant "Crazy", but because the stone was damaged, the strokes were missing.
The writing on the other stone was completely illegible, so the village came to be known as "Mad Village" by Wen Jingyan and the other two.
Stepping into the village felt like entering another world; turning around, the path I had come from had vanished.
A gentle breeze carried the scent of earth, and sounds from the village could be heard from afar.
Upon entering the village, the three saw villagers coming and going. Their clothes and appearance were reminiscent of the last century, and their faces showed the simplicity and a hint of xenophobia characteristic of rural people. They all looked at Wen Jingyan and his companions with curious eyes.
Everything seemed so peaceful and harmonious, completely unlike the Ghost Village I had imagined; instead, it exuded a kind of ordinary beauty.
Du Yan, who was the most nervous, subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief; the comfortable environment eased his overly tense mental state.
Feng Qian relaxed and looked around. In his mind, Fierce Ghost had no intelligence, and the villagers in front of him were clearly living people, so he naturally wasn't on guard.
Only Wen Jingyan his fists tightly, a chill suddenly rising in his heart and spreading deep into his soul.
It's easy to understand Fierce Ghosts can make the surrounding environment eerie and terrifying.
But if a Fierce Ghost makes everything in the Ghost Domain seem alive and vibrant, full of human warmth, and without any flaws or horrors on the surface, then that's truly terrifying to think about!
Just how terrifying must the Source Ghost be to create such a scene?!
Wen Jingyan looked around. He remembered that when he came here last time, there were many wells near the village, and there was an infant's corpse in the center of one of the wells.
However, when you look at that spot now, it's just an empty space.
"You two stay alert and don't let your guard down," Wen Jingyan reminded them.
"I see no danger at all. Do you see anything wrong with it?" Feng Qian asked.
"It could be a hallucination caused by the Supernatural, or these villagers in front of us could be Ghost Slaves, simply being controlled by the Supernatural and constantly repeating their actions from their previous lives," Wen Jingyan emphasized.
Upon hearing this, Feng Qian and Du Yan tensed up again, but looking at the simple and honest villagers, they didn't think they were Ghost Slaves at all.
"Should we try to probe them?" Feng Qian suggested.
"How do you plan to try?" Wen Jingyan asked.
Feng Qian said, "Ask them a few questions to see if their thinking conforms to the logic of a normal person."
"And then?" Wen Jingyan asked again.
"And then..." Feng Qian paused for a moment.
"So what if the test shows these villagers are all Ghost Slaves? Do you want to attack them, or do you want to eliminate them?" Wen Jingyan asked coldly.
"The current situation is relatively favorable for us, but if you attack the villagers or say things you shouldn't when communicating with them, it could lead to unforeseen changes, and the situation might not be as good as it is now."
Feng Qian seemed to understand, but didn't ask any further questions, simply obeying Wen Jingyan's words.
Wen Jingyan said, "Since the way we came is gone, we might as well go into the village and take another look. Maybe we can find a way out. If we're lucky enough, we might even have a chance to completely solve the problem here."
Just as the three were about to explore the village further, a "click" sounded behind them as a camera took a picture.
The three of them turned around in unison and saw a team of internet celebrities carrying various equipment, walking excitedly into the Mad Village.
Wen Jingyan's expression turned grim. He didn't care about the lives of these people who had mistakenly entered the Ghost Village; he was afraid that they would cause trouble, add variables, and ruin things, affecting him.
Du Yan whispered from the side, "Mr. Wen, this is a ghost-hunting blogger called 'Pinshishi' who's recently become very popular online. He became famous by selling a daring and reckless persona, but his character isn't very good. He's had a history of property damage and went to jail for hitting someone with his car, causing them to be dragged and crippled. After his release, he claimed that he was framed and underwent a curse, which is why he hit the person. Recently, various Supernatural events have been occurring all over the world, and he's become popular again by hyping it up."
The team that Pinshishi seemed to have been live-streaming the whole way. The live stream signal was interrupted after they entered the village, but this did not dampen their excitement.
Although the internet says that supernatural events are terrifying and can easily lead to death, the village that suddenly appeared in front of them was obviously very peaceful and quiet. The team of Pinshishi immediately relaxed their vigilance and even thought of things like "The Peach Blossom Spring".
If it truly is a paradise on earth, then their careers will reach new heights.
We can't miss this great opportunity. If the live stream signal is interrupted, we'll switch to recording, edit it later, and then upload it online to attract viewers.
At that moment, they stopped a villager at the village entrance and started asking him all sorts of questions, like they were conducting a street interview.
At first, the villagers looked a little awkward and embarrassed, but they still communicated with the online celebrity team in a very honest and simple way.
But as this online celebrity team started spouting more and more modern internet slang, the villagers seemed unable to understand, like a program encountering an unrecognizable instruction, only able to respond haphazardly. So the villagers also started talking nonsense.
Just then, a sudden gust of cold wind blew, and the environment became dark. The villager who was being interviewed on the street by the internet celebrity team turned into a sob, and then he collapsed to the ground as if he had suddenly fallen ill, his once healthy skin rapidly turning ashen.
The influencer team was startled and retreated hastily, but the streamer, Pinshishi, showed no fear and instead shouted, "Don't be afraid, everyone! This is probably just a scammer. We have cameras filming the whole thing; even if he dies, it's none of our business!"
The team was calmed down by his words and ignored the villager who had fallen to the ground. They started talking amongst themselves about topics like "bad people come from poor and remote places," completely unaware that the surrounding environment was getting darker.
"Let's hurry, something bad is about to happen!" Wen Jingyan reminded Feng Qian and Du Yan, and the three of them quickly headed towards the still-lit areas of the village.
The location at the village entrance seems to have disrupted some kind of balance, and this eerie village is gradually tearing away its facade of tranquility and gentleness, revealing a hideous and terrifying side.
During his walk Wen Jingyan noticed that the originally simple and honest villagers gradually became stiff and rigid, and they all turned their heads to look at the internet celebrity team at the entrance of the village. Some villagers even twisted their necks to a degree that far exceeded the physiological limits of humans, and their eyes were lifeless and cold.
An indescribable darkness spread from the village entrance into the village. In the dim light, Wen Jingyan seemed to see another side of the Mad Village: corpses strewn everywhere and a stench that filled the air.