[Burning Death Ghost]:
I was a Ghost Hunter who specialized in intelligence while I was alive. I liked relying on my own brain to solve complicated Supernatural Events. I obviously had nothing in common with you muscleheads who solved problems with brute force.
It's fine. I forgive you.
It's just an old habit. I still act the way I did when I was alive. Whenever I see a Game of Wits between ghosts and people in a Supernatural Event, I instinctively put myself on the humans' side.
[Burning Death Ghost]:
I'm just bored in this group. Surely I'm allowed to make a random guess? Otherwise, this group would be way too boring.
@Living Person Apartment
Since the President hasn't replied to me, I'll take that as his approval. I'll begin my theory on how to break out of the Ghost Domain.
[Infinite Floors]:
Shut up, you stupid pig.
[Burning Death Ghost]:
First, we need to figure out how a Ghost Domain comes into being. A Ghost Domain is a special ability possessed by high-level ghosts. With themselves at the center, they pull everything within a ten-mile radius into their territory. It's also known as an "alternate space." It's a standard ability for powerful entities like the Living Person Apartment.
Where does the energy that sustains a Ghost Domain come from...? Of course, talking about the conservation of energy in a Supernatural Event might seem a little ridiculous. Ghosts are immortal. Once a Vengeful Ghost has mastered its Ghost Domain to a certain degree, it can maintain it almost indefinitely, trapping everyone nearby inside forever.
Oh, sorry. I was a physics PhD when I was alive, so I used a bit of technical terminology. I hope you can understand me.
[Ghost Infant]:
@Living Person Apartment
Can we just kick this guy out already?
I think he's doing it on purpose.
[Burning Death Ghost]:
Since a Ghost Domain can last indefinitely, if I were an ordinary person trapped inside one, then waiting it out until it vanished on its own and escaping would obviously be impossible.
But don't forget: a Ghost Domain needs a ghost at its center to sustain it. And our dear President isn't at the White House right now.
That means we can draw a conclusion. The Ghost Domain around the White House is just one the President set up in advance, designed to activate automatically when an intruder enters. It can last for a while, but it can't continue indefinitely like a real Ghost Domain.
In other words, if I were a Living Person trapped inside the house, the only thing I could do would be to stall. Stall until the Ghost Domain outside vanished on its own, and then I could leave the White House.
Of course, that wouldn't be easy, either. Don't forget, there are Vengeful Ghosts wandering around inside the house.
Based on what I know about the President's abilities, I estimate that the Ghost Domain he left behind can last about ten minutes before disappearing.
Of course, that's already an impressive feat. The President can set up a Ghost Domain to activate even when he isn't at his Old Home. Still, an ordinary person could theoretically hold out in the house for ten minutes and escape the Old Home.
This is no longer a guaranteed death trap.
The Burning Death Ghost had actually figured out how to break the Ghost Domain, right under the eyes of all the ghosts in the group.
In one word: stall.
Just keep stalling.
To be honest, when Gao Tian read those lines, he started wondering if the Burning Death Ghost was actually a Living Person, too.
What sane ghost would suddenly show up while other ghosts were plotting to kill people, ruin their plans, and figure out a way for their victims to survive?
[Ghost Cave]:
If we hadn't already cleared the group out once, I'd seriously suspect you were the Living Person hiding in here.
Why did you join this group?
[Ghost Infant]:
It's fine. I'll go find him tonight.
I'll follow the connection over and see what he is.
[Burning Death Ghost]:
@Ghost Infant
Sure, sure. You're more than welcome to come over, gorgeous.
We're both ghosts now, so you can't kill me and I can't kill you. Life gets pretty boring.
It'd be the honor of a lifetime to have a beautiful woman come kill me herself.
[Ghost Infant]:
You're disgusting.
Do we really have to kill him? Can't we just kick him out of the group? @Living Person Apartment
[Burning Death Ghost]:
@Ghost Cave
I thought the President himself said the defenses he'd set up for the White House had no weaknesses.
I'm looking for flaws on the President's behalf, so he can prepare for all kinds of unexpected situations in advance.
What did I do? How did I become the target of your attacks again?
Besides, there aren't any Living People left in this group. It's all Ghost Users. Didn't you already test that when you sent out the Black Packet?
It's all ghosts reading our chat history. Who's going to leak these secrets?
[Living Person Apartment]:
@Ghost Infant
This person can't be kicked out just yet.
Don't worry. I've verified the identities of everyone who joined the group. There's no doubt he's a ghost, not a Living Person.
He's just a little foul-mouthed. Put up with him a bit longer. The end of all this is just around the corner.
Gao Tian stopped reading the arguments in the group. He'd already gotten the most important clue; everything after that was just nonsense.
He only had to stall for ten minutes, and the Ghost Domain outside would disappear on its own.
How many minutes had passed since the Ghost Domain appeared?
Gao Tian worked it out. The Woman Face had leaned down from upstairs and started killing people. Then Gray Wolf had been the first to panic and bolt. He'd charged outside despite the blood-red sky, and by then the Ghost Domain had already pulled their room into an alternate space.
At least five minutes had passed by now. That meant there were less than five minutes left before the blood-red alternate space outside began to fade.
Gao Tian opened his eyes and saw a huge shadow reflected on the stairs, on the second floor. It was still gliding slowly, like a giant serpent.
The air reeked of blood. At first, there had been people screaming and the sound of blood trickling down the stairs. But the Woman Face killed quickly. After calling out names a few times, she soon found the three people left in the house and killed them one by one. At this point, Gao Tian was probably the only one still alive.
The Female Ghost hadn't retreated to the third floor. She could still sense the presence of a Living Person in the house. But after searching the second floor, she still hadn't found anyone, and that was starting to make her restless.
Gao Tian lay motionless on the first floor, still waiting for the best opportunity.
Don't panic. The more crucial the moment, the calmer you have to be. If he moved carelessly, he might draw the attention of the woman searching upstairs.
Outside the door, the sky was still blood-red. They were still trapped in a prison held within the Ghost Domain; they hadn't returned to the Normal World.
No.
Gao Tian suddenly heard an extremely faint scuff of footsteps coming from beyond a pile of junk.
The sound lasted less than two seconds before stopping, but Gao Tian was lying on the floor with his ear against it, so his hearing was sharp. Even a sound that faint couldn't escape him.
Was there someone else alive on the first floor?
Gao Tian looked across the room. Then he finally saw it: something glinting amid the junk, probably a human eye. Someone was hiding behind the pile, with a piece of black cloth draped over himself. It was an excellent hiding place. When the Woman Face had slaughtered everyone on the first floor, she hadn't searched the floorboards, and had somehow missed him.
What was the guy's nickname again? Laizi? Or A Guang? Gao Tian couldn't remember.
The other man had also spotted "Zhao Qiang," lying on the floor and pretending to be dead. They were in the same boat now. All the other guys who'd come into the room with them were dead, and only the two of them were probably still alive.
The henchman hiding behind the junk and black cloth shifted slightly. He pointed toward the weapon in his hand, then up at the first-floor ceiling.
Gao Tian roughly understood what he meant. Staying here wasn't a long-term solution. If the Woman Face came back downstairs, she'd find him sooner or later. Since he still had a gun, he might as well charge in and risk everything, making one last stand against the Vengeful Ghost.
That would be suicide.
Gao Tian made a small gesture across the living room, signaling for him to calm down. Then he pointed outside the window, telling him to look.
The sky had been blood-red, and the moment anyone stepped over the threshold, the bizarre alternate space had burned and peeled their skin off. But at some point, most of it had faded away.
A few blood-red clouds still lingered in the sky, but the blue beyond them had appeared. The Burning Death Ghost had been right. As time passed, the Ghost Domain Xu Yuan had left behind couldn't hold on much longer. It was slowly fading away.
Gao Tian's gesture reassured the other man. Since they were returning to the Normal World, they could survive as long as they escaped the house.
At the same time, Gao Tian calmly tapped a few options on his phone, then slipped it beneath an old sofa nearby.
Above them on the stairs, the huge shadow, topped with a face as round as a disk, slowly grew larger.
Gao Tian and the survivor hiding on the first floor both realized that the Female Ghost had searched the second floor without finding anyone, and had come back down to look again.
He had to hold on. It wasn't time yet to drop the act.
Gao Tian closed his eyes again and lay half on his side, looking like a dead man.
Gigglegigglegiggle...
Hearing the clucking laugh draw closer behind him, Gao Tian knew the Female Ghost had arrived. The shadow cast by her enormous body wandered through the living room, passing the bodies she'd killed as she began inspecting them carefully.
When she reached Gao Tian's body, the Female Ghost stopped.
Her intelligence might have been poor, but she still found it strange. The other bodies had been torn to pieces by the curse, left in a horrifying state. Why was this one so well-preserved? It didn't even look dead.
The Woman Face lowered, caught Gao Tian's collar between her lips, and flipped him over. She dragged him toward a window where the light was better, to inspect him.
"Zhao Qiang...
"Zhao Qiang.
"Zhao Qiang!"
Perhaps instinctively sensing that Gao Tian wasn't quite dead, the Female Ghost called Zhao Qiang's name again, hoping to finish him off.
And right then, an unexpected change occurred in the living room, taking both humans and ghosts by surprise!
Before you continue