A ghost tide... and a rescue!

The Ghost Tide... and the Rescue!

The situation is deteriorating rapidly, especially at this time of night.

Even knowing about houses and daytime, one cannot truly prevent the attack of the Ju-On; at most, it may have some effect.

But from a psychological comfort perspective, people are never too stingy with deceiving themselves.

Amidst the scattered tent lights and small emergency lights scattered around, and even the faint rumbling sounds emanating from inside the mountain gate, it seemed that there were quite a few generators, such as diesel engines, inside.

In a city already gripped by fear, with maintenance workers either fleeing or dying, leading to widespread temporary power and water outages, this isolated equipment was the only option for on-site power generation.

Strangely, given the scale of the power plant, where the rumbling could be heard even from outside the mountain gate, the power generation capacity inside must be considerable. So why are the lights on in this large temple nestled on the mountainside only sparsely?

Instead, the hushed conversations of some people nearby cleared up Tang Yuyang's doubts—someone in the temple had brought in shadowless lamps and ultraviolet equipment to irradiate the surrounding area at night with high power, trying to guard against these "ghosts" that were gradually becoming more and more visible to the naked eye.

He was taken aback when he heard that.

Especially when she glanced back at the black-haired girl in the group who was resting with her eyes closed, and recalled the "disintegration" process that seemed like a bad signal when the Spirit Entity approached earlier—

Sure enough, nobody's a fool.

To be fair, while it's not impossible that it was purely accidental, it's more likely that someone has encountered similar paranormal phenomena before, and this is some experience passed down through generations. That's why someone is now resorting to such a small, albeit reluctant, method.

Yes, it's not entirely useless, but it's just a "minor trick," better than nothing.

Looking at the scene before them, almost everyone had a copy of a simplified Buddhist scripture laid out in front of them. They were being handed out for free by the armed police officers at the mountain gate, and each person received a copy. The scripture still smelled of freshly printed ink.

Many people, even while fleeing, made sure to bring out the sacred objects they worshipped at home, such as the vajra, the Great Deity, ancient swords, and Bodhisattva statues, clutching them tightly in their hands, as if hoping for divine protection.

In comparison, carrying a plain, gray stone sculpture like this in their group was nothing special.

Unfortunately, when facing a real vengeful ghost, these little tricks are nothing more than delaying the inevitable or simply a psychological effect, but ultimately cannot change the outcome.

Not daring to be careless, everyone continued to take turns keeping watch at night. Even the increasingly large "teams" around them, seemingly uneasy, also arranged for guards in the same way.

But it wasn't even midnight yet, and the same group of people nearby were already engaged in quiet, noisy conversation.

One of the men on night watch noticed something inside the tent: the light reflected off the tent surface, revealing patches of dark "water" that had somehow appeared and were slowly dripping down!

Knowing something was wrong, screams and howls erupted as soon as they opened the door!

The person inside the tent had vanished without a trace, leaving only splattered blood on the ground! It spread from the ground to the tent ceiling, as if something inside had been torn to pieces alive!

Unfortunately, ignoring the theoretical awe-inspiring presence of the nearby large temple adorned with lotus patterns, the vengeful Spiriting Away " joke has once again come to pass.

Regardless of how the people in the relevant teams reacted, at least the people stationed around the area hurriedly avoided this tent, treating it like the plague, clearly feeling it was bad luck.

There was also a slight commotion on Tang Yuyang's side.

It wasn't the users' reaction, but rather that after arriving here and witnessing the terror brought by the vengeful ghosts more and more clearly along the way, these students who were fortunate enough to be sheltered by the ghosts were becoming increasingly restless, facing the fact that their families might be in such a dangerous situation at any moment.

Yet, there was nothing that could be done.

Nothing could be more agonizing than this situation.

Let alone them, even for the users themselves, after these seemingly bloodless days of intense psychological pressure and desperate struggle for survival, almost everyone's eyes were sunken and their cheekbones had become more angular. At the same time, most of them felt a transformative change in their consciousness and spirit under the high pressure!

Just like those who have crawled through shell craters in trenches, they have already acquired more of the characteristics of a "veteran".

While they were on guard, soon, they heard a series of sounds from inside the temple, including abruptly cut-off screams, cries of pain, and even gunshots.

This is not good.

Almost everyone abandoned the rest and looked around.

It must be said that being among a crowd has this advantage: when danger approaches, there's always a relatively direct "comparison group."

--And to distribute firepower.

However, he noticed the crucial "central figure" in the group, who, upon noticing the commotion, opened his eyes and asked Du Cuiying beside him somewhat uneasily, "Auntie, why don't we just—"

The exchange of feelings between minds is often faster than that of words.

Even if it's just First Tier enhancement, the ability only remains at the level of vague thought contact. However, the middle-aged woman being questioned immediately understood the other party's "intention" and waved her hand to interrupt Sadako's question.

"We can't actually save them, and neither can you."

"----In fact, you might be one of the culprits who will kill them in seven days----"

The latter half of the sigh was naturally not uttered, but even so, the complex emotions hidden beneath the deliberate concealment were still somewhat captured by the black-haired girl in front of her.

In just a few days, from initial unfamiliarity and resistance to gradual spiritual communication and guidance, Ms. Du, who in comparison to Sadako, actually appeared particularly "weak," and the other users have all come to know each other to some extent.

After all, they are both "monsters" or "superpowered individuals" who are different from ordinary people and not accepted by worldly eyes.

After vaguely sensing the unusual nature of these seemingly "strange people" and the various abilities they displayed, this was the first time in her life that the living Sadako Yamamura had encountered "her own kind."

Especially so many of the same kind!

Similarly, even after a brief encounter, one may sense that the other person harbors feelings of scrutiny, worry, unease, doubt, or concealment towards them.

But to be honest, compared to the unprovoked "malice" between children and even adults from childhood to adulthood, these "kindred spirits" who always protected her were indeed the more friendly and reasonable type.

This is also why this young girl, who grew up in isolation, oppression, and low self-esteem, is still willing to continue following this group of strange people after gradually understanding her own "worth".

After all, even among these people, the sense of "concealment" seemed to be growing stronger, and some had even whispered and pointed at her, discussing something like "it might be a side story"—

But at least for her, the users who gradually learned how to control their own special abilities did not show much actual malice.

That's enough.

In contrast, even the users themselves probably find it hard to truly understand what kind of goodwill their superficial friendliness has earned for individuals who have grown up in gloom and anxiety.

Of course, there's no need to worry about these things right now.

After all, seeing the increasingly numerous, scattered, bluish-white figures moving about in the distance, the witnesses began to feel uneasy.

No one knows what will happen, but judging from the increasingly frequent signs of Spirit Entity that have appeared since nightfall, it probably won't be anything good.

Sure enough, as their numbers accumulated, as if reaching a certain limit, the Ghost Shadow of ghostly figures began to approach the temple on this side.

Along with that "clucking" sound, like someone suffocating, a strange mix of crying and laughing, it rang out in succession.

Clearly, for these locations where large numbers of living people gather, Ju-On no longer seems to be limited to elusive hunting, but has directly transformed into an open "attack"!

Looking at those Spirit Entity that appeared to be pale, female faces, upon closer inspection, one could vaguely discern another layer of different bluish-white human faces, men, women, young and old, of all kinds—without a doubt, these were the victims who had died under the Ju-On!

To act as an accomplice to evil!

At this point, naturally no one could easily remain calm. Those who were still stationed outside the temple almost instinctively tried to hide inside the more "safe" temple. However, the people inside the temple blocked the door with their bodies. Only the police, who were also hiding inside, tried to maintain "order" and block these newcomers!

It has nothing to do with anything else; it's simply a struggle for the possibility of survival.

Meanwhile, it was visible to the naked eye that many people inside the temple had already sat down close together on the ground, and under the reassurance of the monks who were also sweating profusely with tension, they began to chant the scriptures in their hands in a group!

At first, there were only scattered sounds, but as they grew bigger and bigger like a snowball, the voices of hundreds and thousands of people gradually merged together and became loud and clear!

It's hard to say what kind of strange operation this is, but in the end, there were indeed some signs of "fluctuation" among those approaching Spirit Entity, like ripples in water, slightly turbulent.

"What's going on? Can this scripture really be effective?"

His eyes widened instantly. Yong Qi quickly flipped open the book in his hand and confirmed that it was just an ordinary copy of the Diamond Sutra.

"No, it's more likely that on a large scale, through chanting scriptures together, or through synchronized actions and self-suggestion, these people exert a subtle influence, creating a certain degree of coordination and resonance, thus interfering with the supernatural phenomena around them."

As everyone remained puzzled...

With their eyes closed, Sadako Yamamura, standing next to them, gave a vague answer in a low voice.

Even though she has only developed some of her potential, as the naturally tallest person in terms of mind and spirit among them, what she can roughly see is naturally very convincing.

That being said, these bluish-white shadows, rippling around them, seemed to originate from some lingering influences from their past lives. They completely ignored the obstacles of the surrounding terrain and, like a stream of pilgrims, continuously converged from afar towards the temple gate.

The signs of what could be called a "ghost tide" were already beginning to emerge.

In the shadows and indistinct shadows.

Even though these scattered ghosts across the mountains and fields may not seem numerous at the moment, they grow stronger as the crazed Kayako continues her slaughter—what will the scene be like tomorrow, and the day after?

Just thinking about this made everyone's scalp tingle.

Regardless, for safety's sake, they followed the crowd and got up to move a little closer to the temple.

In the rush, something suddenly flew off a student with a loud cracking sound. A nearby user quickly picked it up and noticed it was a cell phone with a rod-shaped antenna!

How did you get this? I told you before! Don't you know the risks of receiving calls these days?

In a moment of surprise, everyone around had already reacted.

Considering the worldview of the Ring, sensitive matters such as possessing communication tools were explicitly prohibited for these students from the outset.

"I'm so sorry, everyone. I secretly found this in the body pocket of the car over here—I'm so sorry, Tokyo has become like this—I really, really want to know how my family is doing—"

Realizing his actions had been exposed, the dark-circled, gray-yellow-haired man had lost the arrogance he had displayed just days before.

Under everyone's gaze, he suddenly burst into tears as if he had collapsed. His eyes were red, and he was crying with snot and tears streaming down his face. He kept sobbing and apologizing, clearly under immense mental pressure.

It's not entirely incomprehensible. In a city that has gradually degenerated into a hellish place in just a few days, who could refuse an opportunity to risk everything and communicate with loved ones?

Looking at the guy who was crying and kneeling on the ground, Li Anshan didn't say anything, but just turned his gaze to the round-eyed man next to him.

Yong Qi also paused for a moment, shook his head, and didn't say much. After taking the old-fashioned communication device from Li Anshan, which could be described as "retro" by the users, he only glanced at it twice before turning around and throwing it far away!

That put an end to the kid's hopes.

Let's go.

As luck would have it, no sooner had he finished speaking than the thing that had just disappeared into some grove of trees in the distance suddenly rang out!

No, not only that!

At that moment, amidst the crowds thronging into the temple, and even among those already inside, numerous telephones rang simultaneously!

Clearly, many others share the same concerns as this blond-haired man.

Don't answer!

Within a few breaths, many of them suddenly changed color, clearly realizing the unusual danger from this "group call".

But it was clearly too late.

Even though no one else could hear anything in the already opened communication.

That illusory ancient well has already been quietly reflected in the bodies of these living people who have been targeted by supernatural telegrams!

The next moment!

In the special gaze of the "parties involved" and a very few others, groups of white figures, their wet white clothes, faces obscured by long black hair, accompanied by the sound of fingernails scratching the blackboard, quietly appeared all around—

Strangely, these human figures, which looked as if they had just been pulled from the water, moved slowly and stiffly, clearly unlike living people.

Despite the overwhelming aura of resentment and venom, it did not rush over as expected. Instead, it turned to face the large number of bluish-white shadows and temporarily stopped its actions as if it were in a standoff.

After a few breaths, as if a silent starting pistol had been fired, the Ghost Shadow, which looked quite similar, pounced on each other!

Long hair moved like a living snake, and in the pure, beastly tearing and ripping, fingernails scratched the skin, but there was no blood!

The unusual white shadows crisscrossed wildly, their constantly shattering Spirit Entity structures quickly turning into faint remnants like black bloodstains before evaporating again!

Users' jaws nearly dropped!

On the contrary, Tang Yuyang reacted faster. He gasped and immediately turned to look at the black-haired girl who was constantly being protected in the middle. After confirming that there was no obvious change on her side, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Cold sweat broke out on my forehead.

What's going on?

"You don't understand it, do you? That's right, I don't understand it either."

His fingers instinctively reached for the cigarette case at his waist, but Yong Qi stopped himself, his face grim, realizing the situation was clearly inappropriate.

"----But I suspect they were 'rescued' by Sadako?"