Ghost Domain

"Zhao!" Wu Dahai shouted, but no answer came from the darkness.

"M-Manager Wu, why don't we call the police?" someone suggested.

Looking grim, Wu Dahai walked over to Wang Ziteng with his flashlight to ask for instructions.

"Young Master Wang, what do you think?"

Wang Ziteng's expression was exceedingly strange. His earlier anger had vanished entirely, replaced by an unprecedented mix of fear, unease, and agitation, along with a trace of ecstatic anticipation.

He seemed to fear something, yet also seemed to be looking forward to something.

Fang Xiu noticed Wang Ziteng's expression and immediately found it odd.

He must know something!

"Young Master Wang?" Wu Dahai called again.

Wang Ziteng snapped out of his daze. "What did you just say?"

"Young Master Wang, I was asking if we should call the police. That scream clearly wasn't normal. I'm afraid something's happened."

"Oh, yes, yes. Call the police, quick." As though remembering something, Wang Ziteng hurriedly began dialing on his phone.

But after a series of busy tones, the call still failed to connect.

The other employees began crying out as well. "My call won't go through!"

"Neither will mine."

"How is that possible? You can call the police even without a SIM card, but now it won't connect?"

"My phone doesn't seem to have any signal at all."

This sent everyone into an even greater panic.

One employee who frequently browsed paranormal forums even said shakily, "Could this be a Ghost!?"

Everyone talked over one another, throwing the scene into chaos.

Wang Ziteng's expression shifted back and forth. The lack of a phone signal seemed to confirm something for him, and he suddenly shouted, "Everyone, shut up!"

His status carried weight, after all, and that single shout instantly silenced the crowd.

For a moment, every eye was fixed on him.

The faint glow of his phone lit Wang Ziteng's face, leaving most of it shrouded in shadow. Combined with his strange expression, it made him look rather unnerving.

He swallowed hard and forced himself to remain calm. "Everyone, stay quiet. What I'm about to say is important! It will determine whether we survive!"

The word "survive" seemed to carry an unusual weight, striking everyone's hearts like a heavy hammer.

Beside Wang Ziteng, Li Feifei jumped in fright. "Young Master Wang, what are you talking about? What do you mean, survive? Don't scare-"

"Shut your mouth!" Wang Ziteng roared, frightening Li Feifei so badly that her face turned deathly pale.

He drew a deep breath, his voice trembling slightly. "If I'm not mistaken, we've most likely entered a Ghost Domain."

"Y-Young Master Wang, what's a Ghost Domain?"

"Don't interrupt me! There's no time to explain everything. I talk, you do what I say! Understood!?"

Wang Ziteng's furious shouting subdued everyone once again.

"Given my status and position, I naturally have access to things ordinary people don't. You can't even imagine the secrets of this world.

"Put simply, Ghosts exist in this world, and a Ghost Domain is a Ghost's territory. You can think of it as another dimension. This is a Ghost's world, a Ghost's turf!

"What we need to do now is escape this damned Ghost Domain. Otherwise, every last one of us will be killed by a Ghost!"

His words left everyone's scalp tingling.

Ghosts!?

Everyone thought Wang Ziteng was joking, but the terrified, twisted expression on his face suggested otherwise.

"Young Master Wang, you're joking, aren't you? How could Ghosts exist?"

"You fucking-didn't I tell you not to interrupt me!? Damn it! You useless bastards! If I were a Spirit Tamer and didn't need you to survive, do you think I'd bother telling you these secrets!?"

Wang Ziteng spoke with mounting urgency, as though a knife were pressed against his throat.

"Whether you believe me or not, fucking listen carefully! We've definitely entered a Ghost Domain. The lack of phone signal and the suppressed light are proof. Remember, only Spirit Tamers can deal with Ghosts. A Spirit Tamer is someone who harnesses their own spirituality.

"My cousin is a Spirit Tamer. He's the one who told me all this.

"When ordinary people face a Ghost, their only chance of survival is to observe its rules for killing, then do everything they can to avoid triggering them.

"So from now on, everyone follows my orders. No one goes off alone. Even if you need the toilet, do it right where you are!"

Everyone remained doubtful of Wang Ziteng's words. After all, they challenged the worldview they had held for decades. Until they actually saw a Ghost, any normal person would cling to the hope that it wasn't true.

Perhaps Fang Xiu was the only person present who fully believed Wang Ziteng.

Because his wife was a Ghost.

Still, Fang Xiu was puzzled. Although Wang Ziteng knew Ghosts existed, he clearly couldn't see them filling the streets the way Fang Xiu could.

If Wang Ziteng could also see Ghosts everywhere, he certainly wouldn't be panicking like this.

Although his performance was fairly impressive for an ordinary person, it was still nowhere near enough. He couldn't remain unshaken in the face of disaster, and there was no way he could survive in a world full of Ghosts.

But none of that mattered. What mattered was Spirit Tamers!

When Fang Xiu heard that only Spirit Tamers could deal with Ghosts, the flames of hatred began to churn within him.

Perhaps Spirit Tamers could see the Ghosts all over the world and possessed the power to fight them.

"Y-Young Master Wang, what should we do now? Shouldn't we run?" Wu Dahai asked shakily.

"We can't run!" Wang Ziteng shouted, as though something had struck a nerve. "Everyone, stay exactly where you are!

"Running around in a Ghost Domain is no different from asking to die.

"My cousin told me never to run around in a Ghost Domain, and especially not to look around or touch things carelessly, in case I violate a taboo."

"Then... what do we do now?"

"Observe! Everyone, examine your surroundings carefully and see if you can spot anything unusual. The Ghost hasn't attacked us yet, which means we haven't triggered its rules for killing."

Following Wang Ziteng's instructions, everyone began examining their surroundings.

Three minutes soon passed, but no one found anything.

Nor did anything dangerous happen.

This left the crowd increasingly restless and even more doubtful of Wang Ziteng's claims.

They even began whispering among themselves. Some thought a change in the magnetic field, or some unknown scientific phenomenon, might have caused the dimmed light, the lost phone signal, and the power outage.

As for their two missing colleagues, perhaps they had accidentally electrocuted themselves while trying to restore the power.

"Why don't we go outside and take a look? I kind of need the toilet."

"Exactly. There's no such thing as Ghosts."

Their whispers reached Wang Ziteng's ears, making him increasingly agitated.

He cursed inwardly, but he had no choice but to keep everyone calm.

Because he, too, was an ordinary person. His Spirit Tamer cousin had once told him that the best way to discover a Ghost's rules for killing was to sacrifice lives!

That was also why he had revealed those secrets to everyone earlier. By telling them the truth and gathering them around him, he could better test the Ghost's rules for killing and keep himself alive.

"Everyone, quiet down. I told you not to move around carelessly. If you need the toilet, just do it-"

Before Wang Ziteng could finish, a calm voice cut him off.

"The Ghost has appeared."

The calm voice seemed to hold some kind of magic-or perhaps it was the shocking information in those words.

Everyone fell silent at once.