Gradual Revival

Under the dim light, they saw a bluish-black infant crouched beside Wang Shanshan. Its pitch-black eyes were studying them. At that moment, everyone was nearly scared out of their minds.

"Ah!"

Everyone screamed. Their terror completely erupted, and they instinctively fled away from Wang Shanshan.

"Damn it, the Ghost Infant can't attack me, so it turned to attack the others?" Yang Jian clenched his fists tightly, feeling deeply helpless.

He wanted to save her, but he did not dare approach.

The eye on his body could only see through the darkness within the ghost domain. Even protecting himself was merely an instinctive measure; he had no means of dealing with the Ghost Infant at all.

"Go."

Gritting his teeth, he almost instinctively wanted to run.

"Heh... hehehe... save... save me."

Wang Shanshan's face was twisted in pain. Like a dying fish, she opened her mouth and painfully reached one hand toward Yang Jian, as though it were her last shred of hope, struggling to cry for help.

Although Yang Jian did not turn around, the eye at the back of his head saw everything.

Seeing his classmate Wang Shanshan's agonized plea for help, he instinctively stopped running.

It was so similar to how Fang Jing had shoved him into the restroom before.

Wang Shanshan had not lost consciousness yet. Though she was filled with terror, in the face of despair, she desperately wished someone would help her.

If I leave now, how would I be any different from Fang Jing? Using a classmate's life to hold back a vicious ghost just so I can survive?

Yang Jian struggled inwardly. Wang Shanshan isn't like Duan Peng and Zheng Fei. Those two deserved to die. They wanted to kill me so they could live.

Besides, I should count as a ghost rider now. I possess the power of a vicious ghost. I'm no longer an ordinary person. Saving someone might not necessarily get me killed.

In an instant, countless thoughts ran through his mind.

The ghost eye behind his head kept watching Wang Shanshan—watching her face twist in pain, watching her arm slowly droop.

If he did not save her now, Wang Shanshan would definitely be strangled to death by the Ghost Infant.

"Damn it."

Yang Jian cursed, immediately turned around, and rushed over. Without hesitation, he punched the Ghost Infant in the head as it strangled Wang Shanshan.

If this scene were uploaded online, he would definitely be torn apart by keyboard warriors for violently beating up a baby.

The Ghost Infant took the punch, and one part of its head caved in, yet it was not harmed in the slightest. Its pitch-black eyes stared strangely at Yang Jian.

"Wah gaga!"

With a strange cry, the Ghost Infant seemed enraged. It released Wang Shanshan and pounced on Yang Jian. Its cheeks split apart, and its mouth opened beyond the limits of a human being, swallowing half of his arm in one bite.

Cold and sticky, it felt as though his arm had been sucked into a black hole. Not only could he not pull his arm free, but his entire body was being continuously drawn into that pitch-black mouth.

"Cough, cough cough."

Wang Shanshan nearly collapsed onto the floor, gasping for air.

Am I going to be eaten?

Yang Jian felt as if his body were melting. It seemed like all the flesh and blood in his body was flowing into that mouth. He would soon be eaten alive.

However...

A sharp pain shot through his arm.

It was like his flesh was being forcibly torn apart, like his soul was being ground to pieces.

The Ghost Infant let out a pained shriek and spat out Yang Jian's arm. Then, as if it had lost all vitality, it dropped to the floor with a smack and quickly crawled backward, seemingly fleeing. It soon disappeared up the stairs.

"Damn it, this feeling again."

Cold sweat poured down Yang Jian's face. The pain made his entire body tremble, and he could not help but scream.

The half of his arm that the Ghost Infant had swallowed was glowing red. Something had forcibly torn open his flesh, and one scarlet eyeball after another emerged from the wounds.

Previously, there had only been one eye on the back of his hand. After the Ghost Infant attacked him, a second eye had appeared at the back of his head.

But now, after being bitten once, four eyes had suddenly grown out.

The number of red eyes was rapidly increasing.

Perhaps that was precisely why the Ghost Infant had been driven back.

"Yang... Yang Jian, how are you? Are you okay?"

Having narrowly escaped death, Wang Shanshan was still shaken and terrified, but she knew that Yang Jian had saved her just now.

Seeing Yang Jian rolling around on the floor in agony, she asked anxiously and reached out to help him up.

Suddenly.

Yang Jian's struggling stopped. One arm abruptly stretched out at an unnatural reverse-jointed angle and grabbed Wang Shanshan's hand. That was not a movement a normal person could make.

No fewer than five eyes on his arm rotated as they all stared at her.

"Ah!"

Wang Shanshan was so frightened that she collapsed onto the floor and screamed.

But soon, the five eyes on his arm closed again.

Then Yang Jian's voice rang out. "I'm fine. Sure enough, being a good person isn't easy. I nearly got myself killed saving you. I still can't learn to be as ruthless as Fang Jing."

The pain rapidly faded. He stood up with a pale face, leaning against the wall as every muscle in his body twitched.

He truly did not want to experience that soul-crushing pain again.

"Getting bitten by that thing feels like my whole body is about to be eaten. Is this the power of the Ghost Infant inside Zhou Zheng's stomach? Terrifying. And that thing seems to be able to grow too."

Yang Jian looked at his arm. He could feel many things squirming beneath his flesh, ready to emerge at any moment.

The eyes' presence was growing stronger and stronger.

They really were reviving.

"I-I'm sorry. I dragged you down." Wang Shanshan lowered her head.

"It's fine. Saving you was my own choice. I just didn't want to become someone like Fang Jing, willing to do anything to survive. Besides, from the moment I was pushed into that restroom, I was already dead. Now I'm merely lingering on through the power of a vicious ghost. Every extra minute alive is another minute gained. Even if I hadn't saved you, I wouldn't live much longer," Yang Jian said.

After everything that had happened, he understood his situation.

"Don't stand around here. Come with me. If that thing comes back, we'll all die here," Yang Jian said through the pain.

Wang Shanshan said tearfully, "I... I have no strength left. I can't walk."

Yang Jian saw two bluish-black handprints on the back of Wang Shanshan's neck.

They had been left by the Ghost Infant, like tattoos stamped onto her body, especially conspicuous.

Moreover, the bluish-black discoloration was spreading outward, like an acute infectious disease.

His heart tightened, but he did not mention it. This was not the time.

The Ghost Infant had only been temporarily driven back by him. It might return at any moment.

If it attacked a few more times, Yang Jian felt that he would follow in Zhou Zheng's footsteps and die from the revival of a vicious ghost.

"I'll help you leave. You can still walk, right?" He helped Wang Shanshan to her feet and felt her entire body trembling.

That was caused by excessive fear.

She did not say it, but her body was honest.

"I... I can still walk."

Wang Shanshan spoke as her body instinctively leaned toward Yang Jian.

She was not doing it intentionally. It was merely human instinct under terror, seeking the protection of a strong man.

At this moment, Yang Jian clearly fit that role.