The Price of Survival
Yang Jian was already very clear about the effects of the Ghost Candle.
Just as Wang Xiaoming said, once the ghost candle is lit, the area covered by the flame is inaccessible to evil spirits, and people are absolutely safe.
However, there is another point that deserves our close attention.
The closer you get to a terrifying ghost, the faster the ghost candle burns. Under special circumstances, a single ghost candle may burn out completely in a few minutes or even tens of seconds, greatly shortening the safe time.
The ghost candle didn't burn this fast when Yang Jian faced the Door-Knocking Ghost before.
But the ghost was near that streetlight.
This burning speed is several times that of the Door-Knocking Ghost.
This signal represents only one thing: danger, extreme danger.
Yang Jian retreated almost without hesitation.
After retreating a considerable distance.
The burning speed of the ghost candle slowed down significantly, and the flickering flame, which seemed about to go out at any moment, returned to normal.
The sense of crisis is rapidly dissipating.
But Yang Jian's sense of crisis did not diminish in the slightest.
He had always thought that those were just ghost Ghost Slave in the Ghost Domain, and although they were dangerous, they were insignificant to him now.
Thinking back to Tong Qian's reckless behavior, Yang Jian couldn't help but feel secretly grateful that his previous vigilance and caution had saved his life; otherwise, he might have been in serious trouble trying to rescue her.
"So, this ghost is of a higher level than the Door-Knocking Ghost?"
"But that's impossible. If this ghost is really that dangerous, why would it appear within the ghost Ghost Domain of the Door-Knocking Ghost?"
Yang Jian's gaze shifted as he stared at the ghost standing stiffly with its back to him under the streetlamp.
Immediately.
The lit streetlight made him realize what was going on.
This ghost is not even in the Ghost Domain.
It has always been in a state of reality.
That's why the streetlights didn't go out and stayed on, and the area around the ghost wasn't affected by the Ghost Domain's domain.
And in contrast.
That ghost didn't enter the Ghost Domain, so it shouldn't have been able to see Yang Jian.
So, the Ghost Domain of the Door-Knocking Ghost actually protected them, preventing them from coming into contact with that ghost?
"What's going on in Dachang City lately? Apart from this Door-Knocking Ghost that I attracted, the other ghosts that have appeared are all incredibly terrifying. I thought they were just weaklings, but it turns out they're bosses." Yang Jian's gaze was grave. "Is there something special about Dachang City? Or is it a similar situation in other major cities?"
"Never mind that for now. To be on the safe side, if you see this ghost again, stay away from it immediately, no questions asked."
I took a breath and calmed myself down.
It turned out to be a false alarm.
The ghost under the streetlamp did not do anything dangerous.
He is safe.
Having circled around here, and traversed this area through a small alley, Yang Jian arrived at the other end of the Ghost Domain.
If he still couldn't find Jiang Yan here, then he would have no choice but to give up.
And at this very moment.
In the reality beyond the Ghost Domain.
Yang Jian had passed by that street lamp earlier.
Because of the lockdown, the streets here are deserted, quiet all around, and the shops are temporarily closed.
One person sat leaning against the wall with his head slightly lowered, his face injured and dripping with foul-smelling blood. But compared to his physical injuries, he seemed to have suffered a greater psychological blow, and he looked somewhat lifeless.
"I have nothing left but this life, so why are you still clinging to me and refusing to leave?" The man slightly raised his head and looked at the street lamp beside him.
The streetlights flickered faintly, as if there was a loose connection in the wiring.
But in his eyes...
He saw a ghost standing under the streetlight.
A ghost with its back to him, never revealing its face or features.
The person speaking to this ghost at this moment was none other than Zhao Kaiming.
He escaped the Ghost Domain alive, avoiding the inevitable death of the Ghost Knocking door, but he paid a price he didn't want to pay.
"You refuse to leave because there's something about me you haven't squeezed dry?" Zhao Kaiming's previous high spirits were gone, replaced by a cold, bitter laugh.
"You're a real demon! Because of you, I've lost so much. Since you're so terrifying, why don't you just kill me?"
Zhao Kaiming looked at the specially made pistol he was holding.
Without thinking, he shot himself in the temple.
He chose to commit suicide.
But no shots were fired.
The bullet jammed.
Zhao Kaiming cocked the gun and ejected it. A golden bullet fell to the ground, and then he continued to fire at his own head.
Still stuck.
Eject the bullet again and fire.
Still stuck.
He didn't fire a single shot even after an entire magazine of bullets was used up.
"Go to hell!" Zhao Kaiming's face was contorted with rage as he threw his pistol at the ghost under the streetlight like a madman.
The gun struck the ghost, but caused no damage; instead, it fell to the ground.
This is not the first time this has happened.
He was unable to commit suicide.
Because the ghost clinging to me wouldn't allow it.
He tried to pull himself together, but reality kept knocking him down, causing him to lose more and more.
"You still don't want me to die, huh? Fine, I'll live. I'll change all of this. I'll fight you devils one more time and see who wins."
Zhao Kaiming struggled to his feet and limped forward, using his broken prosthetic leg.
Just as he was leaving, his cell phone rang in his pocket.
"Hello, is this Zhao Kaiming? Your dad just had an accident, you need to come back right away," a relative's voice came through the phone.
Zhao Kaiming seemed to have been prepared, and said calmly, "Uncle, I understand. I have something to take care of today. I'll be going back in a couple of days to arrange my father's funeral."
After saying that, he hung up the phone, but his face was extremely ferocious.
I looked back once.
The ghost under the streetlight had vanished sometime during the night.
Just as he was leaving alive.
Yang Jian was still within the Ghost Domain at this time.
He rode his bicycle, lit a ghost candle, seemingly leisurely strolling through the streets and alleys, but in reality, his Ghost Eye were already open, alert to any movement around him, while also searching for Jiang Yan's location.
At last.
Suddenly, the Ghost Eye in the back of my head saw a car parked next to a clothing store with its headlights on.
It was a brand new luxury car, and through the windows you could vaguely see someone sitting in the driver's seat.
However, it wasn't very noticeable among the rows of vehicles parked on the roadside.
"Did you find it?"
Yang Jian vaguely guessed that it was Jiang Yan's car.
He had previously instructed Jiang Yan to keep the engine moving and not to turn it off or stop the car.
The purpose of this was to prevent Jiang Yan from being trapped in one place for a long time and waiting to die, and at the same time, it was also to leave her a signal to herself.
The vehicle is kept running, which makes it much easier to identify.
However, she was ultimately misled.
She had stopped the car at some point, though she didn't know when.
And next to the car.
Yang Jian also saw a familiar person standing there motionless.
It was his classmate, Qian Wanhao.
At this moment, Qian Wanhao's head was gone, and his body had turned black and rotten, emitting a stench of death, but he was still wearing the same clothes he had worn before.
As Yang Jian rode over on his bicycle, Qian Wanhao slowly raised his head and looked at him with his rotten-rimmed eyes.
"Have you become Ghost Slave?" He frowned deeply.
Originally, Qian Wanhao had a chance to leave alive with him and Zhang Wei when they were in school.
Unfortunately, he answered a phone call he shouldn't have, and as a result, the Door-Knocking Ghost found him.
"Since he's Ghost Slave, he's not much of a threat. Besides, he's almost rotten," Yang Jian thought to himself.
As he approached.
The candlelight emanating from the ghost candle had forcibly driven Qian Wanhao away.
Within the area illuminated by the candlelight, Qian Wanhao had to retreat, not daring to approach further inside.
Looking through the car window, Yang Jian saw that Jiang Yan was still driving with a tense demeanor, clearly still lost in her hallucination. Judging from this, it was impossible to tell how long she had been in this state.
"It's me, open the car door."
He made the call and told Jiang Yan directly over the phone.