The Smiling Corpses

Yang Jian lit the ghost candle, and the white ghost candle ignited with black flames, emitting a black light. The Ghost Domain, which was originally covered by red light, was now as if it were being eroded by a layer of darkness, and an indescribable feeling arose in his heart.

It seemed as if Ghost Eye were stirring, giving rise to a nameless fear.

It seemed that if this ghost candle were allowed to continue burning, something extremely terrifying would happen here.

The white ghost candle was originally a failed derivative of the red ghost candle.

While this ability to attract vengeful spirits is unique in a certain sense, it is also quite terrifying, especially when lit in such a haunted place. No one can be sure what it will ultimately attract.

If we're lucky, we might be able to lure out the ghost that's controlling Zhao Lei.

If one is unlucky, it may bring unknown horrors, and these horrors may not be just one kind.

"Ten seconds left! You can't lie to me, you have to put out this candle within thirty seconds!" Xiong Wenwen said nervously, looking at the cartoon watch in her hand.

Yang Jian's expression was solemn, and his whole body was tense. He did not answer Xiong Wenwen's question because he needed to concentrate and pay attention to any movement around him.

Thirty seconds is not a long time, on the contrary, it is very short, but at this moment he felt as if time had slowed down countless times, and the atmosphere brewing around him was so oppressive that it was hard to breathe.

It only took fifteen seconds.

Suddenly, a footstep sounded in the corridor outside the restaurant. The footstep was heavy, each step seemed to carry the full weight of the body, and there was no echo at all. Moreover, the footstep came extremely abruptly, not slowly approaching from afar, but appearing out of thin air.

Xiong Wenwen's eyes widened instantly, and she turned around to look in the direction of the back gate.

Without a doubt, the heavy footsteps outside the corridor were coming from this direction.

The ghost candle worked, attracting a ghost hidden in the hotel.

Only about five seconds later, the footsteps suddenly stopped. Through the dimly lit restaurant door, a tall, black human figure could be vaguely seen standing there behind the blurry glass door.

The black candlelight flickered.

It's unclear whether the shadows were cast on Yang Jian and Xiong Wenwen, or if an unknown person was truly standing behind the door.

"Yang Jian!" Xiong Wenwen screamed in fright, instinctively wanting to use her ghostly abilities to foresee the terrifying events that were about to unfold.

"Stay calm, don't do anything rash. I'm here, everything will be fine. You're in my Ghost Domain now, not just anything can walk in."

Although Yang Jian did not turn around, his Ghost Eye had already spotted the tall, black, humanoid figure standing outside the gate.

They were less than ten meters apart, separated only by an unlocked sliding door.

Without a doubt, this is a ghost attracted by the ghost candle.

But his intuition told him that this was not his target, because the ghost that was manipulating human faces was inside the restaurant, while the ghost outside the door was outside the restaurant, so it was very likely that they were not the same ghost.

Therefore, Yang Jian did not extinguish the ghost candle; he was still waiting.

The time has reached twenty-five seconds.

Just then, in the otherwise empty restaurant except for Yang Jian and Xiong Wenwen, a chair suddenly moved back a few centimeters in a strange manner.

The chair scraped against the floor tiles with a sharp sound.

Yang Jian suddenly looked in the direction of the sound.

It was the dining table that had just been used. The table had been empty before, with only an empty chair, but now that chair had been moved, and someone was sitting on it.

Yes, you read that right.

One person.

The man, dressed in leather shoes and a suit, was not clearly visible. The reason he was not visible was not because Yang Jian's Ghost Eye were not working, but because the man was holding up a newspaper with both hands, obscuring his face.

This posture is correct; it's exactly the goal I've been looking for.

Yang Jian's eyes narrowed suddenly. He instantly wanted to release the suppression of the ghost rope and directly use its resurrection properties to deal with the ghost.

However, before he could make a move, the noise behind him sent a chill down his spine.

Throughout the entire restaurant, one chair at every table was moved back in unison.

The next moment, people suddenly appeared on all the chairs where the commotion had originated. These people were dressed in different clothes, some were men and some were women, but their movements were surprisingly uniform. They stiffly raised their hands and each looked at a newspaper. Just by Ghost Eye at the back of their heads, one could tell that there were at least twenty or thirty people.

"Creak."

At that moment, the tall, humanoid silhouette that had stepped outside seemed to be drawn by the ghost candle and wanted to come in, and the sliding door was slowly opened.

The ghost candle had been burning for forty seconds, exceeding the thirty seconds set by Yang Jian.

If this continues, Yang Jian and Xiong Wenwen will face an unimaginable attack from a vengeful ghost within a minute.

"Fight or retreat?"

Yang Jian broke out in a cold sweat, two thoughts swirling in his mind.

Either take Xiong Wenwen and gamble here, and if they can hold on, they might have a chance to imprison the ghosts here, but they might also fall into the ghosts' trap due to their recklessness and die here.

Because of something strange about the hotel that Yang Jian didn't understand, he wondered if it might be a huge potential hidden danger.

"Let's give it our all."

After a brief moment of thought, Yang Jian gritted his teeth and made a rather reckless decision.

He intends to confront them head-on.

Because he still had a red ghost candle in his possession, which would ensure his safety, he felt he had the means to take a gamble.

Yang Jian immediately blew out the white ghost candle. As the black candlelight went out, everything around him became clearer.

But then he untied an old straw rope that was wrapped around his hand.

Normally, the ghost rope, which is suppressed by the ghost shadow, will immediately turn into a resurrected ghost once it is released, and will start killing indiscriminately. Moreover, the range is extremely large, which can affect several streets, or even an area. Therefore, every time Yang Jian uses it, he must cooperate with the Ghost Domain to suppress the resurrected ghost rope within a certain range and keep it under control.

Once a ferocious ghost becomes controllable, it transforms into a unique weapon belonging to Yang Jian.

"You actually carry a ghost with you?" Xiong Wenwen immediately guessed what was going on when she saw the rope, and took two steps back in fright.

Yang Jian grabbed him, stopping him from wandering off. "I know what I'm doing. Stay here and behave yourself."

Xiong Wenwen struggled desperately, but how could a child's strength compare to Yang Jian, who controlled the ghostly shadow?

Although he used the Ghost Rope, Yang Jian did not intend to solve the immediate problem with it alone. He only hoped that the Ghost Rope could solve the problems it could solve and suppress all potential dangers, so that he could concentrate on dealing with certain horrors that the Ghost Rope could not handle.

After the ghost rope was revived, countless old straw ropes immediately hung down throughout the restaurant.

These straw ropes have a noose on them, as if they were specifically made for people to hang themselves.

This wasn't the first time Yang Jian had faced the resurgence of the Ghost Rope. He could completely suppress it with his Ghost Eye, and even protecting Xiong Wenwen was no problem for him.

But the other so-called people in the restaurant were different.

The ghost rope landed on them as if controlled by someone, looping around their necks and hanging them up without any suspense.

Each person hanging there had their head and limbs drooping limply, their body stiff and making no struggling movements. Clearly, what was being hung up were not people at all, but corpses. Only corpses wouldn't have to worry about being hung up by the ghost rope.

But after the twenty-odd corpses were fished out, as the newspapers in their hands fell to the ground, the red light of the Ghost Domain aura shone on them in the dimly lit restaurant, revealing their faces.

The pale, dead faces wore a familiar yet chilling smile.

Moreover, these people didn't even know if they were really dead. As they were being hoisted up, all of them turned their eyes to Yang Jian.

They revealed eerie smiles, yet all their gazes were fixed on Yang Jian. This scene sent a chill down his spine, and an immense sense of danger enveloped his entire body.

Yang Jian recognized that eerie smile; it was the same ghostly face behind Tong Qian.

The problem is that Tong Qian has been out of contact for several days, and the ghost that can steal faces and tamper with memories has also controlled Zhao Lei to enter this hotel.

The two pieces of information are linked together.

The worst-case scenario has occurred.

"Xiong Wenwen, use your ability to foresee the future!" Yang Jian immediately roared.

"You're only saying this now? I thought you were really fearless."

Xiong Wenwen complained. He was already trembling with fear. If Yang Jian hadn't restrained him, he would have used his ghostly abilities after hearing the sound of knives and forks clattering against porcelain.

As Yang Jian spoke, Xiong Wenwen's face gradually turned pale, and her life force began to weaken, gradually transforming her into a ghost.

He still used his ability once.

Yang Jian realized that his initial attack had failed.

The ghost, having received Tong Qian's smiling face, has at least reached the level of a weeping grave ghost. This is an A-class paranormal event, and even more complex than a typical A-class paranormal event, because it is facing a composite of vengeful spirits.

Even the main characters in the Head Balloon Incident are still in this hotel.

As soon as Yang Jian finished speaking...

A chilling wind swept through the restaurant, swirling up the newspapers that had fallen from the corpses' hands. Each newspaper had a bloodstained side with the outline of a human face on it. As the blood-stained newspapers swept over, the mouths of all the corpses hanging by the ghost ropes split open.

"Giggle, giggle~!"

All the hanging corpses stared at Yang Jian, letting out laughs that resembled grotesque faces.

Visiting relatives is more tiring than celebrating the New Year. Updates will resume tomorrow, beginning the long journey of catching up on missed updates.

I'm really sorry for the lack of updates these past few days.