Crisis in the Corridor

The flashlight beam illuminated the darkness ahead.

A dark and deep road appeared before us, stretching into the depths of darkness, a place where light could not reach.

Standing at the entrance to this road felt like standing at the gates of hell; a strange chill had already enveloped my entire body without my noticing. Especially on both sides of this passage, the tightly closed doors of the rooms exuded an inexplicable sense of danger, making me fear that when I went in, the door would suddenly open and some terrifying supernatural being would rush out.

Even if every room along the way is safe, at least one thing is certain.

A ghost just appeared in front of us and collided with Lin Luomei's ghostly voice.

However, judging from this position, the ghost is currently out of sight.

But one thing is certain: that thing is still lingering inside.

Under these circumstances, Luo Suyī, Lin Luomei, and Xiong Wenwen were all tense, their eyes revealing fear.

Only a veteran like Yang Jian, who has imprisoned S-class starving ghosts, could remain calm in the face of such a supernatural phenomenon.

"Action."

Yang Jian's voice was low and deep. Although he did not activate his Ghost Domain, he still left a Ghost Eye on his forehead to observe the surrounding situation.

The others remained silent, not daring to utter a sound at a time like this. No one knew if speaking would trigger the ghost's killing pattern and make them its target.

I crossed that seemingly taboo passageway and stepped onto the soft carpet.

The surroundings were eerily quiet; there wasn't a single sound, only the sound of my own heavy breathing.

Yang Jian reached out and touched the wall next to him, then put it to his nose and smelled it.

It's very clean and has no odor.

It was eerily clean, without a speck of dust, as if someone had been taking care of it all along. The absence of any odor meant that no one had died in this passageway, or at least no one had been found with blood splattered and a body torn to pieces. Otherwise, there would have been some stains and odors left behind.

"We're about to pass the door of the first room." Yang Jian's gaze sharpened, and he moved the flashlight towards the guest room.

There was no movement at the door.

There was no sign of it being opened.

He continued walking forward.

"Be careful, Lin Luomei said before that there's a ghost here." Luo Suyī swallowed hard and whispered a reminder, because he saw that Yang Jian was walking very easily and was not nervous at all, and he was afraid that Yang Jian would lead the team recklessly.

Yang Jian ignored him and quickly arrived at the door of the first guest room.

The door has an old European style and looks quite old. Some of the paint on the door is peeling off. In addition, there is a brass room number hanging at the top of the door, with the number 1 written on it.

This means it's the first guest room here.

Yang Jian was looking for room number 13, which required walking further ahead.

Out of curiosity, Yang Jian tried to push the door open to see what was inside the room, just so he could be prepared.

But when he pushed the door hard, it didn't budge.

I tried again, but there was still no movement.

It felt as if I was facing a wall, not a door.

"Can't it be pushed open? Or is it that some special method is needed to open this door?" Yang Jian's eyes flickered slightly. He felt that perhaps using the ghost's abilities could forcefully open this door.

However, he wouldn't waste his time if his target wasn't room number one.

Keep walking forward.

Soon, they passed by room number two, room number three, and room number four.

Every room had the same door design, and without exception, none of them could be opened when tried to push them open.

"Yang Jian, can you stop playing around? I'm about to cry if you keep going like this." Luo Suyī's legs almost went weak when he saw Yang Jian trying to open the door like he was courting death.

They actually dared to do such a thing under these circumstances.

Don't they know that the more things you do in paranormal situations, the more dangerous it becomes?

The information we have so far doesn't say there's only one ghost here. If there are other ghosts in one of the rooms, Yang Jian is practically setting people up for death by doing this.

"I want to learn more about this place. Although it's a bit dangerous, I believe it's worth it," Yang Jian said calmly.

His intuition told him that Zhao Lei must have a reason for hiding here.

In other words, the danger Yang Jian faces may not be Zhao Lei, nor the ghost that altered his memories, but rather the place they are currently in.

That's why he wanted to understand this place more clearly.

However, ordinary investigations were clearly ineffective, and Yang Jian did not obtain any useful information.

"We're about to pass the first intersection." Lin Luomei turned the player's volume down to the minimum, then carefully played it back. "My voice encountered a ghost at the first intersection."

Upon reaching the ninth room, a small crossroads appeared ahead, with two separate paths leading into the darkness on either side. The paths were also lined with rooms, just like the ones they had passed before, all with their doors tightly shut and showing no sign of opening.

The room Yang Jian was looking for, number 13, was just ahead, probably only a dozen meters away.

But at this intersection, everyone stopped in their tracks.

The flashlight shone on the dark red carpet, and everyone could clearly see a series of light black footprints scattered haphazardly. Some footprints extended towards room number 13, while others extended into the darkness to the left and right.

"These footprints are very fresh." Even though Xiong Wenwen was just a child, she noticed this.

Yang Jian squinted and said, "It is indeed very new, as if it just passed by here. Moreover, the footprints are so messy that it's impossible to tell which direction the ghost went. If it blocks this intersection when we're on business, that would be terrible, since this is the only way back."

"But now is not the time to think about that. Now that we've confirmed that the ghost has temporarily left, we need to act quickly."

After he finished speaking, he walked even faster, without stopping for a moment, heading straight for room number 13.

Finding Zhao Lei is the first step in solving the problem.

Soon, rooms 10 and 11 passed by one after another.

A short while later, a door without a room number appeared in front of him.

The room number on the door looked like it had been deliberately removed by someone, and there was a nail mark left on the door.

Yang Jian felt in his pocket and pulled out a brass room number plate with the number 13 written on it.

I installed it and compared it.

They fit together perfectly, exactly the same, practically the original pair.

"What exactly is that ghost cabinet? It can even take away the room numbers here?" Yang Jian felt a strange sense of dread.

This ability is simply unbelievable and incomprehensible.

"Is this the place?" Xiong Wenwen, who was following behind, looked around the room. "I think we should be aware of what's inside; there's definitely danger here."

That's a good suggestion.

However, Yang Jian still didn't want to use Xiong Wenwen's ability. This brat's ability could save lives in critical moments, so he wanted to save it if possible.

"If we really encounter that ghost, I can handle it. At the very least, I can hold out for a while. The danger hasn't appeared yet, so it's not time to use my abilities."

After rejecting Xiong Wenwen's suggestion, he tried to open the door.

There was no intention to use brute force to break it open, because it had already been concluded that this door could not be opened by force alone.

Therefore, Yang Jian immediately used the Ghost Shadow ability.

The shadow beneath their feet gradually thickened and, in an impossible way, slowly rose to its feet. In just a moment, a headless black ghost appeared before them.

"The second ghost in Yang Jian."

Everyone felt a chill run down their spines upon seeing this.

Luo Suyī, in particular, stared intently at the headless black figure. He could feel the chilling aura emanating from it—the same aura that had suppressed the demon within him, turning him into a helpless chicken before Yang Jian, completely at his mercy.

"How did Yang Jian manage to control such a terrifying ghost?"

This question arose in his mind.

Logically speaking, the higher the level of terror a ghost is, the less controllable it is, because it is easy to lose control.

But Yang Jian actually did it.

"Get ready, I'm going to open the door," Yang Jian said earnestly, then controlled the ghostly figure to gradually attach itself to the door.

The Ghost's ability can not only piece together corpses, but also other objects.

Back when we were in the mall, this headless ghost had been used to create a human mannequin.

Yang Jian didn't need the ghost to damage the door; he only needed to open it.

Just as expected.

The door that couldn't be opened by brute force was easily opened by the ghostly figure.

A door creaked open.

But at that moment, as Luo Suyī was looking around at the back, the beam of his flashlight accidentally shone on a corner of the intersection behind him, which made his hair stand on end.

It was a person, a tall, stiff-looking person.

At this moment, the person was staring blankly ahead, his eyes seemingly already rotting, constantly dripping foul-smelling bodily fluids, and his steps were heavy, passing by like a walking corpse.

The flashlight shone on the person, but it seemed to have no effect on them whatsoever.

It continued walking forward on its own, ignoring Yang Jian and the others who were nearby, as if they would never have any interaction.

"Will they leave?" Luo Suyī's palms were sweaty, and his whole body was stiff from excessive tension.

Watching that person walk forward step by step, I thought I could finally leave, but then the worst thing happened.

When that person passed through the intersection, they stopped right in the middle of the road.

Yes.

It stopped, completely still.

"Yang Jian!" Luo Suyī screamed in terror.