Growing Stronger

From the moment Wang Bin put down the phone until now, every second had felt like a year.

Because he had heard the sound of his front door opening, and he vaguely sensed that something had entered the living room from outside. Every so often, he could hear ornaments being moved around in the living room.

It was like a mischievous child outside was curiously playing with things.

But every sound made Wang Bin's heart leap.

Thinking about that child being in the living room, separated from them by only a wall, filled him with an indescribable terror.

He did not dare open the door. He did not even dare approach it.

He was afraid that the child would appear outside the door the very next moment.

Yet some things had to be faced sooner or later. Passively waiting would not change that.

As the sounds outside in the living room came to a stop, it seemed that the child had grown tired of the toy-like ornaments inside. Then faint footsteps gradually approached, finally stopping outside the bedroom door.

"It's here. It's about to come in. Dad, Mom, get out of here! It came for me, I can feel it. Hurry, leave!" Wang Shanshan became agitated. She seemed able to sense the Ghost Infant's arrival.

"Daughter, what nonsense are you talking about? How could Mom leave you behind?"

Wang Haiyan wiped away her tears. "Honey, what exactly is outside? At worst, we'll fight it."

Prompted by that, Wang Bin came back to his senses. Suppressing the fear in his heart, he searched around and finally grabbed a clothes rack, preparing himself for a fight. The moment that child rushed in, he would smash it wildly and beat the thing into oblivion.

"No, don't, dad, don't! That detective said ghosts can't be killed. Find Yang Jian. Only Yang Jian has a way. Only he can save us," Wang Shanshan cried in terror, trying to stop Wang Bin.

But Wang Haiyan held her tightly.

"I already called Yang Jian. I promised him five hundred thousand to handle this. He should be on his way. Don't worry, it'll be fine," Wang Bin said nervously.

But at that moment—

With a click from the lock, the safety latch opened on its own.

The doorknob slowly turned. With a sharp creak, the bedroom door opened a crack.

Then the crack grew wider and wider.

The next moment—

A child's head poked in. Its pitch-black eyes, devoid of pupils, examined everyone in the room with a strange malevolence before finally settling on Wang Shanshan.

"Ahh!"

Wang Haiyan and Wang Shanshan screamed.

"Damn it, die!" Driven by his duty as a husband and father, Wang Bin summoned all his courage. With a roar, he raised the clothes rack and smashed it toward the Ghost Infant.

But the Ghost Infant ignored Wang Bin entirely. At an eerie, almost terrifying speed, it ran along the wall, then lunged straight at Wang Shanshan.

The Ghost Infant opened its mouth, splitting it far wider than any human mouth could.

There was no tongue, no oral cavity—only a bottomless black hole, as though anything swallowed by it would never appear in this world again.

It actually intended to swallow Wang Shanshan whole.

Seeing this, Wang Bin's eyes nearly split from rage. He was both terrified and furious.

Wang Shanshan and her mother, Wang Haiyan, huddled together in terror, screaming wildly.

But at that moment—

The bedroom light suddenly flickered and turned red. The bulb seemed to transform into a red eye, filling the room with an eerie atmosphere.

Bang!

With a loud crash, the Ghost Infant was sent flying and slammed heavily into the wardrobe.

Holding a phone, Yang Jian walked out from a corner of the bedroom. Red light radiated from his body, while scarlet eyes opened across his face and the backs of his hands. Each one slowly turned, staring at the Ghost Infant that had been knocked away.

"You didn't answer when I called. I thought you were already dead. I was about to report it and have someone collect your bodies. Business at the crematorium must be good lately. I wonder if there's a queue."

Yang Jian glanced at the Ghost Infant, his heart tightening.

Back at the school, this Ghost Infant had still been crawling on the ground. Now it had grown taller and could walk on its own.

This ghostly thing was growing.

What was written on that human skin had been right. The thing inside Zhou Zheng's stomach, the Ghost Infant, was highly unusual. Who knew what level of vicious ghost it would become once it finished growing?

Zhou Zheng, Zhou Zheng, you really released something incredible.

"Yang... Yang Jian?"

Hearing Yang Jian's voice, Wang Shanshan immediately raised her head. The terror in her eyes instantly turned to delight.

At that moment, Yang Jian seemed to have become her savior.

"You... you're Yang Jian? How did you get in just now?" Wang Bin asked fearfully.

"If I couldn't even get through a door, how would I dare take your five hundred thousand?" Yang Jian said. "You do understand the principle of getting what you pay for, Uncle Wang, don't you? This thing has already exceeded my previous estimate. As things stand, I might not even be able to handle it. So... you'll need to pay more."

He was not joking.

When he had only four eyes before, he could drive the Ghost Infant back.

But now, this thing could no longer be called a Ghost Infant. It should be called a Ghost Child.

Its level of terror had definitely increased as well.

It'd better not exceed the limit of six eyes, or I can only run. He glanced at them, already preparing to retreat.

They were neither family nor friends—just classmates. Yang Jian could not possibly throw away his life to save them.

Wang Bin was a smart man. Seeing the hesitation in Yang Jian's eyes, he hurriedly said, "One million. I'll give you one million, and there'll be an additional reward after this is over."

Yang Jian withdrew his gaze and sighed. "Another detestable rich person. I set the price too low before."

For one million, it was worth taking a risk.

That was simply the going rate in the country.

At once, he fixed his gaze on the Ghost Infant again.

The Ghost Domain was already open. He could not waste this opportunity.

At that moment, the Ghost Infant slowly stood up. Tilting its head, it studied Yang Jian with its black eyes. Its bluish-black skin carried the stench of death.

That kick had not harmed it in the slightest.

It had only been knocked back because Yang Jian had been in the Ghost Domain state.

Ghosts could not be killed.

Only ghosts could deal with ghosts.

Those two statements did not conflict.

Being able to deal with something did not mean being able to kill it.

"So what Zhou Zheng meant was that only a ghost could drive back another ghost?" Yang Jian's gaze shifted slightly. After encountering supernatural incidents several times, he had gradually overcome the fear in his heart.

Perhaps it also had something to do with becoming half-human, half-ghost himself.

"I don't know whether something like you has any reason or understands human speech, but what I want to say is this: I'm protecting this family today. Can you give me some face and stop here?" Yang Jian said.

But before he could finish, a bluish-black aura suddenly surged around the Ghost Infant.

The aura gradually spread. The surrounding objects began to be affected.

"This is... a Ghost Domain?" Yang Jian's pupils suddenly constricted, and his heart trembled.

Damn it, it was learning and growing.

This Ghost Infant was definitely not ordinary.

"This Ghost Infant is too strange. To be safe, I should send this ghost away first." Yang Jian's expression shifted.

Suddenly, the Ghost Infant stepped into empty air and immediately passed through the floor, falling directly to the level below.

Yang Jian also took a step forward. Red light flashed around him, and he vanished from Wang Bin and the others' sight.

The Ghost Domain accompanied the Ghost Infant as it fell.

Sixteenth floor. Thirteenth floor. Ninth floor.

Just before it reached the ground floor, Yang Jian withdrew the Ghost Domain.

Bang!

With a thunderous crash, the Ghost Infant fell from the sixteenth floor straight onto the ground floor. Its body flattened on impact, lying on the floor in an unnatural position.

Yang Jian looked down from above at the Ghost Infant lying motionless on the ground.

He knew the thing was not dead.

He checked the time.

The Ghost Domain was nearing its limit.

"I'll take Wang Shanshan's family out of here first. I'll think of a way to deal with the rest afterward." Yang Jian knew he lacked experience in dealing with vicious ghosts, so he could only proceed cautiously.

He immediately vanished from where he stood.

Shortly after he left—

The Ghost Infant, which had looked like a puddle of crushed flesh on the ground, slowly twisted its strange body and finally stood up.