The Peril of Meeting Up

Yang Jian, holding the ghost candle, moved forward in the darkness, with the others following closely behind, preparing to use location tracking to rendezvous with the lone Ghost Tamer named Qian Yi.

However, due to oversights in the previous operation, a potentially huge danger has arisen.

It seems an unseen ghost has infiltrated the group.

The reason they were so sure the ghost was in the group was because Yang Jian was holding a ghost candle that hadn't gone out, so the ghost couldn't have strayed too far from them; it must be nearby.

Five meters away, the ghost in the coffin lurked in the darkness.

Ghosts follow him both inside and outside.

Every step was fraught with danger and despair.

However, Yang Jian managed to maintain the fragile balance with great difficulty.

Their team had more ghosts than their opponents and none of them were alone, so so far they had no casualties, which was the only good news.

However, as the operation continues, the demon hidden within the group may start killing at any time.

It all depends on who's unlucky enough to fulfill the ghost's conditions for killing.

Similarly, no one knows the pattern of how the ghosts in the group kill.

However, Yang Jian was certain that the ghosts he released did not have the basis for indiscriminate killing; they should only attack people who met certain conditions. However, these conditions seemed a bit harsh, since there were five people here, and none of them were attacked while they were acting together.

They can't control the ghosts in the group now; in fact, they need this ghost who infiltrated the group to follow them all the way.

After all, what's outside is far more terrifying.

The ghost candle in his hand continued to burn, and Yang Jian dared not let it go out. Only as long as the flame of the ghost candle continued to burn, this fragile balance could be maintained.

The group proceeded cautiously, everyone tense and covered in cold sweat.

Fear and death lurked nearby. They understood their predicament: if another accident occurred, they would all die here, with no chance of turning the tide.

Even Yang Jian was the same.

He had almost run out of resources.

The human skin paper scheme, the red and white ghost candles, the sealed ghost hand, the unknown ghost in the golden bottle, the impending resurgence of the Ghost Eye, the headless ghost's loss of control, and the potential threat to his own balance—it's fair to say that Yang Jian used every method at his disposal.

If he hadn't been so shrewd and hadn't made thorough preparations before coming to J City, he would never have gotten this far.

But after fighting this far, Yang Jian has lost everything, and he doesn't even know if he will survive.

Perhaps his life would end there, dying like everyone else in this supernatural event.

Perhaps we can still struggle forward and hold on for a little longer.

Five hundred meters is not a long distance.

Because I was being cautious and didn't want to make any mistakes, I walked a little slowly.

During this time, Yang Jian did not stop thinking.

He is still making efforts.

However, this supernatural event is truly unsolvable. The limited information and methods available at present are simply insufficient to sustain his survival. This has nothing to do with intelligence; rather, it's because Yang Jian lacks the resources to make mistakes.

"What other solutions can you come up with for me?" Yang Jian took out the human skin paper again, unfolded it with one hand, and glanced at it.

The writing on it hasn't disappeared; it's still that outdated design.

However, this plan had no chance of success. He borrowed a part of it and barely extended his survival time, but it did not solve the fundamental problem.

"You swallowed a ghost when you were in Huanggang Village. Can you swallow the ghost in this coffin now?" Yang Jian asked in a low voice after a moment of silence.

Besides revealing some terrifying information, the human skin paper also possesses the ability to devour demons.

However, this ability was only demonstrated once.

After that, Yang Jian, out of fear, forbade the paper-skin from coming into contact with the ghost, lest an accident occur.

The information on the parchment was not revealed; it seemed to have chosen silence as well.

"Is it impossible?" Yang Jian's eyes flickered slightly. "That's right. The ghosts here can suppress the existence of at least nine ghosts. Whether the human skin paper is a ghost or not, it will be suppressed. The ghost that came into contact with the human skin paper before was completely unharmed, which shows that my idea is a bit naive."

If the parchment could swallow this thing, he would use it without hesitation.

As for whether there will be any terrible changes in the future, he can't control that anymore.

"My Yang Jian. By the time you see this, I will already be dead." Just as Yang Jian was lost in thought, the previous writing on the human skin paper in his hand disappeared, and then another sentence appeared.

The opening remarks were exactly the same as usual, without any changes.

But Yang Jian pulled himself out of his thoughts and stared at the rest of the sentence.

"I tried a special method, and although it didn't go perfectly, I maintained a fragile balance, which bought me precious time to survive. But the real danger had only just begun. As I used the ghost candle to attract the ghosts and make them follow me, another Ghost Tamer started to join me."

The handwriting emerged, each stroke carefully written, seemingly revealing information for what would happen in three minutes.

"Once it reunites with another Ghost Tamer, it might break free from the ghost candle's pull and attack that Ghost Tamer instead. If it succeeds, the number of ghosts will reverse, the balance will be broken, and we will all die here."

"Damn it." Yang Jian wanted to curse at this moment.

The moment they meet up with Qian Yi, danger will strike suddenly.

They could very well be wiped out on the spot.

Thinking of this, Yang Jian couldn't help but stop in his tracks.

Five hundred meters is not a path to hope, but a gateway to hell.

However, the message on the human skin paper did not stop, but continued to be written, "But for me at that time, that contact was the only chance to survive. I realized that the ghost's growth was irreversible, but there was a glimmer of hope for survival hidden within that ghost."

"I must take advantage of that attack to take the initiative and extract something from the ghost. If I succeed, I can not only reduce the number of ghosts, but also potentially start the next stage of the escape plan. Remember, only reduce the number of ghosts; never try to imprison them, otherwise the vengeful spirit will reactivate, and everything will be in vain."

Below the writing is a pattern.

The pattern was a rhombus shape, but Yang Jian immediately understood what it meant.

Wang Xiaoming artificially created coffin nails.

He had spoken with Wang Xiaoming on the phone before, and this thing fell into the hands of this ghost, which is why this ghost had the ability to suppress three ghosts at the start.

"Reduce the number of ghosts, restore balance, remove this coffin nail, alter the ghosts' memories to make them misjudge their own numbers, and then split into two groups to light the ghost candles."

All the information clicked together, and a new plan formed in Yang Jian's mind.

This is also the ultimate plan that the paper parchment wanted to reveal.

But leaving this place like this remains a question.

However, the paper parchment contains a final sentence that reveals. "Behind the ghost lies the path to survival."

Um?

Yang Jian stared intently at the last sentence. He couldn't understand its meaning, but the human skin paper revealed a way out. Did this mean that if the plan succeeded, they could really leave this place alive?

After all, paper has never lied.

"Yang Jian, Qian Yi's signal is just ahead, about fifty meters away." Suddenly, Huang Ziya's words interrupted Yang Jian's continued thinking.

"So fast?" Yang Jian suddenly looked up.

He had clearly slowed down, even stopped, so it was impossible for him to meet up with Qian Yi so quickly.

Oh, right.

I almost forgot that positioning is mutual. Just because my side is slow to regroup doesn't mean that Qian Yi won't actively come this way.

But Qian Yi probably didn't know that the moment he joined them, he would be attacked by the vengeful ghosts.

Once the vengeful ghost succeeds, the balance of power within Yang Jian's team will be disrupted.

The dangerous situation described on the parchment was about to occur.

He didn't even have time to prepare.

No.

No preparation is needed.

Yang Jian immediately put away the human skin paper and turned around, saying in a deep voice, "You all need to be careful. When Qian Yi joins us, he will be attacked by a ghost, and that will be our last chance."

"What?"

Everyone else was startled.

"I don't have time to explain to you. I'll try to dismember that ghost and reduce its numbers later, but the process of contacting the ghost might cause some uncontrollable changes. It would be best if I wasn't attacked. If I am, you'll have to protect me from the ghost's attacks."

Yang Jian gritted his teeth and said, "If I die, none of this will matter. But if I live, you will all have a chance to leave this place."

"W-Can this really work? Directly confront that ghost? We have no way to imprison it, and it will launch a second attack," Zhang Lei said, sounding slightly uneasy.

"We have to do this, and we need to act before Qian Yi is attacked and killed. Otherwise, if that ghost gets into Qian Yi's body and the number of ghosts it suppresses reaches 10, we're doomed," Yang Jian.

They currently have the numerical advantage, but if they fail to reunite with Qian Yi, then the ghosts will have the numerical advantage.

With absolute suppression in place, all their abilities Ghost Tamer become ineffective, reducing them to ordinary people.

That would be a certain death.

Before anyone else could respond, Qian Yi's signal source had already overlapped with Yang Jian's signal source.

They were less than ten meters apart.

However, Yang Jian's field of vision is only five meters. Beyond that, he can't see anything and can only make out a rough outline.

He stared intently at his surroundings, scanning the area.

Really.

A humanoid silhouette was walking towards him from the front.

Qian Yi?

Yang Jian remained calm. Although this guy had ruined his plans, he couldn't die yet, at least not now.

But just as Qian Yi's silhouette came into view, another tall, stiff humanoid silhouette rapidly approached him from the darkness.

The target has indeed been changed.

The ghost candle's attraction was now at a disadvantage, and with a lone person so close to the ghost, the ghost's movements finally resumed.

"Keep up."

Yang Jian let out a low roar and immediately charged towards the two figures that were gradually merging in the darkness.

Whether they live or die depends on this.