The Terrifying Truth

Upon entering the Ghost Domain codenamed "Ghost Painting," the situation proved to be more complex than anticipated.

Everything I saw and experienced here was bizarre and unlike anything I had ever encountered before. Moreover, the information and intelligence I obtained from foreign archives were very limited, and some important information and warnings had even been intentionally omitted.

The information in the file offered Li Jun and the others no help whatsoever.

Everything requires us to figure it out ourselves.

They would never forget that this seemingly harmless Ghost Domain had already wiped out a top-tier Ghost Tamer team from abroad half a year ago, causing the disappearance of a large number of innocent people.

Otherwise, this incident wouldn't have been classified as an S-class paranormal event.

In the hazy, gray world, things that looked like ashes drifted endlessly, isolating everything from reality. It was as if one had entered the underworld, and the eeriness emanating from the silence made it almost impossible to breathe.

Li Jun, Liu San, Su Fan, and the other three originally planned to check on the situation of the Ghost Messenger, but when they arrived at their destination, they found that everything familiar had disappeared.

A village appeared before them, replacing the Ghost Messenger.

Everyone understood what this village truly meant.

The entire village, including its buildings, is part of the ghosts.

Knowing this, they stopped outside the village, not daring to go any further, because continuing would likely lead to an attack by the vengeful ghost codenamed "Ghost Messenger."

"Now it seems there's been an unexpected situation; we've reached a stalemate, caught in a dilemma."

A strange smile appeared on Liu San's sickly face, "The only good news is that we haven't been attacked by any vengeful ghosts yet. Both the Ghost Messenger and the ghost paintings are currently in a relatively peaceful state."

"But I don't think this situation can last forever. If something unexpected happens, we'll end up like that team from abroad, wiped out here. Even if we all have some kind of strange survival ability, it's hard to say whether we'll survive. After all, these are two S-class supernatural events, and nobody can be sure of anything."

Li Jun's expression was extremely solemn. The normal plan was to use the ghost painting's Ghost Domain to suppress the Ghost Messenger and then imprison them. If things went wrong, they would retreat immediately. Although he had considered the possibility of unexpected changes, the probability of that was not high.

Really.

There's no such thing as luck when dealing with paranormal events; what you fear most is what's most likely to happen.

"Li Jun, you're leading the team this time, don't you want to come up with any ideas?" another Ghost Tamer asked. "Leaving now shouldn't be difficult, after all, Su Fan is here, he should know the way out."

After speaking, he glanced at Su Fan, who was still playing on his phone beside him.

Su Fan slowly spoke up, "The way out isn't necessarily safe either; it might be the most dangerous option. But now I have a suggestion."

"Tell me about it," Li Jun asked immediately.

Su Fan pointed to the village and said, "Go into the village and imprison the Ghost Messenger."

"Are you kidding me? We could all die in there. You've seen the Ghost Messenger's files before," the man exclaimed.

"Originally known as the Ghost Coffin Incident, who resolved this incident?" Su Fan asked.

"It's Yang Jian. I've known Yang Jian for half a year. The first time we met, he was outside the village. At that time, he, Feng Quan, and another Ghost Tamer successfully resolved the Ghost Coffin Incident." Li Jun said, recalling that he and Yang Jian almost got into a conflict when they first met.

Back then, Yang Jian was a truly dangerous teenager; he's much better now, at least he's become more composed.

"If Yang Jian could solve the ghost coffin problem in the village, why can't we?" Su Fan looked at everyone and said, "Back then, Yang Jian had only controlled one ghost. Given the conditions at the time, if others could solve it, why can't our top-notch Ghost Tamer team? Or are you all scared by the Ghost Messenger incident?"

"And I feel like the way out is right in the village."

Finally, he put down his phone.

In the game, his character died no matter which path he took, or even if he stayed in one place, but he survived for a while after entering the village.

This made Su Fan keenly realize that that was the safest place.

"How confident are you?" Liu San asked after a moment of silence.

Su Fan said, "I'm not sure, it's just a guess. Who would dare to say they're sure about something of this magnitude? But I can sense that the Ghost Messenger have been suppressed, otherwise this change wouldn't have happened. It's the original state of the Ghost Coffin Incident. Back then, although the ghost coffin was dangerous, at least it could be used to imprison people."

"And what about the previous Ghost Messenger incident? It couldn't be imprisoned or restricted; it was a truly unsolvable supernatural event."

"The changes in this ghostly world may be worse than before, but there are also some opportunities for a turnaround."

Li Jun fell into thought upon hearing the suggestion.

Su Fan's meaning was simple: since the Ghost Messenger incident had already become so serious, there was no reason for it to become even more serious now. This change might be a good one, not a bad one.

We're just scaring ourselves.

"Su Fan is right. Although the information in the files has given us some intelligence, it could also mislead us. There's nothing to be afraid of. If Yang Jian can imprison the Ghost Coffin here, then so can we. We'll go into the village; at worst, we'll die there." Li Jun's face was grim as he made up his mind.

This mission must be completed. Turning around and running away might allow us to leave this place, but it would also mean losing the only chance to imprison the ghost coffin.

Although it's different from the previous plan.

But even the smartest planners can't anticipate every situation; they are the ones who make the choices.

Entering the village?

Upon hearing Li Jun's words, the others felt a slight unease.

Should we confront the Ghost Messenger head-on?

"I don't care. Dying a few more times won't affect me much. What if I win?"

A sinister smile appeared on Liu San's sickly face. His yellowish skin wrinkled like crumpled pieces of yellow paper, sending chills down one's spine.

"Then let's get straight to the point and get to work," Li Jun said.

The others remained silent, tacitly approving of Li Jun's action. They had no choice but to agree, having already joined the effort; backing out at the last minute would be difficult to explain to Headquarters.

After making up my mind.

The five people started walking across the road.

The village was unusually quiet.

There was no sound at all, not even the chirping of an insect, which was another obvious difference from before.

"What's that?" Su Fan suddenly asked, pointing to the gate of the first house he entered the village.

The old brick house was dimly lit in the main hall, but a figure could be vaguely seen standing inside, seemingly watching the five strangers from the shadows.

"A dead man who has hanged himself."

Li Jun's eyes flickered slightly. He saw a corpse hanging from the rafters in the dimly lit hall of the house, its feet off the ground, swaying slightly.

"That rope"

But then, when Li Jun saw the straw rope around the corpse's neck, his heart sank again.

That was the ghost rope that Yang Jian used to have. It was forcibly taken away by the Ghost Messenger when he was at the training base.

It's the same root.

Li Jun even saw that the other end of the straw rope was wrapped with gold, indicating that it was a real ghost rope, not something derived from it.

"The ghost rope in Yang Jian's hand is already in a state of awakening. Once there are no other ghosts to suppress it, the ghost rope will immediately launch an indiscriminate attack. But why is it so calm this time?" Li Jun frowned slightly.

He had obtained information about the Ghost Rope from Yang Jian.

"Is it because of that corpse?"

Finally, Li Jun's gaze returned to the corpse hanging in mid-air beneath the roof beam.

Perhaps it wasn't a corpse at all, but a real ghost.

The ghost rope and the ghost formed a delicate balance.

"Keep moving forward, ignore that thing, we only have one goal." After observing for a moment, Li Jun stopped paying attention to it and continued forward.

At the same time, he had a vague guess in his mind.

Since the entire village is part of the ghost coffin, the presence of the ghost rope here signifies that the ghosts within the coffin were dispersed.

Perhaps this really is a good opportunity.

They continued on their way.

In the third house in the village, they saw another person sitting in a wooden rattan chair. They couldn't see the person's face because although the person was sitting upright, their head was turned 180 degrees to look behind them, revealing a back of a head with thick hair.

The body was already somewhat decomposed; the hands on the wicker chair had developed lividity, and the feet appeared unusually stiff. A stench wafted from the house.

It was as if he had been dead for many days.

"Another ghost." Li Jun glanced at the corpse, his heart sinking.

The ghost rope from before, the dead body hanging from it, and this corpse with its head twisted—we've identified at least three ghosts in just a short time since entering the village.

"If all these things awaken, then we..." The heavily made-up woman's face showed unease.

Clearly, they could also see that these ordinary rural houses were not inhabited by people, but by real ghosts.

For some unknown reason, these ghosts seemed to be suppressed, and there was no movement at all.

But a ghost is a ghost.

Even if it doesn't move now, it doesn't mean it won't suddenly move later.

"We found the ghost coffin. According to the records, the ghost coffin is located in a house in front of the village." Li Jun looked ahead along the village road.

The distance isn't far, at most about a kilometer.

But every time I passed a house, the things inside made my heart pound.

However, not all houses are filled; some are empty.