The Choice of the Hesitant

Everything changes in an instant.

Chen Yi acted swiftly, completing the entire process from extinguishing the candle to attempting to light a new ghost candle in less than three seconds. However, even the fastest action could not prevent the occurrence of an anomaly.

The flame on his lighter had gone out, but he still gripped the deathly pale ghost candle tightly in one hand.

Accompanied by a faint stench of decay, a chilling cold that almost froze him came over him, constantly stimulating Chen Yi's senses. At this moment, he deeply understood that the ghost in front of him was affecting the surroundings, and this cold was not a physical cold at all, because Chen Yi himself was Ghost Tamer.

His body temperature is already very low, so even if he stays in a cold storage, he will not feel any discomfort.

But now, Chen Yi felt as if his body was about to freeze.

However, the surrounding ground and even the surrounding environment remained unchanged, showing no signs of freezing at all.

When Guo Fan turned around, his numb, deathly pale face was completely expressionless—a true dead man's face. The chilling aura emanating from him proved to everyone else that he was merely a walking corpse, so out of place among the other normal people.

But that's not the scariest part.

After a brief moment of shock, Chen Yi quickly recovered. His eyes narrowed, he took a sharp step back, and shouted, "Prepare to switch!"

"Received." A voice responded from the dimly lit surroundings.

These are the other Ghost Tamer assigned by Headquarters.

This ghost-luring plan was extremely dangerous. Considering the potential problems that might arise when replacing the ghost candles, someone was prepared in advance to provide backup.

"It's over." Upon hearing this, Zhong Shan's expression changed drastically, revealing a look of horror.

He didn't turn around, unaware of what was happening behind him; he only knew that Chen Yi was replacing the ghost candles at that moment.

I thought the handover of the second ghost candle would go smoothly, but my worst fears still came true.

At that moment, Zhong Shan suddenly turned around and looked.

His eyes narrowed immediately.

He saw Guo Fan and Chen Yi together behind him. At that moment, Chen Yi was holding an unlit ghost candle and preparing to leave. But what terrified him even more was that behind the two of them, five ghosts with synchronized, eerie, and terrifying movements were heading straight for him, ignoring everything around them.

"Damn it, Chen Yi, are you trying to kill me?" Zhong Shan wanted to curse loudly at this moment.

Because he saw that the ghost candle on "Guo Fan" had been extinguished, but the ghost candle in his hand had not been extinguished, and now that the replacement of the candle had caused a problem, he took over Guo Fan's role and became the ghost's "guidepost".

"We absolutely cannot die here."

Zhong Shan watched helplessly as the ghost approached him. He knew that the ghost candle in his hand could not continue burning, otherwise he would likely be killed in ten seconds.

After all, according to the plan, Guo Fan should have been the guide.

Only he could perfectly withstand the ghost's attack and successfully complete this journey.

Who knew this guy would cause trouble right from the start? Otherwise, things wouldn't have turned out so badly.

Immediately, Zhong Shan looked at the few remaining white candles in his hand and prepared to blow them out.

"No, you can't blow out the ghost candle now. If you blow it out now, the ghost will completely lose control," Chen Yi shouted urgently, noticing Zhong Shan's situation.

"I can't withstand this level of ghost attack. Continuing to let the ghost candle burn is tantamount to sending me to my death," Zhong Shan said urgently. "Besides, even if I stubbornly hold on, it won't make any difference. The situation is already out of control. You should understand to be careful."

Before he could finish speaking, his tone suddenly changed, revealing a hint of panic.

Chen Yi was retreating rapidly, suddenly froze, a chill running down his spine.

A stiff, emotionless hand suddenly grabbed his arm.

The chill emanating from the corpse seeped through his clothes and onto his skin. At that moment, Chen Yi felt as if his body no longer belonged to him, completely out of control, as if he too had become a lifeless corpse, his consciousness and thoughts about to vanish.

Guo Fan's ghost attacked Chen Yi at that moment.

As for the ghost's killing pattern, it's meaningless now.

Because the ghost has already started to act.

"Damn it," Chen Yi thought with shock and anger.

His slightly loose skin writhed, like an old rag, covered with spots, black and blue, like bruises or traces of decay, but mostly with the indelible lividity.

At this moment, Chen Yi used his ghostly abilities without hesitation.

The instant he came into contact with the ghost, he was almost killed. If he hadn't been a Ghost Tamer, he would be dead by now and would never be alive.

But even though he's not dead, he's still feeling terrible.

The skin on Chen Yi's body was writhing more and more violently. It was as if another person was attached to his skin. As he writhed, the outlines of his hands and feet, as well as the outlines of his face, were clearly revealed under his skin.

In fact, the skin wasn't his own.

No, to be precise, most of the skin on Chen Yi's body wasn't his own, but belonged to a ghost.

Ghost Skin Chen Yi.

This is his code name.

As the human skin on his body continued to wriggle, Chen Yi felt his body gradually regain sensation, and the chilling feeling quickly receded.

But that stiff, lifeless hand still gripped his arm firmly.

"Ah!"

A ferocious look appeared on Chen Yi's face, and he couldn't help but howl in pain.

The ghost skin paid a considerable price to withstand Guo Fan's ghost attack. At a speed visible to the naked eye, his skin began to rapidly turn dull, ashen, and covered with lividity. The ghost skin further eroded Chen Yi's body, and he felt his skin being torn apart little by little.

The pain of being corrupted by a vengeful ghost is like having your own skin peeled off from the inside out.

However, the heavy price did not bring safety. Under normal circumstances, the moment Chen Yi's ghost skin came into contact with the vengeful ghost, it would temporarily make the ghost leave, preventing further attacks.

But now.

The ghost Guo Fan released still wouldn't let go of him; the ghost skin was simply no match for it.

If this continues, Chen Yi will soon die from the resurrection of the vengeful ghost.

There is no hope.

However, being attacked by Guo Fan's ghost was just one of the crises he would face.

As Chen Yi fought desperately, the five ghosts behind him had already reached his side.

Whether it was because he was being attacked or for some other reason, the five ghosts did not attack Chen Yi again after they arrived at his side, but instead headed towards Zhong Shan.

No one could imagine what would happen after these five ghosts chose Zhong Shan Ghost Tamer, as their target.

But it's definitely not a good thing.

"Crack, crack, crack," a sound like bones snapping rang out.

The ghost gripping Chen Yi's arm was also drawn to the ghost candle. Its body turned numbly half a circle as if it were a machine. Its spine seemed to break, almost turning its body half a circle around, before finally turning its pale, bloodless face toward Zhong Shan.

The moment Zhong Shan was stared at by the ghost, he felt a chill run down his spine.

At that moment, he even felt that the ghost Guo Fan released from the memorial tablet photo was more dangerous than the ghost that walked out of the ghost painting.

"Call!"

Without hesitation, Zhong Shan blew out the remaining ghost candle in his hand; he dared not hesitate any longer.

That concludes the discussion.

The plan to lure the ghost, which had almost succeeded, can now be considered a failure. Both ghost candles have gone out, and even if more ghost candles are lit later, it will certainly not be able to lure the ghost forward as smoothly as before.

Just when the plan here failed.

In another unknown Ghost Domain.

Li Jun and his companions had exhausted themselves during their long escape and repeated battles with the ghosts.

Even though they haven't reached the point of the vengeful ghosts' resurgence, if they can't find a way to escape, it's almost certain that this group will be wiped out in Huanggang Village, this Ghost Domain world.

Moreover, with the encroachment of the ghost paintings, there are fewer and fewer places left for them to stay temporarily in Huanggang Village.

"The last house. We're back at the village entrance." Su Fan, standing in the group, was slightly out of breath, his hand gripping his phone tightly, his face grim.

After circling the village and narrowly escaping danger several times, the group returned to the place where they had just entered the village.

Before them stood an old, dilapidated brick and tile house.

The house's front door was wide open, and the interior was dimly lit. Through the dim light, one could vaguely see an old straw rope tied to the beam of the main hall, from which hung a corpse.

The corpse, with its back to the door, swayed slightly in mid-air, exuding an unimaginable eeriness and terror.

Without a doubt, this last house that hasn't been entered yet is haunted.

They now face a difficult choice.

"What time is it now?" Li Jun asked, his body reeking of burnt flesh, his voice hoarse as if he were a charred corpse.

"There are three minutes left until the next scheduled opening time."

Despite his constant attention to the time, Liu San's sallow face showed no sign of urgency; his calmness was somewhat unusual.

"This is our last chance. That house hasn't been corrupted by the ghost painting yet, and there's still a door there. We can't go anywhere else. We have to break into this haunted house, or we'll definitely die inside the ghost painting. Of course, if we encounter Ghost Messenger, there's a high chance we'll be killed by Ghost Messenger. Although Ghost Messenger won't kill lone people, don't forget that this thing can be restarted."

A Ghost Tamer named Xu Yiping said in a low voice.

Li Jun looked around with a serious expression.

A hazy, grayish substance, like paper ash, was floating in the sky. I took a closer look at my surroundings.

More and more portraits were scattered on the road. They didn't even know when these portraits had appeared. It seemed that they had been there before they came, but they just hadn't noticed them before.

Moreover, the things depicted in the portraits became increasingly bizarre, including distorted black shadows, cold corpses, and terrifying ghostly figures.

Each painting seems to represent a ghost.

The sheer number is despair-inducing.

A dark, haunted house; a gray, gloomy road.

Two worlds, one black and one white, make up everything in this village.

Those few who have struggled to survive until now are like wandering souls at the entrance to hell, ready to enter.

The only difference lies in which hell one is buried in.

The chance of survival exists, but it is small, and it is the only one.