The Team That Made It Out

There was only about a minute left before the door opened for the second time.

Li Jun thought that everything would be fine before the door opened. Although the old brick house exuded an eerie atmosphere, he believed that as long as the ghost painting didn't invade, his safety would be guaranteed.

To everyone's surprise, the moment we relaxed our guard, these teammates started causing trouble.

Seeing the body that had been hanging from the rafters now fall to the ground, Li Jun's heart leaped into his throat.

He recognized the rope lying on the ground. Although it was just an old straw rope, it was still a ghost. Once it was revived, it would immediately start killing indiscriminately. It hadn't caused any major problems before because Yang Jian had suppressed it, but after the last incident involving the Ghost Messenger at the base Yang Jian lost the ghost rope.

But what bothered him more was the corpse on the ground, which emitted a strong stench of death.

The corpse had been dead for an unknown period of time, and its identity was completely unknown; it was suspected to be an unknown ghost.

No, this is a ghost.

Only a ghost could keep the Ghost Rope calm until now.

Previously, the rope and the corpse were in a state of absolute balance, with both ghosts restricting each other and unable to move freely.

But now Liu San has personally shattered this balance.

"Forty seconds left." Li Jun's face was grim, and his tone was slightly annoyed.

It's no use blaming them now. A Hong has already lit the ghost candles, so it shouldn't be difficult for them to survive this last period. Even if the two ghosts in this house are active together, they can't possibly kill us all in such a short time.

He was angry because his teammates disobeyed orders and acted recklessly, posing a huge potential danger to the entire team.

If it were in the past, Li Jun would have wanted to kill Liu San with his own hands.

"I know. We'll act according to plan as soon as the time comes. Don't worry, I won't cause any trouble for anyone." A hint of doubt appeared on Liu San's sallow and sickly face.

His gaze lingered on the corpse on the ground.

"Professor Wang's conjecture is a bit crazy, but since we've come this far, we have no choice but to give it a try. Taking the risk is worthwhile, since we won't lose anything if we fail," Liu San thought to himself.

He wasn't the type to recklessly court death, but the offer from Wang Xiaoming was somewhat tempting, plus he received a ghost candle as a form of support.

So this minute is worth waiting for.

Now.

The red candle in A Hong's hand burned rapidly, its flame flickering in the cold hall. Time seemed to slow down, each second feeling incredibly long.

Although it was only the last few dozen seconds, everyone knew very well that once the anomaly occurred and the ghosts started killing people, no one was 100% sure they would survive.

And there's also the variable of "ghostly drawings".

The time was down to the final twenty seconds.

At that very moment, a change began to occur in the cold, gloomy lobby.

The old, blackened walls began to turn a grayish color, and the surrounding darkness peeled away like plaster. It was as if rain was falling outside the door, with countless pieces of ashes drifting in and threatening to spread in.

As the light changed, the group was horrified to discover that the muddy floor of the hall where they were standing had vaguely transformed into a giant picture frame.

The uneven ground resembled the wrinkles on an old man's face, outlining a horrifying expression.

Moreover, the corpse that had been lying there motionless began to twitch slightly.

"Call!"

The ghost candle in A Hong's hand burned even more intensely, faster than before. At this rate, it would be difficult for the candle to last even three minutes.

Although the ghost did not attack the group, all these signs indicated that if the ghost candle went out and they could not successfully leave through the door, the possibility of being wiped out was absolutely 100%.

Even the ghost Ghost Domain of the Ghost Messenger messengers couldn't withstand the invasion of the ghost paintings, let alone the Ghost Tamer.

"Ten seconds left." Li Jun's voice remained calm, without any sign of panic.

The corpses on the ground began to writhe more and more, like a wound-up machine starting to operate.

"Let's go." Liu San turned his gaze away from the corpse.

It seems the outcome wasn't as smooth as Professor Wang had imagined.

The ghost candle in A Hong's hand had burned more than halfway. She remained silent, but her face was becoming less and less like her own, vaguely transforming into another person.

To ensure her survival, she must use her demonic powers.

There are too many uncertainties surrounding the door.

At this moment, Li Jun couldn't care less about anything else. He had already arrived in front of the almost rotten wooden door, and something had appeared in his hand without him noticing.

It was a handle with faded red paint.

This is a component from a door.

To open the right door at the right time requires a medium, and the doorknob in Li Jun's hand was taken from the door at Headquarters.

Normally, carrying it on your person poses no harm, but you must be extra careful every time you open a door. If you're not careful, you might accidentally enter the world beyond the gates of hell. Whether you survive after entering depends on luck.

Li Jun placed the doorknob on the door and stared intently at the time on his watch.

When the agreed-upon time for opening the door arrived precisely at the last second, he pushed the door open without hesitation.

A bizarre scene unfolded after the door was opened.

Behind the door was not the scene inside this old brick house, but a darkness as thick as mist.

"It succeeded?" Li Jun, somewhat surprised and uncertain.

This was his first time using this device, and he didn't quite understand the situation. However, experience told him that it must be connected to somewhere, but he didn't know whether he could return to Headquarters as planned.

After all, these strange things are highly unpredictable, but at least it's better than being trapped here to die.

"Quick, everyone, get out of here with me. The door is open."

Li Jun didn't rush to leave; instead, he turned back and quickly urged everyone to hurry up.

Su Fan looked at the phone in his hand. On the dim screen was a small figure, and in front of that figure was a door with light shining from it, seemingly indicating an escape route.

Without hesitation, he stepped inside.

Liu San followed closely behind without saying a word.

"I must blow out the ghost candle to prevent any accidents."

A Hong walked to the door. She didn't go in with the ghost candle, because she wanted to avoid the ghost candle's flame interfering with the door's operation. At this critical moment, no one wanted an accident to happen.

Li Jun nodded.

A Hong's words were a reminder.

The next moment.

The ghost candle went out, and A Hong's figure rushed into the door along with Xu Yiping.

Li Jun was the last to leave.

However, as soon as he stepped inside, he suddenly froze, and a chill ran through him.

Li Jun felt a sudden weight on his shoulder.

A cold, stiff, unknown hand grabbed me from behind.

A familiar yet pungent stench of death wafted over.

"It's that damned corpse in the lobby! The ghost targeted me less than three seconds after the ghost candles were extinguished?"

Li Jun immediately realized what was grabbing him from behind.

At the same time.

Su Fan was walking in front, was unaware of the unexpected incident that had befallen Li Jun at the back. He was more worried about what kind of danger might be lurking in this pitch-black darkness.

But things didn't go as quickly as I had imagined.

Danger did not come; instead, he saw a glowing exit.

The exit looks like the shape of a door.

"It's a way out." Upon seeing this scene, Su Fan immediately thought of the guidance he had received on his phone.

He immediately quickened his pace, not daring to linger in the darkness, and even less daring to lose his way.

Soon.

Su Fan was the first to step through the brightly lit door.

As soon as he stepped through that door, he was surprised to find himself in a peculiar room.

The room was empty except for an old wooden door standing on the ground and an old man with a cane standing in front of it.

"Oh, you've made it out? Looks like opening the door was a success this time." The old man was slightly surprised, seemingly not expecting the second opening to be so smooth.

"It's you, Old Qin?"

Su Fan looked around and immediately noticed that Deputy Minister Cao Yanhua was standing by the window of the sealed room.

"Although this thing is a bit unstable, at least we came back alive." The next moment, Liu San also came out from behind the door, and he quickly realized his current situation.

If I'm not mistaken, this should be some underground base of Headquarters.

"Damn it, I'll never risk my life on this thing again. It's so hard to find the right moment to leave." Xu Yiping walked out, letting out a sigh of relief, then said with lingering fear.

You have three chances to open the door. If you fail the first time, and fail the second time, you'll have to wait an hour for the third attempt.

They couldn't possibly survive an hour.

"It's a miracle we're still alive. If it weren't for this door, we would never have gotten out of that hellhole. The Ghost Painting's Ghost Domain is too eerie; you get lost as soon as you go in." Su Fan said in a low voice, "Fortunately, we didn't have direct contact with the ghosts in the Ghost Painting this time, otherwise we wouldn't have had a second chance to open the door."

Seeing them come out one by one, Cao Yanhua outside the door beamed with joy and looked somewhat excited.

Although the plan was not perfectly completed, it at least temporarily resolved the Ghost Messenger incident, and the team returned alive.

"A close call, a close call! We're all back alive, Professor Wang. Now it's up to Chen Yi." Cao Yanhua said, turning around.

However, Wang Xiaoming frowned at this moment, showing no joy whatsoever.

"What's wrong? Are you still not satisfied with the result?" Cao Yanhua asked again.

"Closing time is approaching, and Li Jun hasn't shown up yet, and..." Wang Xiaoming trailed off.

It was only then that Cao Yanhua suddenly noticed that all four people in the group had come out unharmed, except for Li Jun.

"No way, could he have died inside?"

A terrible idea popped into my head.

If Li Jun were to be lost in this operation, it would be a huge loss for Headquarters.

The second opening of the door can only last for thirty seconds.

There are only a few seconds left before Old Qin closes the door to prevent the ghost behind it from entering.

The first time the door was opened, it was left open for a full minute, during which at least three ghosts tried to break in from behind the door. The second time, the ghosts would break in even faster, so the opening time had to be shortened accordingly.

If it's the third time, being able to open the door for ten seconds would be considered quite good.

"I'll close the door in five seconds. If no one comes out yet, then I'm sorry to say that." Old Qin's face, full of wrinkles and age spots, seemed slightly numb, as if he wouldn't change his actions just because one person hadn't appeared.

Cao Yanhua, standing outside the room, remained calm and did not object, clearly tacitly approving of Old Qin's actions.

If Li Jun can't get out as planned, then he can't gamble with the safety of everyone in the room.

But at that moment, clear footsteps came from behind the door.

"It's Li Jun. Wait a minute before closing the door. He'll be out soon. I knew he'd be alright," Xu Yiping said hurriedly.

"Hmm?" However, everyone's expression immediately turned serious, and their relaxed mood suddenly tightened.

"Thump! Thump!"

The footsteps coming from behind the door were not one, but two.

If one is Li Jun, then who is the other?