The Moment Calm Returned

As described on the parchment, the Music Box Curse on Yang Jian will erupt precisely at midnight tonight.

The time is now 11:50.

With only ten minutes left until the deadline, inexplicable anomalies had been occurring several hours earlier on the fifth basement level of this laboratory.

The coffin was shaking incessantly, suggesting that a vengeful spirit had resurrected inside, struggling to escape.

Without the Ghost Messenger, the coffin, relying solely on a trace of residual supernatural power, seemed unable to completely suppress what was inside. With each vibration and impact, the coffin became increasingly shattered, and now it was completely broken, with more than a dozen gaps.

However, these gaps were blocked, preventing any view of the inside of the coffin. The gaps revealed blackened hands that looked eerie and terrifying.

Meanwhile, on the memorial tablet that had fallen beside the ghost coffin, Yang Jian's portrait was still continuously oozing blood.

The old, dirty memorial tablet was now completely stained red, as if it had been soaked in blood. The viscous blood remained on it, like a layer of red paint, so vivid it was almost unnatural.

The blood continued to seep in, obscuring the black portrait and dripping onto the ground to form a small, strange pool of blood.

The pool of blood was gradually spreading and deepening, and the portrait seemed to float on it, rising and falling as if it might sink at any moment.

Wang Xiaoming frowned as he observed this phenomenon, a serious expression appearing in his eyes.

Even he couldn't understand this phenomenon, because there was no basis or precedent for it; everything happened suddenly, completely exceeding some of the expectations in the experimental plan.

"Eight minutes left." He checked the time, then glanced at the music box on the other side.

The music box remains unchanged, still in the open position, which indicates that the curse has not yet dissipated.

No matter what happens, Wang Xiaoming will not take any action until the curse is lifted. He will not stop any strange phenomena, but will choose to observe them coldly.

The curse is the most important thing. Without removing the curse, it makes no difference whether Yang Jian or Guo Fan survives.

"The vibrations from the coffin are still increasing." Wei Jing stared at the room with numb, empty eyes.

The coffin had reached a certain limit in its activity; under the influence of some unknown force, it suddenly jumped up from the ground and crashed heavily into the glass window next to it.

Fortunately, the glass was sturdy enough not to shatter; otherwise, who knows what might have happened after that ghost coffin came out.

The paranormal intrusion into the room became increasingly apparent; the light was dim, and the outside lights couldn't penetrate at all, gradually plunging the room into darkness.

In the final five minutes, the room was completely plunged into darkness.

This is the reason why the supernatural phenomena inside the ghost coffin have spread out. Like the ghost Ghost Domain of the Ghost Messenger, it is pitch black, so dark that you can't see your hand in front of your face.

"The restrictions of the Ghost Coffin have completely failed." Wang Xiaoming felt a chill run down his spine.

This result was within his expectations. The residual supernatural power in the ghost coffin might not be able to suppress the ghost in Yang Jian's body, but that didn't matter. This room could temporarily replace the ghost coffin and imprison the out-of-control ghost.

Moreover, this layer is already sealed off, so even if supernatural power leaks out, it will be difficult to affect the outside.

Moreover, Wei Jing was watching over them.

If all these layers of defenses are breached, then Wang Xiaoming will have nothing to say.

"Three minutes left." Wang Xiaoming checked the time again.

But at that moment, blackened hands appeared again on the glass window of the room. These hands wriggled on the window, seemingly searching for a crack, trying to seep out from inside.

"Bang! Bang!"

A loud noise came from the room again. This time, the sound was no longer from the shaking of the ghost coffin, but from a living person violently slamming against the door and wall.

There's only one thing inside capable of ramming the door.

That was Yang Jian's corpse.

The body is out of control.

Perhaps now, what controls Yang Jian's body is no longer Guo Fan, but an unknown ghost.

"Two minutes left." Wang Xiaoming's expression grew increasingly solemn. He had a premonition that he absolutely could not allow Yang Jian's corpse to escape from inside.

Otherwise, unimaginable consequences will occur.

However, such an impact was not without effect.

Soon, a crack appeared in the sealed room, and crimson blood seeped out, flowing down the floor.

The blood flowed quickly, and in no time it had covered a large area.

"Back off." Wang Xiaoming, seeing the seeping blood, gestured for Wei Jing not to approach.

At this point, any action could have unimaginable and terrible consequences.

Without hesitation, Wei Jing stepped back, temporarily distancing himself from the room and avoiding the blood flowing on the floor.

In the final minutes, another sound came from the dark room. It was no longer the vibration of hitting the door and wall, but a scream, a struggle. The voice sounded somewhat like Guo Fan, but it was also very unfamiliar and indistinguishable, extremely eerie.

"Time's almost up." Wang Xiaoming looked at his watch; there were only a dozen seconds left.

The curse of the music box is about to end.

Soon, a dozen seconds later, the time reached midnight.

The noise in the room suddenly stopped.

The sounds of the coffin shaking ceased, as did the sounds of doors and windows being pounded. The screams also disappeared, and everything returned to calm.

Snap!

On the other side, the music box that was originally open suddenly closed.

This phenomenon indicates that the released curse has disappeared, and it is waiting for the next person to open the music box. The previous person who suffered the curse must have been killed, and so far there have been no exceptions of someone surviving.

Yang Jian wasn't the first to use a music box, so Wang Xiaoming was very clear about its features.

"That's right, the time is precise, the curse did indeed end at midnight," Wang Xiaoming said.

"The darkness in the room is dissipating," Wei Jing, who had been observing, reminded him.

As expected.

The darkness that had previously filled the room like Ghost Messenger Ghost Domain was now gradually dissipating. The speed at which it was dissipating was rapid and incomprehensible, but this seemed to be a good thing. At least the situation inside could be seen clearly, and we wouldn't be completely ignorant.

As the darkness dissipated, everything inside was revealed once more.

The ghost coffin is gone, leaving only scattered wood fragments. This supernatural object was already incomplete after losing its Ghost Messenger, and now it has finally reached its limit and is completely destroyed. Unless the Ghost Messenger can be restrained again and locked in the coffin, the ghost coffin will never appear in this world again.

In the middle of the room, there were broken pieces of wood scattered on the floor.

Yang Jian's body lay there perfectly intact, motionless and stiff.

His face was slightly pale, revealing an unhealthy complexion. His eyes were closed, quiet and peaceful, as if he had just died, and very calmly. This calmness meant that the corpse did not exhibit any supernatural phenomena.

You should know that Yang Jian is now controlling three ghosts, and any abnormality could potentially lead to a terrifying supernatural event.

"The experiment is over. Guo Fan didn't survive; he was killed by the music box's curse," Wei Jing said.

Wang Xiaoming pondered for a moment.

According to his plan, there was actually another possibility: Guo Fan, who entered the Ghost Coffin, might be able to use the power of the Ghost Coffin to resist the curse's attack. However, he didn't have the Ghost Coffin when he learned about the Music Box Curse before, so this idea came to him later.

Therefore, theoretically, Guo Fan is not necessarily going to die; there is still a possibility that he can survive.

If Guo Fan had survived this time, Yang Jian might have made some other arrangements.

Now that the coffin is broken and Yang Jian's body is motionless, Guo Fan is suspected to be dead.

There was only one choice to make, and that was to wake Yang Jian up.

Looking at the corpse lying in the room, Wang Xiaoming felt slightly uneasy. The strange changes that had just occurred revealed a dangerous signal.

The corpse appears to have undergone some inexplicable and bizarre changes; any contact with it could be extremely dangerous.

"Professor Wang, did you hear what I said? Shouldn't we put the memorial tablet back on Yang Jian's body now, so that his consciousness can return?" Wei Jing asked.

Wang Xiaoming's expression shifted. "Wait a minute, I need to check the situation. Yang Jian's body is too quiet, even the ghost inside his body is motionless. This is a bit illogical. Normally, after Guo Fan was cursed and killed, Yang Jian's body lost the consciousness of a living person. At this time, the probability of the vengeful ghost reviving is very high."

"Perhaps the suppression from the Ghost Coffin is still present. The ghost within Yang Jian's corpse is being suppressed by the Ghost Coffin and is currently in a temporary state of malfunction," Wei Jing stated his conjecture.

"It's possible, but unlikely."

Wang Xiaoming approached the room and could see the situation inside through the glass window. Yang Jian's body was still lying motionless on the ground, and the eerie memorial tablet was still soaked in a pool of blood, crimson in color. Although it was quiet, it exuded an unusual aura.

It seems that, with the dissipation of the Music Box Curse, some inexplicable balance has formed in the room.

This balance seems stable at first glance, but he knows it is very fragile.

The three ghosts inside Yang Jian's body are not so easy to deal with.

In other words, if the three ghosts inside him have all stopped moving, what could be the reason for this?

The problem lies with the memorial tablet.

After a brief moment of thought, Wang Xiaoming's sharp eyes fell upon the blood-stained old memorial tablet.

The photo on the memorial tablet was blurred and covered in blood, making it impossible to see Yang Jian's appearance.

The anomaly originated from the spirit tablet. He had studied the ghost coffin many times and it was impossible for it to be abnormal. The only uncertain factor was this spirit tablet.

"If Guo Fan had truly been killed by the Music Box Curse, Yang Jian's ghost would have revived, but the current situation is different from what we expected."

Wang Xiaoming lowered his head slightly and muttered to himself, "Unless Guo Fan is still alive and controlling Yang Jian's body, and the ghost inside it."

"But the curse of the music box has indeed ended."

"It's also possible that Guo Fan lied, and the curse is still on Yang Jian. Yang Jian was the one who died when the curse ended, but this is unlikely. Guo Fan didn't know that Yang Jian was cursed by the music box. He didn't have any information about it, and even if he did, he wouldn't need to pretend that he was cursed."

"Then there's only one possibility left: Guo Fan was indeed cursed, or he's actually still alive. But under the curse of the music box, no living person can survive. The only one who could withstand the curse and not die is another ghost."

Ghosts cannot be killed. Even after being cursed by the music box, a ghost will remain unharmed because no curse, however strong, can kill a ghost.

"So, Guo Fan a ghost."

After realizing this, Wang Xiaoming's eyes narrowed slightly as he recalled the information revealed on the human skin paper.

Therefore, this solution to the Music Box Curse is a trap set by the ghost for the living.