The Knocking Ghost stood motionless in place. The surrounding darkness, which had not shown a trace of light, began to slowly fade, and the Grey Fog, previously covered in Dead Person Ghost Faces, actually began to dissipate, the Ghost Faces within having completely vanished.
The Ghost Domain was disappearing!
“I’m still alive?”
Jiang Shan, with only half an eye socket remaining, suddenly opened his eyes.
Suffocation, pain.
These were all the sensations he had upon waking.
Jiang Shan rotated his eyeball, which was so rotten it was about to fall off, and scanned his surroundings.
His entire body had been rotted by the Knocking Ghost’s Ghost Domain, exposing red and black fat and internal organs. The flesh on his thigh bone had rotted away until only white bone remained, yet despite this, he was still standing in place, not having fallen.
The intense feeling of suffocation caused Jiang Shan’s consciousness to blur again, but the coldness in his mind continuously stimulated his nerves.
The pain from the decay all over his body nearly caused his spirit to collapse. Fearing he would go mad, he counted silently in his heart:
“One, two, three, nine hundred and twelve, nine hundred and thirteen.”
Time spent in pain is extremely long because it allows one to truly feel the passing of every second. Likewise, pain makes memories vivid in those passing seconds.
The decay was still occurring. Even if it was incredibly slow, its horror manifested over time.
The eyeball in his socket, having lost its support, suddenly dropped out. Even if it hadn't fallen, it had already lost its ability to focus under the decay of the Knocking Ghost’s Ghost Domain.
Darkness had enveloped Jiang Shan’s heart for the past ten minutes.
He could see nothing, hear nothing.
Only the pain transmitted by the countless nerves in his body repeatedly reminded Jiang Shan that he was still alive.
“It would be better to just die like this.”
“Let me die.”
Scientifically speaking, Jiang Shan, with only his skull and brain remaining and his body highly decomposed, should have already been cremated. However, the Fierce Ghost’s Supernatural kept him from dying, even allowing him to remain standing relying only on a few bones.
“One thousand two hundred and sixty-one.”
The numb Jiang Shan suddenly felt an abnormality on his face, but he could do nothing now; he could only quietly wait for the change to occur.
Different Dead Faces began to shift continuously on his face. The pale, dead faces were invariably those of deceased people.
One, two, three...
After changing an unknown number of times, it finally stopped on the Dead Person Ghost Face resembling a young man.
The feeling of suffocation disappeared.
When Jiang Shan counted to “one thousand four hundred and twenty-three,” the Ghost Character, which had been wildly emitting its Supernatural, suddenly fell silent.
The bone-piercing chilling sensation in his mind vanished.
Only the full-body decay pain, like being cut by a thousand knives, continued.
“One thousand six hundred and ninety-eight, one thousand six hundred and ninety-nine.”
The clear moonlight filtered through the thick clouds, spilling onto Dachang City, and also into this campus where Fierce Ghosts gathered.
If it weren't for the corpses littering the ground, this sports field might actually look beautiful under the moonlight.
“Ah! Jiang Shan!”
Chen Yue, who had just woken up from unconsciousness, discovered that the Grey Fog had completely disappeared. Already at the school entrance, she rushed toward Jiang Shan’s location.
She clearly remembered the door the Knocking Ghost had been knocking on; it was at the Entrance to the faculty apartments, near the south gate of the school.
But as soon as she arrived, she saw a terrifying sight.
Jiang Shan’s body was highly decomposed, and his empty eye sockets held nothing!
He was dead!
He was really dead?!
The joy Chen Yue initially felt vanished, replaced by sorrow and regret filling her heart.
“If I had pulled him to run with me then, would he not have died?”
But Chen Yue did not know that the four Fierce Ghosts had come specifically for Jiang Shan.
This was a “gift” this world had sent for the outsider, Jiang Shan.
Although there were no maggots or flies, the stench of rotting flesh caused Chen Yue to gag uncontrollably even from a distance.
The pitch-black night made it hard to see clearly.
As she approached, she suddenly trembled all over, too frightened to speak, staring in horror at the figure behind Jiang Shan.
!
The Knocking Ghost!
Recalling that dead, oppressive knocking sound, she felt a chill run down her spine.
Her voice filled with Fear, she whispered:
“Are you still alive?”
Although Jiang Shan could not see anyone or hear any sound, during this nearly half-hour of agonizing torment, he discovered that he had gained control over that Dead Face Ghost. Every minute, he would activate the Ghost Domain once.
This was because he found that at this frequency, the decay inflicted upon him by the Knocking Ghost could be minimized, even approaching zero.
And Jiang Shan remembered that the sound of knocking that triggered the Knocking Ghost’s Killing Pattern had already spread on the forum.
Now, he only needed to wait for the moment the Knocking Ghost left, and he could escape this situation.
But unexpectedly, within the Ghost Domain this time, he discovered Chen Yue’s presence.
She actually dared to come back for me.
Jiang Shan smiled bitterly in his heart. He never expected Chen Yue would return to look for him; if it were him, he might have fled the school long ago.
By reading her lip movements, Jiang Shan deduced what she said.
A pale, indifferent Human Face of a young man faintly appeared on half of Jiang Shan’s face, indistinct, emitting a chilling aura.
This was that Dead Person Ghost Face. Jiang Shan activated the Ghost Domain, and the hazy Grey Fog instantly enveloped Chen Yue.
“!”
Enveloped by the Grey Fog once more, Chen Yue’s heart turned to ash. She didn't regret re-entering the Gate of Hell, only that she hadn't written a suicide note or made a Phone Call to her parents.
“Am I going to die after all?”
Chen Yue murmured to herself, but a line of Scarlet text suddenly appearing out of thin air made her expression change to joy.
“I’m not dead.”
“I need you to do me a favor. If you agree, stay here; if you don’t, you can return the way you came right now.”
The Scarlet text shifted continuously:
“This favor might endanger your life. If you are willing, wait for me for one minute. After one minute, if you are still in place, I will tell you what to do.”
The Scarlet text in Jiang Shan’s Ghost Domain was the Ghost Character.
Its consciousness had been devoured by the Dead Face Ghost, causing it to completely Deadlock. Now, the Ghost Character could appear anywhere within the Dead Face Ghost’s Ghost Domain.
Although Jiang Shan was unclear about the reason for its Deadlock, he guessed that the Ghost Character, like the Human Skin Paper, was a Fierce Ghost possessing a living consciousness.
And the Dead Face Ghost not only devoured the consciousness of the living but also swallowed the consciousness of Fierce Ghosts without hesitation.
This was why the Ghost Character had exposed its emotions back then, urging Jiang Shan to leave the school quickly.
Even Ghosts have Fear.
Shortly after Jiang Shan gained control of the Dead Face Ghost, the Ghost Character suddenly entered a Deadlock.
Recalling the pattern of Fierce Ghost Deadlock, perhaps these intelligent Ghosts had already perfectly Deadlocked themselves before being controlled by living consciousness.
Otherwise, Jiang Shan could not explain why these Ghosts retained their intelligence.
When Jiang Shan activated the Ghost Domain again, he discovered Chen Yue had not left, causing a complex mix of emotions in his heart.
Helping others requires sacrificing one's own life; Jiang Shan asked himself if he was that noble.
He noted this kindness.
Suddenly, the Ghost Character began to act erratically. The image displayed in his mind made Jiang Shan’s heart tighten. He immediately stopped hesitating, and the Ghost Character reappeared out of thin air before Chen Yue’s eyes:
“I need you to find my Phone Call. Search the forum for the posts by Thunder God King, find that segment of knocking sound, and listen to it again.”
“Okay.”
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