Yang Jian, trapped at the crossroad between reality and illusion, hears a familiar sound at this moment.

It’s the low growl of the Evil Hound.

However, when Yang Jian looks around, he doesn’t see the Evil Hound’s silhouette, but this is actually a good sign. At least it confirms that the Evil Hound is here, rather than disappearing without a trace as before.

“Can the Evil Hound help get me out of here?”

Yang Jian is somewhat uncertain at this moment.

Even though the Evil Hound possesses supernatural awareness, this doesn’t mean it’s invincible. There might be even stronger supernatural powers than the Evil Hound.

If the Evil Hound can’t be effective now, Yang Jian feels he might truly be trapped here for life.

“Just wait a bit longer; the confrontation with the supernatural requires time.” Yang Jian calms himself and waits.

At least now there’s hope, which is much better than before.

At this moment, it’s not only Yang Jian waiting; Wang Shanshan and Liu Qi are also waiting, though they lack the patience because this wooden cabin is now showing something strange.

Eerie sounds are coming from the silent ground floor.

The sound is peculiar, like someone running back and forth quickly, urgent yet muffled, or something crawling rapidly on the ground, with the sound sometimes far away and sometimes near. Occasionally it even appears at the stairs, but luckily, the sound doesn’t climb along the stairs.

“This sound absolutely cannot be from a living person; it’s most likely a fierce ghost that was previously confined within a coffin. Whether due to blood reasons or because I’ve brought the Evil Hound, this has disturbed the ghost. Now, the ghost is wandering downstairs, ready to come upstairs at any moment.”

Liu Qi whispered outside the room.

Inside the room, Wang Shanshan said, “If Yang Jian can wake up, dealing with the ghost downstairs shouldn’t be a problem.”

“I know, but I can’t be sure if we can hold out until then. If Yang Jian doesn’t wake up in time, I’ll have to handle the situation outside as best as I can. You should stay in the room and not come out. There’s also a ghost in your room. If you’re lucky, the ghosts inside the wooden cabin won’t enter the rooms.”

Liu Qi reminded her, asking Wang Shanshan to protect herself first.

After all, Wang Shanshan, being an ordinary person, can’t be of much help now, and the room’s door shouldn’t be opened lightly; who knows what consequences that would cause?

“If there’s real danger, I can let the Ghost Child help you. Yang Jian has a Coffin Nail on him, which can be enormously effective,” Wang Shanshan said.

Liu Qi replied, “I know Yang Jian has the Coffin Nail, but the supernatural on him is even scarier. Don’t act recklessly, lest you’re accidentally killed by his supernatural or curse. You should know everyone in the supernatural circle is wary of Yang Jian; no one has ever dared take Yang Jian’s weapons, and the reason behind it is worth pondering.”

“Alright, I’ll be careful. After all, I’ve been nominated as captain, and this trip to Baishui Town has given me quite a boost; handling the danger here shouldn’t be an issue,” he said.

“Okay, I’ll leave the outside to you then,” Wang Shanshan said.

“Don’t worry,” Liu Qi said.

Meanwhile, during their conversation, the eerie sounds downstairs began again; the fierce ghost seemed to be frantically searching for something in the hall, roaming everywhere, and as time went on, the sounds grew louder, increasingly revealing the ghost’s agitation.

Liu Qi stood not far from the stairs, frowning deeply, his inner worry magnifying.

Very soon.

His worries become reality.

A series of urgent footsteps reverberated, surprisingly not limited to the first-floor hall but arrived at the stairs leading to the second floor.

The ghost wandered around for quite a while; whether accidentally or purposefully, it finally found the right path.

A thudding, rapid sound ascended the stairs.

The wooden stairs creaked.

“After all, it’s coming,” Liu Qi’s face tightened, and anxiety grew in his heart.

He hopes the ghost downstairs isn’t too fierce, within his scope to handle; otherwise, he might very likely die here again.

“But I previously encountered three ghosts on the road where souls roam. I acquired a portion of the supernatural from those three ghosts, maybe I could attempt to use it now.”

Liu Qi’s eyes were utterly pale, and his face was bloodless, yet strangely his lips were red.

Like a blood-filled crimson, or as if he applied lipstick.

Besides, his ears were an ash-gray, exceptionally sensitive to sounds.

A combination of three supernatural forces far surpasses any of those three female ghosts back then.

The rapidly ascending sounds continued.

Though it’s only one floor, the stairs are long, requiring quite some steps, thus giving him some time to prepare.

Yet weirdly, as the stair sounds drew closer, the footsteps started swiftly quieting down…only moments later, the stair sounds entirely disappeared.

Hmm?

Liu Qi deeply furrowed his brows. Based on his experience, this isn’t a good sign. Earlier when the ghost was active downstairs, although the noise was significant, he felt safe. Now, with no noise, perhaps it means danger might be approaching.

Pale eyes subtly moving, he keeps watch at the stairway.

Yet no results, not finding any fierce ghost coming upstairs.

His ashen ears faintly moved, seemingly hearing some sounds, very faint, like ants walking on the floor, making a slight rustling sound.

“There’s noise, but can’t see the ghost…such situations are rare,” Liu Qi heard the sounds continuously approaching him.

This caused an unexplainable unease.

Subsequently, this unease began to expand rapidly.

Subtle noises drew ever closer, presently even reaching beside him.

Liu Qi even attempted to stretch a hand toward the direction from where the sounds came, trying to touch the fierce ghost.

However, this attempt was ineffective; Liu Qi reached out and grasped nothing but air.

“Does this ghost not exist in reality?”

Liu Qi began to speculate, but he was sure the ghost had reached the second floor, possibly right beside him.

Yet he couldn’t do anything.

Because he couldn’t touch the fierce ghost, nor see it; confronting such unreal ghosts requires a medium, just like reflecting the Evil Hound’s image using water earlier.

Just as he was contemplating this.

Suddenly.

A whisper reached Liu Qi’s ear, sounding as if someone spoke nearby, yet the sound was disturbed by some interference, unclear about what exactly was being said.

This instantly startled his tense body, retreating several steps.

Liu Qi’s eyes flickered, face unsightly, yet nothing gleaned.

Then inadvertently glancing, he suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

From beneath the wooden stairs, a head covered in thick hair emerged, revealing only half, as if secretly spying on him. Judging by its appearance, it didn’t seem to have appeared suddenly but had been there for some time.

After Liu Qi’s brief glance, the head under the stairs quickly retracted.

Everything happened too fast, there was no time to observe closely.

“This place can’t be stayed in; if I linger any longer, something’s bound to happen sooner or later.” Liu Qi took a deep breath, trying to calm himself as much as possible.

The supernatural had already invaded the second floor, and he could be attacked by a ghost at any moment.

He glanced at the staircase entrance once again.

The head that had just peeked out swiftly withdrew once more.

This ghost seemed a bit timid.

It also seemed unwilling to appear in people’s sight.

As long as Liu Qi kept staring at the stairway entrance, no eerie head would pop out again.

Since that was the case, he simply kept his eyes fixed to prevent the ghost from sneaking onto the second floor when he wasn’t paying attention.

However, at that moment, the wooden door behind Liu Qi suddenly creaked open slowly.

It seemed some invisible unknown presence was trying to enter that room.

Yet Liu Qi reacted immediately, promptly closing the door that was about to open.

But this action seemed like a trigger, as if it had enraged the supernatural forces on the second floor.

A violent commotion erupted once again.

It felt as though the entire wooden house was shaking. Then Liu Qi felt as if something struck him, making his consciousness blur, and the supernatural power within him was disrupted. He was directly thrown out, landing heavily on the ground, his vision going black.

But when Liu Qi’s sight returned, he found himself unable to move, and his pale eyes saw that he was lying on an old wooden dining table.

Surrounding the table were heads covered in dense hair, emerging from beneath the table, revealing a pair of greedy, sinister eyes.

At that moment, Liu Qi seemed to have become the food on the table, and the ghosts beneath the table were the ones dining.

But in reality.

Liu Qi was paralyzed, lying on the ground, desperately twitching, trying to struggle to stand up, but was powerless, as if his body was no longer under his control.

“Ah!”

A miserable scream pierced the air, as Liu Qi felt sharp pain; he sensed that one of his feet was gone, seemingly bitten, and even terrifying chewing sounds came from beside him.

Liu Qi wanted to use his supernatural power to retaliate, but it was to no avail.

He, on the dining table, seemed like meat on a chopping board, and the supernatural power also sunk into silence.

“Liu Qi, what’s going on outside?” Wang Shanshan’s voice came from the room.

“I’m being attacked by ghosts, don’t come out, this isn’t an ordinary ghost.”

At this moment, Liu Qi was both frightened and furious, as he saw another terrifying head emerging from the table below. The head, with its disheveled black hair, had an unclear appearance, only revealing a mouth with blackened teeth emanating a rotting stench.

Then this head stretching from under the table extended its neck and bit into his shoulder.

A large chunk of flesh was viciously torn off, shattering the scapula.

Liu Qi let out another anguished scream.

But the scream was futile, as another ghost crawled out from under the table.

At this moment, Liu Qi realized he was lying on an old Eight Immortals table, large enough to accommodate him alone, and his body seemed to be growing together with this wooden table, his flesh adhered to it, making neither the table nor he able to move.

Meanwhile, as the ghosts fed, the supernatural influenced reality.

In reality, Liu Qi bore marks of being chewed, his flesh ripped apart, presenting an unforgettable scene.

If he didn’t find a way out, he would soon be torn asunder by the ghosts, his body entirely disappearing from this world.

“I’m not the only one placed on this Eight Immortals table, if I don’t find a solution, I’ll be entirely consumed by the ghosts.”

Liu Qi saw numerous scratches on the wooden table he was lying on, some made by nails, others by teeth, suggesting many unlucky individuals had been placed on this table before.

“Ah!”

Another wretched scream, Liu Qi’s palm vanished completely, the wound obscenely mangled.

Because from beneath the wooden table, another ghostly head had surfaced and began feeding.

In the midst of the agony, Liu Qi inadvertently glanced, seemingly spotting someone standing not far from the wooden table. That person was indistinct, unidentifiable, only certain that their attire was old-fashioned, not resembling the modern era, more like someone from the Republic of China Period’s older generations.

That person opened their mouth, attempting to say something, but the sound wouldn’t carry over.

Until Liu Qi’s ashen ear slightly moved, suddenly hearing the voice: You shouldn’t have come here, it’s too late now…

“Who are you?” Liu Qi bore the pain, attempting to ask loudly.

The mysterious figure not far away merely shook their head slightly, turned away, and gradually departed from Liu Qi’s line of sight.

After that figure distanced themselves.

Wang Shanshan heard Liu Qi’s screams and puzzling inquiries, and understood Liu Qi’s current dangerous situation. If a solution wasn’t found, Liu Qi would die, and once he died, the ghosts outside would likely invade the room, and she and Yang Jian might also perish here.

At once, she gritted her teeth and decisively opened the door.

“Ghost Child, follow me.”

Wang Shanshan led the Ghost Child out, intending to confront the unknown ghost on the second floor, thereby protecting Yang Jian in the room from disturbance.

Opening the door from inside seemed not to be particularly hazardous.

She and the Ghost Child exited the room, entering the second floor.

At this moment, Wang Shanshan saw Liu Qi lying on the ground, his body mangled as if being devoured, and the ghosts gnawing at him were unseen; it was just clear that his body was disappearing bit by bit. If the situation wasn’t reversed, before long he would vanish entirely.

“Can you help Liu Qi fight off the ghost beside him?” Wang Shanshan attempted to give the Ghost Child a command.

However, the Ghost Child only tilted its head, standing still.

Because at this point, the Ghost Child too had no solution.

The ghost attacking Liu Qi was quite unique, needing a medium.

Wang Shanshan, seeing this situation, didn’t hesitate and took out the human skin paper again, intending to query its circumstances.

But before she could speak, twisted writing appeared on the human skin paper: “Lie on the ground to see the ghost nearby.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by novlove.com

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