Mysterious Awakening

Chapter 254: The dead city

Driving on the quiet road.

The headlights illuminated the front, but couldn't dispel the haze in front of his eyes.

The entire city was eerily quiet, except for the occasional distant screams and the cries of ghost infants.

The bustling city of Dachang was gradually dying because of the existence of ghost infants.

At least, as Yang Jian drove through, he felt no signs of life.

Death was spreading, fear was spreading.

Looking at everything outside the car window, Yang Jian's mood was terrible.

He was still thinking about Wang Xiaoming's words.

"He pinned all his hopes on me, asking me to save the entire city. But I've done everything I could. I detained that fourth-stage ghost infant, but what's the result? It's just a temporary solution. So many people have died these days. Ye Feng, Sun Yi, He Chuan, and those ghost tamers I don't know."

"I used up all the ghost candles, risking a resurgence to enhance my abilities... But when I encountered the appearance of the source ghost, I could only run."

Yang Jian chuckled at himself as he drove.

Who could be blamed for the failure of the operation? He had done everything he could. He could only blame the cruel reality. Did he really have to push himself to death to satisfy others?

"Professor Wang, you can be noble, you can let go of hatred, you can be selfless, and you can disregard personal life and death. But what about me? A lot of people are counting on me to stay alive. If I die, what will they do?"

But now, everyone was watching him, no one understood him, and no one said that what he had done was good enough.

You see, Yang Jian was just a senior high school student, becoming a ghost tamer in less than three months, and an international criminal police officer in less than fifteen days.

It was all too heavy for him.

In the face of great difficulties, with no way to turn the tide, all Yang Jian could do was to try to keep a group of people alive.

If he kept pushing and failed again, he would really have nothing left. He couldn't afford to lose anymore.

"Bang~!"

Suddenly, a loud noise came, and a figure suddenly appeared in the haze in front of the road. Yang Jian's car bumped into it and ran over it.

He snapped out of his thoughts and was startled.

Did he hit someone?

He stepped on the brake and was about to turn around to take a look.

But from the rearview mirror, Yang Jian saw the person who had been hit slowly standing up.

The person's pupils were pitch black, and his whole body was dark green. His broken head was hanging on his shoulder, looking at him eerily.

"Not a person, it's a third-stage ghost infant. Can this thing walk openly on the road now?" Yang Jian's face turned cold, but he didn't say a word.

As long as he didn't speak, he wouldn't become the target of the attack.

Even though the thing had seen him, it didn't matter.

It wasn't the source ghost, nor was it a first-stage ghost infant. It wouldn't do anything if it saw him.

Wang Xiaoming's research and inference were correct.

Yang Jian stepped on the gas and continued forward.

The ghost infant was still standing there, looking at him eerily in the rearview mirror, until the car gradually moved away, and its figure disappeared into the haze, everything calmed down.

"If it were an ordinary person, if they were in that situation, they would have screamed and been doomed."

Yang Jian looked at the ghost infant that had disappeared behind him, breathed a sigh of relief, and felt a sense of inexplicable despair. In a city like this, how many ordinary people could survive without understanding the rules?

No one knew.

He didn't have the ability to deal with supernatural events now. The failure of the last operation had pushed him to the brink of reviving the fierce ghost. Although he had controlled it, he wasn't sure if he would have an accident the next time he used the power of the fierce ghost.

He continued to drive.

Although the destination this time was not in the city center, he saw many strange things along the way.

There were bodies lying on the side of the road, with their bellies split open and flesh and blood blurred. There were also figures walking in the haze, with stiff steps and terrifying shapes, as well as pools of blood and flesh, with only some bloodstains and internal organs left.

Occasionally, there were desperate cries for help with a sobbing tone.

But no one responded, and more terrifying figures walked through the haze.

This place had become a ghost town.

Yang Jian remained silent and continued to drive forward.

Here, it seemed that he was the only living person still walking on the streets. He hadn't seen a single survivor along the way.

He knew that, under the fear, the city's residents had already realized it. They were hiding in their homes, huddled somewhere with food and water, trying to survive this night and this disaster.

But Yang Jian knew.

It was impossible. Even if you stockpiled a lot of food and water, if the source wasn't resolved, there was only one dead end. The only difference was whether you died early or late."Yang Jian, the satellite positioning shows that you have entered Dachang City. You don't need to speak, I know that you are in a dangerous situation right now. I just want to notify you that when you are convenient, there are people here who want to talk to you. I've finished speaking, and I will now turn off the voice and keep it silent."

Suddenly, Liu Xiaoyu's voice came through the satellite positioning phone.

But after she finished speaking, there was a crackling sound of electricity, and she turned off the voice, ending the call directly.

Yang Jian glanced at the phone beside the car, frowned slightly, and didn't pay too much attention to it.

At this time, what's the point of talking? Are you preparing a eulogy in advance?

Soon.

He stepped on the brake and stopped the car.

This is an old residential area in the southern district of Dachang City. According to the city's plan, this place was supposed to be demolished, but because it was a bit far from the city center, the demolition work was delayed.

The old red building with only seven floors looked dim and black, mottled and dirty.

The empty windows were pitch black, appearing particularly eerie under the gloomy haze.

The residential area was silent, and the air was filled with a rotten stench.

This was the stench of a corpse.

The fierce ghosts had invaded this place, and it had been at least three days.

"Is he dead?" Yang Jian sent a text message from his phone.

"No," came the reply.

"Where are you? When will you arrive?"

"I'm at the entrance of the residential area, I'll be there in ten minutes," Yang Jian replied.

The message immediately came back: "The thing is in the house, be careful."

Yang Jian put down his phone and walked towards the old residential area expressionlessly.

Someone once said that most of human fear comes from the unknown.

Yang Jian felt that this statement was incorrect. Human fear should come from death.

Only those who overcome death can overcome fear.

Overcoming the unknown can only help you understand fear, but it cannot solve the fundamental problem.

Although he understood the rules of the first to fourth stage Ghost Infants and knew their methods of killing, when he found himself in this dead city again, he still felt tense all over, even though his flamboyant behavior was safe for now.

As he walked, who knew how many ghosts were watching him under the dark haze.

Those pairs of empty, dark, eerie eyes seemed to be able to see him as soon as he turned around, and engage in a staring contest with him.

"Third building, fourth floor."

Yang Jian arrived in front of the third building.

Due to the power outage, the corridor was pitch black, and he couldn't see his hand in front of his face. Even the flashlight on his phone could only barely dispel the darkness for a step or two. Who knew what he might accidentally touch once he entered, and if he accidentally touched a second stage Ghost Infant, then he would hit the jackpot.

The reward would be death.

When was the last time he faced such a dark staircase?

Right, it was back in school.

At that time, he and Zhang Wei, Wang Shanshan, and a group of people were experiencing the Ghost Knocking on the Door incident.

"Wait, the Ghost Knocking on the Door incident?" Yang Jian, who was walking slowly, suddenly stopped in his tracks.

A forgotten eerie place appeared in his mind once again.

It was the place where the door of the school staircase led to the toilet.

A strange space that did not belong to this world.

There was nothing there, just pitch black darkness, with only a tree, like a tree made of dense white bones, and a three-meter-tall black shadow nailed to the trunk. That was where he obtained his Ghost Eye.

"The second condition might be fulfilled." Yang Jian's eyes flickered as he fell into contemplation.

He thought of a way to confine the source ghost, using the coffin nail that was nailed to the black shadow on the bone-white tree.

If that coffin nail could confine the black shadow, then it could also confine the source ghost.

Although he had lost a finger, the coffin nail could likely serve as a substitute to confine the source ghost.

As a result, the unknown black shadow would be released as a price.

"Why am I thinking of this? Confining one horror and releasing another, maybe that thing is even more ruthless, and the situation will become worse." Yang Jian cursed himself inwardly.

But another thought appeared.

Even if the situation becomes worse, it shouldn't be worse than it is now, right?

At the moment, the lives of the city's population were at stake.

"I don't want to think about it. I'd better just be a coward and hide. The role of a hero doesn't suit me."

Shaking his head, he pushed these strange thoughts out of his mind and cautiously climbed the stairs, relying on his understanding of all the rules of the Ghost Infants. He wasn't too worried.

The only thing to be wary of was encountering a fourth stage Ghost Infant.

But the probability was very low.

The city was so big, and even though he was in a cursed state, it would probably be some time before it was his turn.

Counting the floors.

Soon, he arrived at the fourth floor.In a resident's home, the front door was already open, with remnants of dark cyan palm prints on the wall beside it.

The sturdy iron door was twisted and deformed, as if something had torn it open by force, sending shivers down one's spine.

A pungent, blood-curdling stench wafted from the pitch-black living room, mixed with a strong odor of decay.

Clearly, a desperate horror had taken place here a few days ago, and it was unknown who had died.

Yang Jian walked in as if his expression remained unchanged.

The floor was somewhat slippery, covered with blood that had congealed but not yet dried.

The light shone down, illuminating the ground beneath his feet.

Among the blood, there were distinct scratch marks.

The scratches extended into the room, as if someone had been dragged in by something, struggling and despairing all the way.

He continued forward.

Yang Jian saw the broken fingernails of a woman, still painted with purple nail polish, and the scattered black hair, sticking to the dried blood, turning dark and foul-smelling.

As he thought to move forward, his steps suddenly halted.

At the dark doorway, a thin, cyan-black figure stood there, biting its finger with an innocent and carefree appearance. A pair of hollow black eyes stared at Yang Jian, and several long strands of hair, identical to those on the ground, lingered at the corner of its mouth.

"A second-stage ghost infant, must not be touched," Yang Jian's expression flickered slightly, and his heart skipped a beat.