Mysterious Revival

Seven days had passed since Yang Jian disappeared.

Many things can change in seven days.

The range of Dachang City’s fall had expanded, almost reaching the entire city from the center.

The entire city was engulfed in darkness, emitting the aroma of death.

In that time, no one knew how many people had died in the darkness or the amount of despair and horror that had occurred, but there were still survivors in every corner of the city.

Because seven days ago,

when Wang Xiaoming saw the changes in Yang Jian’s body, he thought he saw a glimmer of hope, he chose to make the Ghost Infant’s three-stage transformation pattern public, broadcasting it throughout the city with the action of the Ghost Detainers’ headquarters.

Explore new worlds at empire

Although there was a power outage,

there were still people in the city. After all, the terror hadn’t been going on for long, and most people were still alive, capable of carrying out some rescue operations.

At a heavy cost, the broadcast still sounded throughout the city, spreading by various means, advising the remaining citizens to find places to hide, to avoid looking, making noise, and especially to avoid touching that thing.

This allowed many citizens to survive.

But it was only a temporary solution.

After seven days, without water, electricity, and with a food shortage, people couldn’t last very long.

Even if they weren’t killed, they would hide in a corner and die of hunger or thirst.

"Has there been no news?"

At the command center outside Dachang City, Cao Yanhua slammed the conference table with a fierce blow. He was growing more impatient by the day. The observers and liaisons in charge of Dachang City hadn’t transmitted any news.

"Yang Jian may have failed. His satellite-positioned phone has not moved at all. If he had succeeded, he would have reconnected. I’ve arranged for three operators at Liu Xiaoyu’s end to standby, monitoring 24 hours a day non-stop."

Zhao Jianguo looked somewhat haggard. Although unwilling to believe this outcome, the reality forced him to feel despair.

Yang Jian had risked a less than twenty percent chance to try to resolve this supernatural event alone. Honestly, Zhao admired his spirit and courage.

"How is Professor Wang doing?" Cao Yanhua fell silent for a moment, then asked through clenched teeth.

Zhao Jianguo replied, "The safe house plan is very effective. Professor Wang is very secure inside. Last night, some unknown thing pounded on the safe house for three hours in the dead of night, but ultimately it left. Gold isolated everything; those fierce ghosts seemed to know there was a target inside, but they couldn’t get in."

"However, the construction of the safe house is not complete, lacking supporting facilities, and the number of people who have entered the safe house has reached its limit, so..."

"In two days at most, the safe house will have to open for supplies. Once it opens, no one can predict what terror it will attract. After all, Dachang City still has the fourth phase of Ghost Infants and the Source Ghost. If they encounter either during the resupply, the situation will be extremely dangerous."

"But if Professor Wang can get through this crisis and re-enter the safe house, he should hold out until help arrives."

The so-called help was also a mysterious and terrifying method that involved taking Wang Xiaoming out of Dachang City alone.

As for others, they could only be abandoned.

"This isn’t the worst case yet."

Special Forces Captain Li Jun said gravely, "The city’s survivors have also reached their limit in time they can hold on. If we can’t find a way to reverse the situation within the next few days, casualties in Dachang City will rapidly increase and it will eventually become a Dead City. Then, this place will be overrun, becoming the first major city to fall globally."

"We might have to consider the worst-case scenario..." Cao Yanhua’s face was particularly grim.

The worst-case scenario involved sealing off the surroundings of Dachang City, evacuating the area, establishing it as a restricted zone, and closely monitoring it to prevent the spread of this entity as much as possible.

But doing so would mean giving up on Dachang City.

Yet, how long had it been?

From the appearance of the supernatural event, to its rapid increase in number, from being controllable to gradually spiraling out of control, and now it was more than just gradually – it had turned into a major disaster. This Hungry Ghost incident was just a symptom of a problem. Before, several other symptoms had emerged, but they were fortunately extinguished by people abroad.

Meanwhile,

Inside Dachang City.

In the room where Yang Jian had hung himself.

The resurrected Yang Jian was now standing somewhat stiffly in front of the Ghost Mirror, his body turned away from the mirror, yet his head was facing it, looking eerie and horrifying.

His head was twisted a full one hundred and eighty degrees, not just a brief contortion, but as if it had been completely turned around, something that even medical intervention could not rectify unless the entire spine was repositioned.

But such an operation would surely be fatal.

The Ghost Mirror did not reflect Yang Jian’s figure. Perhaps he was no longer human but a ghost.

The Ghost Mirror could not cast the shadows of ghosts because that would not comply with the laws of the Ghost Mirror; it only resurrected people, not ghosts.

And there was no need to resurrect ghosts as they cannot die.

In the smooth, shiny surface of the Ghost Mirror, it wasn’t empty. A charred hand rested on the bottom part of the mirror.

Not outside the mirror but inside it.

After a moment of looking in the mirror, Yang Jian raised his hands.

His hands were half warm and half cold, stiff, and covered with mottling.

Due to the incomplete resurrection, only half of Yang Jian’s body was brought back to life; his front was human, his back, ghost.

The hands he raised were now cradling his own head.

"Crack, crack~!"

Accompanied by faint sounds, he was slowly twisting his head around from facing his back to facing straight again.

His hands had turned black, as if covered by something—a persistent shadow that couldn’t be waved away.

Just like that, Yang Jian forced his own head to turn half a circle, forcefully twisting it back into place.

He seemed to feel no discomfort, instead exuding a sense of calm and composure.

Having resurrected from death and gained control over a terrifying ghost, Yang Jian had gained a lot—but also seemed to have lost much.

"It’s time to leave."

Yang Jian slowly spoke, his voice echoing in a way that sent chills down one’s spine.

He picked up the black cloth to cover the Ghost Mirror, then prepared to leave the place with it.

But as soon as he started to walk away, the Ghost Rope around his neck tugged at him. n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Yang Jian glanced at it and reached for his neck to pull it off.

The Ghost Rope that had been tightly constricting his neck was forcibly torn off, leaving a deep mark clearly visible.

The Ghost Rope lay in his hand, seemingly devoid of any reaction—as if it had lost its eerie power and fallen into silence.

But Yang Jian knew that the Ghost Rope was still potent.

It was only quiet in his hands; once out of his possession, it would become a terrifying ghost once again.

After all, it is only a ghost that can contend with another ghost.

With the sound of a car engine starting up.

Yang Jian drove off in a pickup truck, taking the Ghost Mirror with him as he left the residential complex, heading back to Guanjiang Residential Complex.

He did not start looking for the Source Ghost right away.

That would be no sure victory, but he probably wouldn’t die either.

Because the Source Ghost is a true ghost.

According to the plan, even if he were to succeed, Yang Jian would merely have the means to encounter the Source Ghost—not like before, where he could only flee for his life. To resolve it, he must implement the second step of his plan.

But before that, he wanted to check on the people he had left behind in the residential complex, to see if they were dead or not.

"Wuu~!"

From a certain floor in the Guanjiang Residential Complex came suppressed cries.

It was Wang Bin and his wife, Wang Haiyan.

In front of them lay a corpse, covered with a white cloth, with two candles lit beside it. Their flickering light cast a feeble glow in this gloomy place, making the surroundings all the more sinister.

Any person in such a setting would be scared to death.

But Wang Bin and his wife were neither avoiding nor afraid.

The corpse in front of them was their deceased daughter, and to them, who had seen real ghosts, this was nothing.

Their daughter’s body would not harm them, and there was something far more terrifying lurking outside.

"I’ll carry our daughter’s body down for cremation later; we can’t leave her any longer, or she will start to decompose," Wang Bin said after a long silence, making up his mind.

"No, it’s too dangerous outside. We have enough food and water to last over a month. Don’t take the risk," Wang Haiyan pleaded through her tears, clutching her husband’s hand, not wanting him to take the risk.

Wang Bin insisted, "But we can’t just watch our daughter’s body rot here, can we? Don’t worry, if I don’t make noise and don’t provoke those things, I should be safe. There is diesel prepared by President Zhang outside; I’ll cremate our daughter’s body and come back."

He was trembling, frightened.

But as a father, his duty wouldn’t allow such a tragic situation; even at the risk of danger, he had to fulfill his final responsibility.

"It’s decided, then."

Wang Bin didn’t want to hesitate any longer. A successful man, he had strong self-control and knew the longer he hesitated, the more likely he was to back out. Acting decisively was the only way to get things done.

Soon, he prepared himself, and with Wang Haiyan’s help, he carried his daughter Wang Shanshan’s body on his back and stepped out the door.

Wang Haiyan, in the end, didn’t stop him but just cried out, "Be careful."

"Quiet, I’m leaving. Lock the door and wait here; I’ll be back after I’ve taken care of it," Wang Bin whispered admonishingly. He steadied the body on his back with one hand and held a candle with the other as he left the apartment.

Without electricity, the candle was the only source of light.

However, the candle in his hand wasn’t a Ghost Candle—it couldn’t dispel evil spirits; it could only illuminate the path ahead to prevent him from tripping and falling.

But carrying his daughter’s body, holding a candle, Wang Bin was facing the prospect of horror appearing at any moment.

Wang Bin’s entire body trembled.

A successful man in his forties, who had thought himself invincible against any difficulty, now realized he was wrong.

When horror struck, he was as frightened and desperate as anyone else.

If it weren’t for his sense of duty as a father, he might have already collapsed.