Mysterious Revival

Having just left the room — confirmed empty — the sound of a piano began to play once again. The melody differed from that of an Eight-Tone Music Box; it was a piece of music Yang Jian had never heard before. His unfamiliarity with Western piano music left him unable to recognize the tune, yet it was soothing in its ethereal reverberations. It somewhat resembled a foreign lullaby, albeit slightly altered upon the lullaby's framework, casting an eerie and darkly oppressive sensation. "Is there something wrong with that piano, or is there actually a ghost in the room?" At this moment, Yang Jian felt an inexplicable chill run down his spine. He had entered the room just a short while ago and hadn't detected any anomalies, not even a reaction from the ghost within his body; everything seemed perfectly normal. He stopped walking subconsciously. He turned and looked back at room 71. The wooden door was not fully closed; a sliver of space remained, revealing a stream of dim, yellowish light spilling forth, coupled with the haunting lullaby melody that echoed in the otherwise still surroundings. "The woman named Xiang Lan and the man named Ah Nan were not in a hurry to leave just because they were scared by me, but because they knew there was a ghost in the room. My sudden appearance made them mistake me for the ghost, and when I started asking questions, they quickly realized I was just an unexpected complication and that the real ghost was still inside." Yang Jian's gaze shifted slightly as he then looked towards the dark corridor ahead. The two people had already run far away, passing the crossroads; even with his ghostly sight, he couldn't spot their figures anymore. "So when they snapped to their senses, they didn't even bother to ask about the exit any further, because they knew if they didn't leave that room soon, they might very well be killed by the ghost. When life is at stake, nothing else matters." "But if they knew there was a ghost in the room, why did they come in here to play the piano? Both of their reactions and adaptability are first-class; they have the potential to be Ghost Envoys. It's unlikely for such people to come to this room to court death without reason... unless they had some pressing need to come here." These thoughts ran through Yang Jian's mind. Afterward. He lingered at the doorway, and although the door could easily be pulled open with a gentle tug, he chose not to do it. Unlike before, he was now certain there was an unknown ghost inside; entering again would not be out of curiosity, but rather seeking death. Additionally, the clue related to the Eight-Tone Music Box wasn't in this room but on the person of the woman in the cheongsam named Xiang Lan. As to why he didn't forcefully stop those two people, Yang Jian felt he didn't have enough time. Because thorough questioning required time, following the clues needed time, and resolving the situation would take even more time. His purpose for coming here was to retrieve the supernatural item from the Ghost Hand, kill Fang Shiming, and deal with the curse later. He must keep priorities in order; if he failed to eliminate Fang Shiming this time, he might face retaliatory actions from him. No one can withstand vengeance from a top-tier Ghost Envoy. Yang Jian dared not stake the lives of his family and friends back in Dachang City on gambles about what a nearly resurgent fierce ghost might be planning. Moreover, the flurry and genuine fear exhibited by the two people as they left swiftly gave Yang Jian an ominous premonition, prompting him to realize he shouldn't linger in that room any longer. As soon as the two had fled, he hurriedly left as well. Sure enough. His judgment was correct; there was indeed something abnormal about the room. "There's no need to go back and mess with the ghost in there again; who knows what level of supernatural event this could be? I have no intention of risking my life to find out." Yang Jian, who had lingered at the door, ultimately opted not to open it again, suppressing the curiosity within as he chose to retreat. Moving back in the direction he came, Yang Jian took a different path from Xiang Lan and Ah Nan, who had vanished deeper into the corridor. He had no desire to delve further into this eerie place at this time, nor did he want to pursue the two people any further. As Yang Jian gradually moved away, his ghostly eye kept a vigilant watch on the partially open door, filled with wariness and caution. What if the ghost within were to suddenly open the door and emerge? Or perhaps it was lurking just beyond the door, waiting for a chance to strike? He could not afford to lose his cautiousness. After Yang Jian had walked some distance, room 71 remained undisturbed, the haunting piano lullaby continuing to resonate, its sound wafting out into the dim, serene environment, lending an extra air of dread. But just as he returned to the crossroads, "Bang!" A great noise erupted as the wooden door of the room suddenly slammed shut, and the piano sound inside ceased abruptly. In an instant, A chilling, bone-penetrating cold enveloped Yang Jian; he felt as if his consciousness might vanish then and there. His body numbed, he stood motionless on the spot for a good ten seconds before another eerie melody dragged his mind back. "Are you kidding me? I almost died?" Yang Jian snapped out of his daze, then staggered and instinctively braced himself against the adjacent wall, slightly shaken. "Could the piano sound in that room be another dreadful curse? The moment the piano stopped, I felt like I was about to lose consciousness and die immediately. Was it the curse of the Eight-Tone Music Box that saved me..." Unawares, he had skirted the edge of death. At that moment, Yang Jian realized he had inadvertently come into contact with something terrifying. If it wasn't for the lingering curse of the Eight-Tone Music Box in his mind, even with three ghosts under his command, he would have been killed in that instant, without any hope of resistance. This was a certain kill, far more lethal than the Crying Tomb Ghost he had encountered before. And Yang Jian had left that room at the first opportunity; had he still been inside, He even doubted whether the curse of the Eight-Tone Music Box could withstand such supernatural forces. "This place is too dangerous, even more horrifying than my previous encounter on the haunted bus. Back then, at least the bus itself was a safe place, but here... outside the door lurks that footprint-leaving ghost, while inside hides an unknown supernatural entity. Venturing here rashly, one wrong step could mean death." At this moment, Yang Jian even felt somewhat relieved. Thankful for his ignorance and fearlessness when he had barged in here, and for having promptly blown out the white Ghost Candle he had lit in the hotel, he was also grateful for his vigilance at the time, having only entered rooms 13 and 31, which had been visited by the memory-altering ghost. Had he been more curious and ventured deeper, or had he barged into any other rooms, they would have been wiped out without a doubt, without any chance of survival. With a sense of unease, Yang Jian started to quickly make his way back the way he had come, not wanting to delve any deeper into this cursed place, nor did he care to consider why those two living people had appeared there. Before he had completed his own tasks, he didn't want to foolishly lose his life there. The unimaginable strange curse this time had been blocked by the Eight-Tone Music Box, but what if, next time, the box couldn't hold it back? When he reached the fourth intersection, Yang Jian slowed down a bit. He smelled a stench of decay. It was potent. It was as if a rotting corpse had recently passed by nearby. Aside from that, Yang Jian also saw the foul-smelling drops on the carpet, which were corpse water formed by the decay of a body, and it seemed that they hadn't been there long. "The ghost is near." Yang Jian discarded his previous tangled thoughts and began to focus on tracking down the ghost. "It went that way." After assessing the clues on the floor, Yang Jian moved swiftly through the Ghost Domain in pursuit. The ghost didn't have its own domain, and its movements were sluggish; as long as he had a rough idea of its location, it should be relatively easy to find. But as he was passing a room with the door-lamp lit, he heard a sound of something shattering inside, like porcelain being broken. Upon closer listening, however, the room was eerily silent, with no other sounds coming through. Yang Jian's heart skipped a beat, and he couldn't help but pay attention. "Another problematic room?" After quickly passing by, the door of that room didn't open, which relieved him a bit. What Yang Jian feared most at that moment was a ghost emerging from that room. Before long, Yang Jian saw a person standing in the dim corridor ahead. It was a tall man, but this man wasn't alive; he was a highly decomposed corpse, emitting a strong stench of decay, with corpse water seeping through his ragged clothes and dripping down to the floor, leaving behind blurry footprints. What caught his attention most, however, was the knife that the tall, rotting corpse was clutching in its hand. The knife was an old firewood knife used in the countryside, once a common farming tool. This knife was severely rusted, with mud on it and some black stains that looked like coagulated blood. "Found you." Yang Jian stopped about ten meters away from the tall decaying corpse. His expression was grave, and he dared not approach rashly. Because the last time he faced this ghost, he had impulsively tried to use the Ghost Rope to trap the ghost, but Xiong Wenwen was in his team at the time, and Xiong Wenwen had foreseen his own death by this ghost's knife, even the Ghost Rope would be cut. So, besides stepping on footprints, approaching the ghost seemed to prompt an attack. It could be indiscriminate attacks, or it could be another kind of curse. Yang Jian wasn't clear, only knowing it was very dangerous. "So, I need to test it out, determine the situation with this ghost, and then find a secure method to take away this paranormal artifact." At that moment, he was in no hurry. "Let's try with the Ghost Hand." Yang Jian looked at his own pale, stiff palm. Without getting close, using the Ghost Hand was safer. If successful, this hand could help steal the artifact for him. After all, he had also stolen the Ghost Envoy's Ghost Coffin before. He had experience. Once he got it, he would make a quick escape, without hesitation. The rotting, tall corpse began to manifest several pale, ghastly, rigid hands. The Ghost Hand could invade anyone's body, and also appear on a ghost. Although not powerful, it had acquired some characteristics of the Ghost Envoy and held the quota to suppress three ghosts. This time, Yang Jian planned to use the quota for three ghosts to suppress the tall, decaying corpse, not giving it any chance. But as soon as the Ghost Hand invaded the body of the tall corpse, some rule seemed to be triggered, or perhaps the ghost sensed something. The stagnant corpse, which had been motionless, suddenly turned around, facing Yang Jian's direction behind it. Yang Jian was hiding within the three layers of the Ghost Domain, which the ghost shouldn't be able to detect. However, Yang Jian failed to notice that the eerie firewood knife clenched in the ghost's hand swung through mid-air. In a moment, it seemed as if something had forcefully torn open a gap in the three layers of the Ghost Domain. The next moment. Yang Jian, within the Ghost Domain, spurted blood, cut in half at the waist, his upper body plummeting to the ground with a thud. "Damn." His eyes widened in disbelief, and he couldn't help but curse under his breath. And the tall, rotting corpse ahead slowly turned back and continued to walk along the deep corridor with stiff, heavy steps, ignoring Yang Jian, who lay bleeding on the ground.