Yang Jian was frantically trying to devise a strategy. He knew very well that the knocks he had heard over the phone would inevitably lead the old man to them. And once the old man appeared, the outcome was obvious.
The forum, the story, the audio file... the knocking old man, and the phone calls. All these elements clashed in Yang Jian's mind, creating a chaotic mess. He had figured out some of the rules, but he couldn't piece together the full picture. This was his first encounter with a ghost; he had no prior experience. Reaching this point was already an achievement. He wasn't like Fang Jing, who claimed to know everything about the future.
"Wait, Fang Jing... the future," Yang Jian suddenly had a realization. "That piece of sheepskin."
He quickly pulled out the stack of dark brown sheepskin from his pocket.
"Yang... Yang Jian, look over there..." Zhang Wei's trembling voice broke through his thoughts as he pointed towards the school.
Yang Jian looked up, and his blood ran cold.
About a few hundred meters away, a dense, inky darkness was creeping towards them, swallowing everything in its path. The ground began to decay, the trees withered and rotted, and the concrete became mottled with mold. The streetlights were rusting, swaying as if they were about to collapse.
An old man dressed in a black robe, his body covered in corpse spots, his face ashen and devoid of life, was walking towards them with stiff, deliberate steps.
Step by step, he moved forward, neither fast nor slow.
"Damn it, he's really coming!" Yang Jian's heart pounded in his chest.
"Yang Jian, w-what do we do now? Are we going to die?" Zhang Wei's eyes welled up with tears. "I don't want to die! I'm still so young, and I'm still a virgin. Yang Jian, you have to think of something! Fang Jing said you'd be really powerful in the future. You must have a way out of this, right?"
"Are we really trapped here?" Wang Shanshan, gripping his arm tightly, asked, her face pale with fear.
Zhao Lei, seeing the encroaching darkness, trembled uncontrollably, retreating in fear. He wanted to run, but when he turned around, he saw that the darkness was closing in from behind as well. They were surrounded; there was nowhere to run.
But Yang Jian didn't pay attention to their panic. Sweat dripping from his forehead, he frantically opened the sheepskin in his hand, hoping to find some crucial information.
A line of clear text appeared on the sheepskin:
"June 22nd, 5:00 AM. The ghost domain has reappeared. Yes, that ghost is back..."
"June 22nd, 5:30 AM. We are all dead. Not a single one of us survived."
"I am Yang Jian. By the time you see this, I will already be dead."
"You've already written us off as dead? Nonsense! There must be a way out. When I was dragged into the bathroom earlier, that old man didn't follow me. I want to know why. If you don't tell me, I'll bury you somewhere, and you'll never see the light of day again," Yang Jian growled through gritted teeth, the threat clear in his tone.
The sheepskin seemed to respond to his words. The text began to blur, disappearing completely before new lines emerged:
"June 21st, 9:00 PM. I was dragged into the bathroom by a ghost, but I didn't die. That's because there was an even more terrifying ghost in the bathroom. It was another ghost domain. I saw something horrifying, but at the time, I didn't realize it."
"June 21st, 9:30 PM. I got lost in the bathroom, but the old man came to the door. He was knocking, looking for me. However, I didn't hear it. Perhaps that's why I escaped certain death."
Yang Jian's heart skipped a beat as he read this.
Could it be that when he was lost in the bathroom, the old man was knocking on the door outside?
More text quickly appeared on the sheepskin:
"After that incident, I speculated that the ghost domain was the key to survival. If I could use the ghost domain, perhaps I could survive. After all, I am... also a ghost now. Zhou Zheng was right—only a ghost can deal with a ghost. The only way to escape the ghost domain is through another ghost domain."
"June 22nd, 5:15 AM. The old man appeared. I tried to use the ghost domain but failed. My power wasn't enough."
"June 22nd, 5:30 AM. We all died..."
Yang Jian's eyes widened in realization.
Although the final outcome still pointed to their deaths at 5:30 AM, he saw a glimmer of hope for survival.
The ghost domain—yes, wherever the old man appeared, a ghost domain followed. Now that he himself was a ghost handler, why couldn't he use the ghost domain as well?
If Zhou Zheng were here to hear Yang Jian's thoughts, he would probably find them laughable. Not every ghost has a ghost domain; those that do are rare... and terrifying.
"I have to try. There's no other way." Yang Jian gripped the sheepskin tightly. "Tell me how to use the ghost domain."
The sheepskin quickly produced more text.
"Yang Jian, who are you talking to? Look around—everything is becoming... strange. What are we going to do?" Zhang Wei was on the verge of tears, relying entirely on Yang Jian to save them. He was terrified of hearing bad news from him.
"Quiet, I'm trying to think. Give me some time," Yang Jian snapped urgently, glancing around.
The old man was still approaching, less than a hundred meters away now.
They were scared, desperate. But so was Yang Jian. He didn't want to die either.
The sheepskin continued to reveal more text:
"June 22nd, 5:20 AM. After my initial failure, I concluded that the ghost in my body hadn't awakened enough. If I could open more eyes, maybe it would work."
Eyes—how many of them?
Yang Jian didn't have time to think further. There were only ten minutes left until 5:30 AM. He refused to let this sheepskin prophecy come true and die here.
Immediately, the skin on his arm split open, revealing five blood-red eyes, all glowing faintly.
"5:22 AM. I decided to increase the number of eyes," the sheepskin read.
"A method. I need the method," Yang Jian growled at the sheepskin. "If I die, this thing gets lost too. You didn't want me to throw you away earlier, so what makes you think someone else will pick you up if I'm gone?"
The text on the sheepskin blurred again before new lines emerged:
"5:24 AM. After trying, I consumed one of the eyes on my arm, successfully opening another eye. With six eyes, I was able to use my ghost domain... I'm becoming more like a ghost."
"5:30 AM. I didn't open the ghost domain. We all died..."
Eat the eyes?
Yang Jian stared at the five eerie, blood-red eyes on his arm, momentarily stunned.
But when he saw the final line, "5:30 AM. We all died," he knew he had no other choice.
Darkness was closing in around them, the surroundings dimming rapidly. The old man was now only twenty meters away.
Creak...
As the darkness enveloped them, the door to the nearby security office slowly opened, a pale hand reaching out.
Beyond the fence, on the road shrouded in darkness, a blurry figure was slowly approaching.
Nearby, several faint phone lights pierced the darkness as if classmates who had gotten separated were now slowly making their way toward them.
Yang Jian, Zhang Wei, Zhao Lei, Wang Shanshan, Miao Xiaoshan, and Qian Wanhao—they were all surrounded by ghosts.
YOU ARE READING
Resurgence of the Unknown
Kinh dịIn a world where malevolent spirits roam freely, Yang Jian, an ordinary high school student, becomes entangled in a series of terrifying supernatural events. It all begins with a deadly haunting at his school, where students start disappearing under...
