Chapter 71: The Fifth Arrival, Balance Out of Control

Inside the old Village.

Li Jun and his party arrived again at the center of the Village.

He looked at the house ahead, where, seen through the window, it was pitch black, hand could not see a finger, as if all light had vanished.

"Let's go." Taking a deep breath, Li Jun slowly stepped forward, heading toward the dark house that served as a spirit hall.

"Wait!"

Han Mo blocked Li Jun, who was about to step forward.

"What's wrong?" A Hong looked puzzled at Liu San.

"Did you find anything?"

"No, but I don't know why, I just have a familiar feeling, as if we've been here before."

Han Mo shook his head; his body told him they had been here, yet he had no memory of it.

"Come to think of it, when we got close to this place, I also felt uneasy."

Liu San also spoke, walking to the window at the back of the house to look inside.

The house seemed isolated by some incomprehensible supernatural barrier, and all that could be seen was pitch black.

"I don't know why, but my body instinctively recoils from this place."

If it were only Han Mo, the others wouldn't pay much attention.

But now that two people have said so, they have to take it seriously.

"Could it be because we approached the Source Ghost?" Xu Yiping asked.

"Perhaps, but unlikely." Han Mo shook his head.

"The reason I feel this place is familiar is that the Fierce Ghost inside my body is instinctively warning me."

The other ghost Han Mo commands is called Ghost Shedding Skin; each time it is killed, it leaves a Shedding Skin in its place, similar to the saying of a golden cicada shedding its shell.

However, after shedding, he must find a way to deal with his own Shedding Skin.

Because each Shedding Skin is equivalent to a Fierce Ghost that possesses the memory of the moment it shed, and will instinctively hunt him, seeking to replace him.

If these skins fall into the hands of a Fierce Ghost, they may even bring that Fierce Ghost to hunt him.

Just now, as they approached, he could feel a strange change coming from the Ghost inside his body.

The feeling was like a shed skin left after death approaching him.

Yet no actual shed skin appeared, and he has no memory of dying here; it seems only the Fierce Ghost in his body is hallucinating.

But is this really just an illusion? Han Mo couldn't help but look at Liu San, whose ghost is a Paper Person that can create many duplicates.

And the other, like himself, felt instinctively uneasy after approaching.

When Han Mo turned his head, Liu San happened to look at him; the two, meeting eyes, both became more convinced of their thought.

Something must have happened here.

"I'll go ahead and take a look." Liu San said.

He wanted to search first for any signs.

"I'll try to sense if there's danger anywhere." Han Mo closed his eyes.

But he quickly opened his eyes, seeming to have obtained some information.

"There is a terrifying presence inside the house capable of killing us," Han Mo said gravely.

"You all come quickly."

At that moment, Liu San also spoke.

Liu San stood on the Road not far in front of the house.

In front of the house was a large open door, the doorway was an older wooden door.

However, what truly caught everyone's attention was not the door's style but the many footprints at the doorway.

The footprints were chaotic, bearing some gray‑white ash, as if brought in from outside.

"Could the Ghost inside have gone outside?" Liu San's face changed.

It should be noted that outside is the world drawn by Ghosts; according to earlier deduction, the ghosts in the Ghost Coffin are trapped in these pitch‑black houses, unable to leave.

Yet the scattered footprints on the ground prove that something did go out, and it was stained with the gray‑white ash from outside.

Liu San, startled and doubtful, glanced suspiciously at the open door.

Strangely, although the house's main door was open, inside was pitch black, and from outside one could not see inside at all.

"Don't rush in yet." Li Jun said.

"Just now Han Mo sensed that inside the house there is a terrifying thing capable of killing us."

Hearing this, everyone nodded and began to circle the house, observing to see if any new discoveries could be made.

"Come quickly!"

Xu Yiping suddenly spoke, pointing at the back of the house.

There was an area fenced with a railing, likely where the homeowner's family used to sit at night to cool off and chat.

However, the current homeowner has become a Ghost, so cooling off is no longer needed.

"The fence gate can be opened; we might be able to enter from here," Xu Yiping said, pointing ahead.

The front door area is too eerie; if possible, they don't want to go through there.

So upon discovering this entry, they immediately gathered together.

"I'll clear the way."

Liu San voluntarily took the lead; although he was very wary of the house, he still voluntarily assumed the responsibility of leading the way.

Because among those present, he is the one who could survive an attack.

Although Liu San doesn't trust others, seeing the situation at home deteriorating and so many Ghost Tamers have died, he also doesn't want the Headquarters' casualties to increase again.

Liu San pushed open the fence gate and carefully stepped inside.

Although the back door might not be as dangerous as the front door, neglecting vigilance because of that would be disastrous.

They only confirmed that the front door was dangerous; they could not be sure the back door was safe.

Entering the house's backyard, Liu San safely arrived at the side door of the house.

However, when he cautiously pushed open that door and stepped inside, the scene before his eyes made his pupils suddenly contract and his heart thump sharply.

A figure identical in appearance to him, with a broken body and looking as if a corpse, stood inside the house, its lifeless eyes staring outward, exuding an uncanny terror.

Yet when Liu San tried to examine it closely, he couldn't help but retreat several steps.

The being that looked exactly like him was neither a corpse nor a human, but a lifelike Paper Person crafted by hand.

Not only was that Paper Person standing inside, but scattered throughout were a heap of tattered Paper Persons.

Although these Paper Persons were ragged, Liu San could recognize them; each bore his own likeness, and he was certain he had made them himself.

The front door bore scattered ash‑stained footprints, while the back room held incomplete, broken Paper Persons as if they had been dead for a long time.

In an instant, a terrifying thought flashed through Liu San's mind: "I have been here before, and it wasn't the first time."

"Did something happen?" Li Jun asked as he stopped after seeing Liu San enter, his body igniting with a faint Ghost Fire as he walked in.

The other three hurried after them, fearing any mishap on Liu San's side.

But what none of them expected was that entering the house revealed no danger; instead, they saw many inexplicable things.

They were a series of incomplete, broken Paper Persons.

Each Paper Person bore Liu San's features: a wax‑yellow complexion, dead‑gray eyes, and a lingering expression mixing terror with disbelief.

Under Li Jun's green Ghost Fire, this corpse‑like visage appeared especially eerie.

One, two, three, four; a total of four Paper Persons.

Liu San's face grew solemn as he counted.

"Four times—we have come to this house a total of four times."

His voice trembled as he spoke, for the scene was a terrifying one he could not comprehend.

"Impossible, Liu San, your conjecture must be wrong. This is our first time here; we never came before, I remember clearly."

Xu Yiping spoke, feeling that the Paper Persons might have caused Liu San, who also manipulates Paper Persons, to recall some horrific truth.

However, A Hong also spoke at that moment: "Look quickly."

A Hong pointed to several White Curtains hanging inside the room, stained with blood, and at their lower edges smeared with an unknown pigment, looking extremely odd.

A pristine White Curtain, who would paint it all over for no reason? Yet A Hong's words instantly gave the others a hair‑raising feeling.

"The pigment beneath these White Cloth should be cosmetics!" A Hong's voice quivered.

The group exchanged puzzled glances before looking at A Hong's face.

Because the Ghost A Hong wielded turned out to be a makeup box, and her face was now heavily painted.

"Four White Curtains stained with blood and pigment, four Paper Persons," Han Mo said, fear evident in his eyes.

The matter was so bizarre it surpassed his level of comprehension; none of the Supernatural Incidents he had handled before exhibited such inexplicable changes.

The others stared at the four Paper Persons and four White Curtains in the room, also silent and solemn.

"A Hong's pigment, my Paper Persons, all of this explains everything; my earlier statement was not wrong." Liu San spoke again.

His tone grew anxious as he said, "If we never came here, why are my Paper Persons left behind? When a Ghost kills me once, a Paper Person takes my place to die."

"There are four now, which shows that after entering here I was killed by a Ghost four times, yet from before until now I have never been killed."

"If it were only me, you could say my perception was flawed, but with A Hong…"

Liu San fell silent, but everyone understood his meaning.

"Is our memory at fault? Or did we previously encounter a Ghostly Servant or Red and White Double Evil, causing us to be killed?" Han Mo frowned.

"Although the Ghost inside my body tells me I seem to have died here many times, I have no memory of it at all."

Han Mo's words added further credibility to Liu San's claim.

"So… we are now repeatedly reliving past events?" A Hong frowned.

"Could it be that after each death, the Ghostly Servant performed a Restart?"

The Ghostly Servant indeed possesses that strange ability.

But such a Restart applies only to the Ghostly Servant itself, unable to affect others, let alone everyone's memories.

"Liu San, this is merely speculation from you and A Hong's personal perspectives; if we had been here, not only you two but we as well should have left some traces."

Li Jun said calmly, "In fact, aside from you and A Hong, the other three of us noticed nothing unusual."

"At most, only Han Mo feels a bit uneasy."

Han Mo interrupted Li Jun, "Don't forget the footprints in the front yard."

"I just observed that the back yard shows no signs of anyone having come, no footprints at all."

"If we truly came here, we must have entered through the front door."

"Now the house contains four Paper Persons and White Curtains, yet they are not placed in the front hall; doesn't that make it even more bizarre?"

The others fell into silence.

"Speaking of it, at the front door there is quite a lot of scattered paper ash, right?"

Liu San pointed at the Paper Persons and said, "Look, these Paper Persons also have paper ash beneath them, indicating they must have left footprints and scattered ash at the front door."

"Could that Ghost, after killing us, have taken the Paper Persons and White Curtains to the back hall?" A Hong asked skeptically.

The more they speculated, the more terrifying it became.

But why, after killing them, would the Ghost bring the leftover White Curtains and Paper Persons to the back hall? Everyone simultaneously considered a possibility—to conceal traces. "No, impossible, a Fierce Ghost could not think that way." Li Jun shook his head vigorously, refusing to believe a Fierce Ghost could act so.

"Let's withdraw, regardless of whether we came here before." Han Mo shook his head and said gravely.

"Huang Gang Cun is once again showing changes we cannot comprehend; this is terribly bad, and if we don't leave now we may not be able to leave at all."

Han Mo's inner thought leaned more toward Liu San and A Hong's speculation.

Although he left no trace in this house, such as a Shedding Skin after molting, he trusts his own Fierce Ghost perception.

Even his own Fierce Ghost feels he has died here many times; as a Ghost Tamer who relies on Fierce Ghosts, not trusting it would be no different from courting death.

"That makes sense. If Liu San's speculation is true, then we can't even trust our own memories now."

After a series of guesses, Xu Yiping could no longer maintain his previous composure.

"In this situation, imprisoning a Fierce Ghost is nothing but a joke, and the Ghost Painting is still present."

"If we really died here so many times, the ghost in the house is probably the Red and White Double Evil! None of you can be confident in handling it, right?"

Hearing that, Li Jun fell silent.

Even if he kept thinking of taking advantage of the Ghostly Servant's Ghost Domain being suppressed to imprison the Ghostly Servant, if the house truly houses the Red and White Double Evil, he indeed has no way.

"Come to think of it, I recall the Red and White Double Evil once obtained a White Curtain draped over a ghost in a livestream event."

Han Mo spoke; having always paid close attention to the Red and White Double Evil, he was aware of all information about that ghost, including that livestream event.

After speaking, everyone looked outward, their hearts simultaneously feeling a bit discouraged.

Above the sky remained a gray haze; the whole world lacked any color or even a hint of sound, oppressively frightening.

An ordinary person arriving here would be terrified to death, let alone having to search for a Fierce Ghost in this unknown place while suspecting they may have died four times already.

The pressure endured is unimaginable.

Li Jun now faced a dilemma.

This time he was leading the team, so when choices diverged he had to make a decision.

Should they continue searching this terrifying Village, or leave now?

Every choice has a cost; leaving now means the operation fails, but continuing could lead to the whole team being wiped out here.

"If we leave now it's a pity; the Ghostly Servant's Ghost Domain has already been suppressed, Professor Wang's plan succeeded, and we have pinpointed the Red and White Double Evil's location."

"If handled properly, we can resolve this S‑Class Supernatural Incident; missing this chance means no other opportunity, and we cannot afford to lose this time."

Li Jun's expression changed, and he gritted his teeth before speaking.

According to Wang Xiaoming's idea, once the Ghostly Servant's Ghost Domain is suppressed to the extreme, it should be locked inside the Golden Box.

If it were elsewhere, they'd just retreat.

But here it's different; the nearby city behind them must not be drawn into the supernatural incident, or the consequences would be ten times worse than the original Hungry Ghost Incident.

"Is this a do‑or‑die situation?" the others felt a chill at the words.

According to Jiang Shangbai's data, the Ghost Coffin should have stayed together with the Red and White Double Evil all along.

That means if they want to imprison the Ghostly Servant, they must confront the Red and White Double Evil, seize the Ghost Coffin and the Ghostly Servant inside it.

They were about to speak when, in the silent surroundings, a clear Footsteps sound came from the adjacent room.

The appearance of the Footsteps instantly silenced everyone, who all stared across the hallway.

The sound was dull and stiff, lacking a living person's lightness, like a walking corpse approaching.

"Creek!"

The wooden door of the next room seemed to be pushed open by something; the old hinges squeaked, pricking everyone's nerves.

Everyone prepared themselves to meet a ghost attack.

Li Jun took out a Ghost Candle and lit it early, to prevent immediate casualties should a Fierce Ghost appear.

However, the moment the candle flame lit, the sound outside the wooden door stopped.

"This burning speed is off."

But when Li Jun saw the Ghost Candle's burning rate, his eyes narrowed.

The burning speed was very slow.

Such a speed doesn't look like there are ghosts nearby.

"Together."

Li Jun let out a low shout and rushed forward, kicking open the half‑closed wooden door.

A huge sound echoed in the dark room.

The next moment, five people surged in.

The Ghost Candle illuminated the darkness, also giving them confidence not to be wiped out.

But after they rushed in, the dim room contained nothing but some old furniture and some long‑unused farming tools.

"Nothing there? How could that be?" someone exclaimed.

Inside there was no Red and White Double Evil standing as they imagined, nor a Ghost Coffin.

Just now there was clearly Footsteps, and they saw the door being pushed open.

"Thump!"

Yet at this moment.

An old portrait hanging on the wall fell down.

It was a portrait of an elderly man; in rural villages, elders who die first often leave a memorial portrait at home—quite common.

"Portrait? Why is this here?" Han Mo's pupils narrowed.

If it were an ordinary Supernatural Incident, a memorial portrait would be all right.

But don't forget, they had already confirmed the Red and White Double Evil were in the house; shouldn't the White Evil among them appear as a young person?

This painting is definitely not the White Evil of the Red and White Double Evil, nor could it be the Ghostly Servant.

And the most important point: besides the Ghostly Servant and the Red and White Double Evil, there is also a Ghost Painting.

Where the Ghost Painting invades, a portrait appears; although it's a memorial portrait, it inevitably evokes something ominous.

After all, the Ghost Painting can invade any portrait.

(End of chapter)