Chapter 198: Eerie and Ominous

Yin Jiu's eyes were hidden in the shadows. From Gao Tian's angle, it was impossible to make out his expression.

"Just who exactly are you two?" he asked slowly.

Yin Jiu was no fool; he had heard their conversation.

Gao Tian's strength was already formidable.

Out in the real world, whether in the Supernatural Disaster Bureau or the Black Cross Exorcism Company, he would be a high-ranking ghost hunter.

Yet this so-called younger cousin of his could just casually say things like "I guarantee you won't die" and "I have to get you out." And Gao Tian hadn't raised a single objection.

Yin Jiu realized he had made a grave mistake.

He had always assumed Gao Tian was the one leading this helpless cousin, surviving in the Inner World until now.

But now, it seemed the situation was the exact opposite. This middle school girl was the true boss. Gao Tian was just the sidekick.

It was incredibly hard to accept.

Just what kind of monster was she?

Faced with Yin Jiu's questioning and the increasingly violent crashing against the Blood Gate outside, Gao Tian looked at Qin Zhuguang. He silently asked for her permission, and she agreed.

They were about to leave this stop anyway; they had nothing left to hide from Yin Jiu.

He might as well satisfy the man's curiosity.

"She is the Eighth Young Master of Shunjin City, Old Man Sun's final disciple before his death. In all of Xia Country, she's a figure guaranteed to rank in the top three, aiming for number one," Gao Tian said.

Although Yin Jiu hadn't left Blood Door Village in a long time, he understood the weight of the name Old Man Sun. As for the title Eighth Young Master, the ghost hunters who entered Blood Door Village after him had already told him about her.

His pupils trembled for a long time as he stared intently at Qin Zhuguang and the schoolbag on her back.

"I've been trapped here for over a decade," Yin Jiu said. "Don't lie to me."

"I swear to God, I'm not lying," Gao Tian replied.

After a long pause, Yin Jiu let out a bitter laugh. "The Eighth Young Master, whose name shakes Xia Country, isn't a muscle-bound, square-jawed tough guy, but a middle school girl who still has to do homework?"

"Your whole family are muscle-bound, square-jawed tough guys," Qin Zhuguang retorted.

"Old Man Sun... died in battle?" Yin Jiu asked.

That phrase "before his death" had shocked Yin Jiu just as much.

He had stayed in Blood Door Village for far too long; he was completely ignorant of everything that had happened in the outside world.

"During the S-Level event codenamed King of All Ghosts, he successfully imprisoned the target and passed away peacefully," Gao Tian said.

Qin Zhuguang reached out with her ice-cold little hand and grabbed the hem of Gao Tian's clothes. "Close your eyes. We're about to leave."

Outside, the Blood Gate had already been smashed open at one corner by the Well-Coiling Bone, revealing an eye that peered covetously into the house.

The pupil of that eye was clearly blood-red, yet it was covered by a thick white film, like a cataract.

The thing from the bottom of the well had suffered heavily last night from the "No Staring" sign, and it had grown a new organ before coming here today.

Looking at the room full of people, Gao Tian couldn't bear it.

He tossed a Mirror to Yin Jiu. "I'll activate the Mirror Ghost's power to temporarily pull you into this Mirror.

"But to get out of the Mirror, you must pull someone else inside.

"You don't need to worry. Once tonight is over, if that red-haired youth hanging in the ancestral hall isn't dead yet, you can pull him in to take your place, allowing you to get out."

When passing the ancestral hall, Gao Tian had placed a Mirror at the youth's feet precisely to use him as a scapegoat.

It was a classic case of recycling trash.

"However, there is only one scapegoat. So, only one person can go in," Gao Tian added.

The Mirror World of Blood Door Village was also isolated from the outside.

This was the last thing Gao Tian could do before leaving.

Yin Jiu looked down at the Mirror, silent for a long time, before smiling. "It can only save one person?

"I'm a grown adult; I can handle this situation myself.

"Give this chance to the kid."

Ignoring the crumbling Blood Gate, which had already been torn down by a third, he stuffed the life-saving Mirror into the hands of the silent little boy playing with building blocks in the corner.

Gao Tian's body began to turn into countless light particles, scattering in all directions.

Right before he vanished, the last thing he could do was follow Yin Jiu's wishes and activate the Mirror Ghost, pulling the boy into the Mirror.

Yin Jiu turned to look at Qin Zhuguang and Gao Tian. "Brother Gao Tian, please remember me.

"Whether it takes ten years or twenty, I will definitely find a way out. I'm going to leave this damn hellhole.

"I won't die tonight, and I won't die of old age in Blood Door Village."

Qin Zhuguang, with only half her body remaining before completely disappearing, suddenly turned her head. She coldly ordered the Fierce Ghost outside the Blood Gate, "Get lost.

"You are not allowed to harass this house for three days.

"Do you understand?"

By the time he turned back around, the two of them had already left Blood Door Village and appeared at the Bus stop where they had first arrived.

Looking back now, Blood Door Village was utterly deserted, without a single soul in any of the houses.

They had escaped.

Gao Tian realized that Qin Zhuguang had done it on purpose.

She could have told the Well-Coiling Bone outside the house to get lost from the start. But she had deliberately held her tongue, waiting until the Mirror Ghost pulled the little boy inside before speaking up at the very last moment of their departure.

"There's something wrong with that little boy," Qin Zhuguang said flatly.

"It had to be done this way, waiting until he willingly entered the Mirror before I banished the Well-Coiling Bone.

"After we get back, don't even think about letting him out of the Mirror. Just keep him locked in there forever."

Qin Zhuguang didn't specify exactly what the problem was.

But as a top-tier ghost hunter, Gao Tian trusted her judgment.

In the distance, the twin headlights of the Bus slowly approached.

After boarding the Bus, the two of them maintained a period of silence.

"The child by Shen Nian's side may have been a disguise, but his appearance mimicked the real child in Shen Nian's perception," Gao Tian said.

"Yes," Qin Zhuguang replied.

"I kept feeling like I recognized that child's face from somewhere," Gao Tian continued.

"If he's still alive now, he should be around thirty years old.

"I've already thought of a fitting candidate, and the age matches perfectly.

"The only flaw is that his surname is wrong.

"His last name isn't Shen."

"Back then, when you asked Shen Nian what his child's name was, he froze up and couldn't say it," Qin Zhuguang pointed out.

"How could someone who loves his child so much forget his own kid's name?

"It's possible that after moving abroad, his child took his mother's surname.

"This became a painful memory for Shen Nian. He already suffered from cognitive issues, so his brain deliberately blocked out the child's name."

"I think he looks a lot like Ye Jiu," Gao Tian said.

One was an incredibly promising ghost hunter lieutenant colonel around thirty years old; the other was a child around ten.

However, the structure of a person's skull, the distance between their eyes, and the bridge of their nose wouldn't change drastically into adulthood.

Of course, this was just Gao Tian's speculation. He only faintly saw the silhouette of the future Ye Jiu in that boy. He couldn't be a hundred percent certain.

"Understood," Qin Zhuguang said.

"Ye Jiu is still stationed in Minghai City, right? We just need to investigate his relatives and compare his blood sample with Shen Nian's. In a few hours, we'll know if your deduction is correct."

If Ye Jiu truly was Shen Nian's child—

Then it would be somewhat ironic.

They had wandered all over the Inner World looking for Shen Nian's "true" child, only to find that he had been right beside them all along.

Twenty years ago, Shen Nian was a ghost hunter.

His wife hadn't wanted their child to live a life on the edge of a blade, so she took the boy far away from him.

Twenty years later, in a twist of fate, Ye Jiu had once again become a ghost hunter.

There really was something to be said about genetic inheritance.

Of course, all of this was solely Gao Tian's subjective guesswork. The final verdict still awaited Qin Zhuguang's confirmation.

Along the way, there were no other passengers on the Bus besides the two of them.

When the vehicle arrived in Minghai City and the rear doors slowly opened, Gao Tian stepped off.

The moment Qin Zhuguang's feet touched the ground, she turned into countless light particles, scattering in the wind and vanishing from the spot.

She had teleported directly back to Shunjin City. She couldn't delay for even a single second.

Alone, Gao Tian walked along the familiar streets, making his way toward the Living Apartment.

Perhaps because of the early morning hours, the sky over Minghai City was an overcast gray. There wasn't a single pedestrian at the intersections, not even a passing car.

In the distance, the commercial buildings, bars, and Haidilao hot pot restaurants that normally operated until dawn had all gone dark. The neon signs and billboards were extinguished, as if they had closed up shop early.

'Are there really this few people in Minghai City today?'

Gao Tian didn't say a word, silently hurrying along.

As he passed by the old-fashioned residential buildings on either side, the entrances were perfectly shrouded by the shadows cast from the eaves. It felt as though something indescribable was hidden deep within those buildings.

The old wooden doors swayed gently in the wind, creaking ominously.

A sinister sixth sense began to gradually rise in Gao Tian's heart.

The surrounding environment—it made him deeply uncomfortable.

Outwardly, he continued his brisk pace, but beneath his clothes, every muscle in his body was pulled taut, ready to deal with any unexpected situation. From the corner of his eye, he kept scanning his surroundings and behind him, checking the empty road for any other pedestrians.

There wasn't even a stray cat. Not a single living thing.

'Is this stretch of road being affected by some supernatural incident?'

Gao Tian wasn't entirely sure.

He didn't make any unnecessary movements.

If he had truly been drawn into a supernatural event, the best approach was to stay calm and adapt to changes only when necessary, at least until he figured out its Killing Rule.

The more he did, the easier it would be to accidentally trigger a Killing Rule.

Besides, the Living Apartment wasn't far ahead.

As long as he reached it and pushed the door open, the outside world would no longer have anything to do with him.

Passing the corner of the alley, the familiar silhouette of the apartment appeared before him.

Gao Tian felt a slight sliver of relief.

He quickened his pace, pushed open the glass door, and stepped inside the apartment.

'Hmm, good.'

The apartment's first-floor lobby was still dead silent, not much different from the main road outside.

All the decorations were exactly as they had been before he left.

The vomit Lan Zhu had thrown up on the carpet had already hardened.

Jiang Yang and the others still hadn't returned. On the wall hung two Green Text Missions: one was his Blood Door Village, and the other was Xia Ta's Moonlight Sanatorium.

Following the stairs, Gao Tian cautiously took it step by step, slowly ascending past the second floor to the Third Floor.

Upon reaching the Third Floor corridor and nearing the door to his room, Gao Tian stopped in his tracks, his pupils shrinking to pinpricks in shock.

Even though he had mentally prepared himself.

It was a blood-red door.

At some point, the door to Room 313 had been replaced by a blood-red door.