Chapter 185: Returning to Longshu Temple

Outside the mirror, a mother and son who had turned into ghosts were talking. Gao Tian, who happened to be passing by, overheard them.

As it happened, a "No Eavesdropping" sign stood right next to that mirror. Even though Gao Tian had fled into the Mirror World, he hadn't escaped its ten-meter area of effect.

Consequently, he had "violated the rules" once again.

Feeling his internal organs and limbs being crushed bit by bit, Gao Tian knew that if the Inverted Cross's ghost domain didn't pull him in soon, he would die right here.

'Hurry up. Can't you just hurry up?'

Every tenth of a second that passed felt as slow as a century.

"57!"

A split second before Gao Tian was crushed into a bloody paste by the terrifying force, a booming roar like a thunderclap erupted directly above him. The long white corridor leading into the distance of the Mirror World vanished, and the countless surrounding mirrors connecting to the outside world disappeared. Everything plunged into endless darkness. Gao Tian had been pulled into another unknown, mysterious domain.

Looming high above the darkness was a blood-red eyeball as massive as a planet. Its iris was dark red, and the sclera was a pale crimson.

Under its gaze, Gao Tian, standing at the very bottom of the ghost domain, was as insignificant as a grain of rice.

"57!"

This mysterious blood eye—whoever it once symbolized—bellowed its incomprehensible declaration once more. At the same time, its gaze seemed to solidify into a physical force, piercing through his body like a sharp blade to look directly at his soul.

'Here it comes.'

Currently, there were nine cards in total branded on Gao Tian's soul:

The Ace of Hearts, Two of Clubs, Three of Hearts, Four of Diamonds, Five of Diamonds, Ten of Spades, Jack of Clubs, Queen of Diamonds, and King of Spades.

Counting the Three of Clubs that the giant blood eye had previously extracted, all ten cards were wiped completely clean by this mysterious ghost domain, without a single one left behind.

The only flaw was that no one knew where those ten Ghost Cards went after being extracted by the blood eye's ghost domain. Regardless, they weren't given back to Gao Tian.

It was a pity. This meant that while Gao Tian's number of resurrections had drastically increased, there was still a limit.

In the end, he still couldn't become like a true ghost—immortal, indestructible, and eternally undying.

A deck of Ghost Cards contained fifty-two cards in total, and now only forty-two remained.

Still, a person shouldn't be too greedy. This combo of the Ghost Cards and the blood eye's ghost domain was already the strongest combo he had.

After the Ghost Cards were shuffled, the Rule-Based Horror in the outside world still didn't let him off. Tearing through the two spatial layers of the Mirror World and the blood eye's ghost domain, it forcefully tracked him down, slapping Gao Tian's fragile human body into a puddle of bloody mush with a sickening splat.

The warning sign left behind by that bigshot from the Supernatural Disaster Bureau back in the day was truly formidable. Gao Tian had fled into two alternate dimensions and still couldn't shake it off.

If the ghost domain had activated even a second later, Gao Tian would have been forced to resurrect under the crushing penalty of nine Ghost Cards. There would have been a roughly seventy percent chance of him dying on the spot.

The card you drew this time is the Ace of Spades.

There are no cards on your soul, nor are there any point conflicts. Resurrection successful.

One second, Gao Tian was a mangled pile of flesh and mud; the next, countless pieces of flesh and blood coagulated together, reforming his human silhouette as he climbed up from the ground completely unharmed.

Of course he could resurrect. There wasn't a single Ghost Card left on his soul.

Following his death, the Black Tie generated a tiny sliver of Ghost Luck, which he also stored away using the Luck Jar.

Every little bit counts. He had squandered all his Ghost Luck and now had to accumulate it all over again from scratch.

The Ace of Spades branded on his soul was conveniently confiscated by the blood eye in the sky. Before leaving, he didn't want to risk even a one percent chance of death.

Sorting out the issue with the Ghost Cards also settled one of Gao Tian's past regrets from the Supernatural Bus.

Back then, he had been too weak. Despite knowing about such a perfect combo in this world, he could only watch helplessly as Hanged Man 57 got off at the Old District stop, not daring to chase after him.

If he had actually let it go to his head back then, and Shen Nian hadn't shouted him awake, Gao Tian might have died prematurely at that stop.

Now, his wish was finally fulfilled, and he had secured this ultimate survival combo.

Gao Tian turned around, preparing to leave the blood eye's ghost domain.

Perhaps, one day, he would reach the heights of Xu Yuan and Old Man Sun, and see the sights they had seen.

That day might be very far away; it might never come, or perhaps it was only a few years away.

When that time came, Gao Tian would forge a third path—a path entirely different from those taken by Xu Yuan and Old Man Sun. He would transcend their former limitations and completely put an end to the dispute between the two of them.

Outside the Old District.

At this moment, the district was burning a bloody red. The once tranquil and peaceful utopia had been utterly shattered. The air seethed with voices—sounds of hatred, agonized groans, desperate pleas, and inhuman howls. Shadows flickered on every street, chasing one another.

This stop was about to undergo its next expansion.

But it didn't matter. This wasn't the real world, anyway.

The Inner World was originally a massive cesspit. The Abandoned Pagoda School, the Blood-Red Nursery, and Dexin Hospital were all expanding.

He was really looking forward to the day its borders collided with the Abandoned Pagoda School.

They could clash and see who truly was the number one stop in the Inner World.

"The bus is here. Let's go."

Qin Zhuguang turned and boarded the Supernatural Bus as it drove out of the gray fog.

Throughout the journey, Qin Zhuguang sat in the dim cabin doing her homework, not saying a word to Gao Tian.

Although she held the esteemed position of being second only to one person in Shunjin City, she was actually socially anxious. In her life outside of supernatural missions, apart from doing homework and spacing out, her social and communication skills were practically zero.

Aside from her master, she had no friends.

Their next destination was Longshu Temple.

This stop was virtually free of danger. The monster that had trapped Longshu Temple in a thousand-year loop had been smashed into the Abandoned Pagoda School by a single strike from Old Man Sun's staff. Inside the temple, Yusheng and Wang Wenbo were still there, chanting to help the monks who had turned into ghosts pass on.

This stop was the equivalent of a transit rest area.

The third stop, Blood Door Village, was the main event.

Not only was it Gao Tian's sixth mission, but he also had to ensure Shen Nian's survival and find the child. The sheer difficulty involved was easy to imagine.

The bus slowly decelerated. After leaving the Old District, the Supernatural Bus stopped at stations three consecutive times, bringing the passenger count up to seven.

A man in a suit with only half his body left, relying on his hands to drag himself onto the bus and into a seat; twin sisters with ponytails on both the front and back of their heads; an old lady gnawing on her own fingers; and a blue-collar worker with maggots crawling in and out of his collar.

Aside from having a rather strong body odor—a stench of rotting corpses beyond description—these five newly boarded ghosts were quite well-behaved.

They were suppressed and restricted by the Bus. They fell far short of the Artist and the Ghost Mother he had encountered back then.

The next stop was Twin Moon Station.

With a creak, the front doors of the Bus slowly opened, and a sickly pale, three-meter-long leg forcibly squeezed its way into the cabin bit by bit.

The sheer weight caused the entire cabin to tilt to the right, and the overhead lights began to flicker erratically. The eighth passenger waiting outside hadn't even fully boarded yet; just inserting one leg was nearly enough to burst the entire vehicle apart.

It was hard to imagine just how massive its owner outside was.

The passenger count had now reached eight. The other Fierce Ghosts inside the bus began to awaken. Once the voting phase ended, the Killing Rules on their bodies would be temporarily unbound.

If you can't afford to provoke them, you can at least afford to hide. Gao Tian was already prepared for the two of them to retreat into the Mirror World to lie low until the heat died down, only coming back out after those ghosts disembarked.

Right at that moment, Qin Zhuguang, who was deeply engrossed in a math problem and chewing on her pen cap in utter concentration, gave a slight frown. Then, she looked up at the terrifying giant leg still squeezing its way through the front doors and said flatly, "The bus is full. Wait for the next one.

"There are no seats. Don't try to force your way in."

Her attitude and tone were extremely arrogant, as if she were lecturing a junior.

Gao Tian had no idea what kind of supernatural principles were at play here.

Then, an astonishing scene played out. After Qin Zhuguang scolded the ghost outside the cabin, the impossibly massive ghost leg actually began to slowly retract from the front doors bit by bit, backing all the way into the waiting area. It had given up on squeezing onto this Bus.

It had understood Qin Zhuguang's words, and it actually did exactly as she commanded.

After the giant-like ghost retreated, the tilted cabin slowly regained its balance under its own momentum. The overhead lights returned to their usual brightness. As the passenger count fell back down to seven, the other restless ghost passengers were once again suppressed into their seats by the Bus's rules.

From start to finish, Qin Zhuguang only looked up that single time. After giving her order, she didn't even check the situation of the ghost outside. She just lowered her head and resumed her interrupted train of thought on the word problem.

"Longshu Temple. Arriving shortly.

"Passengers needing to alight, please gather your personal belongings and exit through the rear doors."

Qin Zhuguang stuffed her schoolwork back into her backpack and got off the bus with Gao Tian.

In the distance, the blood-red woods behind the temple walls swayed and rustled in the wind, no different from the first time he had come here.

That time, thankfully, Old Man Sun had been nearby eating McDonald's.

Otherwise, no one present would have been able to deal with Yusheng's mother, who descended from the stars. The endless loop would have continued for another thousand years.

Old Man Sun was gone now. That McDonald's that inexplicably appeared in the wilderness would never appear again.

Now standing beside him was the Eighth Young Master of Shunjin City.

Qin Zhuguang stared at the outline of the temple in the distance, a trace of disgust flashing in her eyes.

"This stop was already resolved by the old man while he was alive, right?"

Gao Tian replied, "Yes. There are no major threats inside the temple. Even ordinary living people can survive in there.

"I'm just here to see a friend."

Qin Zhuguang stood blankly in place, showing no intention of moving forward.

"That place is filthy. It's too dirty. I don't want to go in.

"However—I don't sense any obvious supernatural aura. You go in alone; I'll wait for you outside the station."

Just like her master, Qin Zhuguang harbored an inexplicable disgust toward Longshu Temple, this so-called pure land of Buddhism.

Gao Tian arrived at the entrance of Longshu Temple all by himself.

He knocked the ring against the main doors.

"Yusheng, Wang Wenbo. Are you inside the temple?"

He tried to make some noise.

For a long time, his only answer was the sound of the wind sweeping through the temple.

No one opened the door. No one replied. There was nothing at all.