Chapter 37: The Traitor in the Chat Group

Gao Tian had not reached the point of utter despair, because he still held a Living Apartment's Black Card. If he used this Black Card, he could immediately leave the White House and return to a safe area.

But doing so meant losing his most important life-saving method—one even more crucial than a Ghost Card—and he certainly wouldn't be qualified to participate in the exploration of the fourth floor.

Therefore, Gao Tian would rather stay and continue observing. He could sacrifice one or two Ghost Cards if necessary, but he absolutely could not use this final trump card.

The foul thing stretching down from the Third Floor resembled a giant white python with a human face. As it roamed across the first-floor ceiling, the Woman Face's lips parted into a pitch-black hole, continuously emitting a series of eerie clucking sounds.

Faced with this supernatural phenomenon, the remaining thugs had completely lost their usual ferocious demeanor. Some were still vainly aiming their guns at the woman, repeatedly pulling empty triggers; another wet his pants on the spot, releasing a foul stench.

“Zhao...”

The female ghost's lips squirmed as she began her next roll call of death.

Gao Tian retreated into the corner, calculating. There were four other people still alive here besides himself, so the probability of the female ghost picking him was one in five. With so much cannon fodder present, he should be able to lay low for a while longer and try to figure out a way to escape.

To his surprise, in the very next moment, the female ghost's neck elongated. She shot straight toward him, stopping right in front of him. Her eyes—more white than pupil—her sallow skin, and the foul stench spewing from her pitch-black mouth all pressed right into his face.

She had chosen him!

With nowhere to run, Gao Tian could only stand frozen, waiting for death. A soul-summoning call echoed in his ears. The Fierce Ghost's Killing Rule had been triggered; he would be the next to die!

“Zhao Qiang...”

“Zhao Qiang.”

“Zhao Qiang!”

Hearing the name repeatedly slip from the female ghost's mouth, Gao Tian's panic turned into amusement. It took a massive effort to hold back a laugh.

Because he was currently wearing Zhao Qiang's face, this female ghost had actually mistaken him for Zhao Qiang!

Was she like a big data facial recognition system, determining a person's name and identity based purely on an outer face?

It seemed the priority level of the Shattered Face Ghost's rule was subtly higher than that of this long-necked female ghost from the Third Floor.

Merely calling out a name obviously couldn't kill Zhao Qiang. After all, the real Zhao Qiang had died long ago, and his corpse was already buried. As for Gao Tian himself, he had absolutely no connection to Zhao Qiang. If she wanted to kill Zhao Qiang, why was she screaming at him?

The situation was both terrifying and comical. However, Gao Tian knew he had to at least give the female ghost some basic respect. With her sheer size, weight, and speed, even without relying on any Killing Rule, she could crush him to death just by dropping her body onto him.

After the three eerie calls of the name ended, Gao Tian clutched his chest and let out a muffled groan. He stumbled forward a few steps, found a comfortable posture, and collapsed heavily onto the floor with a thud. Rolling his eyes back into his head, he simply played dead.

Seeing that she had successfully called “Zhao Qiang” to death, the female ghost didn't linger over his “corpse.” Swinging her long neck, she turned and chased after the others.

When the surviving thugs witnessed this scene, their jaws practically dropped to the floor in absolute shock.

Wait, that actually worked?

Such exaggerated acting could actually fool a female ghost?

Besides, the female ghost had clearly called out Zhao Qiang's name three times. Why did the previous two victims suffer gruesome deaths on the spot, yet their boss, “Zhao Qiang,” was completely fine and just lay down on the floor to take a nap?

However, they were simple-minded to begin with, and right now, they had no time to dwell on such thoughts. The female ghost's long neck had already swung around, floating in their direction.

Seeing that they couldn't escape through the front door, they scrambled. The first-floor living room was actually quite spacious, but it lacked enough separate rooms to easily evade the female ghost. One man bolted straight into the bathroom and locked the door behind him. Another, in a moment of desperate inspiration, turned and dashed toward the stairs to the second floor in an attempt to hide.

When pushed to the brink, a person was capable of anything. These muscular men instantly scattered in all directions, making it impossible for the female ghost to wipe them out in a single sweep.

Suspended in midair, the Woman Face fell silent for a moment, as if contemplating. Then, she immediately changed direction, retracted her neck, and floated toward the second floor.

It seemed the Third Floor of this old house truly hid something important. The female ghost's priority was to kill anyone on the second floor to prevent them from accidentally stumbling up to the Third Floor.

Consequently, she temporarily abandoned the first floor. Hearing the eerie clucking fade away, Gao Tian, who was still playing dead, cracked open an eye. Once he confirmed that the female ghost had briefly left, the first thing he did was pull out his mobile phone and open the Galan Society Chat Group.

After reading the conversation in the group, Gao Tian knew things looked grim. Xu Yuan was unexpectedly sensitive to his old home. The exact moment their group stepped into the White House, Xu Yuan had sensed the intruders through the Chat Group.

As for what a “ghost domain” was, Gao Tian wasn't entirely sure. But it was definitely tied to the sky outside the White House suddenly turning blood-red.

He deduced that the ghost domain was likely an enclosed space that had dragged the entire White House into a separate dimension. The fact that anyone trying to leave the White House would be instantly burned to death was probably the doing of that ghost domain.

No wonder Xu Yuan was so confident in his old home. Ordinary people stepping inside would either be killed by the female ghost or willingly walk out of the White House, running straight into the ghost domain outside.

The problem now was that playing dead was only a temporary fix. After killing the others, the female ghost would definitely return to roam the area. Trapped in the White House by the ghost domain, he would still die sooner or later.

Watching the group members relentlessly praise the inescapable net Xu Yuan had cast, Gao Tian couldn't spot a single flaw in it. Lying on the floor, he grew secretly anxious. The female ghost upstairs could finish her slaughter and return at any second. Was there really no loophole in this place at all?

In his desperation, a thought suddenly struck Gao Tian.

The key to breaking this deadlock was the ghost domain outside. The female ghost was restricted by her true body on the Third Floor, making her range of movement extremely limited. What was truly preventing them from escaping the White House was the blood-red ghost domain enveloping it.

But he had absolutely no understanding of specialized paranormal terms like “ghost domain,” let alone how to deal with one.

Who were the experts on handling ghost domains?

The answer was simple: the ghostly users in the Galan Society Chat Group. In life, they had been ghost hunters, and in death, they had become ghosts themselves. Furthermore, this specific ghost domain was cast by Xu Yuan. There was likely no one in the world who understood ghosts better than they did.

The method to learn about ghost domains was straightforward. Gao Tian was now a user of this ghost chat group too. Could he just pretend to be curious and eager to learn, and take the initiative to ask Xu Yuan?

This foolish idea had barely surfaced for a split second before Gao Tian forcefully suppressed it.

Doing that would truly be courting death.

Ghost Cave was still suspicious of a living person hiding in the group, and Living Apartment was no fool, not to mention all the other ghostly lurkers watching.

If Gao Tian really asked such an abrupt and direct question in the group, there was no way someone wouldn't suspect him.

Despite Ghost Infant's usual giggly demeanor, she could literally crawl through the internet to murder someone. If even a single member in the Chat Group doubted his identity, Ghost Infant might show up right beside him the very next second.

So, the problem remained: those who knew the solution to the ghost domain were right there in the Chat Group, but Gao Tian couldn't just ask them point-blank. The problem had gone full circle, bringing him back to the same dead end.

This wasn't a path to survival at all; it was merely choosing between two paths that led to death.

[Living Apartment]:

From the looks of it, it's a false alarm. Only a few rats slipped into my old home, not an organized group of ghost hunters at all.

Dealing with them is as easy as stepping on ants. Releasing the ghost domain to handle them feels like a bit of a waste.

[Burned Ghost]:

@Living Apartment

Then here is the question.

The ghost domain blocks their only way out, and the ghost you keep in the house hunts them down and kills them one by one. This combination really leaves absolutely no path to survival.

If an ordinary person were trapped in this house, what would they need to do to break the ghost domain outside and leave this place alive?

...

(The Chat Group fell into complete silence for half a minute.)

...

Seeing this, Gao Tian's eyes went wide. He could hardly believe it.

The exact question he desperately wanted to ask but didn't dare—he never imagined Burned Ghost would ask it for him.

Gao Tian suddenly understood why this guy was ostracized by the other ghosts, why Ghost Cave and the rest treated him like thin air. This bro truly had zero emotional intelligence. He would inexplicably blurt out a bunch of highly suspicious questions at the most inappropriate times.

Of course, humans and ghosts stood on opposite sides. But in this moment, from Gao Tian's perspective as a human trapped in the ghost domain, seeing Burned Ghost type out that line made him want to kowtow three times to his mobile phone in gratitude.

Faced with Burned Ghost's inappropriate question, the other users in the Chat Group naturally ignored him. Ghost Infant simply typed three periods “...” to express her exasperation. The only one to reply was Ghost Cave, and he was drenched in sarcasm.

[Ghost Cave]:

Why do you want to know that? Whose side are you on?

You want to help the living escape so badly that I'm starting to suspect you. Don't tell me you're the living person hiding in the group.

[Burned Ghost]:

Not really.

I was just asking casually. Why do you always have to blow things out of proportion?

Look, you're getting anxious again. Must be your first time being a ghost, looking at everyone and seeing a human.

[Ghost Cave]:

Heh.

As long as you know it in your heart.

Who would inexplicably ask such a question at a time like this?

...

...

If the chat logs had ended there, it could still be explained away by Burned Ghost having low emotional intelligence—just blurting out whatever popped into his head without caring what the other ghosts thought.

In short, it would still fall within the realm of understanding.

But the next message Burned Ghost typed left even Gao Tian feeling somewhat shocked.

He even began to feel that the other ghosts were far too tolerant of this guy, considering he hadn't been kicked out of the group yet.