Chapter 38: The Thinking Burned Ghost

[Burned Ghost]:

As for me, I was an intelligence-type ghost hunter back when I was alive. I prefer relying on my brain to solve complex supernatural incidents. Naturally, I have nothing in common with brutes like you who solve problems with brute force.

It's fine, though. I forgive you.

It's just an old habit acting up. Whenever I see a chess match between humans and ghosts in a supernatural incident, I subconsciously place myself in the human camp.

[Burned Ghost]:

I'm just idling in this group out of boredom. Don't tell me I can't even make a few casual guesses. Otherwise, this chat is way too dull.

@Living Apartment

Since the President hasn't replied, he must be tacitly agreeing. So, my deduction on how to break the ghost domain begins now.

[Infinite Floor]:

Shut up, you stupid pig.

[Burned Ghost]:

First, we need to understand how a ghost domain is formed. It is a special ability where a high-level ghost uses itself as the center to pull a ten-li radius into its domain. It's also known as an "alternate dimension." This is standard equipment for a powerhouse like Living Apartment.

Where does the energy to drive a ghost domain come from? Of course, discussing energy conservation during a supernatural incident might be a bit ridiculous. Ghosts are immortal and indestructible. Once a Fierce Ghost masters a ghost domain to a certain extent, it can sustain it almost indefinitely, trapping everyone around it inside forever.

Oh, my apologies. I was a physics PhD when I was alive. I used a bit of technical jargon just now; I hope the rest of you can understand it.

[Ghost Infant]:

@Living Apartment

Can we just kick this guy?

I think he's doing it on purpose.

[Burned Ghost]:

Since a ghost domain's duration is limitless, if I were an ordinary person trapped inside, obviously I couldn't just stall for time and wait for it to dissipate on its own to escape.

But don't forget, maintaining a ghost domain requires the ghost at its center. And right now, our dear President isn't even in the White House.

In other words, we can draw a conclusion. The ghost domain at the White House was merely left behind by the President to automatically respond to foreign intruders. While it can last for a certain period, it can never be sustained indefinitely like a true ghost domain.

Meaning, if I were a living person trapped in that house, the only thing I could do is stall. Stall until the ghost domain outside dissipates on its own, and then I can leave the White House.

Of course, this is by no means an easy task. Don't forget, there is still a Fierce Ghost roaming inside the house.

Based on my understanding of the President's strength, I deduce that his residual ghost domain will reach its limit and dissipate in about ten minutes.

Naturally, this is already an incredible achievement. The President can unleash a reserved ghost domain without even being at his old home. However, it's still just ten minutes. In theory, an ordinary person really could stall out those ten minutes inside the room and escape the old house.

This is no longer a certain-death situation.

...

...

Under the watchful eyes of all the ghosts in the chat, Burned Ghost had actually laid out the method to break the ghost domain.

Just one word: stall.

Stall it out.

To be honest, reading those lines made Gao Tian suspect whether Burned Ghost was actually a living person too.

What ghost in its right mind would inexplicably sabotage another ghost's killing trap and lay out the path to survival?

[Ghost Cave]:

If we hadn't already purged the group once, I would seriously suspect you were the living person lurking in this chat.

What is your purpose for joining this group?

[Ghost Infant]:

It's fine. I'll go find him tonight.

I'll trace his network connection and see exactly what the hell he is.

[Burned Ghost]:

@Ghost Infant

Alright, alright. I welcome the beauty's grand arrival.

We're all ghosts anyway. You can't kill me, and I can't kill you. Passing the days like this is so boring.

If I could have a beauty come over and kill me once with her own hands, it would be my greatest honor.

[Ghost Infant]:

You're disgusting.

Do we have to kill him? Can't we just kick him out of the group? @Living Apartment

[Burned Ghost]:

@Ghost Cave

I was just thinking, didn't the President say himself that the defenses he set up for the White House were flawless?

I'm just finding the loopholes for the President, helping him prepare for any unexpected situations in advance.

What did I do to become your target again?

Besides, there are no living people left in this group; it's entirely ghost users. Didn't you already test that when you sent out the Black Envelope earlier?

Only ghosts are reading our chat logs. Who would leak these secrets?

[Living Apartment]:

@Ghost Infant

He cannot be kicked out for now.

Relax. I have verified the identity of everyone who entered this group. He is indeed a ghost, not a living person. There is no doubt about that.

He just has a foul mouth, so bear with it a little longer. The day everything ends is right around the corner.

...

...

Gao Tian didn't bother reading the rest of their arguments in the group. He had already obtained the most crucial clue; everything else was just nonsense.

As long as he stalled for ten minutes, the ghost domain outside would automatically dispel.

How many minutes had passed since the ghost domain appeared?

Gao Tian did some quick math. Woman Face had peered down from upstairs and begun her slaughter. Then, Gray Wolf was the first to act in desperation, charging outside despite the blood-red sky. By that point, the ghost domain had already dragged their room into the alternate dimension.

By now, at least five minutes had passed. That meant in less than five minutes, the blood-red alternate dimension outside would slowly recede.

Gao Tian opened his eyes and saw a massive silhouette projected onto the stairs from the second floor. It was still sliding slowly like a giant snake.

The air reeked of pungent blood. At first, there had been screams and the sound of blood trickling down the stairs. But Woman Face was highly efficient at killing. After calling out names a few times, she quickly sussed out the remaining three people in the house and murdered them one by one. Right now, he was probably the only living person left.

The female ghost still hadn't retreated to the Third Floor because she could sense the aura of the living still in the house. However, after searching the second floor, she hadn't found anyone, causing her to grow inevitably agitated.

Lying on the first floor, Gao Tian remained motionless, waiting for the perfect moment.

He couldn't afford to rush. The more critical the situation, the calmer he needed to be. Any careless movement would likely draw the attention of the woman searching upstairs.

Outside the door, the sky was still a sea of blood red. They were trapped in the prison-like space of the ghost domain, entirely severed from the normal world.

Wait, no.

Gao Tian suddenly heard the extremely faint sound of footsteps shifting behind a pile of debris across the room.

Although the noise lasted for less than two seconds before being instantly stifled, Gao Tian was lying on the ground with his ear pressed to the floorboards, making his hearing extremely sharp. Even a sound that faint couldn't escape his notice.

Someone else is alive on the first floor?

Gao Tian cast his gaze toward the opposite side. Finally, he spotted a glinting object hidden within the pile of debris—it looked like a pair of human eyes. This person was hiding behind the clutter, covering himself with a black cloth. His hiding spot was so impeccable that when Woman Face was slaughtering everyone on the first floor earlier, she hadn't done a meticulous sweep and had actually missed him.

What was this guy's nickname again? Scabby? Or Ah Guang? Gao Tian couldn't recall at the moment.

The other person also noticed "Zhao Qiang" lying on the ground playing dead. The two of them were now brothers in distress. All the men brought into this house were dead; they were likely the only two left alive.

From behind the pile of debris and the black cloth, the hiding thug shifted slightly. He pointed at the weapon in his hand, then pointed toward the ceiling of the first floor.

Gao Tian roughly understood his meaning. The man was saying that hiding here forever wasn't a solution. Once Woman Face returned to the first floor, she would find him eventually. It would be better to rely on the gun he still had, take the initiative to charge upstairs, and fight the Fierce Ghost to the bitter end.

Doing that would be certain death.

Gao Tian made a small gesture across the living room, signaling him to calm down. At the same time, he pointed out the window, gesturing for the man to look outside.

The originally blood-red sky—the bizarre alternate dimension that would instantly burn and flay anyone who stepped out the door—had gradually faded away for the most part without them noticing.

A few remnant blood-red clouds still lingered in the sky, but the blue expanse behind them had already been revealed. Burned Ghost was right; as time passed, the ghost domain left by Xu Yuan couldn't hold on much longer and was slowly receding.

Gao Tian's gesture also served as a reassurance. Since they were returning to the normal world, all they had to do was flee the house when the time came, and they would survive.

Simultaneously, Gao Tian discreetly tapped a few options on his mobile phone and shoved it under a dilapidated sofa nearby.

Above the stairs, the massive shadow sporting a disc-like face was slowly growing larger.

Both Gao Tian and the survivor hiding on the first floor realized simultaneously: the female ghost had finished her sweep of the second floor, found no one, and was coming back down to patrol.

He had to endure. It wasn't the perfect moment to break his disguise yet.

Gao Tian closed his eyes again, lying half-sprawled on the ground, mimicking the appearance of a freshly killed corpse.

Cackle, cackle, cackle...

Hearing the old hen-like cackling drawing closer behind him, he knew the female ghost had arrived. The shadow cast by her massive body roamed the living room. Passing by the corpses she had already murdered, she began to inspect them meticulously.

When she lingered over Gao Tian's body, the female ghost noticeably paused.

Although her intelligence wasn't high, she still found it somewhat strange. After being struck by the curse, the other corpses had all been torn to pieces, left too gruesome to look at. Why was this particular body preserved so perfectly, to the point that he didn't even look like a dead person?

The woman's face sank lower. Her lips clamped down on Gao Tian's collar, flipping him completely over and dragging him toward a window with slightly better lighting to get a closer look.

"Zhao Qiang..."

"Zhao Qiang."

"Zhao Qiang!"

As if instinctively sensing that Gao Tian wasn't entirely dead, the female ghost repeatedly called out Zhao Qiang's name, hoping to finish the job.

But right at this moment in the living room, an unexpected anomaly that neither human nor ghost could have anticipated occurred!