Inside the second floor of the Ghost Post Office.
The wooden, old staircase reappeared, shrouded in a black, ominous mist, unclear to see, but one could tell that this staircase extended upwards, seemingly connecting to so place.
Yang Jian didn't hesitate; he crossed the corridor and stepped onto the creaking, ancient wooden staircase and started ascending.
Li Yang, following him, did not shrink back either.
Although he was covered in wounds, having just controlled two ghosts, he was more confident now, and with Yang Jian leading the team, he didn't seem to worry about reaching a dead end.
Yang Xiaohua, Liu Mingxin, Cai Yu, and Wang Shan hesitated for a mont but quickly followed suit because other areas on the second floor were being eroded by darkness, rooms were disappearing, and everything on the second floor was being erased.
This floor was already rejecting them.
The appearance of the staircase up to the next floor at this mont proved that they no longer had a choice.
The staircase to the third floor seed much longer than it felt in reality. Normally, the distance between the second and third floors is only a few ters, but this wooden staircase had already exceeded twenty ters in length.
The staircase was enveloped in black mist at both ends, its end and the way back obscured from view.
The more they ascended, the sights and scenes of the second floor began to rapidly fade away.
Gradually, the layout of the third floor beca visible.
Like the second floor, there was almost no change, with corridors arranged in a square pattern, but the only difference was that in the middle courtyard space, there was no longer emptiness, but a vacant area, with a few pieces of furniture arranged, giving a feeling similar to having returned to the first floor.
There were also seven rooms, which hadn't changed either.
"31, 32, 33..." Yang Jian glanced at the room numbers.
No mistake, this was the third floor of the Ghost Post Office.
"However, it seems that there are no people around in the Ghost Post Office on the third floor today."
Yang Jian's expression shifted slightly: "It looks like there's no task of delivering letters today, so the ssengers are not inside the Ghost Post Office."
"I've heard that the third floor's ssengers deliver a letter every three months, which ans they have a long span of ti between tasks, giving the third floor's ssengers ample ti to maintain a semblance of normal life."
Cai Yu took a mont to look around, then spoke gravely.
"What about the ssengers on the fourth floor?" Wang Shan asked.
Cai Yu replied: "They're probably tasked with delivering a letter every six months, and the ssengers on the fifth floor are likely once a year. However, there are so variations I don't know about; I've only heard this from a forr second-floor ssenger and can't confirm."
He had so connection to the ssengers on the third floor.
After all, he had already delivered two letters on the second floor, and he was a newcor when he first arrived on the second floor, where he naturally t so of the old-tirs.
"Without ssengers or people, it seems a bit difficult to get to the fourth floor in a short amount of ti," Yang Jian murmured in contemplation.
"Captain, it's already fast for us to have gone up two floors in one day; if we keep pushing, it will definitely co at a great cost. It might be good to slow down," Li Yang suggested.
Yang Jian replied, "No, I don't have ti to waste. If it normally takes three months to deliver a letter, it would take nine months to ascend through the floors. Even if you have controlled two ghosts, I doubt you can last that long."
Li Yang was stunned for a mont before rembering that he was a ghost controller with a not so lengthy life expectancy.
Even without frequently using the power of fierce ghosts, he would eventually die from their resurgence.
Indeed, he could not afford such a drawn-out delay.
"If there are other ssengers, we could steal their letters," Yang Jian said.
Wang Shan cautioned, "Even soone as capable as you can't possibly tear up three letters in a row. That red letter must appear under special circumstances and won't be present every ti."
"A red letter signifies danger, requiring all the ssengers of a floor to deliver it, and the red letters from the first floor should have the lowest level of risk, followed by the second floor... If you tear one up here on the third floor, the danger won't be as simple as adding one plus one," Yang Xiaohua added, analyzing the situation.
"Moreover, you've already torn up a letter before. Doing it again would definitely increase the risk. It has been analyzed before that if tearing up the first letter is rated as danger level 1, then the second would be 2, the third would be 4, the fourth would be 16... A ssenger can only tear up to three letters at most."
She was afraid of Yang Jian making careless moves, tearing the letters to hasten their ascent.
"No matter the risk, I will tear up the red letter without hesitation," Yang Jian stated coldly. "You cannot imagine the trendous impact a red letter can have on the outside world."
"Sacrificing a few of you to avert a supernatural incident involving the safety of an entire city is a worthwhile trade-off."
"You..." Yang Xiaohua wanted to argue but held back.
So conscience told her Yang Jian's approach might not be wrong.
Although it was cruel to them, it was the correct thing to do for those outside.
"So what do you plan to do next? Now that we've arrived on the third floor, everything is going according to your plan," Yang Xiaohua asked, pursing her lips.
Yang Jian said, "You seem to talk a bit too much. Are you so concerned with my every move? It's a pity that what I want to do, you'll never understand. But since you're all ssengers who have co up from the first and second floors, to so extent, I deem you trustworthy. Therefore, I need you to stay with for now."
"Why?"
Liu Mingxin asked, visibly frightened, "Why do we need to stay with you?"
"Because I need to ascertain the situation on the third floor, and your interference would give a headache. Enough talk, let's find a room to rest. I plan to stay here for a few days to see if we can wait for a ssenger to co with a letter," Yang Jian said indifferently.
Li Yang sensed around and spoke up, "Captain, these rooms are unoccupied, and there's nothing inside them."
"Good, then let's take room 31," Yang Jian said and then walked over.
The others exchanged a glance, all feeling a sense of powerlessness.
They had no choice but to follow Yang Jian and abide by his arrangents.
"This can't go on like this; this man is too dangerous. He can handle dangerous situations that we can't. I nearly died during the letter-delivery task on the second floor. Without any preparation, we ca to the third floor, and now with Yang Jian acting recklessly, we won't live long," Liu Mingxin said through gritted teeth, in a low voice.
"We need to find a way to get away from him."
"How do we do that?"
Cai Yu glanced and said, "We can't shake off the status of being ssengers, and we must deliver mail. As long as Yang Jian doesn't leave the Ghost Post Office, we have to follow his arrangents. You can choose not to listen, go talk to him, and see if he'll just kill you directly."
"I wouldn't dare to provoke such a person, let alone he's not even human anymore. He's beco a freak who's stolen Supernatural Power and is now half-human, half-ghost. Yang Xiaohua, you know how terrifying these two are, right?"
Yang Xiaohua nodded seriously: "Yes, they can deal with ghosts, so handling us would be a piece of cake. For now, let's not entertain any other ideas. Surviving is the most important thing. Whose orders and arrangents we follow are not the critical issue; let's think about what cos after afterwards."
"We can only take it one step at a ti for now," sighed Cai Yu.
Wang Shan suddenly said, "Why don't you think of it the other way around? This might be an opportunity, a chance to break free from the Ghost Post Office."
Hmm?
The others looked at him.
Wang Shan continued, "Yang Jian is clearly a very terrifying and peculiar person. He's not here to deliver letters but to go upstairs, to the fifth floor. I've heard what he's up to. He aims to investigate the Ghost Post Office and then eradicate it, making sure this place ceases to exist."
"If he can do it, we'll be completely liberated, no longer suffering from the curse of being ssengers."
"Even if he's powerful, the idea of him destroying the Ghost Post Office is pure fantasy," Liu Mingxin completely disbelieved.
Yang Xiaohua's eyes flickered, "No, maybe we should try to believe. After all, if we continue to ascend floors and deliver letters, it'll lead to death sooner or later. His brute force approach could indeed be an opportunity, but that's assuming we can last that long."
"If we die before that, then it's all aningless."
"Exactly, why not take a chance? Maybe a miracle will happen. I'm fed up with living each day in fear; I'd rather take a big gamble," Wang Shan said with a grin.
The group continued discussing and planning in the background.
At this mont, Yang Jian had already entered room 31.
But at the sa ti.
On the first floor of the Ghost Post Office.
A person, looking sickly and leaning on a cane, was sitting at the post office counter, watching the entrance with an eerie gaze.
He is the person in charge of Dahan City, codenad Sick Ghost, Sun Rui.
Sun Rui had indeed arrived at the Ghost Post Office, but he did not go upstairs; instead, he chose to stay in the lobby.
Yes, he was neither on the first floor nor the second, but in the lobby.
This was a dangerous move, as there are no rooms in the lobby. Once it gets dark and the post office lights go out, the malevolent spirits wander, and anyone outside would perish.
But Sun Rui also had his plans, intending to survive here and guard this floor.
"Without the replenishnt of ssengers, the task of delivering mail on this floor cannot continue. The Ghost Post Office will soon beco an empty building. Once the ssengers die out, and no one sends out the curse letters that draw others in, the operations within the Ghost Post Office will be suspended, and everything will vanish."
"Yang Jian wants to go upstairs; I'll guard the ground floor. One of us will succeed."
"Even if I truly die here, my ghost will wander this floor, killing any ssengers who enter."
Sun Rui squinted his eyes, determined to go all out to deal with the Ghost Post Office.
"Creak."
Suddenly.
The door to the Ghost Post Office was pushed open at this mont.
A middle-aged bald man with a nervous deanor entered.
"What... what place is this?"
He looked terrified, apparently a newcor to such a bizarre location. By all indications, he was definitely a novice.
"You shouldn't be here; this place doesn't welco the living."
Sun Rui imdiately stood up, his expression ice-cold as he leaned on his cane with murderous intent.
He intended to take down this newcor.
To forbid him from delivering mail.
At least not while he was still alive.
"What... what are you going to do..." Seeing the bad turn of events, the bald man quickly backed away.
Sun Rui didn't speak, simply limping closer with a cold face.
Ah!
Suddenly.
A scream echoed through the first-floor lobby of the post office.
Then everything returned to calm.
Sun Rui went back to his seat at the counter, subtly observing the portraits of people hanging on the post office walls.
Among the paintings was a portrait of a woman in white clothing, with long hair, looking refined and elegant.
But if Yang Jian were here, he would doubt it, because this woman looked very much like the ghost that appeared on the second floor.
No, it might even be the sa person.
Just one alive and the other dead.
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