"Hu! Hu!"
Yang Jian panted heavily. His physical strength in the dream wasn't as good as he had imagined. After desperately chasing for a while, he began to falter.
Moreover, it was different from the nightmare of yesterday.
The distances in the village remained the sa; if not for the different buildings, this was ishan Village, exactly as it was over a decade ago. It was impossible to distinguish which was real and which was the dream.
He quickly found Xiao Yuan.
But Xiao Yuan was standing in an open space, slightly dazed.
"Did you catch the ghost?" Yang Jian didn't approach. He still remained cautious.
Xiao Yuan paused for a mont before turning her head, her eyes revealing a bit of confusion; "It seems like it's not here, I got it wrong."
Got it wrong?
Yang Jian's expression changed. How could that be possible?
Wasn't the ghost coming for Xiao Yuan?
If his guess was right, the ghost should be nearby at this ti, plotting to attack Xiao Yuan. But she wasn't attacked.
This suggested his earlier judgnt was wrong.
"If it's not coming for Xiao Yuan, then who is the ghost targeting?" Yang Jian froze for a mont at this thought.
He found his judgnts in the nightmare were all wrong, never correct once. As long as it was related to the ghost in the dream, he could never anticipate the ghost's actions. It was the sa before, and it is the sa now. Could it be that the ghost knew all his thoughts?
No, that couldn't be right.
If the ghost knew other people's thoughts, then it wouldn't have been killed in the dream.
"Anyway, I'm certain of one thing—the ghost must still be in this village and hasn't left," Yang Jian abruptly lifted his head and looked at Xiao Yuan, seriously asking.
"Xiao Yuan, last ti you pulled away from the village because you didn't want the ghost to invade. What would happen if the ghost did invade the village?"
"Did I say that? I don't rember," Xiao Yuan touched her head, a bit confused.
"... You forgot?" Yang Jian looked at her, feeling that she wasn't lying and probably had a mory issue.
Or perhaps, there were so secrets about her that hadn't been discovered yet.
"Let's not worry about that for now; the urgent matter is to end this nightmare. Otherwise, if the ghost continues to kill, a significant number of people will die," Yang Jian said.
He couldn't control other places, but he had to manage this village.
Suddenly, Xiao Yuan slightly turned her head towards the direction they ca from.
Yang Jian slled it too.
It was a strong sll of blood, appearing suddenly out of nowhere.
Imdiately afterward.
Yang Jian realized sothing and quickly returned to where he had been standing.
The village's open ground had been crowded with villagers, but now it was empty, and there were several fresh corpses on the ground. They appeared to have died not long ago, and they t their deaths in the sa way, with their throats pierced. However, this ti, the wound did not retain the murder weapon, only a mangled opening.
And that was only what was visible.
In the unseen dark corners, there were still traces of blood. In just the short mont of disappearance, there was no telling how many people had died.
"The ghost was in the crowd just now, it never left. That blood footprint on the ground was a distraction, nothing but a distraction," Yang Jian took a deep breath, sensing the gravity of the situation.
Not long after the nightmare began, the first victim appeared.
Then he and Xiao Yuan were temporarily misled to leave, and the ghost began to kill without any scruples. In just a short period of ti, the silent ghost had already killed at least a dozen people.
If they didn't find a way to deal with it, by morning the entire village would likely be dood.
"That's what I'm saying. Even if we don't kill them, they will still die. If only you hadn't stopped just now, Cousin. The faster they die, the greater our chances of success," Xiao Yuan said, looking regretful.
Yang Jian's gaze darkened, "It's true, but there's a difference between us killing and the ghost killing. The ghost can kill without restraint; we can't. Moreover, if we started killing while the ghost is doing the sa, do you think tonight won't be chaotic enough?"
"With so many dead, the remaining people must know sothing's wrong by now. They've probably all run back ho to hide. This makes the situation even worse because whether they've encountered the ghost or not, whether they're dead or not, we don't know. It would be hard to find the ghost here unless it reveals itself."
"But we are not the ghost's preferred targets. By the ti it cos for us, it will probably be nearly dawn. Facing the ghost before daylight, we likely won't have much chance of winning."
Headache.
At this mont, all that Yang Jian felt was a headache because even though he knew of the ghost's presence and its killing pattern, he just had no way to deal with it.
It was hard to pinpoint the ghost's identity.
Last ti he overca his fear, trying to kill all the way, but he was sneak-attacked by the real ghost and almost died.
Although the ghost itself wasn't particularly threatening, in this nightmare, it beca extrely frightening. And there was no direct evidence to show that surviving one nightmare ant there wouldn't be a second.
Xiao Yuan had probably experienced nightmares more tis than one could imagine.
"Ta, ta ta."
However, just then, footsteps suddenly sounded nearby on the village road—crisp footsteps of leather shoes hitting the ground. The sound echoed off the houses on both sides of the narrow path, particularly clear.
"Soone?" Xiao Yuan imdiately brandished her fruit knife and turned towards the direction of the sound.
Whose footsteps are these?
Yang Jian sharply startled, the sound of these footsteps was too similar, almost identical to the eerie footsteps he had heard from upstairs at ho during the day while searching for old objects.
No.
After listening carefully and discerning carefully, he could assert.
The two sets of footsteps ca from the sa person.
But, was this really a person?
"Xiao Yuan, don't act rashly, this thing is out of the ordinary," Yang Jian said with a solemn expression.
Xiao Yuan seed to have sensed sothing as well. She just stared with her round eyes at the narrow path and did not rush over to start a fight.
The sound of leather shoes on the ground echoed for a mont, then a silhouette was reflected on the wall next to it, entering Yang Jian's field of vision, but then the footsteps ceased, and the person in the alley stopped and did not continue forward.
"Stopped? Why? Does it know we're aware of it, or is there so other reason?" Yang Jian fixed his gaze tightly on the path, waiting for the next change to occur.
He was not a Ghost Master in his dream, so he did not have the luxury of trial and error.
A single misstep could an death at the hands of a ghost.
The shadow on the path paused for about several tens of seconds, then started to move again.
The sound of leather shoes on the concrete resounded once more, but this ti the figure did not continue forward, it actually turned to leave.
"That thing wants to leave? We can't let it go; the one in the alley is very likely a ghost lingering nearby, definitely not a living person."
Yang Jian's expression changed and he hurried after it without hesitation.
Despite the danger, he could not miss this opportunity, otherwise the ghost might start killing again, and who knows how many would die next ti.
His speed was swift, his actions rapid.
Having dashed down the alley, Yang Jian saw a figure turning a corner, and there were a few footprints on the ground, those prints with yellow mud on them, as if just walking through a field.
"This person's speed is abnormal; the footsteps aren't fast, but the leaving speed is very quick," said Yang Jian, his expression shifting slightly as he sped up but failed to catch up.
It was always just short of catching up, but it felt as if he could catch up the next mont.
A delicate distance was maintained between them, at first glance, it felt like fishing. The ghost was luring Yang Jian away, or perhaps leading him sowhere.
Yang Jian quickly realized this but didn't choose to stop.
The danger of the ghost in this nightmare was not great. Xiao Yuan had succeeded in breaking from the nightmare, which ant she had killed a ghost before, and he believed he could do the sa.
In a one-on-one situation, Yang Jian didn't think he had no chance of winning.
"This is leading out of the village." Suddenly, he found he had followed the figure to the outskirts of the village.
Glancing back midway, Yang Jian didn't see Xiao Yuan following, behind him was no one.
Ahead, a densely dark forest lood into view.
A dirt road that shouldn't be in the village andered into the woods, which existed in reality as well, it was the Sandy Forest where they had dug up half a corpse during the day.
The ghost walked on the road, leather shoes stepping on the sowhat muddy surface, leaving footprints and getting covered with mud.
"Deliberately leading here?" Yang Jian chased from behind, gripping the only weapon in his hand, a rust-covered steel bar.
As long as this makeshift weapon penetrated the ghost's body, today's nightmare would end.
Suddenly.
Just as about to enter the forest, the ghost's footsteps ahead suddenly stopped.
Yang Jian's eyes narrowed sharply, but he didn't stop as a result.
A duel, that's all.
He had no reason to shrink back in fear.
So Yang Jian continued to run forward.
At this mont, the distance was quickly closing; the eerie impossibility of catching up from before did not recur.
"I can make a move." Yang Jian surveyed the surroundings.
Nothing unexpected arose to interfere, it was a good opportunity for a one-on-one fight, with a chance of winning as well.
However, just as he was about to get close, the person standing in front abruptly turned around, facing Yang Jian.
The mont he was ready to strike, Yang Jian suddenly froze, his footsteps stopped abruptly, his face showing either horror or astonishnt.
The ghost in front of him had a very familiar face.
This face bore a resemblance to Yang Jian, but even more similar was the one in the portrait of his father in the old house... no, perhaps it should not be said to be similar, it should be said it was the face on that portrait.
"What kind of joke is this?" After realizing this, Yang Jian's pupils contracted sharply.
Could it be that his deceased father was the ghost?
Was the source of this supernatural event the resurrection of a fierce ghost after his father's death?
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