360: Strength Works Wonders
“Luo Su Yi, try not to face that ghost head-on,” Yang Jian said. “The ghost’s killing behavior started after it passed through the corridor and turned back, which it hadn’t done before. In other words, the pattern of the ghost’s killings lies within those actions, and during that period the only changes in the ghost’s behavior were its direction and line of sight.”
“Changing the direction might be useful,” he continued.
Yang Jian had Luo Su Yi continue to try different approaches, and Xiong Wenwen would predict the outcomes.
Luo Su Yi nodded in agreement. He did as instructed, and didn’t look back at the ghost lurking in the dark hallway behind him.
But the result was suffocating.
“It’s no use. He still died,” Xiong Wenwen said, revealing the outcome of his death.
Direction was not the key.
“Could it be the line of sight? We were seen by that ghost before, so…” Luo Su Yi grew increasingly terrified.
“Impossible,” Yang Jian said, “it must be related to the ghost’s turn. Remember, Xiong Wenwen had predicted the future, and we didn’t die in that future, which means we were safe. The onset of death started after the ghost turned around.”
“Besides, there was a very obvious action when the ghost killed—it stopped walking.”
“Do you remember the first time you saw that ghost? It was the same situation, standing there eerily still. I didn’t understand it then, but now I do.”
“The reason the ghost stopped was that someone met the conditions. In other words, the ghost was killing someone when it stopped, not just standing there for no reason. It was the same this time. The ghost turned toward us, stopped walking, then Xiong Wenwen was attacked, followed by your death five minutes later, and then Lin Luomei…”
Yang Jian’s eyes flickered. He knew he was getting close to the truth.
But the closer he got to the truth, the harder it was to discern the ghost’s killing pattern.
The conditions were simply too few.
Walking, turning, stopping, killing… just four actions, as simple as could be.
And if you analyzed each condition one by one, you’d find none of them fit the current pattern of the ghost’s killings.
“No,” he concluded, “there’s a very important prerequisite action the ghost takes before it actually starts to kill: it eerily stops while roaming. That moment it stops marks someone being targeted by the ghost. If I can’t figure out the ghost’s killing pattern, then there’s only one option left: prevent the ghost from continuing to walk, or stop it from stopping.”
Only… that was an enormously difficult task.
It was almost like restraining the ghost, which would inevitably lead to direct contact.
Contact with such a terrifying ghost was extremely dangerous.
Ghosts kill according to certain rules, true, but Yang Jian also knew that once you make direct contact with a ghostly entity, the entity’s eerie nature would override the rules. As a ghost manipulator himself, if a ghost began to overpower him, he would be rendered powerless in its presence.
If the ghost inside the ghost manipulator was suppressed, their life would become incredibly fragile.
So, when facing a ghost, you might be able to avoid being killed, but restraining it was a monumental challenge.
“Yang Jian, there are only two minutes left. There’s not much time,” Luo Su Yi said, glancing at his watch again. Seeing that he had only two minutes left to live, he trembled all over.
“I know we’re pressed for time. Can’t you see I’m busy analyzing?” Yang Jian replied gravely. “I don’t want to see you die here either. It would do me no good for the ghosts inside you to awaken.”
“If all else fails, I’ll have to resort to extreme measures.”
He touched the old, worn grass rope tied around his wrist.
If he tried using the Ghost Rope to tie up the ghost’s legs and stop it from walking, the situation might change.
“Xiong Wenwen, predict what will happen if I take this action,” Yang Jian instructed while holding the Ghost Rope.
He didn’t even need to take action; as soon as he was ready to move, Xiong Wenwen would immediately see the outcome. This would minimize the risk of casualties from a failed attempt.
Xiong Wenwen’s complexion grew even paler. Each prediction hastened the revival of the ghost inside him, since he had only managed to control one ghost so far.
But now, there was no time for such concerns.
Xiong Wenwen’s face was a mix of struggle and fear: “Don’t, don’t go, please don’t. I saw you die. You died at the ghost’s feet, your head falling to the ground, and the rope in your hand… the rope snapped.”
“What?” Yang Jian’s eyes narrowed.
He died, and the Ghost Rope broke?
How could this be possible?
He had perfectly mastered the Headless Ghost Shadow, virtually being able to use the ghost’s abilities without limits. Yet, under these circumstances, he had still died, and even the Ghost Rope had broken.
Although he knew that direct contact with a fierce ghost was very risky, such a result was too terrible to contemplate.
“Was it the rusty firewood knife?” Yang Jian then turned his gaze towards the tall dead man in the far end of the hallway.
Especially that broken and dilapidated knife in his hand.
The Ghost Rope had broken; it must have been cut by that knife.
“There’s only one minute left. I’m going to die in one minute, Yang Jian. Please, think of something, save me, I beg you,” Luo Su Yi was so frightened he was close to tears. He was sweating profusely and shaking all over.
Death was right before his eyes, and no one could fathom the immense pressure and fear he was feeling at that moment.
“I know, calm down, I’m still trying to find a solution,” Yang Jian said, now frantic.
Because Luo Su Yi died right in front of him, the situation here would become particularly complicated again.
And at this moment.
In Yang Jian’s Ghost Eye vision, the tall male corpse standing in the hallway started moving again.
Moving with heavy steps, dragging its stiff body full of the stench of decay, it walked step by step towards this side.