Hearing the man's pained admission, Jiang Yan immediately sensed something was wrong. He exclaimed, "This isn't just ghostly revival. You've been attacked by a spirit!"
"What?! A spirit attack?" Feng An's face went pale, and he quickly backed away from the man in the black hat.
The black hat man's expression soured as the realization dawned. "Looks like that might be it. I thought it was just ghost revival at first."
"Does that mean there's a ghost close by? But with this thick fog, we can't see a thing!" Feng An's voice trembled as he scanned the gray, fog-covered surroundings, straining to see through the murk.
"I could try using my second-tier ghost domain. It might clear some of this fog, give us a better look at what's nearby," Jiang Yan offered, preparing to activate his ghost domain. But before he could, the black hat man stopped him.
"No. Conserve your ghost domain as much as possible. I've got something for this."
He reached into his coat and pulled out a cigarette with an unusual black tint, lighting it with a sharp click of his lighter.
"What…is that?" Jiang Yan asked, surprised. He had never seen anything like it.
The black hat man took a drag and exhaled a wisp of pale green smoke. "This is a ghost cigarette, a special paranormal item. Its light can reveal hidden spirits."
As he spoke, the green glow from the cigarette spread, illuminating the fog-shrouded area around them. The mist parted slightly, bathing the three men in a haunting, emerald glow.
But as the light spread, Jiang Yan and Feng An both froze, staring in horrified silence at the man in the black hat. Or rather, at what was perched on his back.
"What…why are you both looking at me like that?" Seeing their expressions, the man in the black hat felt an icy dread creeping over him.
"There's something…on your back," Feng An whispered, his voice shaking.
"On my back? What…?" His heart pounding, the black hat man reached behind him, his hand trembling. His fingers met something icy and soft.
"Damn it! What is this thing?" His face twisted in fear as he recoiled from the eerie, clammy sensation.
"It's a dead infant," Jiang Yan said, his voice steady but grim.
"A…dead infant…" The black hat man's breath hitched as fear gripped him.
Clinging to his back was a baby with mottled greenish-blue skin, its flesh decayed and rotting. At Jiang Yan's words, the creature slowly turned its head toward them, its hollow black eyes staring blankly. Then it let out a chilling, childlike giggle, "Ke-ke-ke…"
"Damn it! How long has that thing been following us?! Why didn't we notice anything?" Feng An exclaimed, horrified.
The man in the black hat looked furious, his mind racing. He finally remembered the moment he had felt something trip him as they walked—this must have been when the dead infant latched onto him.
"Don't panic. There's always a way out. It doesn't seem like a particularly powerful ghost, and its killing rule appears to be fairly simple," Jiang Yan said calmly.
"Killing rule? You already know this ghost's killing rule?" Feng An looked at Jiang Yan in disbelief.
"Ask him," Jiang Yan said, nodding toward the man in the black hat.
The black hat man sighed heavily, still trudging forward under the weight on his back. With a grim smile, he explained, "From what I can tell, this ghost makes you carry it and forces you to keep walking. If you stop for too long…well, it'll kill you."
"That's not so bad. This thing's killing rule seems simple enough to handle. We could even contain it," Feng An scoffed, his confidence bolstered as he walked around to face the black hat man. He extended his hand, preparing to take on the ghost himself.
"Careful, don't be reckless," Jiang Yan warned, his tone serious.
"Relax, I know what I'm doing," Feng An replied, sounding almost dismissive.
He looked down at the dead infant, its grayish skin and bloated body looking disturbingly harmless. He activated the Ghost Skin ability, his hand turning pale and corpse-like, speckled with necrotic patches that enhanced his strength and resistance to paranormal attacks. With these protections in place, he reached toward the ghost.
Sensing his intentions, the dead infant swiveled its head around, fixing Feng An with its empty black eyes. It giggled again, an eerie, mocking sound that sent chills down his spine.
"Evil creature…" Feng An muttered angrily, reaching out and seizing it by the neck.
With the added strength from the Ghost Skin, Feng An's grip tightened, almost snapping the infant's neck. The creature let out a piercing scream, its body writhing in his grasp.
"So much for being dangerous," Feng An sneered, pulling the ghost off the black hat man's back with surprising ease.
"Big guy, you were getting all worked up over this thing? You're too soft," Feng An mocked, glancing over at the black hat man.
The black hat man scowled, clearly unamused but refraining from replying.
"Anyway, we're done here, but let's not lower our guard. This place is crawling with spirits," Jiang Yan cautioned.
"Yeah, yeah," Feng An replied carelessly. He waved his hand, preparing to subdue the ghost. But as he looked down, his hand was empty. The infant was gone.
"What the…?" He glanced around, confused.
Jiang Yan and the black hat man both noticed the shift, their gazes locking onto Feng An's back.
In the greenish glow of the ghost cigarette, the dead infant had somehow reappeared on Feng An's back, a mischievous grin plastered across its chubby, decayed face.
"That thing's back on your back!" the black hat man gasped.
"What? How is that possible? I just…" Feng An muttered in frustration, but shook his head. "No matter. I'll just pull it off again."
He activated the Ghost Skin once more and reached back to grab the creature. This time, however, no matter how much strength he used, the infant was firmly latched on, as if it had become part of his skin.
A wave of panic crept over him.
"No…that can't be. Just a second ago…" Feng An was starting to panic, his fingers clawing desperately at the creature, using every ounce of strength he had.
"Stop. It's pointless. If you push the Ghost Skin any further, you'll trigger your own ghost revival," Jiang Yan said gravely.
"But…" Feng An's face twisted with frustration.
"This ghost is more troublesome than we expected. Once it attaches to someone, it won't let go. Any direct contact from another person just makes it latch onto the new host," Jiang Yan explained.
"What? Does that mean I'm stuck with this thing on my back?" Feng An's voice quavered, his fear finally surfacing.
"It seems like we have no choice but to confront this ghost head-on." Jiang Yan turned to the black hat man, who nodded in understanding.
"If we can suppress it with enough force, it might let go. But we'll have to avoid direct physical contact," Jiang Yan said. He then pulled out his safety hammer, raising it toward the dead infant and bringing it down without hesitation.
The hammer struck the creature with a harsh clang, and the infant let out a blood-curdling scream, but it still clung tightly to Feng An's back, refusing to release him.
"Not enough!" Jiang Yan gritted his teeth.
"Let me try!" The black hat man swung his sleeve around, using his ghost windbreaker to wrap tightly around the infant's head, pulling as hard as he could. The creature's screams grew louder, sharper—but it still wouldn't let go.
"It's still not working…" Jiang Yan murmured, his brow furrowed. It seemed he had no choice but to use his second-tier ghost domain.
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𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙖 𝙢𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙢𝙮 𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙟𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙮. 𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙗𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙖 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚!
𝗔𝘀 𝗮 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘂𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸:
• 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀: 𝙂𝙚𝙩 Volume 01 of this novel 𝙖𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙚𝙡𝙨𝙚.
• 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁-𝗢𝘂𝘁: 𝙍𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙖 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩!
𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗳𝘂𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗺𝘆 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽𝘀 𝗺𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆. 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻 𝘆𝗲𝘁, 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗷𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘂𝘀!
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