Chapter Four: Seize That Phantom!

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Shen Lin didn’t take long to wake up; the sharp pain in his neck gradually sharpened his consciousness until his eyes opened.

“Linzi, you’re awake!” Li Meng called out joyfully. To him, Shen Lin was the backbone at this moment—the one who could make decisions, who knew what to do. God only knew how panicked he had been while Shen Lin was unconscious. If it weren’t for considering Shen Lin’s frail physique, he might have even crawled into Sun Yue’s arms like she did.

“You’re awake! Do you feel any discomfort?” Sun Yue’s cheeks flushed red, and she looked somewhat at a loss.

“Hm, how long was I unconscious?” Shen Lin asked.

“About twenty minutes,” Zhou Fang replied, his gaze fixed intently on Shen Lin. He knew that right now, Shen Lin was their only hope for survival—he must know something.

Among this small group, Li Meng was Shen Lin’s close ally; Sun Yue was a girl who got along fairly well with Shen Lin; only he seemed a marginal figure. In fact, he had once even thought of sending Shen Lin to his death to help them escape.

Now, he had to prove his worth to ensure he would neither be abandoned nor sacrificed as cannon fodder.

As long as he could survive, he was willing to bow and scrape, even be a dog.

Twenty minutes? It exceeded their expectations, but judging from the current situation, nothing seemed to have happened.

“Did anything happen during that time?” Shen Lin asked again.

Zhou Fang’s expression shifted slightly, and his eyes involuntarily glanced toward Ren Qiang’s direction but dared not look longer.

“Ren Qiang died, shortly after you lost consciousness. It was sudden, without any warning, just like those people in the neighborhood.”

Died? Shen Lin’s face showed no fear or surprise; his expression was as calm as winter well water, without a ripple.

This coincided with his analysis; he had nearly deduced the killing pattern of this ghost.

“Anything else?”

“No, we stayed put as you said and didn’t dare move. Nothing else happened during that time,” Zhou Fang said.

The twenty minutes of fog had not dissipated. Zhang Ming’s survival chances were now slim to none. If their strongest member was dead, they had no leverage against the ghost.

No—it would be even more terrifying.

Zhang Ming’s death meant the vengeful spirit clinging to him would awaken!

Shen Lin’s expression grew heavy as he stared into the dense fog five meters away, as if glimpsing the future.

In other words, within this thick mist, besides the woman ghost, was there a second ghost?

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A ghost from Zhang Ming!

“We can’t stay here. Zhang Ming is probably dead. There might only be a few of us left alive in this neighborhood. We have to find a way out ourselves,” Shen Lin said gravely.

“But didn’t you say it was safer to stay here? What if we run into that ghost while wandering around?” Zhou Fang was frightened and saw this suggestion as a death wish.

“Those who want to come follow me; those who don’t can leave,” Shen Lin issued a final ultimatum without wasting words.

“What about you two?” He looked at Li Meng and the standing Sun Yue.

“Do you even need to ask? I’m definitely coming with you,” Li Meng said without hesitation.

“I... me too,” Sun Yue quickly replied.

“And you?” Shen Lin looked at Zhou Fang.

Zhou Fang’s face flushed; of course, he couldn’t stay alone here—that was basically suicide.

“I... I haven’t said anything else. Of course, I’ll follow you.”

“The fog here isn’t the kind you’re used to. Don’t look around, don’t trust anything you see. Keep a safe distance of five meters. Don’t be more than five meters away from me. Understood?” Shen Lin instructed.

The three nodded eagerly. They had no objections and couldn’t offer any constructive suggestions.

The four set off without causing any disturbance in the dense fog. Before leaving, Shen Lin cast a heavy glance at Zhang Qiang’s desiccated corpse—a look deep and lingering.

“Fatty, I’ll give you a signal later. At the exact moment I signal you, try to knock me out without hesitation,” Shen Lin said in a low voice.

The sudden appearance of the toy, the silent deaths, even the caress from that woman.

If touching or not touching the toy made no real difference, then the toy’s appearance was merely a trigger, a key inducement.

What could be connected to the toy? The toy manufacturer? The maker?

Impossible.

Childhood—only childhood!

That ghost was inducing people to recall their childhood.

Perhaps, she could kill through memories!

Ren Qiang’s death confirmed this and made Shen Lin shudder all the more.

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Many ghosts awakened with mysterious patterns, but most could be countered once understood.

The Knocking Ghost would not trigger if you didn’t hear its knocking—or simply couldn’t hear it.

The Mirror Ghost could be avoided by not looking into mirrors.

But memories—memories were different.

Human thoughts were inherently difficult to control. People often involuntarily drift in thought, their eerie trains of thought wandering uncontrollably into strange corners until they consciously realign, only for the mind to stray again.

Few could master such control—it was a rare talent.

During this process, humans often, due to various triggers and suggestions, involuntarily associate ideas.

For example, when you read this passage, please do not think of a spoon, especially its handle, which might be metal, perhaps rusted in your home.

Almost everyone, upon reading this, would involuntarily picture a spoon, even focusing on the handle, some even worry about what material their spoon is made of, or whether it has rusted unnoticed.

Thoughts themselves cannot be controlled.

Even if they managed to survive several rounds by knocking each other unconscious, someone would eventually be caught, followed by one casualty after another, ending in total annihilation.

Even if luck allowed them to maintain stability through such means,

the ghost realm remained; they could not escape this haunted place.

Heaven only knew whether the ghost, seeing their resilience, would let them go, or use the ghost realm to take them all, then toy with them to death.

They had no other chance; they had to fight desperately for a sliver of survival.

Shen Lin planned to find Zhang Ming, whether barely alive or dead.

He fervently hoped Zhang Ming’s ghost had not yet awakened, giving him some chance.

He intended to seize that ghost and become its master.

To gamble against this damned fate!