Chapter 51

The vast mall was eerily quiet, almost frightening.

There was not a single sound, only the sound of Yang Jian's footsteps as he walked.

It should be around dusk outside, the sun shining through the glass windows, bringing a bit of light to the dim mall.

But this light would not last long.

Once it turned dark.

With the mall's lights turned off, it would be pitch black here.

"Shh... to your left, there's someone standing to your left." Accompanied by the sound of static, the satellite phone on Yang Jian's chest transmitted Jiang Yan's nervous voice.

A middle-aged man with a pale face and a body emitting a putrid smell stood calmly on the left side of the corridor, his eyes closed, motionless like a puppet.

Yang Jian walked over, glanced to the left, and his gaze flickered: "I see him."

He sidestepped and walked forward, directly avoiding the middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man did not move, even when Yang Jian walked past him.

"You're amazing, your deduction was right, really, the ghost didn't attack you." In the monitoring room, Jiang Yan couldn't help but get excited when she saw this.

Yang Jian, however, was not so pleased. He said, "No, I now suspect that these are not real ghosts. They are probably just being controlled by a ghost. The real ghost must be hiding somewhere, or on someone. Don't waste time. The surveillance video in the monitoring room can be saved for fifteen days. I've already learned about the mall's situation. The incident happened and the mall closed for renovation about ten days ago."

"Find the source if you look carefully."

"Don't worry, I know what to do." Jiang Yan replied, gradually regaining confidence and no longer feeling so afraid.

"There's someone in the shop behind you."

Suddenly, she urgently reminded him.

Yang Jian immediately turned around.

Behind the glass door of a shop, a young girl dressed in bright, youthful clothes stood there. Her skin was dark, and she had likely been dead for several days, longer than Wei Xiaohong. She was already severely decomposed, and as she moved slightly, her originally black and shiny hair began to fall off.

Her nose and eyes dripped with foul-smelling corpse fluid.

Yet, this corpse raised its hand as if trying to reach through the glass door to grab Yang Jian.

"Are there any inside the door too?" Yang Jian's expression changed, and he quickly turned around.

He walked backward, keeping his body sideways.

Avoiding them by not turning his back could prevent being attacked first. If he chose to run out of fear, he would die a terrible death.

After understanding the pattern, Yang Jian felt that these ghosts were not hard to deal with.

"Zhou Zheng's three sentences are indeed profound. As long as one understands the pattern of how ghosts kill, even an ordinary person can escape from here." Yang Jian thought to himself.

Of course, this was only for this level of ghost.

At a higher level, like the ghost infant, they would kill indiscriminately, and the so-called pattern could not guarantee 100% survival, only significantly increase the chances of survival.

After dodging two ghosts that approached, Yang Jian sped up.

He could hear the footsteps approaching from all around and the eerie sound of the elevator.

Yang Jian knew that no matter which direction he faced, there would be ghosts. The ghosts behind him were just farther away and would take some time to get closer.

If he delayed too long and was surrounded... it would be a certain death.

Of course, Yang Jian dared to be so bold because he was a ghost controller. An ordinary person would never dare to do this.

"The utility room is to the left ahead, but you need to hurry. More ghosts are approaching from behind, and I see ghosts continuously coming up from the elevator."

Jiang Yan became nervous again. "I'm already helping you look at the surveillance footage. I should find where the ghost first appeared soon."

"I know." Yang Jian glanced at the screen.

Sure enough, the elevator on the fourth floor was in operation, and in the dim light, he vaguely saw two people on the elevator heading to the fifth floor.

The elevator on the third and second floors was also operating.

He saw blurry figures moving in several places downstairs.

"How many people have gone missing in this mall?" Yang Jian was startled.

Just a rough estimate, at least twenty people, and the number was increasing, appearing from various corners and floors of the mall... the smell of decay in the air was becoming more intense.

"This ghost chose a perfect place, a mall with a high foot traffic. Under normal operations, the mall wouldn't notice the disappearance of a dozen people in a few days. In a place with less foot traffic, it would be impossible for the ghost to kill so many people."

"Now, the dead people have become my trouble."

With caution, he ran toward the utility room.

At the door of the utility room, a man with a lifeless, pale face stood stiffly. Although his head looked like that of a man in his thirties, his body was that of a woman, wearing a long dress and brown high heels.

Clearly, his head had been swapped.

The man numbly knocked on the door, each strike sounding like a heavy hammer, almost shattering the door.

His arms were already bloody and torn, large pieces of flesh falling off, revealing bones in a bizarre, broken position.

A human body is not as hard as a door.

But this did not deter his determination to break in.

Those hiding in the utility room were terrified by the door's shaking, breaking out in cold sweat and trembling.

"Again, again, Yan Li, think of a way. The door is about to open, that thing is still outside, it didn't leave..." Manager Li was frightened and panicked.

"Five million, I'll give you five million. Just get me out of here, and I'll give it to you." Boss Tang, no longer stingy, quickly offered a price.

Money is important, but life is more important.

Yan Li's face was particularly grim. He looked at his hands, which were covered in blood, soaking through his gloves and continuously oozing.

The blood on the floor could not be fully recovered.

"I can't use this ability again, or I'll die faster." He took a deep breath.

The blood on the door had stopped flowing, as his hands were no longer pressing against it.

"Bang, bang!"

The door shook again, the frame vibrating, and dust fell from the ceiling.

The force was getting stronger...

While they were huddled in fear.

In a corner, Sister Li, who had not screamed or spoken a word, slowly stood up.

She closed her eyes, her face drained of color, and her body turned in a bizarre manner, facing the group with their backs to her, then slowly extended her hands.

At that moment, a loud noise came from outside.

Something had fallen and broken.

Yang Jian's voice sounded from outside: "Hey, is anyone inside still alive? If you're not dead, open the door. I have a way to get you out of here."

"What? There's someone outside." At this moment, Yan Li was the most shocked.

He couldn't believe it when he heard the voice outside. With so many ghosts in the mall, it was impossible for anyone to be alive, and if they were, they should be dead by now.

"That's the voice of the young security guard. Quickly, open the door and ask if he really has a way out." Boss Tang, with a good memory, immediately recognized Yang Jian's voice.

"Don't, don't open the door. Who knows if the one speaking outside is a person or a ghost." Manager Li was terrified.

This reminder made Yan Li's heart race. Indeed, there was no evidence that the young security guard outside was a person.

What if it was a trap?

Yang Jian had just managed to throw the person at the utility room door down to the fifth floor. Although they wouldn't die, it would take some time for them to come back up, temporarily easing the immediate crisis.

But hearing the words from inside the utility room, his face darkened: "Right, it's fine if you don't come out. I saw the surveillance footage. Sister Li among you is also a ghost. I don't know if Sister Li has started acting. If she has, you'll all die inside. So, please make a decision quickly."

"Huh?"

Hearing this, everyone in the utility room broke out in a cold sweat.

What? Sister Li is a ghost?

Almost instinctively, everyone turned to look behind them.

But the next moment, they saw Sister Li standing behind them, headless.

"Ahhh!"

Several screams echoed from the utility room.

Yang Jian outside couldn't help but cover his ears.

The sound was so loud, it was a waste not to sing high notes.

The next moment.

The door of the utility room was slammed open.

A group of people tumbled out, crying and sobbing, some even wetting their pants.

"Quick, quick, run."

"Save me, I don't want to die."

Yang Jian reminded them, "It's fine to scream, but don't run around. There are more ghosts outside, and running fast means dying fast."

Boss Tang, Manager Li, and the others scattered and ran a few steps but immediately collapsed in fear.

At some point, the fifth floor was filled with people.

In every direction, there were people.

They all had pale faces, closed eyes, and emitted a putrid smell. They moved stiffly, blocking all possible escape routes.

They were all people who had gone missing in the mall.

Today, they all appeared.