Mysterious Awakening-Chapter 601: Stagnation and Confrontation

Yang Jian had never anticipated that the ghost assault maneuver wielded by Fang Shiming would be so bizarre.

There were no signs, no warnings, and not even his triple-layer Ghost Domain could block it—it was as if suddenly he felt a weight on his back, and then Yang Jian discovered an icy corpse appeared on his back in a sinister manner, lying there still as death, without any movement.

The corpse was heavy, absurdly so, crushing not just Yang Jian's body but even suppressing the ghost within him, forcing him to awkwardly collapse onto the ground.

His breastbone shattered, his organs split open, Yang Jian felt as if he was about to be compressed into a slab of flesh.

In that moment, Yang Jian's first reaction wasn't to struggle or resist, but to activate the sixth layer of the Ghost Domain the instant his body was overwhelmed.

Counterattacking was the only right choice.

Under the curse of the Eight-Tone Music Box, he wouldn't die—at least, that was the case for now—so there was no need to worry about his physical condition.

The sixth layer of the Ghost Domain activated in that instant.

The entire top floor of Ping'an Tower was covered by a dense red glow as if intending to melt and erase every person and object within it.

But, this was merely an illusion produced upon delving deep into the Ghost Domain.

After all, the Ghost Domain was just a supernatural space constructed under the influence of malevolent spirits, which could affect reality only when it reached a certain intensity.

For Yang Jian's Ghost Domain to have a direct effect on reality, it had to be opened to at least the fifth layer, hence he could make people disappear from the world, as well as eliminate ordinary malevolent spirits. However, disappearance isn't the same as death. After activating the sixth layer of the Ghost Domain, Yang Jian saw.

He saw the top floor infrastructure of Ping'an Tower that had vanished before, saw the few people who had disappeared from the conference room earlier. Their bodies were mutilated, lying motionless; most were already dead, but shockingly, a few were still alive.

The living were terrified, wandering aimlessly, as Yang Jian's Ghost Eye power had isolated them, rendering them unable to see anything in reality.

Only when this bizarre phenomenon disappeared could they return to reality.

But based on time estimates, they wouldn't live to see that moment.

At this juncture, Yang Jian could also feel that he might be able to prematurely pull back people and ghosts who had been dispatched.

"So, is this the secret of the fifth layer of the Ghost Domain? They didn't die, nor did they vanish; they were completely isolated, akin to... imprisonment. But what is the sixth layer of the Ghost Domain? What changes does it bring about?"

He observed his surroundings.

There seemed to be no change at all.

No, that was incorrect—the absence of change was the biggest change of all.

Everything here seemed to be paused.

To his shock, Yang Jian realized everything in the vicinity was in a state of stasis. Whether it was Fang Shiming in front of him, or the corpse on his back, everything had come to a standstill, even himself... he couldn't move, the only thing within the six-layer Ghost Domain that could was his Ghost Eye.

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The restless Ghost Eye still swiveled around, still peering, unaffected by anything.

"So, the sixth layer of the Ghost Domain forcibly pauses everything in the vicinity... even ghosts."

Yang Jian's thoughts remained active, seemingly the only thing, besides the Ghost Eye, not restricted—perhaps because he had been eroded by the Ghost Eye once, inheriting some of its characteristics.

"No, that's not right. The curse of the Eight-Tone Music Box is still active, but the music... has slowed down."

The cursed ringing of the Eight-Tone Music Box still echoed in Yang Jian's mind, only now the ringing was slow, as if a single note played every two or three seconds, creating an intermittent sensation, failing to connect into the eerie music as before.

"Are overly formidable curses, or ghosts, unable to be paused but only delayed?"

He roughly conjectured in his heart, yet the more he pondered, the more astonished he became: "If this ability were to advance further, it might be akin to a reset."

To pause everything around, if it could be reversed, it would mean returning to a previous time segment, similar to the Hungry Ghost's reset, which additionally carries a foreknowledge of the future.

But Yang Jian knew he couldn't do that yet.

The six-layer Ghost Domain was already isolating the curse from the Eight-Tone Music Box. If he were to directly activate the seventh layer, then the curse from the music box would most likely disappear, and without the curse, Yang Jian felt that he might die, and even if he didn't die, the revival of the Ghost Eye would claim his life.

Therefore, the curse of the Eight-Tone Music Box could only support Yang Jian in opening the sixth layer of the Ghost Domain.

It suspended everything around him.

"However, the suspension seems to have a flaw. Even I can't move. Indeed, Ghost Eye is just one piece of a puzzle on a ghost's body. Without having all the pieces, ghost abilities are too singular, and digging into the power of Ghost Eye equals splitting the already limited ghost power even further... But how long can this suspension last without the curse of the Eight-Tone Music Box? Is it three seconds? Or ten seconds? Or possibly a minute?"

Yang Jian estimated in his mind.

Twenty seconds of the stopped time had already passed, and he showed no reaction.

But Yang Jian was aware that the limit would soon be reached, and he needed to figure out how to use the sixth layer of the Ghost Domain in the shortest amount of time.

There was nobody to teach him; it all depended on groping around.

Just as he began to think this, Yang Jian found that he could move his hand, but it was not entirely his own. It was his Ghost Hand, along with that dark-skinned arm.

However, it seemed that he was not the only one who could move; Yang Jian also saw Fang Shiming's eyes slowly blink afterward.

"Thirty seconds... A complete stop can only last thirty seconds; thereafter, the fierce ghost will gradually recover its movement," Yang Jian calculated a roughly accurate timeframe.

Whether it was him or Fang Shiming, ghosts were certain to act first. It's just that Fang Shiming was too close to the revival of the fierce ghost; having almost become a ghost himself, he would not be stopped after thirty seconds. Yang Jian's Ghost Hand was a bit special, allowing him to move first.

"But if that's the case, I don't have much of an advantage."

"No, that's not right. Although my body can't move, I can still control the Ghost Domain and change location."

Yang Jian nearly overlooked the most important point.

After realizing this, he changed his position and quickly freed himself from the pressingly heavy corpse that had been lying on top of him.

The corpse did not continue to appear on him; evidently, even the ghost's assaults were suspended within this sixth layer of the Ghost Domain, and even the curse of the Eight-Tone Music Box was somewhat affected.

He went straight to Fang Shiming's side.

His first action wasn't to attack the immobile Fang Shiming but to try to take away the Ghost Scissors from him.

This object was a huge threat to him; taking it first would at least eliminate the worry of those indomitable and strange attacks from before.

However, the moment he stretched his hand towards it, Fang Shiming, who just before could only blink, suddenly turned his head to look at him.

But Fang Shiming's eyes held a mix of confusion and blankness at this moment, as if he had yet to fully regain consciousness. He certainly didn't recognize Yang Jian, who had suddenly appeared by his side. It was merely an instinctive reaction and wariness in face of the supernatural drawing near.

But this was definitely not good news.

It meant that the suspended time was almost up, and Yang Jian wouldn't even need to maintain it deliberately; the curse of the Eight-Tone Music Box in his mind was already intervening, and the ringing in his head had returned to normal.

The curse blocked the further revival of the Ghost Eye while also preserving Yang Jian's life.

Otherwise, if he continued to maintain the sixth layer of the Ghost Domain, Yang Jian would surely die.

This was a confrontation between ghosts and curses.

Except at this moment, the curse had gained a slight upper hand.

"Should I take the Ghost Scissors, or seize this opportunity to finish off Fang Shiming?" The thought flashed through Yang Jian's mind.

The next moment.

Yang Jian's Ghost Hand changed direction, reaching from behind to grasp Fang Shiming's neck.

He gave up on taking the Ghost Scissors.

Eliminating Fang Shiming at this moment would naturally result in him owning the supernatural object. If he couldn't finish Fang Shiming off, taking the Ghost Scissors would be futile as he couldn't use them, and he didn't have the time to learn now.

After a brief flash of thought, Yang Jian believed he was right.

If the one mistake was that I didn't take action the moment my arm could move and wasted around ten seconds, I definitely could have done two things at once with some experience—both snatch the Ghost Scissors and attack Fang Shiming.

The six levels of Ghost Domain vanished, and the stagnation lifted.

In an instant,

Fang Shiming saw Yang Jian suddenly appear behind him. The place he had previously been pinned down to was now only a pool of blood, accompanied by a cold, lifeless body.

"Crack!"

The crisp sound of breaking bones rang out one after another. Fang Shiming had barely reacted when his neck was snapped, his head drooping powerlessly, though his eyes, full of bloodshot veins, were still moving, clearly indicating his consciousness lingered.

"What exactly is going on..." Fang Shiming couldn't believe it at that moment.

Just a moment ago, Yang Jian had clearly been pressed to the ground by a ghost, incapacitated. Why had Yang Jian managed to free himself from the ghost's hold and grab his neck the moment he started to notice something amiss?

"Is it a restart?"

Fang Shiming couldn't understand this phenomenon, but his first thought was a restart.

However, when his drooping head saw Yang Jian's sunken chest, he realized it wasn't a restart. The injuries from being pinned down by the ghost still remained and hadn't disappeared.

But even without a restart, something akin to its effect had taken place.

"This guy is even more special than I imagined, and he's growing quickly..." A ferocious intensity filled Fang Shiming's eyes, no longer wanting to hold back.

He had a feeling that today, due to a single mistake, he could very well die at the hands of this man.

But Yang Jian's counterattack was more fierce than expected, like a true ghost on the assault. The Ghost Hand didn't just snap Fang Shiming's neck—it used three suppression slots upon contact.

He intended to simultaneously suppress the ghosts within Fang Shiming's body and take him out.

Without the ghosts to sustain him, a ghost controller would be even more fragile than an ordinary person.

"Will it work?"

Yang Jian was uncertain, so the Ghost Shadow behind him invaded Fang Shiming's body at that moment as well.

"Think you can suppress me with just a few scraps you got from a Ghost Envoy? The Coffin Nail made by Wang Xiaoming is flawed. If it was as good as the one on the Hungry Ghost, do you think it would have come to you?"

Fang Shiming's drooping head was still moving and even speaking. A cold, eerie wind started blowing around him, and his face took on an even more vicious look.

"This guy knows an awful lot about me..." Yang Jian's face suddenly changed.

It was bad enough that information about the Coffin Nail traded with Wang Xiaoming had been leaked, but how did Fang Shiming know the details of the Ghost Envoy incident at the training facility as well?

Who let slip the events of that day?

Or rather, who was an insider?

Zhang Lei? Wang Jiang, or Huang Ziya? No, it couldn't be Huang Ziya. If she were an insider, she wouldn't have saved me before. Maybe it was Zhang Hui, who died under strange circumstances afterward.

Considering this now is pointless.

Yang Jian quickly refocused his thoughts and continued the assault and invasion.

But the strange, cold wind that had picked up was getting stronger, causing the Ghost Shadow on the ground to sway back and forth, unable to approach his body. As soon as the shadow drew near, it was blown back.

The Ghost Shadow's attack was blocked.

And the wind showed no signs of stopping.

The next moment, Yang Jian and Fang Shiming were swept up together, flying out from the high-rise building, then plummeting straight down.

"If you don't want to let go, I'll make sure you fall to your death." Seemingly resigned to a mutual demise, Fang Shiming was prepared to fall from the nearly hundred-story tall building alongside Yang Jian.

"Think you can kill me by throwing me down?" Yang Jian said coldly.

Ghost Hand had only suppressed one of the ghosts in Fang Shiming's body, and he was a bit surprised. What kind of ghost was Fang Shiming controlling that required three of Ghost Hand's quotas to suppress?

On the same level as Ghost Shroud?

No, it shouldn't be. He had just mentioned that the Coffin Nails made by Wang Xiaoming had flaws.

About that point, Yang Jian had indeed brought it up when he made the deal with Wang Xiaoming, but he had not pressed for more details at the time.

Had that so-called flaw shown itself now?

Fang Shiming's head, which was slightly drooped, showed no expression. "Do you think you can kill me by throwing me down?"

"Then let's bet on it, see who survives," Yang Jian said, utterly fearless, not even using Ghost Domain to teleport away.

Falling from a hundred-story building was nothing; he would not retreat now that things had come to this.

It was at this moment that Fang Shiming's expression slightly changed.

He had been bluffing Yang Jian earlier. Now, with one ghost within him suppressed, coupled with the constraints of Ghost Hand and the mutual influence of Ghost Domain, as well as the need to fend off Ghost Shadow, he would die if he fell like this before Yang Jian let go.

There was no other way.

Fang Shiming couldn't afford the gamble because he had a premonition that Yang Jian would not die from the fall. Without further hesitation, he immediately threw out a strange cloth doll from his body.

This was a life-substituting doll.

Not only could the doll transfer the attack of a ghost, but it could also withstand damage.

"Think you can use a substitute for death? Did you really think I wasn't prepared for this?"

Yang Jian's Ghost Domain was still usable, and he directly activated five layers of Ghost Domain, covering the life-substituting doll, and sent away most of its body, leaving only a small part in the air, directly destroying the cloth doll.

Five layers of Ghost Domain couldn't send away Fang Shiming, but there was no problem sending this thing away.

And he was certain that Fang Shiming had reached his limit, or he would never have used this life-substituting doll.

In using this thing, it revealed a clear signal.

I'm about to die.

In the air above a hundred-story building, two people plummeted down at an extremely fast speed.

"Why won't you just die quietly?" Fang Shiming said with anger, his gaunt face looking particularly ferocious and terrifying.

Bizarre and icy winds whipped around them, growing more intense, and carrying a thick stench of decay that made Yang Jian's ghost eyes involuntarily close several of them.

The range of the Ghost Domain was rapidly shrinking, and even three layers could no longer be maintained.

However, even two layers were difficult to sustain.

Finally, under the interference, only one layer of Ghost Domain remained.

But correspondingly, the eerie cold wind around them also calmed down.

"Even if I die, I'll take you down with me. Don't struggle, I'm not letting go," Yang Jian's Ghost Hand still clutched his neck tightly.

The suppression was still in place.

And in the clash between Ghost Domains, Yang Jian had gained a slight advantage; the wind had not carried Fang Shiming away.

And so, the two of them plummeted to the ground from the high-rise with no suspense.