Mysterious Revival

Chapter 1598 - 1561: Failure and Escape

He Feng and his wife Zhou Mei watched the distant figures of Grandpa Zhang and his son with shock in their hearts.

Knowing full well that there were ghosts ahead, they were not afraid; instead, they resolutely chose to confront the fierce ghosts. And they were not the rumored ghost tamers, they were ordinary people, even physically weaker than the two of them.

Their reason for doing so was merely not wanting to see more people die at the hands of the fierce ghost.

Such spirit is admirable.

"This old man looks about eighty. Elder Zhang Zhidong said that sixty years ago, ghosts were rampant in this world, meaning when this old man was around twenty, he was already fighting fierce ghosts. And I believe people like him aren't few, but as time passed, those from sixty years ago have aged, fallen ill, died, and ultimately were forgotten..."

He Feng was silent at this moment.

From these scattered stories and clues, he could already feel the chaotic and turbulent era of sixty years ago.

"Let's go, we must leave here quickly, we can't stay in this complex. Just now, a single ghost from a coffin almost killed all of us. If the other coffins open, the consequences are unimaginable." Zhou Mei tugged on the dazed He Feng, eager to leave.

He Feng instinctively nodded, then took his wife's hand to leave.

But after walking a few steps, he stopped again.

"What's wrong?" Zhou Mei exclaimed in surprise.

He Feng hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "You go first, I want to go back and take a look."

"What? Go back? Aren't you afraid of death?" Zhou Mei said in horror.

He Feng said, "I am afraid of death, but I don't want to give up this opportunity. I want to know what really happened in that era, I want to witness how that old man fights the fierce ghosts, I want to understand that mysterious supernatural realm, see a real ghost tamer... I can feel it, with Guanjiang Residential Complex being haunted, many unimaginable stories will unfold here. If I leave now, I will miss everything and regret it for the rest of my life."

Zhou Mei saw her husband like this and knew that his professional obsession had struck again.

"Then I'll go with you." She then gritted her teeth, planning to go for broke.

"No, this time is very dangerous. I'll go alone, you must leave."

Although deeply touched, He Feng felt it unnecessary for the two of them to risk it together, so he resolutely sent his wife Zhou Mei away and turned back alone.

At that moment.

Grandpa Zhang, holding a red axe and accompanied by Zhang Wenwen with a lantern, had already arrived at the construction site where seven coffins were unearthed.

"Dad, there's someone there." Suddenly, Zhang Wenwen pointed ahead.

Not far away, a slender, seductive woman with dense black hair was walking slowly into the distance.

Even though the woman hadn't turned around, just her silhouette was enough to recognize her as a stunning beauty.

"Which eye of yours sees that thing as human? Such a big ghost and you could mistake it." Grandpa Zhang, upon seeing the silhouette, reminisced, then gave a heavy hum, dissatisfied with his son's judgment.

"A ghost?" Zhang Wenwen shivered, looking again at the woman, only then noticing something unusual about the silhouette.

Outdated clothing, impossibly perfect body, the suspiciously dense black hair... everything about her seemed to not belong to the living.

Grandpa Zhang quickened his pace slightly: "Catch up, don't let it leave the complex."

Seeing his father so determined, Zhang Wenwen suppressed his unease and fear, raised his lantern, and followed.

Soon, they passed by the place of the seven red coffins.

Two of the coffins were already open, but inside was empty, not knowing what had left the coffins.

Grandpa Zhang shouted to the coffins as they walked: "Anyone alive in there? If so, make a sound. Huang Ziya has turned into a fierce ghost, won't you come out and help?"

Though survival rates from the past were small, he still held out some hope and tried shouting a few words.

No response came from the remaining five coffins, but from one coffin came a dull thumping sound. The thump wasn't loud initially, but it shook the red coffin as if something terrifying inside could hardly be contained.

"So fierce? Scared your Grandpa Wai."

Grandpa Zhang trembled, instinctively stepping back a few steps.

Beside him, Zhang Wenwen, a middle-aged man in his fifties, was almost in tears: "Dad, if it doesn't work, let's leave, don't push it."

Even if he were a fool, he could see that the coffin making the noise also had a ghost, perhaps even fiercer than the female ghost.

"Don't worry, as long as the coffin isn't opened, it can't come out. And leaving now isn't that easy, look around you." Grandpa Zhang, having thrown away his cane, gripped the red axe tightly with both hands.

Zhang Wenwen raised the lantern, and only then did he notice that the ground around them was suddenly covered in a layer of black hair. At first, these black hairs were sparse, but over time they grew denser.

Most terrifying, those long black hairs seemed to wriggle on the ground like living things.

"Be careful, don't get entangled by the hair, or it'll be deadly." Grandpa Zhang swung his axe at the black hair on the ground.

The axe fell, severing the black hair. Afterwards, the long black hair rapidly withdrew, leaving a blank space uncovered.

Grandpa Zhang chopped a few more times, halting the encroachment of the black hair.

But Grandpa Zhang was panting heavily, leaning on the axe, exhausted.

"I'm not as capable as before, a few chops and I'm spent. Back in my day, none of the things in the coffin stood a chance against your Grandpa Wai."

"We can't play this out. It's a ghost, we can't outlast it. We must find a way to get close and strike the woman's forehead with the axe. One hit, and it's over, then we can put the ghost back in the coffin, and the problem is solved."

Though aged, Grandpa Zhang remained clear-headed, knowing what to do.

Zhang Wenwen gazed at the eerie woman not far away. The woman had stopped moving but stood still, her long black hair now inexplicably reaching the ground.

Earlier, the long black hair only reached her waist.

"Hey, brat, stop zoning out and get to work." Grandpa Zhang handed the axe to Zhang Wenwen.

"Me, Dad? I can't. I can't do this." Zhang Wenwen shook his head pale, legs buckling. If not for his father's composure and resistance against the eerie things, he'd have long fled in terror.

"Bah, useless." Grandpa Zhang couldn't help but scold: "Look at your cowardice, just like your mother, not even a patch on my past underlings."

Zhang Wenwen lowered his head slightly, chastened into silence.

With no choice, seeing his son's cowardice, Grandpa Zhang begrudgingly carried on, axe in hand.

Chopping here and there, he forcibly cleared a path through the black hair on the ground.

Grandpa Zhang was breathing heavily but couldn't stop, lest the ghostly hair recover and devour both father and son.

The closer to the eerie woman, the more abundant and dense the black hair became, increasingly rapid in reclaiming the space the axe had cleared.

Finally, Grandpa Zhang was forced to stop around ten meters from the eerie woman.

He was genuinely old. Despite the axe being weightless, the repeated chopping exhausted his arms until they refused to lift. A final swing saw him stumble, and the once proud, resilient Grandpa Zhang tumbled to the ground.

"Dad." Zhang Wenwen cried out in shock, rushing to support him.

Grandpa Zhang's face looked terrible, gasping for breath, eyes closed, his chest heaving like a leaky bellows, mumbling something indiscernible; Zhang Wenwen barely caught the words: "Leg... Brother Tui."

At this moment, the black hair covering the ground began spreading over again, tightly surrounding the two.

Zhang Wenwen was terrified, trying to pick up the red axe to resist.

But Grandpa Zhang's hand was gripping the axe handle tightly, making it impossible to take away.

Watching the black hair closing in closer and closer, Zhang Wenwen was so anxious he broke out in cold sweat, feeling a bit at a loss.

"Are you okay? I'm here to rescue you." At that moment, the voice of the journalist He Feng echoed, carrying a shovel used on construction sites, desperately running towards them.

Years of running around, coupled with his youth and strength, had endowed He Feng with considerable strength.

Before long, he rushed over.

"No, don't come." Zhang Wenwen was initially stunned, then realized and urgently shouted.

But it was too late.

When He Feng rushed over and entered the range of the oil lamp's light, he found black hair tightly wrapped around his legs, writhing and tightening more and more, eventually digging deep into his flesh.

"Ah!"

He Feng screamed in pain, attempting to use the shovel to cut off the strange black hair, but it was futile. No matter how hard he tried, the black hair remained intact.

"Use my dad's axe." Zhang Wenwen urgently reminded upon seeing this situation.

He Feng saw the crimson axe in Grandpa Zhang's hand, immediately pulling it free.

But as he held this crimson axe in his hand, he was suddenly left stunned.

What appeared to be a heavy axe felt astonishingly weightless, defying logic.

There was no time to ponder this now, He Feng lifted the axe and slashed down, and the previously indestructible hair broke off, the short black hair began retreating swiftly like a receding tide.

"This is no ordinary axe."

He Feng was still in shock, but the recent actions had briefly saved their lives.

Yet the danger was far from over.

At this time, the mysterious woman who had been standing not far away had somehow moved to their side.

Nearby, the black hair had instantly become even denser.

"Quick, chop that thing with the axe, my dad said once you hit it, the ghost will be finished." Zhang Wenwen shouted.

"Alright, let's give it a shot."

He Feng stood up with the axe, growling, charging towards the mysterious woman.

Such a short distance should be enough to succeed.

However, just as he took a couple of steps, his body suddenly tensed up, halting him in his tracks.

He Feng's eyes widened, his face filled with an expression of incredulity and fear towards the unknown power.

At that moment, he felt an icy pair of arms hold him tightly.

Was it an illusion?

No.

It was not an illusion.

Under the dim light of the oil lamp, He Feng saw two pallid, deathly arms appearing at his waist, long enough to hug him while continuously tightening.

His body couldn't move, and he couldn't breathe.

Moreover, severe pain emanated from his waist.

The eerie and terrifying arms exerted immense strength, threatening to strangle him within seconds.

He Feng wanted to use the axe to sever these fearsome arms, but the pain incapacitated him, causing even the axe to slip from his grasp, falling to the ground. Meanwhile, Zhang Wenwen couldn't provide assistance, covered in thick black hair, struggling desperately, yet the hair multiplied, threatening to engulf him.

"Am I going to be killed by a ghost..." At that moment, He Feng felt no fear, only a bewilderment before death.

Just then.

Suddenly.

The eerie arms that nearly strangled He Feng retracted back as if scalded, instantly, the surrounding encroaching black hair receded.

"Cough, cough."

He Feng collapsed to the ground, gasping for air.

Zhang Wenwen was still in panic trying to tear away the non-existent black hair, unaware that the danger had temporarily withdrawn.

"Thinking you can handle a ghost just by wielding an axe, do you still think you're in your prime?" A cold female voice spoke up.

A woman, appearing to be around thirty, dressed in a white dress, with an icy expression, slowly approached while holding a red candle.

The red candle emitted an eerie green flame, resembling ghost fires, looking especially unsettling.

"Wang... Elder Sister Wang." Zhang Wenwen was momentarily stunned upon seeing the woman.

Wang Shanshan glanced, "Xiao Wen, carry Ah Wei, stop messing around, and come with me."

"Alright, alright, Elder Sister Wang." Zhang Wenwen quickly carried the unconscious Grandpa Zhang.

Narrowly escaping death, He Feng looked at the mysterious woman, then at her strange red candle, recalling the content of that book: Candles as Ghost Flames, Red Candles can ward off ghosts.

"Let me help you."

Afterward, He Feng came to himself, hastily picked up Grandpa Zhang, then snatched up the axe, and quickly caught up with Wang Shanshan ahead.

Despite his injured leg and bleeding, his youth and strength did not hinder him.

Any potential aftereffects were concerns for later; they couldn't afford them now.

The group followed behind Wang Shanshan, holding the red Ghost Candle, moving away from this dangerous place.

However, not far ahead, the previously dense-haired mysterious woman had somehow appeared in front of them again.

The woman stood motionless, resembling an icy corpse, her pale face devoid of color. Although silent, her actions seemed to inform them not to attempt leaving here.

"Huang Ziya, even in death, you're restless, are you trying to stop me?" Wang Shanshan casually glanced, unfazed, walking forward with the burning red Ghost Candle.

The green flame flickered, the mysterious woman started to retreat slowly, having ceased to obstruct them.