Mysterious Revival

There was only about one minute left until the second opening of the door.

Li Jun had thought that there would be no trouble during this time before the door opened, even though the old brick house exuded a strange aura everywhere. As long as the Ghost Paintings hadn't invaded this place, their safety could be ensured.

Unexpectedly, just as he let down his guard slightly, his teammates started to cause trouble.

Seeing the corpse that had previously been hanging from the beam now fallen to the ground, Li Jun's heart leaped.

He remembered the rope scattered on the floor; although it was just an old straw rope, it was also a ghost. Once revived, it would immediately start killing indiscriminately. Before, Yang Jian had suppressed it, so it hadn't caused major problems, but after the Ghost Envoy incident at the base, Yang Jian had lost the Ghost Rope.

But what concerned him even more was the corpse on the floor, emitting a strong stench of decay.

This corpse had been dead for who knows how long, and all information about its identity was unclear; it was suspected to be an unknown ghost.

No, it was definitely a ghost.

Only a ghost could keep the Ghost Rope calm until now.

Previously, the rope and the corpse must have been in a state of absolute balance, with the two ghosts constraining each other, unable to move freely.

But now... Leuk San had personally broken that balance.

"Forty seconds left," Li Jun said with a gloomy face, his tone slightly irritated.

Blaming now was useless. Ah Hong had already lit the Ghost Candle. Surviving this last period shouldn't be hard. Even if the two ghosts in this house became active, they couldn't possibly kill them all in such a short period of time.

He was angry because these teammates had disobeyed orders, acted recklessly, and brought huge potential danger to the entire team.

If it had been before, Li Jun would have wanted to kill Leuk San himself.

"I know, as soon as time is up, we'll proceed with the plan. Don't worry, I won't cause any trouble for everyone." Leuk San's sallow and sickly face showed a hint of uncertainty.

His gaze lingered on the corpse on the ground.

"Professor Wang's speculation is somewhat crazy, but since we're at this point, we have no choice but to try... Taking the risk is worth it, considering we don't lose much even if we fail," thought Leuk San.

He was not someone who liked recklessly courting death; it was just that the stakes offered by Wang Xiaoming were rather tempting, plus there was the support of a Ghost Candle.

So, this one minute was worth the wait.

At this moment.

The red candle in Ah Hong's hand burnt rapidly, its flame flickering in the cold hall. Time seemed to slow down, with every second feeling so prolonged.

Although it was just the last few seconds, everyone was well aware that if an anomaly occurred and the ghosts started killing, no one could be absolutely certain of surviving.

And then there was the variable of the Ghost Painting.

The time came to the last twenty seconds.

Just at this moment, changes began to occur in the cold hall.

The old and darkened walls unexpectedly began to show a hazy gray color, the surrounding darkness peeling off like wallpaper, bit by bit. The world outside the door seemed to have started raining, with countless ashes drifting and tending to spread towards them.

And with the change of light, the group frighteningly realized that the earthen floor of the hall they were standing on had vaguely become a giant picture frame.

The uneven ground, like the wrinkles on an old man's face, sketched out a terrifying visage.

Not only that, but the corpse, which had been motionless, was now beginning to move ever so slightly.

"Huh!"

The Ghost Candle in Ah Hong's hand burned even more fiercely, the flame consuming the wick much faster than before, making it difficult for the candle to last three minutes.

Although the ghost had not yet attacked the group, these signs indicated that once the Ghost Candle went out, and if they couldn't pass through the door to leave this place in time, the likelihood of being wiped out was absolutely one hundred percent.

Even the Ghost Domain of the Ghost Envoys couldn't withstand the invasion of Ghost Painting, let alone a ghost controller.

"Ten seconds left," Li Jun's voice remained calm, showing no signs of panic.

The frequency of the corpse's movement on the ground increased, as if a wind-up machine had started working.

"Let's go," said Leuk San as he shifted his gaze away from the corpse.

It seemed the outcome was not as smooth as Professor Wang had imagined.

The Ghost Candle in Ah Hong's hand was already more than half burnt. She remained silent, but her face was becoming less and less like herself; she had vaguely started to transform into someone else.

To ensure survival, she had to use her own ghostly powers.

The door was too big of an uncertainty.

At this moment, Li Jun couldn't care about much else. He had reached the nearly rotten wooden door, and in his hand, he held something unnoticeable until now.

It was a door handle with mottled red paint.

This was a component from some door.

To open the correct door at the correct time required a certain medium, and the door handle in Li Jun's hand was taken from the door at headquarters.

Usually, carrying it on oneself posed no harm, but special care was needed every time the door was opened. If one wasn't careful, they could mistakenly enter the world behind the Ghost Gate, and whether one could survive to come back out depended on luck.

Li Jun placed the door handle on the door and then stared fixatedly at the time on his watch.

When the final second of the designated time for the second door opening came, he pushed the door open without hesitation.

An eerie scene occurred as the door opened.

Behind the door was not the scene inside the old brick house, but a darkness like mist.

"Did it work?" Li Jun was somewhat uncertain.

It was his first time using this thing, and he didn't fully understand the situation before him, but his instinct told him it should be connected to some place—whether it could follow the plan to get back to headquarters, he had no idea.

After all, these strange things all possessed a great deal of uncertainty, but at least it was better than dying trapped here.

"Hurry, everyone follow me and leave this place; the door is open."

Li Jun didn't rush out himself but turned back quickly to urge everyone else.

Su Fan looked at his mobile phone; the dim screen showed a small figure with a door in front of it. Light emitted from the doorway, seemingly signaling an escape route.

Without any hesitation, he stepped through the door.

Leuk San followed behind without saying a word.

"I'll blow out the Ghost Candle to prevent accidents,"

Ah Hong approached the door, not holding the Ghost Candle as she entered because she could avoid the interference the ghost's candle flame might cause to the door. At this critical moment, nobody wanted an accident to happen.

Li Jun nodded in agreement.

Ah Hong's words were a reminder.

The next moment.

The Ghost Candle was extinguished, and Ah Hong's figure rushed into the door along with Xu Yiping.
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Li Jun was the last to enter.

However, as soon as he set foot inside, his body suddenly froze, and a terrifying feeling surged in his heart.

For Li Jun felt a sudden heaviness on his shoulder.

A cold, stiff, unknown hand had grabbed him from behind.

The familiar and intense stench of decay washed over him.

"It's the corpse from the hall... Damn it, has that ghost targeted me just within three seconds of extinguishing the Ghost Candle?"

Li Jun immediately realized what it was that had grabbed him from behind.

Meanwhile.

Unaware of the mishap that had befallen Li Jun at the back, Su Fan, who was walking ahead, was more worried about what dangers might be lurking in the pitch-black darkness.

But things didn't happen as quickly as imagined.

Instead of danger approaching, he saw a glowing exit.

It looked like... the shape of a door.

"It's the way out," Su Fan thought immediately of the guidance from the message on his phone as he saw this.

He hastened his steps without daring to linger in the darkness or to lose his way blindly.

Soon.

Su Fan was the first to cross through the glowing door.

As he did, he was surprised to find himself in a special room.

The room was empty except for an old wooden door standing on the ground, and an old man with a walking stick standing in front of it.

"Oh, you made it out? It seems this door opening was quite successful," the old man said with a hint of surprise, seemingly not expecting the second door opening to go so smoothly.

"Is that you, Old Qin?"

As Su Fan looked around, he immediately noticed Deputy Minister Cao Yanhua standing by the windows of this sealed room.

"Although the thing is not very stable, at least we came back alive," Leuk San came out from behind the door, quickly realizing the environment he was now in.

If they were not mistaken, this place must have been some kind of underground base of headquarters.

"Damn, next time I definitely won't stake my life on this thing; it's too hard to seize the moment to leave," Xu Yiping came out, heaving a sigh of relief and then spoke with a hint of fear.

Three chances to open the door, with the first ending in failure. If the second attempt had also failed, they would've had to wait an hour for the third.

They couldn't possibly survive for an hour.

"Being alive is good enough. If it weren't for this door, we would never have gotten out of that damned place. The Ghost Domain depicted by the ghost painting is too bizarre; you'd get lost as soon as you entered," Su Fan whispered, "Luckily, we didn't have direct contact with the ghost from the painting this time, or else we wouldn't have had the chance for a second door opening."

Seeing them emerge one by one, Cao Yanhua's face lit up with joy, his expression becoming slightly excited.

Although this plan hadn't been perfectly accomplished, at least they had temporarily resolved the Ghost Envoy incident, and the team had made it back alive.

"That was a narrow escape, a narrow escape. We made it back alive. Professor Wang, now it all comes down to Chen Yi," Cao Yanhua turned and said.

But at this moment, Wang Xiaoming's brow was furrowed, showing no joy.

"What's wrong? Aren't you satisfied with this outcome?" Cao Yanhua asked again.

"The time to close the door is nearly up, and Li Jun hasn't appeared yet, and..." Wang Xiaoming stopped short.

It was then that Cao Yanhua suddenly realized, among the team of four, everyone had safely walked out except for Li Jun.

"No way, could he have died in there?"

A horrible thought popped into his mind.

The loss of Li Jun would be a tremendous blow for the headquarters.

The second door opening could only last for thirty seconds.

With just a few seconds left, Old Qin was about to close the door to prevent the ghosts from breaking through.

The first time they had opened the door, they allowed a full minute, and within that minute at least three ghosts attempted to invade, and the invasion speed for the second time would be faster than before, hence the need to reduce the door opening time accordingly.

For the third opening, managing to keep the door open for ten seconds would be impressive.

"I'm going to close the door in five seconds. If anyone hasn't come out by then, that's unfortunately too bad," Old Qin's face, full of wrinkles and liver spots, showed a numbness, as though he wouldn't alter the plan just because someone had failed to appear.

Deputy Minister Cao Yanhua kept a stern face and didn't object, clearly giving tacit approval to Old Qin's action.

If Li Jun failed to emerge as planned, he couldn't risk the safety of everyone in the room.

But just at this moment, clear footsteps came from behind the door.

"It's Li Jun, wait on closing the door. He's about to come out, I knew he wouldn't be in trouble..." Xu Yiping said hastily.

"Hm?" However, immediately after, everyone's expressions tensed up, and the relaxed atmosphere became fraught once more.

"Step, step! Step, step!"

The footsteps coming from behind the door were not of one person but two...

If one was Li Jun, then who was the other?