Mysterious Awakening-Chapter 523: Places That Have Been Visited

The night had not yet passed.

In the bustling metropolis, the lights were still brilliant, lively, and noisy, everything as usual.

But most people in this city would never imagine that on the outskirts of town, a bizarre event concerning the life and death of everyone was taking place.

The operation, despite being highly confidential, was not difficult to learn about for some people in certain circles.

After all, it involved an S-level event. Those who were interested were certainly not few, and it’s likely that even some foreign powers were paying close attention.

However, compared to the interest in the ghost drawing event.

The top floor of Ping’an Tower.

Friends in certain circles were paying more attention to Yang Jian’s movements.

"Latest intelligence: Yang Jian’s location has changed. He has appeared near the ghost drawing event... The exact location is the top floor of the training base."

At the conference table, President Fei received a piece of intelligence and immediately changed his expression, "President Fang, this is a good opportunity. If he dies at this time, we can completely attribute the cause of death to this ghost drawing event."

Next to him, Jang Shangbai’s face also shifted slightly as he looked aside.

He was somewhat curious about what method Fang Shiming would use to take down Yang Jian, considering Yang Jian was also a top ghost user who controlled three ghosts, and not so easily killed.

"What’s the hurry?"

Sitting in a higher seat, Fang Shiming glanced over lazily: "Yang Jian is just there to observe the situation this time, with no intention to get involved in the event. If we make a move now and fail to take him down, the consequences could be very severe. I’ll only act when he truly gets involved in a supernatural event."

"Only with the ghosts in the event working together with some of my methods can we ensure a foolproof outcome. We have to be meticulous in our work, President Fei. You are not a ghost user, you don’t understand some things, because you can never imagine how terrifying a top ghost user on the verge of death can be. Hence, the plan against Yang Jian is shelved for today; we’ll act when the opportunity is ripe."

"Our main purpose today is to observe the ghost drawing event," Fang Shiming finished and glanced at an electronic screen not far away.

On it were images transmitted from several drones.

Even though it was night, one could still discern a grayish-white world emerging in the darkness afar.

That was the World of Ghost Drawing within the Ghost Domain.

It was this ghostly thing that had wiped out a top foreign team of ghost users, leaving none alive.

And the experience of combating it had become top-secret intelligence, not recorded in the shared archives.

"The chances of successfully capturing the Ghost Envoy are not great; it’s been too long, and I fear there may have been unexpected developments inside."

Jang Shangbai snorted lightly: "I previously suggested to the headquarters to take out the Coffin Nail, but my advice was ignored due to Yang Jian’s meddling, and no one listened. If the headquarters pays a heavy price this time, perhaps there will be a chance to restart my plan."

"Disagreement with your proposal is not because of Yang Jian; it’s because Vice Minister Cao saw through our intentions," President Fei spoke calmly: "He does not want the Coffin Nail to fall into our circle’s hands, otherwise my influence in headquarters would grow stronger. Yang Jian’s involvement just happened to coincide with Cao Yanhua’s wishes; he is most delighted to see someone stirring trouble."

"Moreover, retrieving that Coffin Nail would also entail the risk of the Hungry Ghost escaping, and no manager would make such a foolish decision. So forget about it, even if this operation fails, they would not agree to your plan, unless..."

"Unless the ghost drawing event and the Ghost Envoy event spiral completely out of control, leaving Cao Yanhua with no other options but to take a gamble," Fang Shiming spoke slowly.

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Yang Jian, who was near the event site, was unaware of the discussion taking place within friends’ circles. In his view, if they intended to make a move against him, they would at least wait until the Ghost Envoy event was thoroughly concluded; otherwise, it would all be meaningless.

Meanwhile, Li Jun and others who were temporarily trapped inside the world of the ghost drawing had no choice but to grit their teeth and press on.

Since they could not determine the location of the Ghost Envoy and simply waiting was not an option, they had to attempt to clear one building at a time—perhaps they would be fortunate enough to quickly locate the target.

It had become exceedingly dangerous, for the inhabitants of each house were no longer villagers, but wanderers, actual ghosts.

The three-story rural house stood with its doors wide open, pitch-black inside, so dark one couldn’t see their own hand in front of their face, as if all light had vanished. Yet from this dark building came the sound of heavy footsteps, as if someone was walking inside, sometimes on the stairs, sometimes pacing on the roof, sometimes accompanied by strange noises.

Without a doubt, there were ghosts inside this three-story building.

"Should we continue, Li Jun? This is the seventh house we’ve checked, and in your state, you can’t last much longer. If we keep this up, you’ll quickly die at the hands of a vengeful spirit’s revival," said Su Fan, who had been playing with his phone while walking, lifting his head with a hint of caution.

The few of them had teamed up, feeling their way from house to house.

This building in front of them was the seventh one they had encountered that had ghosts in it.

They had disposed of the ghosts in two of the houses, but then felt that this method was too inefficient, so they decided to explore a bit, identify the ghosts, and then retreat.

Not planning to forcibly capture all the ghosts.

Though the danger had significantly reduced and efficiency had somewhat increased, it was still terrifyingly risky.

Luckily, they were well-prepared, and with five people moving together, no one had been lost so far; they had all survived perfectly thus far.

But being alive didn’t mean being unharmed.

Li Jun, leading at the front, moved sluggishly, his body dried out, resembling a corpse about to be charred, sending shivers down the spine of anyone who saw him. Through the cracks in his scorched black flesh twinkled an eerie green Ghost Flame burning within.

This green light emanating from him formed his Ghost Domain, pushing through the darkness to carve out a path.

"I bear a great responsibility for the Ghost Envoy event. If I hadn’t disobeyed orders, the thing would never have escaped given the laboratory’s level of security—it would have been firmly trapped inside, not becoming an unsolvable presence like it is now," Li Jun looked back slightly.

Half of his face was charred black, the flesh gone, and his eye sockets burned clean, leaving only a hollow void.

Through that void, not a trace of flesh could be seen, only a cluster of deep, endless, sinister flames.

Within the depths of the flames, many ghastly silhouettes seemed to be struggling, trying to surge forth. Discover stories at

"So, you’re thinking of going all out?" Leuk San said.

The others understood that Li Jun was close to a ghostly revival.

To survive, he had to either pull out of this operation and seek a new balance by controlling the third ghost or die here.

There was no second possibility.

"At least I still have the right to fight for my life. I’ve witnessed the true horror of the Ghost Envoy. At that time, no mere effort could deal with the ghost, anyone who encountered it would die without a chance to escape. You’ve all seen the information clearly, this is our only chance," Li Jun turned his head resolutely and walked into the three-story building.

The pitch-black living room brightened a bit with his arrival.

The light emitted by the ominous Ghost Flame improved visibility, allowing one to see everything around clearly.

"There’s really no other way." A hint of helplessness spread across Leuk San’s sickly face.

He had no choice but to follow Li Jun in.

After all, Li Jun was leading the operation, and his room to refuse was limited, but most importantly... Li Jun might die, but Leuk San would not.

The dim lobby felt somewhat cramped with their arrival, and they also noticed that the noises inside the house had ceased. There were no footsteps, no sounds from the stairs, as if the noises they had heard at the entrance were illusions.

"The ghost is on the second floor."

The next moment, Su Fan’s phone game indicated his character happily bouncing up the dark stairs, but when he arrived on the second floor, the screen suddenly flashed.

It displayed "Character has died, please restart."

The unexpected death of the game character implied that danger lurked on the second floor.

"The ghost is upstairs?" Everyone now looked up at the ceiling in unison.

Separated from the ghost by just one wall, less than five meters away. There were many of them, but this pressure made everyone’s hair stand on end.

What kind of ghost would they encounter this time?

"I’ll go upstairs first." Under the eerie light, Leuk San’s sallow complexion seemed even more sinister, but he seriously took on the task of leading the way.

Because only he had a high probability of surviving if he encountered an attack from the ghost first.

The others had no objections, and quickly stabilized their formation, with someone leading the way, another covering the rear, and a third on standby for emergencies.

All of them were highly strung.

Leuk San ascended the stairs with steady steps, free from any panic or excessive nervousness.

Indeed, his psychological quality was very high.

The brief climb was uneventful, and Leuk San reached the hallway on the second floor, where he saw two rooms.

The rooms had old wooden doors, which couldn’t close properly and were left ajar.

But at the doorways, Leuk San noticed many footprints.

The footprints were haphazard, marked with some gray-white ash, as if brought in from the outside.

"Could the ghost inside have gone outside?" Leuk San’s expression changed.

Outside was The World of Ghost Drawing. According to previous speculation, the ghosts in the Ghost Coffin were trapped in these dark houses and couldn’t leave. But these scattered footprints suggested that something had indeed gone out and had even picked up the ash from outside.

Although Leuk San was filled with doubts, he didn’t stop. Instead, he approached the room with the messy footsteps.

If the ghost wasn’t powerful, they could incarcerate it immediately.

And if the incarceration failed, they’d just retreat to the street.

The ghost couldn’t possibly follow them out.

However, when he cautiously pushed open the door, what he found made his eyes suddenly shrink, and his heart clenched fiercely.

A figure, identical in appearance to him, with a battered body as though deceased, stood at the doorway, staring out with lifeless, ashy eyes, emitting an extraordinary terror.

Yet when Leuk San looked closely, he couldn’t help but step back several paces.

This replica of him wasn’t a corpse, nor a human, but a lifelike paper effigy.

Not just the one at the doorway, but within were scattered heaps of ragged paper effigies. Though damaged, Leuk San recognized that each one resembled him, and he was certain that he had crafted these effigies himself.

Messy ash-laden footprints at the entrance, and inside, paper effigies tattered and torn as if long since dead.

In an instant, a terrifying thought crossed Leuk San’s mind: "I’ve been here before, and not just once."