"Are you willing to believe now?"
"...Mm. Witnessing such a shocking sight with my own eyes, even if I didn't want to believe it, I'd have to admit it."
An Zhizhen pulled the curtains shut, blocking the vast darkness outside, and returned to sit by the coffee table.
"The entire city disappeared, it was quite a scene."
She sighed and took a sip of coffee to calm herself.
"To be precise, it was us who disappeared, not the city. The ghost house doesn't yet have power on this scale," Cen Dongsheng said.
A phenomenon like the "ghost house transformation" that could cover an entire city would indicate the emergence of a ghost king, something impossible in this era.
"But now, Sister Zhi Zhen, you should understand that no one from the outside can help us, and modern technology can't break through the barriers of the two worlds. In the eyes of the world, we're just a group of unfortunate souls who vanished without a trace."
"Then... what should we do?"
"We can only rely on ourselves to escape from the inside."
In his future world, within a city of a major region with stable order, any occurrence of ghost house transformation would be detected immediately, and the situation would be controlled in a short time. Control agencies would assemble a professional team of curse forbidden masters, sending them into the ghost house to eliminate the core and rescue survivors...
This was the job of his Exorcism Department.
But in today's world, lacking a sound alarm mechanism and exorcism process, those who are caught in it can only rely on luck.
It was a brutal test with an extremely low survival rate, yet for those naturally gifted, it was an opportunity; a certain unfortunate ghost encounter could transform an ordinary person into a curse forbidden master, ascending from there... In the first two years of the initial wave that swept the world, similar examples were countless.
"Dongsheng, do you have a way to escape?"
An Zhizhen blinked.
"Yes, I do."
For him, this process was all too familiar.
"Then... can I go with you?"
"Of course." He finally allowed a slight smile. "I came to rescue you."
...
Before taking action, Cen Dongsheng glanced at the clock on the wall and said to An Zhizhen:
"Let's rest a bit first, don't rush. To escape, it's necessary to conserve energy and rest well."
"...What about you?"
"I'm used to it, and as a forbidden master, I have my own way of resting." He waved his hand casually, "No need to worry."
Seeing his expression didn't seem deceptive, An Zhizhen nodded, getting up to return to the bedroom.
"Then I'll go to sleep."
Before closing the door, Sister Zhi Zhen turned back, showing only a small part of her face in the doorway, her tone gentle:
"Thank you so much for today... Goodnight, Dongsheng."
"Mm, goodnight."
*
Four hours remained until morning.
Being in the ghost house meant that even if the "next day" came, it likely wouldn't be daylight. But precisely because of this, regular rest was essential, as a disrupted biological clock might affect combat readiness.
Cen Dongsheng sat cross-legged on the sofa, replenishing his energy through meditation while contemplating the next steps.
He needed to take An Zhizhen and leave this place together.
His abilities hadn't matured yet, and he couldn't rely on the hope of someone awakening life prohibition at a critical moment; he could only depend on himself.
From his experience, the usual process to exorcise a ghost house revolved around finding the core, which often appeared with the most powerful ghost.
Like a game dungeon, defeating the boss earned rewards (the core), clearing the dungeon, though a real ghost house would remain for a while before dissolving naturally, the time depending on its strength.
The problem was he wasn't sure of the opponent's level.
"If it's a Class A ghost with 'space manipulation' abilities, it could indeed be challenging. The ghost house is their natural domain, hence the term 'house owner.'"
In theory, a mature Class A curse forbidden master with abilities leaning towards combat had a chance to independently eliminate a Class A ghost, but Cen Dongsheng's problem was that his time was too short.
He had obtained the "Tiger Demon Cloak" only a week ago, and hadn't yet awakened the "First Level Superpower," relying only on his strong Human Immortal Series physique and the abundant True Qi from high-level curse prohibitions. What he could achieve was uncertain.
"After all, how did this 'ghost house transformation' come to be?"
For Cen Dongsheng, this development was certainly unexpected.
A ghost house transformation didn't occur without reason, usually due to the accumulation of natural yin energy in an area, leading to a powerful ghost's appearance; or the presence of certain curse prohibitions or forbidden items creating a magnetic field that attracted large amounts of yin energy.
"A quantitative change leads to a qualitative change," a Yin Gathering Land would drag reality into another world.
But almost two months had passed since he moved into the Xiaokang Building, and Cen Dongsheng wasn't an ordinary person. During this time, if either situation existed, he felt he would've noticed something.
"The possibility of a natural Yin Gathering Land can be ruled out, leaving only... Could an unowned forbidden item have recently entered Xiaokang Building?"
Cen Dongsheng thought for a moment but found no answer, having to set the matter aside temporarily.
...
The night passed without incident.
"Ring ring ring!"
In the morning, the set alarm clock went off. A hurried "thud" sound came from the bedroom direction, urged by the sharp, piercing noise.