"Is the source here?"
Chen Xuan murmured softly as he looked at the four characters carved on the stone pillar.
Under the heavy downpour, the gate of Dayu Villa was wide open, but not a single figure could be seen.
Chen Xuan hesitated briefly before stepping inside the villa community.
However, the moment his foot crossed the threshold, he suddenly felt the ground sink beneath him.
With a splash, it was as if he had instantly plunged into water, a suffocating sensation quickly rising.
"Hm?"
Chen Xuan furrowed his brow and instinctively activated the power of his Ghost windbreaker, but to his surprise, it had no effect.
"This isn't an illusion or a curse—it's real?"
Ghost windbreaker could resist the intrusion of Malevolent Ghosts and even curses, but it was powerless against physical reality.
Based on this, Chen Xuan realized he must truly be underwater.
But how could this be, having just stepped into the gate?
"Is this the power of the Ghost Domain?"
Chen Xuan considered the possibility that only the Ghost Domain's power could distort or overlap spaces.
Anyone who stepped into the gate wasn't really entering the villa but rather falling into an artificial lake known for suicides.
He glanced back and saw Chen Ruoqing, Cao Feng, and Zhong Qing struggling underwater, bubbles escaping their mouths.
"Hmph!"
Chen Xuan gave a cold snort, forcibly calming their panic-stricken minds.
Then, he said calmly, "Get out of here."
His voice carried the power of the ghost mask, imbued with a strange force that compelled them to obey.
At the same time, Chen Xuan felt a faint drain on his vitality after speaking.
Only then did he understand the system's warning about using the ghost mask cautiously—it consumed life energy.
"I wonder if the consumption will change once the Malevolent Ghost puzzle is completed."
If using this ability cost life every time, Chen Xuan thought he wouldn't be able to use it often.
Splash!
Zhong Qing suddenly burst out of the water and found himself standing just outside the villa gate.
From inside, two hands suddenly emerged from the ground like corpses crawling from graves.
Quickly, he grabbed Chen Ruoqing and Cao Feng and pulled them out.
The three gasped for breath outside, staring at the rain-soaked Dayu Villa with lingering dread.
"Captain, just now… that was…"
Cao Feng spat out some foul-smelling lake water, panic clear on his face.
"Overlapping space!"
Zhong Qing frowned deeply.
"Who would've thought the rain ghost had mastered the Ghost Domain to such a degree—able to superimpose real water and reality itself?
What looks like stepping into the villa gate is actually stepping into the water."
"Water? I know this villa has a massive artificial lake."
Chen Ruoqing realized, "Could that source ghost be there?"
"Almost certainly."
Zhong Qing nodded and recalled the suicide reports from Tianhai City.
"Maybe 'rain ghost' isn't the right term—it should be called a drowning ghost."
He had thought those reports only concerned a general D-Tier Paranormal Incident, since few had initially died.
But who could have guessed it would escalate to an A-Tier Paranormal Incident within days?
"What do we do? The senior hasn't come out yet—is he alright?"
Chen Ruoqing asked worriedly.
"Should be fine."
Zhong Qing shook his head.
"He just used his Malevolent Ghost power to make us leave—otherwise, we would've drowned."
…
While they talked, Chen Xuan stood at the bottom of the artificial lake.
The lake was vast, at least a hundred meters in diameter, and seemed even larger under the Ghost Domain's influence.
Fortunately, with the ghost mask, he could breathe underwater effortlessly, and his vision was unhindered.
Opening his eyes, he scanned the murky yellow water, seeking the hidden Malevolent Ghost.
Besides the heavy stench of corpses, a strong corrosive aura lingered.
Chen Xuan even heard a sizzling burning sound around his Ghost windbreaker.
"This is… Corpse Water?"
Chen Xuan frowned.
Clearly, the lake water had been soaked with the Malevolent Ghost's power and turned into deadly Corpse Water.
Had he not suppressed the Malevolent Ghost's power just now, Cao Feng and the others wouldn't have lasted long against the corrosion.
This drowning ghost's methods were terrifying.
Before Chen Xuan could react further, his pupils contracted sharply.
In the distance at the lake bottom, vague human-shaped shadows approached him.
Taking a few steps closer, Chen Xuan realized these were corpses—some male, some female, old and young alike—all swollen and rotten from soaking.
Their eyes bulged, bodies decayed, yet they slowly advanced toward him.
The scene was eerie, terrifying, even bone-chilling.
Countless corpses crowded the lakebed, raising their stiff, hollow, and even empty eye sockets to stare at Chen Xuan as they closed in.
"No wonder there were no bodies in the rain curtain—they all died here."
Chen Xuan raised an eyebrow and took out the Ghost Doll from inside his Ghost Top Hat.
Facing a Malevolent Ghost who could manipulate both the Ghost Domain and Ghost Servants, he was unwilling to hold back.
Click-clack-click!
The doll's head turned mechanically, and her lifelike eyes began to spin, releasing an invisible suppressive force wherever her gaze fell.
Clap-clap-clap!
All the corpses caught by her gaze collapsed uncontrollably, as if thoroughly suppressed.
Chen Xuan nodded slightly.
At this rate, he could suppress the Ghost Servants one by one and locate the hidden Malevolent Ghost.
Holding the doll's hand, he began advancing toward the Ghost Servants.
But unexpectedly, after just a few steps, something startling happened.
The previously suppressed Ghost Servants rose again once out of the doll's sight.
Swish, swish, swish!
A host of pale, rotten, foul-smelling figures circled around Chen Xuan, completely surrounding him.
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]