"Xiao Zhao!" Wu Dahai shouted, but there was no response in the darkness.

  "Manager Wu... maybe we should call the police," someone suggested.

  Wu Dahai's face darkened. He walked over to Wang Ziteng with a fshlight to ask for instructions.

  "Young Master Wang, what do you think?"

  At that moment, Wang Ziteng’s expression was eerily strange. His earlier anger had completely vanished, repced instead by an unprecedented mix of fear, unease, agitation, and even a trace of manic excitement.

  He seemed to be afraid of something—yet also anticipating it.

  Fang Xiu noticed Wang Ziteng’s odd demeanor and immediately grew suspicious.

  *He definitely knows something!*

  "Young Master Wang?" Wu Dahai called again.

  Wang Ziteng snapped out of his daze. "What did you just say?"

  "Young Master Wang, I was asking if we should call the police. That scream earlier sounded wrong—I’m worried something might have happened."

  "Oh, right, right. Call the police, now!" Wang Ziteng seemed to remember something and hastily dialed his phone.

  But after a series of busy tones, the call failed to connect.

  Other employees began exciming in arm:

  "I can’t get through either!"

  "Mine too."

  "How is that possible? You don’t even need a SIM card to call emergency services, but now it won’t connect?"

  "My phone has no signal at all!"

  Panic spread rapidly among the group.

  One employee, who often browsed paranormal forums, trembled as he muttered, "Are we... dealing with a ghost?"

  The crowd erupted into nervous chatter, the situation quickly descending into chaos.

  Wang Ziteng’s expression flickered between emotions. The ck of signal seemed to confirm something for him. Suddenly, he roared:

  "Shut up, all of you!"

  His authority instantly silenced the room.

  Every pair of eyes locked onto him.

  In the dim glow of phone screens, half of Wang Ziteng’s face was cast in shadow, his strange expression making him look almost sinister.

  He swallowed hard, forcing himself to stay calm. "Listen carefully—what I’m about to say is crucial. It could mean the difference between life and death for all of us!"

  The words *life and death* nded like a hammer blow, weighing heavily on everyone’s hearts.

  Beside him, Li Feifei trembled. "Young Master Wang, what are you talking about? What do you mean ‘life and death’? You’re scaring—"

  "Shut your mouth!" Wang Ziteng barked, turning her pale with fright.

  He took a deep breath, his voice shaking slightly. "If I’m not mistaken... we’ve most likely entered a Ghost Domain."

  "Y-Young Master Wang... what’s a Ghost Domain?"

  "Didn’t I tell you not to interrupt?! There’s no time to expin! Just listen and do as I say! Understood?!"

  His furious roar cowed them into silence again.

  "Given my status, I’ve been exposed to things ordinary people can’t even imagine. The hidden truths of this world are beyond your comprehension.

  "To put it simply—ghosts exist. And a Ghost Domain is a ghost’s territory. Think of it as an alternate dimension, a world ruled by ghosts.

  "Right now, our only goal is to escape this damned Ghost Domain. Otherwise, every single one of us will die here!"

  His words sent chills down everyone’s spines.

  *Ghosts?!*

  Most of them thought Wang Ziteng was joking—but the sheer terror on his face suggested otherwise.

  "Young Master Wang... you’re kidding, right? Ghosts don’t exist..."

  "God damn it! Didn’t I say not to interrupt?! You useless idiots—if I weren’t just an ordinary person, if I were a Spirit Wielder, do you think I’d waste my time expining this to you?!"

  Wang Ziteng’s voice grew increasingly frantic, as though a bde were pressed to his throat.

  "Whether you believe me or not, listen closely. We *are* in a Ghost Domain. The ck of signal, the dimmed lights—it’s all proof.

  "Remember this: the only ones who can fight ghosts are Spirit Wielders—people who’ve mastered their own spiritual power. My cousin is one, and everything I know comes from him.

  "For ordinary people like us, the only way to survive is to figure out the ghost’s killing pattern and avoid triggering it.

  "So from this moment on, everyone follows my orders. No one acts alone—if you need to piss, you do it right where you stand!"

  His words were met with skepticism. After all, this defied decades of ingrained rationality. Without seeing a ghost firsthand, most people clung to denial.

  Perhaps the only one who fully believed Wang Ziteng was Fang Xiu.

  Because his *wife* was a ghost.

  Still, Fang Xiu was puzzled. Wang Ziteng clearly knew about ghosts, but unlike him, he didn’t seem to see the countless spirits roaming the streets.

  If he could, he wouldn’t be this panicked.

  Though, for an ordinary person, Wang Ziteng was holding up retively well—but not well enough to survive in a world teeming with ghosts.

  But none of that mattered right now.

  What mattered was *Spirit Wielders*.

  When Fang Xiu heard that only Spirit Wielders could fight ghosts, the fmes of hatred in his heart roared to life.

  Perhaps Spirit Wielders could see the ghosts infesting the world—and wield the power to destroy them.

  "Young Master Wang... what should we do now? Should we run?" Wu Dahai stammered.

  "No!" Wang Ziteng shouted, as if struck by a sudden terror. "Everyone stays right where you are! Running blindly in a Ghost Domain is suicide!

  "My cousin told me—never move recklessly in a Ghost Domain. Don’t touch things, don’t look around. Avoid triggering the ghost’s rules at all costs."

  "Then... what do we do?"

  "Observe! Everyone, look around carefully. See if you notice anything unusual. The ghost hasn’t attacked yet, which means we haven’t broken its killing pattern."

  Following Wang Ziteng’s orders, the group scanned their surroundings.

  Three minutes passed.

  Nothing happened.

  No danger, no discoveries.

  The ck of activity made people restless. Doubts about Wang Ziteng’s words grew.

  Whispers spread. Some suggested it might just be a magnetic anomaly or some unexpined scientific phenomenon causing the darkness, lost signals, and power outage.

  As for the two missing colleagues? Maybe they’d been electrocuted when the power came back on.

  "Let’s just go outside and check. I really need to use the bathroom."

  "Yeah, ghosts aren’t real..."

  The murmurs grated on Wang Ziteng’s nerves.

  He cursed inwardly but knew he had to keep them under control.

  Because he was just an ordinary person too.

  His cousin, the Spirit Wielder, had once told him: *The best way to learn a ghost’s killing pattern is to throw lives at it.*

  That was why he’d revealed the truth—to unite the group under his command. Only then could he use them to test the ghost’s rules and ensure his own survival.

  "Everyone, quiet down. I said no one moves. If you need to go, just—"

  Before he could finish, a calm voice cut through the noise.

  "The ghost is here."

  The words carried an unsettling weight—or perhaps it was the sheer certainty behind them.

  The room fell dead silent.