Chapter 95:
"I'll go in first to scout the way."
Jack said as he took a deep breath and slipped inside.
The moment he crossed the threshold, all sounds around him disappeared.
It was as if he had entered another space. Outside the door was one world; inside the door was another.
His teammates' breathing, the static of the detector, even his own heartbeat — he could hear none of it.
He quickly grabbed his phone, then froze in terror as he realized the screen had gone dark at some point. No matter how hard he pressed the buttons, there was no response.
Jack stopped moving. A bone-chilling cold washed over him.
This was a fear he had never experienced before.
"Hello? Anyone there?"
He called out tentatively, but his voice echoed in the room with no one answering.
Jack trembled as he tried to turn around.
At that moment, an ice-cold hand suddenly landed on the back of his neck.
Jack's hair stood on end. He turned his head mechanically.
In the faint moonlight coming through the window, he saw a deathly pale face right in front of him.
It was a woman in a red wedding dress. Under her disheveled long hair, a pair of pupil-less eyes stared straight at him.
The corners of her mouth slowly split open, stretching all the way to her ears, revealing a mouth full of fine, sharp teeth.
"Welcome to my wedding."
The evil spirit's voice sounded like it came from hell, carrying a bone-chilling echo.
Jack wanted to scream, but he found his throat gripped by an invisible hand — not a single sound could escape.
He watched in despair as those pale hands reached toward his face. The fingernails suddenly lengthened, glinting coldly in the moonlight.
Jack was completely hopeless. He knew he was going to die!
Outside the door
Lily suddenly shivered. She looked at her teammates.
"Jack has been inside for so long — why isn't there any movement?"
Yang Jian looked meaningfully at the half-open wooden door.
Why no movement? He ran into the owner of the church, that's why.
At that moment, the wooden door suddenly slammed shut with a heavy bang, startling everyone.
Tom stepped forward and pushed the door hard, but it wouldn't budge.
"Something's wrong!"
Mike's voice cracked. "The detector has completely stopped working!"
Amy trembled as she raised the fill light toward the wall. Several bloody handprints suddenly appeared on the wall, as if something was trying to crawl out from inside!
Tears welled up in Amy's eyes. Her voice shook.
"There's no signal on the phone. What do we do?"
Mike patted her shoulder, forcing himself to stay calm: "Don't panic. Jack might just have lost signal!"
Tom spat fiercely, his face dark: "Fuck!"
He yanked open his backpack, pulled out a modified shotgun, and fired at the wooden door.
Bang!
Wood chips flew everywhere. A large hole exploded in the door.
"If something happened to Jack, I'll blow this damn place apart!"
Tom roared and fired two more shots, completely blasting the entire door apart.
He kicked away the broken door panels and turned back to glare at the others.
"What are you waiting for? Go in and find him!"
The rest of the group exchanged glances and reluctantly followed.
Their figures were quickly swallowed by the darkness inside the door. Their footsteps also disappeared rapidly, as if devoured by something.
Lily stood frozen in place, fingers clutching the hem of her clothes tightly. Her face was deathly pale.
She turned to look at Yang Jian, as if he were her savior. Her voice still trembled.
"What do we do now?"
Yang Jian shrugged, his tone relaxed: "What else can we do? Go in and take a look."
Lily's eyes widened.
Go in and take a look?! Shouldn't they turn around and run right now?!
But she didn't dare say it out loud. She just stood there stiffly, her throat tight.
Yang Jian tilted his head to look at her: "What? You don't want to go find your teammates anymore?"
Lily swallowed hard, looked at the pitch-black doorway, then at Yang Jian's smiling face, and finally nodded with difficulty.
"You're pretty good."
Yang Jian put his hands in his pockets and strode toward the door, as if he were just going to the supermarket.
Lily took a deep breath and trotted after him.
The moment she crossed the threshold—
Slap!
The broken door behind them suddenly slammed shut on its own, completely sealing off their escape.
Darkness completely enveloped them.
The moment Yang Jian and Lily entered, the scene around them changed dramatically.
Yang Jian looked around with curiosity.
This evil spirit was quite interesting — it could actually create a special space.
His super perception immediately confirmed that this was already an alternate dimension independent of the real world.
Lily stayed close behind Yang Jian. The flashlight's beam was extremely weak in the thick darkness, illuminating only less than a meter ahead.
She looked around and saw that this was an empty room. The only exit was a mottled wooden door.
"Where should we look for them?" Lily asked nervously.
"No need to look," Yang Jian said with a light laugh.
"They won't be coming back anymore."
Lily froze on the spot, her face deathly pale: "You mean they're all dead?"
Yang Jian pointed at his own eyes: "Just look with your eyes and you'll know."
With that, he walked straight toward the wooden door.
"Wait!"
Lily hurriedly followed. "Will this door even open?"
"No need to bother with that."
Red light flashed in Yang Jian's eyes. Two beams of heat vision instantly vaporized the wooden door.
Lily stared at the scene in shock, stammering:
"You… you're a superpowered person? Or an exorcist?"
"No, I'm Superman." Yang Jian said as he stepped forward.
Lily tilted her head in confusion: "Superman?"
But she still quickly followed. After passing through the door, she accidentally bumped into Yang Jian, who had suddenly stopped.
"What's wrong?" Lily asked, rubbing her nose.
"The boss has appeared," Yang Jian motioned for her to look ahead.
"Want to see?"
Lily looked up and was instantly struck as if by lightning.
Before them was a bizarre hall, densely packed with people.
They all had expressionless faces and deathly pale skin.
On the raised platform, a bride and groom held hands.
The bride wore a blood-red wedding dress, and the groom was Jack! But like the others, his face was deathly white and lifeless.
"Ah!"
Lily's scream was especially piercing in the silent hall.
The next second, everyone turned their heads in unison with eerily synchronized movements.
Lily's legs went weak and she collapsed to the floor.
"Oh God!"
Lily saw Tom, Mike, and Amy sitting in the front row. They all wore the exact same eerie smile, their skin an unnatural bluish-gray.
The bride on the platform slowly turned around. Her blood-red wedding dress fluttered without wind.
"Wel… come…"
Her voice sounded like it came from underwater. Under the veil, a twisted face could be vaguely seen.
Beside her, Jack stood stiffly in his groom's suit, his neck tilted at an impossible angle.
Lily's breathing nearly stopped. She looked at Yang Jian.
"They…?"
"Yeah, they've been assimilated."
Yang Jian observed the surroundings with interest. This evil spirit's aesthetic was indeed quite special.
At that moment, triggered by Lily's scream, the bride suddenly let out a piercing, shrill laugh. The entire hall began to twist and distort.
Full story (Chapter 216) is already complete and
available on Patreon: patreon.com/arthursink
