Forbidden Zone of Deception

Chapter 149 Instantaneous Killing Intent

In the dark corridor, Eun-young's body began to twist and deform, and she lunged forward, her rotting fingers reaching for Jung-won's throat.

"boom!"

Gunshots ripped through the darkness.

A bullet came from the end of the corridor and pierced Eun-young's forehead with precision!

The Soul-Eating Bullet exploded on her rotting skull, but it only paused Eun-young's movements for a moment, and the wound healed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Jiang Jin's figure emerged from the darkness, the mournful hunting rifle in his hand emitting blue smoke.

Without pausing, he continuously pulled the trigger, unleashing a barrage of Soul-Devouring Bullets. Each bullet struck Eun-young's vital points precisely, but only slightly hindered her movements.

"Run! Now!" Jiang Jin roared.

Zheng Yuan finally snapped out of his shock, staggered to his feet, and ran towards Jiang Jin with his body low to the ground to avoid being accidentally shot.

He turned around and saw Eun-young grinning maliciously. Suddenly, she grabbed the person wearing a rabbit mask next to her and then swept that figure away into the darkness.

The corridor fell silent again, with only Zheng Yuan's heavy breathing remaining.

"You—" Zheng Yuan stared at Jiang Jin's face and asked, "Who are you?"

"My name is Jiang Jin."

"Jiang Jin?" Zheng Yuan's voice trembled. "Didn't you leave?"

Without a doubt, Jiang Jin now understands.

The person who made that call to Mi-ja must have been Eun-young.

She is the most ferocious and vengeful ghost in this terrifying dungeon!
At this moment, Liu Yan walked over quickly, holding the birthday invitation in her hand. Her expression was solemn, and her gaze swept between the two people before finally landing on the invitation.

“I have a theory.” She unfolded the invitation, her fingertip pointing to the seven rules.

Zheng Yuan leaned closer to look, and the rules written in delicate handwriting now seemed particularly eerie:
First, no matter how busy you are, you must attend the birthday party once you receive an invitation. No excuses will be accepted for missing the event. The latest arrival time must be no later than 12 noon on the day of the event.

Second, no one is allowed to enter the teacher's basement on their birthday.

Third, if you see someone wearing a rabbit mask, please do not contact them and inform Teacher Park immediately.

Fourth, everyone must finish the cake they are allocated.

Fifth, everyone must participate in blowing out the candles and singing the birthday song.

Sixth, if Teacher Park closes her eyes to make a wish, you must immediately cover your ears to make sure you don't hear her wish.

Seventh, when cutting the cake, a piece must be left for Teacher Park's son and kept on the table without being moved.

"Of these seven rules, the fourth and seventh are the most crucial." Liu Yan's voice was soft, but carried an undeniable certainty. "I was thinking that at a past birthday party, Yingmin once ate a piece of cake, but only a small portion."

Jiang Jin immediately understood what was going on.

"You mean..."

She raised her head, her gaze sharp: "If Teacher Park established these seven rules to protect the students, and if Young-min has been protecting every student from falling into the Annihilation Layer, then perhaps if we can get Young-min to eat that cake whole, we can break this curse."

Zhengyuan's throat tightened, and he said, "What are you talking about? I don't understand at all. What were you talking about again? And what will it change if Yingmin eats the cake?"

"In the past, before Yingmin ate any cake, he was always desperately protecting you. The fact that he only ate a small bite proves that he was being hindered by some force..."

Jiang Jin nodded and said, "Anything the enemy tries to stop us from doing, we must find a way to achieve!"

Liu Yan's fingertips unconsciously traced the edge of the invitation: "We need to take Yingmin to the courtyard and make him eat that cake. I'm afraid Eun-young's ghost has been preventing him from eating it."

Zheng Yuan asked, "Wait a minute, who exactly are you people?"

Suddenly, eerie footsteps echoed down the corridor. All three tensed up, and Jiang Jin cocked his shotgun once more.

“There’s no time,” Jiang Jin said in a low voice. “We must go and support Yingmin first.”

Jiang Jin knew that the reason the female ghost had temporarily retreated was not because of Jiang Jin's gun, but because she could not fight Ying Min while dealing with Jiang Jin and the others.

The ghosts of Eun-young and Young-min have been battling in this house for three years!

The eerie footsteps grew closer, each step feeling like a blow to everyone's hearts.

Jiang Jin's shotgun was steadily pointed in the direction of the sound, while Liu Yan's Gu worms were poised to strike from her sleeve.

“Yingmin is holding off Enying,” Liu Yan told Jiang Jin in a low voice through the vision transmitted by the Gu worm, “but he can’t hold out for long.”

Jiang Jin's hunter's vision was fixed on the end of the corridor, where two intertwined shadows could be vaguely seen—Yingmin, wearing a rabbit mask, was being tightly bound by Eunyoung's arms, and the mask was already cracked.

"Let's split up," Liu Yan decided immediately. "Jiang Jin and I will go help Yingmin. Sister Yinqiu, you find a way to protect Zhengyuan!"

Xu Yinqiu's red thread quickly wrapped around Zheng Yuan's wrist: "Stay close to me."

Three years ago, just as Minghao had predicted, Eun-young impulsively killed her teacher's son, Young-min, on the beach.

After her death, Young-min killed Eun-young. But Eun-young, after her death, pretended to still be alive.

The two spirits were trapped in the house and fought each other.

Jiang Jin adjusted the angle of his gun barrel as he followed the moving shadow in the hunter's vision, slowly getting closer.

Suddenly, a tearing sound came from ahead—

Then, he instantly saw two figures!
Young-min's rabbit mask was forcibly ripped off by Eun-young, revealing her deformed and terrifying face. Young-min's spirit had become transparent, clearly putting her at a disadvantage.

"Now!" Jiang Jin picked up Han Wei's gun and pulled the trigger!
The Dark Eye bullet was fired!

The bullet tore through the air and struck Eun-young precisely between the eyebrows once again! The moment the bullet exploded, countless gray-white ashes of resentment gushed out from the wound—this was the anti-spirit ammunition formed from Han Wei's ghost hunter pupils, capable of temporarily dissolving resentment.

Even Jiang Jin's left eye received a system notification, indicating that he was beginning to attempt to generate resentment shards.

Eun-young's head snapped back, and blood gushed out. But the next second, she opened her mouth and sucked back the spurted ash, and her wound healed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The bullet pierced his forehead, leaving only a rapidly closing blood hole.

Even the Ghost Eye Bullet was ineffective!

“Even the Ghost Eye bullets…” Jiang Jin’s fingers unconsciously tightened on the trigger, his knuckles turning white.

Liu Yan's Gu worms wriggled restlessly on her sleeve, sensing the strange changes taking place in the resentment within En Ying's body.

Suddenly, Eun-young and Young-min's figures twisted simultaneously and then disappeared completely into the darkness of the corridor.

The corridor fell silent again, with only the heavy breathing of a few people remaining.

"Disappeared?" Zheng Yuan's voice trembled as he held the flashlight Xu Yinqiu had given him, the beam sweeping back and forth across the empty corridor.

Jiang Jin's left eye system indicated that the generation of resentment shards had failed.

He took Han Wei's lantern from the Reincarnator's Watch.

The moment the lanterns were lit again, the eerie green light they emitted illuminated the walls—the walls of the once endless corridors were now covered with countless tiny bloody handprints, forming a path leading to the back door.

"Follow the handprints," Jiang Jin said hoarsely. "These might be the mark Yingmin left for us!"

Guided by the lanterns, they finally pushed open the gate and entered the courtyard.

On the dining table in the center of the courtyard, the cake reserved for Yingmin looked particularly eerie in the moonlight—

The cream had melted and deformed, and was almost soaked with blood.

"Cover me!" Jiang Jin slung his shotgun behind his back, drew his boning knife, and rushed toward the dining table.

"Watch out!" Liu Yan shouted.

Liu Yan's Gu worms promptly formed a shield wall, creating [Insect Armor Protection], to protect Jiang Jin.

However, the insect corpses fell like black rain.

Then, Liu Yan heard a soft "tap" sound from above her head—it sounded like something had dripped onto her shoulder.

She looked up slowly.

Under the eaves, Eun-young lay there like a gecko, limbs outstretched, her neck twisted 180 degrees, staring straight at her. Her black hair hung down, the ends dripping with corpse fluid.

Just as Eun-young's lips curled into a smile, Jiang Jin's boning knife was already flying through the air.

The blade did not sever the physical entity—Eun-young's figure flickered like a faulty signal and disappeared from the spot.

The instant the blade missed its target, Jiang Jin's pupils contracted sharply. A more primal sense of fear froze him in place—

It's so quiet.

The rustling sound of the insect corpses hitting the ground, the dripping sound of blood, even the sound of one's own breathing disappeared. The entire space seemed to have been muted.

Liu Yan's Gu worm corpses were scattered all over the ground. Those worm corpses, which should have slowly turned to ashes, were now strangely frozen in the posture of the moment of death.

A gray nematode, severed in half at the waist, was still twitching slightly at the waist.

Jiang Jin suddenly caught a slight movement at the edge of his field of vision.

There were also a lot of bloody handprints on the dining table!

Jiang Jin's hunter vision began to automatically focus.

Then, he was shocked to discover...

There was an extra hand on Liu Yan's shoulder.

Pale, swollen, and there was even chalk dust stuck in the crevices of her fingernails!
The hand was moving slowly, down to the millimeter, and the index finger was already on Liu Yan's carotid artery.

Liu Yan herself was completely unaware; her pupils dilated, and a slight smile even appeared on her lips, as if she were caught in some beautiful illusion.

Jiang Jin's boning knife trembled.

If he were to swing his knife at this moment, he might sever Eun-young's ghostly hand—or perhaps Yoo Yeon's neck.

At that very moment, he heard a soft "click".

It was the sound of Liu Yan's Gu worm box popping open automatically.

The worms inside the box quickly crawled out and pounced on the ghostly hand!

The next moment, Liu Yan regained consciousness!

Something cold was touching the back of her neck!

She slowly turned her head and was surprised to see...

Eun-young's face peeked out from behind her shoulder, her nose almost touching her cheek!
Jiang Jin's roar and the gunshot rang out simultaneously. The bullet pierced through Eun-young's afterimage and exploded into a spray of blood on the wall.

Eun-young disappeared again, leaving only a wisp of black hair wrapped around Liu Yan's neck.

　Sorry for the late post; this is the third update on July 4th.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)