Forbidden Zone of Deception

Chapter 253 Vacuum Cleaner

Ashes fell silently, more and more, denser and denser!

In front of the beam of the flashlight, a blurry humanoid figure made of ash and without facial features stood silently, exuding a chilling stillness and malice!

Jiang Jin's heart sank suddenly, almost leaping out of his chest.

Ash Doll!

This thing is not something a reincarnator of his level should encounter head-on!
He had seen this thing before in the "Meme Contamination Compendium (Internal Manual)". According to the record, this thing usually only appears in heavily contaminated layers such as the depths of the Lost Layer. It is itself a highly condensed source of meme contamination that can directly erode SAN value. Physical attacks have no effect on it; only specific spiritual attacks or rule-based abilities can effectively deal with it. Usually, a team of Reincarnators of LV3 or above with corresponding counter-abilities is needed to attempt to "cleanse" it!
"Damn it!" Jiang Jin cursed under his breath. He reacted quickly, immediately picking up the walkie-talkie, switching channels, and began to growl: "Headquarters! Headquarters! Twelfth Patrol Team calling! An 'ash humanoid' has appeared in the core area of ​​the abandoned farmers' market on Jinchang Road, Tiexi District! Repeat, an ash humanoid has appeared! Requesting support from sanitation workers! Requesting support from all available patrol teams nearby!"

After delivering the report, he immediately tried to use the "soul imprint" deep within his soul to contact Lin Zhi, who possessed spatial abilities and might be the fastest to arrive.

[Lin Zhi! Emergency! Ash Humanoid at the Tiexi District Farmers Market! Come quickly!]

However, all that came from the other end of the soul imprint was deathly silence, like a stone thrown into the deep sea, without any echo.

"Damn it!" Jiang Jin's heart sank completely.

The only explanation for not being able to contact Lin Zhi is that he's currently in a terrifying dungeon! We can't count on him!
Why at this time?
Are we just supposed to wait for a Level 3 Reincarnator or a cleaner who is nowhere to be found and will take a long time to arrive to come and rescue us?
By the time they arrive, Shi Boxuan and I will probably have already reached zero SAN value and become corpses!
We can't sit still and wait for death!

A fierce glint flashed in Jiang Jin's eyes. Without hesitation, he took out the Mourning Shotgun from his Reincarnator Watch, aimed it at the ash humanoid figure twenty meters away, and pulled the trigger sharply!
"boom!"

The bullet, accompanied by phosphorescent light, was fired and hit the target precisely!

However, the bullet pierced straight through the ash humanoid, as if it had hit a real cloud of ash. Apart from causing the ash to become slightly disordered and swayed, it had no effect whatsoever!

It still stood there quietly, its faceless "face" seemingly mocking his futility in silence.

Jiang Jin tried using both Soul-Devouring Bullets and Soul-Locking Bullets, but to no avail!
This reminded him of Yingmin, the rabbit-masked figure he encountered in the "Happy Birthday, Teacher" horror instance. Back then, no matter how many bullets he fired, it was all ineffective. However, at least Yingmin's body would be jolted back a few steps by the impact of the bullets, but with this ash humanoid figure, the bullets were completely ineffective!

The gunshot seemed to have alerted even more beings lurking in the darkness.

"Captain Jiang!" Shi Baixuan exclaimed in alarm, "Look at that!"

He swept the flashlight beam across a certain spot ahead, and saw that behind the collapsed shelves deep in the market, one after another ash-like humanoid figures, as if crawling out of hell, silently coalesced and appeared!

Their figures appeared and disappeared amidst the swirling ashes, slowly closing in on the two of them!

A dozen or so!
More than a dozen ashes-like humanoids appeared!

"Retreat! Retreat quickly!" Jiang Jin made a decisive decision and shouted at Shi Baixuan. At the same time, he quickly took out the meat chunks he had cut in advance, which could replenish his sanity, from his watch!
He stuffed one piece into his mouth and threw the other to Shi Baixuan.

"Eating this will replenish your sanity!"

As the SAN value briefly rebounded, the terrifying scene before them receded like a tide—the falling ashes disappeared, and the dozen or so ashe figures that had surrounded them vanished instantly.

The world seems to have returned to "normal" again, except for the dilapidated market.

Every time Jiang Jin returned to the material world, he felt an immense love for this world that strictly adhered to all physical laws.

"Hurry! This effect won't last long!" Jiang Jin grabbed the still somewhat dazed Shi Baixuan and turned to run towards the market exit!

However, as soon as they rushed out of the farmers market hall and onto the relatively open but still dimly lit street outside, despair descended once again!
The SAN value is continuing to decline rapidly! It has dropped to below 50%!

The cold, suffocating ashes reappeared out of nowhere, fluttering and swirling!
Even more terrifying, in the narrow alleys on both sides of the street in the direction they were trying to escape, one after another, ash-like humanoids materialized, completely blocking their way!
In all directions, no fewer than thirty ashen humanoid figures appeared! Like a silent army of the dead, they moved with stiff steps, closing in from all sides, ready to devour the two living beings completely!
"How could there be so many?! How could such a massive horde of ash-like humanoids possibly form so close to the city center?!" Jiang Jin felt a chill run down his spine, a cold sensation shooting from the soles of his feet to the top of his head!
This was completely beyond his understanding of the pollution level in this area!
Just then, the hum of an electric scooter came from afar. A young man dressed in a food delivery uniform rode his scooter, humming a song, oblivious to everyone around him, his headlights illuminating the road ahead.

Then, the delivery guy simply walked straight through the two ash figures blocking his way without any obstruction! The ash figures didn't react to him at all, and he was completely unaware of them, as if they existed in two parallel worlds!

This put Jiang Jin at ease slightly; it seemed that the material layer in this area was still relatively stable for the time being. People living in the material layer had normal SAN values ​​and could neither see nor come into contact with these memetic contamination products. Similarly, the ash humanoids in the contaminated layer could not directly affect ordinary people in the material layer.

Jiang Jin was now worse off than an ordinary food delivery worker!

With no way out, we have no choice but to fight to the death!
A resolute glint flashed in Jiang Jin's eyes. He abruptly retracted the Mourning Shotgun, and with a flick of his left hand, he retrieved the "Soul-Capturing Staff" given to him by Ye Xiu!
At the same time, he took out a ring with an antique design and an intricate eye pattern. This was a ring given to him as compensation by the Blood Lord, capable of withstanding one fatal memetic contamination! He then put the ring on his finger!

"Stay close to me!" Jiang Jin shouted to Shi Baixuan, taking the initiative to meet an approaching ash humanoid and swinging the Soul-Sealing Staff in his hand with all his might!

"Buzz!"

The moment the Soul-Capturing Staff struck the Ash Humanoid, the ash that made up its body exploded and most of it dissipated. Although new ash quickly gathered from the air in an attempt to reform, it was noticeably thinner!

efficient!

No wonder it's a weapon used by Ye Xiu, the most powerful Soul Stealer!

He dared not linger in the fight, frantically waving his Soul-Stealing Staff to repel the approaching ash-humanoid figures while struggling to break through in one direction.

Shi Baixuan also displayed astonishing combat skills; the short blade in his hand seemed to have some effect on Ash, consistently and accurately deflecting attacks from blind spots for Jiang Jin. However, this interference was too weak, only barely providing any support. If he were alone now, he would definitely be meeting his maker.

However, there were simply too many Ash Humanoids! They had no physical form, yet their attacks carried a chilling aura of death, capable of directly eroding the soul and lowering SAN values!
As the fourth ash doll was dispersed, an ash doll pounced out from the shadows on the side, and its ash-made hand suddenly grabbed Jiang Jin's left arm!

"Sizzle—!" A searing pain that went deep into the bone marrow came through!

Jiang Jin grunted and swung the Soul-Seizing Staff, scattering the ash-humanoid figure!

Then, he looked down and saw five charred scratches on his left forearm. The skin around the wounds quickly turned black, and the excruciating pain, worse than burns, made Jiang Jin scream in agony. Then, tiny ash began to drift out of the wounds!

Even more terrifying, as time went on, he discovered that his SAN value was continuously dropping at an alarming rate of 1% per minute!

"Captain!" Shi Baixuan exclaimed.

"It's alright! Let's go!" Jiang Jin gritted his teeth, enduring the excruciating pain, and continued swinging his bat to break through. He had to get out of here as soon as possible, otherwise the continuous drop in his SAN value alone would kill him! The deeper he went into the Lost Layer, the stronger the Ash Humanoid would become!
Just as they were fighting and retreating, almost being engulfed by the endless ash-like humanoids, Jiang Jin suddenly caught a glimpse of a partially demolished ruin next to him, with a dilapidated wooden door standing crookedly in the middle.

A thought flashed through his mind in an instant!
"Shi Baixuan! Turn your headphones up to the maximum volume! Plug your ears! Don't take them off!" Jiang Jin shouted at Shi Baixuan, while suddenly taking out a pure gold box from his Reincarnator watch!

Although Shi Baixuan didn't understand why, he carried out Jiang Jin's order without hesitation, immediately turning the volume of his noise-canceling headphones to the limit and covering his ears tightly.

Jiang Jin took a deep breath and quickly scanned his surroundings with his Ghost Eyes—aside from the delivery guy who had long since left, there was no sign of any living person nearby!

Okay! Now!

He suddenly opened the golden chest!
The moment the box was opened, an indescribable, suffocating sense of terror spread out as if it were a tangible thing!
Even the mindless ash humanoids around them seemed to freeze for a moment!
Immediately afterwards, an old man dressed in an old black shirt, covered in dark brown lividity, with withered skin like dead wood, and long, black fingernails, slowly and stiffly crawled out of the box!

The knocking ghost in the [Terror Resurgence] instance! Jiang Jin's biggest trump card, obtained by chance! It's also the double-edged sword he's least willing to use!
"Quick, go knock on the door!"

Jiang Jin still couldn't figure out what kind of ghost this was. Judging from the current situation, this ghost should at least be in the deep layer of the Lost Layer, but it can appear in the Material Layer. Even if the SAN value is normal, it can be observed, but the body itself is immortal!
Only in a bizarre dungeon like [Terror Resurgence] could such terrifying evil spirits appear!

At this moment, the old man, dressed in black and covered in lividity, landed and seemed somewhat bewildered as he turned his stiff neck. Then, his empty, lifeless eyes slowly "looked" at the crooked, broken door.

He stretched out his withered, claw-like hand and began... to knock on the door!
"Boom...boom...boom..."

The knocking wasn't loud, but it carried an eerie penetrating power, as if striking directly into the depths of one's soul!

As the knocking sounded, a darker, more despairing darkness spread rapidly like a tide, centered on the old man—that was the ghostly domain of the knocking ghost!
Wherever the ghostly domain passed, the movements of the ash-humanoid figures became noticeably slower and stiffer. Some of the weaker ones even experienced unstable fluctuations and dissipation of the ash that made up their bodies! It was as if they had encountered some kind of higher-priority rule suppression!

Jiang Jin also felt a strong palpitation and discomfort. After all, he was not a Soul Master, and forcibly controlling a ghost of this level would have a huge backlash. If it went on for too long, he himself might be assimilated or corrupted by the ghost domain! Therefore, he had always tried his best to avoid using this knocking ghost!

But he couldn't care less about that now! Taking advantage of the fact that the Ghost Domain had temporarily suppressed most of the Ash Humanoids, he grabbed Shi Baixuan and desperately rushed towards the edge of the Ghost Domain!

Thanks to the Ghost Domain of the Door-Knocking Ghost, the number of Ash Humanoids has been reduced by more than half, with less than ten still lingering in the distance, seemingly somewhat confused by the impact of the Ghost Domain just now.

opportunity!

Jiang Jin struggled to his feet, raised the Soul-Seizing Staff again, and together with Shi Baixuan, charged towards the last few ashe humanoids!
At this moment, Deathstroke appeared out of nowhere. It was itself an aggregate of resentful ashes, and it was able to interfere with and even tear apart those ashe humanoids to a certain extent, relieving Jiang Jin of a great deal of pressure.

Suddenly, another ash-humanoid lunged at Jiang Jin, raising its hand to strike his throat!

Jiang Jin had no time to dodge!
At this critical moment——

Several cleaners suddenly emerged from the darkness ahead!
Two of the cleaners were seen holding large vacuum cleaners with nozzles shaped like hair, aiming them at the remaining ash-like humanoid figures, and pressing the switch.

"Buzz—hiss—"

A powerful suction force was generated instantly, and the ash humanoids struggled silently. The ash that made up their bodies was sucked into the large vacuum cleaner like sand in a tornado!

The other cleaners, holding special mops, began to quickly and vigorously scrub away the remaining ash traces on the ground. Wherever they went, the ash seemed to be "erased" and disappeared.

Another cleaner walked straight to Jiang Jin, who was slumped on the ground with ashes still scattering from his arm. He took out a spray gun that looked like a pesticide sprayer from the toolbox on his back, aimed it at Jiang Jin's charred wound, and sprayed it lightly.

A large amount of cold, white liquid with a strong disinfectant smell enveloped the wound. Jiang Jin felt the excruciating pain that had been burning his soul subside rapidly. The charred skin peeled off at a visible speed, revealing the tender pink buds that were growing underneath, and the phenomenon of scattering ashes also stopped abruptly!

As a result, the SAN value stopped falling and even began to recover very slowly!

Jiang Jin let out a long sigh of relief, as if he had been pulled back from the brink of hell.

"That's great... my hand is fine now..." Jiang Jin looked at his arm, which had recovered completely, still feeling lingering fear.

At this moment, Jiang Jin looked at the cleaning staff's incredible set of equipment...

He really wants it!
Unfortunately, the reincarnation system does not allow for exchanges...

“Reincarnator Jiang Jin, you can use your professional privileges as a lawyer to consume resentment crystals to purchase cleaning equipment.”

A new text prompt appeared in my right eye!
This……

Is this fucking possible?

So you only told me this now that I'd thought of it? Couldn't you have said so sooner?

(End of this chapter)