Forbidden Zone of Deception

Chapter 296 The Sealed Haunted Mansion
At that moment, Drew immediately went to check the recording devices he had placed in various parts of the room. A recording mixed with faint children's voices and ambient noise reconstructed the moment the tragedy occurred.

In the recording, you can hear the youngest daughter, Cindy, repeatedly reciting today's date in a trembling, tearful voice, because she was scared.

Clearly, she was experiencing the symptoms described in Rule 8—a bone-chilling cold on one side of her body. She tried to follow the rule by silently reciting the date to combat the anomaly.

However, fear made her speech slurred. When she said the month "November," her pronunciation became unclear due to tension and crying, and she might even omit a syllable.

This tiny, usually insignificant pronunciation error can be considered "incorrect execution" or "mention of inaccurate information" in the judgment of rule contamination!
The recording ends with Cindy's short gasp and the sound of footsteps heading towards a room, followed by deathly silence... She was heading towards the room that was later found to be empty.

“It’s the pronunciation…she mispronounced the date…” Drew concluded, his face pale.

Jiang Jin reacted the fastest. The moment he realized Cindy might have been pulled into the contaminated layer, he immediately gave orders to Deathstroke and the newly reborn Sadie: "Go into the contaminated layer! Find the child! Bring her back!"

The two undead hounds growled, their forms instantly becoming ethereal as they rushed into the Mysterious Layer and began searching deeper into the Lost Layer.

They can traverse the contaminated layer and are the only hope at this moment to bring Cindy back.

At the same time, Blood Lord suddenly felt a pang of heart palpitation, and a chilling coldness crept up his spine like a venomous snake!

He immediately realized that this was a sign that rule pollution had been triggered and the SAN value had been affected! It was very likely because of Cindy's experience, or that the overall malice of the house had suddenly increased due to this "sacrifice," affecting everyone within its range!

He dared not delay, and immediately concentrated, repeating the full date of the day in a clear, accurate, and error-free manner.

He could even feel that invisible, cold force trying to distort his perception against him.

After several repetitions, the palpitations and chills gradually subsided like a tide, and his SAN value barely stabilized.

Then, time ticked by, each second feeling like torture. The Perron family huddled together, Caroline nearly fainting, Roger Perron clenching his fists so tightly his nails dug into his palms.

However, hope was soon dashed.

A moment later, the figures of Deathstroke and Sadie re-formed in the material plane.

They hung their heads, emitting mournful cries, their bodies made of ash seeming somewhat dim.

Jiang Jin clearly received the information they transmitted back—they had found a faint trace of Cindy's remaining aura in the Lost Layer, but that aura was like a kite with a broken string, quickly swallowed and assimilated by a deeper and more chaotic malice.

They cannot locate it, much less bring back a living soul that has been completely "accepted" by the Lost Layer.

Unlike the reincarnation system, which can provide special protection for reserve reincarnators, the chances of an ordinary child surviving after being completely pulled into the Lost Layer for so long are... zero.

"Do not!!!"

Caroline let out a heart-wrenching scream and collapsed to the ground. Roger and the other children were also instantly overwhelmed by immense grief, their heart-wrenching cries echoing through the gloomy house.

Cindy's "disappearance" was like the last straw that broke the camel's back. The Perrin family could no longer endure this devilish house that was devouring their daughter, and their extreme grief turned into a determination to escape.

"Go! Let's get out of here! Now! Right now!" Roger Perron, his eyes red, helped his nearly exhausted wife to her feet and roared at the other children and everyone present.

No one objected; even the Warrens thought it was a wise move to temporarily evacuate.

The group hurriedly packed their belongings and, with heavy hearts and fear, headed towards the gate. Officer Brad pulled out his walkie-talkie as they walked and said, "The situation here is out of control. I must call headquarters for backup; at the very least, we need to evacuate the surrounding residents..."

"No! We can't call the police!" Ed hurriedly stopped him, his face filled with anxiety and fear. "Brad, you don't understand! If a large number of police officers break into this highly activated paranormal focus, they will only become the best food and medium for the evil spirits! That's like sacrificing their lives to what's inside! This will cause an even greater disaster!"

Brad froze, his hand holding the walkie-talkie hanging in mid-air.

However, in the few seconds that they were arguing, Roger, who was walking in front, had already reached out and grabbed the doorknob.

The instant his fingers touched the cold metal doorknob—

"Ugh!!!"

Roger let out a painful scream and pulled his hand back as if he had been electrocuted!

Large, unnatural red marks, as if burned by a high temperature, appeared on the palm of his hand where he touched the doorknob and on the skin of his arm near the door! It was as if the door had been heated to the point of being branded with a hot iron!

"what happened?!"

"father!"

There were exclamations.

Blood Lord's eyes narrowed, and he took a step forward, but instead of touching the door, he observed it warily. He gestured for another person near the door to try.

Lian De cautiously and quickly brought a finger close to the door frame. The moment he extended it, he felt a wave of burning heat wash over him, and his fingertip stung instantly! "It's a curse!" Blood Lord's voice was low and incredulous. "Not just the doorknob…it's the entire exit! This house…it won't let us leave!"

He suddenly recalled the final scene of the original movie—when the Warrens were about to take the possessed Caroline out of the house to find a priest for an exorcism, the same thing happened: as soon as Caroline stepped out of the room, her body would start to burn!
But the situation is even worse now! Not only Caroline, but anyone who tries to leave will suffer direct, physical burns!

Jiang Jin also understood, his face extremely grim: "Cindy violated the rules and was pulled into the Lost Layer, disrupting a fragile balance. Now, the power of the evil spirit can more directly and significantly infiltrate and influence the Material Layer! It has trapped us all here!"

Despair, like an icy tide, instantly engulfed everyone present.

They realized that the intensity of the evil spirit's invasion had undergone a qualitative change. What was previously merely harassment, intimidation, and probing of the rules had now escalated into blatant imprisonment and direct physical attacks!

This means that the evil witch spirit named Basshiba, or most of its power, has become closer to, or even partially integrated into, this materialistic space.

They were utterly trapped in this cursed house. And the night had only just begun. Hold on until dawn? At this point, the hope seemed incredibly slim.

The darkest hour is probably coming.

The Perrin family mansion at night had been completely transformed into a terrifying prison sealed off by an invisible force field.

Even the skeptical Brad had to accept the harsh reality after trying it: anyone who tried to step out the door would feel a burning sensation on their skin, as if they had touched an invisible flame, and would be forced to retreat back inside.

A sense of despair permeated the living room like a thick fog. Caroline held her young daughters tightly, sobbing softly, while Roger, the male head of the household, was pale and tried various communication devices in vain, but all of them lost signal.

The youngest daughter, April, broke free from her mother's embrace and ran to the Blood Lord, who was meditating cross-legged. She clutched his trouser leg tightly, her face streaked with tears, and pleaded in a sob, "Uncle...please, save my sisters, save my mom and dad...I'm so scared..."

Blood Lord opened his eyes, looked at the trembling little girl before him, and was about to say something—

Something strange happened!

Crackling!

All the crosses that the Warrens had hung on the wall and placed on the cabinet seemed to be repelled by an invisible force, and they all fell to the ground!
Immediately afterwards, the second daughter, Nancy, who was standing not far away, suddenly let out a piercing scream!

Her long hair flew wildly upwards as if whipped up by a gale, and her entire body was lifted off the ground, forcibly raised into the air!

It was as if an unseen, invisible force was pulling her up by her hair!

This is all part of the original movie!

Blood Owl Lord instantly remembered and shouted sharply, "Attack it, save the child!"

Jiang Jin reacted extremely quickly. With a thought, Deathstroke and Sadie, who had been on alert, pounced on the void behind Nancy like two gray lightning bolts!

"Ouch!"

"Roar!"

The two undead hounds bared their fangs and bit down hard at the empty space!

puff!

What was truly chilling was that dark red blood suddenly splattered out of thin air! Deathstroke and Sadie's fangs were stained with thick, foul-smelling blood, as if they had indeed bitten into something unseen!
That invisible force suddenly loosened!
Nancy fell from mid-air and was caught by Roger and Caroline who reacted quickly. She coughed violently, completely terrified!

Without pausing for a moment, Jiang Jin instantly produced the Demon Hunter Crossbow in his hand, and the bolt shot towards the area above where Nancy had just been hoisted up!

However, this time the crossbow bolt pierced the air and stuck to the wall behind it, missing its target!

That thing seems to have learned its lesson, or perhaps it has changed its target! Or maybe it has infiltrated the contaminated layer again!
"Christine! Watch out!" Andrea suddenly screamed!
Standing to the side was Christine, the third daughter with short hair. Her hair was also standing up against the laws of physics, as if it were being held by an invisible hand!
The invisible entity roughly lifted her off the ground and dragged her towards the basement at an even faster speed!

"No! Christine!" Caroline cried out in anguish.

Christine's terrified screams echoed down the hallway before she was violently dragged into the dark basement by that terrifying force!
boom! ! !
The basement door slammed shut with a loud bang after she was dragged inside!

Even more despairingly, a crisp "click" came from the doorknob—it was locked from the inside!
"Don't open the door! Remember rule number four!" Su Wan shouted, her face ashen. "[If you find it completely locked, never try to open it!]"

"To hell with the rules!" Jiang Jin roared, a resolute glint in his eyes.

His cooldown period for the rule-changing lawyer has just ended!

He focused his mind and forcibly altered rule number four! He completely deleted the section stating, "If you find it is completely locked, do not attempt to open it!" Of course, this only applied to him personally.

"Get out of the way!" Jiang Jin raised the Silent Hill shotgun, aimed it at the basement door lock, and pulled the trigger without hesitation!
(End of this chapter)