Bao Lebin shook his head honestly, indicating that he had just fainted.
Jiang Xiao patted Bao Lebin on the shoulder, speaking quite emotionally.
"Who would’ve thought, you usually fear death so much, yet at the crucial moment, you actually had the courage to rush forward and try to drive away those ghostly shadows."
Hearing this, Bao Lebin also revealed a slightly embarrassed smile, suggesting that it was his duty.
"No matter what, I’m still living at the funeral home. If this place falls, I won’t have a good ending either."
By now, the sky had completely darkened.
The atmosphere at Martin’s place was extraordinarily oppressive and tense.
At this moment, he also realized that he had been deceived by that little girl.
"What should we do now? I, I seem to have indeed brought something filthy back."
This was serious, so Martin didn’t hide anything and told them all about the note and the urn he saw in the cave.
"It’s not my fault, whether it was the little girl or the note, they were guiding me back to the funeral home. I thought... Ah!"
Martin slapped his thigh in regret.
"I, I was really muddled at the time to believe in those nonsensical words."
His voice trembled slightly as his hands unconsciously caressed the pattern on the urn,
as if he could find a trace of warmth in this cold container.
The director looked at Martin’s demeanor with furrowed brows. He knew that this was not the time for blame; they needed to find a solution.
"Night Watchman, can you sense something followed Martin in?"
As for the Night Watchman...
Ever since leaving the house, he had been looking quite ill, and now his words were almost squeezed through the gaps in his teeth.
"More than just something came in, I feel... there might be more than one."
Nobody wanted to deal with this damned mess!
Especially the director and the Night Watchman, they were already feeling guilty.
That’s why they had purposefully buried those people’s ashes so far away, so hidden, because they feared these things would find their way back...
just what kind of damn luck did this Martin have, to be able to dig them out?
Now great, the wronged spirits have followed back, making the atmosphere even tenser in an instant.
After much hesitation, the director suggested, "If it really comes down to it, we could go there and hide..."
The Night Watchman’s face was full of resistance; he had a psychological shadow from that terrifying entity.
Martin asked nervously; he didn’t want the two to run off, leaving him alone in the funeral home.
Before he could finish, their conversation was interrupted by a series of violent coughs.
"It’s too late, they’ve already arrived!"
The Night Watchman’s eyes were sharp, but it was evident by his continually twitching nose that his primary method of judgment was his sense of smell.
"There’s really more than one..."
Martin stared blankly out of the window.
Ghostly shadows flickered on the other side, with at least a dozen unclean presences looming.
Among them, one was very familiar to him—it was the little girl under the willow tree.
The urn in his hand was like a beacon, providing these wandering lost souls a "way home."
A red-faced little ghost hopped and stopped at the entrance of the funeral home.
It was not hard to tell from his peering that he wanted to come in, but he seemed to fear something.
Martin’s first reaction was to run away, but the director shouted to stop him.
"Don’t run! Don’t move if you don’t want to die!"
Martin halted immediately, looking at the director, confused and frightened.
"Don’t be scared, don’t be scared, whatever you do, don’t show it. Just hold on; if we survive the night, we can re-establish the seal tomorrow."
Martin wasn’t stupid; from the director’s words and the little ghost’s expression, he roughly guessed the situation.
The director’s voice was low and forceful, carefully sweeping over the hall, and finally settled on Martin’s tense face.
"Listen, this funeral home is not an ordinary building. Every brick, every door and window, is specially designed to form a complex domain."
"This domain acts as a barrier that keeps us safe from those unclean things outside."
Martin’s eyes widened as if trying hard to grasp the director’s words.
"But!" the director’s voice suddenly deepened: "Because of the damn urn you brought back, the balance has been disrupted. Those things can now sense that the domain here is weakening, which is why they are restless."
"However," the director continued: "We still have a fighting chance. Though these entities are powerful, they are also cowardly, dull-witted, and fragmented in consciousness. If we can remain calm and not show fear, they might think the domain is still impregnable and choose to retreat."
Clutching the urn tightly, Martin’s palms were slick with cold sweat, but he still tried to steady his breathing.
Normally, shouldn’t a funeral home be the most—that kind of place?
Only today did he realize that such places are not only different from what he imagined, but they also serve to ward off evil spirits.
Actually, if you think about it from another perspective.
It’s like slaughterhouses for pigs and cattle; some of these animals tremble like chaff just passing by...
All we need to do now is pretend not to be afraid, right?
This is something both Martin and the director need to learn from the Night Watchman.
The latter’s face showed no trace of fear, instead, he looked provocatively at the little ghosts outside.
He had an air about him that at any second he might shout, "Come at me if you dare!"
The director remained calm.
He walked composedly to the coffee table and leisurely brewed a pot of tea for himself.
It was the epitome of not losing one’s cool under pressure.
Martin was slightly less composed, but being a special forces soldier, he quickly settled down, sitting across from the director to join him in a drink.
It seemed right on the surface.
However, this scene made the viewers in the live broadcast room think of some famous moments...
[Should I say what’s not been said, I remember in ancient Dragon Country, didn’t a famous military strategist use a similar tactic to scare off enemy troops?]
[Noob, don’t you even know about our Empty Fort Strategy~]
[I’m not from Dragon Country, so it’s normal not to know!]
[No cap, I think these three’s acting skills are better than some celebrities’.]
[Would they have a choice? If they don’t do well, they could lose their lives! Put a gun to an actor’s head and watch their acting improve dramatically.]
With the enhanced acting of the three, the effect was naturally significant.
At least the little ghost outside didn’t seem to want to come in, just lingering by the door.
Part of it was also because the thing wasn’t too bright to begin with, otherwise it wouldn’t have run away after being taunted by Jiang Xiao.