Chapter 101: The Ghost Child! The Fragmented Barrier's Small Space!

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Lin Yi felt he had to try it himself. Although he had no doubt about Zhang Xu, trying it out wouldn’t hurt. Zhang Xu took out the vial of black dog’s blood from his backpack and poured it onto Lin Yi’s hand for a while. Finally, he scratched his head and apologized, “Sorry, Brother Lin, I have to be cautious.”

Taking advantage of this moment, Lin Yi used the relic shard to wipe over Zhang Xu’s body. There was no change in the relic shard. Coupled with the double assurance from the “Nerve Cutter” technique, Lin Yi knew Zhang Xu was truly human.

At that moment, Lin Yi asked, “Brother Zhang Xu, did you call my name about two hours ago?”

Zhang Xu froze for a moment but soon his eyes widened. “Could it be... Brother Lin, you also heard the ghost calling your name?”

Lin Yi nodded but said nothing more.

Zhang Xu’s face turned even paler.

The two began retracing their steps.

Zhang Xu was frightened to the point of confusion, but Lin Yi remained composed.

They quickly returned to the spot where Lin Yi had earlier found the child’s footprints.

As soon as they arrived, Zhang Xu pointed at the footprints and said, “Hey, we’ve been here before, and there were no footprints back then. Now... there are child’s footprints here. Could it be that the child bouncing the ball has appeared?”

“Thump thump thump.”

“Thump thump thump.”

Just as Zhang Xu spoke, a dull sound began to resonate.

Zhang Xu had already been scared when he saw the child’s footprints. Hearing this sound nearly made his legs give out, and he almost collapsed.

Gritting his teeth, because Lin Yi was beside him, Zhang Xu involuntarily took a few steps toward Lin Yi.

He didn’t dare look toward the source of the dull sound but trembled as he spoke to Lin Yi, his teeth chattering, “Brother Lin, that sound, the bouncing ball, that child... that child definitely isn’t human. I suspect the missing child is already dead.”

Lin Yi had seen every missing person’s photo from Shanghe Village’s five households. If that child’s image had appeared before, he would recognize it immediately.

Watching Zhang Xu’s fearful expression, Lin Yi shook his head—Zhang Xu’s courage was indeed small.

It seemed Zhang Xu was brave only when dealing with people, but when facing demons and ghosts, he became a weakling.

Lin Yi looked toward the dim cave in the distance. In a dense patch of grass, a child was bouncing a ball.

When the child noticed Lin Yi’s gaze, he giggled, quickly turned, and ran away.

That child was indeed one of those missing from Shanghe Village’s tenth group!

Lin Yi felt for a moment and found that the “Nerve Cutter” hadn’t flipped a page yet, but a strange alert seemed to appear in his mind.

This child must be problematic.

“All along, the ‘Nerve Cutter’ only alerted me when monsters and ghosts were very close. Now it seems it cannot detect creatures from afar; it must be very close. I wonder if the ‘Nerve Cutter’ can be upgraded. If not, it’s quite frustrating...” Lin Yi felt helpless. If it could be upgraded, that would be fine, but otherwise, relying on it to show monsters only when very close is really troublesome.

The furthest distance at which the “Nerve Cutter” showed interactions with monsters, apart from Erlong Mountain, was at the “You Have Me” tavern, where Lady Huang Jiuniang’s ghostly avatar went.

Now, that child bouncing the ball had moved about twenty meters away, quite a distance indeed.

Lin Yi’s expression darkened slightly, as he had made a new discovery.

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The child bounced the ball, and as he did, his hand waved toward Lin Yi, holding a mobile phone.

If Lin Yi wasn’t mistaken, that phone was quite expensive and was a special issue from the Paranormal Investigation Bureau—the same model Lin Yi had in his hand.

The phone screen had just flickered, and the lock screen displayed a photo of Bai Ke and a woman.

No doubt, the wallpaper was of Bai Ke and his wife.

“Swish.”

Ignoring Zhang Xu for the moment, Lin Yi swiftly moved away.

Zhang Xu had been stepping toward Lin Yi, but Lin Yi’s sudden speed startled him so much he nearly collapsed on the spot.

Zhang Xu wanted to cry, lamenting that if he had known on his first day transferring from administrative duty to fieldwork that he’d have to investigate this eerie pigeonhole cave, he wouldn’t have come. If he had known, he wouldn’t have been greedy about the stalactites.

Lin Yi quickly moved forward, intending to get closer to the child.

Without Bai Ke’s phone, Lin Yi wouldn’t have done this, but seeing Bai Ke’s phone, he couldn’t resist.

Lin Yi’s body moved swiftly as the “Secret Walk” technique activated. After rounding a corner, he arrived at the spot where the child had been bouncing the ball.

“Clap, clap, clap, clap.”

Lin Yi saw a ball seemingly bouncing on its own, making a continuous “thump thump thump” sound, going back and forth.

The “Nerve Cutter” began flipping pages rapidly, then stopped on a particular page.

The grayscale image showed a little boy.

However, the boy’s clothes were tattered, and blood flowed from his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose. Yet, a sinister smile twisted his lips.

As Lin Yi stared at this page, the boy’s flesh peeled away piece by piece as if sliced by unseen blades.

Eventually, only a bloody, matted skeleton remained.

Though just a child’s skeletal frame, the smile remained eerie and unmistakable.

“Ghost Child: Low-level fierce ghost, skilled in feigning cuteness, mischievous, and kills without mercy.”

This brief message appeared alongside the image.

So, the child was indeed a ghost.

However, the “Nerve Cutter” distinguished low-level fierce ghosts from normal ratings.

The ferocious fire ghost and drowning ghost Lin Yi encountered last time were already rated A-level fierce ghosts, yet “Nerve Cutter” was showing a low-level fierce ghost here.

Therefore, this ghost child, though low-level, was not to be underestimated.

The ball flickered as Lin Yi tested the ominous energy with his energy meter. Because the distance was close, he could feel the energy level around 5,500.

2k.

This was conclusive proof.

When “Nerve Cutter” displays low-level fierce ghosts, it’s unreliable—it might be truly low, or it might be near A-level demon strength, or perhaps even stronger.

Yet, after this page, the “Nerve Cutter” didn’t stop flipping—it continued.

Lin Yi was stunned. What did this mean?

The “Nerve Cutter” was flipping pages again?!

“Clap, clap, clap, clap.”

“Incomplete Barrier Small Space: Earth-level low-grade, filled with eerie and ominous energy. Danger of explosion.”

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This time, the grayscale image showed an isolated space, where everything seemed different.

Within this space, countless demons and ghosts roamed, their shadows drifting endlessly.

Ominous and eerie energies pervaded the area.

On the right side of the space was a large hole.

At the hole, the ominous energy seemed to be pulled away by air currents, gradually dissipating.

As it vanished, the incomplete barrier’s boundary expanded, increasing in size.

Then, voices of men, women, old and young echoed again within the “Nerve Cutter.”

In an instant, Lin Yi understood that this incomplete barrier small space was a kind of mysterious space, similar to the “Nerve Cutter”’s own mysterious realm.

However, compared to the vast, exceptionally solid space of the “Nerve Cutter,” this incomplete barrier small space was tiny.

Nonetheless, being rated earth-level made it terrifying.

The unholy energy cluster that appeared at the artificial lake during the last ghost soldier passage was only a mid-grade profound energy cluster.

Even that contained immense ominous energy.

For this incomplete barrier small space to reach earth-level, its terror was unimaginable.

This contrast made Lin Yi realize even more how horrifying the “Nerve Cutter”’s mysterious space truly was—likely beyond the heavens themselves.

“Thump thump thump thump thump thump.”

The small ball kept bouncing but never strayed far.

The child who had vanished moments ago suddenly reappeared.

He looked innocent and carefree, a lovely little boy with sparkling eyes and a smile.

But as Lin Yi stared, the child chuckled, and the bloodied flesh began falling off him; in a blink, he was just a skeletal frame.

Lin Yi remained unmoved.

The child spoke, his upper and lower jaw bones clacking together.

“Brother, come play ball with me…”

Though a skeleton, the voice was surprisingly childlike!

Behind Lin Yi, Zhang Xu had just arrived, clutching a steel knife defensively, swaying left and right.

As he stood before Lin Yi, he heard the ghost child speak.

In an instant, Zhang Xu trembled and nearly cried.

“This... there really is a ghost... a child ghost…”

Lin Yi frowned as the ball rolled toward him.

Though the ghost child didn’t move, when the ball rolled over, Lin Yi felt the world spin wildly.

Behind him, Zhang Xu was already stunned.

Turning around, Lin Yi sighed and said, “Brother Zhang Xu, why did you come here? You just stepped onto the barrier line. This time, it’s bad.”

Lin Yi hadn’t realized that under his feet was the boundary of the incomplete barrier small space. Crossing it meant he was being pulled in.

Zhang Xu stood behind him, and it was clear he would share the same fate.

Wind howled past their ears, accompanied by ghostly wails and earth-shattering roars.

The reason Lin Yi felt his body spinning was because of these overwhelming sounds.