"Ethan, are you alright?" Tina Yu stared at me, clutching her head as if the world itself was spinning out of control. Everything that had happened before seemed to blur, growing more and more unreal in my memory, as if my entire being was unraveling, my footing unsteady.
The other ghosts in the courtyard drifted closer, and the Five Oddballs joined them.
Samantha Simons handed me a glass of water. I drank a little, and only then did I feel a faint sense of relief. Everything I couldn't make sense of, I spilled out to them.
"Oh? Is that so? Your senses are off, your memories—maybe even what you see with your own eyes—they're all tangled up, aren't they? Ethan, this place really is a Ghost Domain."
Oddball Moe spoke, and I glanced over at Vincent Swallow and the other Blue Wraiths.
"That's right, Ethan. When we first came in here, we noticed it—the moment the car drove into the mountains."
Vincent Swallow's words left me wide-eyed. I had never asked the group about this before. What exactly was going on here?
"I've always felt like this place was made by someone, for some specific purpose!"
Oddball Moe muttered, and I immediately stood up, asking,
"Isn't this John Chou's Ghost Domain?"
For a moment, the other Blue Wraiths just stared at me blankly.
"What are you talking about? In John Chou's Ghost Domain, for ghosts like us, that's hell itself. Forget surviving—just stepping inside would be the end of us."
I stared dumbly at the ghosts. They didn't seem to be lying, and thinking carefully, I realized I'd never heard John Chou say this was his Ghost Domain.
"Then what exactly is this place?" I gasped, my voice trembling with a sob.
"Ethan, when we came here, we noticed something: this Ghost Domain is a little different. It doesn't harm people or ghosts."
Old Eccentric spoke, and I looked at him in bewilderment.
Vincent Swallow, lost in thought, crawled up onto a slightly higher cherry blossom tree and scanned the surroundings.
"It's definitely a Ghost Domain. Everything a Ghost Domain should have is here, but this place doesn't threaten anyone—not even ghosts."
Vincent Swallow said, and it was true—Susan Li still lived here. Justin Huang had mentioned it before, and Julian Chu had clearly explained: humans and ghosts lived together, but over time, the ghostly aura would hurt the living. They couldn't coexist for long. Sooner or later, sickness or even death would follow.
Everything in my mind grew more and more chaotic. In a panic, I pulled out my phone and dialed my father, Jack Zhang.