Chapter 20: The Haunted Television

In the center of a dilapidated mud hut, an old black-and-white television played a news broadcast.

The mud walls of the hut seemed to have been flooded at some point. Two of the walls had collapsed, and the roof looked as if it had been blown down by strong winds. Beams and thatched straw lay scattered across the floor, giving the place a desolate, uninhabitable feel.

Outside the hut, Jiang Yan and the man in the black hat watched silently, hesitant to move forward.

After all, how could an abandoned, ruined house still have power?

Yet the television continued to play, as though it were powered by some supernatural force.

"Well, well, a TV here, of all places? Who's it supposed to be for—ghosts?" the black-hatted man joked.

"Maybe it really is," Jiang Yan replied, suppressing a shiver. Though he feared ghosts, he feared a dead end even more.

The TV in front of them was clearly no ordinary object; it had to be a supernatural artifact, much like the haunting portrait of the man they'd seen earlier. It might just hold some useful clues.

The two men focused intently on the screen, determined not to miss any detail.

The television, obviously ancient, had poor saturation, casting an eerie greenish hue over the picture. On the screen, a male and a female news anchor sat stiffly as they delivered a news report. It looked exactly like a normal broadcast.

The female anchor's face was flawless, save for its deathly pallor.

Yet as Jiang Yan looked at her, an intense chill gripped his heart. Her facial features, though beautiful, were strangely mismatched, as if her face had been crudely pieced together from different people.

The male anchor beside her was even more unsettling. Dressed in a pristine suit, his face had the lifeless hue of a corpse, mottled with patches of decay.

Anyone could tell there was something very wrong with these two "anchors."

Still, Jiang Yan and the man in the black hat didn't make a move. They continued watching the broadcast in silence.

The female anchor's voice echoed through the room, relaying a simple piece of news: a high school in Dachuan City had experienced a mass death incident.

Jiang Yan vaguely remembered this event. It had happened over a decade ago, when an entire class at that school had mysteriously died. The official explanation was food poisoning, but now, thinking back, Jiang Yan doubted it was that simple.

This single story repeated over and over. After finishing the report, the female anchor would simply start over, her expression unchanged.

But each time the report ended, the two anchors appeared to edge slightly closer together, as if something terrifying might happen when they finally touched.

"This news has nothing to do with our situation, and standing here won't get us anywhere. Since there's a television, there should be a remote control, right? Maybe we can find more information if we find the remote," the man in the black hat suggested.

"You're right. Let's go in and look," Jiang Yan agreed, realizing that they needed to take action. Together, they entered the hut.

But before stepping inside, Jiang Yan activated his Ghost Domain to make sure they were prepared for anything.

A hazy, ghostly aura spread out, enveloping the hut and the ominous television within it.

"If your Ghost Domain can contain it, that means it's not too dangerous," the man in the black hat remarked, a trace of relief in his voice.

"Still, we should stay cautious," Jiang Yan replied, not daring to relax his guard.

They stepped into the hut, and a cold chill immediately seeped into their bones.

Though it was broad daylight, the small hut was uncomfortably cold. The air was thick with the scent of rotting wood, laced with a faint but unmistakable odor of decay. Jiang Yan, who had previously encountered ghostly presences, immediately recognized it as the stench of corpses.

"Let's start looking for the remote."

The two began to search the hut, stirring up clouds of dust, but despite a thorough search, there was no sign of a remote control.

"We've checked everywhere. It looks like there really isn't a remote," the man in the black hat muttered, a bit disappointed.

"Then let's see if there are any buttons on the TV itself," Jiang Yan suggested, his gaze shifting toward the television.

"Guess that's our only option. But who's going to go first?" the man in the black hat asked, hesitating.

After a moment of thought, Jiang Yan volunteered. "I'll do it. This is my Ghost Domain, and my power is stronger."

The man in the black hat nodded, a glint of respect flashing in his eyes. Despite being a newcomer, Jiang Yan was demonstrating a rare level of responsibility and calmness.

Jiang Yan approached the TV with an impassive expression. Before touching the buttons, he took out the red emergency hammer, ready to respond to any sudden danger.

The anchors on the screen showed no reaction to his approach, continuing with their eerie broadcast.

As Jiang Yan moved closer, he thought he saw the female anchor glance in his direction, though he couldn't be sure if it was just his imagination.

Without hesitation, he reached toward the buttons under the screen, his fingers feeling along the controls.

There were four buttons, which he guessed were the power button, a channel button, and volume controls. What he needed was the channel button, but it was hard to tell which was which just by touch.

"Should I crouch down to take a better look?"

The thought crossed his mind briefly, but he dismissed it. Something about bending down felt like a trap. He decided it was safer to test the buttons one by one.

"The power button should be on the edge, and the volume buttons should be a pair…"

He knew not to touch the power button; turning off the TV might trigger something dangerous.

He pressed one of the middle buttons, and the volume increased slightly—clearly a volume button. He pressed the other middle button, lowering the volume, confirming that these were both volume controls.

That left the power button and the channel button on the ends. He had a fifty-fifty chance of hitting the channel button.

With caution, he signaled to the man in the black hat. "Be ready."

The man nodded, raising his sleeve and letting his ghostly wind coat hover in front of the TV, ready to strike.

Jiang Yan took a deep breath and pressed the innermost button.

The screen flickered, momentarily going dark, then filled with static.

"Is it searching for a channel?"

Jiang Yan watched intently, hoping he'd chosen the right button. His luck held—the TV seemed to be searching for a new channel.

After a few seconds, an image appeared on the screen, though it looked intensely unsettling.

The screen was filled with jagged, glitchy lines, distorting a terrifyingly pale face that took up the entire display.

The face bore a striking resemblance to the female anchor, except now her eyes were bleeding, and her mouth twisted into a gruesome smile. Her face seemed to press against the screen, as if she might burst through at any moment.

A low, guttural chuckle echoed from the TV.

It was as if she could see Jiang Yan, her blood-streaked eyes fixed on him, her smile growing ever more sinister.

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𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙖 𝙢𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙢𝙮 𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙟𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙮. 𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙗𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙖 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚!

𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 shoutouts 𝘁𝗼:

•Leroy

• Jonathan Bailey

𝗔𝘀 𝗮 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘂𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸:

• 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀: 𝙂𝙚𝙩 50+ chapters 𝙖𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙚𝙡𝙨𝙚.

• 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁-𝗢𝘂𝘁: 𝙍𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙖 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩!

𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗳𝘂𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗺𝘆 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽𝘀 𝗺𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆. 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻 𝘆𝗲𝘁, 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗷𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘂𝘀!

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