It was currently 12:30 am.

The number of viewers in the tomb exploration livestream had already soared to a whopping 250000!

All 250000 of them were witnessing Blake's appearance that seemed like he had descended from Heaven. They were all bewildered!

"Am... Am I seeing things? This guy who suddenly appeared, is he Blake?"

"You're not seeing things. It's indeed that guy Blake. He saved everyone... with a compass!"

"No, it's not just a regular compass. Everyone, look at the cross on his neck. It's actually rotating by itself! What is it actually made of? Is it really magical?"

"Could it be that what Blake said was true? Is there really a ghost residing in this place?"

"It's very possible. I did see black mist rising from the bodies of the expedition members just now!"

"That's right! I saw it too! Could that be... the ghostly qi?"

"Emm... If that's really the case, doesn't that mean that we've wronged Blake?"

"That... Guys, I don't think we should assume by ourselves...We should listen to Captain John's explanation in detail..."

"Indeed, I just can't believe what I saw. Captain John hasn't said anything yet!"

...

The people in the live broadcast room were discussing ceaselessly.

Although they had observed the scene of Blake's heroic attack, they still had some lingering doubts about him.

Undeniably, many still trusted Captain John more.

Everyone turned their attention toward Captain John, waiting for his explanation.

As for Blake...

After dispelling the ghostly qi from everyone's bodies, he looked down at the Ghost-Seeking Compass in his hand and frowned.

The needle on the Ghost-Seeking Compass was flickering toward all directions randomly.

Blake deduced that the thousand-year-old evil ghost was probably zooming around quickly underground.

This... was definitely not a good thing.

He could clearly sense that it had been angered by the red light emitted by the compass.

At this point, it must be looking for an opportunity to make a comeback and carry out its revenge.

Soon, an even more powerful ghostly qi would erupt from the ground, enveloping this whole cemetery.

When that happens, even his Ghost-Seeking Compass would not be able to suppress the damage it would wreck...

He wouldn't be able to spend the night in the cemetery, thus ruining the mission assigned to him. For the worst part, it might even kill him!

Therefore, he had to evacuate the expedition members as soon as possible. If they continued to cause unnecessary trouble here and the ghostly qi became heavier, he would definitely not be able to stay in this cemetery any longer.

Of course, he still felt a pang of guilt. After all, he hadn't thought twice about the consequences that would be brought on by releasing the orbs of red light from the compass; he had basically brought this situation onto his teammates and himself.

With this in mind, he raised his head and turned to look at the expedition members as he racked his brain for ways to convince them to leave.

...

On the other hand, John and the others picked themselves off the ground as sweat dripped steadily from their heads. They looked around anxiously.

After what had just happened, they were clearly cautious. They looked around carefully, their eyes full of vigilance and wariness.

It was not until they noticed the dead silence in the atmosphere and the absence of scorched insects that they slowly heaved a sigh of relief.

However, when they caught sight of the two charred bodies of their team members lying a few meters away, they were once again overwhelmed with dread and broke out in cold sweat. Their faces were filled with disbelief.

This... what was this?

What happened?

Captain John scanned the corpses of his team members and the mess everywhere. His heart started to thump violently against his chest as he went through his memories of the hallucination.

Wasn't he being bitten by the creepy-crawlies that were hiding in his backpack? He even clearly recalled collapsing to the ground, near death. How did everything return to normal in the blink of an eye?

Could it be that... whatever happened was just an illusion?

'No, if it was an illusion, they'll find out that I've been lying to them about the cross this whole time!'

Thinking of this, John hurriedly shifted his gaze toward the livestream platform.

Thankfully, there seemed to be viewers who were still interested in the crosses as the comments were still coming in, offering their prices. 'Phew!

'Thank god, the crosses will be sold out soon.'

John let out a long sigh of relief, and felt his heart relax a little.

'As for the two dead members, they were originally just strangers, how did we even first meet?

'They deserved to be blamed for ruining this expedition!

'And... to hell with this lousy, haunted place!'

When he thought of the word 'haunted', John's face became dejected again.

Up until now, he hadn't believed it, but it was clear that this place was haunted.

'But, how in the world did I break free from that illusion that we were caught under?' John wondered, baffled.

Suddenly, there was an insane amount of comments bombarding the livestream, catching his attention.

"Captain John! Are you finally awake? What exactly happened just now? Why did the team members suddenly go hysterical?"

"That's right! And Blake, how is he so powerful? What was that red glow? Is it a secret technique you taught him?"

"Captain John, is there really a ghost in this place? I heard you guys screaming something about undead insects, but we didn't see anything..."

"That's right, Captain John. What's with the cross on Blake's neck? Is it really a treasure that can ward off evil spirits? Please tell us!"

...

Shockingly, despite John's deception, his popularity among the audience did not waver.

Even Blake's appearance didn't have much of a negative impact on his fame, although it did prompt a lot of interest from everyone.

However, John's re-appearance grabbed the attention of the whole livestream!

...

After scanning the row of questions left in the comments section, he slowly ran through his deductions in his head.

First, they had indeed been thrown off by a cloud of black mist that invaded their bodies and induced hallucinations in them temporarily.

Then, Blake appeared with a compass and a cross to save them, although they do not know what technique he utilized in order to do so.

However, it was clear that he and the others were starting to believe in Blake's previous statements about the ghostly qi.

Blake was also beginning to gain favor with the netizens.

Upon noticing this, John's heart was once again heavy with panic and jealousy.

He couldn't bear to watch Black's popularity rise!

Because... He had previously denied Blake's suggestions and explanations. If Blake's statement was proven to be right, then it would mean that what John had said before was a sham.

As a result, his reputation would be tainted…

This was an outcome that he absolutely did not even dare to imagine!

Meanwhile, Blake's face was gloomy.

John looked at Blake, carefully observing the cross and the compass clutched in his hand.

The cross was still spinning in the air, and the light blue barrier was sturdily maintained around him.

John Jones narrowed his eyes.

He had been wrong earlier.

He had not expected that Blake would have such valuable possessions!

John's heart was filled with greed.

In an instant, an idea popped into his mind.

John had thought of a perfect plan.

"Ahem."

He cleared his throat and fixed his expression. He looked at the video-recording camera with a sad look and sighed.

"Everyone, you see, this is what happened…"