Chapter 559: 556
âThe source is the haunted painting in the fifth-floor dormitory. Just contain it, and this mission will be complete. The process is very simple; the only thing to worry about is any danger encountered along the way. Currently, the Ghost Domain of the haunted painting has affected two floors, and it might continue to expand, so it would be best if you act quickly,â
Yang Jian walked along the dimly lit corridor, speaking to Wang Quan who followed behind him.
âThere might be students stranded on the fourth floor. I think we can stay here for a moment to confirm if anyone is present,â Wang Quan hesitated, then suggested.
âThereâs no need. The path downstairs is already blocked, and what can we do even if we find a few stranded students? We canât take them out. If there are still people, let them stay here. They werenât killed by the ghost before, and itâs unlikely they will be killed now,â
Yang Jian spoke bluntly.
Those meant to die would have died already; those alive arenât targets of the ghost and wonât die for the time being; the logic was simple.
âŠ
Wang Quan immediately nodded and followed Yang Jian directly towards the fifth floor.
Dealing with the problematic haunted painting was the top priority.
However, Yang Jian wasnât rushing to the fifth floor; he lingered in the fourth-floor corridor for a few seconds, looking left and right, hoping to make some special discovery, because Sun Yujia had previously jumped from the window of a fourth-floor dormitory, which suggested that the ghost might have been to the fourth floor.
Yet, the dark and quiet corridor had nothing out of the ordinary. The dormitory doors on both sides were some open, some closed, but all were exceptionally silent.
It seemed as though there was no sign of trouble.
âThat doesnât make sense,â Yang Jian thought with a trace of confusion.
According to his judgment, there had to be something on the fourth floor; thatâs why he had considered whether to come to the fourth floor when he was at the third-floor staircase.
But the fourth floor, despite showing signs of Ghost Domain invasion, seemed as normal as any other floor, with nothing amiss.
So, why did Sun Yujia jump out of the window just now?
Was it just out of fear?
Or was it because the never-ending staircase on the third floor left Sun Yujia with no other choice?
Unfortunately, the woman had been scared witless and, with the pressing time, they couldnât get any information. Otherwise, there wouldnât be a need for this wild guessing.
âWhatâs wrong? Is there something that doesnât seem right?â Wang Quan, seeing Yang Jian not moving, whispered.
âNot seeing a ghost makes me feel thereâs something off,â Yang Jian said.
Wang Quan felt a chill. What kind of reasoning was that?
Not seeing a ghost should be a good thing, at least it meant they were safe for the time being. Yet, this made it seem like there was a worse feeling looming.
He wasnât a Ghost Envoy, of course, so he wouldnât know that in supernatural events, if the ghostâs location could be identified, the survival rate could increase significantly. Most people died without warning.
âLetâs go to the fifth floor and have a look.â
Yang Jian didnât want to waste time searching room by room. Perhaps there might be some discoveries, but that would delay them even more, especially since there were many dorms on one floor.
After making sure, he didnât hesitate to step onto the stairs leading to the fifth floor.
It was still dim, and the sound-controlled lights in the corridor were still on, although the light was dim, barely enough to make out the path ahead.
But the good thing was, this staircase was normal and showed no signs of anomaly.
However, as Yang Jian left the fourth floor, he did not notice that in the dormitory building, where each level normally had ten dorms, this fourth floor had eleven. The extra dormâs door appeared on the wall between two other rooms, the section of wall seemingly stretched to make it look like any other dorm.
Unless one looked closely, it was impossible to tell there was any difference.
But the students living there could tell, because the door of that extra room was not like the others. This door was made of wood, painted with dark red paint, and had some old, engraved patterns. If one looked closely, it was almost like⊠a picture frame.
The extra dormitory door was open, the inside dark, seemingly empty.
No, there was a window.
The view outside this window was entirely different from that of the other dorms. It showed a gray and gloomy world; the sky was filled with ash-like particles, falling endlessly as if they could never stop.
This was a strange and eerie world.
However, the view outside the other dormitory windows was a dazzlingly lit, bustling city.
They seemed entirely dissimilar.
âWithout the sight of the Ghost Eye, Iâm really not as comfortable as I used to be,â Yang Jian subconsciously touched his forehead, missing the vision of the Ghost Eye, which made him walk more cautiously than before.
Because in the dim environment, he had also become half-blind.
A wrong step could very likely lead to an unknown location,
If only he could open his ghost eye now, there would be no need to be this timid, and he would be more bold in his actions; he would also have had the capacity and time to search the fourth floor earlier.
Everything went smoothly.
Yang Jian did not encounter any ghosts, nor was he attacked by one; he arrived at the fifth floor with Wang Quan and two accompanying personnel.
Since the floors were built identically, there was not much difference from the fourth floor, but he had been here before, so he knew where the ghost painting was in the dormitory.
Without hesitation, taking advantage of the current safety, Yang Jian moved quickly, heading straight for Miao Xiaoshanâs dormitory.
Once the ghost painting lying on the bed was placed into the specially made bag to isolate its influence, the Ghost Domain here would disappear, and the mission would end.
But when Yang Jian arrived at the door of the dormitory from his memory, his expression darkened.
The door of Miao Xiaoshanâs dormitory bore the footprint from when he had kicked it in before, and when he left, he remembered the door was dented.
But now⊠the dent on the door had vanished.
He pushed open the dormitory door without hesitation.
What Yang Jian suspected became reality; neither the layout within the dormitory nor any item on the bed was what he had seen before. It was not possible to find the ghost painting here because this was an unfamiliar dormitory.
In other words, he had walked into the wrong dormitory.
âAre we lost?â Wang Quan reacted quickly; seeing the minute expressions on Yang Jianâs face, he knew they had come to the wrong place.
âI underestimated the ghost painting. I thought that while the influence wasnât at its peak, coupled with swift action, I could contain the ghost painting without risk. Now it seems, as it began to influence the floor, it has already completely altered the environment here, but thereâs nothing we can do about it.â
âBattling in the Ghost Domain is something no one can win, not even a Ghost Envoy. Getting lost like this is normal.â
His expression remained calm; he was not shaken by this minor setback.
Even if the ghost painting was labeled as an S-rank supernatural event.
âWhat do we do now? Itâs extremely difficult to find the ghost painting in the Ghost Domain. Iâve researched this matter, and it might turn out that instead of finding the ghost painting, we might run into a real ghost,â Wang Quan said gravely.
The two accompanying personnel behind him also looked a bit unnatural, even mentally preparing themselves to die here.
After all, they were ordinary people, and encountering a ghost meant almost certain death.
âWhatâs the rush? Like I said before, the Ghost Domain of the ghost painting hasnât completely influenced reality yet. As long as thatâs the case, itâs much easier to handle. Besides, since the ghost painting is just a painting, it shouldnât be capable of moving around freely, right? Itâs just hiding using the Ghost Domain. If we search carefully, we can still find it,â Yang Jian said calmly.
âBut weâre already lost? The position of the previous dormitory canât be determined at all,â Wang Quan said.
Yang Jian didnât speak. Some things were hard to explain to Wang Quan, an ordinary person. Instead, he just looked up at the dormitory door number plate and reached out to take it down directly.
The number plate hanging at the dormitory door changed immediately once grasped by his Ghost Hand.
As if shedding a layer of color, the plate that originally read â503â changed to â603â.
Seeing this, his eyebrows furrowed.
â603? This is the sixth floor, not the fifth. How is this possible? We were clearly certain earlierâŠâ Wang Quan suddenly widened his eyes.
âSun Yujia didnât jump from the fourth floor, she jumped from the fifth floor. The floor we were just on was the fifth floor,â Yang Jian said.
âBut the third floor wasnât affected. If you go up one level, itâs the fourth floor; thereâs no way to miscalculate that. Even with a Ghost Domain, it shouldnât be doable,â Wang Quan said. âAfter all, you confirmed it yourself.â
âWe didnât miscalculate the floor, but that doesnât mean we didnât take the wrong path. If Iâm not mistaken, the fifth floor and the fourth floor have overlapped,â Yang Jian said. âThe real fourth floor and the fifth floor within the Ghost Domain have switched places. You canât even tell if youâre on the fourth or fifth floor; itâs a trick Iâve played before. Not just two floorsâI could overlap five floors together, and they wouldnât affect one another.â
With the activation of a five-level Ghost Domain, Yang Jian had the ability to distort reality, layering five floors on top of each other without interference from one another.
Wang Quan was left speechless.
This kind of eerie situation was enough to shatter anyoneâs worldview, and with normal human reasoning, it was simply incomprehensible. Only someone like Yang Jian could understand it in an instant and know the reasons behind it.
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