Chapter 636: 633
Yang Jian, despite the threat of death, had successfully passed by the ghost and walked down the stairs unharmed, but Li Yang and the foreigner named Jimmy clearly lacked the courage to do the same.
Confronted by the ghost slowly ascending, fear had made them recoil, leaving them unsure of what to do next, and they seemed to have frozen in place.
The dreadful sound of footsteps behind them was rapidly closing in, with no intention of stopping because of this.
But Yang Jian was the first to act, stretching the Headless Ghost Shadow along the wall, like a personâs shadow walking. The Ghost Shadow quickly reached the two men, enveloping them and forcefully restricting their movements in an attempt to lead them away from the dangerous staircase.
Under the control of the Ghost Shadow, the two men began to retreat quickly. Li Yang, though struggling, wasnât resisting too fiercely and was still within manageable limits.
The Ghost Shadow led them around the ghost depicted in the painting.
The narrow staircase was only wide enough for one person to ascend or descend at a time, and during regular use, people had to sidestep past each other, but the ghost wouldnât actively make way.
The ghost, whose features were blurred and wore red clothing, was still slowly ascending. Its size, not particularly large, stood in the middle of the staircase, blocking the way. To get past, one had to either squeeze by forcefully like Yang Jian or cross over fearlessly above the ghostâs head. As for whether such a nearly direct encounter would lead to an attack, there was no choice in the matter.
The sinister footsteps behind them, in some respects, posed a greater danger than the ghost in the painting.
Approaching the ghost in the painting might not necessarily lead to an attack, but after the footsteps came near, death was certain. Yang Jian couldnât stop it himself.
At this moment, Li Yang, struggling, tried to squeeze past from one side of the ghost painting. He dared not do it himself, but the Ghost Shadow was controlling his body so that he had no way to act on his own. Despite the terror, his body involuntarily drew closer to the ghost before him.
An icy feeling seemed to seep through his entire body. He smelled the scent of old oil paint, and the ghost before him was not like the dead as he imagined, but more like an ambulatory old painting.
In the midst of their squeezing and touching, he made actual contact with the ghost.
He didnât feel the cold body beneath the red clothes, but rather it was as if he were touching a piece of paper with something missing inside, just an empty husk of a body.
In the meantime, Jimmy was lifted by the Ghost Shadow in an attempt to flip over the ghostâs head. He couldnât struggle; the Ghost Shadow was like hauling a corpse.
The two of them forced their way past the ghost in such a simple and direct fashion.
But the footsteps from behind had already arrived. Judging by the sound from the wooden staircase, they were right behind the two men, very close to the ghost in the painting, probably only a distance of about three steps.
This proximity was dangerously close; it was very likely they were about to be attacked by that terrifying sound of footsteps.
The encounter of the two ghosts on the staircase seemed to trigger some unpredictable change.
At that moment,
The ascending ghostâs footsteps suddenly stopped, no longer continuing upward as if something invisible ahead had blocked its path.
Similarly, the footsteps stopped then, halting as if on a particular step and not continuing the pursuit.
Or perhaps the footsteps were likewise blocked by the ghost in the painting.
At this moment, the two forces seemed to be locked in a standoff, neither giving way, confronting each other on the narrow staircase in an incomprehensible manner.
Yang Jianâs Ghost Shadow seemed to be disrupted, as if an invisible supernatural power was intervening in everything around. The Ghost Shadow that had originally stood up was now trembling and distorting, and eventually, he could not entirely control it.
âBang!â
Li Yang and Jimmy, who had just passed by the side of the ghost, fell from the Ghost Shadow, crashing heavily onto the steps below, and tumbled down.
Fortunately, the staircase was not high. Although they fell hard, at least they didnât fall unconscious or receive any fatal injuries.
âQuick, get up and leave this building.â
Yang Jian had already saved them once, and now, without any hesitation, he retreated. Only when he reached the road behind him did the twisted Headless Ghost Shadow at his feet return to normal.
âThe ghosts have stopped moving?â He then stared intently at the ghosts on the stairs inside the building.
He knew that the disappearance of footsteps and the cessation of the ghostâs movements meant some change, but he dared not assert what the outcome would be.
âWait, somethingâs not rightâŠâ
Suddenly, Yang Jian saw the initially blurry figure of the ghost, which had been facing away from him, starting to become clearer, and he could even see the appearance of its feet, which before had been just a vague outline.
Everything looked as though the ghost was gradually becoming more real.
âCould the footsteps on the staircase have become a part of this ghostâs puzzle?â
Immediately realizing something, his expression changed drastically.
Ghost puzzles didnât require specifics, just like the Hungry Ghost, which at first was just a blackish-green baby, but after assembling its puzzle, it turned into a fearsome dead person wrapped in a funeral shroud⊠The image would change according to the pieces of the puzzle it received.
The ghost in the painting was now undergoing some kind of transformation.
âIf the footsteps on the staircase really became a piece of this ghostâs puzzle, as I suspected, then this becomes even more troublesome.â
The ghost painting alone had already decimated a team of foreign ghost handlers; if the triggered and deadly footsteps were added to it, the terror level of this ghost would rise even further. Ordinary ghost handlers would get killed just by approaching it, not to mention that the ghost painting itself had another unknown killing rule.
As the ghost began to change, Li Yang and Jimmy also staggered to their feet at this moment. They had not yet steadied themselves when they ran out in panic, trying to get as far away from the buildingâand the ghost on the staircaseâas possible at the fastest speed.
âItâs time to leave.â
Upon seeing them run out, Yang Jian immediately said.
Now it wasnât about how dangerous the ghosts here were, but rather, finding a way to leave. He had located the Source Ghost and even made direct contact with it, and could be very certain that this ghost was unlike the others.
The best proof was that it couldnât be suppressed with just one quota.
Finding a way to complete the transaction of the Ghost Cabinet was the purpose of this trip.
Instantly.
The three of them started evacuating without looking back, moving swiftly and running, including Yang Jian, especially now as his Ghost Domain was being suppressed.
However, Yang Jianâs physical abilities displayed now were already beyond normal. He had long exceeded the limits of the living, so he could run very fast and without feeling any fatigue. If he didnât consider the breakdown of his body, he could keep running like this indefinitely.
But the two men behind him were clearly lacking in stamina. Driven by fear, they managed to get away from the building as if injected with adrenaline, but eventually, they were so exhausted they almost collapsed on the ground, gasping for air.
âThereâs no time for you to rest. Up ahead is where you were hiding before. While that ghost has not yet appeared, itâs best you take this chance. I wonât wait for you too long. If you delay, Iâll leave first,â Yang Jian said, looking at them seriously.
âI understand.â
Li Yang seemed to have undergone some change in his body after becoming a ghost handler; he caught his breath a bit faster and immediately ran back to their previous hiding spot.
Yang Jian took a glance but was more concerned about the direction they had come from.
The staircase wouldnât stop the ghost for long, and since this was inside a ghost painting, it meant the ghost could appear at any moment.
Therefore, until he had completely left the place, Yang Jian wouldnât let his guard down.
Time passed by bit by bit.
In less than five minutes, a group of panicked survivors ran towards them from the nearby building. There were more people than before, and although they were somewhat disorganized, their actions were surprisingly unifiedâthey were quiet and stayed together.
In a sense, these people have all been vetted by supernatural incidents; surviving up till now isnât merely a matter of luck.
âBased on our previous deal, since youâve led the way and found the ghostâs location for me, I will now lead you out of here. There may be dangers along the way, but donât expect anyone to save you, because no one can survive in front of a ghost, so youâll have to rely on your own luck.â
Yang Jian gave them a glance and issued a warning in advance.
Li Yang immediately translated what was just said.
Everyone was silent, no objections raised, which was taken as silent consent.
âVery well, then letâs move immediately.â Yang Jian glanced again at the people, but David, the man from before, was not among them.
He had been kicked by Yang Jian, and although not dead, he probably couldnât move anymore.
And at this time, no one was willing to carry a burden.
David had been abandoned.
A perfectly normal decision; back when Yang Jian had encountered the Hungry Ghost incident, his classmates did the same. Nobody cared about others, and it was already considered nice if you didnât sabotage someone else while escaping.
Without another word, Yang Jian started running towards the exit they had used to enter this place.
A large group of people followed behind him.
âOh, shit.â
Jimmy, still out of breath, saw that they had to run again and couldnât help but curse, his face covered in sweat.
But Yang Jian hadnât gone far before he realized that something was off.
When he had first arrived, he entered another ghost painting scenario without spending much time, but now, the distance seemed to have increased, or perhaps the background of the ghost painting had expanded. The once short road now eerily stretched out a great distance.
âThe size of that foreign city hasnât changed; itâs the same as before. What has changed is the piece of the Big J City backdrop in the ghost painting; the city has expanded⊠Could it be that the ghost painting incident has worsened in this period?â Although Yang Jian sensed something was wrong, he didnât stop running.
This was the clumsiest but the only way to leave the ghost painting.
âItâs not that it got bigger, but that weâve entered another ghost painting,â he thought.
Yang Jian counted in his mind, he had encountered three ghost paintings since coming to see Li Yang; the first was the one hung in the villa, the second was Big J City, and Li Yang was in the third.
But now the fourth ghost painting had appeared during this time and filled in the gap between the first and second paintings.
Thatâs why their sense of distance had changed.
âYang Jian, weâre in trouble; that, that ghost is following us.â
However, it was at this time that Li Yang suddenly sped up to the front, trembling as he pointed behind them.
âWhat?â
Yang Jian in the front hadnât been paying attention to what was happening behind, but Li Yangâs warning made him look back.
He immediately saw a peculiar red figure standing rigidly in the middle of the road about three to four hundred meters away, but the figure didnât stand there long before it began to walk towards them. Although its steps were slow, it was closing in quickly.
This was its Ghost Domain. Never mind if it walks slowly; even if it stands still, it could appear right in front of you the next moment.
âSomeone unlucky in the crowd has caught the ghostâs attention,â Yang Jian realized immediately where the problem lay.
Ghosts donât follow you for no reason; they arenât that bored. Once a ghost follows, it suggests a possibility: someone has met the ghostâs criteria for killing, so it has appeared.
âWhoâs been targeted? Is it Jimmy or Li Yang, who had previous contact with the ghost, or is the ghost coming for me?â Yang Jian immediately looked towards the two of them.
The likelihood of these survivors being targeted was slim; if they were, they would have died long ago, not lingering until now.
Therefore, he believed that the three of them had a higher probability of being targeted.
âIf Iâm the one being targeted, then continuing to run is meaningless. Sooner or later, Iâll be attacked,â Yang Jian stopped, then grabbed Li Yang standing beside him, while Ghost Shadow left behind Jimmy.
âYou two stop with me. The ghost is very likely coming for us. Li Yang, tell the other survivors to keep running and not to stop.â
He made a judgment.
The survivors were running slowly; they wouldnât get far in one or two minutes. He had to shake off the ghost following them within these couple of minutes, then catch up with the group and leave this place.
âUs again?â Li Yang almost cried this time.
He thought he was finally going to leave this place unharmed, but an unexpected event occurred just at the critical moment.
He had no choice; he couldnât escape Yang Jianâs grip on his own, after all, he knew where the exit was.
âDonât be too nervous. Perhaps itâs just another ghost from the ghost painting. If itâs the Source Ghost coming for me, then I will dismember it right here,â Yang Jian said with a stern face, somehow a rust-covered, eerie firewood knife had appeared in his hand.
He always carried this firewood knife, just without a suitable opportunity to use it.
He still had one quota left to suppress a ghost, which to some extent could be used once more without cost.
After the third time, he did not know what kind of consequences he would face the fourth time, but he understood that the cost would be enormous, possibly even life-threatening.
But now, he could not concern himself with that anymore.
If he had been targeted, he definitely couldnât get out because this was the Ghost Domain of the ghost painting, which could trap a person completely and attack incessantly. Under such circumstances, no one could withstand. A foreign team couldnât bear it and was wiped out.
So, Yang Jian decided not to drag it out. The curse of the Eight-Tone Music Box echoed in his mind, and time was very important to him.
âWe three saw it just now in the corridor, came into contact with the ghost. The conditions are the same for all, so thereâs a one-in-three chance Iâm targeted. Indeed, there wasnât enough time, the footsteps on the stairs didnât hold the ghost back for long. If we had managed to delay a bit longer, we might have been able to leave here safely,â Yang Jian thought to himself.
Li Yang said, âIâve already told the others to run quickly, but what do we do now? We canât stop that thing.â
âWe donât need to stop it, just lure it away. The ghost may not be fixating on all of us, possibly just one among us. I guess the ghostâs target is one of us three, so we need to act separately.â
Yang Jian said calmly, âYou stand on the right side of the road, Jimmy on the left, and Iâll stand in the middle. Letâs see who the ghost has fixated on. Regardless of which one of you two is targeted, you must stay here and not leave, or youâll doom everyone.â
Li Yang looked up in shock, his face filled with disbelief.
âDonât look at me like that. Do you think you can be saved if youâre targeted?â Yang Jian said, âTranslate that for Jimmy next to you.â
âAnd what if you, Mister Yang, are the one being targeted? Then we canât all get out,â Li Yang swallowed nervously and asked.
Yang Jian replied, âIâll try to fight it. If I succeed, Iâll be fine. If I fail, I can only show you a way out. After that, itâs up to you.â
Of course, the chances of him failing were slim.
With the eerie firewood knife in his hand and the replacement doll he carried, dying wasnât so easy here. He just had to pay a certain price.
Li Yang didnât ask anything more and immediately relayed the current situation to Jimmy.
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