Yang Jian took action once more.
He set out with Zhou Ze, accompanied only by the two spirits, Yang Xiao and Zhang Xiangguang. The others were left at the Post Office.
âYang Jian, remember, here, no one is worth trusting. Theyâve agreed to the previous proposal, but thatâs all theyâve doneâagreed. Everyone has their own plans and thoughts. You must always be wary of them. If possible, erase them, remove them without hesitation.â
On the road, as they gradually moved farther along the winding path, Yang Xiao suddenly spoke after they had distanced themselves from the Ghost Post Office within the painting.
âWell said, you can never know what these dead might be planning or what kinds of plots they might be scheming. Be on guard; many fear not even death. Once chaos arises, they might become lawless.â
Beside them, Zhang Xiangguang nodded, agreeing with Yang Xiaoâs words.
The conversations earlier seemed smooth, yet it was only a choice without a choice.
But for those spirits, agreeing doesnât necessarily mean itâs the right choice.
They who lack life cannot rule, they must be vigilant, and sometimes use strong means to remove some unruly individuals.
âIs this the reason you got rid of them?â Yang Jian asked.
Yang Xiao replied calmly, âWhen encountering a real ghost, or at the right opportunity, some people wonât hold back and might directly kill you. Donât test their humanity or loyalty, for they are not truly human, so never give them a chance, not even a tiny bit.â
âSince thatâs the case, does that mean you two are also not trustworthy?â Yang Jian frowned and asked directly.
Yang Xiao said, âYes, neither I nor Zhang Xiangguang are trustworthy. I am Yang Xiao, not your real father. I am only doing what I must do; you do not need to trust me.â
He spoke very directly, even suggesting Yang Jian shouldnât trust himself.
This is a very harsh way of survival, as the dead are already dead, and those who live must continue on.
âI understand.â Yang Jian nodded thoughtfully.
Zhang Xiangguang was leading the way up front. Heâs very familiar with this area, having been trapped here for so long that he could recall clearly what each end of the divergent paths led toâwhether a path was dangerous or safeâalmost like having a complete map in his mind.
With such a spirit leading the way, a lot of unnecessary trouble was avoided along the journey.
However, Yang Jian didnât let his guard down, keeping his Ghost Eye open, observing the surroundings, ensuring the situation was safe.
Zhou Ze, silent and carrying a backpack, acted as a tool, not saying a word while he too remained alert, not lowering his guard.
On the road, Yang Jian questioned about other things: âEarlier at the Post Office, I found a dismembered body placed inside a glass jar, and now Iâve located four limbs but am missing one. Do you have any information?â
âThat body in the glass jar? Youâre not the only one who has attempted to gather it. I also tried before, but unfortunately, the last piece of the puzzle was never found. So, I left those four items in a room at the Post Office, hoping a future messenger might complete it, but now they all seem to have failed, so I speculated that perhaps the final piece of the puzzle is on the sixth floor of the Post Office or outside of it.â
Yang Xiao revealed some past experiences, admitting he was curious too but couldnât complete the task, thus abandoning it.
âIn my era, there wasnât such a dismembered body,â Zhang Xiangguang said.
During his time, earlier than Yang Xiao, the Post Office hadnât yet encountered that body during deliveries.
Its history seems not long, only around fifteen years or so.
âIâm not in a rush, just curious about the outcome. If I can find it, great; if not, it doesnât matter,â Yang Jian said. âItâs not that important to me, just inquiring.â
âBy the way, do you know that Sister Hong on the fifth floor of the Post Office?â
He inquired about Sister Hongâs information.
Yang Xiao said, âI donât know her. The only thing I can deduce is that sheâs a spirit who successfully achieved resurrection. Iâm not sure about the method, but itâs clear sheâs eroded a messengerâs body. If you can, take the opportunity to eliminate her, as resurrected spirits from the old era usually bring old people and affairs along, often leading to bad outcomes.â
âSheâs not easy to kill,â Yang Jian stated.
He knew Sister Hong was special, but eliminating her seemed notably challenging.
âBring her into the painting, there she can be killed,â Yang Xiao advised.
Yang Jian understood that using the power of these spirits within the painting, they could indeed kill someone like Sister Hong since these spirits retained certain supernatural powers from their lives.
âIt seems I must hurry to reclaim the ghost painting.â He found another reason for urgency.
However, Yang Jian secretly felt fortunate as he had retained a ghost painting when he left originally, which hadnât been discovered until now and could prove useful.
âThis way,â Zhang Xiangguang turned from the main road, heading down a side path.
At the end of the path was a sparse forest; the trees were not real, appearing bizarre and twisted, as if drawn. The surrounding environment suddenly became Black Night, but surprisingly, there was a moon overhead providing light, allowing visibility.
Yang Jian realized it was another painted world, not of portraits but hiding a fierce ghost.
âThere is a ghost there. The Sun Rui you mentioned should have entered, but later on he never came out,â Zhang Xiangguang said.
The group continued moving closer.
They were already standing at the edge of the Old Lin.
In the sparse forestâs center, the soil slightly bulged, where they saw a rigid, seemingly dead hand extending from the ground, grasping the sky as if someone had been buried alive and was struggling unwillingly to climb out from underground.
Yang Jianâs expression showed a slight change,
He didnât bring any supernatural weapons inside, so he couldnât act too recklessly and had to be a bit cautious.
âWhat is the pattern of this ghostâs killing? How can we avoid being targeted by this malevolent spirit?â Yang Jian asked directly without any courtesy.
These spirits have lived here for years, bored and monotonous, he didnât believe they wouldnât know the pattern of this ghostâs killings.
Yang Xiao explained, âBeneath this old forest is buried a malevolent spirit, which will drag living people alive into the soil and bury them. See those twisted trees? They are the transformed spirits here because we cannot die, so fighting against the supernatural created these twisted trees. They have no way to escape, and no way to die.â
Each tree represents a failed spirit.
Yang Jianâs eyelid twitched, at a glance at least a dozen spirits had been captured by the malevolent spirit.
âThe pattern of killing is simple, pay attention to the direction of that Ghost Handâs palm, do not face it directly, as once you face it directly, you will be targeted.â
Yang Xiao said confidently, having long understood the pattern of this ghostâs killings.
Yang Jian asked, âIs that all?â
âMore than that, the hand protruding from the soil can sense people around, and keeps changing position ceaselessly, requires constant attention, if one carelessly thinks thereâs nothing to worry about, then youâre not far from death.â
Zhang Xiangguang said, he clearly also understood the pattern of killings of the malevolent spirit here.
With two seasoned experts leading the way, it indeed alleviates quite a bit of pressure.
âSince we know now, letâs go in and take a look.â Yang Jian, being bold, directly stepped into the area with the malevolent spirit.
The ground was soft and cold, with each step feeling like it would sink.
He looked at those twisted strange trees, indeed, on those odd trees he saw a distorted and blurry human face, all composed of the tree barkâs textures, appearing extremely eerie.
Indeed.
Just as the two had said before.
Once a living person steps in, the malevolent spirit buried in the ground senses it.
That stiff dead hand protruding from the earth suddenly started creaking and moving, making slight sounds.
The terrifying hand was slightly twisting, as if the malevolent spirit had revived, ready to crawl up from the ground at any moment.
However, the ghost did not appear.
The hand twisted while also changing its position, but the position facing the palm remained without a living person, Yang Jian used his ghost eye to watch, adjusting his position in time, avoiding being targeted by the ghost.
âSeems like a simple killing pattern, if I didnât know, surely Iâd be attacked by this ghost, then it would be another troublesome affair.â
Yang Jian watched the ghostâs movements with his ghost eye while investigating the oil painting.
Soon.
Results were achieved.
Sun Rui indeed did not die here, because no traces were left behind, if Sun Rui had really died, surely some clue would remain behind.
âHeâs not here, surely passed through this forest, heading deeper.â Yang Jian said.
âThereâs a path ahead, continue forward, there are forks in the road, but need to search slowly.â Zhang Xiangguang pointed ahead.
This clearly wasnât the end of the fork, as there was another path here.
Soon.
Yang Jian followed that path out of here, avoiding further entanglement with the malevolent spirit.
Once he stepped outside.
He saw clues.
On the twisted path were several shoe prints stained with mud, one deep and one shallow, disappearing not far ahead, proving someone passed through this old forest not long ago and successfully got out.
âThe deep and shallow shoe prints indicate that the owner has a problem with their leg, limping, it should be the Sun Rui youâre looking for.â Yang Xiao said, frowning and looking forward.
Because there were ghosts ahead.
The malevolent spiritâs oil painting connects to other malevolent spirit paintings, and some depths are places even they havenât ventured, fearing once past they wonât come back, trapped within a painting.
But Yang Jian continued forward, he thought Sun Rui wouldnât go too far.
Because Sun Ruiâs ability and condition werenât enough to support him going far, heâll stop somewhere or perhaps die somewhere.
âKeep moving forward.â
Yang Jian remained expressionless, neither hesitating nor fearing.
Source: Webnovel.com, updated by novlove.com
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