Mysterious Revival

Yang Jian left the courtyard he had just visited and hurried to the next location with abnormalities. His Ghost Domain had once covered a large part of the city, so he vaguely remembered many places. However, he was acting more discreetly today. He didn't display such a high profile by covering the entire town with his Ghost Domain, lest headquarters thought he was up to his old tricks again.

He didn't want to be troubled or trouble others, so he searched quietly.

This time, Yang Jian arrived at a residential community.

The community wasn't large, and although the buildings had been renovated, they still looked quite old—typical low-rise apartment blocks with staircases.

"There's a problem here too, and it hasn't been sealed off, which means no responsible person has come by. It's an abnormal place that hasn't been discovered." Yang Jian stood at the bottom of an apartment building.

He looked up.

His Ghost Eye revealed abnormalities, not daring to look directly at a certain room on the fourth floor, he immediately closed his eyes.

"Another ghost painting?" Yang Jian mused.

He surveyed his surroundings.

He found that the community wasn't affected, meaning that the ghost painting had not yet formed a Ghost Domain, unlike the one he encountered in Miao Xiaoshan's bedroom. This was good news for him.

If it hasn't formed a Ghost Domain, it meant the ghost painting wasn't very dangerous and could easily be contained without much effort.

"Let's go up and take a look."

Yang Jian was not afraid, just cautious. In front of the ghost painting, his Ghost Eye was completely useless. He was utterly suppressed and unable to retreat timely, risk being trapped remained.

Quickly,

He climbed the stairs and reached Room 401 on the fourth floor.

"Indeed, no Ghost Domain has formed, not even this floor is affected. People still live above and below." Yang Jian heard the voices of residents above.

It had to be said that these residents were very lucky.

Separated by just one level, because of the ghost painting's uniqueness, they hadn't come into contact with the paranormal and hadn't been targeted by the ghost painting, allowing them to continue living normally.

The door to Room 401 was locked, but for Yang Jian, breaking in had become second nature.

Soon, the door was open.

Yang Jian glanced inside; it was dimly lit, no stench of decay wafted out, nor any cold or eerie feeling. The darkness was merely due to the lights being off.

He didn't hesitate, walked straight in, and then turned on the lights.

With the living room lighting up, he could finally see inside clearly.

There was no surprise.

In the living room, he saw a painting, a huge oil painting.

Beside the oil painting lay a canvas that must have been used to cover it previously.

Yang Jian moved closer, standing in front of the oil painting, he took a look at it. The painting depicted a woman dressed in European-style red clothing. Her features were blurred, as if she was smiling or perhaps snooping on everything in the room, creating an indescribably strange sensation.

Yet the background of this oil painting differed from the ones at headquarters. The background of this oil painting depicted the scene of this community.

In the gloomy and oppressive setting, the small community buildings were hidden within, dilapidated and desolate, as if uninhabited by the living, turning what could be a highly artistic composition into something eerie.

"The woman in the ghost painting isn't stretching out her hands," Yang Jian observed. The woman's hands in the ghost painting were still pale but did not reach out of the painting.

It seemed all the abnormalities had vanished. The painting appeared completely normal.

But there was another detail that Yang Jian noticed.

It was a dark, inconspicuous corner on the painting.

In that corner lay a corpse that had been dead for days, distinctly out of place against the painting's backdrop. The body lay curled and twisted on the floor, head tilted back, revealing a face sunk with deep fear.

Yang Jian's gaze shifted slightly, "The person in the ghost painting is a resident of this house. Because they lived alone, no one paid attention when the ghost painting killed them... This suggests that the ghost painting doesn't kill through direct means, nor does it kill everyone who has seen it."

He stood before the ghost painting without being attacked.

"However, seeing the ghost painting must be one of the conditions for being killed. That explains why this painting has been here so long without anyone nearby being attacked. If no one enters this room, I suppose the ghost painting will never kill again."

Yang Jian thought for a moment and decided to move the ghost painting.

They had discussed ghost paintings at the headquarters meeting.

The backgrounds in the ghost paintings seemed to be connected. If one could enter one of the ghost paintings, they might be able to find the source within.

So, all Yang Jian needed was to collect one ghost painting as a breakthrough.

He immediately picked up the canvas from the ground to cover the ghost painting, preventing it from being spied upon by others, which could lead to some unforeseen changes.

Yang Jian carried the ghost painting downstairs.

At the bottom of the stairs, two people were making their way up, and the three of them met in the corridor.

"Is it you? Yang Jian?"

Suddenly, one of the two seemed to recognize Yang Jian, speaking in a tone of surprise, with an expression of disbelief on his face.

Um?

Yang Jian glanced over and noticed it was a woman wearing sunglasses. However, he was sure he did not know her.

After all, in this city, there are very few people he knows.

"Who are you?" Yang Jian stopped in his tracks, staring at her.

The woman hurriedly removed her sunglasses, her expression complicated as she said, "My name is Su Qing, we met on the plane before. Although your attitude wasn't friendly last time, Mister Yang, I still want to thank you."

"Plane?" Yang Jian thought for a moment.

He seemed to have some recollection.

The female passenger who was attacked by the Ghost Hand?

"I remember now, you're that woman who almost died? Compared to last time, your attitude seems much better—it really is true that a setback builds character," Yang Jian said, his face still cold. "But no need to thank me, I haven't done anything worth your gratitude. I was just carrying out a mission."

Having said that, he was ready to leave.

Exchanging greetings with a woman he had seen just once was enough; there was no need to waste more time.

"Hey, buddy, my girlfriend just thanked you, and this is your attitude? Seems pretty disrespectful to me," said a physically fit man standing next to her, frowning disapprovingly.

Yang Jian glanced at him, then at Su Qing, "It seems you are cautious enough not to spread the incident from last time. That is definitely to your benefit. But when you have time, teach your boyfriend there are some people whom, no matter how annoying or rude they are, you must tolerate."

"Because it's in your own best interest, and also, don't waste my time, I'm very busy."

"I'm sorry, Mister Yang, I really am," Su Qing apologized hastily, tugging on her boyfriend's arm, indicating that he should not provoke the man before them.

Because the man known as Yang Jian was indeed dangerous, and even more frightful.

Yang Jian didn't respond, just took the ghost painting and continued downstairs.

Once he was gone, the man couldn't help but curse, "What the hell, that attitude was really nasty, completely ignoring us. Su Qing, if you hadn't held me back, I would never have let it rest with that guy."

"Don't say anymore, he's not someone we can afford to offend," Su Qing said, somewhat annoyed, fearing that her clueless boyfriend might cause trouble.

"What's so intimidating about him? Is his family rich or something?"

Su Qing didn't know how to explain; she also didn't dare to talk about the plane incident everywhere, to avoid trouble.

"Let's go home, forget about what just happened. It was an accident; we won't run into someone like Yang Jian again."

"Hold on."

But just as Su Qing had taken half a flight of stairs, she suddenly stopped in her tracks, her expression turning to one of sheer panic, trembling slightly.

"Quickly, let's leave this place."

Her voice filled with urgency, she grabbed her boyfriend and turned to head downstairs.

"What is going on all of a sudden?" her boyfriend asked, clearly puzzled and concerned by her abnormal behavior.

Why Su Qing acted like this was because she realized something terrifying: why was Yang Jian here?

Could it be that this housing complex was also haunted?

And when leaving, Yang Jian seemed to be carrying something, shrouded in white cloth—it appeared to be something special.

"We can't stay in this neighborhood any longer..." Su Qing felt a chill go down her spine.

Because she had been living in this troubled building for several days already.