Resurrection of Zhang Ze

Having dealt with the matters in the World in the Painting.

Zhang Ze completely shut the door.

After all, the Door-After World was a realm filled with bloodshed and despair. After Zhang Ze stitched together the Ghost Hands, he had not fully controlled the Door-After World. He had merely gained complete control over the door, as well as Lingling's unique crows.

He returned from the Door-After World to reality.

The first thing Zhang Ze heard was a group of people chattering, followed by Mrs. Zhou's sobs.

"My son went missing, but this young man helped me find him. I'm so grateful to him, but I truly don't know how he died. My husband died too—it was all that painting's doing!"

"Ma'am, please calm down. We're only conducting a preliminary investigation."

"I know. I'll tell you everything, but please deal with that painting. It killed my husband, nearly killed my son, and now it has killed Zhang Ze."

"But ma'am, this is a classic locked-room murder case. Other than you, no one else entered this bedroom."

Slowly opening his eyes, Zhang Ze felt the floor beneath his back, cold and hard. He was actually lying on the ground, while a young masked officer beside him was preparing a stretcher to carry him to the vehicle.

When he saw Zhang Ze open his eyes.

He froze as if he had seen a ghost.

"Holy shit!!"

"The dead guy came back to life!!"

The young officer was so frightened that he dropped onto the floor.

Zhang Ze sat up and looked around. The bedroom was full of police officers, the scene had been cordoned off, and Mrs. Zhou was holding Little Zhou as she cried.

Li Sanbao had a small notebook tucked under his arm and appeared to be gathering information. When he saw Zhang Ze rise from the floor, his face was equally stunned. He stared blankly for a long while before finally forcing out a sentence.

"Are you... human or a ghost?"

"Obviously human. Where are there ghosts in this world?"

Zhang Ze sprang to his feet. "See? Aren't I perfectly fine? I can run, I can jump, nothing's wrong with me, and I've got a great appetite!"

Li Sanbao wore a strange expression.

Half an hour earlier, he had received a report that another person had died in an affluent neighborhood in the Western Outskirts.

He remembered the address. The Police Station had responded there just a week ago. The husband of a family of three had suddenly died, with no wounds anywhere on his body. Rumor had it that he had been killed by a cursed oil painting.

They had investigated for a while but found no clues, so the matter had been dropped.

And now, in the very same place, Zhang Ze had died too.

Of course Li Sanbao remembered Zhang Ze. They had met at the West Suburbs Peace Hotel yesterday, yet in the blink of an eye, something had happened.

After arriving at the scene, they examined the body.

Zhang Ze's body had been cold, without a pulse or breath for a long time. The cause of death could not be determined. It might have been poisoning, cardiac arrest, or some other cause of sudden death.

His death was exactly the same as Old Zhou's.

Two people from the same household had died in succession within a single week?

This was no longer something a simple accident could explain.

"Why are you all looking at me like that?"

"Is a dead person coming back to life really that strange? It's not like science can't explain it!"

Zhang Ze looked as though they were making a fuss over nothing.

Li Sanbao could no longer hold it together.

Dude, you were already lying flat on the slab. They were about to send you to the morgue and start the cremation process, and now you were telling him you had come back to life?

"Uh, strictly speaking, there is a scientific basis for the dead returning to life. There have been reports of people entering physiological suspended animation, then regaining their heartbeat and breathing during the wake and coming back to life."

"That's why folk tradition requires a body to be kept for seven days after death—to avoid cases of suspended animation."

"Records of the Three Kingdoms, Book of Wu also recorded that Chen Jiao of Wu died and emerged from the ground seven days later, so it isn't particularly difficult to explain."

An older officer beside Li Sanbao adjusted his glasses and spoke in a somewhat unsettled tone.

"Fine, even if that's the case, you still need to explain what happened. Otherwise, you died for no reason and then came back to life. It'll be hard for us to write up the incident report when we return." Li Sanbao looked at Zhang Ze.

Zhang Ze thought for a moment.

"Just write that I stayed up late, went running, ate a popsicle, and my heart temporarily stopped before recovering."

Of course, he had made that excuse up on the spot.

He was not even sure whether his current state technically counted as being alive.

He had already died once.

It was only because, after dying, he had turned the tables and "mastered" Lingling's supernatural power that he had succeeded in borrowing a corpse to return to reality.

Li Sanbao stared at Zhang Ze for a while.

After confirming that he was no different from how he remembered him.

"Fine. We'll wrap up and head out."

"Don't forget that Wang Qi from Peaceful Apartment is still on the run. That guy is an unstable factor. He must be dealt with as soon as possible."

Li Sanbao ordered the team to withdraw.

When Zhang Ze heard that.

He immediately understood what had happened.

It seemed Chen Ge's progress that night had gone quite smoothly as well.

Now that Peaceful Apartment had been successfully dealt with, it was time for Zhang Ze's haunted house and Chen Ge's haunted house to clash head-on.

Chen Ge's Peaceful Apartment.

Zhang Ze's Crow's Nest.

Which was better would be decided by the visitors!

The police team left. Zhang Ze saw Mrs. Zhou holding Little Zhou, and Little Zhou waved at him.

"Big brother! You're back!"

"Will big sister still come teach me how to draw?"

"She will. As long as you want her to, she can come find you anytime." Zhang Ze smiled. "I'm the owner of a haunted house. You're welcome to find me at Western Suburbs New Century Amusement Park in Hanjiang City."

When Mrs. Zhou heard the words "haunted house," she seemed to recall something. "I once went to that haunted house with Old Zhou. I think the owner was surnamed Chen. Are you an employee there?"

"No, I'm that haunted house's gravedigger."

Morning.

New Century Amusement Park, Western Outskirts of Hanjiang City.

"Please wait a moment, everyone. The boss will be here soon. You can visit the amusement park's other attractions first." Xu Wan maintained order outside the haunted house.

"Cut the crap. We all watched that livestream last night. We want to see him alive, or see his body if he's dead!"

"Exactly! If we don't get to see him, watch out—we'll report you for false advertising!"

"False advertising? Did that look staged to you? That was obviously a real psychopathic Killer. This haunted house owner is ruthless. I won't feel right unless I come show my support!"

The discussion grew louder and louder. Uncle Xu joined in as well, helping Xu Wan maintain order.

They all knew what had happened the night before.

Chen Ge had started another livestream. Inside Peaceful Apartment, he had put on a game of cat and mouse and exposed the massacre that had taken place there years ago.

Such realistic sensory stimulation.

Naturally attracted a group of visitors who loved a spectacle.

They had bought tickets early in the morning and waited outside the haunted house, looking as though they would not rest until they saw Chen Ge.

"Whoosh!"

Chen Ge pulled open the barrier and stepped forward with a radiant smile, his face glowing with the warmth of spring. "Sorry to keep everyone waiting. Haunted house admission is twenty per person, couples get twenty percent off, and everyone is welcome. Please line up."

After chatting with his viewers about what had happened the night before.

Chen Ge appeared calm on the surface, but inwardly, he was immensely proud.

He had completed Peaceful Apartment's trial mission and obtained Wang Qi's missing-person notice, thereby unlocking a new scenario: Midnight Escape.

That was Peaceful Apartment.

The Black Phone had recreated Peaceful Apartment inside the haunted house at a one-to-one scale. It had also rewarded him with a Skull-Crushing Doctor uniform. His haunted house was now on the right track.

Among the crowd, he spotted several familiar faces.

He Shan, Gao Ruxue, and several students wearing Hanjiang Forensic Medicine College uniforms.