The Fallen Portrait

After exploring for so long, Li Jun and his group thought that although they had not successfully completed their plan, they had still created some hope.

There are only so many households in this village. As long as you're lucky, finding the Ghost Messenger shouldn't be too difficult, provided that nothing goes wrong at the ghost painting site.

But what no one expected was that many unbelievable and bizarre things were discovered in this house, which was suspected to be haunted.

A series of tattered and incomplete paper figures.

Each paper figure resembled Liu San, with a sallow complexion, lifeless eyes, and a lingering expression of fear and disbelief. This dead appearance appeared particularly eerie under the green ghost fire of Li Jun.

One, two, three, a total of five paper figures.

Liu San calculated for a moment with a serious expression.

"Five times, we've been to this house five times in total." His voice trembled slightly as he said this, because it was a terrifying scene he couldn't comprehend.

None of the paranormal cases I've handled before have undergone such an incredible transformation.

The others stared in silence at the five paper figures in the room, their expressions grave.

"Impossible, Liu San, your guess is definitely wrong. This is our first time here. We've never been here before. I remember it very clearly." Su Fan behind him immediately interrupted his conjecture.

Perhaps the familiar paper figure reminded Liu San of some terrifying truth.

However, he could not agree with Liu San's conjecture.

Liu San asked anxiously, "If we haven't been here, why are my paper figures left here? Every time I'm killed by a ghost, a paper figure dies in my place. There are five here, which means I've been killed by ghosts five times since I entered this place, but I haven't been killed even once before."

"Is there something wrong with our memories? Or did we encounter the Ghost Messenger before, but failed to imprison them, causing the Ghost Messenger to restart, and we are now repeatedly experiencing the same things?"

Restart?

The Ghost Messenger do indeed possess this strange ability.

However, this reboot only affects the Ghost Messenger himself and cannot affect others, let alone everyone's memories.

"Liu San, this is just speculation from your personal perspective. If we had been here, not only you, but we should have left some traces as well," Li Jun said calmly.

The others fell silent.

Although they found no trace of anyone in the house, the appearance of Liu San's five paper figures was extremely strange, as if something had really killed Liu San five times here, and their appearance now was the sixth time.

Did I really come here and trigger some kind of reboot of the ghost?

Or is there some other reason that led to this situation?

I can't understand it.

But Liu San's words reminded everyone of something.

"Let's retreat. Regardless of whether we've been here before, Huanggang Village has undergone changes we can't understand. These changes are extremely bad. If we don't leave now, we might not be able to leave at all." After a moment of silence, Su Fan put down his lit phone and offered a prudent suggestion.

"That makes sense. If Liu San's guess is true, then we can't even trust our own memories anymore. Imprisoning the Ghost Messenger has become a joke, and the ghost painting is still there," another man said.

Before he could finish speaking, he glanced outside again.

The sky remained a hazy gray, the world devoid of color and sound, creating a depressing and frightening atmosphere.

Ordinary people would be terrified to death if they came to this place, let alone trying to find a vengeful ghost in this unknown place.

The pressure they endured was unimaginable.

Li Jun is now facing a difficult decision.

This time he was leading the team, so he had to make the decision when there were disagreements on the choices.

Should we continue searching this horrific village, or leave now?

Every choice comes at a price. Leaving now means the mission has failed, but continuing could lead to the annihilation of the entire team.

The Ghost Painting Incident itself has a precedent of wiping out an entire team.

"It would be a shame to leave now. The ghost Ghost Domain of the Ghost Messenger messengers has been suppressed, and Professor Wang's plan has succeeded. Now all that's left is to pinpoint the location of the Ghost Messenger. We can resolve this S-class paranormal event. If we miss this opportunity, we will never have another chance, and we cannot afford to lose this time." Li Jun's expression changed, and he finally said through gritted teeth.

If it were anywhere else, evacuation would be fine.

But this place is different. The city not far behind us absolutely cannot be involved in supernatural events, otherwise the consequences will be ten times more serious than the Starvation Ghost Incident.

"Is this a desperate attempt to fight?"

The others felt a chill run down their spines upon seeing this.

It's clear from Li Jun's words that this time he's willing to risk his life to deal with the Ghost Messenger, even if it means sacrificing his entire team.

At this very moment.

Before anyone could argue, a clear footstep could be heard coming from the next room in the quiet environment.

The sound of footsteps silenced everyone instantly, and they all stared at the opposite side of the corridor.

None of the five people made a move.

But the sound of footsteps still echoed.

The voice was dull and stiff, lacking the lightness of a living person, like a walking corpse.

"Creak!"

The wooden door to the next room seemed to have been pushed open by something; the old hinges creaked and rattled, sending a shiver down everyone's spine.

Ghost!

The previous assessment was correct; the ghost is indeed on the second floor.

It was only because Liu San opened the first room and saw five dead paper figures that everyone's actions were affected; otherwise, why wouldn't they have checked the second room?

At this moment, everyone prepared themselves for an attack by a ghost.

However, the wooden door to the second room stopped halfway open.

By opening the door halfway, they could see nothing but darkness inside, and at the same time, the footsteps inside disappeared.

"I'll go." Liu San didn't speak, but simply gestured to the others before walking forward.

The distance is very short, no more than five meters. Just a few steps forward and you can open that half-closed wooden door.

Liu San was confident he could survive the ghost's attack. He was risking his life to gather information, since the ghost in the house might not be Ghost Messenger, and he couldn't use the same methods as those used against Ghost Messenger.

However, just as Liu San was about to act, Li Jun stopped him and shook his head.

"Why?" Liu San frowned and asked.

Li Jun, with a cold face, lit the ghost candle directly.

If Liu San's guess is true, and they had been here before, then will Liu San's actions this time also end here, like the previous ones where he had no memory of them, leaving behind a paper effigy?

If that's the case, then changing the course of action might influence the subsequent outcome.

Therefore, regardless of whether the reboot in the non-existent memory is real, Li Jun has to break the pattern of action.

The ghost candle is an item that ensures everyone's safety.

There's no reason to save now.

The next moment.

The ghost candle was lit, instantly dispelling the chilling and unsettling atmosphere around them.

"This burning speed is not right." But when Li Jun saw the burning speed of the ghost candle, his eyes narrowed.

The burning rate is very slow.

This speed doesn't seem like it's because there are ghosts around.

"Together."

Li Jun gave a low shout and rushed over instantly, kicking open the half-closed wooden door.

A tremendous sound echoed in the dark room.

The next moment, five people rushed in.

The ghost candle illuminated the darkness, giving them the confidence that they wouldn't be wiped out.

But when everyone rushed in, the dimly lit room was empty, except for some old furniture and some farm tools that hadn't been used for years.

"Nothing at all? How is that possible?" someone exclaimed.

I clearly heard footsteps and saw the door being pushed open.

"Thud!"

However, at this moment...

An old portrait hanging on the wall fell down.

It was a portrait of an old man. In rural areas, it's common for the elderly who die young to have their portraits kept at home.

The fallen portrait lay quietly on the ground.

Under the eerie candlelight, the image of an old man in the portrait became blurry and strange. The upper half of his face was shrouded in darkness and could not be seen clearly, but the lower half of his face seemed to be smiling. This smile seemed kind, but it revealed a kind of chilling terror.

Next to the portrait were some illegible words.

It seems to be about the elderly person's birth and death dates, children, grandchildren, and the like.