Signs of Trouble

A scream escaped Li Yao's lips, trembling and revealing intense terror, sounding somewhat hysterical.

However, the scream did not bring Yang Jian to his senses; instead, it startled the nearby residents.

Many people turned to look at Li Yao, their eyes filled with a strange expression, seemingly curious as to why this woman was reacting so strongly.

The others were no longer as alarmed as they had been at the moment when they saw the person standing up with a picture frame on their head.

Since this person is not dead, and can stand up, he must be alive.

As for ghosts or paranormal events, no one associated them with that at all; the concept didn't even cross anyone's mind.

"It was probably some kind of magic show, or maybe some kind of performance art. It was really scary! I genuinely thought it was a corpse." Someone commented while also letting out a sigh of relief.

"It shouldn't be, it doesn't look like it. The wound on the leg doesn't look fake; it's still bleeding."

"Perhaps it's a lifelike doll that some guy in the neighborhood abandoned."

The security guard immediately said, "I've already reported it to the police. For the safety of all residents, please don't approach. Whether it's a lifelike figure or a magic show, please wait for the police to handle it."

"Let me see what this thing is."

A daring person, out of curiosity, walked over, grabbed the picture frame, and shook it, seemingly trying to take it down.

It was just a slight sway.

The oil painting on the corpse's neck immediately fell off, but what was horrifying was that the corpse's head was gone, the neck was empty, and blood was constantly seeping from the severed area, filling the air with a strong smell of blood.

The oil painting that had fallen to the ground was now flipped over, revealing its front side.

The oil painting depicts a dim urban backdrop with towering buildings hidden in the gloom, their shapes and window outlines barely visible. The overall tone is oppressive and dark. In the center of the painting is a wide road, and on the road stands a woman with indistinct features.

The woman's clothing style is not from this era; it seems to be European in style, yet also has some Chinese Republican-era influences.

The figures in the painting are blurry and indistinct, which seems to be the style of this type of oil painting. However, the only unusual thing is that the woman's hands in this oil painting are exceptionally clear, as if they were three-dimensional and lifelike, as if they really had hands growing out of the painting.

Besides, in an inconspicuous corner of this oil painting.

A head with a modern hairstyle appeared eerily there, out of place in the oil painting, as if it were an extra addition.

However, no one seems to be paying attention to these details now.

The onlookers were startled and involuntarily backed away, staring in horror at the headless corpse with blood gushing from its neck.

Because no matter how you look at it, it doesn't look like a lifelike human, and it's definitely not some kind of performance art.

What kind of performance involves someone without a head?

But they were only afraid of the corpse itself; they couldn't comprehend the immense horror that would follow its appearance.

At this moment, Li Yao had already escaped.

Her face was pale. She called out Yang Jian's name as she ran frantically toward the building where Yang Jian had entered. Although she was wearing high heels and couldn't run very fast, and even twisted her ankle a few times, she couldn't care less about that at this moment.

If you are targeted by a ghost, it's not just a matter of twisting your ankle; it could be fatal.

In the face of a real ghost, an ordinary person's chances of survival are even lower than those of an insect.

Whew! Whew!

Panting heavily, Li Yao didn't even take the elevator, but ran up the stairs, still calling Yang Jian's name, hoping to get a response from Yang Jian.

But only her voice echoed in the empty hallway, as if Yang Jian wasn't there.

Li Yao didn't think that much about it. She only knew that she was safe only if she found Yang Jian. Without the protection of the Ghost Tamer, her life was not guaranteed.

The power unleashed in his panic was quickly exhausted.

When Li Yao reached the tenth floor, she was so exhausted that she could barely lift her legs. Her face was covered in sweat, and even breathing felt painful.

She swore she had never been so tired in her life.

Finally.

Li Yao saw Yang Jian's figure from the window of the eleventh-floor corridor.

"Yang, Yang Jian. Thank goodness, I finally found you! Something's happened, this neighborhood's been haunted!"

She was panting heavily, her speech incoherent.

"I saw it." Yang Jian remained standing still, his gaze looking down at the buildings in the residential area.

He could still make out the surrounding residents, the headless corpse that had started moving, and the oil painting lying on the ground, even though they were quite far away.

But at this moment, Yang Jian's Ghost Eye closed again, much to his dismay.

It seems to be frozen and completely unusable.

"It's exactly the same as last time; Ghost Eye still can't look directly at the ghost painting." Yang Jian frowned slightly.

He rarely encountered such an anomaly, but this also indicated that this thing posed a significant threat to him.

"Yang Jian, what do we do now? Let's go quickly, I don't want to die here." Even before the attack, Li Yao was already terrified, nervously grabbing Yang Jian's arm.

Yang Jian slowly turned his head. "What are you afraid of? None of the residents who were watching the commotion died, so you'll definitely be fine too. If that thing really wanted to kill, it would have started already. The reason only one person died is because the others didn't fit its killing pattern."

"What did you see downstairs just now? Are you sure it was a ghost drawing?"

He was too far away. Although the Ghost Eye's reaction had already given him the answer, he still needed to confirm it himself.

Li Yao seemed calmer now. She swallowed and took a breath. "I don't know much. I only saw a painting, an oil painting. The painting was on the corpse's head, but the head on the corpse was gone, as if it had been eaten by the painting."

"Can oil paintings kill?" Yang Jian's expression shifted slightly. "Then it's definitely a ghost painting."

He had read the files on the ghost paintings. At the beginning of the Ghost Painting Incident, many people mysteriously disappeared, occasionally leaving behind some mutilated corpses. Apart from that, there was a common point at each scene: an oil painting was present.

"What's painted on the canvas?" he asked again.

Li Yao hesitated and said, "I was so scared that I ran away. I didn't see anything."

"Is that so?" Yang Jian pondered.

"Will I be alright? Could it be that I've been targeted by the ghost painting too?" Li Yao asked cautiously.

Yang Jian, "I don't know. Ghost Painting's killing patterns are still undetermined. Perhaps they are, but the intelligence Headquarters hasn't figured them out yet. If they did, they would definitely reveal it. There's no need for me to hide it from you. You don't need to be so nervous. The chances of Ghost Painting targeting you are not high."

He had encountered the ghost painting before when he was in Dachang City, and he was fine then; otherwise, he would have died long ago.

Hearing Yang Jian say that, Li Yao breathed a slight sigh of relief.

"It seems the hidden dangers of the failed operation the day before yesterday have surfaced. This is really a headache. Of all places, the ghost painting appeared in the city. If this is not handled properly, it could become another Starvation Ghost Incident."

"Let's go down and see; some people should be arriving soon."

Yang Jian could already see several coordinates rapidly approaching this location on his satellite positioning phone.

Clearly, the people at Headquarters have received the message and will be here to handle it shortly.

When he took the elevator down, several special vehicles were already parked in the community.

The residents who were watching have been taken away, and the area has been placed under quarantine.

The group that arrived included Chen Yi, Jiang Shangbai, and Zhang Lei, who was temporarily transferred from the Ping An Hotel, forming a temporary team of three Ghost Tamer.

However, Yang Jian knew all of them.

"Yang Jian, you're here too? Headquarters sent you here too?" Zhang Lei was surprised when he saw Yang Jian walk out of a building.

Chen Yi and Jiang Shangbai also turned around to look.

"I was just passing by and happened to run into you. How is it? Is it serious?" Yang Jian greeted him.

"I'm new here too, so I'm not too sure. Chen Yi should know about this." Zhang Lei shook his head; he was just temporarily filling in to increase manpower.

Chen Yi didn't approach the ghostly painting, but said in a deep voice, "It's not serious yet, but there are already signs. This painting isn't the first one we've found today. The other two people in charge have dealt with similar cases. We've collected at least three or four such oil paintings. Nobody knows how this thing appeared. It feels like an invisible curse, and it's starting to spread."

"However, the situation was brought under control relatively quickly, and the losses were not significant. So, are you interested in this matter?"

Yang Jian, "Who would be interested in this? I just personally think it's very dangerous. After all, it's classified as S-class paranormal event overseas, so it must have some terrifying aspects. You guys should be careful when you're handling things. I won't get involved."

Having said that, he had no intention of lingering there and turned to leave.

Chen Yi didn't stop him, since Yang Jian hadn't received any missions and could ignore the matter.

Jiang Shangbai, standing to the side, looked at Li Yao next to Yang Jian with slight concern.

Why was Li Yao by Yang Jian's side at this time?

"Pack up the painting and take it with you, then clean up the scene," Chen Yi instructed his entourage to begin.

Yang Jian fell into deep thought, "There's more than one ghost painting? So, does that mean this suddenly appearing oil painting isn't the real source of the supernatural phenomenon, and the real terrifying ghost painting is still hidden somewhere unknown?"

"Now a lot of people will probably be unable to sleep."

Although the Ghost Painting Incident has not yet unfolded, the very emergence of this trend is enough to instill fear.