The Figure That Appeared

Yang Jian wasn't careless; he was just a little anxious and wanted to resolve the matter as soon as possible while the ghost painting's impact was still relatively small, as that would be safer.

However, in his haste, he neglected to investigate the detail of the floor he had just visited, which led him to be deceived by the ghostly Ghost Domain depicted in the painting. Although this deception was not fatal, it could bring many negative consequences.

"Since we've come to the wrong floor, shouldn't we go back to the fourth floor immediately?" Wang Quan said.

Yang Jian replied, "Normally, that's not wrong, but since the ghost chose to hide the fifth floor, it definitely won't let us enter that floor easily. It probably won't be easy to get back to where we were before."

After saying that, he turned and left.

Staying on this floor would only waste time; he wasn't sure if the ghost painting's influence would grow over time.

When I returned to the stairwell, the stairs leading to the lower floor had mysteriously disappeared, as if no stairs had ever been built there, leaving only a smooth cement surface. Meanwhile, the stairs leading to the upper floor were still there.

However, this dormitory building only has six floors in total; above that is the roof.

So nobody knows where these stairs will actually lead, and nobody wants to go up them, just like the stairs that led to the depths of darkness before.

The stairs leading down have disappeared?

Wang Quan was taken aback, then immediately said, "However, we can climb down from the sixth floor. I brought a specially made rope, so don't worry about it breaking halfway down."

After saying that, he immediately instructed two of his staff members to take a golden climbing rope out of their backpacks.

"No need, I'll handle it myself. I originally wanted to save some effort, but now it seems unnecessary. If I can't even solve this little ghost painting, then I'm not worthy of being the head of Dachang City." Yang Jian's gaze turned slightly cold.

After he finished speaking, the headless shadow behind him, which seemed to be formed from darkness, began to gradually seep into the ground.

It's true that the Ghost Domain can affect things in the real world, but it can't affect other ghosts.

Soon.

The area covered by Yang Jian's headless ghostly figure began to collapse, forming a cavity where the cement and steel reinforcement were forcibly dismantled.

The headless ghostly figure then twisted and formed a black staircase leading to the next level.

Let's go.

Yang Jian was the first to step down the steps formed by the headless ghostly figure.

Wang Quan was still somewhat shaken by the bizarre scene, but he still signaled to his two companions to follow.

It would be very unsettling for an ordinary person to step on a headless ghost.

It seemed as if some cold, living thing had invaded his body. His legs felt noticeably unresponsive. If this cold thing continued to invade his body, Wang Quan even felt that his body would lose control, becoming a puppet of some strange creature and being completely manipulated.

Fortunately, the headless ghost was under Yang Jian's control. Even if it had the instinct to switch bodies, the possibility of it going out of control was nonexistent before Yang Jian's body decayed.

Although it was a waste of a little time.

But we ended up going back to the fourth floor again.

Yes, that's right. The dormitory room numbers nearby are written as 401, 402, etc., but there are no numbers for the fifth-floor dormitories.

That layer was completely hidden.

"Back on the fourth floor again? The fifth floor really did disappear mysteriously, just like you said." Wang Quan clenched his fists, feeling a deep sense of powerlessness.

If it weren't for Yang Jian accompanying them, all of them would have been trapped here and died, with no way to successfully deal with the ghost painting.

However, he is not too anxious right now.

Ghosts should be left to the professionals. They are just there to assist, rescue some students stranded here, and retrieve the ghost paintings.

Yang Jian took down a number plate. The numbers on it did not change under the influence of the ghost hand, which was enough to prove that this was indeed the fourth floor.

"No matter how well the Ghost Domain is hidden, there is still a point that connects to reality. This point itself could be a ghost, or it could be something special. We need to find that point. Pay attention to your surroundings and see if there is anything that is out of place with the environment. Ghost paintings are not human and do not have human flexibility and changeability, so it should not be difficult to find them."

Yang Jian's eyes flickered slightly, revealing a crucial piece of information to Wang Quan.

This is his understanding of the Ghost Domain. If ghosts all share certain commonalities, then his understanding must be correct.

For example, his Ghost Domain, no matter how many layers there are, no matter how many things are fake, there is only one thing that is real and cannot be changed, and that is his Ghost Eye, which is the source of releasing the Ghost Domain.

"How about we search those dorm rooms, and Mr. Yang searches this side? Although splitting up isn't a great idea, it's more efficient this way. Besides, this floor isn't very big; we can see across the corridor. If anything happens, I believe Mr. Yang will be able to react quickly enough," Wang Quan suggested.

"Okay." Yang Jian nodded, not refusing.

I can handle any danger I encounter, but Wang Quan can't.

In other words, Wang Quan was taking a risk.

However, without that kind of courage, one probably couldn't do this job.

After agreeing on the plan, the four of them split up and took action.

Wang Quan, accompanied by two staff members, began to feel their way forward along the walls. Their gloves were specially made of gold, which could not be affected by external forces, ensuring that the walls they touched were genuine. This way, they wouldn't miss any hidden dorm rooms and would avoid getting lost.

Yang Jian glanced at it and seemed to approve of this method.

Because this way of dealing with paranormal events by ordinary people is worth learning.

Yang Jian decided to learn, and he also moved forward by feeling the wall. He didn't need to wear gloves because one of his palms was part of the ghost, allowing him to touch real supernatural things and even grab ghosts that others couldn't see.

Bang!

He kicked open the door of the first dormitory room as he passed by, went inside, looked around, and then came out again.

The point leading to the fifth floor was not found, and no students remained.

Moving on to the next dormitory.

Yang Jian acted quickly, but without any sense of urgency. This wasn't a life-or-death situation; it was just an ordinary supernatural event, so there was no need to rush.

Although Wang Quan's group consisted of three people, they were much slower. They were on edge and lacked Yang Jian's confidence, so they were particularly cautious.

However, just as they were searching for the point leading to the fifth floor...

On the fourth floor, on the staircase that seemed to stretch endlessly into the darkness, faint footsteps could be heard.

The footsteps were light, lacking the heaviness of a corpse and the crisp sound of shoes.

It sounded like a tiny friction sound as if something had just touched the ground.

A figure from deep within the staircase slowly ascended and headed towards the fourth floor.

The figure went from blurry to clear, and soon a woman appeared, seemingly dressed in red, with pale, delicate hands as smooth as porcelain.

But upon closer inspection, it was discovered that the woman had no legs at all.

Only the blurry outline of two feet is visible, and the color tone is very unnatural, as if it were painted on.

Not only that, the woman's face was also blurry, and her hair was blurry as well. To a normal person, it would look like someone with severe myopia looking at someone else.

I couldn't see it clearly no matter what I did.

Only those hands stood out clearly and vividly; they weren't the blurry, oil-painting style, but rather a lifelike, flesh-and-blood entity.

No wonder the footsteps were so faint; how loud could a drawn pair of feet possibly make footsteps?

This almost floating manner of hers meant that no one noticed her arrival at the fork in the road where Yang Jian and Wang Quan had just crossed.

Yang Jian and Wang Quan didn't notice, but some people downstairs did.

"Is something going on there?"

One of the staff members in charge of observation suddenly widened his eyes and pointed to the corridor on the fourth floor, shouting.

The others also looked up.

Suddenly, everyone felt a chill run down their spine.

The figure standing stiffly beside the corridor, its blurry appearance impossible to discern, and its incongruous clothing.

At a glance, it's immediately clear that this is definitely not a girl who's been lingering in the building.

A ghost?

Are you kidding me? A ghost just stands there like that?

"Quickly notify Captain Wang and Mr. Yang!" the observer shouted urgently.

But the ghosts there didn't stay long; after a brief pause, they seemed to begin walking in one direction.

The figure was quickly obscured by the wall beside it and gradually disappeared from the observers' sight.

Happy New Year to all my book lovers!