Survivors Scraping By

Yang Jian stopped and looked at a shop on the street next to him.

The feeling of being spied on came from there.

He is a very perceptive person, especially after entering this place, he has been on high alert and has been paying close attention to the surrounding situation.

"Let's go take a look."

Yang Jian is now highly skilled and daring, even while inside the ghost painting, he dares to casually investigate any unusual situations nearby, whereas normally he would be trying to avoid it.

He walked towards the shop.

But before Yang Jian could get close, he saw a figure appear inside the shop.

That person wasn't the ghost from the painting; it was a human being. Yang Jian could see clearly that it was a blonde Western woman. The woman rushed out in terror and quickly ran down the street into the deeper parts of the city, disappearing around a corner.

"Foreigner?"

Yang Jian's eyes flickered slightly. He didn't stop them, but hesitated for a moment before following them.

"Are they survivors trapped in the Ghost Painting? The Ghost Painting Incident first broke out overseas, and many people died, but the circumstances of the deaths were not confirmed. It's highly likely that they were caught up in the Ghost Painting's ghost Ghost Domain and then mysteriously disappeared. Could it be that those who disappeared survived in that Ghost Domain?"

That's his guess.

But then I realized it didn't make any sense.

Keep in mind that the last Ghost Painting Incident happened more than half a year ago. An ordinary person trapped in this place would starve to death, so how could they possibly survive?

"With enough food and water, it's not impossible to survive here."

Yang Jian, who had followed her, saw the woman flee into a dimly lit building, with some things scattered along the way.

Yang Jian saw a bottle of mineral water left on the ground.

This is something from a ghost painting.

His expression shifted slightly, he reached out and picked it up, then opened the bottle cap and poured it out.

Cool mineral water flowed through my fingers; this wasn't an illusion created by Ghost Domain, but real water.

"The Ghost Domain of Ghost Painting can already alter reality?" Yang Jian's eyes showed a hint of surprise as he saw the water stains on the ground.

He was reminded of the ghost codenamed "Ghost Deceiver" that Huang Ziya possessed.

It is also a ghost that can influence reality, and can even restore the bodies of living people and change the things around them.

"It's unbelievable. Even with my Ghost Domain reaching the sixth level, I can't make the things within Ghost Domain real," Yang Jian thought to himself. "However, I suspect these things can only exist within the Ghost Painting. Once they leave the Ghost Painting, they'll probably disappear immediately. This is a world that exists based on supernatural power."

"In a way, it is both real and illusory."

"If the world in the ghost painting is real, it's not impossible for survivors to have lived."

Although surviving in this dangerous place is difficult, it is still possible. After all, while the probability of encountering ghosts inside the Ghost Painting is high, as long as you avoid the ghosts' killing patterns, you can still survive.

In addition, the area has abundant water and food, making it perfectly suitable for survival.

"If my deduction is correct, then this ghost painting is even more special than I imagined; it is a supernatural object that could possibly allow living people to live inside."

Yang Jian glanced at the building not far away and followed it.

He felt that anyone who could have survived here should be very familiar with the situation.

But as he got closer to the surrounding buildings, he noticed that the architectural style had changed again.

The familiar city streets had transformed into a foreign landscape, with billboards and signs all in English. He recognized some of them, but most were unfamiliar to him, as he was a notorious academic underachiever in his class, his foreign language proficiency limited to a few simple, commonly used words, and even less fluent than Zhang Wei's self-taught Japanese.

"We've entered another puzzle piece in the background of the ghost painting. At the last Headquarters meeting, Wang Xiaoming's guess about the ghost painting was correct; the backgrounds in the ghost paintings are interconnected." Yang Jian looked behind him.

The puzzle pieces of the two cities fit together perfectly; over there is J City, and over here is a city abroad.

The layouts of the cities are all quite similar, and from a distance, they are indistinguishable; one might mistake them for a single city.

"But every ghost painting has an exit, and also a ghost, it's just that we don't know where the exit is hidden, or where the ghost is."

Yang Jian remained vigilant as he entered the building.

Under normal circumstances, he would have lost track of the woman by now, but after entering the building, he found that it was covered with fluorescent material that formed arrow marks, clearly indicating a direction.

"Ghosts don't read directional signs; only the living can. So these arrow road signs are for the living."

Yang Jian immediately understood the meaning of these symbols.

It serves both as a means of seeking help and as a way for survivors to enter and exit, making it less likely for them to get lost.

He followed the arrows and walked around the building.

Finally, he stopped at a certain floor because the arrow symbol disappeared there.

"Who are you?" came the question from the empty floor, but the voice was in English.

Yang Jian understood the simple question and replied, "I'm just passing through. By the way, doesn't anyone here speak Chinese?"

Soon, he heard some familiar words coming from around him.

"Fuck, another unlucky guy."

"Relax, it's not an evil spirit."

"How much longer are we going to have to stay in this damn place?"

Soon.

An Asian man walked out of a large door across the street. He looked haggard, his eyes were unfocused, and he was very thin. He seemed to be in a very bad mental state.

"You have to leave. Your presence is dangerous to us," the man warned, staring at Yang Jian.

"There really are survivors of paranormal events." Yang Jian's eyes flickered slightly. "How many people from your group survived?"

The man looked at him strangely, because he found that the newcomer in front of him was unusually calm. Not only did he not show any fear, but he also took the initiative to bring up their story.

After hesitating for a moment, the man said, "There aren't many left, only a dozen or so. A couple of days ago there were over thirty, but they were all found by ghosts and many died. How do you know about paranormal events?"

"You seem to be still quite lucid, not completely irrational." Yang Jian sized him up. "How long have you been living here?"

"I don't know. I only know it's been a long time. At first, my girlfriend and I were traveling abroad, and then somehow we ended up here. Back then, there were many other unlucky people like me, but later fewer and fewer people survived." The man was listless, silent, and dejected.

"Couldn't find the exit?" Yang Jian asked again.

"Do you know where the exit is?" the man suddenly became excited.

Yang Jian said, "I suppose so. After all, the place you come in from is the place you exit from; that's the rule. It seems you don't know much either. That's understandable, considering you're just ordinary people. It's already quite an achievement that you've survived in this place. You probably know nothing about ghosts either. In that case, I won't keep you any longer."

After saying that, he prepared to turn and leave.

"Wait, don't go yet. You have to tell me where the exit is. I want to leave here." The man broke down in tears, clinging to Yang Jian's arm.

Yang Jian looked at him and said, "I can only tell you after I've finished my business. It's not possible now. Besides, you've already been here for so long, so I don't think you'd mind staying a little longer."

After saying that, he broke free from the man's grasp.

But the man seemed even more agitated, shouting, "Guys, this guy knows how to get out of here! Quick, find a way to stop him!"

The words had barely left his mouth.

Several doors nearby opened, and six or seven people rushed out. These people all had European or American features, and their eyes were urgent, with extremely excited expressions on their faces.

Thank God.

"Damn it, get me out of this godforsaken place! I've had enough of this place already!"

"Stop right there, you bastard! Don't even think about sneaking off alone!"

In no time, Yang Jian was surrounded by six or seven burly men. In addition, he saw several women who seemed to have heard the commotion and came out of another room.

Yang Jian glanced at it.

The man was right; there were indeed a dozen or so ordinary people who had miraculously survived.

They evaded the ghosts' attacks and eke out a living like ants in this haunted city.

It must be said, this is truly a miracle.

I've been in a really bad state these past two days; I only managed to write two chapters in eight hours. It's 4 a. m. now.