Leaving the Painting
Yang Jian forcibly kept Li Yang and Jimmy behind in order to determine which of the three of them the ghost that had followed them was targeting.
This is not the time to be a hero; it's time for someone to pay the price. It's obviously impossible to leave the ghost painting alive and unscathed, because the ghost won't stop its actions as long as the target is dead.
So far, Yang Jian has never seen a ghost willingly abandon its target; no matter what, he must endure at least one ghost attack.
That attack was the most dangerous; ordinary people would certainly die, but those Ghost Tamer might survive if they could withstand it.
"They've arrived."
Yang Jian's expression hardened at that moment.
The ghost standing in the middle of the road in the distance, with indistinct features, was walking towards the three of them. The way it walked was very strange. Although the movement was not fast, the distance between the ghost and the people was rapidly closing, as if a camera was constantly zooming in, and the distance of this closing was completely beyond their control.
Everyone could only passively wait for the ghost to arrive.
"Mr. Yang, is there footsteps?" However, Li Yang, who was standing by the roadside, suddenly looked at Yang Jian in alarm.
He raised a question, yet his expression betrayed a deep unease.
As a survivor who had lived here for several months, he had several experiences of seeing ghosts up close. Each time, the ghost appeared silently, but this time was different. A terrifying yet eerie footstep appeared beneath the ghost's feet. This footstep was not unfamiliar.
He had heard it before on the wooden staircase inside that building; it belonged to another kind of unknown supernatural phenomenon.
Yang Jian heard it even without Li Yang reminding him.
Tap tap!
A rapid footstep sounded beneath the ghost's feet. This footstep sound was peculiar, inconsistent with the ghost's own slow walking pace, and seemed very discordant.
This unusual commotion is not important at the moment.
The important thing is that once this ghost gets close, everyone will be attacked twice at once: once by the eerie footsteps, and once by the ghost painting itself.
If two attacks were to occur simultaneously on one person, Yang Jian felt that perhaps no Ghost Tamer in the world could withstand it. Even using a substitute doll might not be enough to prevent death if the situation was unknown.
Because one substitute doll might not even be enough at a time; you might need two.
"The true danger of the Ghost Painting is beginning to manifest. Before, the Ghost Painting itself might not have been dangerous enough; it was just that the Ghost Domain was more threatening. Now, it seems that the intractable Ghost Domain, combined with the ghost's attack and its ability to restart, truly deserves the title of S-class paranormal event."
Yang Jian himself was feeling a headache at that moment.
If it were him handling this paranormal event, he wouldn't know where to begin; he felt that any team that came here would still be wiped out.
"If those footsteps get too close, people will die. So my choice was right. I must dismantle this grotesque painting with all my might, break up its puzzle, and then I can figure out how to survive."
Yang Jian gripped the rusty woodcutter's knife tightly in one hand.
The odds of being selected, one in three, will now be decided.
The ghost was now about twenty meters away from them, moving at a speed that was impossible to shake off.
Yang Jian was tense, and Li Yang was also sweating profusely, his tired and haggard eyes fixed on the ghost in front of him. Meanwhile, on the other side of the road, Jimmy was still praying with his eyes closed, as always. He seemed to really believe in this, or perhaps his prayers really did have some effect, allowing him to avoid death each time.
With each step the ghost took, it made two or three footsteps. In just a few steps, the ghost had closed the distance to within ten meters of Yang Jian and the other two.
The distance is already very small.
No matter how close Yang Jian got, he couldn't make out the ghost's facial features. Some of its physical characteristics remained blurry. The only clear features were its pair of fair and flawless hands and its feet, which had gradually become clearer. However, these feet were not fair and flawless; instead, they were covered in lividity, as if they had been pieced together from another corpse.
"Are they coming for me?"
At this moment, Yang Jian saw that the ghost had already walked within ten meters and still showed no intention of changing direction, but was heading straight for him.
"Fine, since they're here for me, then let's break up this jigsaw puzzle right here."
He took a slight breath, and the headless ghostly figure beneath his feet reappeared, forming a huge shadow that covered the ground. As soon as the ghost got close, the shadow would cover it, find the footprints left by the ghost, and then trigger the curse of the woodcutter's knife.
Just as Yang Jian was ready to confront the ghost head-on, an unexpected situation occurred.
The ghost stopped about five meters away from him, and the footsteps paused briefly at that moment, the eerie sound of its footsteps disappearing for a second.
Then the ghost changed direction and walked towards Jimmy on the other side of the road.
"Um?"
Yang Jian's eyes narrowed. He was already prepared to strike, but Gui had changed targets at this moment.
This was definitely not because the ghost was afraid of the knife in his hand, nor because he wasn't being targeted, but because at this moment he no longer conformed to the ghost's killing patterns, and Jimmy became the next target.
At that moment, he seemed to vaguely understand the murder pattern of the ghost painting.
While not entirely certain, it's very close, and we've probably guessed most of it correctly.
"Li Yang, don't just stand there, let's go."
Yang Jian didn't stand there foolishly analyzing the situation. He roared, then turned and ran.
Someone has to die, and killing Jimmy is the best option because he's an ordinary person. His death won't affect the situation, since quite a few ordinary people have been killed by ghosts here.
Li Yang trembled at the shout, and almost instinctively ran after Yang Jian after him.
Jimmy must have guessed that he was being watched. He closed his eyes, his face was pale, and he was covered in cold sweat as he prayed, crying as he prayed.
He didn't run away, whether because he knew he couldn't escape, or because he was too afraid to move.
In short, he made no move after Yang Jian and Li Yang had gone far away.
But then suddenly she wasn't so scared anymore, and shouted something to Li Yang, but since it was in English Yang Jian couldn't understand it.
"What did he say?" Yang Jian didn't turn around, but he had already guessed that Jimmy was dead.
Li Yang, panting, said, "He told me to tell his mother that he loves her very much."
"Is that so?" Yang Jian's expression darkened slightly.
To be honest, he didn't dislike Jimmy. He was brave, followed orders, and even dared to act alongside him. It's just that reality is cruel; he was targeted by a ghost and had no choice but to stay.
Even if they didn't stay in the same place, they couldn't leave here alive.
"If I survive, I will help Jimmy deliver this message to his mother. I've known him for a while," Li Yang said.
"Then you need to do it as soon as possible. You won't live long in this state, because this isn't the first time your ghost has been controlled. The degree of its resurgence is very high. It would be good if you could live normally for half a year," Yang Jian.
Li Yang nodded.
By this time, the two had caught up with the survivors ahead, and Yang Jian occasionally glanced back.
The ghost didn't chase after them; it seemed there was no one left to target.
"This way."
Suddenly.
Yang Jian stopped at the entrance of a dark alley and called out.
The path he had come from had disappeared, completely covered by another city of buildings, making it impossible to find the original path. However, he was cautious and left marks along the way.
It was a golden bullet.
The bullet was stuck at the entrance of the alley.
In other words, the road we came from has become this narrow alley, only the surrounding scenery has changed.
Yang Jian was the first to run into the alley, and the others followed almost without hesitation, filled with fear, without considering whether there was any danger ahead or whether this road was really a way out.
They had already made the desperate decision to trust Yang Jian, a complete stranger.
The alley was lined with tall buildings, which blocked out the dim light, making it appear very dark.
Yang Jian hadn't gone far when he soon reached a dead end, the path blocked by a wall.
However, a low window incongruously appears on the wall.
The window had no glass, and the inside was pitch black, making it seem empty and eerie. But at this very window, Yang Jian found a golden bullet.
The markings are absolutely correct.
"You can leave this place by climbing through this window," Yang Jian said, glancing at Li Yang.
Li Yang immediately translated and relayed the message to the survivors.
"Don't stay here waiting for them, we have to leave first. The Ghost Domain can change at any time, and it might even invade reality. It's not necessarily safe over there." After saying that, Yang Jian bent down and stepped into the dark window.
The moment I stepped across, the surroundings changed.
He entered a small, closed room with a dimly lit ceiling that seemed about to go out at any moment.
"You're back."
After confirming the situation, Yang Jian arrived at his villa, number eight.
At this moment, Li Yang and the other survivors also came out one after another, and the small room was immediately filled with people.
"Don't let them crowd here. Take them away from this villa. The Ghost Domain of the Ghost Painting has already invaded this room, and the ghost may reappear at any time," Yang Jian said.
"Okay, okay." Li Yang seemed a little excited and immediately agreed.
The survivors left the Ghost Painting room one after another. Yang Jian received some thanks, and even a foreign woman excitedly tried to kiss him, but he stiffly refused.
He had no interest in her, especially not in foreign women.
"Even if they leave Ghost Painting alive, what then? They've already gotten involved in the paranormal events and participated in Ghost Painting Incident. If they show up outside, they'll probably be under close surveillance immediately." Yang Jian shook his head slightly, ignoring them.