Out of Control (IV)

In the long, narrow passage, every light bulb had gone out. Only a few scattered emergency exit signs still gave off a ghostly green glow.

By that green light, a large spread of shredded paper clothes could be seen on the floor. A breeze inexplicably stirred in the previously windless passage, scattering the scraps in all directions...

Slowly, the scraps began to lose their color. Then they began turning into a gray, hazy substance... carried by the breeze, it slowly spread across the walls...

"Damn it, did something go wrong with the Ghost Painting...? My paper figures have been invaded by the Ghost Painting." Liu San's sallow face darkened as he glared viciously at Wang Xiaoming.

"Professor Wang, there's something wrong with your people. That woman called A Hong was the only one inside the Ghost Painting who came into contact with my paper figures. You'd better hope she died in there, or I'll kill him first when she comes out. Don't think I can't do it... if I stake my life on it, I can take any captain at headquarters down with me."

Wang Xiaoming did not get angry. Instead, he picked up a stack of documents and said, "This is the information Yang Jian sent back. The chances of A Hong's memories having been altered are very slim. Her face doesn't actually exist; it was painted on. The rule for altering memories requires the entire face to be removed. Clearly, she doesn't meet that condition. In that case..."

Wang Xiaoming paused, then continued, "Zhao Jianguo's memories had already been altered when he handed her the makeup case. There's very likely something from the Hungry Ghost inside it. That's why the Hungry Ghost moved toward the Ghost Painting as soon as it went out of control. It wants to assemble its own puzzle pieces. That also indirectly caused the Ghost Messenger and the Ghost Painting to separate."

Adjusting his glasses, Wang Xiaoming frowned, a rare sight.

"The situation is starting to deteriorate... if the Ghost Painting can invade Liu San's paper figures in return... his paper figure corpses are here too..."

Wang Xiaoming immediately picked up the phone.

"Contact Elder Qin. Have him act immediately to contain the Hungry Ghost. Stop guarding that place. Compared with the current situation, the ghosts inside are no longer the top priority. If the Ghost Painting comes into contact with the Hungry Ghost, no one knows what will happen. Perhaps even the Ghost Messenger will..."

Meanwhile, inside the Ghost Painting.

A faint bluish-black aura filled the sky.

"Li Jun, things look very bad. Liu San is missing, and this bluish-black stuff spreading through here seems to be something from the Hungry Ghost."

Holding the makeup case, A Hong looked at the distant high-rises. Wisps of faint bluish-black mist were slowly rising.

Li Jun's brows were tightly knitted. A cigarette hung from his mouth, and he held a decaying door handle.

"The agreed time has already passed... but headquarters still hasn't opened the door. Did something go wrong?"

But Li Jun could not work out an answer either. He turned to Su Fan and spoke.

"Su Fan, keep looking for an exit. We don't know why the Hungry Ghost's ghost domain has appeared here, but this place is being restricted now. We still have a chance."

Holding his phone, Su Fan frantically controlled the little character on its screen, searching for something. But it seemed useless. Every so often, four large characters popped up on the screen.

"You have died!"

"Hm?" Suddenly, Su Fan's expression changed. A faint light appeared on his phone's screen, then light burst out across it, as though a ray of sunlight were shining down on the little character he controlled.

At that very moment, a crack opened in the gray sky of the Ghost Painting's ghost domain. Sunlight spilled in from outside, shining directly on Li Jun and the others, as though bringing hope and light to this despairing, oppressive world within the painting.

"As expected of the Ghost Painting, it actually managed to keep me outside. Old Fang! Even without your help, I could still break through this mere ghost domain."

Two figures descended from the sky along that shaft of light, slowly drifting down. One remained standing in midair, looking down over everything in the Ghost Painting's world.

Already on the ground, Fang Shiming looked up at Ye Zhen in midair, his face dark with exasperation.

"Stupid brute. If I hadn't made an agreement with Wang Xiaoming beforehand, I would never want to work with this chuunibyou."

Ye Zhen had somehow acquired a whole outfit. He wore a bamboo hat, deliberately obscuring part of his face, and a white cape hung behind him, clearly emblazoned with the large word "Justice."

"So this is the Ghost Painting? Truly extraordinary. Worthy of my intervention. I am already the strongest; worthy opponents are rare in this world. Ah... such loneliness..."

With the look of an invincible man, Ye Zhen gazed at Li Jun on the ground.

"Li Jun! We ask you to catch a ghost, and it's always wind or rain with you. Do you think you're going to the moon?!"

The corner of Li Jun's mouth twitched. Even he found Ye Zhen's personality a little hard to bear.

"The leaders of the Supernatural Forum and the Circle of Friends... reinforcements from headquarters...?"

Li Jun immediately shouted up at Ye Zhen.

"Ye Zhen! This isn't the time for that. Get us out of the Ghost Painting first. Su Fan and A Hong are in very bad shape!"

"Huh? I have to get you out too? Wang Xiaoming never told me that!"

Ye Zhen's face reddened, and he involuntarily turned aside.

He and Fang Shiming had worked together using the Ghost Scissors, barely managing to break into the Ghost Painting's ghost domain for a moment. He had been too busy showing off just now, and the ghost domain had already closed on its own. Getting back out from inside was now practically impossible.

Fang Shiming held his forehead, unable to bear watching anymore. He had said long ago that more than half of Ye Zhen's supernatural abilities went into showing off. Still, whether these people were rescued meant nothing to him. He had only come here to fulfill an agreement with Wang Xiaoming.

"Why are you all looking at me like that? I've traveled far and wide, and everyone knows my strength. I am the strongest in this age! A mere Ghost Painting is nothing to worry about. Once I deal with it, naturally I'll take you out."

"The Hungry Ghost actually went out of control. Headquarters has been putting off opening the door because they're afraid the Ghost Painting's ghost domain will invade."

Li Jun and the others walked along a secluded path, all warily watching the gray world around them. Only Ye Zhen carried a sword and searched about, looking as though he feared neither heaven nor earth.

Just then.

"Ye Zhen! Behind you!"

The ghost fire on Li Jun's body blazed wildly, shooting straight toward Ye Zhen's back.

"Hm?" Ye Zhen started.

At some unknown point, a shadowy figure had appeared behind Ye Zhen. It wore red, and its features were too blurred to make out.

Only its other characteristics vaguely suggested a woman's form. Most striking were the hands in front of it: pale and real, yet cold and eerie.

Ye Zhen turned and slammed a fist into the ghost before him. His form was textbook, as though he had practiced boxing.

But Ye Zhen's touch seemed to trigger some killing rule. A gray, hazy substance rapidly ate its way along his arm and across his body. His skin quickly turned deathly gray, then rapidly recovered. Only after several repetitions did that terrifying supernatural power gradually dissipate.

Uncertainty flickered across Ye Zhen's face. He had once used that punch to briefly force a vicious ghost into a deadlock, but this time it had done nothing. It was like punching a cold steel plate.

Before Ye Zhen could react, a pale, chilling hand slowly reached toward his face.

The next second, Ye Zhen flew backward. No, the scenery around him was rushing toward him.

In Ye Zhen's eyes, everything was rapidly receding. His Substitute Ghost seemed to be leaving his body along with the entire world, while he was slowly turning into an oil painting.

Horror instantly spread across Ye Zhen's face. He frantically used the Substitute Ghost's ability, trying to transfer this terrifying supernatural attack and avoid the harm.

But to his astonishment, his Substitute Ghost seemed to be suppressed by some unknown supernatural power. Though that suppression was extremely slight, at this critical moment, even an instant's mistake would let the Ghost Painting kill him.

Riiip...

A slit appeared in front of Ye Zhen, and green ghost fire suddenly blazed.

When Ye Zhen came to his senses, he found himself still standing where he had been. A scorched oil painting lay on the ground, with a blood-red slit cut through it by a sharp instrument. The painting depicted precisely the spot where he now stood.

Fang Shiming stood to one side, holding the scissors. The ghost fire on Li Jun's charred body was slowly dying out.

"I nearly died just now?"

Since taking control of the Substitute Ghost, this was the first time he had encountered anything like this. If Fang Shiming had not acted in time, he might truly have met his end here today.

Ye Zhen narrowed his eyes slightly at Fang Shiming. He had not expected him to be the one to act.

"Don't look at me like that. Anything can happen inside the Ghost Painting's ghost domain. I was only saving myself."

Fang Shiming looked at Ye Zhen and waved the Ghost Scissors. He added, "Anyone with a brain wouldn't choose to fight alone right now."

"I agree with Fang Shiming. We shouldn't split up in this situation. Ye Zhen, tell us why you were attacked just now."

An entire half of Li Jun's face had been burned black, leaving his whole left eyeball exposed. He looked more like a ghost.

"I don't know... but the ghost inside me was suppressed just now. It was very slight, but the Ghost Painting doesn't have the ability to suppress other ghosts, does it?"

Ye Zhen rotated his wrist, looking gravely at the picture frame on the ground.

A Hong looked at the gold-wrapped makeup case in her hands. After her earlier conversation with Fang Shiming, she no longer dared use this supernatural item.

"Suppression...? Has it acquired some of the Ghost Messenger's supernatural power? We entered the Ghost Messenger's ghost domain before. When the Hungry Ghost went out of control, the Ghost Messenger and the Ghost Painting separated. But now it looks as though the Ghost Painting gained a slight upper hand in their supernatural clash...? It even seized some of the Ghost Messenger's power."

Now without the makeup case, A Hong's own supernatural power amounted to very little in the Ghost Painting's world. She could only follow the others while analyzing the situation before her.

"That's right. Correct answer."

Fang Shiming snapped his fingers and glanced at Ye Zhen.

"Looks like we do have someone smart on our team. Our chances of containing this painting have gone up another notch."

Clearly, his earlier battle with Ye Zhen had left him deeply prejudiced against him. In Fang Shiming's eyes, it had been a completely avoidable, utterly meaningless battle. His current condition had only come about because this chuunibyou had insisted on deciding who was number one under heaven.

Ye Zhen's face flushed red, veins bulging across his forehead as he argued, "How can being ambushed count as losing? Being ambushed... doesn't count as losing!"

The others had already walked away. They could only faintly hear Ye Zhen saying incomprehensible things behind them.

Things like "didn't even call out a move" and "invincible."

"Hey... everyone! Wait for me! Aren't we supposed to work as a team?!"