Chapter 573: Chapter 570 Background in the Painting
The focus of the meeting was not the captain’s plan; it was the ghost drawing incident.
This was an S-Class supernatural event that stemmed from the Ghost Envoy incident and had previously caused an outbreak abroad, annihilating a top-tier team of spirit manipulators and resulting in an unimaginable number of deaths. To this day, a certain area abroad still suffers from Chilling Syndrome.
Cao Yanhua’s expression was grave as he gestured to a staff member.
Immediately, the slide changed to an information graph detailing all intelligence on the ghost drawing incident.
“The ghost drawing incident was primarily triggered by the Ghost Envoy’s mission. Proposed by Professor Wang, the plan was to lure the ghost drawing to the outskirts of the city to suppress the Ghost Domain of the Ghost Envoy, thereby completely resolving the Ghost Envoy incident,” Cao Yanhua pointed at the picture and continued, “The plan was very successful.”
“The Ghost Domain of the Ghost Envoy was completely covered by the ghost drawing, and the Ghost Envoy disappeared…”
...
“However, some mistakes occurred while wrapping up the plan. Chen Yi, Zong Shan, and Guo Fan, who implemented the plan to lure the ghosts, did not manage to lead all five ghosts that emerged from the ghost drawing to the designated location. Two of the ghosts disappeared during a switch of the Ghost Candle.”
Having said that, he pointed to another photo.
The photograph showed a dimly lit road with five eerie figures standing in the middle, seemingly walking towards the camera.
The silhouettes of these five people were familiar, resembling Li Jun, Su Fan, Leuk San, Ah Hong, and Xu Yiping.
No, it wasn’t just resemblance; these were their likenesses.
“Does this mean that the painting can change the appearance of the ghosts into any one of us?” Cao Yang raised an eyebrow, pinpointing the heart of the matter.
“It seems beyond doubt,” someone agreed.
“If it’s just a change of appearance, it should be easy to spot, right? After all, ghosts are different from humans, and that eerie feeling can’t be hidden no matter what,” Jang Shangbai frowned and said.
“Perhaps it’s not as simple as we see it. Only after real contact can we understand why the ghosts change their appearances, why five ghosts can emerge, when there should only be one ghost drawing and one Source Ghost,” someone else began to express doubt.
Cao Yanhua continued, “The two ghosts that disappeared were in the guise of Su Fan and Leuk San. Whether this is pivotal information, I don’t know, but you must keep it in mind. Not long after these two ghosts vanished, the ghost drawing incident appeared in the downtown area.”
“Here are a few photos of the ghost drawings we’ve collected. Take a look.”
As he spoke, the slide flickered, and four photos of ghost drawings appeared on the screen.
Each ghost drawing was largely similar: antique carved picture frames, peeling red paint, indistinct oil paintings depicting a woman with unclear facial features, wearing red, European-style clothes. Her pale hands and the surrounding style of the painting were discordant.
“The backgrounds are different,” Yang Jian observed as he looked at the four ghost drawings, his expression shifting slightly.
While the ghost drawings all looked similar, with the image of a woman on them, the background behind the woman, which made up the painting, was completely different in each.
The background of one oil painting depicted a group of high-rise buildings shrouded in darkness, hazy windows, with vaguely discernible silhouettes of people—by the shape and façade, it seemed like an upscale residential area in a metropolis.
The second oil painting had a similarly gloomy tone, but the contents had changed to a park shrouded by trees, with a few figures standing on the park’s pathway.
The third oil painting was equally dark and mysterious, not depicting a residential area or a park, but a school with a dormitory building occupying most of the space and other architectural outlines barely visible in the darkness.
The fourth showed a city road teeming with traffic, numerous vehicles stuck in congestion, and many tall buildings nearby.
“As you’ve probably noticed, the backgrounds of these four oil paintings are all different. According to my comparison, the buildings in the background should be Shangfeng Residential Area, Forest Park, Dajing University, and… Sky Bridge Avenue.”
Cao Yanhua said, “And all these places are where incidents occurred, where killings happened because of the ghost drawings.”
“Different backgrounds in the paintings, the same ghosts appearing over and over. All of this is like a puzzle, especially the last point: how do the ghost drawings appear out of thin air? This is the most pressing question we need to clarify.”
“It’s not that easy to clarify. If it were, the incident wouldn’t have been so devastating abroad. I’m sure this question has been discussed countless times by others,” Jang Shangbai said, shaking his head slightly.
“I agree with Jang Shangbai. We’re unlikely to unravel the ghost drawing situation here based on scraps of information,” Chen Yi nodded and continued, “Yang Jian, I heard that you dealt with a ghost drawing incident last night. And the ghost drawing you encountered was different from the ones we’ve dealt with; it formed a Ghost Domain and covered two floors.”
“Have you had contact with the ghost in the drawing? Why don’t you share your thoughts?”
At this point, everyone turned their attention to Yang Jian.
After all, they were likely to face the Ghost Drawing incident next, and they didn’t want to miss any clues. Now was the best time to have Yang Jian speak out.
After this period, Yang Jian probably wouldn’t be as willing to share information.
Cao Yanhua’s expression changed, and he also looked towards Yang Jian, “Yang Jian, you have experience in dealing with this. Can you share something?”
Yet Yang Jian was very calm, “There’s not much to say, it’s much the same as other supernatural incidents. The Ghost Domain affects the surroundings, and ghosts wander within the Ghost Domain… The only thing worth noting is that in the Ghost Domain, the Ghost Drawing and the ghosts are separate. To capture them, you must first find the hidden Ghost Drawings; otherwise, the ghosts cannot be resolved. Because even if you deal with the ghosts first, new ghosts will continue to emerge from within the Ghost Drawings.”
“So, the drawing is the source.”
“Resurrection?” Feng Quan exclaimed, surprised.
“No, not resurrection, it’s different from that. A Ghost Drawing represents one ghost, the Drawing won’t change, but it will keep allowing the ghost inside to appear, similar to… resurrection,” Yang Jian thought for a moment before saying.
Resurrection is much more frightening. Resurrection means the ghost itself restarts, implying that you have to deal with it all over again, but with Ghost Drawings, it’s not necessary; you can completely avoid the ghost inside, find the Ghost Drawing, and then figure out how to capture it. The difficulty is relatively lower.
“Yang Jian, how did you capture it then?” Li Jun asked.
Yang Jian didn’t hide anything, “First deal with the ghost wandering in the Ghost Domain. While the ghost has not yet emerged from the Ghost Drawing, take action to capture the Ghost Drawing. That’s my method.”
“So, are you saying that to capture a Ghost Drawing, at least two people need to cooperate? One person to deal with the ghost, and another person to find the Ghost Drawing and stand guard there waiting for the opportunity?” Li Leping slowly said.
“In theory, that’s correct, but that’s only a normal Ghost Drawing after all. What about the Source?”
Yang Jian said, “The Source certainly isn’t as simple as you imagine. But now that we’re on the subject, who are you? I don’t recognize you at all.”
“My name is Li Leping. Just remember my name. As for the rest, you won’t remember,” said Li Leping.
Li Leping?
Turning his head, the only thing Yang Jian indeed remembered was this name, and it seemed as though he had some interaction with this person in the last meeting. However, the memory of this person… simply did not exist.
A person who cannot be remembered?
Indeed very peculiar.
Yang Jian looked at him again, but in the blink of an eye, he had forgotten once more, and it wasn’t the first time.
He estimated that the next time he saw him, he would still not recognize him unless he took the initiative to say his name.
“So is the main purpose of this meeting for everyone to discuss how to resolve the Ghost Drawing incident?” someone asked.
Cao Yanhua said, “Yes, three days—I give everyone three days. No matter what method you use, even if you have to turn the whole city upside down, you must find the Ghost Drawings and confirm the Source. If someone can do that, headquarters can fulfill one not too excessive request for them.”
“If someone can resolve the Ghost Drawing incident directly, then I can make an exception and promote them to be the candidate for this operation’s team leader.”
Three days?
Yang Jian’s expression changed slightly upon hearing this deadline.
Previously, he had told Cao Yanhua that he would stay in the city for only five more days, and as two days had already passed, in another three days he would return to Dachang City, and then everything here would be of no concern to him.
But now, at this critical moment, this issue emerged.
It seemed his next three days wouldn’t be too easy.
However, the deadline set by Cao Yanhua was not calculated specifically for Yang Jian, but was made after thorough thinking and evaluation.
Because if the Ghost Drawing incident can’t be resolved in a short period, it will definitely bring a huge impact.
Moreover, many people cannot stay here for a long period and will have to return to their own cities eventually, so three days is about the limit for most people. Any longer would be inconvenient for the other cities as well.
“Solve the Ghost Drawing incident and directly become the team leader?” Many people’s eyes flickered, seemingly tempted.
They had already learned about the authority of the team leader during the earlier discussion.
Indeed, it was tempting.
To govern a large region, dozens of cities big and small, to be able to form your own ghost-managing teams, while also having unconditional support from headquarters for some key materials, and ensuring the priority of the team leader’s survival…
Anyone with even a slight ambition would find it hard not to be moved.
But thinking about the difficulty and complexity of this incident, he shook his head secretly.
To resolve the issue of ghost drawings, it was necessary to gather so many top-notch ghost-managers, and though there were cautious thoughts, the eerie and dangerous levels of that thing were also self-evident.
A moment’s carelessness could likely result in an immediate wipeout of the team.
“If nobody has any questions, then next, Professor Wang will be responsible for explaining the relevant information about the incident involving ghost drawings,” Cao Yanhua said.
It was at this moment that Wang Xiaoming, who had a defeated look and a slightly haggard appearance, finally raised his head slightly, as if he had been sleeping the entire time before.
“The files on the ghost drawing incident were always in the hands of foreigners, and their information should be preserved, so we can only organize what we’ve gotten and speculate… Below are some of my personal opinions and the situations I’ve analyzed, which you may listen to…”
Wang Xiaoming stood up and pointed to the four photos of ghost drawings on the screen: “Firstly, I deduce that if we want to truly find the source of the ghost drawings, it’s highly likely that we need to enter into any one of the ghost drawings again.”
His words were concise, directly stating the key point.
“What? Enter the ghost drawing to find its source?” someone immediately exclaimed in shock.
The level of danger was too high.
Searching for something in the face of the ghost, if one couldn’t withstand it, they would definitely get killed inside the ghost drawing.
“It’s just my personal conjecture,” Wang Xiaoming continued. “You can look at the backgrounds of the four ghost drawings: Shangfeng Residential Area, Forest Park, Dajing University, Sky Bridge Avenue. Did you notice that all these locations are non-repetitive? Although the fifth and sixth ghost drawings have not appeared, if they do, it should be able to prove my conjecture is not wrong.”
Wang Xiaoming continued, “The background of the ghost drawings should have a certain connectiveness, meaning, if you can enter one ghost drawing, it’s highly probable you could reach another ghost drawing.”
“The feasibility of entering ghost drawings has been proven, because the bodies of several victims were found inside the ghost drawings. Look closely at this corner,” he pointed again to an inconspicuous, dimly lit corner of the first ghost drawing.
The portion of the image in that area was enlarged. A figure dressed in modern women’s clothing lay there; although the body was shrouded in the darkness of the background, a vague silhouette was still discernible.
“Professor Wang, this is just speculation,” Jang Shangbai said gravely. “We can’t just act on a guess and risk entering the ghost drawings to look for the source; many people might die.”
“Without any clues, we can only rely on existing conditions to speculate. This is the only method,” said Wang Xiaoming earnestly. “Besides this, there is no better way, and I believe my deduction is correct.”
“Assuming the ghost drawings are indeed interconnected, what if we enter and can’t find the source? Wouldn’t we just die inside?” someone asked.
“That’s a very silly question,” Wang Xiaoming said. “The ghost drawings are both the entrance and exit. I have the photographs of four ghost drawings, meaning there are four exits. The precondition is that you don’t get lost inside, as that is the world of ghost drawings. What might happen or what you might encounter, I’m not clear.”
“Even entering the ghost drawings could be a trap. I’m merely bringing up this possibility. If we want confirmation, someone will have to take a risk.”
Take a risk?
What a joke, this was a matter of risking their lives.
“Moreover, you’d better act quickly. The background of the ghost drawings is like a puzzle, seemingly putting together pieces of the region. If all the regions are connected, then perhaps all exits will no longer exist. The ghost drawings could very likely resuscitate completely, and at that time, the Ghost Domain of the ghost drawings would probably cover an entire city, with the range… continuing to expand.”
“As for the reason the ghost drawings have appeared, I’m still not sure, because there’s no information available; it feels as if they appeared out of thin air. So, you’ll need to search for clues yourself.”
“There’s another possibility…”
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As Yang Jian listened to Wang Xiaoming’s explanation, his heart gradually sank.
His hypothesis was bold and made sense, something he hadn’t imagined before.
The ghost drawings were interconnected?
To find the source by entering the ghost drawings?
“If Wang Xiaoming’s deduction is true, then within the Ghost Domain that covered two floors when I was dealing with the ghost painting, there should have been an entrance that led deeper into the ghost painting, but I didn’t find one… or could it be that his conjecture about the ghost painting is wrong?”
While Yang Jian was reflecting, he also heard another possibility that Wang Xiaoming had guessed.
The ghost painting is just a mere ghost, hidden somewhere in the city, and by finding it, the incident could be resolved.
But Wang Xiaoming was very dissatisfied with this guess.
It was too simple.
If it were that simple, it should have been resolved abroad long ago, so he leaned towards the first guess, but Wang Xiaoming did not deny this possibility either.
What if it really is that simple?
Besides, he had a third guess, a fourth guess… it’s just that the likelihood was even smaller, he didn’t speak of them to avoid confusing everyone’s thoughts.
To further confirm these, they needed clues and intelligence brought by the actions of everyone involved.
“What a troublesome matter,” Yang Jian sighed with increasing frustration.
Two ghosts that emerged from the ghost painting. They were suspected to be able to change their appearance, and their last images were those of Su Fan and Leuk San.
The background of the ghost painting was suspected to be connected together, like a puzzle, eroding the city, and once the puzzle was completed, there was a risk that the ghost painting could fully resurrect.
The ghosts that continuously emerged from the ghost painting, similar to a restart, necessitating the cooperation of two people to deal with them.
The Ghost Envoy that disappeared inside the ghost painting.
The team from abroad, top ghost handlers, that was wiped out—where are the ghosts that had been with those people?
Complex.
Incredibly complex.
All the clues were utterly disordered, conjectures upon conjectures, guesses upon guesses, with no connections to be made.
It was much more complex than the Hungry Ghost incident in Dachang City back then.
At that time, they just needed to find the Hungry Ghost’s pattern of killing and locate its source.
But what about this ghost painting?
The various paintings that appeared out of thin air, the many inexplicable oddities, with no known pattern of killing or appearance, and no clue about its source, everything was just a mystery.
“The ghost painting can also suppress my Ghost Eye, I’m at a natural disadvantage facing it, it would be best not to get involved in this incident, otherwise, if real danger struck, I could very well fall here,” Yang Jian concluded.
He felt there was no need to get involved, at most he would just hang around for a few days and then slip away.
With so many people here, there was no need for him to show off.
And moreover…
Yang Jian glanced at Old Qin, who had been sitting motionless in a chair next to him since entering the meeting room.
With this elder here, the situation probably wouldn’t get too bad.
Having made up his mind, Yang Jian decided to still focus his immediate attention on Jang Shangbai and the friends behind him.
The conflict with him today was a harbinger and a signal.
If he wasn’t mistaken, what followed would be a wave of retaliation from the friend circle.
As long as he could withstand it, even if the friend circle didn’t completely collapse, they would be weakened in the future, and at the very least, they wouldn’t dare talk about getting rid of him when facing him again.