Mysterious Resurgence: Starting with the Strange Bus

Chapter 222 Meishan Village

Meishan Village is a village under the jurisdiction of Yangzhen, which is located east of Dachang City. It is about five or six miles away from Yangzhen and about thirty or forty miles away from the urban area of ​​Dachang City.

Like most villages across the country.

Most of the young people in Meishan Village have gone out to work or study, and some villagers have moved away as well. As a result, there are not many people left in the village, and it is very quiet, even somewhat desolate.

Moreover, the name Meishan Village itself is a bit strange, because there are no plum blossoms, no mountains, and no bayberries here, not to mention sika deer or anything like that. I really don't know why the people back then would choose such a village name.

"This is it."

This day.

Two unexpected guests suddenly appeared in the quiet village.

They were two very handsome young men.

Their appearance was quite abrupt.

It was as if it had appeared out of thin air on the village road, without any warning. Fortunately, no villagers saw it, otherwise they might have thought they had seen a ghost in broad daylight.

"My old family house is just ahead. It's probably very dirty and messy now because no one lives there. My mom and I only come back once a year during the Lunar New Year."

The two people who arrived were Li Hui and Yang Jian.

Yang Jian pointed to a corner in front of the village and said something. Li Hui didn't comment on this and just walked in the direction Yang Jian pointed.

soon.

The two arrived in front of a two-story cement building.

Just as Yang Jian had said, this cement house had been uninhabited for a long time, and the moss growing on it, along with its aging and abandoned appearance, gave it a slightly eerie feel.

It's easy to see that this house is quite old, with a rather outdated overall style. But back in its day, it was probably one of the best in the village. However, this style of construction is now completely obsolete, and the new houses built in the village are all small Western-style buildings.

"Let's go, let's go into the room where your father's portrait is." Li Hui said to Yang Jian.

"Mm," Yang Jian replied.

However, before they could even put their plan into action, they both stopped simultaneously and turned to look behind them.

At the same time, a girl's voice came from behind them:
"Cousin, is it really you who's back? I saw your back just now and it looked very familiar, but I wasn't sure, so I followed you to see. I didn't expect it to really be you."

The speaker was a girl who looked to be about fifteen or sixteen years old, and she was running towards where Yang Jian and the others were.

Seeing this, Yang Jian took the initiative to introduce her to Li Hui: "This is my cousin, her name is Xiaoyuan. I used to play with her a lot when we were little, but we saw each other less after I went to study elsewhere."

"Xiao Yuan... Liang Yuan?" Upon hearing this, Li Hui curiously sized up the girl who was walking towards them, his face showing a look of inquiry. After all, this cousin of Yang Jian was not so simple.

The girl wasn't very tall, and her skin was a bit dark, but she was cute. What was most striking was that, despite it being a sunny day, she was wearing a raincoat and holding a fruit knife.

What's even stranger is that the girl always had an almost neurotic smile on her face, but when she got closer to Yang Jian, that neurotic smile disappeared and was replaced by a normal girl's sweet smile.

"Xiaoyuan, what are you doing?" Yang Jian was also a little surprised when he saw the girl's outfit and asked, pointing to the knife in her hand.

"Oh, you mean this? Of course it's for self-defense. Don't you remember? You taught me this before. You said that if you're bullied, you should fight back!"

As Xiaoyuan spoke, she nonchalantly put away the knife in her hand, scabbed it, and then tucked it into her bosom.

Then she turned her gaze to Li Hui, who was standing to the side. The moment she saw Li Hui's face clearly, a look of extreme confusion appeared on her face, and she said:
"Cousin, is this your friend? It's so strange, he seems so familiar. I feel like I've seen him somewhere before, but I can't remember. No, wait, I haven't seen him before. No, wait, I definitely have seen him before, but when was it? Wait, wait..."

Xiaoyuan's expression became even more confused, and she kept muttering to herself. Her seemingly normal appearance suddenly became neurotic again.

"Ok?"

"Something seems off about her." Yang Jian noticed something was wrong and stared intently at Xiao Yuan.

Upon closer inspection, he made some unusual discoveries.

Yang Jian noticed that Xiao Yuan's slender arms had developed bruises that looked like lividity or as if they had been pinched by something.

“There is indeed a problem.” Yang Jian’s expression changed immediately upon noticing this.

He suspected that Xiaoyuan had encountered a supernatural event at some point, which affected her and caused this situation.

The only thing that Yang Jian was unsure about was whether this matter was related to his father, or more precisely, to the vengeful ghost his father had controlled in his lifetime.

If so, it proves that the supernatural power his father possessed during his lifetime has begun to spread and affect the people of Meishan Village. If it is unrelated, it proves that other supernatural events have occurred in the surrounding area.

It should be noted that although Meishan Village is located in the countryside, it is still under the jurisdiction of Dachang City, and Yang Jian is the person in charge of Dachang City. In addition, this is his hometown, so this matter will fall on his shoulders and he will have to handle it.

Think of this.

Yang Jian's heart sank.

Fortunately, his strength had increased significantly again, and he had Li Hui, a truly top-tier ghost tamer, by his side, so Yang Jian was not too worried.

"I really can't remember where I've seen you before. By the way, do you remember? If you do, you can tell me." Xiaoyuan threw her unanswered question to Li Hui.

Upon hearing this, Li Hui smiled and said, "If I remember correctly, I have never seen you before, so you have probably mistaken me for someone else."

to be frank.

At this moment, Li Hui himself was also somewhat bewildered.

He wasn't sure if Xiaoyuan was just making a neurotic statement or if she was genuinely serious and had met someone who looked a lot like him before, even leaving a deep impression. But Li Hui was certain that he had never had any contact with Xiaoyuan.

"No, impossible! How could we not have met? I've definitely seen you before, I just can't remember when, but it must have been a long, long time ago!"

Xiao Yuan said nervously.

Then she changed the subject and continued, "Although I've forgotten when I first met you, there's one thing I'm sure of: you're special, and I don't know how to put it."

"It's like... everyone here could be killed by something, but you won't be killed."

When talking about death, Xiaoyuan showed no fear on her face, but her expression was very serious, carrying a chilling aura that sent shivers down one's spine.

"Alright, Xiaoyuan, I have some things to take care of with my friend. You should go back first. I'll come find you when I'm done." Yang Jian said to Xiaoyuan in front of him.

At this moment, he desperately wanted to find the answer. Regardless of whether the strange changes in Xiaoyuan were related to the supernatural events left behind by his father, Yang Jian wanted to find out the truth about his father.

"Okay, cousin, I understand. I'll go home and wait for you." For some reason, when facing Yang Jian, Xiao Yuan's neurotic demeanor instantly returned to normal, and her smile became sweet again.

While speaking.

Xiao Yuan walked back the way she came and went home.

After Xiaoyuan's figure completely disappeared, Yang Jian asked Li Hui, "You should have noticed it too, my cousin is acting a bit strange, but she wasn't like this before. Could this be related to my dad's paranormal activities?"

"She probably has nothing to do with your dad."

After a moment of contemplation, Li Hui said, "But I'm not entirely sure either. However, that's not the point. Once you've uncovered the secrets your father left behind, you'll naturally understand."

Li Hui really didn't know much about Xiao Yuan's background. Even though he had read the original novel, he only knew a little bit of information. After all, the original novel only mentioned that Liang Yuan had lived three lifetimes.

If you calculate it this way, Liang Yuan really doesn't have much of a relationship with Yang Xiaotian, at least initially they definitely didn't.

Because Liang Yuan's first incarnation was most likely a person from the Republican era, Li Hui wasn't too sure whether the second incarnation was related to the current one. Therefore, he didn't speak too definitively when Yang Jian asked him.

“You’re right. There’s no need to dwell on these things now. Now that we’re here, everything will become clear after we’ve dealt with my father’s legacy.”

Yang Jian nodded, turned his gaze back to the old two-story cement house in front of him, then took out the key he had prepared beforehand, opened the door, and went inside with Li Hui.

“My father’s portrait was placed in a room on the second floor. That room used to be used to store miscellaneous items, but since my father died, my mother has cleaned it up and turned it into a place to display his portrait.”

talking.

Yang Jian led Li Hui upstairs.

Because no one had lived there for so long, the walls, floors, and stairs inside the house were all covered in dust, and even the corners of the ceiling were entangled with cobwebs, making it look very dirty and messy.

However, neither Li Hui nor Yang Jian cared about any of this. They went straight to the second floor and headed to the room where Yang Jian's father's portrait was located.

Li Hui, who had read the original novel, remembered that Yang Xiaotian had set up four supernatural places in Meishan Village, one of which was in Yang Jian's old house, or more precisely, the portrait inside the house.

The remaining three places suspected of being haunted are the fishpond, the small temple, and the grove where Yang Xiaotian used to keep his dog...

.........

"crunch~"

soon.

The door to a room on the second floor of the building was opened, and light shone in, making everything inside visible to Li Hui and his companion.

The room wasn't very large. Inside, there was an old, rather ordinary-looking wooden table with a black and white portrait on it. Next to the portrait were some incense burners and other items used for memorial services.

The man in the portrait was a young man in his early twenties. His appearance was very similar to Yang Jian's. If Yang Jian had matured a few years later, he might have looked even more like the person in the photo.

“It looks normal here, there’s nothing wrong. It seems we need to go check on my father’s grave,” Yang Jian said after looking around.

On his forehead, a scarlet ghost eye scanned back and forth, looking around at everything, but it did not find any other supernatural signs. Finally, it fixed its gaze on Li Hui, who was standing to the side, just like before.

“Sometimes you can’t be too one-sided when looking at things, because even a ghost’s eye can make mistakes.” Li Hui said to Yang Jian with a smile.

He then focused his gaze on the black and white portrait on the wooden table and said, "Come out. Your existence cannot be hidden from me. I happen to have some things I want to confirm with you."

See this.

Yang Jian, somewhat suspicious, turned his gaze back to his father's portrait.

However, one second passed, two seconds passed, then three seconds, four seconds... The black and white portrait placed on the old wooden table remained unchanged, as if it were just an ordinary portrait, without any supernatural elements.

Seeing that nothing unusual was happening around him, Yang Jian immediately wanted to ask Li Hui if he had made a mistake, but before he could speak, Li Hui spoke first.

At this moment, Li Hui continued speaking to the black and white portrait on the table: "Don't refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit. I'm politely inviting you out now, but if you don't cooperate, I'll have no choice but to take action."

talking.

Li Hui exuded a chilling aura.

Suddenly.

The vengeful spirit within Yang Jian's body was issuing frantic warnings.

In particular, the ghost eye on his forehead began to throb uneasily at this moment, and then closed directly in the next second, the supernatural silence falling, and no matter what Yang Jian did, there was no reaction.

Then, just when Yang Jian thought Li Hui was going to use his supernatural powers on an ordinary portrait, something unexpected happened.

The light in the room suddenly dimmed, and then the man's eyes in the portrait actually moved. The whole room was shrouded in darkness, giving it an inexplicable eeriness, as if someone hidden in the darkness was watching everything in the room.

"It turns out I really misjudged it; there really is something wrong with my father's portrait!" Upon seeing this, Yang Jian's expression was one of surprise, and at the same time, there was a hint of apprehension in his eyes.

Even the detection of the ghost eye can be concealed, which shows how terrifying the vengeful ghost in this portrait is. If he were to face it alone, he might easily fall victim to it if he wasn't careful.

What horrified Yang Jian the most was...

Now that the portrait clearly shows the presence of a vengeful ghost, wouldn't it be equivalent to him and his mother being in the same room with a vengeful ghost when they came back to pay their respects before?
Moreover, in previous years when he and his mother returned to the village for the New Year, they would stay in this building, which meant they were living under the same roof as the evil spirit.

Thinking of this, Yang Jian felt a chill run down his spine. He was extremely grateful that he and his mother were still alive and had not been killed by the vengeful ghost in the portrait.

(End of this chapter)