Mysterious Resurgence: Starting with the Strange Bus

Chapter 36 City in the Painting
After getting out of the taxi, Li Hui walked straight along the main street of the city. Apart from the flying ashes of paper, everything around him was just like the real-life Dahai City.

The buildings and shops on both sides of the road, the cars parked on the road... and even the many pedestrians on the street, on the surface, it is no different from the real world.

But Li Hui knew that he was not in the real world, but in the ghost realm of the Ghost Painting. It was even possible that the city he was in had been transformed into a completely new oil painting.

The background in the oil painting is a reflection of the real-life metropolis of Osaka.

The complexity of ghost paintings is very high; the ghost realm is enough to completely affect reality, and can even allow ordinary people to live in the world within the painting.

As long as you're still inside the ghost painting, everything around you is real, even the daily necessities in the supermarkets and shops are real and edible.

"I wonder how Ye Zhen is doing now. With his chuunibyou personality, he probably went straight to 'compete' with the vengeful ghost in the painting after entering its ghost realm, right?"

Li Hui thought to himself.

If you want to leave the world of the painting, the best way is to leave through an exit in an oil painting that connects to the real world.

However, every ghost painting contains a vengeful spirit. At this time, Ye Zhen, who has the ability to take someone else's place, becomes especially important, as he has countless opportunities to try and fail.

"Ok?"

As Li Hui was pondering, he suddenly noticed that his surroundings had changed.

The streets of Dahai City had been transformed into those of a foreign country, with billboards and slogans all written in Japanese. Li Hui recognized some of the characters, but most of them were unfamiliar to him, as foreign languages ​​had always been a weakness for him.

"The backgrounds of all oil paintings are the same, so have I walked into the background puzzle of another oil painting?"

Realizing what was happening, Li Hui immediately looked behind him.

What comes into view is a scene where the puzzle pieces of two cities are perfectly connected. On one side of the street is a city in an island nation, and on the other side is Dahai City in China.

The layouts of the two modern cities are basically the same, and they are indistinguishable from each other from a distance. You might think they are the same city, but you will find the differences when you get closer.

“It seems that there are no terrifying supernatural events in island nations. If that’s the case, the ghost in this painting with an island background shouldn’t be too scary.”

Thinking of this, Li Hui's face showed a look of interest.

Every oil painting may contain an exit to the real world, but it may also contain vengeful ghosts. Rather than exploring those oil paintings whose secrets are unknown or whose origins are haunted, it is better to leave through an oil painting that is not too dangerous.

Li Hui remembered that no terrifying ghosts had ever appeared in the island nation, and similarly, there were no top-notch ghost tamers.

In the original story, the knocking ghost wandered to the island nation, and no one in the entire island nation could deal with it. In the end, Yang Jian was asked to come as an outsider to solve the problem.

It was at that 'victory celebration banquet' that Yang Jian had a contest with those so-called 'top ghost tamers' from the island nation, and without a doubt, Yang Jian was in a position of absolute superiority.

Judging from this perspective, ghost paintings associated with island nations probably aren't that scary.

"It seems there are still survivors."

Li Hui's gaze fell upon a supermarket not far away.

From his perspective, he could see two figures trembling in a corner of the supermarket, looking at him with terrified expressions.

Ghosts don't experience fear or dread, so those two must be humans.

Moreover, judging from their appearance, they probably hadn't just entered the ghost painting; they were clearly aware that the city was haunted.

"Perfect timing. I can ask them about the situation in this city and hopefully get some useful information from them."

Seeing this, Li Hui stepped forward and walked towards the supermarket whose name he couldn't understand.

Li Hui wasn't very knowledgeable about island culture. He only watched foreign films with Chinese subtitles, so even though the supermarket had a sign, he didn't understand the meaning of the characters on it.

at the same time.

the other side.

Ye Zhen also left the street where he had previously 'lying down' and entered a completely unfamiliar city.

This is a city with European-style architecture and decoration, and all the signs and advertisements along the roads are in English.

The city appeared desolate and deserted, with the streets in a mess, littered with all sorts of discarded items.

Tatata!
Walking on the garbage-strewn streets, Ye Zhen looked quite disheveled. His face was covered in bruises, and the flesh on his hands was severely corroded, revealing the black bones underneath.

Just now.

Because of the supernatural intervention of the scapegoat, Ye Zhen once again triggered the murderous pattern of the ghost painting and was attacked.

Clearly, he is no match for the source of the ghost paintings now.

In Ye Zhen's words, he had fought to the point of madness and pushed himself to the limit, but he still couldn't get rid of the woman in the painting dressed in red.

In the end, Ye Zhen chose to escape. After running for about two minutes, he arrived at this unfamiliar city.

The injuries on his body were from his battle with the vengeful ghost.

At that time, it wasn't just the woman in red who was the vengeful ghost; other vengeful ghosts also attacked him, leaving wounds on his body while Ye Zhen's supernatural power was suppressed by the woman in the painting.

Each wound represents a supernatural attack. It's fortunate that it was Ye Zhen; if it were anyone else, they would probably have been worn down and died there.

As for the injury on his hand, it was because Ye Zhen used the supernatural power within him too frequently, and when fighting Gui Hua, he actively revived the vengeful spirit residing on his hand in order to enhance the strength of his supernatural power.

Ultimately, under the influence of supernatural forces, Ye Zhen's arm became what it is now.

However, none of this mattered to Ye Zhen, who had mastered the scapegoat.

After a cold snort, Ye Zhen directly used the scapegoat ability.

Instantly, the signs of supernatural erosion on his hands stopped abruptly, the resurgence of the vengeful spirit improved dramatically, and even the wounds on his body disappeared, having been transferred away.

"Is that thing's killing pattern related to 'thought'? As long as you recall related content in your mind, that thing will appear quickly and launch an attack."

After several encounters with the woman in the painting, Ye Zhen finally realized what was happening and understood some of the connections between them.

In this world, apart from some vengeful ghosts that kill indiscriminately, all other vengeful ghosts have a set of inherent rules of behavior.

The killing patterns of vengeful ghosts are like a pre-programmed computer program. Just as a computer only starts running when the power button is pressed, ordinary people will only be targeted by vengeful ghosts if they trigger the killing patterns.

"Just thinking about it will attract the attention of vengeful ghosts, and coupled with this unusually large ghost realm, it's no wonder that ghostly thing was classified as an S-level paranormal event."

At this moment, Ye Zhen had vaguely realized that he had been thinking too simply.

There is a reason why the ghost painting incident has not been dealt with for so long. The complexity and danger of this supernatural event are very high. If any other ghost controller were to handle it, it would be a death sentence!
Take Ye Zhen for example.

His own ghost domain strength was not low, but it was still directly suppressed by the ghost painting's ghost domain. Although it could still open, it had lost the original ability of the ghost domain and could not even do the most basic teleportation.

But it’s no wonder.

When two ghost realms collide, there are only two possible outcomes.

One type is a weak ghost domain that is suppressed and cannot be used. The other type is a ghost domain that can be used, but it will cause mutual interference and cannot reach its normal state.

Ye Zhen's situation clearly falls into the latter category.

Even so, Ye Zhen was still confident that he could deal with the ghost painting, although it wouldn't be as easy as he had initially thought, but the final result would not change.

"I have found the right path. The resurgence of vengeful ghosts will increase the intensity of supernatural phenomena, and so will the same be true for scapegoats..."

After his encounter with the woman in the painting, Ye Zhen came up with another way to use a scapegoat.

Since a scapegoat can take the place of a figurine or a living person, can it also take the place of a vengeful ghost, transferring the harm it suffers to the ghost?
"Indeed, there is a reason why I, Ye, am invincible. With my intelligence, I easily found the right way to control the vengeful spirits!"

According to Ye Zhen's plan, he could completely paint the ghost himself, and at that time, the woman in the painting would suffer the same supernatural harm as the ghost while attacking him.

With the superposition of these factors, it is possible for the ghost painting to be suppressed by its own supernatural nature.

However, to achieve this, the ability of the scapegoat needs to be further developed, which Ye Zhen is not yet able to do.

But this is indeed the right path, and it has given Ye Zhen enough inspiration. As long as he continues down this path, he can succeed.

"That is……"

While pondering, Ye Zhen discovered an extremely strange building.

Deep in a side alley, there stands a church. The walls of the church are covered with moss and the paint is peeling and worn, making it look very old.

What's truly eerie is the interior of the church.

The church doors were open, and Ye Zhen saw a blurry figure standing there. Although he couldn't make out the face, he could sense that it was a person, but this person exuded a creepy and eerie feeling.

At the same time, Ye Zhen felt like he was being watched. He was certain that the figure standing inside the church was looking at him.

"How dare you! You mere brat dare to stand there spying on me instead of giving me a wide berth! Today I'll show you the consequences of provoking me!"

Ye Zhen's chuunibyou (delusional) personality instantly erupted.

He then strode towards the location of the old church.

(End of this chapter)