Mysterious Resurrection: What If

Chapter 154 The Museum of Souls (Seventeen)

That was Zhou Deng; he began his operation the instant Yang Jian ordered Gui Meng to launch the attack.

The vengeful spirits he commands are related to theft; in his own words, they are thieves.

Under normal circumstances, there would be no way he could take anything from this tall man, but when he first tried to steal the machete from the man, he keenly noticed a very inconspicuous detail.

The man did not notice his approach immediately.

This shows that the man was already giving his all when fighting against Yang Jian and the others. Even someone of this level couldn't be completely distracted, which gave Zhou Deng an opportunity.

With Yang Jian's subsequent intervention, the supernatural confrontation escalated to a terrifying level, and Yang Jian's analysis further confirmed Zhou Deng's conjecture.

The tall man's condition was incomplete; he arrived here through the dates on the tattered pages of his diary, and the price he paid must have been enormous.

This is also why Yang Jian dared to take the risk and drag the man into another timeline.

But Zhou Deng wasn't foolish enough to directly approach the man. He knew he only had one chance, so he waited for the confrontation between the man and Yang Jian to reach its most intense point.

The final blow the man delivered to Yang Jian was the perfect opportunity to strike. Although Zhou Deng was unaware of the properties of the woodcutter's knife, he understood that the use of any supernatural object always came at a price.

As the man swung his knife, he also endured Yang Jian's attack and the backlash from the woodcutter's knife.

Zhou Deng put on Tian Xiaoyue's mask. Tian Xiaoyue had given it to him willingly. Tian Xiaoyue wasn't stupid. If Yang Jian really died here, she would be next, and this museum would be sealed away forever by that tall man on this day.

The moment he put on the mask, a strong suggestion flashed through Zhou Deng's mind.

She was the companion of that tall man.

This subtle psychological suggestion was so strange that Zhou Deng instinctively began to believe in this subconscious insinuation.

Now he finally understood how Tian Xiaoyue had lured the ghost here. She was constantly implying to herself that she was a ghost through the mask, and if this continued, perhaps one day the mask would completely replace her and she would become a real vengeful ghost.

With the help of the mask, Zhou Deng successfully approached the tall man.

Yang Jian noticed Zhou Deng and stopped in his tracks to buy him some time.

The tall man's attention was completely focused on Yang Jian. Even though he vaguely sensed someone approaching, he subconsciously regarded Zhou Deng as someone he knew.

Zhou Deng succeeded; he easily took the machete and the tattered diary pages from the man's hands. But the price came with it; he was suffering the backlash from the mask.

Standing there with difficulty, feeling the piercing pain on his face, Zhou Deng was panting heavily.

The mask was slowly merging with his face. Even if Zhou Deng had taken advantage of the situation to attack a ghost tamer of the man's caliber, the price he would have to pay would far exceed his expectations.

"Good cooperation."

The man glanced at Zhou Deng, a hint of admiration in his eyes.

He always held extremely high expectations for future generations, firmly believing that people in the future would forge a completely different path from their own.

That's why they deliberately held back when facing the others; otherwise, everyone present except Yang Jian would have been dead long ago.

The surrounding darkness quickly receded, and everyone stood once again in the familiar environment of the museum.
“Your teammates are very reliable.” The tall man looked at Yang Jian, who had completely lost the ability to move. The ghost eye on his forehead was closed, and black water kept oozing from his body as he struggled to support himself.

"It seems our choice was correct. There's no need to continue down the wrong path. Only by facing the unknown can we forge a completely different path."

The man continued talking to himself, not disappearing even after the medium was cut off. He raised his hand, pointed to a black line on the ground, and continued, "However, I still suggest your teammate put down that piece of paper, otherwise he will die soon."

Yang Jian's heart sank. He looked in the direction the man was pointing and saw that the ghostly shadow beneath his feet had been stretched into an extremely thin black line, and the other end of this black line was connected to the torn page of the diary in Zhou Deng's hand.

“I admit you are very capable, and you may really be able to completely stop the evil spirits in this haunted place, but our philosophies are different. I cannot let this place continue down the path of history.”

The man looked directly at Zhou Deng, his tone icy.

"Let go. I won't say it a second time."

The ghostly attack was invading Zhou Deng's body through the torn pages of the diary. At this moment, he felt his body being slowly dismembered. The restlessness of the vengeful ghost inside him was becoming more and more obvious. Even though the tall man was in poor condition, the attack was not as terrifying as before. However, compared to before, Zhou Deng still could not hold on for long.

But Zhou Deng glared back fiercely.

"Don't let it go!"

"court death."

"You can talk about it once you can get here!"

Zhou Deng gripped the paper tightly, preparing to back away, but as soon as he took a step, the thin black thread suddenly pulled, tearing his entire arm apart and nearly severing it.

He screamed and fell to his knees, his face covered in cold sweat as he clutched his wound in pain. However, Zhou Deng reacted quickly, immediately switching hands to hold the paper and barely managing to keep his body steady.

"Do you think I'm easily intimidated? Captain Yang's attack worked, and you're not much better off than me now."

Zhou Deng looked at Yang Jian, who was standing in the distance, and shouted, "Captain Yang! Don't worry! Unless I die here, he won't get this paper! He can't hold out for long! The fact that he's been holding onto this paper means he needs to make actual contact with it! Otherwise, he would have hidden it long ago!"

Yang Jian was currently trying his best to balance the state of the vengeful ghost within him. Zhou Deng's analysis was correct; Yang Jian had observed this detail long ago. From the man's continued grip on the paper, it could be seen that the medium could only be effective through direct contact. Connecting the paper through the ghost was merely a last resort for the man, greatly diminishing its effectiveness.

Due to the weakening of the medium, the already incomplete and tall man has now been severely reduced, and his terror level is less than half of what it was before.

As long as he can move, Yang Jian can dismember the ghostly figure beneath the man's feet in this state with a single strike.

But this man from the Republic of China era was really outrageous; in his current state, he actually took a step toward Zhou Deng.

"Boom!"

The man's foot thudded as he landed, suggesting he was getting heavier.

Heavy footsteps echoed like thunder as the man walked step by step toward Zhou Deng.

"Kid, you're not bad at all, to push me to this point."

The man walked a meter away from Zhou Deng, but could not go any further. There was a deep pit under his feet, and his ankle could no longer bear the weight of his body and was completely broken.

Then, the man made a move that shocked everyone: he slammed one hand into the ground and actually pulled the ghost out of his hand and held it in his grasp.

Then he pulled hard, and Zhou Deng immediately felt a tremendous force on his arm, his bones cracked, and his entire arm was about to be completely torn apart.

"Damn, that's unfair, it's outrageous."

(End of this chapter)