Mysterious Resurrection: What If

Chapter 4 Out of Control (Part 4)

In the narrow passage, all the light bulbs had been turned off, leaving only a few emergency exit signs emitting a faint green glow.

By the green light, one could see a large patch of torn paper clothes on the ground. A sudden breeze arose in the previously windless passage, scattering the paper clothes fragments in all directions.
Slowly, the fragments of clothing began to fade, then transformed into a hazy, condensed mass... which, carried by a gentle breeze, gradually spread across the walls.
"Damn it, is there a problem with Ghost Painting? My paper doll has been invaded by Ghost Painting." Liu San's sallow face was gloomy as he glared fiercely at Wang Xiaoming.

“Professor Wang, there’s something wrong with your people. The only one who came into contact with my paper doll in the Ghost Painting is that woman named Ah Hong. You’d better hope she’s dead inside, otherwise I’ll kill her first when she comes out. Don’t think I can’t do it… I can risk my life to kill any captain in headquarters.”

Wang Xiaoming wasn't angry. Instead, he picked up a stack of documents and said, "This is the information Yang Jian sent back. It's very unlikely that Ah Hong's memories have been altered. Her face isn't real; it was drawn on. The rule for modifying memories is that the entire face must be removed. Obviously, she doesn't meet that rule. So, if that's the case..."

Wang Xiaoming paused for a moment and continued, "When Zhao Jianguo handed the makeup box to her, his memory had already been altered. There is likely something on the hungry ghost inside the makeup box, which is why the hungry ghost moved towards the ghost painting as soon as it lost control. It wanted to piece together its own puzzle, which indirectly led to the separation of the ghost messenger and the ghost painting."

Adjusting his glasses, Wang Xiaoming frowned, a rare occurrence for him.

"The situation is starting to worsen. If the ghost painting can counter-invade Liu San's paper figures... his paper figure corpse is also here."

Wang Xiaoming immediately picked up the phone.

"Contact Elder Qin and immediately take action to imprison the starving ghost. Stop guarding that place. The ghosts inside are no longer a top priority compared to the current situation. If the ghost painting comes into contact with the starving ghost, no one knows what will happen; perhaps even the ghost messengers..."

Meanwhile, inside the ghost painting.

A faint bluish-black aura permeated the sky.

"Li Jun, the situation is very bad. Liu San has disappeared. These bluish-black things that are spreading here are suspected to be things from the hungry ghosts."

Ah Hong held her makeup box and looked at the tall buildings in the distance, where faint bluish-black wisps were slowly rising.

Li Jun frowned, a cigarette dangling from his lips, and a rotten doorknob in his hand.

"The agreed time has arrived, but the headquarters hasn't opened. Is there a problem?"

However, Li Jun couldn't figure it out either, so he turned to Su Fan and said.

"Su Fan, continue searching for an exit. Although we don't know why the Hungry Ghost's Ghost Domain appeared here, this place is now restricted, so we still have a chance."

Su Fan frantically manipulated the little figure on his phone, searching for something, but it seemed to be of little use. Every now and then, four large characters would pop up on the screen.

You are dead!

"Hmm?" Suddenly Su Fan's expression changed. A faint light appeared on the phone screen, and then the phone shone brightly, as if a ray of sunlight shone down on the little figure he was controlling.

At that very moment, a crack appeared in the gray sky of the Ghost Painting Realm, and sunlight streamed in, shining directly on Li Jun and the others, as if bringing hope and light to this despairing and oppressive world within the painting.

"As expected of Ghost Painting, it actually managed to keep me outside, Old Fang! Even without your help, I can break through this mere Ghost Domain."

Two figures descended from the sky following the beam of light, slowly floating down. One of the figures stood in mid-air, overlooking everything in the ghostly world.

Fang Shiming, who had already landed on the ground, stared at Ye Zhen in mid-air with a dark expression.

“Foolish brute. If it weren’t for my prior agreement with Wang Xiaoming, I would never want to act with this chuunibyou.”

At this moment, Ye Zhen had somehow acquired a set of clothes, wearing a bamboo hat that deliberately covered part of his face, and a white cloak hanging behind him, on which the two large characters "Justice" were clearly printed.

"This is the Ghost Painting? It's truly extraordinary, worthy of my attention. I am already the strongest, a rare opponent in this world. Ah, how lonely..."

Ye Zhen looked at Li Jun on the ground with an invincible expression.

"Li Jun! When I ask you guys to catch a ghost, it's either windy or rainy. Do you think we're going to the moon?!"

Li Jun's lips twitched; even he found Ye Zhen's personality a bit unbearable.

"Was this support sent from the headquarters of the paranormal forum and WeChat Moments' leader?"

Li Jun immediately shouted to Ye Zhen, who was in mid-air.

"Ye Zhen! Now is not the time to talk about this. Get us out of Ghost Painting first. Su Fan and Ah Hong are in very bad shape!"

"Huh? We're sending you all out? Wang Xiaoming didn't tell me that!"

Ye Zhen blushed and unconsciously turned to the side.

He and Fang Shiming joined forces and used the Ghost Scissors to barely break through into the Ghost Painting's ghost realm for a short time. He was only focused on showing off, and now the ghost realm has automatically closed, making it virtually impossible to get out of there again.

Fang Shiming, holding his forehead, couldn't bear to look at this side anymore. He had said long ago that Ye Zhen used most of his supernatural abilities for showing off. However, whether or not he saved these people was irrelevant to him. He was only here to fulfill a promise he made to Wang Xiaoming.

"Why are you all looking at me like that? I, Ye, have traveled all over the country and everyone knows my strength. I am the strongest in the world! This mere ghost painting is nothing to worry about. I will take you out after I deal with this ghost painting."

"The hungry ghosts have gone out of control. The reason why the headquarters has not opened the door for so long is that they are afraid that the ghost domain of Ghost Painting will invade."

Li Jun and his group walked along a secluded path, all cautiously observing the gray world around them. Only Ye Zhen, carrying a sword, searched around, appearing fearless. Just then...

"Ye Zhen! Watch out behind you!"

The ghostly flames on Li Jun's body burned wildly, rushing straight towards Ye Zhen's back.

"Huh?" Ye Zhen was startled.

Suddenly, a blurry figure appeared behind Ye Zhen, dressed in red, with indistinct features.

The ghost could only be vaguely identified as a woman by other features. The most striking feature was the pair of hands in front of the ghost's body, which were fair and real, but cold and eerie.

Ye Zhen turned around and punched the ghost's body in front of him with perfect form, as if he had practiced boxing.

However, Ye Zhen's touch seemed to trigger a murderous pattern. A hazy, condensed energy rapidly eroded Ye Zhen's body along his arm, causing his skin to quickly turn ashen, but then recover rapidly. After several terrifying supernatural forces, the energy gradually dissipated.

Ye Zhen's face was filled with surprise and uncertainty. His punch had once briefly paralyzed a certain vengeful ghost, but this time it had no effect whatsoever. It was as if he had struck a cold steel plate.

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

The next second, Ye Zhen was sent flying backwards—no, it should be said that the surrounding scenery rushed towards Ye Zhen.

In Ye Zhen's eyes, everything was rushing backward, and his scapegoat seemed to be leaving his body along with the whole world, while he himself was slowly turning into an oil painting.

Ye Zhen's face instantly turned horrified. He frantically used the ability of the scapegoat to try to transfer this terrifying supernatural attack and avoid the damage.

But Ye Zhen was surprised to find that his scapegoat seemed to be suppressed by some unknown supernatural force. Although this suppression was very slight, even a momentary mistake at this critical moment could kill him.

"Tear..."

An opening appeared in front of Ye Zhen, and then green ghost flames suddenly burst into flames.

When Ye Zhen came to his senses, he found himself still standing in the same spot. On the ground was a charred oil painting with a scarlet gash cut by a sharp weapon. The painting depicted the very spot where he was standing.

Fang Shiming stood to one side with scissors in his hand, while the ghostly flames on Li Jun's charred body slowly died down.

"I almost died just now?"

This was the first time he had encountered such a situation since he started using a scapegoat. If Fang Shiming hadn't intervened in time, he might have really been doomed here today.

Ye Zhen narrowed his eyes as he looked at Fang Shiming, not expecting that it would be him who made the move.

"Don't look at me like that. Anything can happen in the Ghost Realm of Ghost Painting. I'm just saving myself."

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

“I agree with Fang Shiming. We shouldn’t be alone in this situation. Ye Zhen, tell me why you were attacked just now.”

Li Jun's entire face was half burned, and his left eyeball was exposed, making him look more like a ghost.

"I don't know, but the ghost inside me was suppressed just now. Although it was very weak, it seems that the ghost painting doesn't have the ability to suppress other ghosts."

Ye Zhen rotated his wrist, his eyes filled with solemnity as he stared at the picture frame on the ground.

Ah Hong looked at the makeup box wrapped in gold in her hand. After her previous conversation with Fang Shiming, she no longer dared to use this supernatural item.

"Suppression? Does it mean it has acquired some of the supernatural abilities of the Ghost Messenger? We entered the Ghost Messenger's ghost realm before, and because of the Starving Ghost's loss of control, the Ghost Messenger and Ghost Painting separated. But now it seems that in the contest between the two supernatural beings, Ghost Painting has a slight advantage, and has even taken over some of the Ghost Messenger's supernatural abilities."

Now that Ah Hong has lost her makeup box, her supernatural abilities are negligible in this ghostly world. She can only follow the others and analyze the situation before her.

"That's right, you got it right."

Fang Shiming snapped his fingers and glanced at Ye Zhen.

"It seems there are still some smart people in our team, which increases the chances of imprisoning this painting."

It's clear that his battle with Ye Zhen back then left him with a deep-seated prejudice against Ye Zhen. In Fang Shiming's eyes, it was a completely avoidable and meaningless battle. It was only because Ye Zhen, with his delusional tendencies, insisted on determining who was the best in the world that he ended up in his current situation.

Ye Zhen's face flushed red, and veins bulged on his forehead as he argued, "How can being ambushed be considered a loss? Being ambushed cannot be considered a loss!"

The others had already gone far away, and only Ye Zhen's voice could be faintly heard from behind, saying some things that were difficult to understand.

Things like "not even shouting out the moves" or "invincible".

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

(End of this chapter)