Chapter 109: The Source of the Oil Painting, the Strange Dye

"Zhang Xianguang, what do you mean by that?"

"Fierce Ghost, so what? It's all the same to me."

Upon hearing Zhang Xianguang say that the two people in front of him are Fierce Ghosts, someone said indifferently.

"You're still alive, which shows that someone outside still cares about you, right? Do you really want this Ghost to seize the ghostly power inside the oil painting and become even more terrifying?"

Zhang Xianguang, hearing this, questioned the person.

"If the Ghost Painting obtains the ghostly power inside the oil painting, it will kill everyone. I'd like to die now, but I don't want my family to be harmed; that would be too cruel."

Hearing Zhang Xianguang's words, someone who had originally planned to seek death spoke up immediately.

"Indeed, we can't let him obtain the ghostly power inside the oil painting; I still have people I care about in the Reality World and don't want them to die like that."

Deep in the Ghost Post Office's main hall, a person slowly Ghost's Walking; he is very young, about twenty‑something.

What's baffling is that this person's appearance is about seventy‑to‑eighty percent similar to the Yang Jian that Zhang Hao has seen, only his temperament is slightly different.

He exudes a calm, composed demeanor and a hidden edge.

After stepping out of the crowd, Yang Xiao stared at Zhang Hao, raised his hand, and prepared to strike him.

Zhang Hao now looks at these people—not because he lacks intent to attack them; in fact, he has already launched an assault.

He wants to see if he can directly use the Ghost Painting's Ghost's Invasion on these people.

Logically, the people inside the oil painting are equivalent to a picture and should also be susceptible to the Ghost Painting's Ghost's Invasion, since the Ghost Painting can invade artworks.

If he can control this group, it would be a huge gain for Zhang Hao.

The people in the oil painting, regardless of combat power, already manage to avoid being messengers; the weaker they are, the more remarkable they actually are.

But clearly, Zhang Hao failed; an invisible ghostly power within the oil painting world blocked his Ghost's Invasion of these people, likely the source of the oil painting.

Thus these people were given a chance to discuss.

"Useless to me; since that's the case, just erase them outright."

After realizing he couldn't control them, Zhang Hao immediately unleashed the Black and White Ghost Domain.

A ghostly attack that can make everything undergo Color Fading struck this area; the Ghost Post Office inside the oil painting, from the spot beneath Zhang Hao's feet, began losing its color.

The floor, the structures, the chandeliers on the Ceiling, even some people near Zhang Hao were losing color at this moment.

At the same time, Zhang Hao stared at Yang Xiao.

The instant he saw that face, Zhang Hao realized the opponent's ghostly power and naturally could not be unguarded.

The invisible Gravity from the Black and White World, together with Zhang Hao's Gaze, acted upon Yang Xiao.

Yang Xiao's Ghost Dream is indeed strong, but that is based on the Ghost Dream itself.

Now Yang Xiao is merely a Derivative Body possessing Six-Tenths of the Ghostly Power of his original body; under these circumstances, he was easily pressed to kneel.

But at this moment, in the monochrome world, an unseen silhouette was Ghost's Walking toward Zhang Hao.

It was an attack from the consciousness world; if Zhang Hao lacked the ability to resist, he would be pulled into the dream world.

However, the next scene left Yang Xiao stunned.

His attack was blocked; Zhang Hao was not pulled into the dream.

In the monochrome world, a person with not a hint of color, wielding a White Curtain at that moment, trapped the silhouette attacking Zhang Hao.

This Ghost Eye can see those consciousness‑type Fierce Ghosts, and likewise, attacks from consciousness‑type Fierce Ghosts can be repelled by this Ghost Eye.

However, this defense has flaws, because it only appears in the Black and White World overlapping with the Reality World within Zhang Hao's Gaze.

In other words, Zhang Hao now has a means to counter consciousness‑type attacks, but cannot guard against stealth attacks from the consciousness side.

"Die."

As Zhang Hao's Ghost Domain unfolded, the sky kept shedding Black and White Portraits one after another.

Wailing cries emanated from the portraits, the terrifying sobbing layered upon itself, making the entire Ghost Post Office feel as if invaded by Fierce Ghosts.

"Looks like it's beyond resistance."

One Ghost Courier gave a wry smile at Zhang Hao; he knew this Ghost was beyond what a bunch of dead men like them could handle, yet they still rushed forward without hesitation.

Regardless of success or failure, even if hope is slim, what if they succeed?

Moreover, even if they fail, it's at most death; having lingered in the oil painting world so long, we're no longer afraid of death.

Lines of flying Feilian descended from the sky, trying to hook onto Zhang Hao's body.

However, these Feilian lost their color the instant they entered the Black and White World, and the moment they touched Zhang Hao, they scattered on the ground like a pile of burnt paper ash.

Someone wielding an Iron Shovel tried to attack Zhang Hao, but the outcome was not much different from the former; any Supernatural Artifact that entered this Black and White Ghost Domain and was sensed by Zhang Hao lost its ghostly power.

Only attacks with a special method that Zhang Hao's Ghost Domain cannot perceive can truly strike him.

But that's useless; they are already dead, with little ghostly power, facing a true Fierce Ghost like Zhang Hao.

These attacks just hit Zhang Hao, the ghostly power beginning to affect him, but not even a second passed before Zhang Hao repelled and dispelled the ghostly power on himself.

The gap is too great, and the Black and White Ghost Domain blocks most attacks from the Reality layer.

It can be said that it's like a newborn infant battling a fully grown natural predator; every method fails, rendering all efforts pale and powerless.

Occasionally a few attacks succeed, but they're merely painless and harmless.

"Zhang Xianguang, aren't you making a move?"

At this moment, someone noticed Zhang Xianguang standing far away inside the Ghost Post Office, watching the scene.

It should be known that he was the one who first proposed dealing with this Ghost.

However, Zhang Xianguang could only give a wry smile upon hearing this.

"I also want to make a move against it, after all"

Speaking of that, perhaps Zhang Xianguang felt his plan had collapsed; he helplessly shook his head and said in a low voice.

"Actually I'm different from you; you're the ghostly beings drawn in the oil painting, but I'm not—I'm a normal living person."

"What a joke? A normal living person? You've lived in the oil painting for over a decade, and you claim you're a normal living person? Do you think I'm blind?" someone immediately retorted.

Even a normal Ghost Tamer cannot go ten‑plus years without being affected by Ghost Power, nor can they keep normal bodily functions without eating or drinking; even if you are Abnormal, you cannot remain in this state forever.

"Yes, that's why I have another identity, that of the manager of the Ghost Post Office," Zhang Xianguang said.

"Only as a manager can one stay inside the Ghost Post Office without dying, and keep the same appearance for ten‑plus years, perfectly blending among you."

As soon as those words were spoken, everyone's complexion changed abruptly.

"Don't stare at me like that; whatever I say now is meaningless—my plan has already failed." Zhang Xianguang suddenly seemed calm at that moment.

The reason I say it now is only that I feel my plan has failed, having hidden a pent‑up frustration in my heart for ten‑plus years for nothing.

At this moment, the Black and White World of the Ghost Domain enveloped the entire Ghost Post Office within the oil painting, spreading toward this side.

That colorless world seemed to strip all life, and Zhang Xianguang didn't even have time to finish his words before the Ghost Couriers who had approached him died one after another.

In the end, the entire Ghost Post Office turned into a monochrome expanse; aside from Zhang Xianguang, who survived thanks to the Ghost Post Office's protection as its manager, all remaining Ghost Courier portraits were slain.

Looking at the drastically altered Ghost Post Office, Zhang Xianguang gave a wry smile and glanced at Zhang Hao.

"Who would have thought? After a decade of waiting day after day, I finally missed someone like you, an Abnormal."

"Indeed, Jiang is still sharp with age; he's right—Ghost Power is ultimately uncontrollable." Zhang Xianguang gave a wry smile, having lost the desire to resist.

Zhang Xianguang knows everything this Ghost did at the outside Ghost Post Office; he knows this Ghost has no chance of sparing him.

After all, once he dies, the only remaining manager of the Ghost Post Office would be the neither‑human‑nor‑ghost Tian Xiaoyue, and then the Ghost Post Office would fall into an even more out‑of‑control state than anything he had caused before. Zhang Hao, looking at Zhang Xianguang's expression, also knew the other could not give him any useful information.

He directly had the Ghost Bride use the Ghost Painting to trap him inside a portrait.

Inside the Ghost Post Office, Zhang Xianguang cannot be killed, so Zhang Hao must wait until they leave the Ghost Post Office before releasing Zhang Xianguang.

"Madam, where shall we go next?"

Zhang Hao looked at the Ghost Bride beside him; regarding this oil painting world, he himself sensed nothing useful.

The oil painting has nothing to do with the Ghosts inside Zhang Hao, nor can it become a Puzzle; they can only rely on the Ghost Bride to search.

Hearing Zhang Hao's question, the Ghost Bride voluntarily took his hand and walked toward the outside of the Ghost Post Office.

They followed the winding, twisting path, moving farther away; after a distance beyond the Ghost Post Office within the oil painting, they took a forked road.

At the end of the fork lay a sparse wood; the trees were not real at all, bizarre and twisted, as if painted.

The surrounding environment suddenly plunged into night, but the night sky over this place held a moon, providing light so one could see.

Zhang Hao was very familiar with this situation.

They entered the world of another oil painting, and this painting was not a portrait but centered on a Fierce Ghost.

In the middle of that sparse old forest ahead, the soil rose slightly.

One could see a stiff, corpse‑like hand emerging from the ground, reaching toward the sky, as if a person, unwilling to die after being buried alive, struggled to crawl out.

Zhang Hao had no intention of provoking that thing; his current goal was to find the source of the oil painting.

Everything within this oil painting, as Zhang Hao progressed further, felt increasingly familiar.

It resembled the Ghost Painting too closely; the only difference was that the Ghost Painting can mimic reality, spawning structures similar to real ones within the painting, and once it reaches a certain level it can invade reality, pulling reality into the painted world.

This oil painting cannot enter reality, but it can replicate people from reality, and even other Fierce Ghosts can be painted; those painted people or ghosts become like true Fierce Ghosts—so long as someone remembers them, they will not die.

And the most similar point is what?

The Ghost Painting's Killing Rule is that it is recalled by others, seen by them.

The people and Ghosts in the oil painting also need to be remembered to exist.

"Perhaps if the Madam obtains this oil painting, she will later be able to freely generate Ghost Paintings, right?"

Zhang Hao walked along the road, thinking to himself.

The oil painting can depict people and Ghosts; the Ghost Painting can spawn Ghost Paintings, but each spawning requires killing and invading a portrait.

Once these two complement each other, the Ghost Painting should be able to directly draw its derived Ghost Paintings using the oil painting's Ghost Power.

No, perhaps it goes beyond that.

Perhaps even the terror level of the derived Ghost Paintings could increase dramatically, reaching Six‑Tenths of the Ghostly Power of the original.

While pondering, Zhang Hao and the Ghost Bride quickly entered another fork.

The ground here was soft and cold, each step sinking as if about to give way, and many strange trees surrounded them.

He stared at the twisted strange trees and saw a distorted, blurry human face on them, the faces woven from the bark's texture, looking extremely eerie.

Continuing along the winding path, they soon encountered a fork, left and right, unsure which oil painting each led to.

Zhang Hao used the Ghost Eye to see through the darkness, scanning both sides of the road.

On the left, the scenery was strange; large vats were placed on the ground, each filled with dye of a different color.

There were black, red, green—looking very eerie—but no trace of Fierce Ghosts.

The right side looked much more normal, a small garden where the flowers were in full bloom, though they seemed more painted than real.

There, he vaguely saw a person standing in the garden's center; though the figure was blurry, it appeared to be a woman.

While Zhang Hao was observing, the Ghost Bride had already taken his hand and walked forward, seeming to sense something.

That was the direction of the dyes.

Continuing onward, they soon reached the end of the fork, just as Zhang Hao had observed before.

This was an open, relatively spacious area where large water vats were placed, but the vats held various dyes instead of water, their colors strange and bizarre.

The red dye vat contained a viscous dye resembling fresh blood, indistinguishable from actual blood.

The black dye vat emitted a stench of corpse, its contents unknown.

The green dye vat seemed to contain something moldy, giving off a strong mildew odor.

The other vats also held bizarre dyes, colors that could not be mixed in reality.

Zhang Hao approached a vat and glanced inside; even the Ghost Eye's view of the Black and White World could not penetrate the dye to see the vat's interior.

"These dyes must be the source of the oil painting's pigments."

The colors of the dyes here indeed match those on the oil painting.

Especially that viscous, blood‑like Hong Bai Shuang Sha is even more evident; this color is unusually bewitching, living people cannot concoct it, only some kind of Supernatural Artifact can form this vivid, dripping scarlet.

Zhang Hao looked left and right; there is no corresponding oil painting exit that leads to the outside world here.

Under normal judgment, oil paintings are like Ghost Paintings; each bizarre place corresponds to an oil painting, and each oil painting implies an exit.

But there is no exit here, yet these strange Dye Vats exist.

However, this Dye Vat seems to lack a certain Puzzle, presumably a paintbrush.

If these dyes are combined with a paintbrush‑like Puzzle, perhaps even an ordinary person, after enduring the side effects of a Supernatural Artifact, could grasp the method of making oil paintings.

However, this flaw poses no problem for the Ghost Bride.

The Ghost Bride who completed the Ghost Painting is a born painter; she can easily help Zhang Hao apply the colors a living person should have onto his body surface.

"Perhaps, when I have time, I should go look for that painter."

Deep inside, Zhang Hao recalled that the original work shows that characters related to painting or Ghosts should be Ghost Paintings, painters, and also the Ghost Post Office's dyes, right?

Although, according to Zhang Hao's speculation, Ghost Paintings may not greatly need the painter's Puzzle, any improvement is still improvement, right?

"By the way, there is another place; Room 301 seems to contain many oil paintings, but it's unclear whether those oil paintings came from the Ghost Post Office or whether Meng Xiaodong has such Supernatural Artifact in her possession."

Zhang Hao does not know much about Meng Xiaodong; he only knows she possesses the ability to infinitely execute Ghost's Invasion from the past into the present.

Also, Meng Xiaodong's post‑resurrection Killing Rule is very similar to Ghost Paintings; both are memories.

Only that Ghost Paintings see her in memories, whereas the specifics of Meng Xiaodong's Killing Rule are not very clear.

While Zhang Hao was pondering, the Hong Bai Shuang Sha Dye Vat rippled, and then two figures slowly rose from that water vat.

The viscous blood‑like dye made a swishing sound in the dark, and a bizarre human head was the first to float to the surface, slowly reaching out of the water vat.

The person who emerged from the water vat, drenched in blood, was exactly like Zhang Hao, except this figure was entirely crimson, covered in blood, very bizarre.

Then the water vat began bubbling, the Hong Bai Shuang Sha dye flowed outward, quickly staining the surrounding area red, but the dye that reddened the Ground did not continue to spread; instead it slowly accumulated.

Soon, the Hong Bai Shuang Sha dye rose like a person, actually standing up, and along with it Zhang Hao felt an invisible Gravity appear on himself, a Gravity that came from Gaze.

Immediately after, another figure floated up from the water vat; this time the person was the same as the Ghost Bride.

However, compared with Zhang Hao, this derivative of the Ghost Bride is even more similar to the Ghost Bride.

After all, the Ghost Bride's Wedding Dress, Veil||Item, and embroidered shoes are all Hong Bai Shuang Sha.

The only difference is that the Ghost Bride's hands are fair and flawless.

But the Ghost Bride that walked out of the water vat has both hands entirely crimson, appearing bizarrely terrifying.

(End of Chapter)