Chapter 129: Swallowing Human Skin Paper, an Unlimited Future

On a deserted highway.

A bus was moving slowly, when suddenly it halted its forward motion.

At an unknown time, an old man blocked the bus's path.

After stopping the Spiritual Bus, the old man stepped aboard and sat directly in the driver's seat.

In the next instant, under the terrified gazes of the passengers, the bus moved again.

The old man seemed able to control the bus's direction; as he kept driving, the scenery on either side of the road was not the familiar city buildings but a dim, strange place.

Clearly this was an incomprehensible Spiritual Realm, inaccessible to the living; only the Spiritual Bus could traverse it.

The bus made no stops; though its speed was not great, it crossed between locations in an unbelievable way.

At this moment, distance seemed rewritten by the spiritual.

Soon.

The bus stopped—this was the first stop—but there was no station; it halted in a narrow alley of an old district. Though the alley was narrow, the bus forced its way in by an unreasonable means.

Qin Lao said nothing; he simply opened the bus doors and sounded the horn.

"Doo! Doo!"

A muffled, hoarse horn sounded, intermittent, as if it could vanish at any moment.

After doing those things, Qin Lao simply sat in the driver's seat, waiting quietly.

"If you don't want to die, hold on tight and go down."

Seemingly having thought of something, Qin Lao looked at the Ghost Tamer who had been sitting in the bus behind him and said,

Hearing that, everyone wore terrified, panicked faces and got off the bus.

A short while after everyone left,

In the hallway of the dilapidated apartment building, a heavily wrinkled, slightly stooped, death‑like old woman carrying a basket shuffled out.

The old woman lifted her eyelids slightly to glance toward the driver's seat, showed a flash of something strange, but quickly she entered the side door and found a seat inside the bus.

Seeing the passenger board, Qin Lao drove the bus forward again; soon it passed through the wall ahead, vanished from reality, and entered a bizarre, incomprehensible realm.

"I thought you'd never drive again; why did you honk this time—something up?"

Though the basket‑carrying old woman was aged and lifeless, she was kindly and gentle, her tone so soft it instantly won people's favor.

"A terrifying thing appeared; I can't handle it alone."

Qin Lao's voice was low as he drove and said,

The old woman raised her eyelids slightly and said, "I'm near death, I don't want to deal with many things, yet there's even a youngster you can't handle—how odd."

After saying that, she fell silent for a moment, then added, "This is the last time; there won't be a next."

"Don't worry, there won't be a next." Qin Lao replied without hesitation.

"This thing is special; it seems not to belong to this world."

Qin Lao's words made the old woman's expression grow considerably more serious.

If it doesn't belong to this world, it must be a ghost from the future—or perhaps from the past.

She said nothing more, simply closing her eyes and leaning against the seat, as if meditating.

The bus continued along a bizarre road, heading toward the next stop.

Although the road seemed long, it didn't take long; soon the surroundings were no longer a city but a dim countryside, even in daylight, under a gloomy sky where ancient graves dotted the distance.

The numerous ancient graves stretched together, forming an immense cemetery.

After the bus drove along the cemetery for a moment, it soon stopped in front of a wooden house.

The wooden house was unremarkable, nestled in the cemetery, easy to overlook if not examined closely.

Yet Qin Lao parked the bus precisely opposite the house.

The dilapidated, nearly rotting wooden house sat within the eerie cemetery; no matter how one looked, no living person could survive there.

Nevertheless, Qin Lao honked again just as before.

The old Spiritual Bus's horn echoed through the strange cemetery.

Soon.

"Creak!"

An old wooden door creaked open, and a person stepped out of the house.

It was an elderly figure, cold and strange, exuding a rotting aura as if about to die at any moment.

The old man paused briefly at the door, his pitch‑black, pupil‑less eyes scanning the bus.

Moments later, the old man finally left the house and boarded the bus.

"It's been ages since I rode this bus; we old things shouldn't meet, no one knows who will collapse first."

The elder who emerged from the cemetery glanced around, then found a seat.

The basket‑carrying old woman said, "The Ley Line Circle recently produced a terrifying ghost; Little Qin said it doesn't belong to this world, even he can't handle it, so we old folks had to be pulled out."

"So that's it." The cemetery elder's expression flickered.

The old woman added, "Take a trip; it won't take long. After it's over we'll send you back, it won't delay anything."

"It's not that; I'm just in a hurry, heading to a fight, and I left some things behind." The cemetery elder looked out the window.

Following his gaze, an old Iron Shovel stood beside the wooden house, and a rust‑spotted Coffin Nail was still nailed into a wooden post at the cemetery entrance.

"It won't hinder anything; with your help this can succeed, but I don't want any accidents, so let's go to the next stop."

"That ghost doesn't belong to this world; being here, it could affect past and future spiritual phenomena, leaving a trap for me."

Qin Lao said, then continued driving the bus forward.

Inside the bus, the two elders remained silent, sitting and waiting quietly.

Room 301's old woman, Meng Xiaodong.

Graveyard master Luo Qian.

However, that's not all; Qin Lao actually still wants to find the next one.

But at this point, the Ghost Tamer named Li Qingzhi who was guarding the Caesar Grand Hotel should already be dead, most likely won't come.

And Luo Wensong, after Yang Jian dealt with the starving ghost, Luo Wensong had already revived long ago.

But the remaining few people are still substantial.

Old House Old Man Zhang Dong.

And if that longest‑lived Pharmacy Owner, along with these Republic Era top figures, meet before death and join forces, it would be extremely terrifying.

I don't know what Qin Lao saw, but at this time he chose to pull all these people together.

Meanwhile, on the other side.

With Zhang Hao present, it's no surprise that Qian Si Xin Niang can command the Ghost Painting of this era.

Even while Qian Si Xin Niang was completing the Ghost Painting, Zhang Hao also found that Black and White Portrait that exists within the Ghost Painting world.

Things like the Funeral Clothes on the Crying Tomb Ghost are of little help to Zhang Hao now, so back on the bus he had no intention of taking that ghost's clothing.

But the Black and White Ghost Domain is still something Zhang Hao must seek; it can be said that this ghost is one of Zhang Hao's core methods, even though it's only a temporary Six‑Tenths of the Ghostly Power, he cannot refuse to complete it.

After Zhang Hao waited for Qian Si Xin Niang to finish commanding the Ghost Painting, he immediately summoned a Ghost Cabinet belonging to this world for her.

Summoning the Ghost Cabinet and choosing Qian Si Xin Niang as the trading partner, Zhang Hao directly wrote down the question he wanted.

"Tell me Yang Jian's location."

Zhang Hao acted with urgency, because he didn't know when Qin Lao would bring Zhang Dong and his party over.

"Give me a ghost."

The Ghost Cabinet immediately presented its terms.

Simply locating Yang Jian's position isn't a particularly difficult transaction, so the Ghost Cabinet's conditions weren't hard.

Hearing the Ghost Cabinet's terms, Zhang Hao directly snatched a ghost from Qian Si Xin Niang's post‑command Ghost Painting and gave it to the cabinet.

The Ghost Cabinet pulled that ghost into its compartment; after a while, a slip of paper appeared in the drawer.

"Dajing City, Ping'an Xiaoqu."

"Already in Dajing City? It seems because of me, Yang Jian's behavior has changed."

Normally, Yang Jian should still be in ZS City right now.

But Zhang Hao wasn't too surprised; after all, back on the bus Yang Jian had seen him. Yang Jian had Human Skin paper in his hand, so the change in behavior is normal.

Zhang Hao, one hand holding the Ghost Bride, the other hand holding the post‑command Qian Si Xin Niang whose skin had become delicate, vanished in Dachang City.

Now, whether it's another Crying Face or the Human Skin paper, both are in Yang Jian's hand; finding Yang Jian is of utmost importance.

And Dajing City was originally one of Zhang Hao's destinations.

In Dajing City there is another Ghost Coffin, and also a starving ghost.

In Dajing City, at this moment Yang Jian is communicating with his mother in Ping'an Xiaoqu.

Suddenly, a strong unease surged within Yang Jian.

"What's happening?" Yang Jian frowned at everything around, but he didn't perceive any supernatural aura.

"Is it an illusion? Or perhaps a Ghost Tamer from the Friends Circle revived in the community?"

Yang Jian surveyed the community; it seemed perfectly normal, not even a Fierce Ghost, and he didn't see a single Ghost Tamer.

But what exactly is this increasingly strong unease?

This unease even stems not only from himself but also from the Ghost Eye's unease.

It's as if a terrifying presence was sensed, and the Ghost Eye began to twitch restlessly.

"No, I must leave quickly."

Yang Jian had a premonition that this crisis was likely aimed at him.

He left Ping'an Xiaoqu at top speed, letting someone drive a vehicle toward Headquarters.

In Yang Jian's wary yet bewildered gaze, he soon realized why the Ghost Eye felt uneasy.

At some point the sky was covered by a layer of dense paper ash falling like ominous clouds, and the city lost its color at that moment.

Surrounding buildings turned mottled and colorless, like aging relics about to fade, and pedestrians on the streets vanished in a strange desaturation.

Yang Jian's Ghost Eye's unease vanished at that moment, because the Ghost Eye had shifted from prior unrest to silence.

"It's those two ghosts!"

No need to guess, Yang Jian already knew what had arrived.

He had only seen this complete silence of the Ghost Eye on two ghosts before: once when the Ghost Painting passed through Dachang City, and another time on the bus.

"Run!"

However, just as that thought arose, a white figure blocked his path.

"Found you."

Zhang Hao blocked the vehicle moving forward.

The car seemed forged from gold, causing Zhang Hao to spend a while without successfully sensing Yang Jian's presence.

If it weren't for confirming this car far from Ping'an Xiaoqu via a few Ghost Slaves, Yang Jian might have truly escaped.

"What's happening? Is this ghost looking at me?"

Yang Jian's heart raced; the first time he stepped into this car, he noticed its peculiarity—it was a gold‑forged vehicle, a naturally shielded Golden Box.

Logically, someone inside a Golden Box shouldn't be visible.

Zhang Hao looked at Yang Jian in the carriage, not rushing to smash the door and kill him, but merely inspected the car.

The Ghost Domain attempted to invade the car's interior, but no matter how it tried, it could not truly breach inside.

In the Ghost Domain's perception, the spot where the car stood was like a blank.

"Just like in reality, they're both real gold?" Zhang Hao murmured to himself.

The appearance of gold made this world seem even more bizarre.

If this truly is a derivative world, gold shouldn't exist here.

The supernatural can give rise to any thing, but it cannot give rise to gold.

But if this were a false world, why does one of Yang Jian's two stacked Ghost Eyes disappear?

"The mysteries are multiplying; we must obtain the Human Skin Paper."

As Zhang Hao's gaze fell on the car, its four wheels vanished at that moment.

"Erased from reality?" Yang Jian's pupils contracted, full of astonishment.

Yet the greater shock came next: while Yang Jian stared blankly, Zhang Hao reached out, seized the car door, and with force ripped the entire door off.

"Are you human or ghost?"

Yang Jian widened his eyes, staring at Zhang Hao intently.

This thing is too bizarre; even the newspaper ghost that affected Zhao Lei and Zhao Kaiming's Wish Ghost aren't that strange, are they? This thing actually opened a golden car door just to attack the people inside?

Zhang Hao didn't answer Yang Jian, but looked at the golden tube box hanging on Yang Jian's chest.

"Clack!"

With a sound of a hard object breaking, the golden tube box on Yang Jian's chest was taken off.

Zhang Hao opened the box, revealing a sheet of paper that looked like Human Skin.

"I am Yang Jian; when you see me, I am already dead."

The Human Skin Paper, just opened by Zhang Hao, immediately displayed this content.

However, the content quickly changed.

"I am Zhang Hao; those elders will soon come after me, and at 3:12 PM today I will be attacked."

"To match them in Combat Power, I must seize the Ghost Coffin as quickly as possible."

"Moreover, the Ghost Coffin alone isn't enough; I also need to find Ghost Lake, the starving ghost, the Red Room, and that white eye."

"If possible, I would like to cooperate with this world's Ghost Newspaper Agency, and also seek a Fierce Ghost that can affect lifespan."

The Human Skin Paper kept writing continuously; this was Yang Jian's first time seeing it cooperate so proactively without anyone asking.

"Is the Human Skin Paper afraid of this ghost?"

When Zhang Hao spread out the Human Skin Paper, he had no intention to hide anything; mainly he didn't think Yang Jian could threaten him, and examining the paper's effect was more important.

Yang Jian saw the characters on the continuously writing Human Skin Paper fade away.

"A few ghosts are very helpful to me; when dealing with those elders they can play a big role—Human Skin Paper, Silence, and that Ghost Finger."

"Stick the Human Skin Paper on my face, empty my mind, and I can obtain the incomprehensible ability of the paper."

However, the sentence was only half written when, the next moment, the content on the Human Skin Paper abruptly changed.

"Ghost! You can't eat me! You can't eat me!"

Nevertheless, no matter what the Human Skin Paper wrote, Zhang Hao ignored it, clenched the paper tightly, crumpled it into a ball and swallowed it.

Although he lacks the starving ghost's direct ability to eat ghosts, given Zhang Hao's current state, mastering this piece of Human Skin is still easy, even without using the Ghostly Servant's power.

As he swallowed the Human Skin Paper, Zhang Hao felt his consciousness undergoing an incomprehensible change.

In Zhang Hao's gaze, countless threads appeared on Yang Jian's body; looking upward, each thread's end seemed to hold a different future.

It's like watching a film; as long as you follow a thread upward, you can see movies with different endings.

Zhang Hao looked at the Ghost Bride and the Dried Corpse Bride; the same threads existed on them.

Then Zhang Hao focused on himself and found that he had few threads.

But after he swallowed the Human Skin Paper, the number of lines began to proliferate, far exceeding the combined amount on Yang Jian and the Ghost Bride.

Each thread represents the ultimate outcome after Zhang Hao takes a different action.

When you actively pull these threads representing different endings, you can also see the entire process of that outcome and understand everything within.

"Having obtained the supernatural from the Human Skin Paper, does it give my future more possibilities?"

Zhang Hao looked at one of his own threads, the one where he is suppressed by Zhang Dong.

In this outcome, Zhang Hao mastered the world's Ghost Coffin, Ghost Lake, Black and White Painting, starving ghost, and the pair of Ghost Eyes, yet he was still Sealed by Zhang Dong.

Then another outcome: in it, Zhang Hao's Fierce Ghosts outnumber the previous by one, which is a part of the Silence supernatural.

Acquiring this portion of Silence's supernatural gave Zhang Hao truly limitless derivative ability.

His derivative photos can now spawn individual copies.

One day, one month, today take a break, slow down, let's start with one.

(End of Chapter)