Chapter 140: A Brush That Can Attack the Person Inside the Painting

"Zhang Hao, that person is the painter you're looking for."

Feeling Zhang Hao's cold palm, He Yuelian seemed to regain her senses; she pointed at a ragged man in the distance holding a Coffin Nail and said.

"Sir, I don't think I've offended you, have I?"

The painter's expression darkened slightly upon hearing He Yuelian's words, becoming somewhat displeased.

He had assumed that it was He Yuelian, who wielded the ghost painting, who coveted the Fierce Ghost within his body, but he didn't expect there to be another person.

The man before him, called Zhang Hao, can step on the coffins that the Coffin Bearer holds, preventing him from lifting them; his terror is easy to imagine.

Zhang Hao, upon hearing the painter's words, showed no expression on his face, and spoke lightly.

"Let's have some fun; let me see how much strength you still have," Zhang Hao said, looking toward He Yuelian.

"Me?" He Yuelian said in surprise, pointing at her own face.

"Hmm, you can go up as well."

Zhang Hao was actually referring to the Paper Bride perched on his shoulder.

But considering all the opponents are kings, this is a good opportunity, so let He Yuelian go up together.

After all, He Yuelian's combat experience is still scarce; letting her keep striking to train is also a good thing.

Now the most threatening Pallbearer Old Man is trampled beneath his foot, unable to stand.

The moment Zhang Hao's voice fell, paper ash began to drift continuously around.

As the paper ash settled, a figure in red clothing quickly emerged from it.

The appearance of this figure was extremely similar to a ghost bride, almost indistinguishable.

"The second ghost bride? Is it a duplicate?"

He Yuelian looked at the silhouette emerging from the paper ash, her eyes showing a hint of surprise.

"No," Zhang Hao shook his head, offering no further explanation.

Dried Corpse Bride was turned into a Ghostly Puppet by him, so only when the Ghostly Puppet releases a Ghost Domain can Dried Corpse Bride truly enter reality.

No, it should be said that her current state is very similar to the Wraith in the oil painting, able to exist only within the Ghostly Puppet and the Ghost Domain it releases.

The difference from the Wraith is that Dried Corpse Bride can become the Ghostly Puppet; she can freely decide whether the Ghostly Puppet releases a Ghost Domain.

"Heh heh heh!"

As Dried Corpse Bride stepped out, the Paper Bride on Zhang Hao's shoulder emitted a bizarre laugh.

"Be careful."

The painter stared at the Ghostly Puppet, his expression extremely solemn.

He could feel that this bizarre bride, who emerged from the Ghostly Puppet's Ghost Domain, was extremely terrifying, already reaching the level of an S-level Paranormal Event.

When the words fell, the Dried Corpse Bride that existed within the Ghost Domain also began to move.

Eerie Footsteps quietly sounded, and one after another, Dry Corpse Brides emerged.

This is the duplicate ability of embroidered shoes and the ghost painting.

Under Zhang Hao's cultivation, Dried Corpse Bride's Terror Level is very high, so when she left with the Ghostly Puppet, only part of the paranormal remained.

The Ghostly Puppet bears a Ghost Cabinet, a Wedding Dress, a Red Cap, embroidered shoes, and also parts of the ghost painting's paranormal.

As the Footsteps drew nearer, the old lady's complexion turned sour.

The Paper Bride's first target was her; at this moment the Ghost Domain was spreading toward her, and the continuously sounding Footsteps were approaching her direction.

"I see, you want that Western Dress?"

Zhang Hao, watching the Paper Bride's actions, immediately understood her purpose.

The Paper Bride's current paranormal power is too weak; even if she summons Dried Corpse Bride within the Ghost Domain, she cannot produce a strong effect, and she needs more paranormal power as support.

That Western Dress, for the Paper Bride, is a very nice item.

A tattered Western Dress, with a slight modification by Zhang Hao, can become a Supernatural Artifact suitable for the Paper Bride to wear.

When the Paper Bride attacked the old lady, He Yuelian also acted.

He Yuelian set her sights on the painter; Zhang Hao had previously sent her to find the painter, but now she had to have Zhang Hao come to rescue, which made He Yuelian feel a bit embarrassed.

She wanted to strike again, seize the painter, and prove she is not a waste.

Seeing He Yuelian's demeanor, Zhang Hao helplessly shook his head; no matter whom he chose, it was unfortunate that he had picked this painter.

Among the kings present, aside from the Pallbearer Old Man whose strength was hard to gauge, the others could not defeat the painter.

Nevertheless, despite thinking that way, Zhang Hao still made a move.

The Black and White Ghost Domain was invading everything around at an incomprehensible, terrifying speed.

The first to suffer was Ink Man.

Ink Man, a color-based paranormal, is mutually restraining with Zhang Hao.

If both sides' Terror Levels were comparable, it would be a paranormal that could handle Zhang Hao well.

But the gap in Terror Levels is too great, turning it into a one-sided crushing.

The colorless Black and White Ghost Domain began its invasion, and the layer of ink on Ink Man's body, with the invasion, was losing its hue at a bizarre speed.

"Directly suppressed?"

The projectionist's complexion turned grim, appearing somewhat terrified.

Even though the painter and the old lady were restrained, counting the Coffin Bearer who lay beneath the coffin continuously battling the enemy, there are still four kings now.

Yet these four kings have no room to resist at all; that's just too terrifying, isn't it?

He stared at the city plunged into black and white, his eyes darting wildly, unsure of what he was thinking.

Soon, a black-and-white image, as if projected, moved toward the city's edge within the Black and White Ghost Domain.

This black-and-white world is also the projectionist's domain; immersed in such a monochrome realm, he feels right at home.

Even though Zhang Hao and the projectionist are enemies, he is still not blocked by Zhang Hao's Ghost Domain and can continue to act.

Just as one faces the mirror ghost of a ghost mirror, it may be weaker in strength, yet it can still act by using tricks.

However, soon the projectionist found that no matter what he did, he seemed unable to escape this black‑and‑white world.

It was as if, without realizing it, he had already become a part of this world.

This Ghost Domain was far more terrifying than he had imagined; even though, because of its mode of existence, he could move freely here, he still could not leave.

"Let's strike together!"

The assassin's expression was cold; although he could not use the Ghost Domain, he still relied on the Fierce Ghost within his body to resist the Ghost's Invasion and walked forward.

Yet the direction he approached was not where Zhang Hao stood, but where He Yuelian was.

Facing such a terrifying presence, the assassin would not foolishly confront it alone.

Their only chance now was to free the painter, then use the Coffin Nail the painter held to restrain that ghostly thing ahead.

Yet even so, the odds remained slim.

Ink Man struggled to fend off Zhang Hao's assault; seeing the assassin's and the projectionist's actions, his complexion darkened, but he could not even utter a reproach.

He was invaded by an incomprehensible supernatural force; in his memory, fragment after fragment of strange, unfamiliar recollections began to surface.

Those memories dated back to a time before Ink Man became Abnormal, even to the period just after he first became a Ghost Tamer.

"No!"

Ink Man's heart raced with terror, for he soon uncovered a particularly bizarre foreign memory.

It was a memory from before Ink Man became a Ghost Tamer, in which a being wielding a human skull club, pallid as death itself, appeared in that recollection and attacked him.

Yet Ink Man had no time to continue speaking.

Because the instant that unfamiliar memory emerged, he was killed by the person within it.

"Madam, please take that person's corpse away; the ink on his body might be of some use to you in the Painting World's dye."

Zhang Hao dealt with Ink Man and said to the Ghost Bride beside him.

Hearing this, the Ghost Bride immediately sprang into action.

She went to Ink Man's side, reached out, and took Ink Man's corpse into the Painting World.

Perhaps because she had not been bound to Zhang Hao, the Ghost Bride's autonomy increased a bit.

After taking Ink Man's corpse away, the Ghost Bride did not directly command the ink inside his body, but looked toward the distant spot where He Yuelian stood.

From the Ghost Bride's direction, it seemed she was watching the painter—likely eyeing the ghost in his hand. If Ink Man's Fierce Ghost only marginally helped the Ghost Dye, then the painter's supernatural power could directly aid the ghost painting.

In this situation, the Ghost Bride did not cease activity after obtaining Ink Man's corpse; instead, she set her sights on a more important Puzzle.

At this moment, the battle between He Yue Lian and the painter had already entered a fever‑pitch stage.

One was a top‑ranked king among kings, the other rode a 60‑percent‑enhanced ghost painting, with no need to worry about the Fierce Ghost's revival.

In the gray‑hazy Ghost Domain, one bizarrely shaped building after another rose within it.

A winding, spiraling yet strangely broken cliff, its upper half European in style and its lower half Chinese, stood in the city's centre.

There were also rooms like balloons, suspended in mid‑air, linked by a strange corridor that resembled a line.

Eerie Footsteps kept roaming these structures; the rhythm of the steps was precise, each strike occurring at almost the same interval.

Strangely, these footsteps sometimes sounded in one house, and the next time they sounded, they were in a different house.

He Yue Lian kept drawing nearer to the painter's position through the Ghost Domain, yet the painter was no pushover either.

He continuously used his paintings to pull real‑world buildings into this world, and along with them a terrifying Fierce Ghost that had been hidden in a room was also drawn in.

If ghost paintings can generate works identical to reality via the Ghost Domain to invade reality,

then the painter's supernatural method works in reverse: he can directly pull the real world into the painting, thereby achieving an invasion of reality.

Perhaps saying the two are opposite in their supernatural nature is inaccurate.

It should be said that the painter can skip the step of using the Ghost Domain to mimic reality, achieving direct invasion of reality.

Meanwhile, for a ghost painting to invade reality, it still needs the Ghost Domain to shroud the city, to invade the derived painting world, and then pull reality into the painting.

Of course, the process is more cumbersome, but it also means ghost paintings can draw more of the Ghost Domain's reality in, such as pulling an entire city into a painting—something the painter cannot do.

While He Yue Lian was searching for the painter's trace, she suddenly found the Road ahead became narrow and dim, its end invisible, and the sides lost any other paths.

"This is a Road that does not belong to the Painting World!" He Yue Lian's face grew solemn; this Road does not belong to the Ghost Domain.

As He Yue Lian was pondering how to break the deadlock, the Road suddenly turned gray‑white, then the entire Road seemed to lose its sustaining power.

In the next instant, the whole corridor vanished into the painted city as if out of thin air.

The scene shifted.

On a street in the Painting World, a destitute painter who looked like a homeless man was now painting an oil canvas on a blank sheet.

The oil painting depicted a bizarre city; within the city a dim, endless corridor matched exactly the one He Yue Lian had been in.

Yet in the ghost painting's world, that corridor did not exist at all, nor was there any counterpart in reality.

It was a corridor forcibly inserted into the ghost painting world.

As the work finished, a woman in red appeared within the painting and began walking out of it.

That was the ghost painting's ability to invade the painting and step into reality.

The painter grabbed a Coffin Nail and, at the moment the woman appeared, thrust the Coffin Nail toward her position.

At the same time, He Yue Lian, walking in the eerie corridor, felt she was under some incomprehensible attack.

Her body, because of this attack, fell into a deep sleep.

Fortunately, even in this condition, the ghost painting's Restarting supernatural power had not failed.

The moment He Yue Lian fell into complete sleep, a portrait emerged, and she stepped out of it again.

"Restarted?"

Seeing this, the painter's expression turned somewhat sour.

He had no means to Restart, yet he knew how troublesome a Restart could be.

I originally thought that the recent method, combined with the Coffin Nail, was already enough to restrain He Yuelian and prevent her from Restarting.

Unexpectedly, even so, the restriction failed; even the Coffin Nail could not limit the ghost painting's Restart Ability.

However, he hadn't had time to say more.

The next moment, the surrounding aura suddenly grew colder, and soon a Hong Bai Shuang Sha‑clothed figure appeared.

"Ghost Bride? Why did you come?"

He Yuelian at this point returned from the Restart, and upon seeing the Hong Bai Shuang Sha‑clothed Ghost Bride here, her face showed a hint of fear.

The Ghost Bride gave no response to He Yuelian's words.

For the Ghost Bride, He Yuelian was merely an ordinary Ghost Slave.

Even He Yuelian's position in the Ghost Bride's logic was lower than that of Zhang Hao when he first became a Ghost Slave.

At least Zhang Hao was still wearing a set of Funeral Clothes at that time, and behind him he also wielded a portion of the Ghost Seeking Kin's spiritual anomaly.

As for He Yuelian, she simply possessed a spiritual anomaly derived from the Ghost Bride.

"It's you!"

Seeing the Ghost Bride appear, the painter's face darkened.

Facing He Yuelian, he still had the courage to resist, but facing this Ghost Bride, he was truly frightened.

The aura on the other side was too terrifying; just looking at it gave him an overwhelming sense of helplessness.

Looking at the painter, the Ghost Bride gave no reply, only waved a hand; the next moment, the painter's complexion changed.

He felt the Fierce Ghost inside his body reviving, and his body was losing mobility.

The painter, with a terrified expression, looked at the Ghost Bride, and with that single glance he sensed some incomprehensible spiritual anomaly emerging deep in his mind.

A pair of eerie, pale Ghost Hands were extending from the depths of his consciousness.

Fortunately, the painter is now an Abnormal; if he were an ordinary person, he would have already died in this situation.

Nevertheless, even as an Abnormal, his current condition is still unpleasant.

The Fierce Ghost inside his body continues reviving, stimulating him, and the hands in his mind keep reaching for him; the Footsteps beneath the Ghost Bride seem to carry an incomprehensible spiritual anomaly.

As the Ghost Bride stepped beside the painter, his body and consciousness were completely suppressed, falling into a state akin to a Dead Machine.

The Ghost Bride successfully suppressed the painter, immediately extended a hand, and took the brush and the drawing board from his hand.

The aura around the Ghost Bride holding the brush was rising.

For the Ghost Bride, this brush seemed to be an extremely important Puzzle, and the strength of the Ghost Domain was amplified at this moment.

Not only the Ghost Bride, but He Yuelian also felt a change within herself at this moment.

The range of the Ghost Domain was expanding, and the speed of the Ghost's Invasion of reality accelerated.

Now He Yuelian felt she could invade reality at any time, no longer needing to derive a Painting World within the Ghost Domain that mirrors reality, though this invasion range was relatively small.

However, the greatest gain was not this.

He Yuelian could sense that she could attack others by painting their images.

"Is this the spiritual anomaly of that painter just now?"

He Yuelian looked at the Ghost Bride in surprise.

During this time, she also learned some explanations about wielding the Puzzle, not in great detail, but she formed a basic concept.

"Isn't it the Ghost Bride who wields that painter? Why have the spiritual techniques on me also been enhanced?" He Yuelian was perplexed.

"Could it be that my spiritual anomaly and the Ghost Bride's are the same, only mine being weaker?"

In fact, He Yuelian had considered this possibility early on.

Because the Ghost Bride's methods were so similar to hers.

Her Ghost Domain can also use that, the Ghost Bride also has that Footsteps, and the Restart spiritual anomaly as well.

Moreover, the Ghost Bride can employ many spiritual techniques that He Yuelian does not possess.

"So, I'm essentially a weakened version of the Ghost Bride?"

"In that case, can I also use the Ghost Bride's other spiritual techniques?"

He Yuelian thought of the spiritual anomaly the Ghost Bride had just used when waving, and felt she might also be able to use it.

The Ghost Bride gave no reaction to He Yuelian's inner thoughts, even though she could know what He Yuelian was thinking.

She, holding the brush and the drawing board, quickly completed them, fully integrating the two items into her Puzzle.

Looking at the painter's corpse, the Ghost Bride stood still for a moment, then sealed the corpse inside the Ghost Domain.

The portion of the Puzzle belonging to the painting had been taken, and the other spiritual anomalies on the painter no longer affected the Ghost Bride.

(End of Chapter)