Chapter 73: Black and White Remnant Portrait

When the red‑clad woman who came up arrived on the fourth floor, Zhang Hao immediately used his Ghost Summoning ability.

"No, something's off."

At the moment Zhang Hao sensed the Summon Ghost Technique touching that red‑clad woman, he immediately realized something was wrong.

Because he did not immediately control the red‑clad woman, instead both parties fell into a kind of stalemate.

While looking at the red‑clad woman, Zhang Hao could feel an involuntary image of a woman surfacing in his memory.

This is the Ghost Painting's Killing Rule: "See her."

Here, "see her" does not merely mean to literally see her; even conjuring the Ghost Painting's visage in one's mind counts as seeing her.

As the mental image sharpened, Zhang Hao even felt a pair of flawless, pale, porcelain‑like eerie palms extending within that thought.

The red‑clad woman appearing in his mind seemed as if she were about to step out of Zhang Hao's consciousness.

Fortunately, when the red‑clad woman's hands in that consciousness were about to touch Zhang Hao, they were suddenly blocked.

It was the Ghost Bride's ability that blocked the Ghost Painting's erosion of Zhang Hao.

Now Zhang Hao is hand‑in‑hand with the Ghost Bride, and he is still employing the Summon Ghost Technique.

In this situation, the Ghost Bride's Ghost Power continuously pours into Zhang Hao's body, naturally including the Red Cap's protective consciousness ability.

The Ghost Painting's assault was repelled by the Red Cap, and Zhang Hao finally snapped out of the involuntary recollection of the Ghost Painting.

He cast a wary glance at the Ghost Painting.

Had he not just hand‑linked with the Bride while summoning ghosts, he would likely have been killed outright by the Ghost Painting.

The Ghost Painting's Ghost Power was too terrifying; it was the world's first S‑rank Supernatural Incident, and Zhang Hao lacked the means to confront it directly.

"Source Ghost is not a derived Fierce Ghost."

Zhang Hao stared at the red‑clad woman and reached a conclusion in his heart.

This level is definitely beyond what a derived Ghost Painting could achieve.

However, according to the Headquarters' data, aren't Ghost Paintings unable to enter paintings?

Zhang Hao fixed his gaze on the Ghost Painting, but this time he no longer looked at its face, instead focusing on its pair of pale palms.

At the location of the Ghost Painting's right palm, there was a missing void.

The area around the void was gray‑white, as if a portion were missing, or as if a weapon had pierced it, leaving a wound.

"Right, my previous thinking fell into a misconception."

Zhang Hao quickly recovered; the building he was in was the Ghost Painting's core zone.

If in other Painting Worlds the Ghost Painting cannot enter because of the golden Candle Stand, that is normal.

However, this place is the Painting World derived from the Ghost Painting's own frame.

Even if a hand is nailed, the Ghost Painting can easily affect the painting world where its frame resides.

After all, it is impossible to claim that because a piece is firmly nailed by gold, the Fierce Ghost cannot use its own Ghost Domain.

Before Zhang Hao could continue thinking, the Ghost Bride beside him had already acted.

After helping Zhang Hao fend off the Ghost Painting's Ghost Power, the Bride released her hand and stepped forward.

The approaching Ghost Bride also drew the Ghost Painting's attention; without the Summon Ghost Technique's influence, it immediately moved toward the Ghost Bride.

The two red‑clad female ghosts thus came together.

As they made contact, paper ash began to fall from the sky, and the building grew eerie.

It seemed that after contacting the Ghost Bride, the building was evolving toward some unknown entity.

"It's begun."

Zhang Hao watched the Bride and the Ghost Painting interact, and instead of moving, he simply stood there.

With the two terrifying Fierce Ghosts in contact, Zhang Hao had no means to affect their mutual confrontation.

The only thing he could do was, when the Ghost Bride was at a disadvantage, supply her with his own Ghost Power to ensure she could become the dominant Fierce Ghost.

As the two ghosts' hands linked, the Ghost Painting's appearance began to change.

Her clothing was slowly becoming clear, transforming into the Ghost Bride's Wedding Dress, and at some point a Red Cap appeared behind her head.

However, unlike before, the Red Cap drawn on the Ghost Painting did not cover her face; it merely draped over her hair.

Similarly, the Ghost Bride herself was undergoing changes.

The pale flesh generated earlier by Ghost Seeking Kin now became white, smooth, and exquisitely delicate, unlike any skin in the real world, resembling polished white jade.

At the same time.

In Huanggang Village.

As Huanggang Village split, Li Jun and others reappeared, having arrived at another eerie place.

It was a three‑story rural house; the front door stood open, and inside was pitch black, hand‑in‑hand darkness, as if all light had vanished.

Yet within the dark house a faint heavy Footsteps echoed, as if someone were walking inside.

Sometimes climbing stairs, sometimes pacing on the roof, sometimes strange noises arose.

There was no doubt: a ghost inhabited the three‑story house.

"Do you want to continue, Li Jun? This is already the seventh house we've inspected; you can't stay like this much longer—if this goes on, you'll soon die from the Fierce Ghost's revival."

With the Ghost Painting's successful invasion, Li Jun and the others could no longer move normally inside.

Because a single misstep could cause them to become separated.

Therefore, Li Jun had to employ his own Ghost Domain.

Strangely enough, when facing a Ghostly Servant, Li Jun's Ghost Domain had almost no retaliatory ability.

Yet as the Ghost Painting's Ghost Domain infiltrated, Li Jun found his use of Ghost Domain much easier.

Although still heavily affected, he knew it was merely the terror level gap between them, not a suppression of his Ghost Domain.

Li Jun, who was at the front, now moved sluggishly, his body withered like a corpse about to be charred, sending a chill down anyone's spine.

Through the fissures in the charred flesh, the eerie green Ghost Fire burned.

That emitted green light formed Li Jun's Ghost Domain, forcibly carving a Road through the darkness.

"Ghost Envoy Incident—my responsibility is great," Li Jun said, turning his head slightly.

"If I hadn't defied orders, given the Laboratory's security level, that thing could never have escaped; it would have been trapped there, not become an unsolvable existence as it is now."

Half of his face was charred, flesh gone, the eyeballs in his sockets burned away clean, leaving only a void.

Through that void, no trace of flesh could be seen, only a bottomless, gloomy flame.

Deep within the flame, many strange silhouettes seemed to struggle, trying to surge out.

They had, just earlier, also visited the center of Huanggang Village.

But for some reason, the Red and White Double Evil and the Ghostly Servant vanished; now imprisoning the Ghostly Servant would require searching house by house.

The others understood that Li Jun's condition was not far from the revival of the Fierce Ghost.

To survive, one must either withdraw from this operation and return to command the third ghost to find a new Balance, or die here.

And judging by Li Jun's current mindset, he clearly intends to go all out in this place.

Under Li Jun's Ghost Fire, the group slowly entered the second floor.

The dim room held nothing but some old furniture and some long‑unused farming tools.

"Nothing at all? How could that be," someone exclaimed.

Just moments ago on the lower floor, they had indeed heard Footsteps.

But stepping onto the second floor, they found nothing.

"Look here," Ah Hong said, pointing at the wall.

On the wall Ah Hong pointed to, an old Black and White Painting hung.

It was a portrait of an elder; in the countryside, deceased elders often leave a memorial portrait at home, a common sight.

The fallen portrait lay quietly on the ground.

Under the eerie Candlelight, the elder's features in the portrait became blurred and strange; the upper half of the face shrouded in darkness, indistinct.

But the lower half seemed to smile; the grin appeared friendly yet exuded a chilling horror.

And beside the portrait were some illegible markings.

They seemed to be the elder's birth and death dates, and perhaps information about descendants.

"The only odd thing in this room is this portrait; could the earlier disturbance have been caused by it?"

Han Mo furrowed his brow; he was now highly sensitive to anything related to White Affair, including portraits. This Black and White Painting radiated strangeness, unlike any normal memorial.

Staring at the dim, colorless elder's face on the portrait, a creeping dread rose within.

"Another newly discovered ghost?" Li Jun frowned, hesitant to approach, glancing at the Ghost Candle in his hand.

The burn rate remained steady, indicating no ghosts were nearby.

But if there were no ghosts, what then was this bizarre portrait? The information didn't match at all.

"Regardless of whether the portrait is problematic, the safest method is to imprison it to prevent any future mishap," Liu San said immediately, pulling out a portable tote bag.

It was made of gold.

Because gold's ductility is excellent, such an item is ideal for carrying.

"Makes sense. First secure this, then leave this house; there's something sinister here, I have a bad feeling," Xu Yiping said, stepping forward with a Golden Box.

"The vanished ghost, the mysterious portrait—its changes are growing; this is no longer just the simple Red and White Double Evil or Ghostly Servant."

Ah Hong frowned, murmuring softly, feeling that they had entered a place where a terrifying unknown Fierce Ghost dwelled.

"Be careful," Li Jun warned.

"The Ghost Candle is stable; no danger for now," Liu San said calmly after a glance.

However, as Xu Yiping lifted the portrait to place it into the Golden Box, he noticed an anomaly within it.

The elder in the Black and White Photo was male, his face full of wrinkles, a dead‑look as if a corpse's memorial.

But he kept his eyes open, a smile at the corners, as if eerily surveying his surroundings.

From any angle, it seemed the elder was watching the viewer, chilling their heart.

The portrait's background, however, was a dim, lightless house.

The house's ground‑floor front door stood open, darkness spilling inside, exactly like the house they were in now.

Wait, the portrait seemed to have been taken at the doorway of that very house.

Xu Yiping's eyelids twitched slightly; his focus wasn't on the identical background house, but on several strange figures standing behind the portrait's elder.

Two stood on the left, three on the right.

In total, five people.

The five had only vague outlines, like an oil painting—not very clear—but some features could still be discerned.

One's features were blurred, like a Paper Person; another held a Candle, its flame gray‑black; a third had something smeared on his face, saying "These are the five of us."

Liu San, stepping forward, narrowed his eyes, feeling his scalp explode, a nameless chill in his heart.

Although the Candle's flame in the painting was gray‑black, isn't green in those black‑white TVs just gray‑black?

"How could that be? Are the five of us also in this portrait?"

Li Jun, fearing danger, approached with the Ghost Candle; when he saw the scene, he was instantly startled and doubtful.

"When? When did this happen? What a joke—we actually took a photo with a ghost?"

Han Mo leaned in for a look, immediately becoming uneasy.

Because the bizarre portrait seemed to foreshadow something.

"Stop looking, put it away, and we'll leave immediately."

Facing the unknown, Li Jun instantly decided to retreat.

They put the eerie portrait into the bag, seal it, then immediately turn and leave.

"Everyone, keep up; we've finished exploring this house, we have no time to waste here. Go to the house below; we must find the Ghostly Servant as soon as possible."

The others at this moment are eager to leave the eerie house, and the five of them walk outward.

However, when they quickly exit the house and reach the main gate, the scene before them makes them abruptly halt.

A vague black silhouette stands with its back to the group, not far in front of the gate.

Although its body is stiff and motionless, from the vague outline one can vaguely tell that the figure is an old man.

The old man's silhouette, shrouded in the dark house, with the five people standing behind him. In this moment, Li Jun, Liu San, Han Mo and the others' faces showed horror.

It's exactly the same as the previous portrait.

Could it be that the dead person in the portrait does not refer to the old man, but to the five of them? And worst of all, the Ghost Candle in Li Jun's hand flickers now.

The Ghost Candle seems to expand in a ring and begins to burn violently, consuming the Candle at a visibly rapid rate.

As the Ghost Candle burns out, the five appear to be transforming into the scene of the Photo.

Their clothes and the house around them begin to lose color, turning completely black and white, followed by their skin and flesh.

After that, even the faint green flame on Li Jun and the blush on A Hong's face start to fade slowly, becoming black and white.

It should be noted that the faint green flame on Li Jun is no ordinary fire.

And A Hong's blush as well, taken from a makeup box to apply.

Yet behind this eerie old man, both Li Jun's Ghost Fire and A Hong's blush surprisingly begin to lose color.

"How could that be? These are two ghosts!"

Han Mo widens his eyes, staring intently at the fading Ghost Fire and blush, his gaze full of disbelief.

Even ghosts lose color; how terrifying a being must this old man be?

However, there is no response to their words, and after completely losing color, they open their mouths but cannot utter a single sound.

Amid the five's bewildered expressions, they freeze slowly, and finally only a Black and White Photo falls onto the Ground.

In the Photo, the old man's upper face is indistinct; only the lower half of his face seems to show an eerie smile looking toward some direction.

Behind the old man, the five stand like his children, lined up on his left and right, as if posing for a family portrait.

But such a family portrait could not possibly be a black‑and‑white photo.

If it were a portrait, it couldn't have been taken by five people simultaneously.

It can't be that they used a portrait‑taking method to shoot a family portrait, right? Meanwhile, in the Reality World.

The gray, cloud‑like ash in the sky vanished at some point without notice.

Except for a portion that was accidentally killed by a Ghost Painting, Daji City seems to have experienced nothing else.

However, Headquarters has become even more anxious because of this.

After the Ghost Domain vanished, various districts of Daji City began to successively produce some eerie paintings.

This is an eerie painting; logically, Yang Jian should have isolated it at once.

At this moment, Yang Jian sits on the sofa of a villa on Daji City's outskirts, holding a painting covered by a black cloth.

This is an eerie painting; logically, Yang Jian should have isolated it at once.

But now he is dead‑still staring at the covered painting, and a piece of information buried for a while is being drawn out by this scene.

This Ghost has a familiar feeling.

It seems like I've seen it before.

No, I haven't seen it before; it's just that some things look very familiar to it.

The Ghost in the ghost painting, with its vague Hong Bai Shuang Sha clothing, is a bit like the Ghost Bride's outfit I first saw on the Spiritual Bus.

I'm not sure if it's the same piece, since the art style is very hazy and many details are invisible.

But those hands exposed outward, together with that woman's image, made Yang Jian think of a supernatural object he kept in Dachang City.

Ghost Cabinet.

To be precise, it was the last transaction I made with the Ghost Cabinet.

"Is the ghost painting the Ghost that the Ghost Cabinet is looking for?" Yang Jian frowned.

Although the clothing on the ghost painting is somewhat vague, it resembles the Ghost Bride, and the woman in the Photo provided by the Ghost Cabinet is almost identical to the one in the ghost painting.

Most importantly, the woman in that Photo has, behind her, a background that is the place where the Ghost Bride first appeared.

"Ghost Cabinet, ghost painting, Ghost Bride, Ghostly Servant."

Murmuring those names under his breath, Yang Jian felt a certain unease inside.

Everything that seemed unrelated, after thinking of the Ghost Cabinet, appeared to have some connections.

Can these S-level Paranormal Events in Dajing City really be solved this easily? Yang Jian looked up toward the distant cityscape, his eyes filled with bewilderment and apprehension.

The joke Feng Quankai once made seems to be coming true at this moment.

(End of Chapter)