Mysterious Awakening-Chapter 562: Familiar at First Glance

Chapter 562 -559 Familiar at First Glance

Is the ghost in Dormitory 402?

Upon hearing Wang Quan’s message and seeing his gestures, Yang Jian’s gaze converged on the second dorm room in the distance.

His deduction was quite correct; the ghost had indeed emerged from the Ghost Painting and was now wandering nearby. It was merely good luck that he hadn’t encountered the ghost that had walked out of the painting.

But it seemed that Wang Quan and his team weren’t as fortunate; the ghost had reached their side first.

However…

Although Yang Jian had pinpointed the ghost’s location, he did not take any action, instead falling into a bout of deep thought and decision-making.

...

The ghost was in Dormitory 402 opposite him, yet the Ghost Painting was on his side.

The two were not in the same place.

If he were to go now and restrain the ghost that had emerged from the painting, what would he do about the Ghost Painting?

Should he leave it here unattended, and if later upon his return the Ghost Painting was no longer here, would that mean the source of the paranormal activity was the painting on his side or the ghost that had walked out from it?

This question was extremely crucial as it affected his next move.

After all, his Ghost Hand could only restrain one ghost while the Ghost Eye lay dormant.

If he were to restrain the painting, then he wouldn’t be able to deal with the ghost from the painting. Relying solely on the remaining Ghost Shadow to resist would leave him with no confidence at all, and he would have to use a Ghost Candle in case of danger.

To use a Ghost Candle just for a fake Ghost Painting would mean this mission was a failure.

"Captain Wang, something’s not right. Mister Yang hasn’t taken action yet; he’s just standing there watching us,” a team member whispered softly.

Another team member nervously said, “He might not be planning to act at all but wants us to probe the ghost’s pattern of killing, right?”

Although they considered this possibility and somewhat understood such behavior, at such a life-or-death moment everyone would feel disheartened and reluctant.

"Shut up, you’re not usually this talkative.”

Wang Quan sternly stopped this sort of talk, “Focus on Yang Jian’s hand. He hasn’t taken his hands off that door the entire time. With the distance between us, you should be able to see clearly, right? That’s not a door to the dorm, it’s the frame of a painting. Mister Yang has already found the Ghost Painting, and it’s on his side… Meanwhile, the ghost is on our side. Now we must make a choice.”

"Lucky you were eliminated during the headquarters’ selection or you wouldn’t have survived the first supernatural event with that level of observation. Don’t underestimate the choices made at this time. One wrong choice could potentially lead to a dead end for yourselves and others.”

"Ghost Controllers aren’t invincible either. Haven’t plenty died in paranormal events according to the reports?”

Though scolded, the team member couldn’t help but bravely inquire due to the matter of life and death; “Then Captain Wang, what choice is Mister Yang making right now? To jail the Ghost Painting and abandon all of us here or to come and deal with the ghost?”

Wang Quan spoke with a grave expression; “He hasn’t made a decision yet. If I’m not wrong, Mister Yang is currently assessing the situation. It’s quite peculiar at the moment. Although the ghost entered Dormitory 402, it has not shown up since. Mister Yang wouldn’t just come over to deal with the ghost simply because of our words.”

"What if this is a decoy? Or maybe it’s a trap set by the ghost, luring Mister Yang away from the painting? What if what we’re saying is a lie?”

"We cannot afford the risk of the Ghost Painting going out of control, so from now on, do nothing, don’t mess around, just watch closely. See how a top Ghost Controller handles the situation. If we’re to die here, we’ll have to accept our fate. Whoever tries anything foolish, don’t blame me for being heartless.”

Having said that, his gaze grew sharp.

After all, in the face of the most desperate and terrifying events, anyone could falter, and even a single person’s faltering could escalate the situation.

What Wang Quan had to do was to eliminate that possibility.

He was well aware that his two team members were somewhat immature, currently under enormous pressure, and had a chance of losing control. However, he believed that as long as they got through this first time, they would grow and become capable operators.

"Yes, Captain Wang,” the two team members dared not let their minds wander any further.

Wang Quan nodded, offering them some confidence and affirmation; “Don’t worry, remember that we’re very lucky with this operation since the person in charge is Ghost Eye Yang Jian.”

Everyone in the circle had heard this codename and name.

And he was even more familiar.

Because Yang Jian was the only one who had ever resolved an S-rank supernatural event alone and had managed other horrifying events known as Ghost Door Knocker, Ghost Coffin, Ghost Infant, Ghost Envoy, and lived to tell the tale.

If such a person could not be trusted, then Wang Quan didn’t know whom he could trust.

Indeed, Wang Quan’s analysis was not off the mark.

Yang Jian was indeed assessing the situation and waiting.

He was waiting for the ghost to appear.

Before the ghost showed itself, he would not abandon the Ghost Painting he had found. It would be foolish to act on Wang Quan’s intelligence alone. He had to see the ghost with his own eyes before moving forward a single step.

Time ticked by slowly.

In such moments, every second seemed to stretch on. Despite the short distance between Yang Jian and Wang Quan, who could see each other’s every move, this short path could result in instant death should the ghost truly emerge; distance would not affect the ultimate outcome.

"Will the ghost emerge from Dormitory 402, or will it simply disappear?” Yang Jian’s gaze shifted slightly, and the headless shadow behind him swayed as if ready to spring into action at any moment.

This silent waiting did not last long.

Soon, the quiet surroundings were disturbed.

With a creaking sound of a door opening, Dormitory 402’s door slowly swung open, casting a shadow from inside onto the ground.

These ordinary sounds and shadows struck fear into Wang Quan and his companions.

The ghost, having killed the person in that dormitory just now, was about to come out.

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And they were the few ordinary people closest to the ghost.

Accompanied by footsteps so faint they were almost inaudible, the figure lurking in Dormitory 402 finally stepped out.

A face, its features so blurred they were almost indiscernible, crossed the threshold and came into Yang Jian’s line of sight.

Then, those mysterious red garments, reminiscent of those found in an oil painting, covered nearly the entire body, leaving only a pair of starkly pale hands and unreal-looking legs visible.

There was no bloody scene to behold.

But to everyone observing, there was an indescribable sinister feeling.

After the ghost stepped out of the dormitory, it did not act immediately but stood there with a slight pause.

This was the first time Yang Jian had seen the ghost from the painting, and he now stared intently at the blurry red figure, noting especially those hands that seemed the most real. A piece of information buried in his mind for some time surfaced due to this scene.

The ghost felt familiar.

As if he had seen it before.

No, he had not seen it before, but something about it looked familiar.

The vague red clothing on the ghost in the painting reminded him of the dress worn by the Dried Corpse Bride he had seen on the supernatural bus.

It was uncertain if they were the same garment; after all, the style of the painting was hazy, and many details were indiscernible.

The hands exposed and the woman’s figure, however, made Yang Jian think of an eerie object he had left in Dachang City.

The Ghost Cabinet.

To be precise, the last transaction he had made with the Ghost Cabinet.

The last transaction was proposed by the Ghost Cabinet, which had him find the location of the person in the photo within a year. Afterward, he obtained an old photo from inside the Ghost Cabinet.

Yang Jian still remembered clearly the content of that photo: a woman sitting in front of an old wooden house, dressed in a red outfit from the Republican era, her hair black and lustrous, her hands as white and delicate as porcelain, and those exquisitely embroidered shoes on her feet peeking out from her dress.

Most importantly, the ghost in the painting and the woman in the Ghost Cabinet’s photo looked very similar… Though the ghost’s face was unclear and hazy, Yang Jian’s instinct told him they must be the same in appearance.

Was the Ghost Cabinet looking for the painting or the ghost in the painting?

Furthermore, that pair of shoes that seemed to be painted on were similar to the embroidered shoes he had obtained from the Ghost Envoy incident at the training base.

Yang Jian’s gaze flickered uncertainly as many terrifying pieces of information began to link together in his mind.

The dress on the Dried Corpse Bride, the ghost in the painting, the ancient house with red lanterns that he had seen on the supernatural bus, the old photo that fell from the Ghost Cabinet after the transaction.

These pieces were coming together like a puzzle, seemingly interrelated.

Of course, it might just be his wild imagination trying to forcibly fit similar ghosts together.

But if Yang Jian’s guess was correct.

Then he might have found most of the puzzle pieces of a ghost.

At that moment, he couldn’t help but entertain a bold thought: if he helped the ghost assemble all the puzzle pieces, what would happen? Would it become the woman in the photo?

Or would it become an even more terrifying ghost, or perhaps none of the above, instead causing some unpredictable aberration?

Because, so far, he had never seen a ghost put together all the pieces, so there were no examples to reference.

This kind of information hidden in horrific events holds a great allure for all ghost controllers, a curiosity about the truth.

But no sooner had this thought arisen, Yang Jian fiercely cast it aside.

This was not the time for wild thoughts.

The ghost was already before him, and it was time for action, otherwise continuing to delay could lead to trouble.

Now, should he immediately abandon the painting to restrict the ghost, or ignore the ghost and deal with this ghost painting right away?

He could only do one of these things.

Because the conditions only allowed for success in one.