A bizarre resurrection: I, Yang Jian, am bound by a contract with the school beauty!

Those eyes belonged to Li Yao.

When Li Yao woke up, her first sensation was not pain.

It is empty.

She was as if she had lost her body.

There was no heartbeat, no breathing, and no blood flow.

She couldn't even feel her hands and feet.

She looked down.

I am nothing more than a gray and white shadow.

The outline is very thin.

It's so thin it looks like a gust of wind could blow it away.

She was stunned.

"I'm alive?"

The voice rang out from her consciousness.

It didn't come from her throat, because she no longer had a throat.

Li Yao quickly recalled what had happened before.

The woman in red pierced through her, and the ghost painting eroded her body. Qin Taotao was pushed away by her.

Then, Yang Jian appeared.

The figure in the black trench coat seemed to have stepped out of a ghost painting, or as if the whole world was making way for him.

Li Yao suddenly turned around.

Not far away, she saw a tall and imposing figure.

Yang Jian stood there.

The black trench coat remained untouched by the gray world, and the ghostly eye near his forehead slowly rotated, crimson and cold.

He seemed not to belong here, nor did he seem to truly exist here.

But he just happened to be standing here.

Li Yao was shocked.

"Yang Jian".

Yang Jian turned around and glanced at her.

His gaze was calm, as if he had known all along that she would wake up.

"You're awake."

Li Yao looked at her current appearance, then looked at Yang Jian.

"Did you save me?"

Yang Jian said calmly, "It can't be considered a rescue."

"I have only temporarily calmed your soul."

Li Yao remained silent.

She finally realized that she was not truly alive; her physical body was still in the center of the old city.

The body was corrupted by the ghost painting, and because the consciousness left, the vengeful ghost within began to revive.

What stands here now is only her soul.

Or.

It was a fragment of consciousness that Yang Jian had snatched from Gui Hua.

Li Yao whispered, "I'm already dead?"

Yang Jian said, "Not yet."

"But he's not far from death."

This statement is very direct.

Li Yao felt no fear. She had been on the verge of death too many times. What truly concerned her was the outside world.

Where is Qin Taotao?

She left with the golden candlestick.

Hearing this, Li Yao felt a sense of relief.

At least Qin Taotao succeeded; the golden candlestick did not fall back into the ghost painting.

But the next moment,

She then thought of the image of the Root World merging with the outside world.

She looked up and asked, "Is the ghost painting starting to descend?"

Yang Jian did not deny it.

"The balance that was maintained collapsed after the golden candlestick was removed."

"The world that the ghost painting communicates with has already connected to the world of the supernatural."

"It is because of this connection that I was able to make a brief appearance."

Li Yao was taken aback for a moment.

"Can't you always come?"

Yang Jian looked at the old city in the distance.

"The real world still rejects me."

"My appearance now requires both a medium and an opportunity."

"The ghost drawing opened a breach."

"The wishing candle has responded for the second time."

"That's why I was able to come."

He spoke calmly, but Li Yao sensed a deeper meaning.

Yang Jian did not completely descend; he merely crossed the boundary between reality and the bizarre world at a certain moment.

This arrival will not last long.

It cannot be used arbitrarily.

Li Yao took a deep breath, even though she no longer had a body.

"Thank you."

Yang Jian didn't respond; he seemed to think he didn't need to be thanked.

Li Yao looked at him and suddenly asked, "What can I do now?"

Yang Jian turned his head.

"Your physical body has lost consciousness."

"The still ghost and the 'photographing ghost' are making a comeback."

"Especially filming ghosts and humans."

"Its power clashed with the ghost painting, so the ghost painting's expansion temporarily stopped."

As Li Yao listened, her heart sank deeper and deeper.

Yang Jian continued, "But filming human ghosts can't suppress ghost paintings."

"Over time, it will be completely suppressed by the ghost paintings."

"When that moment arrives, the ghost painting will devour its supernatural aspects, and its coverage area will become even larger."

"Then things will get even more complicated outside."

Without hesitation, Li Yao asked directly, "What should I do?"

Yang Jian looked deeper into the old city.

There was a road there, the end of which was shrouded in a gray mist, through which a wooden house could be vaguely seen.

That wooden house didn't seem to exist before.

It seems to have always been there, but no one can see it.

Yang Jian said, "Let's go inside."

"That's the deepest part of the ghost painting."

"The root of all problems."

Looking at the wooden house, Li Yao felt a strong sense of oppression.

She could sense that it wasn't an ordinary place; it was like the true heart of the entire ghost painting.

Yang Jian continued, "The woman in red left behind a backup plan."

Li Yao was taken aback: "Hasn't she already become a vengeful ghost?"

"The one outside now is a resurrection after losing consciousness."

Yang Jian said, "But she was not weak when she was alive."

"She also had doubts about the Peach Blossom Spring Project."

"She didn't believe that the plan could really solve the strange resurgence."

"So she left behind the key to unlocking the secrets of Peach Blossom Spring."

Li Yao's heart skipped a beat.

The Peach Blossom Spring Project—this wasn't the first time she'd heard the name. It seemed to be related to the origins of the ghost painting and the death of the woman in red.

It is more likely related to the truth behind the entire bizarre resurgence.

Li Yao asked, "Is the key inside the wooden house?"

Yang Jian nodded.

"Go in."

"You will see her there."

"We will know the answer."

Li Yao looked at Yang Jian and suddenly felt that his figure had faded a little.

Like a stain of ink, slowly being erased by the gray and white world.

She immediately asked, "Are you leaving?"

Yang Jian calmly said, "My time is up."

"From now on, we can only rely on you."

Li Yao's heart tightened.

But she didn't try to stop her, because she knew it would be pointless.

Yang Jian's presence alone changed the course of her death. He was not a nanny, nor was he a savior who could appear at any time.

Li Yao whispered, "I will go in."

Yang Jian glanced at her.

"You are now just a soul."

"Don't think of yourself as a living person."

"The methods used on the living are useless here."

As soon as he finished speaking, his figure completely faded away.

The ghost's eye turned one last time, as if it could see through the entire old city.

Then, Yang Jian disappeared.

The gray world returned to its deathly silence.

Li Yao stood still, feeling neither the wind nor the temperature.

But she could sense it.

The ghost in the distance is still colliding with the ghost painting.

With each impact, the whole world trembles slightly.

She didn't have time.

Li Yao turned around and walked towards the wooden house.

The road is long.

The wooden house was right in front of her, but even after walking for a long time, the distance didn't seem to be getting any shorter.

This road is unlike any road in reality; it's more like a distance deliberately drawn by a ghost painting. To get closer to the source, one must endure the gaze of the ghost painting.

There were no wooden buildings on either side of the road.

There was no Black River, only a gray-white expanse, with many figures hanging in the gray-white.

Those people's images were pinned to the canvas.

There were men, women, the elderly, and children.

They have no face.

The body is painted as a thin layer, as if it might fall off the wall at any moment.

Li Yao passed by them.

The figures did not move.

But she could sense that they were all watching her.

It's not about seeing with your eyes.

Instead, it's a venomous gaze, as if trapped within the painting.