Why is my anime art style so weird?

Xu Ming looked up again at the gate of the Chinese Cuisine Research Institute directly opposite him.

At this moment, the charred gate resembles the gaping maw of a monster, silently awaiting the arrival of its prey.

Time passed second by second, and as the blood moon rose near midnight, the surroundings became increasingly quiet. The Chinese cuisine research institute in front of them and the mountains and forests behind them both seemed to have become dangerous.

Xu Ming gritted his teeth and decided to enter the Chinese Cuisine Research Center a few minutes early.

The moment Xu Ming stepped across the threshold, a strange chill shot from the soles of his feet to the top of his head, causing him to shiver involuntarily.

The smell of burning in the air seemed to have become stronger.

Xu Ming even vaguely heard a strange whimpering sound, but upon closer listening, he couldn't hear anything at all.

Suddenly, Xu Ming's body stiffened, he stopped in his tracks, and instantly raised his phone, pointing it towards the front desk of the lobby.

Behind the reception desk, which was mostly burned down, sat a blurry figure.

While holding up his phone, Xu Ming secretly activated the 'night vision' ability.

It's not that he doesn't want to keep his 'night vision' on all the time, but if he keeps it on for too long, his eyes will experience obvious symptoms of overuse, such as soreness and tearing.

Xu Ming had asked the system about this, and the system clearly told him that this was the price of using supernatural abilities with a mortal body, and there was no way to solve it unless he stopped being human.

The system tried every means to lure him into becoming a 'weird', but Xu Ming scoffed at it.

First, to become a 'weird', you need to die once. This is not a curse or a description, but the literal meaning.

Secondly, in the early stages of transforming into a 'weird', one cannot enjoy food and sunshine like a normal person, and doesn't even have a real body.

Only a fool would make that choice.

Therefore, Xu Ming would not easily activate his 'night vision' ability unless absolutely necessary.

Now, it is clearly the time that needs to be done.

After activating his 'night vision' ability, Xu Ming immediately discovered that the figure that suddenly appeared behind the reception desk was actually a paper doll!

These are the dummy figures that are often found in China, especially in the burials of wealthy families. They are made of bamboo strips with an outer layer of Xuan paper and are used to burn as funerary objects.

The paper figure is dressed in a white Zhongshan suit, with yellow hair, a white face, black circles for eyes, and lips that look like they've been drawn into a huge semicircle with lipstick, making it look quite comical.

Xu Ming, however, showed no sign of a smile.

He visited the Chinese Cuisine Research Institute three or four times. He remembered clearly that the reception desk had always been empty, but now a strange paper figure had suddenly appeared.

Xu Ming gripped his phone tightly, took a dozen steps forward, passed through the front hall, and walked all the way to the entrance of the large kitchen.

Xu Ming couldn't help but turn around and take a look.

The eerie paper figure remained seated quietly, seemingly without any sign of anything amiss.

Xu Ming felt a sudden chill run down his spine. In the darkness, he had a feeling that the paper figure was staring at him.

Xu Ming subconsciously touched his pocket, only to find that he had not brought a lighter as instructed by the system, so his idea of ​​burning the incredibly creepy-looking paper figure was naturally thwarted.

It's better to be cautious.

Before the blood moon rose, Xu Ming turned around and went back, knocked the paper figure to the ground, stomped on it, and then used a fruit knife to completely dismantle the bamboo frame inside the paper figure.

After finishing, Xu Ming clapped his hands and looked at the scattered scraps of paper on the ground with satisfaction.

No matter what kind of trouble you're trying to cause, I'll tear you apart first.

Xu Ming picked up his phone again and walked into the ruins.

On the ground, the paper figure's face was torn in two, with a very clear shoe print on it.

The smile, now only half a face visible, looked even more eerie in the darkness.

The paper figure's only remaining eye seemed to be staring intently at Xu Ming's retreating figure...

Xu Ming walked through the front hall and into the corridor. At the end of the corridor was a double sliding door with glass panels. Behind the door was the large kitchen where the students of the Chinese Culinary Research Institute practiced flipping woks.

As Xu Ming approached the door, just as he was about to push it open, he suddenly heard a strange noise coming from the kitchen.

sand!sand!sand!

The sound started out very soft, but gradually became harsh.

Xu Ming listened carefully and discovered that the sound did not seem to be a single sound, but rather a combination of many sounds. It was only because they were so well-coordinated that they sounded like a single sound.

A strong sense of foreboding welled up in my heart.

Xu Ming withdrew his hand from the doorknob, then bent down slightly and looked through the glass into the room.

Chapter Twenty-Five: The Coffin Lid Was Lifted

Then Xu Ming saw that the large iron pots were shaking in unison.

Iron filings, a mixture of black and rust, tumbled and flew through the air.

At first glance, it seems to be just a common scene in the culinary academy.

However, in a large kitchen with a burned-out roof and walls covered in black char marks, only an iron pot could be seen moving, but no one could be seen.

This scene looks incredibly eerie.

Peeking through the window, Xu Ming couldn't help but swallow hard. Luckily, he didn't rush to push open the kitchen door.

According to news reports, the fire occurred in the middle of the night when everyone was asleep. At that time, dozens of people, including the president of the Chinese Cuisine Research Association, were killed.

If he were to rashly push the door open now, who knows how many vengeful spirits would attack him?

Just then, a scarlet light suddenly filled the sky, and a red veil that blotted out the sun covered the sky above the Far Moon Tea House.

The blood moon has risen!

The blood-red moonlight also shone down through the large hole in the roof, giving the entire kitchen an even more bloody hue.

Swish!

Inside the large kitchen, all the woks that were still swaying suddenly stopped.

The loud noise disappeared instantly.

Xu Ming was startled. The paper-removing man had delayed them a little, and before they knew it, time was up.

His hand gripping the phone tightened involuntarily.

Suddenly, a strange change occurred!

Xu Ming suddenly noticed that a large amount of ash was floating in the air, and these blackish-gray residues spread throughout the ruins like mist.

A pungent smell of smoke hit me.

Xu Ming quickly covered his mouth and nose with his sleeve, but still couldn't stop the smoke and dust from spreading in the air.

"Cough, cough, cough!"

The smoke and dust entered his trachea, and Xu Ming felt an itch in his throat, so he couldn't help but cough violently.

At that moment, he couldn't help but feel deep regret.

This is what happens when you go out without wearing a mask!

Despite covering his mouth and nose with his sleeve and even wetting his sleeve with mineral water, Xu Ming was still choked by the smoke and dust and coughed repeatedly.

What's more troublesome is that the smoke and dust are getting thicker and thicker, and soon it's so thick that you can't see your hand in front of your face.

Even if Xu Ming wanted to escape now, he couldn't see the way.

A strange thing happened.

Just as Xu Ming was choking and struggling to breathe, the thick smoke suddenly vanished completely within seconds, as if it had never existed.

If it weren't for the strong smell of smoke still emanating from Xu Ming's mouth and nose, he would have thought the smoke was an illusion.

Xu Ming took out a bottle of mineral water, cleared his throat, and then stood up straight and looked around.

Upon seeing this, Xu Ming immediately felt his hands and feet turn ice cold.

At this moment, he found himself in the very center of the courtyard of a Qing Dynasty-style ancient house.

Behind it was the gate leading outside. The 3-meter-high wooden gate was mostly burned, and the remaining small piece was also burned into charcoal.

On either side are side gates leading to other courtyards.

Xu Ming was facing the front hall of the old house.

A coffin with its outer skin charred black sat in the very center of the front hall, directly facing the main entrance!

Xu Ming raised his head slightly. From the corridor to the door, under the eaves, rows of pale white lanterns swayed in the wind, each lantern bearing a large character for "memorial".

At the entrance to the front hall, a banner for summoning souls was stuck in the ground, moving on its own even without wind.

Whoosh!

Something was blown by the wind and flew towards Xu Ming's face. Xu Ming instinctively caught it in his hand.

However, when he saw what it was, he immediately threw it away as if it were a hot potato.

The thing floated to the ground and was clearly a piece of ghost money, round on the outside and square on the inside!

Xu Ming realized that the place he was standing in was the courtyard in that photo!

Snapped!Snapped!Snapped!

Just as Xu Ming was nervously looking around, a strange noise suddenly came from the front hall.

Xu Ming quickly looked over and discovered that the nails used to fasten the coffin lid suddenly began to protrude outwards, and the coffin lid also kept shaking, as if something inside was about to escape.

Xu Ming's heart tightened, and he immediately remembered the system's prompt. He took off running towards the gate.

However, something strange happened.

He was clearly less than 15 meters from the gate, but after running for almost half a minute, he still hadn't reached it.

Xu Ming even felt that he had run for half a day but hadn't gotten any closer to the gate.

A ghost wall?!

Xu Ming was startled and stopped his hurried steps.

Just as Xu Ming was doing something futile, the nails on the coffin were flicked off one by one.

Then, with a loud bang, the coffin lid flew up, and a charred arm stretched out from the coffin.

This arm appears to have been completely burned and carbonized by the fire. Not only is it only half the thickness of a normal person's arm, but it is also covered with countless cracks.