Mysterious Revival - Chapter 1025 - 991 Night Investigation

A massive oil painting as tall as a person hangs on the wall of the fifth-floor post office hall.

The painting depicts a landscape.

It’s an eerie old forest, shrouded under a black moon.

The trees in the old forest are sparse and leafless, resembling dried-up corpses, twisting and deforming as if they’ve been through a fire. However, the noteworthy detail is the presence of a charred arm protruding from the ground within the blackened old forest.

It seems to be trying to crawl out from beneath the earth.

Yet that charred arm remains still, standing quietly there. If not carefully observed, it would be overlooked as just another branch.

The eerie whispering continues to ring out.

This sound carries a strong allure, compelling one to walk into the painting.

Yang Jian’s mind is clear; he is an anomaly and cannot sense this influence. However, terrifyingly, his body involuntarily moves towards that direction.

As he gets closer.

The charcoal-black arm within the sparse old forest in the painting suddenly moves. At this moment, the scenery in the oil painting seems to become real. That charred arm stretches further, as if the canvas is being distorted, until a few charred fingers disregard the painting and stretch outwards.

Night falls.

The supernatural phenomenon within the painting begins to invade the fifth floor of the post office.

Witnessing this, Yang Jian’s face changes drastically. He immediately uses the Ghost Shadow to forcibly control his body, halting his steps while also isolating the supernatural influence.

The black Ghost Shadow envelops his body, instantly eliminating the sensation of bodily disobedience.

This eerie force, which bypasses human thought to directly control the body, cannot compete for control against the Ghost Shadow.

After Yang Jian’s reaction, the whispering sound in his ear immediately disappears.

Glancing back.

The human-sized oil painting returns to normal again; the charred arm in the painting remains extended from the ground, maintaining its rigid posture, as though everything was an illusion, evoking a sense of unrealness.

“This oil painting is more vicious; other character paintings merely stare at me but don’t attempt to attack. This painting, however, can influence ghost handlers. If the fifth-floor messengers come out of their rooms uninformed, they might walk the path to darkness, ultimately approaching this painting and being killed by the ghosts hidden within it.”

Yang Jian narrows his eyes slightly and steps back, distancing himself from the painting.

Yet he can imagine in his mind how perilous it would be for someone without ghost eyes to wander through the fifth-floor hall and see through this darkness.

“The paintings on the wall are of two types. One appears meaningless but actually harbors malevolent ghosts as landscape paintings; the other seems eerie but is not dangerous as character paintings. As for the third type… there are some indefinable object paintings whose purpose remains unknown.”

Yang Jian finally notices the wall also features relatively few object paintings.

The paintings are small, about the size of a photograph, hung in inconspicuous places.

Those object paintings don’t seem to appear during the day… upon careful recollection.

Indeed, there were no such object paintings during the day.

“Anyway, it’s best not to approach these paintings for now. Not all oil paintings contain malevolent ghosts, but presumably, many do. At this moment, it’s unnecessary for me to waste time on them,” Yang Jian thought to himself.

He scrutinizes the eerie gazes from the character oil paintings around him and then circles the hall, observing the remaining few rooms.

Rooms 501 and 502 are suspected of having issues.

Room 507 is occupied by Yang Jian and Li Yang.

As for rooms 503, 504, 505, and 506, their conditions are still unknown. These rooms can continue to be observed.

Passing by these four rooms, Yang Jian notices the lights in each room are on, though dim, the yellow light is visible through the doorways and quite prominent.

He tries to listen closely.

From room 505, faint sounds seem to emanate; the sound should be from the bedroom in 505, screened by two doors, making it faint and elusive outside, yet Yang Jian can barely make out what the sound is.

A tune, like from a theatrical performance.

It has the feeling of being played from an old record player, full of nostalgia.

“Previously, on the fourth floor of the post office, I also heard someone singing drama. But back then, the sound came from outside the post office; it wasn’t from within. Could the sound in room 505 be the source of the drama I heard then?”

Yang Jian is curious, wanting to investigate.

At an unknown moment, the door of room 502 suddenly cracks open, revealing half of a coughing, sickly middle-aged man’s body who stands gloomily at the door, casting an eerie gaze in this direction.

However, it’s noteworthy.

The light in room 502 is dimmer than in other rooms; a few bulbs seem to be out, leaving insufficient light to illuminate the room. Moreover, it flickers intermittently, adding to the eeriness.

“Don’t try to open doors recklessly at night, or you’ll face dire consequences,” the middle-aged man at the door speaks.

Th𝚤𝕤 𝘤hȺpṯ𝕖r ɩ𝓈 pՕ𝘴𝓉𝑒ⅾ b𝐲 𝘬𝗶ţ𝘦𝑛𝘰𝗏ꬲ𝗹

Yang Jian immediately looks over: “You again? I thought you were a ghost during the day. Now it seems, room 501’s light is out, but your room still has light, albeit problematic… You’re less likely to be a ghost. But why do you say not to open doors at night? Can you explain?”

The middle-aged man in his fifties was silent for a moment before he said, “During the delivery tasks on the fifth floor, the couriers inevitably attract some terrifying ghosts. Although the post office is special and can block most ghost invasions to ensure the couriers’ safety, things aren’t absolute.”

“The post office has existed for a long time, so some special cases have arisen. Some ghosts, chasing the couriers, have reached this floor, and this kind of special situation has happened more than once.”

Yang Jian’s eyes slightly moved, feeling that this person’s words were quite reasonable.

The person continued, “After ghosts invade the fifth floor of the post office, only two outcomes can occur: either all couriers are killed, or the ghosts are dealt with. Room 505 once handled a ghost suspected to be connected to the Republic of China Period, which was very dangerous. Hence, that room is a taboo, not a place for couriers to step into.”

“But the ghost in the room also never came out. It seems that former couriers used some means to confine the ghost in the room.”

“Using one room to imprison a ghost to secure the rest of the floor seems like a good trade-off, but it was only effective for that time.”

The man spoke in an unhurried tone, “However, with the passage of time and the replacement of couriers on the fifth floor, this situation continues. Strictly speaking, none of the rooms on this floor are safe.”

“I see.” Yang Jian understood what the person meant.

The previous couriers could handle one ghost with a room, and naturally, the later couriers would do the same. Over time, all the rooms on the fifth floor of the post office became unsafe. The later couriers had only one option to have a safe room, which was to deal with the ghost in the room using their abilities.

The 507 room Yang Jian had previously stayed in also had a ghost. It was unknown if the previous couriers couldn’t deal with it or did so on purpose.

After all, in such a situation, it wasn’t easy to clear out a room. Leaving a not-too-threatening ghost inside to guard against someone taking over might actually protect the room from being seized.

“Couriers on the fifth floor only deliver one letter a year, and they leave the post office after delivering three letters. So the rooms on the fifth floor aren’t that important to couriers, right?” Yang Jian said.

The middle-aged man added, “You seem to think the post office rooms are just temporary accommodations for the couriers? If that’s so, why does the post office set up rooms on every floor? They could just leave the letters in the lobby on the first floor. Couriers could take their task and leave without staying in the post office at all.”

Yang Jian frowned.

He had considered this but had selectively ignored it, as he intended to rush to the fifth floor without spending much time inside the post office.

Now that he thought about it, he indeed encountered other couriers on every floor.

Some couriers he met due to their delivery tasks intersecting with his, while some seemed… to live in the post office.

“Couriers involved in delivery tasks triggered a ghost’s killing pattern, getting targeted by the ghost. Although they were lucky enough to escape back to the post office and used its properties to protect themselves, the ghost did not stop the pursuit. Once the couriers leave the post office, the ghost from the previous delivery task will still chase them.”

Yang Jian then realized something, speaking of a fearful and ruthless reality.

“So, couriers have no choice but to live in the post office for an extended period to avoid the risk of being hunted by ghosts. Furthermore, the higher the floor, the more deliveries the couriers make, and the greater the chance of being targeted by ghosts. What do you think about my theory?”

“Indeed, but that’s just one reason. There’s another reason… cough, cough.” The middle-aged man didn’t continue, interrupted by a weak cough.

“You’re unwell; it shouldn’t be an old condition, right? Did you recently suffer some kind of supernatural attack?” Yang Jian’s eyes flickered, suspecting this person might have had contact with the missing Sun Rui.

Sun Rui’s code name is Sick Ghost.

His supernatural power can even make ghosts weak and cough. If a ghost tamer were attacked, they might not die but certainly become weak and cough.

“I’ve stayed at this post office for a bit too long. It’s damp, cold, and there’s no sunlight all day. It’s inevitable to feel unwell.” The middle-aged man said.

Yang Jian countered, “You know, I didn’t come here just to deliver a letter. The previous delivery task was merely a process for me to reach the fifth floor of the post office. Now that I’m here, I actually don’t need to worry about many things.”

“For instance, I could take down a courier on the fifth floor and steal his memories. That’s something I can do too.”

At this moment, his attitude suddenly changed, glaring at the man standing at the door of room 502 with a rather unfriendly gaze.

“Is that what you’re thinking? It seems there’s a turncoat among the couriers downstairs. And to think, I kindly offered you guidance.” The man in his fifties remained expressionless, without any change in emotion.

After all, those who can come to this floor are not simple; whatever they do wouldn’t be surprising.

“Right or wrong isn’t up to you or me, but up to strength. Plus, I suspect Sun Rui in the lobby downstairs made a move on you, and your cough is caused by him. So I want to see if the result aligns with my assumption.” Yang Jian felt this person might be a crucial point to breaking the stalemate.

By acquiring his memories, he could unearth many secrets.

Immediately.

He headed straight for room 502.

“Hmm?”

The middle-aged man in his fifties immediately retreated. With the flickering light from the room, he disappeared into the darkness, and then the wooden door slammed shut.

“A door can’t stop me.” Yang Jian wasn’t afraid of him running.

This fifth floor of the post office is a dead end, with nowhere to run.

He approached the door, and the firewood knife in his hand came down, instantly splitting the wooden door.

However, inside, there was no flickering light, only darkness.

Yang Jian peered through the crack into the room, seeing no one inside. A faint, damp, and putrid smell wafted out, making it very uncomfortable.

For a living person to stay in such a place for a prolonged period would be a form of torture.

Does this room 502 also have issues?