Mysterious Revival

Work?

Miao Xiaoshan was still pondering the meaning of these two words when she saw a fleet of special vehicles speeding towards them, stopping in front of the gymnasium's main entrance, encircling the vicinity so tightly that not even water could leak through.

If she hadn't known in advance what this was about, a normal person would probably be shocked by such a sight.

"Stay here and don't wander off. Don't answer any calls before I return, and don't call me," Yang Jian first instructed.

"Okay, I won't cause you any trouble," Miao Xiaoshan nodded in agreement.

She had that much self-awareness.

Yang Jian then took a deep look at Liu Zi on the basketball court.

Liu Zi felt this unusual gaze and couldn't help but have an unnatural expression. At this moment, she began to understand that Yang Jian, even in Dachang City, had unimaginable influence. It seemed he could mobilize many people, and the continuously ringing alarms were probably at his command.

"You need to leave this place," Yang Jian's gaze suddenly turned cold.

"Ah?"

Liu Zi was taken aback, then quickly said, "Can't I just stay here quietly? I can keep Liu Xiaoyu company and won't be any trouble to you."

She had hoped that her connection with Miao Xiaoshan would afford her some protection, but to her surprise, Yang Jian was intent on sending her away.

"She doesn't need your company. I don't want to have to repeat myself; leave immediately," Yang Jian said.

Liu Zi quivered her lips, "Where can I go this late at night?"

"Where you go is your choice, but you can't stay with Miao Xiaoshan," said Yang Jian.

"But..."

Liu Zi looked at Miao Xiaoshan, hoping she would speak up and ask Yang Jian not to send her away.

Although Miao Xiaoshan felt sorry, she believed there must be a reason for whatever Yang Jian did; he wouldn't mistreat her roommate without cause, so she kept silent.

Quickly.

The sound of numerous footsteps came from outside the gymnasium; a group of stern-looking special agents in suits swiftly entered and immediately sealed off the not-so-large gymnasium.

The one in charge was a slightly overweight middle-aged man with a serious expression. His gaze quickly turned to the spectators' seats, "Mister Yang, I'm the leader of this support squad, Wang Quan. We will need Mister Yang's guidance for the work that follows. This is Principal Tu from our school; he can handle any issues that arise."

"Hello, Mister Yang."

The roughly fifty-year-old Principal Tu greeted.

"Wang Quan?"

Yang Jian hesitated for a moment then asked, "How much do you know about the Ghost Painting?"

"I've gone through all the files; I know what needs to be known, and if Mister Yang has left anything out, you can ask me," Wang Quan replied.

"Good, that saves me the time of explaining again. However, the Ghost Painting didn't occur here; so far, this place is safe. But I'm unclear about the Ghost Painting's pattern of killing. To be cautious, we should first make arrangements for this student, Liu Zi."

Yang Jian pointed and explained, "The Ghost Painting appeared in her dorm room; she must have had the most direct contact with it."

Wang Quan's expression shifted slightly, and he quickly said, "Understood, I'll have someone take care of it right away."

No sooner had he spoken than two staff members approached Liu Zi.

He didn't ask about her situation, nor did he explain any reasons; he simply took Liu Zi away with him.

Liu Zi looked terrified and bewildered.

Wang Quan said, "This student need not be nervous; it's just a routine observation. I hope you'll cooperate with our work. Once everything is settled, you'll be able to return to school as normal. If this causes any inconvenience in your life, I hope you'll understand."

But faced with his serious and somewhat frightening face, Liu Zi felt even less reassured.

She felt that once she left, she might not come back.

"This is Miao Xiaoshan, my friend. She has also had some contact with the haunted painting. Let her stay inside the basketball gym; I'll take responsibility," Yang Jian said.

"If Mister Yang is taking responsibility, then that's the best we could hope for."

Wang Quan looked at Miao Xiaoshan and a hint of a kind smile appeared on his stern face.

But to Miao Xiaoshan, that smile didn't seem kind at all.

"Well, let's leave it at that for now, it's time to check out the dormitory building. At this hour, it probably hasn't caused too much of a disturbance, and it might just be a minor incident," Yang Jian said.

"I hope everyone is safe. I, too, would like to finish work early and return home," Wang Quan said.

Yang Jian glanced at Miao Xiaoshan beside him, thought for a moment, then took a red candle out of his pocket and handed it to her: "Light this candle immediately if you feel anything strange around you, then call me. If there's no trouble, try not to light this carelessly or take it out without reason."

"I understand," Miao Xiaoshan nodded, gripping the strange red candle tightly.

Although she didn't know what it was, she understood from Yang Jian's tone that it must be particularly valuable.

"Wang Quan, give her a lighter," Yang Jian said.

Wang Quan looked somewhat odd, but still produced a gold lighter and had an accompanying staff member hand it over to her.

"Be careful, I'll wait for you here," Miao Xiaoshan said.

"Hmm."

Yang Jian nodded, then set off with Wang Quan, leaving the basketball gym and heading straight to the dormitory where the haunted painting was found.

On the way.

Wang Quan spoke, "Giving away a red Ghost Candle to a young girl like that, Mister Yang is indeed generous. These candles are not cheap on the market; there are already offers of one billion to purchase them online, and that's just the base price. If we were to negotiate in person, it could probably be doubled or more."

"But so far, only our headquarters has them. They can't be made abroad—these are priceless."

"She is more important to me than a billion," Yang Jian said.

Wang Quan laughed, "Of course, things are more important than life. But Mister Yang, by giving the Ghost Candle to a girl who is not of significance, wouldn't that cause some inconvenience in handling the situation? After all, we need to prioritize the bigger picture. If Mister Yang changes his mind, I can arrange for it to be retrieved. I can be the bad guy, so Mister Yang won't lose face."

"No need. What's given is given; what kind of person takes something back? Besides, I have another one," Yang Jian said, pulling out another red Ghost Candle and waving it.

Wang Quan's smile froze.

What? Two candles?

Was Yang Jian that wealthy? To possess two Ghost Candles—he must have solved many incidents to earn the right to use two.

"Even though Mister Yang still has a spare, having one more wouldn't hurt," Wang Quan said.

Yang Jian replied, "I'll give my things to whoever I want; that's none of your business. If you have time, you might want to investigate the school's art gallery. The haunted painting first leaked from there; maybe the dorm isn't the original site of the incident. There could be other haunted paintings in this school."

The ghost painting was not the only one, he had already known that.

But the real Source Ghost painting definitely existed, it just hadn't been found yet.

"In that case, I'll have to have someone search thoroughly," said Wang Quan with a grave expression, and he immediately ordered his entourage to carry out this task.

Soon, the group of companions had dwindled by more than half.

"If there's danger in inspecting the art gallery, I suggest controlled demolition, or just burning it down," Yang Jian proposed. "Some problematic things can't be destroyed by fire, and this would be a more efficient approach."

"Wait, there are many authentic works by famous artists in the art gallery, used by students for copying and learning on a daily basis—they absolutely must not be burnt," panted Principal Tu as he trotted to keep up with Yang Jian.

Yang Jian didn't stop and continued forward. "You handle it as you see fit, I'm just making a suggestion."

Wang Quan's gaze shifted, unable to deny that Yang Jian's suggestion was a good one. It reduced the danger of the search and ensured the safety of the individuals involved, for if a ghost painting was indeed found in the art gallery, it could bring unimaginable danger.

Quickly.

The group returned to the dormitory building.

At this moment, students were continuously walking out of the entire dormitory building, but it seemed that the ringing alarm had not been very effective since many students were still lingering inside the dorms.

"Too slow," observed Yang Jian with a glance.

Wang Quan immediately addressed Principal Tu, "Principal Tu, you'd already notified them before, why haven't all the students been safely evacuated up to now?"

"This... it's too late, most students were probably asleep by now, so it's a bit difficult," explained Principal Tu.

"I'll get people to assist you, but within fifteen minutes, everyone must leave the dormitory," Wang Quan said. "If that's not achieved, you might as well resign as principal."

Sweat broke out on Principal Tu's face upon hearing these words.

However, at that moment, commotion suddenly arose amongst the students lingering at the base of the building.

Someone exclaimed, "Look, quick, someone is climbing out the window, that's so dangerous!"

"It looks like Sun Yujia from the fifth-floor dorm, oh my god, what is she doing? Call the authorities," another shouted.

"Principal Tu, come quickly and look, Sun Yujia is climbing out the window."

"What?"

Upon hearing his name being called by many students, Principal Tu paid attention to the ongoing situation. He looked up and indeed saw a first-year female student climbing out the window and onto the exterior, seemingly attempting to make her way down from the upper floors.

He was both shocked and anxious, hurrying over and shouting, "Student, do not do such dangerous things, quickly go back to your dorm! Any issue can be resolved, please do not act rashly."

Yang Jian also recognized Sun Yujia.

She was a dormmate of Miao Xiaoshan's. The last time Liu Zi left, there were two other girls who refused to go, and Sun Yujia was one of them.

But now, Sun Yujia was trembling all over, crying while desperately clinging to the window, seeking a way to climb down.

The dormitory building's structure was simple, offering no foothold for Sun Yujia to descend; she was almost hanging in mid-air, swaying, yet even so, she had no intention of climbing back through the window.

It seemed that something even more terrifying was forcing her to abandon taking the stairs down.

"It appears the situation inside the building is more severe than imagined," Yang Jian said, slightly furrowing his brow.

He had seen this scene before, likely during his time in Dachang City.

People, terror-stricken by ghosts, jumping from high buildings, were not uncommon.

Only, the ghost painting shouldn't have progressed to that stage yet—previously, when he saw the ghost painting kill in the residential area, the onlookers weren't affected even after everything was over.

"Aren't we going to save her? She could die if she really falls from this height, and with so many onlookers, it could have a big impact," said Wang Quan standing beside him.

At this time, no one rashly charged into the building.

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Because Yang Jian hadn't spoken, and until he did, no action was permissible, not even saving someone.

"Wait a while," Yang Jian said.

"Shouldn't the situation be urgent?"

Wang Quan said, "If it's because of restrictions, I can send people up to the fourth floor, and as long as there are no issues, we should be able to save her."

"There's no need for a buy-one-get-one-free deal."

Yang Jian said, "It's clear from her panicked state, she likely encountered a ghost in the dormitory. The ghost didn't kill her because she hasn't met the conditions for it to kill, but if you go in, it's not certain anymore."

"Then how long do we wait? She won't last much longer," insisted Wang Quan. "We could take a risk and make a move, I've dealt with ghost paintings before, and this thing is relatively safe for now."

"I know she won't last long, that's why I'm waiting for her to fall," Yang Jian said indifferently, then walked toward the base of the building.

Wang Quan sighed with relief when he saw Yang Jian move.

He knew these types of people viewed life with indifference; solving the incident was as much as one could hope for, and expecting them to actively rescue someone was asking too much.

"Finally met someone relatively cooperative, if he is willing to take action, it should be stable," Wang Quan thought to himself.

"Ah, she's fallen," suddenly, several screams erupted from the crowd.

Clinging to the window, Sun Yujia, due to her lack of strength and overwhelming fear and cold, let go, crying as she fell from the fourth floor.

Many were so terrified by the scene that they turned away, unable to watch.

Yang Jian glanced up briefly and casually caught Sun Yujia who was falling from the sky, his somewhat unremarkable body unmoved as if the weight plummeting from high above posed no inconvenience to him whatsoever.

"Find someone to check what happened to her, what exactly she encountered in the building," Yang Jian said, then tossed the now-frightened Sun Yujia to the ground, and strode into the dormitory building.

Seeing this, all the female students were stunned.

What had just happened?

Had this man really just caught Sun Yujia as she fell from the fourth floor?

This seemed almost too incredible to believe. Had it not been witnessed with their own eyes, no one would believe someone could actually catch someone from the height of the fourth floor.

But it seemed that was not the main point. Why did the man end up throwing Sun Yujia to the ground like catching a piece of trash?

Shouldn't he have gently helped her up and then offered comfort?

It just didn't quite match what they'd seen in movies.