Mysterious Revival

"The box itself isn't special, just an ordinary wooden box, not made of gold... Was it because they were too poor at the time, the conditions did not permit it, or was the thing inside not considered a great enough threat to bother with?"

Yang Jian looked at the wooden box buried in the mud he held in his hands and pondered silently.

There was no doubt that this thing was odd.

Yet it hadn't caused any supernatural incidents, which seemed a bit inconceivable.

He wanted to open it to take a look but was also worried that his actions might break some kind of balance, leading to some unpredictable consequences.

After all, judging by its appearance, the box was buried deep, probably meant not to be discovered.

"But I've already dug it out. If I don't open it, I'll probably feel very unsatisfied," he thought to himself.

He looked around.

There was no one nearby.

But just to be safe, he carried the wooden box along the field, moving away from the village. If there indeed was a problem with this thing and a supernatural event were to break out, it should not happen near the village. At least he needed to find a relatively safe place, considering everyone in the village was his relative or friend.

Even if relationships weren't always good, he couldn't shirk his responsibilities.

Yang Jian just started to move.

What he didn't notice was that the reflection in the pond paused for a second, not moving at all initially, maintaining the same posture as Yang Jian with a strange expression in its gaze, peering at him.

Only after the next second did the reflection beneath the pond start to move.

Passing by every puddle, one could see the shadow that closely followed Yang Jian.

At first glance, there seemed to be nothing unusual about the reflection, but upon closer examination, it clearly wasn't Yang Jian's reflection at all, but seemed more like an incomprehensible supernatural entity quietly trailing him.

When did it start?

It began just after Yang Jian took the wooden box.

This reflection was peculiar, only appearing in places where there was standing water. If he didn't pass by such places, this eerie reflection wouldn't appear, and perhaps for this reason, as Yang Jian had been walking, he hadn't noticed this subtle change, his attention fully captured by the wooden box.

Soon.

Yang Jian halted his steps, arriving in the middle of a vast field.

He was already far from the village by then.

It was only at that moment that he opened the wooden box with a grave expression.

Upon opening it,

a putrid smell immediately wafted out, the scent of sludge mixed with sewage.

Once the mud was cleared and the sewage dispersed,

Yang Jian's face abruptly changed; inside the wooden box were two ghastly white human legs. Yes, he wasn't mistaken—definitely two ghastly white human legs. These legs, having soaked in water for more than a decade, had not rotted, nor were they damaged or incomplete. They looked almost as if they were sawed off yesterday.

The only plausible aspect was that the legs were bloodless, their flesh soaked to pallor, but not swollen.

An intensely cold feeling emanated from the pair of ghastly white legs, making one's hair stand on end even in broad daylight.

"Plop."

Very soon.

Yang Jian came to his senses and immediately covered the wooden box, not wanting the contents to remain exposed any longer, as he had a vague sense of unease.

"These are not the legs of a normal person, but they are definitely not the legs taken from a ghoul either... They are somewhere between human and ghost, yet they don't quite seem like the legs of a ghoul controller. If they were, they couldn't possibly be this well preserved; even when my body was controlled by the Headless Ghost Shadow, it would still rot."

"But they are not the legs of a ghost either because a true ghost, even just a body part, can revive itself and stir up a supernatural event."

"Superior to the ghoul controller, yet not reaching the level of a true ghoul, this is an existence that lies between the two, almost like... a different kind."

Yang Jian's eyes flickered with this astonishing speculation.

The owner of these legs must be an extraordinary individual, he guessed that this person had somehow perfected the control of ghouls, eliminating the effects of their revival and breaking free from the ghost's corrosion.

"My father buried these legs here during his lifetime, which means they can be traced back to an even older era. Could it have something to do with the Republic of China Period?"

With that thought,

Yang Jian immediately took the wooden box and quickly returned to the village.

First, he found a body bag in the car and placed the box containing the ghastly pale dead person's legs inside, adding a layer of security to ensure that nothing unexpected or problematic would happen along the way.

Then he looked in another direction of the village.

It was to the west of the village.

In the distance, he could faintly make out a dense forest.

"Let's take a look." Carrying the body bag, Yang Jian hurried over.

To the locals, the forest to the west of the village was known as the Sandy Forest. He was not a botany expert and knew little about species of trees, only that these trees grew tall and were prone to shedding their needle-shaped leaves, which would prick your feet when you walked over them after they had fallen to the ground.

Stepping into this forest, the light around him darkened instantly. The trees planted over a decade ago were closely spaced, and now that they had grown, the space inside the forest felt particularly cramped, and the view was greatly obstructed.

Yang Jian had only walked a short distance inside when he began to feel disoriented, unable to see the sky or the outside world—all around him was covered.

The ground was covered with a thick layer of fallen leaves, walking on it felt like treading on a plush carpet.

There were no weeds or shrubs around, making the area seem clean and tidy.

The only unbearable aspect was the claustrophobic environment; an average person might scare themselves to death just spending a day or two here.

Quiet, mysterious, with many ancient burial mounds faintly visible around.

These were old graves left behind after the traditional rural earthen burials, some with headstones no longer visible.

The forest was not particularly large.

Yang Jian walked alone, trying to find traces, while carrying the body bag that contained what had been retrieved from the pond, worried that if left elsewhere, someone might secretly open it.

"My father actually raised dogs here before? And a lot of them at that. What did he raise dogs for? To distract people? No, that shouldn't be right; the fish farm needed just a few fish fry to serve as a distraction for burying the box, but this forest clearly is not like that."

When he pondered, he quickly discovered remnants of traces within the forest.

A small wooden cabin.

The roof of the cabin had rotted away, leaving only a vague outline.

One could tell that someone had lived in this cabin once; otherwise, there would have been no reason to build such a structure here, quite a distance from the village, where a normal person would not stay.

Yang Jian walked over.

The wooden door of the cabin had vanished, leaving no clue whether it was taken by someone or buried under the leaves at our feet.

Once inside, the space was very small.

Barely enough room to fit a single bed, with very little space to move around.

Yang Jian glanced around and found that the wooden cabin was empty, a result of far too many years having passed, erasing all traces.

But if he guessed right, this must have been built by his father when he raised dogs in this forest.

"My father really was an odd one, to build a small wooden hut for raising dogs in the woods near a graveyard... Such behavior always seemed abnormal. Indeed, as Old Qin said, his death was tied to supernatural events, and even my father had early contact with the spirit realm."

Yang Jian estimated the time, and it was roughly fifteen years ago.

Even back then, the supernatural already existed.

Which meant that the resurgence of malevolent spirits was not a recent phenomenon, but one that had existed for a long time. It's just that it wasn't as serious in the past, and the impact wasn't large enough, so it was well concealed.

"There's nothing visible in this forest, only Ghost Domain will do, only by invoking Ghost Domain can I quickly find some traces."

After thinking for a moment, without any hesitation, Yang Jian activated Ghost Domain once more.

In an instant.

The forest was shrouded in red light, and a sinister aura enveloped the area.

Very soon.

Yang Jian's expression shifted slightly as the thick layer of leaves in front of him disappeared, revealing a pile of bones.

These bones had been buried underground, but he had shifted them above ground with Ghost Domain.

Not human bones, but those of dogs.

There seemed to be at least dozens of them, and they were all of similar large size, all sturdy big dogs.

"A relative mentioned that my father raised dogs here, only for them to vanish overnight... Not sold off, but killed."

Yang Jian's gaze flickered.

For so many dogs to be killed overnight, it surely couldn't have been by normal means.

However, he couldn't understand why his father would kill so many dogs. What for?

To vent a killing intent?

Or to test the capabilities of malevolent spirits?

Or perhaps, these dogs served some specific purpose...

Yang Jian's gaze flickered, unable to think of any special purpose.

Quickly.

He discovered something with Ghost Domain.

A wooden box buried underground, looking plain and old with some remnants of red paint. He wondered whether it was the dowry chest his parents had during their marriage. He remembered his mother mentioning that a chest had gone missing from their home, never knowing where it went.

So it was here.

Quickly.

The chest appeared before Yang Jian.

He didn't retract the Ghost Domain, but instead chose to directly open the chest.

His gaze froze immediately.

A mutilated corpse.

No legs, no head, just an upper body and arms.

"And the legs found previously belong to it," Yang Jian's complexion changed.

It seemed to be a complete body that had been divided and stored separately.

With the legs and torso accounted for, only a head remained.

Yang Jian immediately turned his gaze towards the temple behind the village.

The third and suspicious place left by his father.

If he wasn't wrong, the head would be there.

"If there really is a head, what would happen if the body is put back together?" Yang Jian frowned, feeling uneasy.

There must have been a reason for the body to be divided, and perhaps his father had expended great effort to do so. If he carelessly put it back together, he might end up reviving a terrifying ghost.

"Regardless, I should first check out the third location. This body shouldn't be disturbed for now."

Yang Jian placed the chest in a spot and left the forest.

He arrived at the third place.

The small temple.

An old lady from the village guarded the temple. Yang Jian didn't know the family, but he had some memories from his childhood. Surprisingly, even after all these years, the old lady was still there.

She had risen early, sitting at the doorway basking in the sun, mumbling something under her breath.

Yang Jian glanced at the old lady but didn't say much, heading straight into the temple.

He was there to get things done, not for small talk with the elderly.

Upon entering, he saw two towering statues of deities.

Yang Jian didn't even know which deities they were supposed to be, probably not any famous ones, given they were unrecognizable.

The temple was deserted, seldom visited by people except on specific days for incense burning.

"There are objects hidden inside the statues," Yang Jian concluded after a brief sweep, his focus finally resting on the deities above.

It was as if the two statues were covertly watching him, giving him a particularly uncomfortable feeling.

This strong sensation allowed Yang Jian to pinpoint their exact location, thanks to the instincts of a ghost hunter.