Chapter 119: The Human Face On The Withered Wood
“Where am I now? Reality? Or a supernatural land?”
Looking at the weird street ahead, Jiang Shan frowned slightly.
“This isn’t the Ghost Hotel that Wang Hu Zhi mentioned, and the scenes in the memories of the ‘Free Men’ members are completely different from here. Is it because the Ghost Rain’s spread has caused the location to shift?”
Illuminated by the rows of dim, blood-red lanterns emitting a strange red glow above him, Jiang Shan could vaguely see his surroundings.
He was currently on a street that resembled a rural gathering.
Such rural marketplaces are usually held in the very center of the village.
A main road in the town center,
Two rows of outside stalls, surrounded by residential houses.
After all, such a location would allow both local villagers and merchants selling goods from out of town to benefit the most.
And the “Ghost Street” where Jiang Shan was now located had the same layout.
Looking at the dilapidated tile-roofed houses on both sides of the muddy road, with architectural styles from the 1920s and 1930s, his heart sank slightly:
“Is it related to the Republic of China period again?”
Whether in the original work or in supernatural events Jiang Shan personally experienced,
Ghosts associated with that period of the Republic of China were far more terrifying and weird than ordinary fierce ghosts.
Therefore, Jiang Shan was extremely reluctant to deal with such ghosts.
With the slightest carelessness, even he, who controlled four ghosts, could easily fall prey to such ghosts.
His gaze continued to scan his surroundings,
In the marketplace, the stalls were sparse, mostly simple sheds built with a few rotten, moldy wooden boards and bamboo poles, their roofs covered with blood-stained curtains, gently swaying in a chilling wind.
“There seems to be something on that stall over there.”
In this marketplace, which exuded weirdness everywhere, Jiang Shan suddenly noticed,
on the wooden table of a stall not far from him, were some old goods: rotten, withered vegetables, shriveled fruit with green mold, and some rusty farm tools.
Through his blurred vision, he saw a figure, completely black and with only its outline visible, standing in the shadow of the wooden table.
Glancing at the handbag that hadn’t disappeared in his hand, Jiang Shan’s eyes flickered; he had already prepared for his next action.
Since the handbag hadn’t vanished, he had much more room to maneuver.
Because this handbag contained not only supernatural items that could save his life, such as Ghost Candles and Substitute Dolls, but also the Rusty Chain that could cause a Ghost Wielder’s fierce ghost to revive, and a detained ghost.
As for the weapons, the Gold Box, and the Specially Made Gold Leaf, they were all readily prepared.
It could be said that
the combined value of everything inside this handbag was enough to make any Ghost Wielder’s heart flutter.
Skillful in art, bold in courage.
Jiang Shan, without hesitation, took out a Ghost Candle, as crimson as human blood, from his bag and lit it.
He then began to walk towards that eerie stall.
After all, on this desolate and dilapidated Ghost Street, apart from this stall showing abnormality, everything else was darkness.
Compared to wandering aimlessly, having a Ghost Candle that could guarantee safety,
Jiang Shan now leaned towards finding a breakthrough in this place that was weird everywhere.
If it were any other time, he wouldn’t take such a risk,
but now that he had the conditions, he should let the Ghost Candle play its intended role.
The candle flame of the Ghost Candle was unexpectedly stable.
It seemed this area wasn’t as dangerous as he imagined; judging by its burning speed,
Jiang Shan could even be certain that there were no ghosts around him!
However, he did not let his guard down because of this.
Because whether it was in the reality of the rain or in this unknown place, the Dead Face Ghost’s Ghost Domain could not spread.
If it were because the Dead Face Ghost was suppressed by a stronger force,
such as a Ghost Bus or Ghost Ground, where a ghost existed, causing the fierce ghost within it to be suppressed.
Jiang Shan could still understand such a situation.
But now, he hadn’t encountered a single ghost, nor had he felt any supernatural presence emitted by a ghost.
The Dead Face Ghost gave him the feeling as if the Ghost Eye had entered the Ghost Painting in the original work,
Here,
the Dead Face Ghost dared not spread its Ghost Domain!
The greater this contrast, the more it indicated that unimaginable terror was hidden here.
On the empty street, a person was seen holding a candle formed like blood, slowly approaching a dilapidated small stall.
Although in Jiang Shan’s eyes the stall selling supernatural items was very close to him,
If estimated,
it was about sixty to seventy meters away.
Yet, after walking for nearly half an hour, the stall only gradually became clear in his sight.
“This is a characteristic of a Ghost Domain; everything a person sees within a Ghost Domain might not be real. I didn’t expect that before even encountering the ‘strongest of Ghost Domains,’ the Ghost Painting, the Dead Face Ghost would lose out in a confrontation of Ghost Domains with other ghosts.”
Jiang Shan thought as he approached the stall.
Just as he finally saw the Black Figure in the shadow of the wooden table, his brow suddenly furrowed.
“It’s actually a living person?”
In front of him,
a middle-aged man’s face, full of coarse flesh, was attached to that Black Figure.
Looking closer,
there was no Ghost Shadow at all; it was a piece of Withered Wood, burnt black as charcoal!
A Human Face was attached to a piece of Withered Wood half the height of a person!
The Weirdness of the scene made Jiang Shan’s brow furrow. Through the Shock in the Human Face’s eyes, he determined that the Human Face attached to the Withered Wood was a living person.
This was because ghosts absolutely could not show such rich Emotion.
Not even a Ghost Wielder could achieve that.
At the same time,
as Jiang Shan’s figure appeared in front of the stall, the Black Figure hidden within the stall was clearly startled.
Like Yin Wind blowing through Withered Wood, a hoarse and hollow voice sounded from within the stall:
“How did you get in?”
“I walked in,” Jiang Shan replied.
“Walked in? Are you kidding me? You’re new, right? If you’re new, hurry up and come in. If you don’t listen to me, don’t blame me for not taking care of you if you die later.”
The Human Face on the Withered Wood, after a long pause, displayed a look of Doubt and then said slowly.
“Brother, can you tell me what kind of place this is? I want to know how you did this. Are you still Alive? If you don’t tell me, I dare not go in, I’m scared!”
Hearing the words of the Human Face,
Jiang Shan immediately put on a terrified expression. He looked at the Withered Wood Human Face with dread, his whole body beginning to tremble.
Seeing the proud and confident demeanor displayed on that Human Face,
Jiang Shan knew that this man, who was suspected to be a Ghost Wielder, knew many internal details about this place.
He didn’t believe that a Ghost Wielder living in such a place would be so kind as to help a complete stranger.
After all, Ghost Wielders like Tong Qian were very few in This World.
Since the man said such a thing, he must have had some ulterior motive.
After a period of silence, the man’s voice slowly opened with icy coldness:
“You new kid talk too much. If my wife hadn’t asked me to help newcomers before I left, I wouldn’t have risked helping you. Forget it, it’s been a long time since I’ve spoken to anyone, so talking more is fine. It also helps me remember that I’m still human.”
