Mysterious Revival

Chapter 1043 - 1009: Incomplete Idea

Yang Jian and the messenger Zhou Ze together entered the post office hall in this world of oil painting.

The setup here is exactly the same as the outside, but the surrounding environment is completely different, making it feel somewhat unreal. It's hard to tell which post office is real and which is fake.

There were quite a few people in the hall.

A group of people stood scattered in the hall, their eyes strangely fixated on Yang Jian and Zhou Ze.

Some wanted to eliminate Yang Jian and Zhou Ze, seeking liberation. Some chose neutrality, letting events unfold as they would, while others chose to help Yang Jian because, for some, this might be an opportunity, a chance to break free from curses and gain freedom.

But regardless of the choice.

The emergence of the nightmare Yang Xiao completely disrupted this scene.

As long as Yang Xiao opposed, no one had the ability to intervene in the following developments.

"The father and son duo each control the Ghost Post Office outside and the one within the world of oil painting. Now that they have joined forces, it's enough to decide the direction of this entire supernatural place." Zhang Xiangguang observed this scene, vaguely understanding something.

This might be the opportunity he had been waiting for decades.

"Under these circumstances, no one is allowed to cause trouble." He immediately made his stance clear, anticipating a result.

No matter if the result is good or bad, at least this life akin to Endless Hell can come to an end.

Others looked at Zhang Xiangguang. Some nodded slightly in agreement, while others frowned in thought, and some concealed their faces without speaking, pondering their own plans.

"Sit."

Yang Xiao pointed to a wooden bench beside him, then found another one to sit down.

People nearby gathered around to watch, wanting to hear the conversation because this discussion could greatly affect their fate.

After Yang Jian sat down, Zhou Ze did not take a seat but stood aside, feeling unqualified to participate in this matter and content to be an observer.

"You can ask whatever you want to know. Although I might not be able to answer you, there are many seniors here. They believe they can give you a satisfactory response. The truth needs to be passed on; perhaps that is the meaning of our deceased existence." Yang Xiao's tone was calm, appearing very rational.

At this moment, Yang Jian's eyes flickered, not beating around the bush, and directly asked, "The Ghost Post Office has been around for a long time, supposedly built during the Republic of China Period and lost control in modern times. What happened in between doesn't interest me. What I want to know is, what is the purpose of the messengers delivering letters?"

His question went straight to the core, wanting to understand the purpose of the Ghost Post Office.

Yang Xiao replied without hesitation: "The emergence of supernatural events is often first detected by the Ghost Post Office, so messengers are dispatched. Messengers are the first to come into contact with these supernatural events. Their purpose is not to resolve the supernatural events but to explore and transmit some signal."

"Explore and transmit signals?" Yang Jian frowned, "What's the significance?"

"I have a different perspective on this issue."

Beside them, Zhang Xiangguang spoke up, "After the occurrence of a supernatural event, the messenger receives the letter delivery task and proceeds to the supernatural incident site to engage with the supernatural. Thereafter, there are only two outcomes for the messenger: either dying in the supernatural event or surviving... Does it sound like a cliché? But young man, you should recognize that messengers can complete these letter delivery tasks thanks to more than just their intelligence. They also need courage."

"The courage to steal supernatural powers from one supernatural event after another, only by continuously growing stronger can messengers handle the successive letter delivery tasks, until ultimately leaving the post office."

"So, the letter delivery task is actually using newly emerging supernatural events to train messengers?" Yang Jian asked.

Yang Xiao said, "Becoming stronger is the purpose of the messengers, not the purpose of the post office. The post office's purpose is to probe supernatural events and transmit certain information. So I speculate that apart from the post office, there are dedicated people handling supernatural incidents. Otherwise, these events would have spiraled out of control long ago, not mysteriously disappearing after they occur."

In his experience, he had once returned to the letter delivery site to investigate after delivering a letter. The place was devoid of any supernatural occurrences, everything had returned to normal, so he guessed someone had specifically handled the supernatural incident.

As for who they were, it didn't matter to him.

Yang Jian nodded, indicating a temporary understanding of the letter delivery's purpose. The post office's goal is for messengers to investigate supernatural events and transmit information. Another objective is to utilize the supernatural events to train messengers in mastering supernatural powers.

Each level of messengers is a kind of selection process.

Until after a fifth-level messenger delivers three letters and leaves the post office, the post office's selection process concludes.

But since it's a selection, there must undoubtedly be an organization above the post office to receive and train these elite messengers.

However, up until now, based on the information Yang Jian had received from headquarters, there was no presence of such a special place.

"Does the post office have a manager? I heard there's a sixth level in the post office, and reaching the sixth level allows one to manage and control the post office." Yang Jian asked again.

Yang Xiao replied, "The post office does indeed have a manager. I've met him. His surname is Luo, and we call him Old Man Luo. He's a very mysterious person, only appearing when each messenger delivers the third letter to take us out of the post office. However, new messengers are unaware of this secret."

"Now, I think that Old Man Luo should be dead."

Mentioning Old Man Luo aligned all the pieces.

He was Luo Yong's grandfather, the manager of the post office, who died a year ago from a fall. His body was sent to the hospital, resulting in the revival of a fierce ghost, causing an incident codenamed Ghost Door Knocker.

"He did die and caused significant trouble outside. How did he die? Of old age?" Yang Jian asked again.

"No, he was killed." A stranger spoke up.

Yang Xiao also nodded and said, "Yes, he should have died, killed, just we're unclear if he was killed by someone or by a ghost. But judging from the situation, the former seems more likely."

"If he hadn't died so suddenly, the post office wouldn't be without a controller until now."

Yang Jian said, "There's a black letter on the post office's fifth floor. Old Man Luo was alive and in control of the Ghost Post Office during that time. Would he allow that black letter to remain at the office without being delivered?"

"Sending or not sending that black letter doesn't matter. It's a letter for selecting the post office manager. The more fifth-floor messengers there are, the stronger the ultimate manager selected will be. For long-term stability, Old Man Luo tacitly allowed this practice. He didn't think there was anything inappropriate, but for this reason, the difficulty of letter delivery for messengers below the fifth level increased." Yang Xiao explained.

"I see, that Old Man Luo was quite greedy, waiting over ten years intending to select a qualified manager but ended up getting killed. Do you know who killed him?" Yang Jian asked directly.

"Unclear, and no one knows. He died on the sixth floor of the post office, a floor accessible only to the manager." Yang Xiao said, "If you want to know, go to the sixth floor yourself to look, but I think this doesn't have too much meaning."

"Managers inevitably have a day when they die, whether killed by someone or a ghost, death is death. His death only proves one thing: he was outdated and needed someone more outstanding to replace him and regain control over the Ghost Post Office." Yang Xiao said.

"So you shouldn't care about these matters. You should care about how to handle the Ghost Post Office and how to deal with us..."

He finished by glancing at the other people.

Indeed.

Yang Xiao was right, Yang Jian's own struggle over who killed the Door Knocking Ghost before its death was meaningless; his current goal is to deal with the Ghost Post Office.

At this moment.

Everyone's eyes were focused on Yang Jian.

The previous questions were nothing more than inquiries from some juniors, insignificant to them, while the existence and trajectory of the post office were what they truly cared about.

"Regarding the Ghost Post Office, I don't want it to continue transmitting curses and forcing messengers to deliver letters. You don't need to ask why, because delivering letters has lost its meaning. Supernatural events are becoming increasingly frequent outside, almost reaching the point of being out of control and widely known. Having more or fewer messengers doesn't matter anymore."

Yang Jian said, "Therefore, from now on, the post office will no longer have messengers, nor will there be people cursed."

"So you plan to seal off the post office, making this place disappear forever from the world?" Zhang Xiangguang stared at him and asked.

At this moment.

Many of the looks had already changed, if Yang Jian chose to seal the post office, it meant they would become the last batch of lost souls within the post office, forever left here to be eventually forgotten and disappear slowly.

To them, this would be a form of torment.

No one wanted to see this happen.

If Yang Jian nodded, he would become everyone's enemy here.

"Everyone, stay calm." Yang Xiao issued a warning.

The warning was effective.

Quite a few gazes withdrew, hidden away, not wanting to invoke Yang Xiao's enmity.

Yang Jian also understood that his every move was tightly tied to these people's nerves, so he spoke up, "The post office needs a manager. If I abandon it, the harm it could bring would be greater than having a manager. Besides, I can't completely seal the post office, even if barely achievable, it wouldn't be a long-term solution."

"Selecting a manager, changing the post office rules, canceling the letter delivery task, this is my idea."

"So you want to create a brand new post office." Yang Xiao understood Yang Jian's idea.

"A very nice concept, fitting for the new generation; the post office is indeed too outdated, change is imperative. But how do you plan to change the post office?"

Yang Jian said, "This depends on how valuable the post office is. If it's not of much value to me, I'll privatize it and turn it into a base of operations."

"Quite ambitious, wanting to turn the Ghost Post Office into your own backyard?" Zhang Xiangguang remarked.

Yang Xiao, however, was pondering, and after some thought, said, "The value of the post office lies in two points: one is the messenger, and the second is the fierce ghosts imprisoned within the post office. The value of the fierce ghosts is definitely limited, impossible to fully control. The number of messengers in the post office is also not large anymore and will only decrease in the future. If speaking of the greatest value, perhaps it lies in us, the already deceased ghosts."

"We can never escape from the oil painting, we hold no value," said the woman with two large braids.

Yang Xiao, indifferent yet slightly arrogant, said, "It's not necessary to leave the oil painting. If we can retrieve that lost oil painting, we can turn the outside into the world of the oil painting."

"The Ghost Drawing?"

Yang Jian's expression tightened, immediately understanding the implication behind Yang Xiao's words.

Retrieve the ghost painting and use its mystical power to erode reality, turning outside into an oil painting. They would naturally have a much larger range of movement, and even if not resurrected, they could already use the ghost painting's power to disrupt reality and act with impunity.

A group of souls resuscitated within the oil painting would be unstoppable.

Realizing this, Yang Jian felt a strange stirring in his heart.

This place had a large group of people, all accumulated over decades by the Ghost Post Office, experts who had delivered three letters, once linked with the world of the ghost painting, these people could play a significant role.

And the most terrifying thing is.

They also possess some of the supernatural powers of the ghost painting within it.

As long as someone remembers them, they are immortal.

A group of top-notch expert souls, possessing the traits of fierce ghosts, cannot be killed, and also have their supernatural powers from life; if they were utilized to handle supernatural events, Yang Jian believed most supernatural incidents would be eliminated.

Ordinary supernatural events couldn't stop experts like Yang Xiao and Zhang Xiangguang.

As for S-level supernatural events, even if they couldn't be handled, it didn't matter much, for the number of such events outside was very few.

"That ghost painting is very dangerous, a lot of people died outside because of it, retrieving it is very difficult." Yang Jian said.

To retrieve the ghost painting, they certainly had to retrieve the source painting, not a derivative.

But the true source of the ghost painting had already been sealed by Old Qin at Ping'an Tower, even the one controlled by Li Jun was just a derivative ghost painting.

Only Li Jun was smart, using the derivative ghost painting to connect to the true ghost painting, indirectly utilizing the mystical power of the true ghost painting.

"Danger and profit are proportional." Yang Xiao said, "With great ability comes the responsibility to do great things; controlling the Ghost Post Office and possessing a group of top-notch souls requires a significant price to pay, it's not something easily done."

Yang Jian contemplated for a long while before saying, "I can't bring back the ghost painting."

He acknowledged his limitations straightforwardly.

"That's quite unfortunate then." Yang Xiao showed slight regret.

However, Yang Jian then said, "But I can bring a derivative of the ghost painting, through the derivative ghost painting we can still connect with the world of the true ghost painting."

"It's useless, only the ghost painting can invade reality, allowing us to indirectly appear in the real world. Not being able to control the ghost painting means we, these souls, hold no value." Zhang Xiangguang shook his head.

His point was valid as well.

The ghost painting's characteristic is to bring the real world into the painting; without this medium, they indeed become meaningless.

"The ideal state is naturally that, but going one step down isn't unachievable, even if it's an incomplete method, it has its incomplete uses. I have an idea; the question is whether you are willing to stand with me and help me handle supernatural events? Or do you still insist on seeking relief and complete annihilation?"

Yang Jian asked everyone.

Obviously, with this question posed, these souls now faced a choice.