Chapter 1275 - 1242: The Vanished Painting
The sealed-off Ping’an Tower suddenly became the center of some unknown commotion. Inside, the building started to irrationally twist and shake, as though an earthquake had struck, yet there was no sensation of tremor in the surroundings.
Clearly, this was not an earthquake, but some kind of eerie and terrifying force affecting the building.
The tower swayed, glass shattered, and a large amount of debris fell down.
Fortunately, the area was already sealed off with no pedestrians, so there were no injuries.
But the disturbance in the building was far from over.
Suddenly.
A large section of the tower in the middle inexplicably caved in.
Without support, the other part of the structure couldn’t hold the weight of the entire building. With several loud noises, load-bearing pillars and steel beams snapped instantly, causing the entire tower to tilt in one direction. The speed of tilting increased until it was no longer tilting but outright collapsing.
“The building’s falling.”
Despite the heavy rain, many people inside the buildings nearby saw this scene through their windows, and were stunned. They immediately took out their phones to capture the moment.
“No, no, the building’s collapsing this way!”
But in the other direction, seeing the scene unfold, people lost the mood to take photos, and panic ensued.
Because if the building fell this way, it could crash into their building, which would be a disaster.
“Run!”
Panic-stricken cries echoed as people from several buildings started to flee, attempting to escape the danger zone and head to safety.
But with a building collapsing at such speed, even if some reacted and started running, how far could they really get?
In just ten seconds, they might not even reach the elevator entrance.
However, as the building was about to fall.
Suddenly.
A miracle occurred.
A red light from the outskirts of the city enveloped the scene. At the moment it arrived, the clouds in the sky vanished completely, replaced by dazzling sunlight.
In the blink of an eye, the rain cleared up, revealing a vast blue sky.
The weather was instantly altered.
Even more astonishing.
The collapsing building miraculously froze in mid-air, unable to fall any further.
“Someone, there’s someone in mid-air.”
From nearby high-rises, someone spotted this and shouted, pointing in a certain direction.
This exclamation drew a crowd.
People from many buildings looked over.
They witnessed the most unforgettable scene in their lives.
A person, defying logic, stood mid-air, reaching out to support the leaning, collapsing tower, and actually stopped it.
This was truly holding up a collapsing building.
“It really stopped; this isn’t a dream.”
Someone was nearly in a daze, doubting they were dreaming. After rubbing their eyes and slapping their face, the scene before them remained.
This wasn’t a dream.
Someone genuinely supported the collapsing Ping’an Tower.
“What on earth is happening to this world? Is it still the world I know?”
Someone began doubting their reality.
This was a supernatural phenomenon, beyond explanation.
“Someone infiltrated Ping’an Tower….. the Ghost Painting’s supernatural power seems to have disappeared.”
Yang Jian, standing mid-air, had activated the sixth-layer Ghost Domain to halt the collapsing building.
Logically, this should have been impossible.
Because hidden within the building was the terrifying Ghost Painting. Under its supernatural influence, no one’s Ghost Domain should be able to affect Ping’an Tower, Yang Jian included.
But Yang Jian at the headquarters couldn’t just watch Ping’an Tower collapse, so he decided to make a tentative move.
He didn’t expect it to work.
But it did.
“The disappearance of the Ghost Painting’s supernatural power indicates one thing: either it’s been contained, or it’s no longer in Ping’an Tower, stolen perhaps.”
His gaze shifted subtly as he quickly started thinking.
“Stealing the Ghost Painting during a captains’ meeting, such audacity—are they not afraid of being found and killed by the captains?”
“Moreover, for an S-level supernatural event like the Ghost Painting to end so quickly is simply unbelievable. Can someone in the supernatural circle handle the Ghost Painting this fast?”
He contemplated many things.
But the urgent matter at hand was the aftermath.
The supernatural event couldn’t erupt here, or it would have disastrous repercussions.
Watching the two-segment collapsed Ping’an Tower, Yang Jian closed one ghost eye, turning the six-layer Ghost Domain into five layers,
A crimson light enveloped.
The collapsed building instantly vanished, as if transported to another world.
The crisis was temporarily averted.
Then.
Supernatural phenomena started appearing all around.
Burning flames, chilling winds, rising thick smoke…
Immediately.
The captains stopped the meeting and rushed over through the Ghost Domain.
But only half of Ping’an Tower remained, the other half vanished.
“How did this happen suddenly? Did the Ghost Painting lose control?”
Cao Yang frowned, looking around.
He couldn’t sense the supernatural around him.
Li Jun immediately responded, “No, the Ghost Painting hasn’t lost control.”
“Could it be that Zhang Xiangguang came, he surveyed here beforehand, so he might have entered Ping’an Tower during our meeting.”
A paper figure of Leuk San emerged nearby, voicing a reminder.
“Ping’an Tower houses the Ghost Painting, which has been out of control. It’s treacherous for anyone from the supernatural circle to enter and expect to survive. Would Zhang Xiangguang be foolish enough to go in now?”
Wei Jing emerged from the darkness, doubting Zhang Xiangguang would dare enter Ping’an Tower.
“This can’t be certain.”
Yang Jian spoke solemnly, “But I sense the supernatural power within Ping’an Tower is dissipating, consistent with a supernatural event wrapping up. If the Ghost Painting were still there, the tower wouldn’t be collapsing, and I couldn’t affect it with the Ghost Domain.”
“Yet, there’s still supernatural power lingering inside, and I can’t see it clearly.”
“Then let’s go in and investigate,”
Li Jun said, enveloped in eerie flames, appearing at the remnants of Ping’an Tower’s top floor.
Looking down along the collapsed floors,
it was pitch black and bottomless, making one feel uneasy.
But Li Jun remained fearless, continuing down the stairs.
“We need vigilance outside and an investigation inside; we should divide and cooperate,” Yang Jian said.
“I’ll accompany Li Jun,” Wei Jing offered.
Yang Jian’s eyes shifted slightly, “No, you can’t. There’s a Ghost Envoy in the Ghost Painting; you can’t encounter it. Leuk San, Cao Yang, Li Leping, come with me inside. Wei Jing, have the incoming captains seal this place off; if any unidentified ghost controllers appear, take them out.”
“Let me join; I want to take a look around, I can be of great help,”
Zhou Deng emerged from somewhere, loudly shouting.
Yang Jian ignored him and moved swiftly.
Wei Jing didn’t refuse, simply nodding mechanically. The surrounding darkness began to spread, preparing to seal off the area.
Soon after, other captains started arriving.
Lin Bei, Lu Zhiwen, He Yiner.
Seeing the empty conference table, Wang Chaling stood up, a bit embarrassed, “Uh, Deputy Minister, could you arrange a special car to take me there? Everyone’s heading to Ping’an Tower, and I feel awkward staying here; I should at least make an appearance.”
Cao Yanhua looked at him and said, “Ten captains have already gone over. You might as well stay at headquarters, just in case.”
Although the Ghost Domain allows instant travel back, there’s still concern about the lack of captain-level figures at headquarters. If something unexpected happened, it would be troublesome.
“That’s for the best,” Wang Chaling sighed a little with relief.
He really didn’t want to be dragged in.
If he accidentally got involved in something supernatural… After all, it’s the Ghost Painting housed in Ping’an Tower.
Source: Webnovel.com, updated by novlove.com