Ghost Painting Demon

Ghost Painting Demon is a supernatural mystery web novel by the online author Sheepish Good, first released in 2014 and serialized exclusively on Heiyan Reading. Rooted in rural folk tales, it weaves in such folkloric figures as fox spirits, weasels and ghost monks, telling the story of "I" and my cousin, who go traveling and are trapped in a desolate village caught up in eerie events. The opening is set in the mountains near the protagonist's hometown, Xingqiao Village, where a verdant beauty appears, and an uninhabited wild house stirs with movement; amid mounting frights, the protagonist learns folk arts such as "Gazing at the Misty Visage," "Summoning the Attendant" and "Carrying the Corpse," step by step entering a world ordinary people cannot see. The stage then shifts to the water towns of Yangzhou: the swaying small boats are mostly rowed by young girls, yet they carry passengers toward a soul-bewitching ghostland where green algae sways; Chen Jiao's grandmother, hunched to under 1.4 meters, comes to take the luggage holding a half-burnt white candle whose light illuminates the furrowed lines of her profile — details that slowly raise the eerie atmosphere. Through delicate environmental description, regional legend and the theme of reincarnation, the work forms a mystery framework with the tone of folk narrative, suited to readers who enjoy rustic tales and folkloric supernatural atmosphere.