In Wan'an County of the Great Han Dynasty.
Deep into the night when all was quiet, a violent storm of wind and lightning raged.
'BOOM!'
A thunderclap rang out, shaking the earth with a resonant hum.
Lightning tore through the black night, illuminating Wan'an County as bright as day.
At this moment, in the center of the county facing south, white lanterns hung at the entrance of a residence. The character '奠' was written large upon them, making it clear at a glance that this household was holding a funeral.
TL: (奠) This character means "to offer condolences/sacrifices" or "funeral/memorial." It's commonly used on funeral lanterns and banners in Chinese culture to indicate mourning.
'Whoooosh—'
The fierce wind drove the two white lanterns hanging at the entrance to sway violently, producing 'clang clang' sounds.
From a distance, two flame clusters the size of soybeans flickered inside the lanterns. In the darkness, the firelight danced eerily.
Under the pale lamplight, one could see that this residence had long fallen into disrepair, yet those two lanterns were brand new, completely incongruous with the gloomy, decayed surroundings.
Moreover, the lantern paper was a pale pink color, and under the illumination, it gave off a soft luster like a young woman's skin—smooth and delicate.
In such a violent storm tonight, the paper pasted on the lanterns should have been torn apart long ago, and the light inside should have been extinguished.
But for some reason, no matter how fiercely the storm blew, though the lantern light shook violently, those flames never went out. And the lanterns were extraordinarily sturdy—despite the bamboo frames constantly colliding, they still showed no signs of damage.
In the pitch-black night, this bit of lamplight became the only light source for the dilapidated residence. Where the light reached the entrance corridor below, a worn plaque hung. The plaque was already covered with a layer of black grime, and through this grime, one could vaguely make out three blurred large characters.
Inside the residence, two figures were standing furtively in the courtyard, hunched over with their hands clasped together, pacing back and forth anxiously.
They kept turning their heads toward the entrance, then turning back in panic to look toward the main hall.
The main door of the residence's great hall had already been removed, and the door planks had been laid side by side in the center of the hall. On each plank lay a corpse.
White cloth covered the bodies, and each cloth had long been stained dirty with blood, giving off a fishy stench.
'BOOM!'
The thunder continued unabated, and the lanterns at the entrance clashed with ringing sounds. Finally, one of them—a tall, thin man—could endure it no longer and asked:
"Brother, do you think... do you think something will go wrong?"
From his voice, this speaker was still quite young. His tone trembled as he spoke, clearly extremely anxious.
The other man remained silent for a long while, his hands clasped together, lips pressed tight.
Seeing that he hadn't spoken for so long, the questioning man couldn't contain himself. Just as he was about to speak again, the other man said darkly:
"No."
His voice was also young, but more composed than his brother's.
"The method we used to redirect this disaster came at a high price from Boss Zhang at the paper effigy shop." He seemed calm, but as he spoke, his brother clearly heard the 'gulp' of him swallowing saliva, proving that his elder brother was also terrified at this moment and not as tranquil as he appeared.
"Boss Zhang said that to completely resolve this scourge from the Demon-Suppressing Bureau, we must bring in a chief officer to bear the main responsibility and attract this 'thing's' attention, luring 'it' to possess them. Once possession succeeds, according to Boss Zhang, the disaster will be redirected. After that, whether the chief magistrate lives or dies will have nothing to do with the other people in the Demon-Suppressing Bureau."
The man was clearly only forcing himself to remain calm. At this moment, through his incessant talking, he vented the fear in his heart:
"Following Boss Zhang's guidance, we've already discovered this 'thing's' killing pattern."
'Gulp.' As he spoke, the man swallowed again:
"'It' will consume the life-soul of whoever it possesses. Once drained, that person will die a violent death."
The other man was equally terrified. Hearing this, he nodded:
"Yes. Following Paper Zhang's instructions, we checked the county registry and found a suitable candidate, then bought her into the Demon-Suppressing Bureau to ward off the calamity."
The man continued:
"Correct. This Zhao Fusheng's birth date and time are suitable, and her fate is stable. We've already dripped her blood onto the demon-suppressing token. The name of the demon-suppressing envoy of the Demon-Suppressing Bureau now shows her name. The matter is settled—she is the chief magistrate of the Demon-Suppressing Bureau and cannot be changed."
"With this girl blocking the disaster, that 'thing' was indeed attracted to her. In the end, Zhao Fusheng died a violent death, and her parents also met with misfortune. The whole family of three died unnatural deaths." The younger brother continued:
"Logically speaking, this disaster should be resolved. But brother, I feel uneasy in my heart. I always feel this matter isn't finished."
"Impossible!" Hearing him say this, the man flatly denied it:
"You know Boss Zhang's reputation. According to legend, he keeps a little immortal spirit that's very efficacious. Since he said to redirect the disaster, he can definitely lure this thing away."
Though he said this, the eerie atmosphere tonight still left the man unsettled. Even as he spoke, he took several more steps toward the direction of the hall, mustering his courage to glance inside—
The hall was pitch black. One could vaguely see the three corpses covered by white cloth.
The bodies showed no abnormalities. The hall was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
'Wuuuuuu—' The fierce wind passed through the hall, then whirled about inside, producing a low moan like someone weeping softly. Hearing it made the man's heart go cold.
'CRACK!'
A thunderbolt streaked across the sky. The lightning illuminated the dark night, revealing the two brothers' faces.
These two were around eighteen or nineteen years old, with identical appearances. When facing each other directly, it was as if each was looking in a mirror.
"Wujiu, go take a look."
The elder of the two brothers couldn't hold on any longer and called out.
"Look... look at what—" The man called 'Wujiu' asked in a trembling voice.
"You..." The elder brother had just started speaking when suddenly the wind rose again. The strong wind caught the door planks outside and with a 'bang,' they slammed shut.
The courtyard had previously received weak light from the lanterns outside the door, barely enough to see by. Now with the main door closed, the courtyard and residence instantly plunged into complete darkness.
The courtyard faced the wide-open hall directly, where three violently deceased corpses were laid out.
Most importantly, near one of the corpses lurked a ghostly entity. The moment darkness fell, both brothers' heartbeats instantly soared, thumping wildly.
The elder brother was so frightened he nearly stopped breathing. He raised his voice:
"Quickly open the main door and let light into the room!"
As he spoke, the same scene flashed through both brothers' minds: the two of them sitting in Boss Zhang's shop, that pale and eerie Boss Zhang handing the brothers two lanterns and instructing them:
"These are made from human skin, and the lamps inside are rendered from human fat. As long as the lamps are lit, that ghost will think you're also dead objects and won't discover you. Naturally, it won't trigger its killing rules. Once you make it until dawn and the ghost successfully 'kills', the rules will be fulfilled and 'it' will naturally leave."
At this moment, the wind had blown the main door shut, blocking the lamplight. With darkness all around, the two brothers, already like startled birds, were instantly scared out of their wits.
Wujiu's knees went weak, and he nearly collapsed to the ground. The other man forced himself to stay calm and shouted loudly:
"Go quickly!"
"Oh—oh—" Wujiu made sounds from his mouth and scrambled toward the door on all fours. Just as he was about to pull open the main door—
'CRACK!' Thunder rolled across the sky, and lightning converged.
At this moment, lightning flashed and thunder roared in mid-air. The lightning gathered in the sky and actually stopped above the residence.
The two brothers could even smell the scorched scent of electrical arcs in the air. They saw the lightning circle around the residence for a moment, then 'whoosh'—it plunged straight down, striking the roof.
The upturned roof corners were split apart, tiles shattered by the lightning and scattered with a 'crash.'
The residual lightning fell straight down, aiming to strike one of the bodies lying in the middle.
But the instant the lightning touched the corpse, a soul from another world drilled into this body.
Zhao Fusheng's memory still lingered on working overtime late at night. Tonight had been full of lightning and thunder, and she had wanted to finish her work early and get to bed. Then her nose caught a faint, barely-there pungent smell—like someone's natural gas had leaked.
The place she rented was a subdivided apartment. The landlord had renovated the house and rented it out to different people. Living next door to her was a middle-aged couple who constantly fought, and occasionally in the middle of the night, you could even hear the woman's anguished screams.
The walls of the subdivided apartment were very thin and didn't block sound. The sounds of punching and kicking and suppressed crying often disturbed the neighboring tenants, making it impossible to rest.
Unfortunately, everyone was struggling alone in a strange city, believing in the principle of minding your own business away from home. Despite being just a wall away, no one inquired too much.
The instant Zhao Fusheng smelled that natural gas leak, she frowned and pressed her ear against the wall.
The woman next door wasn't crying tonight. Had something gone wrong?
She hesitated, just thinking about calling the property management to have them come check, when her ear suddenly caught the woman's low laughter:
"Let's die together—"
Then with a 'click,' a lighter sparked, and flames instantly shot skyward.
The powerful airflow tore through the wall. Zhao Fusheng's body was engulfed in flames, her consciousness floated away lightly, and before falling into unconsciousness, thunder and lightning seemed to echo in her mind.
A 'zzt zzt' electric current passed through her body. Accompanying the sound of electricity, another consciousness spoke in her mind:
[Restarting the Hell God-Sealing List.
God-Sealing List activated!
Among the Eighteen Layers of Hell's seals, divine positions remain unsealed.]
Unsealing divine positions... merit...
What does this mean?
What God-Sealing List? What Eighteen Layers of Hell?
Just as she was filled with shock, lightning coursed through her entire body, making her shake all over. A strange funeral hall, corpses laid out on both sides, and in the distance, an open door...
Zhao Fusheng suspected she'd been struck by lightning, causing not only auditory and visual hallucinations, but then a massive amount of unfamiliar memories forcibly poured into her mind like a revolving lantern.
Her sea of consciousness suffered this wave of memory assault, and instantly everything went black before her eyes.
Before losing consciousness, she heard an unfamiliar man cry out in alarm:
"Oh no!"
Things really were bad.
Zhao Fusheng thought—she lived alone, surrounded by indifferent neighbors. Tonight she'd met with an accident. She wondered if anyone had discovered her and called an ambulance.
With that thought, her consciousness sank into darkness.
Meanwhile, inside the residence, the twin brothers were terrified beyond measure.
Divine thunder had descended from the heavens, piercing through the great hall's roof.
As the two men cried out in shock, lightning fell and struck the corpse laid out in the middle. Under the force of the lightning, the body bounced heavily, and the dead girl sat up under this power.
At that moment, Wujiu, who had been about to pull open the door outside, heard the sound and froze. Instinctively turning his head, he happened to witness this scene.
By the lightning's glow, his gaze met directly with the pale-faced girl's.
The white cloth covering the corpse was thrown aside. Zhao Fusheng's body had sat up, those eyes wide open, staring at him.
"AHHH!!!"
The man let out a shrill scream, his hands and feet went weak, and he collapsed to the ground, shouting loudly:
"Brother—Brother—ghost, a ghost—she's turned into a ghost—"
Tonight was already no peaceful night. The Demon-Suppressing Bureau had suffered a calamity these past two years, and most of the magistrates were already dead. The situation was extremely dangerous, and a ghostly entity was likely still hidden inside the residence.
The two brothers had already been trembling with fear. At the slightest disturbance, they were scared out of their wits.
Now hearing his brother shouting loudly about a 'ghost,' the man was so frightened he nearly collapsed to his knees.
But he forced himself to remain calm and turned to look inside—
The instant he turned his head, the girl who had just sat up slowly lay back down on the door plank and fell into slumber.
The older man didn't see Zhao Fusheng sitting up. He couldn't help but breathe a huge sigh of relief. Looking at his wailing brother again, his face turned iron-blue as he shouted in rebuke:
"What ghost, what ghost! Ghosts don't transform that easily! It was just thunder—look how scared you got."
"But I really saw her get up, staring at me with wide eyes..." Wujiu had been crying with his head lowered, but now hearing his brother's rebuke, he quickly raised his head to look inside.
The room was completely quiet. By the lightning flashes, he could barely make out three corpses laid out in the great hall. The scene of Zhao Fusheng sitting up earlier seemed like an illusion.
He rubbed his eyes. Just as he was feeling uneasy, the other man scolded him again:
"She's long dead! After the incident, she died with her eyes open—it was us two brothers who closed her eyes for her. Did you forget?"
Wujiu was scolded into silence. The man clenched his fist:
"Hurry up and open the door. Boss Zhang said the light from those human skin lanterns is special. Only where the light reaches is the 'death zone.' Once we leave the 'death zone' range, we might trigger that 'thing's' rules, and then we won't even know how we died."
He was agitated and anxious. Gritting his teeth and steeling his heart, he said:
"I'll go inside and look, see whether this Zhao Fusheng is dead or—" Before he finished speaking, mustering his courage, he rushed into the room.
Inside, there was a large hole in the ceiling. The cold wind howled with a 'wuuu,' and three corpses lay quietly on the mortuary planks.
Whether due to the three having died violent deaths, the temperature inside was extremely low. He didn't know if that evil thing had left or not.
The man's heart pounded wildly. Clenching his teeth, he forced himself to turn and look at Zhao Fusheng.
The girl lay completely still.
Perhaps because the wind was strong tonight, and the lightning had just happened to strike above the residence, shattering the tiles, the white cloth covering the corpse had been blown aside, revealing the girl's pale, bloodless face.
She had died miserably. Because her fortune, prosperity, and longevity had all been drained, her face before death didn't look good. The man had a guilty conscience and didn't dare look at her face closely. He only hastily glanced at her eyes.
The girl's eyes were closed. He breathed a sigh of relief and muttered to himself:
"Wujiu really was scared senseless. Where are her eyes open? Aren't they closed just fine?"
Because he didn't dare touch Zhao Fusheng's body or lift the white cloth, he didn't notice that beneath the cloth, the torn wound from her throat to her chest and abdomen was rapidly healing.
Her chest rose and fell slightly. Her hands and heart gradually gained warmth, and faint breathing appeared at her nostrils.
The man pinched the burial cloth with his fingers and with an expression of extreme bad luck, draped the cloth over the girl's face. Then, as if avoiding the plague god, he retreated from this abnormally cold great hall.
Behind him, a shadow hidden in the darkness was just about to move toward the two brothers when it seemed to sense something. It turned its head back and hid once more in the shadows.
"It's fine." The man, not knowing he'd just escaped death, said with relief after coming out.
He had gone in and come out safely, which gave Wujiu, one of the brothers, enough courage to pull open the main door that had been sucked shut by the fierce wind.
But the moment the door was pulled open, a sudden change occurred!