A young man carrying a hatchet and a man with a sallow complexion stood inside an apartment room, observing the world outside the window filled with raging winds.
"After the Great Jing City incident where three S-Class vicious ghosts went out of control, I thought you would die from ghost resurgence."
Not a hint of expression crossed Liu San's sallow face as he stared woodenly at Yang Jian.
Yang Jian glanced at the ferocious tattoo on his Ghost Hand and fell silent for a moment.
"I'm a man of my word. I promised Wang Xiaoming that I would help him resolve a supernatural incident, so I will definitely come."
'...As expected, Liu San doesn't remember. If it hadn't been for him during the Tattoo Parlor incident, given my condition back then, I definitely would have fallen there.'
"If we find Li Jun or my lost paper puppet, we'll know what happened here..."
Liu San seemed very interested in the ferocious tattoo on Yang Jian's Ghost Hand and kept staring at it.
Yang Jian's Ghost Eye watched the roaring winds outside the window, turning restlessly. A supernatural coverage of such scope wasn't something an ordinary vicious ghost could achieve.
"A supernatural phenomenon of such a large scale likely has a source. According to headquarters' intelligence, this hurricane seems to have deliberately approached and attacked Ghost Lake..."
After pondering for a moment, Yang Jian continued.
"Even an existence like the Starving Ghost wouldn't purposefully attack another vicious ghost. Wang Xiaoming's judgment was correct—there are signs suggesting human manipulation behind this."
Liu San nodded.
"If it's really as you say, perhaps we need to find Fang Shiming."
On Liu San's sallow face, a pair of eyes made from yellow paper stared at the tattoo on Yang Jian's Ghost Hand, seemingly carrying a sense of familiarity, yet he couldn't recall where he had seen it before...
'...Of those three specially made paper puppets, only one remains. One disappeared here, and was the other lost because of him...'
"Time to move."
Yang Jian turned to leave, hatchet in hand.
"Approaching the hurricane's source and searching for Fang Shiming will be left to your paper puppet. With his abilities, he might fare much more easily here than us."
Liu San didn't say much. Locating people was his forte, so he turned and followed Yang Jian out.
A woman woke in a dark, damp alley. Faced with the unfamiliar surroundings, her expression was filled with vigilance. Outside the alley, the howling wind roared past with a low hum, as if countless corpses were groaning.
"Hm? What's this?" The woman looked toward the alley exit, following the sound.
Corpses filled the sky, spinning violently in the fierce wind. Looking closely, one could see large patches of frigid lake water mixed within the gale. The lake and the wind had formed a massive tornado in this area.
Looking up from her perspective, she couldn't see the top of the tornado formed by countless mangled corpses.
"Ghost Lake has been invaded... Is it because of this wind..."
"To think it could even disperse Ghost Lake. Although it's only about four layers, right now those four layers of Ghost Lake and this wind seem to have formed a puzzle together."
"Or rather, this is another kind of paranormal clash."
He Yiner stood in the alley, analyzing the situation before her as she gazed at the countless corpses in the sky.
She reacted very quickly. From waking up to seeing the hurricane took less than ten minutes, and she immediately began adapting to the environment, deducing the cause of the hurricane.
"The lake water inside my body was scattered by this wind, which allowed me to wake up. A very special ghost domain—its boundaries are actually open. Only the central area possesses complete ghost domain characteristics; the outer regions are merely natural disasters triggered as collateral damage."
"What a pity I haven't fully mastered soul summoning. Otherwise, I could handle the situation here right now..."
"Find a way out, find a way to contact headquarters. My condition is terrible. Relying on my own supernatural power here is no different from walking to my death."
He Yiner pondered for a moment, then moved away from the tornado of corpses. Unable to summon souls, she could only choose to temporarily retreat and seek support.
Howling winds filled the entire world. Frigid rain seemed about to form unbroken lines, covering the whole city. Not a single building around was intact; everywhere were ruins and broken walls.
"Fang Shiming, boss of the Friend Circle. Finding you in here really wasn't easy."
A paper puppet with a sallow complexion stood opposite Fang Shiming, its expression wooden.
Fang Shiming was slightly stunned, then immediately reacted.
"Paper Puppet Liu San, one of headquarters' appointed captains, the first captain to run during the Great Jing City incident with three S-Class vicious ghosts."
Liu San's expression shifted slightly. Staring at Fang Shiming, he said,
"It wasn't that I wasn't willing to participate in handling that incident. The uncertainty between my paper puppets and the Starving Ghost was too high; I couldn't take the risk..."
Fang Shiming waved his hand.
"No point saying more. Why are you looking for me?"
Liu San raised his hand, pointing toward a low-lying area.
"Yang Jian and I are moving toward the hurricane's center in that direction. This incident isn't simple. There are signs suggesting human manipulation behind it. Let's move together, find clues, and resolve this incident and the mastermind behind it."
"Signs of human manipulation?"
Fang Shiming narrowed his eyes, looking at Liu San as he thought.
'...Based on headquarters' information, it's clear this hurricane is indeed heading straight for Ghost Lake. His words hold up to scrutiny.'
Then Fang Shiming continued,
"I agree to cooperate. After that Great Jing City incident, I at least still trust Yang Jian relatively well. Lead the way."
Frigid lake water struck the ground. The fierce winds seemed as though they would never cease; the entire street was shrouded in haze.
Fang Shiming followed behind Liu San, moving slowly forward, a pair of scissors gripped tightly in his hand. If Liu San showed any abnormality, he would instantly destroy this paper puppet.
Before seeing Yang Jian, he was filled with wariness toward Liu San, this appointed captain.
Liu San walked in front, sensing the oppressive killing intent behind him.
'This Fang Shiming is about to suffer ghost resurgence, yet facing this situation he remains so calm and composed.'
"Hm? What's that?"
The corner of Liu San's eye suddenly caught a pale figure standing beside a sidewalk on the street, but when he turned to look, there was nothing there.
He stopped...
Fang Shiming also halted, following Liu San's gaze toward the crosswalk. The roaring wind still raged; the crosswalk was completely empty, save for the trees snapped at the waist on both sides.
"What rotten luck. It seems the two of us have encountered a ghost."
Fang Shiming shook his head. "No, you encountered a ghost. Not me."
Fang Shiming immediately reacted and swiftly distanced himself from the street.
"There's no need to get entangled here. Leave this paper puppet of yours here." With that, Fang Shiming's figure vanished into the gale.
Watching Fang Shiming disappear, Liu San thought inwardly,
"He really does leave no loose ends. However, his approach right now is indeed the most correct one..."
Just as Liu San was about to move, suddenly, a pale corpse appeared right in front of him.
A frigid head reeking of decay was pressed tightly against Liu San's face, its pitch-black eye sockets staring fixedly at him.
Liu San's expression changed drastically.
"How is this possible!"
The pale corpse suddenly spread its arms and embraced Liu San. The entire paper puppet instantly lost all life, turning into pieces of yellow paper that scattered in the violent wind.
On the ruined street, a pale figure could be faintly seen standing there, motionless and completely unaffected by the fierce wind, as if it were a statue. In the next instant, as if someone had triggered an unknown killing rule, the corpse disappeared from where it stood, its whereabouts unknown...