Paper Figure (Rewrite)

"Splash!"

An icy chill instantly enveloped him. Zhao Ke shivered, and as his consciousness cleared, he opened his mouth, gulping down several mouthfuls of cold water through his nose and mouth.

After swallowing a few more mouthfuls of river water, Zhao Ke immediately came to his senses. He looked up at the lake and immediately struggled to swim upwards.

"Cough, cough, cough... Huff, huff, huff..."

As soon as his head broke the surface, Zhao Ke coughed violently for a while before taking deep breaths.

Floating on the water, Zhao Ke carefully looked around. He was certain that he had entered the horror space.

However, unlike last time, he was alone this time.

On both banks stood old, ancient buildings, adorned with several bright red lanterns that cast a crimson glow on the river surface, giving it a slightly Jiangnan water town feel at first glance.

He was lying in the middle of the river, and small boats glided past him on both sides. Their hulls were black, seemingly painted black on purpose. Strangely, the boats were pitch black, appearing to be empty.

Seeing this, Zhao Ke carefully swam to a boat, pushed himself up with his hands, and climbed out of the water onto the deck.

A cold wind blew, and Zhao Ke felt as if his body was being scraped by knives. He shivered uncontrollably from the cold, his limbs going numb.

"Bad luck, why am I in the water!"

He didn't know how much water he had swallowed. Fortunately, he was a good swimmer and didn't panic when he fell into the water. However, his Post Album didn't contain any spare clothes.

His entire body was soaked. He was already uncomfortably cold, and the night wind felt like a knife, making his skin ache with cold.

Anyone with a weaker constitution would likely have fallen seriously ill by now.

At that point, forget about the mission; it would be difficult to even get up and survive.

Zhao Ke slowly got up, moved his numb hands and feet, and surveyed his surroundings. There were more than just a few black boats on the river. As if deliberately prepared, they floated one after another along the river channel.

"Strange, where are these boats going? Why are they empty??"

Zhao Ke's heart filled with doubt as he watched the boats on the river.

The large red lanterns hanging on both banks illuminated the river, turning it a strange red.

Zhao Ke didn't think much of it at first, but as time passed, he felt chest tightness and nausea. He immediately lowered his head and turned his gaze towards the canopy of the boat behind him.

The black canopy was made of bamboo mats, forming an arched shelter on the boat, with black curtains hanging on both sides, making it impossible to see what was inside.

Seeing this, Zhao Ke's eyes became suspicious. He summoned the dagger from his Post Album and gently pulled aside the black curtain.

As the black curtain was pulled back, two pale faces appeared before Zhao Ke, causing him to gasp for breath. His hand instinctively wanted to stab forward with the dagger.

However, as he stabbed, Zhao Ke realized that the dagger didn't feel like it was piercing flesh and blood, but rather like stabbing wood – it was very hard.

Upon closer inspection, the two pale faces had large patches of bright red blush applied to them. Their dark eyes were lifeless.

"Paper figures?"

Zhao Ke moved closer to get a better look. His heart slowly relaxed. It turned out that the figures sitting there were not living people, but two paper figures, a man and a woman.

These two paper figures sat in the boat, and at first glance, they looked exactly like real people. Their lifelike expressions were so convincing that if not for their lifeless eyes, one might have believed they were alive.

However, even as paper figures, they were quite frightening. Being with two paper figures in the middle of the night was a chilling thought.

But Zhao Ke couldn't afford to worry about that now. His clothes were completely soaked, and standing outside in the cold wind made him shiver uncontrollably.

He quickly ducked into the boat shed, summoned his Post Album, and took out a pot of steaming hot herbal tea. After drinking it, he felt his internal organs warm up considerably.

However, he hadn't brought any spare clothes in his Post Album. Seeing this, Zhao Ke's gaze swept over the man and woman paper figures in front of him. When he saw that the stab wound he had made on the male paper figure's chest was only a small dent, Zhao Ke's brow twitched, and he stepped forward to examine it closely.

He then discovered that although they were paper figures, the outer layer of paper was made of six or seven layers, about a centimeter thick. It was hard and heavy, and burning it was like burning wood. The paper skin was like this, let alone the fact that there was a skeleton inside the paper figures, which was quite similar to a human skeleton, but less complex.

Seeing this, Zhao Ke's eyes lit up, and he thought of a good idea. He began to take off his wet clothes and hang them on the female paper figure, using it as a temporary coat rack.

After taking off his clothes, Zhao Ke's seemingly thin physique revealed a body with well-defined, strong muscles and a lean, sculpted physique. The V-lines below his abdomen made Zhao Ke look like a leopard ready to pounce at any moment.

Anyone who saw such a physique would likely not associate Zhao Ke with the profession of a chef.

After taking off his clothes, Zhao Ke picked up his dagger and began to dismantle the male paper figure next to him, preparing to burn it for firewood.

Although he was on a boat, it didn't prevent him from starting a fire. Zhao Ke took out a large pot from his Post Album to use as a stove and threw the dismantled paper figure into it.

After lighting the paper figure, Zhao Ke felt significantly warmer. At the same time, he began to dry his clothes by the fire.

While drying his clothes, Zhao Ke fell into thought.

He had thought that sleeping in a coffin would alleviate his illness, but this time, his sudden relapse was more severe than any previous one.

In the past, when his symptoms flared up, they would last for a few minutes at most, or just a few seconds at the shortest.

But this time, it had lasted significantly longer, and it had even helped him go out to buy ingredients.

Who knew what these things had done while controlling his body.

"I hope it wasn't that violent one that came out."

Zhao Ke could only prepare for the worst, but he still held onto a sliver of hope. He stroked the silver Cross in his chest, silently praying that these guys wouldn't cause him any trouble.

However, Zhao Ke also knew that thinking about it now was useless. He needed to figure out what the mission in this horror space was, complete it as soon as possible, and leave. He would deal with the mess when he got back.

"Jingle, jingle..."

Just then, a ringing sound interrupted Zhao Ke's thoughts. His ears perked up, and he quickly extinguished the fire. At the same time, he put on his nearly dry clothes and quietly peeked out from the boat shed.

The ringing sound grew louder from a distance. Zhao Ke vaguely saw two figures.

"Someone's here!" Zhao Ke's eyes lit up. As he looked closer, he suddenly felt something was wrong. These figures didn't seem to be adults. More importantly, they didn't seem to be standing on the boat, but were floating in mid-air...

This chapter was rewritten. The original was quite messy and contained unnecessary filler.