Death Is Everywhere (Revised)

In mid-air, two children, a boy and a girl, appearing to be seven or eight years old, with their hair in small braids and rosy cheeks, grinned, revealing small, sharp canine teeth. They looked quite adorable.

But upon closer inspection, under the surrounding red light, their reflections were absent from the calm, unrippled surface of the lake.

Zhao Ke's pupils constricted. He quickly pulled the parted black curtain closed, leaving only a barely noticeable slit. He lowered his body, concealing himself as much as possible, and peered out through the gap in the curtain.

These two children, holding flower baskets, with bells hanging from their feet, walked along, scattering handfuls of white paper from their baskets. Zhao Ke realized the white paper was actually square-holed paper money.

In moments, the entire lake surface was covered. The white spirit money, under the eerie red light, looked inexplicably bizarre.

As the two children scattered paper money, a sound of gongs and drums followed, accompanied by the low notes of a suona playing a melody. The rhythm of the music sounded fast, yet it always gave a sense of lifelessness, more like the mournful music played at funerals.

A black, square sedan chair, carried by four men, followed closely behind the two children.

Zhao Ke observed that the four men looked quite robust. However, looking up, he realized they had no faces at all. Their faces were blank white, just like the white tile in mahjong.

Zhao Ke glanced at the river surface beneath their feet. Indeed, only the floating sedan chair was visible; the four men were nowhere to be seen. Behind them was a band playing funeral music. It seemed lively, but on the river, apart from the shadow of the black sedan chair, nothing else was visible.

Could they be ghosts?

They say only ghosts have no shadows. But if they were truly ghosts, why were they carrying a sedan chair?

Watching the procession "people" drawing nearer, Zhao Ke remained crouched on the boat, holding his breath, his hands gripping his dagger tightly, knuckles white. His legs were slightly curled, and he lay prone in the boat's shelter, like a coiled frog ready to strike, a cold killing intent flashing in his eyes, prepared to deliver a fatal blow at any moment.

"Dong..."

Just then, Zhao Ke noticed a small boat not far from his side suddenly shake violently. Though it quickly subsided, the gentle rocking of the boat sent ripples across the calm river.

This would have been insignificant, but with all the boats floating on the water, it felt like a still picture. The sudden splash of water on the lake instantly became the most discordant element.

Suddenly, the sound of suona and gongs in front of him stopped abruptly. The once lively river fell into dead silence. Pairs of cold eyes fixed on that small boat, and the air seemed to freeze.

"Run!"

At that moment, a scream came from the boat's shelter. Two dark figures leaped out, one after the other.

The sudden appearance of the two people startled Zhao Ke.

One of them tapped the water's surface with his toe and leaped three to four zhang, landing on a small boat. Using it as a springboard, he then jumped to another boat.

The other person was even more decisive, diving headfirst into the water. A splash erupted on the surface, and then the person vanished.

"Postmen!"

The two moved with incredible speed, but Zhao Ke saw clearly. As they acted, a flash of light appeared behind them, like the mark of activating their stamp abilities.

Seeing this, Zhao Ke's heart sank. If those two were Postmen, then... were there other Postmen on the surrounding boats? Had his every move just now been noticed by other Postmen?

"Living people! Kill them!"

The flower children, floating in mid-air, their cheerful smiles instantly turned sinister. Baring fangs, they waved their hands, and a black mist suddenly surged around them.

"Kill them!"

Rotten human faces emerged from the black mist, entwined like goo. They swirled across the lake, splitting in two, and chased after the two figures.

"Damn it!"

Seeing the black mist rolling in behind him, the figure's expression changed drastically. He spun around, and a black gun barrel appeared in his hand.

"Bang, bang, bang..."

Flames erupted from the gun barrel, and the black mist in mid-air was pierced, creating three fist-sized holes. Moreover, the edges of each hole were smoldering with black smoke, suggesting the bullets fired were no ordinary ones.

"A gun!"

Zhao Ke frowned. He had considered before whether modern weapons could be converted into the Post Album, but such items were strictly controlled in China.

Even if Lei Ke hadn't resigned, obtaining a handgun for himself would have been too difficult and risky for either of them to bear.

And the opponent was clearly a skilled shooter. From drawing the gun to firing, every action was nearly flawless.

"So painful!"

Injured by the special bullets, the faces within the black mist contorted. Screams, seemingly from men, women, old, and young, mingled together, like a chorus of women and children wailing.

"Hmph!"

Seeing this, the person let out a cold laugh. While using his exceptional speed to dart between boats, he raised his handgun and continuously fired at the black mist.

"Bang, bang, bang..."

The bullets traced peculiar trajectories through the air. Even while moving rapidly, each shot accurately hit the black mist, striking from cunning angles, appearing and disappearing unpredictably. It could be described as a one-sided slaughter.

Each bullet tore a hole in the black mist. The mist, initially half a person's height, was quickly torn to shreds.

But at this moment, Zhao Ke suddenly heard a "ge ge ge" laughter from above him. He looked up and saw the pair of flower children suspended in mid-air lightly clapping their hands.

"Pa pa..."

A cold breeze blew, and the large red lanterns on both sides of the riverbank instantly extinguished, plunging the entire river surface into darkness.

However, the extinguished lanterns soon relit. But while the previous lanterns were red, now... they were all white.

For some reason, seeing the lanterns relight, Zhao Ke felt an immediate sense of extreme danger.

He instinctively drew his body further into the boat's shelter, clenching his fists. Glancing sideways at the pair of flower children in mid-air, Zhao Ke froze.

Where there had been two flower children, there was now only the female child suspended in the air. Under the lamplight, her small face was illuminated a ghastly white. She hovered in mid-air, emitting a bell-like laughter.

The laughter sent chills down one's spine.

Clearly, the Postman, who was rapidly weaving between the ships, was unaware that a flower child had vanished. He was momentarily blinded by the bright lights surrounding him. The sudden, intense glare made it difficult for his eyes to adjust, causing him to pause for a moment and involuntarily slow his pace.

The instant he stopped, a "hee hee hee" eerie laugh suddenly echoed from behind him. Hearing the laughter, the Postman's face instantly stiffened. It felt as though a venomous snake had been stuffed into his collar, causing every hair on his body to stand on end.

He spun around abruptly and saw a small boy, about half his height, standing behind him. What was even more bizarre was that the boy was holding a fresh, bright red heart in his hand, which was pounding powerfully in his palm.

He looked down and saw that a hole, the size of a bowl, had appeared on his chest.

He was stunned for a moment, then tilted his head back. With a "plop," his body plunged straight into the river. After splashing water into the air, only a face, frozen in bewilderment, floated on the surface.

Blood dyed the surrounding river water a dark red. It was evident that this guy was deader than dead.

At the same time, on the other side of the river, a stream of bubbles suddenly emerged.

"Gurgle, gurgle..."

It sounded like someone was desperately struggling underwater. A hand reached out from the water, waving frantically in the air a few times before being pulled back under.

Before long, a mass of black mist emerged from the riverbed. This black mist now had a fresh human face on it, its eyes hollow, its mouth opening in a weak groan.

Zhao Ke, hiding in the boat shed, took a deep breath. He felt a cold sweat break out all over his back!

The moment the boy attacked, Zhao Ke felt a suffocating sensation, as if his throat were being choked.

The strength of the two Postmen just now was far beyond his own. With their bizarre gun skills, if it were him, he probably wouldn't even have a chance to escape before being riddled with bullets.

Yet, such a master had become a corpse in just a few short breaths.

This made Zhao Ke realize that even with the ability of special stamps, wanting to run roughshod in the horror space was simply a joke.

With the two troublemaking living people dead, the faces of the two flower children once again broke into cheerful smiles, the bells on their feet jingling.

Behind the sedan chair, the band resumed playing music, slowly floating over Zhao Ke's head and continuing along the river.

Seeing this, Zhao Ke let out a sigh of relief and reached out to wipe the sweat from his forehead. At that moment, a purple sweat towel was held out in front of him.

Zhao Ke instinctively reached back to take it, but halfway through, his face suddenly turned pale. His eyes fixed on the sweat towel in front of him, and he looked up. He saw that a woman had appeared behind him at some point.