Azure night lay cold and clear, fine rain soaked the stone steps before the General Store, and the mist grew ever thicker.
The tower's doors stood open, lantern light illuminating the doors and windows.
Fat Tiger, with his head resting on the threshold, twitched his ears. Hearing movement in the grass below the steps, he immediately knew business had arrived—the first transaction since reopening after the store had been closed for so long. Rising to his feet, he stretched his front paws forward, lowered his head, and pulled his body back in a vigorous stretch. He summoned a lantern to follow him, then strode out the door on fluffy paws as large as palm-leaf fans.
Within the dense mist, a figure staggered along.
"Why is the lawn in my neighborhood so huge? It smells pretty nice. I really want to take a bite."
"Pah, pah, pah! The lawn downstairs is basically a dog toilet. That's disgusting—how could I even think that?"
The muttering young man suddenly felt that something was off.
"Huh? It's already winter. Why is there still green grass?"
"It's raining in winter—could it be another warm winter? This much fog and such a huge lawn... don't tell me I'm hallucinating?"
The young man in a down jacket and knitted cap stumbled onward in confusion.
He stopped, narrowed his eyes, and peered hard ahead, spotting something orange-yellow drifting toward him.
A gust of wind scattered the mist before his eyes.
"..."
A floating lantern, and a gigantic Colorful Fierce Tiger.
"What the hell is this? A Ghost Fire soul-guiding lantern? Is the underworld using Siberian tigers to guide souls now?"
He rubbed his face hard.
"It's over. I'm hallucinating."
The feel of rainwater on his face was too real to be fake, but he simply could not explain