Feng Hua San Shi (Forty-Five)

Staring at the gigantic Humanoid Shadow on the wall, Lin Hao Tian felt his scalp begin to prickle. Ever since discovering the human figure inside the Shadow in the Jewel, he had felt deeply uneasy. Although he knew it was only a shadow, that feeling had refused to go away. Now that he saw the projected shadow move on the wall, his fear of it was completely magnified.

The more frightened he became, the less Lin Hao Tian could tear his gaze away from the shadow. It was as though his eyes had been glued to it. Under his stare, the shadow on the wall grew increasingly bizarre. At first, it merely stretched its body. Then it turned its head toward Lin Hao Tian. Finally, it began twisting its body as though dancing. The flickering firelight already made the shadow unstable, and its constant writhing now made it look even more strange and seductive.

Lin Hao Tian had no idea what was happening. He simply stared blankly at the shadow and walked toward it against his will. As he drew closer to the shadow on the wall, his own figure was projected onto it by the firelight. The two shadows grew closer as Lin Hao Tian moved, and then another bizarre scene unfolded. The Shadow in the Jewel actually extended both arms and reached for Lin Hao Tian's shadow.

The dim space, the dancing flames, the swaying shadows, the outstretched arms—everything about it was incredibly eerie. Yet Lin Hao Tian continued walking forward as though he noticed nothing. At last, the shadow's elongated arms overlapped with Lin Hao Tian's shadow, precisely at his neck. Almost the instant the Weird Shadow touched his shadow, Lin Hao Tian stopped walking, and his body began convulsing violently. A clear strangulation mark appeared around