The sky was dim.
The farther they walked from the port, the fewer pedestrians there were. By the end, there was no sign of human life left on the streets.
The wind howled.
There was a chill in the air.
The shops on both sides of the street were pitch-black. Occasionally, a few doorways came into view with red lanterns hanging outside, swaying in the wind and casting an eerie light.
Jiang Qiao walked outward along the road as if he were taking a stroll.
He had made it halfway.
One by one, the boats moored beside Mirror Lake came into view. Under the night sky, they looked like monsters crouching in the lake, giving off an inexplicable sense of oppression.
"Well, well."
"Sure enough, something is holding a meeting."
Jiang Qiao stretched lazily. Under his Dual Pupils, Mirror Lake took on a different color.
It was a Wooden House.
Three stories tall.
It was hung with colorful streamers and surrounded by baskets of blooming flowers. A red carpet stretched all the way to the entrance, as if a newly opened shop were welcoming distinguished guests.
It was just that the black "Double Happiness character" on the white lanterns looked deeply out of place.
This wasn't Jiang Qiao's first encounter with black "Double Happiness characters."
Luohan Temple on the outskirts of Yi City.
When he and Li Xin's group had gone there to investigate, they had seen them on the walls. That temple had been a den of filth, and there had even been a Ghost Bride inside.
Besides that.
Even before Supernatural Revival.
He had encountered them once while running a simulation with the Simulator.
It had been a village. Every household had hung lanterns and put up decorations, as if preparing to hold a wedding. But all the