"That is..."
A glint flashed through Jiang Qiao's eyes as he saw lights appearing on the horizon.
At first, there was only one.
It flickered once in the hazy darkness far away, like someone striking a match.
Then came a second, a third, a fourth... More and more points of light appeared, densely carpeting the distant water. Swaying with the waves, they slowly drifted toward the stone houses.
They came a little closer.
"Those are... floating lanterns?" Jiang Qiao narrowed his eyes.
Lotus lanterns!
The kind of river lanterns folded from colored paper, with a short candle inserted in the middle. Such lanterns often appeared during festivals like the Ghost Festival and Qingming Festival, used to honor one's ancestors.
Unexpectedly...
Things like these had emerged from the water.
Lotus lantern after lotus lantern.
The edges of their petals had already been soaked through, yet they had not collapsed. Instead, they stood firmly atop the blue-green water.
Every lantern emitted an eerie green ghostly flame.
Reflected upon the water, they dyed the entire expanse into an enormous, glowing emerald.
"What the fuck..."
Sun Hong sucked in a cold breath.
A chill filled his heart.
He was not the only one. Those who had climbed onto the walls of the other stone houses also began crying out in alarm.
The sight before them...
Was completely beyond their comprehension.
An endless blue-green ocean, tens of thousands of ghostly green lotus lanterns silently drifting toward them—it was like a funeral held upon the water, with no living people in attendance.
And they...
Would very likely become some of those buried in that funeral.
"They're coming over."
"Everyone, be careful!"
The lanterns drew nearer and nearer. In groups of two or three, many had already reached a point just dozens of meters from the stone