They Had No Sense of Fair Play—Setting Up a Ticket Booth in a Graveyard?

They Had No Sense of Fair Play—Setting Up a Ticket Booth in a Graveyard?

"Captain Yang Wei, and also..."

Xu Ao composed himself and politely extended his hand to shake hands with Yang Wei, who was walking at the front.

The man called Yang Wei was the scruffy man walking at the front.

"Hello, hello."

Faced with Xu Ao's enthusiasm, Yang Wei grinned, revealing a row of yellow teeth, and casually shook Xu Ao's hand.

The others, however, directly ignored Xu Ao's outstretched hand. Some looked at him and their surroundings with cold, disgusted expressions.

Xu Ao looked a little stifled. He had long heard that Apocalypse people were extremely arrogant. Seeing them today, the rumors were indeed well deserved.

Though embarrassed, he did not dare get angry. After all, Apocalypse was far stronger than the Bizarre Society.

Compared to the others, Yang Wei was at least somewhat approachable.

"Has everything been arranged?"

Yang Wei threw an arm around Xu Ao's shoulder, handed him a cigarette, and raised his eyebrows suggestively.

"Thanks for the trouble, brother. We should've been getting laid in the middle of the night, haha, but we had you make a special trip instead."

Xu Ao did not believe he was truly as friendly as he appeared.

This guy was the leader of the Memorial Squad.

He was definitely more terrifying than those people behind him, whose Anomaly energy was horrifying.

"I'll definitely carry out whatever President Xinyue arranges."

"The venue has already been prepared for you, and everyone else has been cleared out."

"From now on, this hotel will belong solely to you. No one will disturb you, and I'll be at the café next door. Contact me anytime if you need anything."

Xu Ao spoke politely.

Yang Wei laughed. "Good. Once we're done, we'll drink ourselves silly together. My treat."

Xu Ao exchanged a few polite words.

Then he left the hotel.

From the corner of his eye, Xu Ao glanced at the grim, deathly pale funeral hall decorations inside the hotel. Thinking of the Jigsaw Anomalies these people possessed, fear and pity rose from the bottom of his heart.

At the café.

Jiang Xinyue, dressed in white as snow and wearing a pure white gauze blouse, lowered her head and sipped her latte. Her wide sleeves hung naturally, her beautiful eyes were clear as water, and her lovely face was white as congealed cream. Her entire body exuded an exceptionally noble aura, while a faint smile lingered on her face.

"Is it done?"

Xu Ao sat down, still feeling indignant. "Yes, President Jiang... I really don't understand why we're helping them. Apocalypse may be powerful, but they're all the way in Linjiang City. Their reach... might not necessarily overpower ours!"

"You clearly know they're targeting Nightfall."

As he said this, a trace of respect flashed through Xu Ao's eyes.

The president was truly incredible. Apocalypse had only just gotten off the plane, yet she had somehow used an unknown Anomaly method to learn their intentions perfectly.

Judging from Yang Wei's reaction just now, Xu Ao was certain they had not noticed a thing.

Jiang Xinyue calmly stirred her coffee. "It's fine. They won't succeed."

"How can you have such confidence in Nightfall?" Xu Ao gritted his teeth, somewhat worried. "They're Jigsaw Anomalies. Once they complete the Memorial Ritual, even a level-nine Anomaly won't be their match."

"Even if rumors say Nightfall has more than one Anomaly, they have Anomaly Vaccine to prevent reverse infection. Nightfall can only have one Anomaly stripped out through Memorial summons, and under the suppression of the Memorial Ritual, the summoned Anomaly can only use thirty percent of its power. How could it possibly... withstand the Memorial Jigsaw Anomaly?"

Jiang Xinyue smiled. "I don't think Nightfall can withstand the Memorial Ritual either. The existence of Anomaly Vaccine is indeed quite troublesome."

"Then what you said..." Xu Ao was confused.

Jiang Xinyue smiled sweetly and drained her coffee in one gulp. "Because I'm here."

Her beautiful eyes fell upon empty space, glittering with a strange light.

Inside the hotel.

Jiang Xinyue had arranged for the Apocalypse members to stay here.

At this moment, all the hotel's guests had already been driven away.

The Apocalypse members stood in the hotel lobby.

The lobby had already been arranged into a funeral hall at Apocalypse's request.

The lobby now resembled an ancient hall. At its center sat a table coated in blood-red paint that inspired terror deep in one's soul, and on the table rested a picture frame.

The frame was completely empty, making it particularly eye-catching.

Yet the surface of the table was carved with symbols never seen in any documented records. Even if one could not identify what language those symbols belonged to—

Anyone who saw them could still feel fear suddenly released from the depths of their genes.

Two deathly pale red candles stood on either side of the picture frame, which was filled with Anomaly aura.

The red candles had not been lit.

Their eerie crimson bodies resembled scenes one might find in ancient Eastern texts.

Strands of something unknown drifted up from nowhere and curled through the air.

Whispers sounded like Satan's wails from hell.

It was as though they were chanting an elegy.

Three men and two women stood before the funeral altar.

Their lips moved in murmured recitation as they meditated solemnly and prayed with focus!

In an instant, the air was filled with an otherworldly atmosphere.

An unknown mysterious power spread through the air, like a basin of filthy water splashed across everyone's hearts, filling every person present with fear and dread.

After the prayers ended.

The three men and two women opened their eyes at the same time.

"The time has come. We can begin."

A sharp glint flashed through Qin Ziming's eyes as he spoke. Then he glanced around and frowned. "By the way, where did the captain go?"

Guixiang Hanlan said, "Captain Yang Wei has another mission. After all, Linjiang City... has the Ghost Infant hidden in it. And dealing with Nightfall in some insignificant little place doesn't require him at all. We can handle it ourselves."

"Really? What did he go to do? Why didn't he tell us?"

"He left in a hurry. He said he was going to find the Ghost Infant and take care of something important."

Hanlan explained. When Yang Wei left yesterday, he had told Hanlan alone.

"Is that so? Fine, we can manage without the captain."

Though their captain was absent, they did not take Chen Yu seriously and began their respective tasks.

The others divided up the work in an orderly fashion and started acting one by one.

Ghost Photography user Qin Ziming stood at the front of the group, holding an ancient book.

The book recorded the entire procedure of this ritual.

Its yellowed, wrinkled pages were covered in the mottled traces of time, as if it had been sealed away for many years.

He turned a page.

It was covered with dark red writing of unknown origin.

The words were crooked and twisted, like the Ghost Talisman scribbles of some unknown thing.

However, Qin Ziming could understand them.

[Memorial Ritual, Step One: Use blood to create a memorial photograph and place it inside the frame on the altar.]

As Qin Ziming's voice fell.

The Ghost Photography he controlled took a step forward as his thoughts moved!

An old-fashioned camera appeared in his hand.

If not for the red glow still emanating from the camera lens—

People would likely have assumed it was something long overdue for retirement.

Then Qin Ziming directly bit through the tip of his tongue!

Blood began gushing wildly from the wound.

Yet Qin Ziming did not even blink. With a mouthful of blood, he spat directly onto the Ghost Camera!

Strangely enough!

After the blood landed on the Ghost Camera, it did not slide off.

Instead, it was rapidly absorbed as if it had fallen onto a sponge.

Click!

The Ghost Camera made a sound.

Ssssh—

As a mechanical noise rang out.

A photograph was developed by the Ghost Camera!

The photograph was black and white, and it showed a handsome young man.

At a glance, it was clearly Chen Yu!

Earlier, Qin Ziming had used Ghost Photography's ability, borrowing surveillance equipment around Chen Yu's location to capture his image and establish an Anomaly medium.

A smug curve appeared at the corner of Qin Ziming's lips. He then placed Chen Yu's memorial portrait into the memorial frame.

With that, the first step—placing the memorial portrait upon the offering table—was complete.

Chen Yu was obviously still alive.

Yet his memorial portrait now sat on the table, looking thoroughly unsettling.

There were even streaks of dark red blood on the portrait.

No one knew whether that blood had just been spat out by Qin Ziming or seeped out from the memorial portrait itself.

After Qin Ziming finished everything, he stepped back a few paces and opened the ancient book.

[Step Two: The living light the candles, the ghosts burn the incense. Do not make any sound throughout the process, or the Memorial Ritual will be destroyed.]

Another man and woman stepped forward.

One was Ghost Candle user Liu Tian. He was taciturn and had little presence; when they first met Xu Ao, he had not even spoken.

He was easy to overlook.

The other was Ghost Incense user Hanlan.

With a thought from Liu Tian, the Anomaly within him awakened.

A twisted, eerie flame shot out from his fingertip with a whoosh.

Then he placed the flame against the wick of the red candle and heated it!

Smoke first rose into the air, then the Ghost Candle ignited. Its flame danced without wind, like a demon from hell twisting its body.

Hanlan also stepped forward and awakened her Anomaly Ability. Three incense sticks appeared in her hand. She lit the Ghost Incense, and faint smoke began to rise from it.

But what shocked everyone was—

Though the Ghost Incense appeared to be burning, it actually was not!

There was only smoke, but none of the ash that should have appeared after burning!

Then she inserted the three incense sticks into the incense burner placed before the memorial portrait.

The two of them moved with practiced ease throughout the process, making no sound at all.

Clearly, they had performed this sort of ritual many times.

They had succeeded every time before.

This time would certainly be no exception.

[Step Three: Once the Ghost Candle is lit, the smoke from Ghost Incense will be guided. At this point, Ghost Koutou must kneel and pray with both hands, awaiting the arrival of the ritual.]

[Remember, Ghost Koutou must not suffer any outside interference during this process. Do not allow It to become infected, or all efforts will ultimately vanish like smoke.]

Ghost Koutou Gao Mingqiang knelt on the ground, clasping his hands together with his eyes closed as he prayed for something, murmuring obscure incantations.

The Ghost Candle's flame flickered like a fire dancer beneath a pitch-black sky, tiny points of light guiding a path toward somewhere else.

Following that faint path, the Ghost Incense began drifting in an orderly manner in that direction.

At last, the smoke struck Gao Mingqiang's forehead.

Again and again.

Gradually, Gao Mingqiang's forehead turned from white to dark gray, then finally to deep black!

The Ghost Incense had blackened his forehead.

Qin Ziming glanced at Zhou Ying, the Anomaly Vaccine user.

Zhou Ying immediately understood. She nodded, and with a thought, the Anomaly within her instantly revived.

A syringe appeared in her hand.

What was startling was—

The syringe had an incredibly awkward shape, like a human artery that continued to pulse.

And the liquid inside did not look like medicine.

It was a special kind of blood!

She directly plunged the needle into Ghost Koutou's body.

Zhou Ying injected the Anomaly Vaccine into Ghost Koutou Gao Mingqiang!

"Urgh..."

Gao Mingqiang kept his hands clasped together, but his body began trembling and confusion appeared in his eyes.

An indescribable change began raging within his body.

Those forces surged madly through his blood vessels, occupying his internal organs in an instant.

His tall, muscular body also began undergoing an eerie transformation.

Gurgle, gurgle.

Foul-smelling blackish-red pus and blood poured from his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose.

It was like someone had turned on a faucet.

Soon, the pus and blood mixed with fragments of flesh began to coagulate into scabs.

It covered his eyes.

It plugged his nose, ears, and mouth.

Zhou Ying, the Anomaly Vaccine, was very satisfied with the effect.

"Now, all five of your senses have been sealed."

"Only touch remains. Once that is sealed as well, your five senses will be completely cut off, eliminating any chance of an anomaly infecting you in reverse."

Gao Mingqiang, the Ghost Koutou, gritted his teeth and nodded.

He endured the suffocating sensation and excruciating pain.

Had he not undergone repeated pain training, an ordinary person would have suffocated to death long ago.

Immediately afterward.

His body began to undergo strange changes as well.

Lumps of flesh and tumors sprouted densely across his body, as though he had suffered an allergic reaction.

Those tumors did not spare a single inch of his skin.

The tumors spread over his body. Some swelled too much and burst open, spraying bluish-black pus and blood from the cracks and staining the floor black.

It splattered across the walls of the entire mourning hall.

"This pus and blood are the Anomaly Vaccine's greatest safeguard against reverse infection."

"Even when touch is sealed off, all kinds of bizarre anomalies can still worm their way into a person's consciousness or even their dreams. That's why I've always thought this was the most impressive part of the Anomaly Vaccine—"

"Like the immune cells in a human body, It can contaminate this entire space. Once any anomaly that does not match the traits of our Jigsaw Anomaly appears, It will immediately react violently and strike back."

"For a Nightfall from Linjiang City to make us mobilize such a massive force, he can be considered to have died for a worthy cause."

Qin Ziming smiled smugly. "With you here, there's basically no chance of failure."

The entire hotel lobby was filled with the stench of countless dead rats naturally rotting away, making anyone who smelled it shudder in disgust.

[Step Four: Once you have completed the previous three steps, Ghost Koutou may begin kowtowing. You must be devout while kowtowing.]

[When the target's anomaly is stripped away and summoned here, the Memorial Ritual can temporarily weaken the anomaly.]

[Each kowtow will produce a different reaction.]

Qin Ziming looked at Gao Mingqiang, who was wrapped in tumors. They had already reached this stage, yet nothing had gone wrong.

It seemed this Memorial Ritual had succeeded.

Next came the most thrilling and anticipated moment!

Seizing an anomaly! Dragging it over by force and making it serve them.

[First Kowtow!]

Seeing that Gao Mingqiang was ready, Qin Ziming shouted.

Gao Mingqiang took three steps forward.

He stood with his feet shoulder-width apart, staring straight ahead. Pressing his palms together, he bent over and performed a bow.

[Second Kowtow!]

Gao Mingqiang took a step back. His knees bent naturally as he knelt on the ground. His clasped hands separated, spreading shoulder-width apart with his palms braced against the floor on either side of his head. Then, he bent at the waist and knocked his head against the ground!

Thud!

The muffled impact showed just how hard Gao Mingqiang had struck his head.

[Third Kowtow!]

Gao Mingqiang first rose to his feet and pressed his palms together again.

Then he stepped back twice, returning to his original position.

His knees bent as he knelt. His clasped hands separated, palms facing upward and the backs of his hands toward the ground. He lowered his head and kowtowed!

Thud!

The three kowtows were completed with that dull sound of his head striking the ground.

[You have completed the three Memorial Kowtows. The Memorial Ritual has been established. Now, the anxious ones are not you, but that pitiful fellow.]

Excitement!

After completing the Memorial Ritual, their eyes became grim and vicious.

Nightfall was a talent from Linjiang City. They had long heard that the anomaly on him was incomparably powerful.

If they could seize his anomaly and make it serve them.

Then Memorial's strength would rise to another level.

Now, the three kowtows had ended.

The ritual had been established.

Chen Yu had become a turtle trapped in a jar. There was no way for him to escape!

[Ritual complete!]

[Please enter the Memorial Graveyard, find the anomaly you desire, tear down Its funeral portrait, and bring it back to summon Its descent!]

A vision emerged in their minds immediately afterward.

Dark clouds swirled overhead.

A graveyard shrouded in haze.

Appeared before their eyes.

Dim ghost flames.

Fluttered in the wind.

From within the graveyard came waves of agonized wails from time to time.

And occasionally, bursts of miserable ghostly laughter.

Boundless darkness began spreading outward.

Every step of that darkness's spread infected everything around it, kneading it into its own body and turning it into part of the graveyard.

Countless tombstones.

Rose from the graveyard.

The group looked toward those tombstones, their faces filled with excitement!

It was here!

The Mass Grave!

"Quick, search! We only need to find Nightfall's tombstone!"

Qin Ziming shouted, and everyone rushed into the Mass Grave, beginning their search in all directions.

But as they searched, they discovered in shock.

They had returned to the entrance.

"Why are you all here?"

"Isn't this the entrance? I clearly entered the graveyard just now!"

"How did this happen?"

They charged in again.

This time, they did not return to the starting point.

But a strange haze obscured their eyes.

The tombstones that had risen from nowhere earlier were like a mirage.

They remained forever on the far shore, impossible for them to approach no matter what they did!

The faster they ran, trying to catch up to those tombstones.

The farther away the tombstones became.

Chen Yu had encountered this situation before.

It was before entering the Anomaly Zoo.

Only after obtaining the ticket from the Ghost Ticket Seller had he been able to enter.

"What the hell is going on?!"

"Are we trapped by a ghost wall? Why do we keep returning after running around? Why can't we enter the graveyard?"

"This has never happened before! Could something have gone wrong with the Memorial Ritual?"

Everyone was utterly dumbfounded.

[Buzz!]

[You have entered the Memorial Graveyard.]

[However, the Memorial Graveyard is two-sided.]

[While you can seize the anomalies of others, you must also pay the corresponding price.]

[For every second you remain inside the Memorial Graveyard, one month of your lifespan will drain away.]

[One minute is sixty months, nearly five years. You should hurry.]

[Don't fail to find the anomaly's tombstone and get yourselves killed first.]

Prompt after prompt appeared on their phones.

Everyone from Apocalypse began to panic.

They could feel their lifespans being consumed at a frantic rate!

Yet they still could not enter the graveyard.

"Look, what's that?!"

At that moment, Qin Ziming suddenly pointed at a small house that had appeared out of thin air in the distance and cried out.

"Was that house there before? Why have I never seen it?"

"Forget that! Hurry over and take a look!"

The group rushed toward the house that had appeared from nowhere.

Strangely, whenever they charged toward anywhere else, they returned to where they had started.

The scenery before them would also grow farther and farther away.

But when they rushed toward this house, the haze obscuring their eyes vanished strangely.

When they reached the house.

A bloody signboard hung above it.

[Zoo (crossed out in blood)]

It had been remade into—

[Anomaly Cemetery Ticket Booth]!

Everyone's mouths fell open in shock, unable to close for a long while!

A ticket booth!?

"When did the Mass Grave get a ticket booth?!"

"How did we not know? It seems we've never seen it before!"

"What do we do? Could the reason we couldn't enter the Mass Grave be because we didn't buy tickets?!"

[Buzz!]

[Congratulations, you have found the Mass Grave's... ticket booth.]

[This ticket booth is truly strange. It can actually appear in a place like this.]

[This is neither the collapse of morality nor the distortion of human nature.]

[Perhaps it is some uncouth Ghost Controller engaging in a disguised roadside robbery?]

[Now, the ticket booth is your only way out. How will you choose?]

A series of prompts sounded from their phones.

The group was so furious they nearly coughed up blood.

"We've performed the Memorial Ritual so many times, and we've never encountered anything like this."

"Damn it, could this be Nightfall's doing?"

"Looks like we have to buy tickets to enter the Mass Grave."

"Buy them! We have no choice."

"If this keeps up, our lives will burn away."

Time was passing rapidly. They had no time left to discuss a plan and could only buy tickets.

The ticket booth window was pitch-black.

Two black holes appeared beneath the window.

A withered, black anomalous hand stretched out from within. Its palm opened, as though it were asking them for something.

"Money?"

Qin Ziming directly handed over some cash.

But the money he placed there immediately burned into ash!

"Treasure?"

Someone else placed diamonds and other valuables there.

They were still burned into charcoal.

Then what did it want?

Qin Ziming, the Ghost Photography, stepped forward and said, "It seems we'll have to pay a price to enter the Mass Grave."

After saying that, he placed his entire hand onto that withered, skinny palm.

The instant he set his hand down!

[This price... I like it...]

That withered palm seemed to come alive!

Whoosh!

The hand suddenly clenched, directly grabbing Qin Ziming's wrist!

Then it violently dragged him toward the ticket booth.

Riiip—

"Ah!"

An immense force tore Qin Ziming's entire arm straight off.

Qin Ziming let out a pig-slaughtering scream, then hurriedly smeared the special ointment made by Apocalypse over the wound, stopping the loss of blood.

[Crunch... crunch...]

Chewing sounds drifted out from the pitch-black ticket booth, sending chills down everyone's spine.

Qin Ziming's expression turned incomparably ugly, his face deathly pale.

Listening to someone eat his own arm, crunching away at it.

That had undoubtedly shattered his psychological defenses.

However, the anomaly on Nightfall was simply too important.

As long as he could control the anomaly, what did such a price matter?

Then, a shriveled, bloodstained hand reached out from the window, holding a thin sheet of Netherworld Paper in its palm.

It had already been burned to ash, and only the faintest traces of something drawn upon it could be seen.

It seemed to be... a headless black shadow?

Qin Ziming snatched the Netherworld Paper with his remaining hand and tucked it into his chest as though it were a treasure.

After all, in order to obtain this ticket made of paper ash, he had paid the price of an arm!

He was not worried in the slightest about any reverse infection.

With the Anomaly Vaccine, any anomaly that did not fit the nature of the Jigsaw Anomaly would absolutely be rejected.

It would be unable to infect anyone inside the memorial hall.

Because the surroundings were dim and Qin Ziming had just paid such a heavy price,

everyone from Apocalypse was still trapped in pain and fear, unable to recover their senses. None of them noticed the strange shadow that had appeared on the Netherworld Paper tucked inside Qin Ziming's chest.

The shadow twisted strangely as it began spreading along the Netherworld Paper.

This Ghost Underworld Paper looked ordinary.

But in truth, it contained a vast mystery!

Chen Yu activated Ghost Shadow and infected the Ghost Underworld Paper.

The Ghost Underworld Paper had now become a special medium for Ghost Shadow.

By willingly paying the price to trade for this Netherworld Paper medium, they had voluntarily accepted infection.

Under such powerful rules,

even the Anomaly Vaccine was completely useless! Because of the Memorial Ritual, Netherworld Paper was something that did not violate Its nature at all.

Burning Netherworld Paper during a memorial was perfectly reasonable, wasn't it?

In an instant, the pitch-black Ghost Shadows on the Netherworld Paper crawled onto Qin Ziming's body before finally boring into his shadow and infecting it.

Yet Qin Ziming remained completely unaware that, after paying the price of an arm and begging every god and devil he could, he had merely gained the chance to be infected.

After Qin Ziming, everyone else also paid their corresponding prices.

Some gave up an eyeball.

(End of Chapter)