From the information on file, it was clear that Xu Zhou hadn't had an easy life.
His father was a gambling addict who was lazy and gluttonous. The family had still had his mother to support them, and she had worked hard to raise Xu Zhou.
At the time, Xu Zhou had been in high school and needed money. His mother had no choice but to take a part-time job, working day and night. The strain had ruined her health, and she had died of an illness.
After she was gone, Xu Zhou had to work part-time while attending school. His gambling-addict father would occasionally ask him for money, too. In the end, Xu Zhou had done poorly on the college entrance exams and only gotten into an ordinary university.
Xu Zhou's mother had been dead for three years!
Then who was Xu Zhou seeing now?
Did ghosts really exist after death?
Although the Aberration Association was an organization dedicated to containing anomalies, its definition of an anomaly had nothing to do with the ghosts people knew of.
When a person died, they became a ghost, retaining all the memories and emotions they'd had in life. Those who died with such deep resentment that they harmed people became vengeful ghosts. That was the common definition of a ghost.
As for anomalies, no one yet knew how they formed. But after years of research, it had become clear that they weren't formed when people died. They were more like rules that had come into being naturally—something entirely new.
Ghosts could be killed.
But only anomalies could harm other anomalies. Anomalies could also devour one another to increase their own strength.
Another thing that could harm anomalies was an Anomaly Artifact tainted with an anomaly's aura or fused with an anomaly.
Ji Wu had worked for the Aberration Association for many years and had seen all kinds of bizarre, strange, and terrifying anomalies. But he had never heard of or seen a ghost.
Ji Wu found it strange. He hadn't contracted an anomaly, but he was an Adaptive. He could see the aura of anomalies, which ordinary people couldn't. Apart from being unable to pinpoint an anomaly's exact location, he could see everything a Contract Anomalist could.
Why could Xu Zhou see his mother this time, while Ji Wu couldn't see anything at all?
What was different between them?
Xu Zhou stared blankly at the bridge. His mother smiled and beckoned to him, her eyes full of pride and concern.
Xu Zhou took another step forward.
His rational mind told him that couldn't possibly be his mother, but his heart insisted that it was!
The mother who cared about him, worried about him, and loved him!
Xu Zhou's eyes reddened.
Now that I'm a Contract Anomalist, surely it won't hurt to indulge myself just this once?
"Mom!"
Xu Zhou dashed toward the bridge.
He moved so fast that Ji Wu couldn't stop him.
"Xu Zhou! Don't go over there!"
"Damn it!"
Ji Wu watched Xu Zhou rush onto the bridge, his figure swallowed by the White Mist.
He took out his phone and sent Bai Zuo a message, urging him to hurry over.
Then he rushed in after Xu Zhou.
Xu Zhou was too young and inexperienced. Ji Wu didn't feel safe leaving him to face an anomaly alone.
As he crossed the boundary of the bridge, Ji Wu felt as though he'd entered a world of white.
There was nothing but fog all around him, and he could see only a few steps ahead.
With no other choice, Ji Wu kept walking forward by feel.
He didn't know how long he'd been walking. He only knew that he'd gone far beyond the length of a bridge, yet the White Mist still seemed to stretch on without end.
Was he really walking on a bridge?
Where did the White Mist end?
Ji Wu wiped the sweat from his face and stopped to catch his breath. His stamina had been honed through systematic training. Even running five kilometers hadn't tired him out this much, and he'd been walking briskly the whole time to conserve his energy.
There was something wrong with this White Mist!
And Xu Zhou—why hadn't he seen him, even after walking for so long?
Ji Wu braced his hands on his knees and panted, head lowered. His stamina was draining far too quickly. It seemed the White Mist was accelerating the loss of his strength, and the process was hard to notice.
Ji Wu trained regularly and knew his own limits well. An ordinary person might wander around this endless White Mist like a headless fly.
Before they knew it, they'd be completely exhausted, unable to move, and would collapse in the fog, never to get back up.
Ji Wu took out his phone again and tried to contact Xu Zhou.
The signal indicator was blank, and his calls wouldn't go through.
"A Ghost Domain that interferes with signals?"
That kind of Ghost Domain was quite common. Still, Ji Wu wasn't sure whether this strange place was one.
He hadn't encountered an anomaly.
After resting for a while, Ji Wu was about to continue searching for Xu Zhou when a clear ringing sounded behind him.
It was like the jingling of wind chimes hung somewhere, swaying in the breeze.
Ji Wu hurriedly turned around, but behind him was still nothing but white.
He narrowed his eyes. Something seemed to be bobbing in the White Mist, moving toward him.
Ding~ Jingle~
A red dot, suspended about waist-high in the White Mist, swayed as it floated toward him.
As it drew closer, Ji Wu could see it more clearly.
It was a lit lantern, with several small bells hanging from it. They rang out whenever the lantern swayed.
An old man with a hunched back, wearing a straw rain cape and a bamboo hat, held the lantern as he ambled over.
His hair was completely white, and his aged face was creased with wrinkles. When he saw Ji Wu standing there empty-handed, he let out a soft exclamation.
"Young man, why aren't you carrying a light on the Ghost Path?"
"You'll never find your way out like that."
Ji Wu couldn't tell whether he was human or an anomaly, so he stood silently without replying.
The old man was considerate. He didn't ask what Ji Wu was doing there or where he was going. Instead, he spoke as he walked:
"Follow this old man. We'll be out in no time."
Ji Wu thought it over where he stood. If he stayed in the White Mist, he could either keep walking until he ran out of strength or wait for someone to come looking for him.
There might be more than one space within the White Mist. Xu Zhou might have entered a different space from Ji Wu, which would explain why Ji Wu hadn't seen him.
After thinking it over, Ji Wu silently followed behind the old man. Whatever lay ahead, it was better than being trapped in the White Mist, unable to do anything.
The red lantern light illuminated the area around them.
The old man didn't speak either.
The two of them walked through the White Mist.
This time, Ji Wu noticed that his strength was draining at a normal rate.
Ji Wu glanced at the lantern in the old man's hand. Could it have something to do with the lantern?
"Young man, we're here."
The old man took a step forward and vanished from Ji Wu's sight.
Ji Wu followed him out of the White Mist.
The view opened up before him.
With the fog no longer in the way, Ji Wu realized he'd arrived in a completely unfamiliar place.
Ji Wu turned back.
The bridge marked the boundary. The White Mist shrouded the bridge, but disappeared as soon as he stepped beyond its limits.
The old man still carried his lantern, strolling off at an unhurried pace. Along the way, Ji Wu saw many other Lantern Bearers like him.
There were men and women, young and old. They dressed differently from the people outside, most of them in ancient-style clothing similar to the old man's.
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