The Lantern Bearer Dressed in Retro Style

From the records, it was clear that Xu Zhou hadn't had an easy life.

A father who was a gambler, lazy and good-for-nothing—the family had once been held together by his mother, who struggled to raise Xu Zhou through hardship.

Back when Xu Zhou was in high school, at a time when money was most needed, she could only take on part-time jobs, working day and night until her body gave out from exhaustion, and she died of illness.

Once she was gone, Xu Zhou had to take on part-time work himself, balancing school and labor, all while his gambling-addicted father came around asking for money. In the end, his college entrance exams suffered, and he only got into an ordinary university.

Xu Zhou's mother had been dead for three years!

So who was Xu Zhou seeing now?

Did ghosts really exist after death?

Although the Aberration Association was an organization dedicated to containing aberrations, their definition of an aberration wasn't the same as the common understanding of ghosts.

A person dies and becomes a ghost, retaining all memories and emotions from life. If heavy resentment turns them violent after death, they become a vengeful spirit—that was the ordinary definition of a ghost.

As for aberrations, their formation was still unknown, but after long-term research, it was clear they weren't formed from the dead. They seemed more like naturally occurring rules, something entirely new.

Ghosts could be killed.

But aberrations could only be harmed by other aberrations, and aberrations could devour one another to increase their own power.

There were also Anomaly Artifacts—items tainted by or fused with aberration energy—that could injure aberrations.

Ji Wu had worked for the Aberration Association for many years and had seen all kinds of bizarre, grotesque, and terrifying aberrations, but he had never heard of or seen a ghost.

Ji Wu found it strange. Although he hadn't contracted an aberration, his physique was that of an Adaptive, allowing him to see the aberration energy invisible to ordinary people. Aside from not being able to pinpoint an aberration's exact location, he could see everything a Contract Anomalist could.

Why, this time, could Xu Zhou see his mother while Ji Wu saw nothing at all?

What was different between them?

Xu Zhou stared blankly at the bridge. His mother stood there, smiling and waving at him, her eyes filled with relief and concern.

Xu Zhou took another step forward.

His reason told him that couldn't be his mother, but his emotions insisted it was!

The mother who cared about him, who loved him!

Xu Zhou's eyes reddened.

He thought, since he was now a Contract Anomalist, what harm was there in indulging himself just this once?

"Mom!"

Xu Zhou charged toward the bridge.

He was so fast that Ji Wu couldn't stop him.

"Xu Zhou! Don't go!"

"Damn it!"

Ji Wu watched Xu Zhou rush into the bridge, his figure swallowed by the white fog.

He pulled out his phone and sent a message to Bai Zuo, urging him to hurry over.

Then he charged in right after.

Xu Zhou was too young and too inexperienced—Ji Wu couldn't let him face an aberration alone.

Crossing the bridge's boundary line, Ji Wu felt as if he had entered a world of pure white.

Around him, there was nothing but fog. Visibility was only a few steps.

Left with no choice, Ji Wu could only keep walking forward by instinct.

He didn't know how long he walked, only that the distance he'd covered far exceeded the length of any bridge, yet the white fog still seemed endless.

Was he really still on the bridge?

Where did this white fog lead?

Ji Wu wiped the sweat from his face and stopped to catch his breath. His stamina, honed through systematic training, could handle a five-kilometer run without tiring him this much, and he had been walking briskly to conserve energy.

There was something wrong with this white fog!

And what about Xu Zhou? Why hadn't he seen him after walking so long?

Ji Wu leaned on his knees, head down, panting. His stamina was draining too fast—this white fog seemed to accelerate his energy loss, and the process was hard to notice.

Ji Wu trained regularly and knew his own stamina well. An ordinary person might wander aimlessly in this endless fog like a headless fly.

Before they knew it, their strength would be spent, until they couldn't move at all, collapsing in the white fog, never to rise again.

Ji Wu pulled out his phone again, trying to contact Xu Zhou.

The signal bars were empty, and every call he made failed to connect.

"A Ghost Domain that disrupts signals?"

Such domains were common enough, but Ji Wu wasn't sure this strange place was a Ghost Domain.

Because he hadn't encountered any ghost.

Ji Wu rested for a moment. Just as he was about to continue forward to find Xu Zhou, a crisp ringing sound came from behind him.

It sounded like wind chimes hanging somewhere, tinkling as the wind blew.

Ji Wu quickly turned around, but behind him was still a vast expanse of white.

He squinted. Within the white mist, something seemed to be moving, approaching this way.

Tinkle~ tinkle~

At about waist height in the white mist, a red dot swayed as it flew closer.

As the distance shrank, Ji Wu saw it more clearly.

It turned out to be a lit lantern, with several bells hanging from it. When the lantern swayed, they made crisp sounds.

An old man with a bent back, wearing a straw rain cape and a bamboo hat, carried the lantern as he walked over slowly.

His hair was completely white, his face wrinkled with age. When he saw Ji Wu standing to the side empty-handed, he couldn't help but let out a soft exclamation of surprise.

"Young man, why aren't you carrying a lantern when walking the Ghost Path?"

"You won't make it out like this."

Ji Wu couldn't tell if he was human or a freak, so he stood silently without replying.

The old man was very understanding. He didn't ask why Ji Wu was here or where he was going, but simply said as he walked:

"Follow behind this old man, and you'll be out soon."

Ji Wu thought it over on the spot. If he stayed in the white mist, he would either keep walking until his strength gave out, or wait for someone to come find him.

There might be more than one space within the white mist. The space Xu Zhou had entered could be different from the one Ji Wu had entered, which was why Ji Wu had never seen Xu Zhou.

After a moment's thought, Ji Wu silently followed behind the old man. Whatever awaited him ahead, it was better than being trapped in the white mist, unable to do anything.

The red light just illuminated the area around the two of them.

The old man didn't speak either.

They walked through the white mist.

This time, Ji Wu noticed that his stamina was draining at a normal rate.

He glanced at the lantern the old man was carrying. Could it be related to 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 suddenly opened up.

With the white mist gone, Ji Wu found himself in an entirely new place.

He looked back.

With the Bridge as the boundary, the white mist shrouded only the bridge itself. Once he stepped out of the bridge's range, the mist was gone too.

The old man still carried his lantern, swaying as he walked ahead. On the road, they encountered many such Lantern Bearers.

There were men and women, old and young. Their attire was also different from people outside—most wore ancient-style clothing, very similar to the old man's outfit.