(Just to clarify in advance: in the setting, Tang San, Xiao Wu, and Luo Yan were good friends, so that was why they joked around like this. It was essentially just meant to scare people—a prank.)
By the time Luo Yan reached Notting City, night had fallen completely.
The city gates had long been shut, but that was no problem.
He circled around to the low western wall and climbed over it with practiced ease.
The base of the wall was still the same, with several loose bricks that made perfect footholds.
He landed steadily and brushed the dust from his hands.
"Notting City."
He took a deep breath. "Why does it still smell like potato stew?"
He could have gone straight back to Dorm Seven. But halfway there, he suddenly changed his mind.
"It's been so long. I should give them a surprise."
He crouched at the mouth of an alley and pulled out the Elation Mask, turning it over in his hands. "Who should I become?"
Wang Sheng had graduated, so that would be boring. Xiao Wu would really kick him if she got mad, and Tang San would see through him at a glance.
He needed to become something they had never seen before, something they would never expect.
He looked up at the sky.
The clouds were thick tonight, and the moon showed only a sliver. Wind blew in from the western end of the city, sweeping several dead leaves into spirals across the ground.
The few old lamps at Nuoding Academy hung dimly from the walls, casting a gray haze over the road outside Dorm Seven.
"Let's make this a big one."
He suddenly smiled, lowering his voice as though discussing it with himself. "Let me give you some... Chinese-style horror."
He put on the mask. Light flashed at the mouth of the alley, and when it faded, he had already changed.
Inside Dorm Seven, Xiao Wu was sitting on her bed, braiding her hair.
Tang San was by the window, wiping down his hidden weapons with gentle movements.
Only the two of them were there now. The holiday had started yesterday, and Dorm Seven had emptied out.
"Do you think Luo Yan won't come back anymore?" Xiao Wu suddenly asked.
Tang San did not look up. "He will."
"Then why hasn't he even sent a letter? Heaven Dou City has been in such chaos, yet he hasn't said a damn thing."
"I think he likes showing up out of nowhere."
Tang San said, "The more sudden it is, the happier he gets."
Xiao Wu snorted. "He'd better suddenly appear right in front of me, so I can kick him straight back to Dorm Seven and save him the trouble of climbing walls."
"He'd have to find the wall first." Tang San said with a smile.
Xiao Wu burst out laughing.
The lamp suddenly went out.
Then everything went completely dark.
Xiao Wu sat on the bed, still clutching half a hair tie. She blinked twice, but she could not see anything.
It was too quiet all around them, quiet enough that she could hear herself swallowing.
"Huh? Why did the lamp go out?"
She spoke softly, her voice seeming to drift in the darkness. "Third Brother, did you close the window?"
Tang San did not answer.
Xiao Wu looked in his direction, though she could not see anything at all—only a deeper patch of darkness.
But she suddenly felt that Tang San had moved.
He had already stood up.
With the lightest movement, Tang San picked up the Sleeve Arrow from beside the bed. Its mechanism clicked into place.
That sound was especially clear in the darkness, like someone plucking an extremely fine string.
"What's wrong?" Xiao Wu asked quietly.
"Don't speak."
Tang San's voice came out low and restrained from his throat.
Xiao Wu fell silent, her rabbit ears twitching.
Outside the door, there were footsteps. Very light. One step, then another.
"Who is it?" Tang San spoke.
His voice was not loud, but it was exceptionally clear.
There was no response outside.
Only the footsteps stopped, stopping at exactly the right spot—directly before the door.
Then came an incredibly faint sound of breathing.
No, it was not breathing.
Someone sighed outside the door. The sound squeezed through the crack beneath it, cool and chilling, and goosebumps rose on Xiao Wu's arms.
Tang San did not ask again.
He slowly raised his left hand and pressed it against the latch.
Without hesitation, he yanked open the wooden door and kicked out with all his strength, wind trailing behind his foot.
Bang—!
The door slammed outward against the wall with a thunderous crash.
Tang San sprang out of the darkness, Sleeve Arrow already raised. Blue Silver Grass swept across the ground with a swish, sealing off the space three feet before the door.
Xiao Wu also jumped down from the bed, arching her back, ready to strike at any moment.
But there was nothing outside.
Only wind swept through the courtyard, sending several dead leaves spinning.
The distant corridor was empty.
Several extinguished old lamps swayed gently in the wind, as though something had just passed by and vanished around the corner.
"No one?" Xiao Wu poked half her head out, her round eyes darting from side to side.
Tang San did not move. He still held up the Sleeve Arrow, brow furrowed. Then his gaze swept downward.
He saw it.
Right in the middle of the doorway sat a pair of shoes.
Embroidered shoes.
They were tiny, their uppers a dark crimson, as though they had been soaked in old rouge. Twin lotus blossoms were embroidered on the toes. One shoe sat perfectly straight, while the other was crooked, as though someone had walked there, taken off her shoes, and entered barefoot.
Tang San's pupils contracted.
"Third Brother..."
Xiao Wu's voice tightened. "Those shoes... they weren't there when we came back earlier, right?"
Tang San said nothing.
He slowly crouched down, and Blue Silver Grass crawled across the ground, winding around the pair of shoes.
There were no Soul Power fluctuations, no trace of a living creature. They were just a pair of shoes.
But that was precisely why something was even more wrong.
Xiao Wu gripped the back of Tang San's robe, forcing the words out of her throat. "Third Brother, let's... let's go back inside first."
Tang San did not move. He stared at the shoes. Blue Silver Grass had already coiled around them twice, but the blades did not lie flat against the ground as usual.
They had become somewhat stiff, as though they had touched something incredibly cold.
Then they heard crying.
Very faint.
It sounded like someone was hiding behind the old locust tree behind Dorm Seven, crying with her mouth covered.
It was a woman.
The sobs came in fits and starts, thin as gossamer, as though drifting from somewhere unimaginably far away—and yet also as though they were right above their heads, in the rafters.
Xiao Wu's rabbit ears shot upright, then immediately drooped.
Her face was whiter than moonlight.
"Th-Third Brother... d-did you hear that?" Even her voice had changed.
Tang San's throat moved, but he did not answer. He slowly stood and aimed the Sleeve Arrow outside.
But there was nothing outside except wind and dead leaves. Yet the crying continued, and it was not coming from outside.
It was coming from behind them, from inside Dorm Seven.
Tang San turned around.
There was nothing in the room. Darkness remained darkness, and several old pieces of furniture lay silently within it, untouched as ever.
But he could feel that something was wrong.
The air had grown heavier.
At some point, the crying stopped. It stopped with terrifying abruptness, as though someone had swallowed it whole in a single gulp.
Xiao Wu suddenly grabbed his arm, gripping it so tightly that her nails dug into his flesh.
Tang San turned his head toward her and saw that her eyes were wide, fixed directly on the doorway. Her entire face had gone frighteningly pale.
Her other hand slowly lifted, pointing outside. Her finger trembled uncontrollably.
"Th-Third Brother..."
Tang San stiffened.
He turned back very, very slowly.
Outside the door, fog had appeared at some point.
It was incredibly thick, as though it had drifted over from the old river in the west of the city. Gray-white and close to the ground, it slowly surged into Dorm Seven.
Moonlight filtered through the fog, becoming blurred and distant.
And within the fog stood a person.
A Paper Doll.
It was taller than a child, with paper clothes and a paper face.
There were two red circles on its cheeks, as though they had been dabbed on with blood.
It stood in the fog, facing them.
It had no eyes on its face, yet it was undeniably smiling.
The smile had been painted on, but Tang San felt as though it had just curved upward.
Tang San and Xiao Wu both took a step back.
The Paper Doll moved as well.
It took a step forward.
The movement was incredibly light, as though someone had lifted it by the back of its neck and swayed it once in the fog.
Then it suddenly took another step forward, faster this time.
Tang San and Xiao Wu retreated again.
Their backs had already struck the doorframe behind them.
Then it moved.
Without warning, the entire Paper Doll suddenly rushed toward them in quick strides. It was not running—it was simply walking normally—but its speed was bizarre.
Its paper clothes rustled loudly, and the painted smile on its face flickered through the fog, growing as large as a washbasin.
"Aah—!"
Xiao Wu screamed. Like a rabbit whose tail had been stepped on, she shrank sharply behind Tang San.
Tang San also jolted in fright. Three arrows shot from his Sleeve Arrow with sharp whooshes, but all of them passed straight through the Paper Doll and disappeared into the fog.
He had no time to think. He grabbed Xiao Wu, and the two of them fell backward into the room together.
Bang!
Tang San's lower back slammed into the threshold, making him suck in a sharp breath from the pain.
He braced himself against the ground and looked toward the doorway.
The fog was still there.
But the Paper Doll had vanished.
Xiao Wu was nearly crying.
Her entire body trembled as she clung desperately to Tang San. "It... it, it, it came over just now, didn't it?! It came over, right?!"
Tang San took several breaths and supported himself against the wall as he stood. His forehead was covered in cold sweat.
He had truly been frightened.
The Paper Doll had come too fast, too suddenly.
You might know it was probably not alive, but in the instant it charged at you, your body would still be afraid.
"Luo Yan...? Is that you?" Tang San scanned their surroundings, an involuntary tremor creeping into his voice.
Before you continue