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Inside a Concrete Culvert Pipe in summer,

Fang Xian was far from comfortable.

The cold and the gurgling that filled his ears made him miserable.

He craned his neck to keep his mouth above water.

Even with his phone's light, he could barely make out what lay ahead. He couldn't lift his head; he could only tilt it toward the wall of the pipe.

Fang Xian shuffled his feet again.

He no longer knew how far into the Cement Pipe he had gone.

He only knew he was deep inside.

The Urban Legend Compendium said it should be here.

Fang Xian pressed on without hesitation.

His phone's light swept across the inside of the pipe.

With his head tilted back, he spotted small words scratched into the Cement Pipe overhead.

The crooked, childish writing clearly wasn't an adult's work.

[It's blocked. I can't go back. I want to go home.]

A chill ran down Fang Xian's spine in the dark pipe.

He didn't hesitate.

Like a wriggling maggot, he inched deeper into the pipe.

He kept a hand out in front of him, feeling for anything dangerous in his path.

"There is something."

Fang Xian felt a sharp screw and pushed it to one side.

But the space was so cramped that the screw still scratched his face.

"Scars are the mark of a man,"

Fang Xian said gravely. He made a mental note to get a tetanus shot.

Splash, splash.

Water rushed over Fang Xian's head.

It carried a strange, fishy stench.

Some went up his nose, making him cough twice.

Water had completely plugged his ears.

All he could hear was gurgling.

A second line of writing appeared.

This one was a little neater.

[It's raining? How is that possible?]

Fang Xian moved closer to the inscription.

It must have been written before the first line.

He began wriggling faster.

His gaze grew more determined.

By now, only Fang Xian's face remained above the water inside the Concrete Culvert Pipe.

The space was suffocatingly narrow.

Darkness stretched ahead with no end in sight.

The pressure was stifling.

Few people could have endured it.

A third line appeared.

This time, the handwriting was delicate and charming.

It hinted at a child mature beyond her years.

[The police have gone. I'll stay here for three days.]

[It's the dry season right now.]

[I'll go back after three days.]

Fang Xian's face remained expressionless.

He stretched his body forward.

His hand reached deeper into the pipe.

This time, it touched something other than water.

Something hard.

[Bone.]

Fang Xian slowly closed his eyes.

"So you were here after all."

At the end of the Concrete Culvert Pipe stood a metal wire mesh.

And there were...

the remains of [seven-year-old Li Wan].

Ten years had passed.

The water had washed her bones clean and white.

They were plainly visible.

What Fang Xian had picked up was Li Wan's [skull].

He wondered how the gifted little girl had felt, trapped here that night ten years ago.

Fang Xian shifted his body.

Collecting her remains in this pipe was out of the question.

As a law-abiding, innocent college student, there was only one thing he could do.

"Hello."

"Hi, is this the General Affairs Bureau?"

"I'd like to report something."

"A young girl's remains were found in the No. 3 Water Pipe from the right along the landscaped river at North Bank Garden, Xinlin Subdistrict, Jiangcheng District. They closely match a girl who went missing ten years ago."

"You're asking where I am, and why you can hear water gurgling?"

"I..."

Fang Xian glanced up and down, then answered frankly, "I'm inside the pipe. Please hurry, officer."

He ended the call and checked that his phone had enough battery left for the trip out.

Then he kept wriggling, feeling around ahead of him.

At last,

he caught hold of something and pulled hard.

It was a [white necklace].

It seemed to have been caught beside the wire mesh.

[Urban legend notification.]

[Ghost Story item acquired: Soothing Necklace.]

[Soothing Necklace: A fake white-jade necklace bought at the Jiangzhou Black Sparrow Small Commodity Market. Urban legends of the (Obsession) type that carry it will be soothed, extending their usable lifespan, reducing the cost of using them, and making their lingering desires easier to fulfill.]

An unexpected bonus?

Fang Xian was a little excited to have found a hidden item.

He hooked the necklace with a finger and stuffed it into his wet trouser pocket.

Now he just had to inch his way back out.

But backing out felt much harder than getting in.

"Xiao Wan, wait here for uncle—no, for your big brother."

He wriggled slowly.

And kept wriggling.

He twisted toward the darkness beyond the pipe.

After who knew how long,

Fang Xian caught sight of a faint glimmer of light.

He was about to speed up

when he sensed someone outside the pipe.

The police are here?

No!

Fang Xian's expression changed.

Why?!

Someone was trying to block the opening!

The patch of light shrank bit by bit.

If the opening was blocked, the water would rise over Fang Xian's nose. He would die right here!

"I've already called the police!"

In an instant,

Fang Xian shouted fiercely.

He choked on a couple of mouthfuls of water, but his voice still rang out with force.

"The police will be here any minute!"

"Killing me won't do you any good!"

Outside,

the light stopped shrinking.

Hurried footsteps seemed to retreat.

Fang Xian became one stubborn maggot, his feet scrabbling furiously.

He forced himself out of the Cement Pipe.

The instant he emerged, Fang Xian ran for the bushes, unzipped his backpack, and pulled out the Fire Axe. Gripping it, he looked all around.

But he saw no one.

Someone really did try to kill me just now.

Why?

Just because I found Li Wan's bones?

Water streamed from Fang Xian's soaked body. He was breathing hard when he heard sirens in the distance, and finally let out a breath.

Tonight's [Ghost Story] seemed to be over.

[3:00 a.m.]

[Jiangcheng District Police Station.]

"Fang Xian."

"Male, eighteen."

"From Near Sea City, Jiangzhou."

"Excellent grades. Currently a first-year student at Jiangzhou Normal University."

"Completely clean record, no criminal history... Fang Xian, why is it you again?"

The young Chen Lin looked at Fang Xian. "Why weren't you asleep in your dorm? What were you doing in Xinlin Subdistrict in the middle of the night?"

"And why..."

Chen Lin eyed Fang Xian's still-wet hair. "Were you crawling through a Cement Pipe?"

Fang Xian gave her a shy smile. "Didn't I tell you last time, officer?"

"I have a special ability."

"I could sense a [child] calling to me for help from inside the pipe."

At that, Fang Xian's smile faded. "So I went in."

This time, Chen Lin only gave him a strange look. She didn't challenge his claim.

The case of [Li Wan], the girl who had disappeared ten years ago,

had caused a huge stir at the time. People had made up plenty of frightening rumors.

But given the information and witness Fang Xian had provided, it now seemed to have been an accident.

An unexpected rainstorm during the dry season ten years ago had taken a seven-year-old girl's life.