Compendium

"Fang Xian."

"Male, eighteen."

"From Near Sea City, Jiangzhou."

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

"His record is spotless. No criminal history."

The young policewoman Chen Lin studied the file in her hands, then turned to the policeman beside her, Li Chaoyang. "His statement matches what we found at the scene."

Up ahead,

Fang Xian sat up straight. "Officers, I've already told you. I'm just an ordinary passerby who happened to step in and help."

"Once the case is closed, could I apply for a commendation? I heard my university gives extra credits for that..."

Li Chaoyang tapped his brow, thinking.

The stalker, Liu Changgui, had been arrested.

He was the victim Yao Hui's landlord. His wife had died years ago, and over time, he had developed some ugly intentions.

And he had done more than trespass. In Liu Changgui's diary, the police found signs that he had done this three times before, not even limiting himself to women. None of his victims had reported him, which had only emboldened him.

But...

"Young man, a commendation is possible. What I'd like to know is how you knew someone was following the victim."

Li Chaoyang asked with a smile.

Beside him, Chen Lin admired her mentor.

He really was a veteran officer. He had made the question sound perfectly natural.

She had been about to ask outright, because the whole thing was too strange.

According to Yao Hui, the student had asked her during the day whether anything strange had been happening around her, then followed her afterward.

If his record hadn't genuinely been clean, Chen Lin would have thought he was a stalker too.

Fang Xian smiled gently. "Well... it's not really a secret."

He glanced around, then lowered his voice,

as though he were about to reveal something earth-shattering.

"I... have a special ability."

"I can sense the flow of people's auras and, to some extent, see what good or bad fortune awaits them in the near future."

Li Chaoyang and Chen Lin exchanged a look.

Chen Lin was about to snap, but Li Chaoyang held her back.

Li Chaoyang gave Fang Xian an amused look. "Young man, if that's true, can you tell whether I'll run into trouble soon? Or whether I've got some luck coming my way?"

Fang Xian studied Li Chaoyang for a while.

His expression shifted slightly. "Officer, you'd better not go chasing criminals for a while. The way I see it... disaster could be headed your way."

Li Chaoyang's expression changed. Chen Lin slapped the table. "Take this seriously!"

Fang Xian said nothing more. He merely spread his hands, looking innocent.

About ten minutes later,

they finished taking his statement.

"If anything else comes up, we'll call you back for further questioning."

Chen Lin spoke to Fang Xian with obvious irritation.

Fang Xian saluted. "Yes, ma'am."

After watching Fang Xian open the door and leave, Chen Lin found her mentor smoking nearby.

"Do you really believe that student's nonsense?"

Li Chaoyang sighed. "How else do you explain it?"

"Should we arrest an ordinary college student and interrogate him?"

Li Chaoyang took a drag on his cigarette. "Before the Millennium, things like Qigong and Divination weren't exactly uncommon."

"Divination? Qigong? They were all frauds. The Council debunked them ages ago, and we're already fifteen years into the new century!"

Chen Lin went on, "This is the New Era, and you're still so superstitious."

Li Chaoyang smiled. "Who knows? No harm in hearing him out."

Fang Xian walked out of the police station with a faint smile.

The moment he stepped outside,

his smile faded a little.

He took out his phone.

"Finally... caught my first Ghost Story."

He held the phone up to the sunlight, feeling pleased.

Ever since he had inherited that damned club half a month ago,

he hadn't slept soundly once.

He unlocked the screen.

An app bearing a chibi drawing of a faceless woman appeared before Fang Xian.

The Urban Legend Compendium.

Launch!

Fang Xian's hand trembled slightly.

The first thing that appeared was an ad for an online shopping platform.

"Fuck, a thirty-second ad? That's insane."

Fang Xian cursed.

But despite his complaints, he watched anyway.

After enduring thirty full seconds of close-up advertising, Fang Xian finally got into the app.

Its design was nothing special: plain pixel art and a handful of cheap-looking buttons.

The most conspicuous one read—

[Urban legends encountered: Primarily wild urban legends you have come across. Seeing one is enough to record it. Urban legends encountered appear in the compendium with only their designation and name; a few harmless urban legends also list their cost of use. Urban legends that passively contaminate or influence you do not count as captured. (Captured urban legends also count as encountered urban legends.)]

[Urban legends captured: Includes captured wild urban legends, lingering obsessions, strange tales, and more. Captured urban legends have a special marker in the compendium. You can view their appearance, traits, status, and cost of use.]

Before now, the button for captured urban legends had been dim.

But this time,

it lit up.

Everything lit up.

Fang Xian tapped it eagerly.

[Ghost Story—The Stalker (Liu Changgui)]

[Rank: Lingering Fear]

[Ghost Story type: Anomalous Human]

[Basic traits: (Illusions) (Camera Evasion) (Stalking)]

[Personality: Cowardly]

[Status: Good]

[An ordinary The Stalker, timid and weak, born from a mire of self-loathing and malice.]

[A worthless man unable to control his desires, chained by his hormones.]

[Reflective Trait: Stalking]

[Encounter location: No. 19, Xinwei Village, Jiangcheng District, Jiangzhou City]

[Cost of use: 10 days of lifespan + 20 hairs lost within one day]

A tiny chibi version of the bald, middle-aged Liu Changgui stood alone on the screen, waving his hands beneath his shiny scalp.

Not bad. Kind of handsome.

That Little Baldy's head really shone.

No, he was a little greasy.

Actually, more than a little.

"Don't tell me... this is my starter?"

"Honestly, I don't think I can accept that."

Fang Xian nearly lost it.

He switched screens at once, unwilling to look at that damned bald head any longer.

Under [Urban legends encountered] lay the chibi images of two urban legends.

One had the shape of a phone.

[Ghost Story—Urban Legend Compendium Basic Membership]

[Rank: ???]

[Encounter location: Office 404, Red Building, Jiangzhou Normal University]

[Cost of use: 0.1 days of lifespan + intermittent impotence (days)]

And then there was the app's mascot:

a faceless schoolgirl dressed in Republican-era clothes.

She sat as still as the Mona Lisa.

[Ghost Story—She (???)]

[Rank: ???]

[Encounter location: Office 404, Red Building, Jiangzhou Normal University]

[Cost of use: None]

"The mascot's pretty cute. Shame she's useless."

Fang Xian muttered, then stopped. "No..."

"Not useless."

Beyond the two buttons was another notice.

[Those who use urban legends will inevitably suffer their backlash.]

[Dear Basic VIP Fang Xian,]

[Your remaining lifespan: -6,001.1 days]

[Inherited from the previous user: She]

"Ha! You've got to be kidding me."

Fang Xian laughed in disbelief at the sight.

Negative 6,001.1 days.

So he should have died ages ago?

Wait. Hadn't it been negative 6,000 days before?

Fuck.

Fang Xian looked at the Urban Legend Compendium membership.

Was there no way to turn off automatic billing for this thing?

"Whatever."

"Capturing a Ghost Story gives me a corresponding amount of lifespan back. Let's see what this Little Baldy is worth. Great. A day and a half. Wow."

Fang Xian couldn't even be bothered to keep looking.

Although he hadn't died with his lifespan at negative 6,000 days, he could feel strange symptoms sometimes: weakness, a foggy mind.

Only after capturing Little Baldy had he felt a rare warmth flow through his body.

Maybe this Little Baldy...

was useful after all.

He put away his phone and prepared to call a cab back to campus.

Just then,

a black Sky Steed pulled up beside Fang Xian.

The window rolled down,

revealing Yao Hui's pretty face. "Heading back to campus, handsome?"

"Get in."