Do Urban Legend Paper Figures Dream of Black Stockings?

Under the moonlight.

Fang Xian surveyed his surroundings coldly.

That strange, chilling aura was unmistakably an urban legend.

It had even targeted specific people.

And its power resembled Interference: only those caught inside it could sense the urban legend.

"Fang Xian..."

He Qi was dragging the Human-Faced Fish and seemed to be struggling.

Fang Xian said gravely, "Find somewhere to put the fish. Don't worry, it won't die anytime soon."

He Qi couldn't say why, but the guesthouse looked strangely unsettling from outside. "What about you, Fang Xian?"

"Why were you in such a hurry to come back?"

Fang Xian lightly swung the Fire Axe in his hand. "To deal with a little troublemaker's revenge."

With that,

he strode into the guesthouse.

As Fang Xian entered, the atmosphere around him gradually changed.

He turned to look behind him.

He Qi, who had been following him moments ago, had vanished in an instant.

Looking out from inside the guesthouse, he saw nothing.

The moon still shone among sparse stars, while darkness and the stench of rot lingered together.

"So this is an urban legend's power to affect reality."

Fang Xian walked slowly toward the second floor.

Beside him, Xiao Jiu studied their surroundings intently.

Urban Legend Alert.

The little Paper Figure drawn here seems to want nothing more than to play a few pranks.

Fang Xian held his phone without a word.

His sneakers creaked against the stairs.

A faint smell of burning hung in the air.

It was nothing like the guesthouse's smell during the day.

"Chirp."

Xiao Jiu furrowed her tiny brow, warning Fang Xian to be careful.

Something frightening seemed to be on the second floor.

Fang Xian moved forward slowly.

A pitch-black second-floor corridor came into view.

And...

a Paper Figure leaning against the door to one of the rooms.

It had a pale face and vermilion lips, humanlike yet not human.

Its entire body rested against the door as though it yearned for something inside.

Fang Xian also noticed that the door was beginning to cave inward.

Had the Paper Figure done that?

"It's smaller than I expected,"

Fang Xian said.

He strode forward.

A gust of wind caught the Paper Figure, and it turned toward Fang Xian as though it had come alive.

Its expression was uncannily lifelike. Apart from its lack of eyes, it looked almost human.

"What the hell? Get out of the way."

Fang Xian kicked it aside!

The Paper Effigy was so light that his kick knocked its head clean off.

"Whose kid plays outside someone's door in the middle of the night?"

"Don't you know you'll scare people?"

The Paper Figure visibly froze.

It lay limp on the floor, as though trying to work out

what this pale young man who had suddenly appeared was

and why he had kicked it out of nowhere.

Fang Xian set down the Fire Axe and immediately pulled a lighter from his pocket.

"Get lost."

"Leave right now, or I'll burn you."

His voice sounded especially low in the darkness.

Beside him, Xiao Jiu raised her head like a proud white cat and copied his pose.

Compared with the Paper Figure, Fang Xian himself seemed more like an urban legend.

The headless Paper Figure on the floor trembled.

Perhaps a breeze had stirred it.

Its head and body kept swaying.

Then they began moving down the corridor.

It was as though the wind had blown them straight out of the guesthouse.

Fang Xian's expression turned cold, the lighter gleaming in his hand.

Urban Legend: Paper Figure (Extremely Dangerous)

Urban Legend Level: Heart-Pounding

Urban Legend Type: Folklore

Something living deep in the reservoir seems to have something to tell you.

Perhaps you can look into it once you've captured more powerful urban legends.

Urban Legend Location: Deep within Thousand-Mountain Lake, Xinlin Subdistrict, Jiangcheng District, Jiangzhou City.

Holy shit.

Fang Xian was about to lose his composure.

The Paper Figure he had just scared off was actually rated Heart-Pounding in the Urban Legend Compendium—the same level as that killer from Jiangzhou's rainy night!

Worse, its Extremely Dangerous designation was a step above the Murder Weapon's Dangerous rating.

Clearly, Paper Figure did not refer to a single urban legend.

It represented an entire category.

So what had that one been?

A child among Paper Figures?

Thank goodness.

Scaring a child had been enough.

Fang Xian knew better than to tangle with an urban legend of the Paper Figure's level right now.

With that thought, he crouched down.

Where the Paper Figure had been, he found a ring of something resembling Incense Ash.

Inside it lay a tiny Paper Figure, about the size of Xiao Jiu's palm.

Xiao Jiu instinctively held up her palm to compare.

"This is it."

"Someone left this outside Song Yizhou's room and drew the Paper Figure here."

Fang Xian tucked the tiny Paper Figure into his clothes.

Urban legend item obtained: Assembled Paper Figure.

A complete Paper Effigy. Carrying it makes you more likely to attract folklore-type urban legends and slightly increases your chance of encountering Strange-Colored Paper Figure urban legends.

A complete Paper Figure can be consumed to raise an urban legend's level or converted into a portion of your own lifespan.

It has a chance of causing certain urban legends to evolve.

The strange power was fading.

Moonlight gradually spilled into the dim corridor.

That eerie aura slowly dissipated.

"Phew."

After driving off the Paper Figure, Fang Xian exhaled.

He patted the door with his right hand.

"All right, all right."

"It's safe now."

For a moment, there was still no movement inside.

Fang Xian almost laughed.

He didn't need to guess: Song Yizhou and the school nurse were pressed against the door, listening to every sound outside.

"I said it's safe... Hang on, I'll turn on the corridor lights."

Fang Xian went over and switched on the entire row.

The corridor flooded with light.

Only then

did the door open a tiny crack.

Two pretty heads peeked out,

one above the other.

"Is... is it safe now?"

"Is it? Is it? Is it?"

Yao Hui looked up nervously and saw Fang Xian's slightly haggard face.

Song Yizhou cautiously checked the corridor, then her phone.

The signal was back?

"I think it really is safe, Cousin,"

Song Yizhou said.

Yao Hui stayed crouched as she slowly opened the door. "What happened?"

"What on earth was that thing just now?"

Huihuizi, possessor of the most stunning beauty in the universe, had nearly been scared to death.

Fang Xian was checking the corridor for anything the Paper Figure had left behind. Mostly, he wanted to see if he could pick up another urban legend item.

He answered casually, "Probably someone's prank. I can't say who did it, but there's a security camera over there. I'll check it later."

The existence of urban legends was probably too much for ordinary people to accept.

Hearing a familiar voice again, Yao Hui felt relief welling up inside her.

"Fang Xian!"

In an instant, Yao Hui composed herself and spoke like a poised beauty, though she still seemed a little tense.

Fang Xian looked up at Yao Hui.

No black stockings for bed? Disappointing.

Song Yizhou gave a soft cough, then murmured, "Cousin, why don't you change your pants while you can?"