"—How can there be so many!"
Andrew tightened his grip on the thin bamboo rod in his hand, his knuckles turning bluish-white from the force. On his chubby face, the eyes that were always smiling had gone round and wide, their pupils reflecting countless tiny white figures—they surged in from every direction, along the walls, the eaves, the window lattices, even along the surface of the stagnant golden spell-light in the air, like a swarm of white ants whose nest had been overturned, packed densely layer upon layer as they converged on Amber.
After the Beta Town Management Committee reported the "Naughty Ghost case" to the Trident Sword Organization, the Trident Sword Organization had conducted a careful investigation.
From the specifications of the summoning array Qian Zi'ang used, to the details of the ritual, to the first "Naughty Ghost" he summoned—Yan Hua was only what everyone called it in private; in the official case files, this unnamed paper person was still generally labeled a "Naughty Ghost."
In short, the Trident Sword Organization had sorted through every movement Qian Zi'ang made before and after Yan Hua appeared.
They confirmed every location directly or indirectly affected by Qian Zi'ang, from the Study Hall to the inn, to the private home where he had temporarily stayed for one night, and so on, one hundred and thirty-two places in total. They therefore judged that the number of "Naughty Ghosts" hidden in Beta Town should be around one hundred and thirty-two, with a margin of no more than ten in either direction.
But right now, looking at this surging army of paper people rushing in like a tide, there were far more than a hundred and thirty.
Even if someone said there were thirteen thousand, Andrew would still think that estimate was conservative.
Some of