...
The shop door was left ajar, a dim, yellowish candlelight leaking through the crack, flickering unsteadily as if it might go out at any moment.
The smell of wax oil in the air mixed with a rotten stench, so thick it was choking.
Chen Xi slowed her pace, holding the oiled-paper bundle from her back in her hand, and mouthed, “Be careful. Something's wrong.”
As the two of them reached the doorway, a voice drifted out from inside—extremely hoarse, like a glob of phlegm had been stuck in the throat for years, making him unable to breathe, yet unable to spit it out.
“Come in.”
Chen Xi pushed the door open. The shop was tiny, barely two or three square meters, with shelves on both sides packed with all kinds of candles.
White, red, black, thick, thin, long, short—countless candles were piled densely together like neatly arranged bones.
The counter was sunken in shadows, showing only a hunched silhouette slumped behind it. Its back was severely bent, its head buried almost to its chest, resembling a curled-up shrimp.
A hand reached out from the shadows.
The hand was dry and emaciated, the skin wrinkled, with long, black fingernails like old tree roots, and the fingertips tinged with a dark, bruised blue.
“The goods Sister Fang asked us to deliver,” Chen Xi said, handing over the oiled-paper bundle.
The long fingernails scraped against the oiled-paper bundle with a rustling sound, as if feeling the contents inside.
After scraping a few times, the hand withdrew.
“Yes, the goods are correct,” the old man's voice was hoarse and heavy. “Leave the things here. You may go.”
【System Notification: Side Quest 'Delivery' completed】
【Rewards issued: gold ingot x3, three-day usage right of Human Skin Coat】
The moment the quest notification popped up, both Chen Xi and Zheng Wenxuan secretly breathed a sigh of relief—at least this trip hadn't been in vain.
The two of them turned to leave.
“Wait.”
The old man suddenly called out to them.
Chen Xi's footsteps paused, her fingertips quietly brushing against the grip of her gun.
“Recently deceased, aren't you?” The old man's voice carried a hint of a sinister laugh. “No matter how thickly you wrap yourselves in human skin, the scent of the living can't be completely covered up.”
Chen Xi's heart tightened, and Zheng Wenxuan's body tensed up as well.
From the shadows, the old man slowly leaned forward.
A wrinkled face was revealed, looking like dried tangerine peel, covered in deep lines and creases.
His eyes were two black holes, completely devoid of eyeballs, bottomless and dark.
His nose twitched, as if sniffing something.
“Tender skin and delicate flesh, and still rich in yang energy.”
He laughed sinisterly, his voice grating:
“Running around outside wearing nothing but a coat of skin, who did you think you could fool? When the fierce ghosts come out at night, they'll smell the scent of the living from five miles away and tear you to shreds.”
As he spoke, his other hand reached out. Its nails were even longer, resembling talons, reaching straight toward Chen Xi!
The talons grew longer and longer like spreading tree roots, slicing through the air with a rustling sound. Accompanied by a gust of foul wind, they lunged directly for Chen Xi's face—
“Run!”
Chen Xi fired a shot, grabbed Zheng Wenxuan, turned, and bolted out the door.
Behind them, the talons slammed against the doorframe with a loud smack, sending wood splinters flying.
The old man's sinister laughter drifted out of the shop, chasing after the two of them:
“Run—run faster—the streets at night aren't easy to walk, you know—”
The two of them ran for their lives, rushing forward for dozens of meters before the area behind them fell silent once more.
Chen Xi glanced back.
At the entrance of the candle shop, the long talons had retracted, as if afraid of something.
“Cap... Captain.”
Zheng Wenxuan leaned against the wall, panting and drenched in sweat. “W-why did he stop chasing us?”
Chen Xi's mind raced. To be able to see through the Human Skin Coat, he had to be at least a fierce ghost.
If they had truly fought, the shot she fired hadn't even injured him. There was no reason for this old ghost to give up on his prey after chasing them for only a couple of steps.
Unless... there was something outside the shop that even a fierce ghost feared.
The moment this thought surfaced, the hairs on the back of Chen Xi's neck suddenly stood on end.
It was a warning of biological instinct. The bioelectricity generated by the approach of a massive creature caused her hairs to stand up uncontrollably—something extremely dangerous was drawing near.
Thump—
A heavy thud echoed from the end of the street.
It was extremely heavy, like a giant hammer slamming onto the ground, causing the earth to tremble slightly.
Zheng Wenxuan's expression changed. “What was that sound?”
Thump—
The second thud was even closer.
The ground shook more violently. The candle stands along the roadside rattled loudly, and a patch of candles fell over.
The wandering souls that had been chasing them just moments ago suddenly began to flee in all directions, screaming as they scattered.
Some squeezed through manhole covers, some pressed themselves flat against the walls like paper, some curled into balls behind billboards, and others crawled under porches, burying their heads while leaving their rears exposed like ostriches.
The street that had been packed with "people" just moments ago was mostly emptied within seconds.
Leaving behind only a complete mess and a few scattered little ghosts who hadn't managed to hide in time, shivering in the corners.
Chen Xi's heart pounded wildly.
What kind of entity could terrify an entire street of ghosts like this?
“Hide! Quick!”
She dragged Zheng Wenxuan and rushed under the eaves of a nearby closed shop, pressing themselves tight against the wall and holding their breath.
Just as they slipped into the shadows, two beams of snow-white light swept over from the end of the street.
Like two massive searchlights, the brilliant, blinding beams rapidly swept across the street—
Everywhere they passed, even the base of the walls and the corners were illuminated to a stark white.
This light was incredibly familiar.
Chen Xi didn't dare to look up, keeping her eyes fixed on a puddle by her feet.
The reflection of the sky was mirrored in the puddle.
A massive white figure was slowly walking over from the end of the street.
It was over ten meters tall, rising half a head higher than the arcade buildings beside it.
It was completely wrapped in a white robe that trailed to the ground, the fabric sweeping over the roadside debris.
Any paper-crafted item that touched the white robe instantly turned to ash.
Its gender was indistinguishable, its face covered by a white cloth, leaving only two dark, hollow eye sockets exposed.
And those two searchlight-like white beams were shooting out from those very eye sockets—
In its hand, this giant ghost gripped a mourning staff thicker than a utility pole, dragging it heavily along the ground, leaving a long trail of sparks.
The sparks splattered onto the little ghosts, igniting them instantly into green flames.
The little ghosts screamed and struggled, the eerie green glow on their bodies acting like guiding lanterns to clear the path.
White Impermanence.
Chen Xi's breath stopped instantly.
The pressure exuded by this colossal entity surged over them like a slowly collapsing mountain, making it impossible to breathe.
As the ten-meter-tall ghost walked down the modern street, its shoulders scraped against the arcade buildings on both sides, causing bricks and stones to rain down in showers.
Thud!
Thud!
Thud!
The reflection in the puddle trembled, and an even sturdier black shadow appeared beside it.
Black Impermanence.
He was wrapped entirely in black gauze, his eyes covered by a black cloth, exposing only his nose and mouth. His breath carried a fishy, metallic wind—
In his hand, he held an iron chain with links as thick as bowls, dragging it along the ground with a loud clatter that shook one's eardrums with every movement.
White Impermanence and Black Impermanence, patrolling the streets side by side.
In this world where day and night were indistinct, and yin and yang were inverted.
Could this place really be the Underworld?
Did the underworld messengers of the Netherworld and the Eighteen Levels of Hell truly exist in this world?
So, was the emergence of Instances truly irreversible?
If every Instance contained monsters so overwhelming that humans couldn't even summon the will to resist—
Then where would the future of humanity lie?
Despair filled the depths of Chen Xi and Zheng Wenxuan's eyes.
...
...
...
The reflections in the puddle drew closer and closer, and the ground shook more and more violently. Leaning against the wall, Chen Xi could even feel her back go numb.
Thump, thump, thump.
Every heavy thud sounded as if it were exploding right above their heads, as though a foot could stomp down on them at any moment.
Zheng Wenxuan pressed himself tightly against the wall, not even daring to breathe.
Even the most vicious bandits he had ever encountered weren't this terrifying.
Deities of death over ten meters tall were simply walking down the old streets of Hong Kong—absurd, yet so real it made one's knees go weak.
White Impermanence's gaze swept over.
The brilliant beam of light swept past just above their heads.
A sudden chill enveloped them, as if they had been submerged in ice water. The ground rapidly froze, and the white mist in the air became almost visible to the naked eye.
The guiding little ghosts burned, and from within the green ghostly flames came strange, giggling laughter.
Chen Xi stared fixedly at the puddle, only quietly letting out a sigh of relief when she saw the white light slowly shift away.
Right at that moment, a startled shriek echoed from not far away.
“Ah—!”
It was clearly the voice of a living person.
Chen Xi's heart tightened. In the next second, she saw the white light abruptly change direction, sweeping toward the source of the sound.
It was a young man in a suit, likely hiding behind a trash can, who had accidentally knocked over the lid.
He seemed to be paralyzed with fear, simply tilting his head back to stare blankly at the massive White Impermanence, completely forgetting to hide.
In the next second, a massive black hand descended from the sky.
With its five fingers splayed, the giant hand scooped up the young man as easily as catching a chick, clutching him tightly.
“Help! Help! I don't want to die!”
The young man screamed and struggled, but before the giant hand, his resistance was less than that of a mosquito.
Black Impermanence raised his hand and lifted his sleeve. The inside was like a bottomless pit; once the living person was stuffed inside, there was instantly no more sound.
【Zhongyuan is approaching, the Yin Market is about to open. The living shall not enter...】
The deep, majestic voice rumbled from Black Impermanence's throat like thunder, vibrating so hard it made their ears ring.
【...Those who trespass into the Underworld... shall be punished according to the law...】
【Zhongyuan is approaching, the Yin Market is about to open. The living shall not enter...】
【...Those who trespass into the Underworld... shall be punished according to the law...】
White Impermanence's eye sockets rotated as the two white beams continued to sweep around, while Black Impermanence repeatedly chanted those two sentences.
Clearly, there was more than one living person hiding on the street.
Soon, the white light locked onto two more figures.
It was a man and a woman hiding behind a bus stop sign. The moment the white light hit them, they bolted.
Clatter!
Black Impermanence's iron chain flew out like a savage, open-mouthed serpent, piercing through the chests of both individuals in the blink of an eye.
The barbs on the chain hooked into their flesh, and with a miserable shriek, the two of them were dragged up into the air.
The chain had also swept up several ghosts by accident. All of them were green-faced with prominent fangs, weeping and wailing as they were skewered into a long line like a string of grasshoppers, dragged behind Black Impermanence.
Countless ghostly faces twisted and struggled, wailing and howling in shrill, ear-piercing shrieks.
Chen Xi grit her teeth, her fingernails digging deep into her palms.
They couldn't hide any longer—others could hide, but they couldn't.
If they kept hiding, all the living people would eventually be found.
She lowered her voice and said rapidly to Zheng Wenxuan, “I'll draw their attention. You go rescue the people hiding and warn them to run toward the Shing King Building. Once they're inside, they should be safe.”
“Captain, that's too dangerous!” Zheng Wenxuan grew anxious. “How are you going to draw them away on your own?”
“No time to argue. The longer we wait, the more people will die.”
Chen Xi watched the reflection in the puddle. White Impermanence's light was sweeping toward their position. “Remember, hide inside buildings. Don't look up, and don't look at the white light.”
With that, without waiting for Zheng Wenxuan to object, she picked up a piece of broken glass from the ground, bent low, and dashed out!
White Impermanence's gaze swept over instantly.
Chen Xi didn't look up. Relying on the reflection from the broken glass to gauge her direction, she ran along the base of the wall in the opposite direction, the white light trailing her like a shadow—
Her figure stood out with extreme clarity on the empty street.
With a sharp whoosh, White Impermanence's white light swiveled over, and Black Impermanence slowly turned his face as well.
Chen Xi was targeted.
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