Lan Yin looked at his empty right hand, his face showing no fear, not caring in the slightest. He knew his arm had been devoured by the Blue Wraith and would never return, yet his eyes only grew brighter, burning with determination.
"Well, then. Since I doubt anyone else will come in now, kid, I'll play with you for a bit. I'll give you one month. Every day, I'll hunt you down. Of course, if you let me catch you, I'll eat you. How about it?"
"A month is too long. Just give me a week—how about that? Tonight, let me get a good night's rest, and bring me something to eat."
Lan Yin smiled, speaking with great confidence. Yet I found it utterly bewildering—facing such a powerful Blue Wraith, Lan Yin was making a choice that was tantamount to suicide.
"Hahaha..."
The Blue Wraith laughed again, and this time nodded.
"Not just tonight. I'll let you rest well for two or three days, you reckless little ghost."
With that, the Blue Wraith transformed into a ball of green light and vanished. At that moment, I noticed that in the city, aside from the corpses, only Lan Yin and the Blue Wraith remained. Though this was within a memory, I could sense that the Blue Wraith possessed at least fifty ghost souls—a formidable force. Lan Yin had no chance of winning.
"What now?" After the Blue Wraith left, Lan Yin strolled through the city with a relaxed stride—an eerie calm settling over the scene.
Upon entering, Lan Yin smelled food. Following the scent, he found a table full of dishes in a tavern. He ate without hesitation, then rested quietly, leaning against the door and gazing out at the street, as if deep in thought.
I grew anxious, but after a long while, Lan Yin rose to his feet, laughing loudly as he shouted to the surroundings.
"You said it yourself—three days. Give me three days to prepare for the game that begins in a week. So, for these three days, leave this place and don't spy on me. I won't run away."
"Suit yourself, kid. I won’t spy on you. I’m looking forward to seeing you in three days."
Then, Lan Yin used white gauze to traverse the city’s rooftops, carefully inspecting locations. He began searching everywhere for white paper, cutting paper day and night without pause.
I saw that what Lan Yin was cutting were the Four Sacred Beasts, and he kept cutting more and more.
"Perhaps it’s only when a person is on the verge of death that they can awaken something deep within."
Lan Yin looked happily at the Four Sacred Beasts he had cut out. I couldn’t help but worry for him.
For two days straight, I saw Lan Yin cutting paper. One by one, the Four Sacred Beasts took shape. His hands were covered in blisters, yet he kept cutting, his devotion unwavering.
Was it faith? Suddenly, I remembered what the Vermilion Bird told me in the Forest of Desire: to wield the power of the Four Saints, you need unwavering faith as the channel for that strength. Was Lan Yin trying to do just that?
On the third day, Lan Yin began running around the city, using his remaining left hand to string white gauze across the city’s perimeter, connecting it to passageways like a spider’s web.
Lan Yin scattered the paper-cut Four Sacred Beasts throughout the city. By nightfall, he had nearly finished, covering the whole city with white gauze. Satisfied, he returned to the city center to await the coming day, his resolve unwavering despite exhaustion.
While waiting, Lan Yin took an old slingshot from his pocket and played with it, his expression filled with longing.
"Xiao Liu, if what you said is true, please watch over me."
With that, Lan Yin put the slingshot back in his pocket, closed his eyes, and lay quietly in front of a pile of sandbags, waiting for the third day to end. Once it did, the Blue Wraith would arrive.
I looked at the white gauze spread throughout the city, all interconnected. It seemed Lan Yin planned to use it to escape. Judging by its shape, that was my only guess.
Finally, as the moon emerged from behind the clouds, wild laughter rang out—the Blue Wraith appeared before Lan Yin.
"Heh, so this is what you’ve prepared? Hah, your Hades Circle is still too weak. Useless. Relying on these makeshift Four Sacred Beasts? I’m here now."
Lan Yin stared intently at the Blue Wraith. In an instant, the Blue Wraith turned into a streak of green light, appearing before Lan Yin. Lan Yin reacted immediately, wrapping himself in white gauze and pulling himself up to the rooftop.
"The body is like a vessel braving ten thousand waves, riding the giants but never faltering. Whether sitting or lying, the spirit remains pure. The longer one sits, the clearer the mind becomes. Like the sun rising in the east, dazzling the eyes; like the autumn moon hanging in a mirror, shining bright. The face and eyes, both like the sun and moon—radiant and pure, naturally captivating; clear and clean, never dull to behold. Such a person may not be greatly noble but is surely blessed. Wealth is possible, but one should not speak recklessly of fate."
Lan Yin immediately recited an incantation and raised his left hand. Suddenly, golden light flared—the paper-cut Four Sacred Beasts grew larger and charged toward the Blue Wraith.
With a crack, the Four Sacred Beasts that had just lunged at the Blue Wraith instantly turned to ash.
"I told you, these paper-cuts are nothing but ordinary folk magic—far too weak. Well, I’ve caught you. I didn’t expect you to be so easily defeated."
The Blue Wraith gripped Lan Yin’s left hand tightly, but at that moment, Lan Yin revealed an excited smile.
Suddenly, the cry of the Vermilion Bird rang out. Groups of Vermilion Birds shimmered with golden light in the sky, circling and hovering around the Blue Wraith.
In an instant, I saw the Blue Wraith’s expression change drastically. With a tearing sound, he ripped Lan Yin apart—only then did I realize it was a paper-made Lan Yin that had been torn.
"Such petty tricks can’t fool me."
As the Blue Wraith spoke, he released a flood of oily green ghostly threads—but suddenly, he seemed flustered.
"What’s happening?"
"I’ve heard that you Blue Wraiths possess multiple ghost souls, making you hard to kill. If you can have them, why can’t we?"
Lan Yin’s voice drifted over. In that moment, the Blue Wraith panicked, unable to tell which Lan Yin was real. Frenzied, he darted about, tearing apart the glowing, paper-made Four Sacred Beasts all around him.
But it was all in vain. Over the past two days, Lan Yin had crafted more than ten thousand paper-cuts, scattering them across the entire city—his desperation etched into every piece.
Amid my astonishment, I suddenly remembered—while cutting paper, Lan Yin’s hands had blistered and bled, his blood splattering onto the paper-cuts. I’d seen Lan Ruoxi use a similar method: blood on paper figures could be used to sense certain things.
"Let’s see how long you can last, brat. These paper things of yours are useless against me."
As the Blue Wraith spoke, I saw two tigers leap from the ground and pounce at him. But he casually raised his hand, and the tigers turned to ash. Then, paper Vermilion Birds circling above swooped at him as well.
"I told you..."
"Useless, right?"
A look of terror flashed in the Blue Wraith’s eyes. Suddenly, a pair of scissors stabbed through his body. He howled, green light bursting from him, and in an instant, the paper Four Sacred Beasts around him turned to ash.
"Come out, brat!"
The Blue Wraith kept roaring. That last attack had hurt him, but I couldn’t see any sign of Lan Yin. It was as if he’d become one with the city itself, his presence woven into every shadow and alley.
Driven mad in his search for Lan Yin, the Blue Wraith kept destroying the paper Four Sacred Beasts and tearing apart the white gauze, but he still couldn’t locate Lan Yin.
Then I understood—it was the blood. Lan Yin had spread every drop of his blood evenly across the paper, so even with the Blue Wraith’s ghostly threads, every Lan Yin he sensed was real. He couldn’t tell which one was the true Lan Yin.
When Lan Yin finished, I saw his face was pale—white as paper.
After a while, the Blue Wraith stopped, floating in the air and looking around at the countless paper animals, completely at a loss.
During his frenzy, the Blue Wraith had suffered several more blows from Lan Yin.
"Enough for today, brat. You’ve got guts. Tomorrow won’t be so easy for you."
With that, the Blue Wraith, satisfied, turned into a ball of green light and disappeared.
At that moment, Lan Yin had lost all color in his face. I saw him staggering out of a shop, looking as if he’d barely survived. He was exhausted, yet still clutched a thick stack of paper, continuing to cut—his blood dripping onto each piece as he worked, his determination unbroken.
"Six days left. If I can endure, I’ll make it."
Lan Yin sounded weak, but his eyes remained resolute. He kept cutting paper as I walked over and watched him closely. He reminded me of Uncle Mo—willing to risk everything for a goal. That realization shook me to my core.
Suddenly, Lan Yin smiled as he cut, looking genuinely happy. He continued to scatter the paper-cuts throughout the city.