Nearly crawling in panic, Leo Liu saw the glow and stumbled into the small temple across the river. There, he witnessed three colors of light overlapping on the totem, sending ripples of radiance through the air.
"Why did you come here?"
An ancient voice rang out. Leo Liu slowly turned his head and saw an old man—it was Jonas Darong, the chief of Harmony Village, his entire body emanating a faint, ghostly white light.
"How do I get out?"
There was no longer any doubt about what was happening here. Leo Liu asked immediately, but Jonas Darong's mouth opened slightly, as if to speak, then closed again. He shook his head.
"How do I get out?"
Leo Liu asked again, nearly hysterical. He rushed forward, trying to grab Jonas Darong, but his hands passed right through the old man's body—he couldn't touch him.
"No one, not even a ghost, can leave this place. Everything here died the moment you entered. You, too."
Jonas Darong raised a finger, pointing at Leo Liu. In that moment, despair flooded Leo Liu's eyes, and his voice broke into a sobbing shout.
"How do I get out?"
"Forever trapped in this cycle of time, no one can leave here. Death might be the only solution—whether human or ghost, only by dying here can you escape eternal suffering."
As Jonas Darong spoke, he slowly floated away, drifting farther from Leo Liu. Unable to contain his grief and rage, Leo Liu screamed, collapsing helplessly to the ground like a child, sobbing uncontrollably.
After a long time, Leo Liu finally stood up. He gazed quietly at the two totems in the temple—their light had faded, and everything returned to silence. He checked his pager; night was approaching. At exactly 7 PM, the cycle would begin again: January 1, 2000, repeating once more.
Leo Liu took out a half-empty pack of cigarettes and sat quietly beside the small temple, smoking one after another. He smiled, but the smile was tinged with sorrow—he desperately wanted to go home.
He couldn't even remember what this mission was for anymore. So much had faded from his memory. The only thing keeping him going was the thought of his wife and his parents.
Just then, I saw black Deathbane Aura faintly rising from Leo Liu's back. I stared in shock—this was Deathbane Aura.
Gradually, the Deathbane Aura gathered and formed a humanoid shape. I had seen this before—it was a Deathbane Ghost. Leo Liu seemed unaware of the entity within his body.
The Deathbane Ghost soared into the distant sky. Suddenly, a burst of white light flashed—it was Jonas Darong, appearing to block the ghost's path.
"No one, human or ghost, can leave this place."
Suddenly, Jonas Darong grabbed the Deathbane Ghost by the neck. With a snap, the ghost exploded, dispersing into Deathbane Aura that soon vanished.
At that moment, Leo Liu stood up again. He tossed away his cigarette butt, stamped it out, and walked toward the village. Gradually, he broke into a run.
"I have to get out. I have to get out."
Leo Liu spent the entire night eating and drinking, downing countless bottles of liquor—he couldn't remember how many. I saw the Deathbane Ghost inside him; this must be something created by the Immortality Society with help from the Ghost Burial Squad. Every member of the Immortality Society carries one, used to record and transmit all kinds of intelligence. Even if the host dies, the Deathbane Ghost brings back everything they've learned.
The Ghost Burial Squad was founded by Lao Chongyuan. If all 31 of them host Deathbane Ghosts, it wouldn't be surprising. Gradually, I began to understand why the Immortality Society wanted the Ghost Burial Squad to come here.
Back then, under the leadership of Old Eccentric, the Ghost Burial Squad had broken free from their previous constraints and started acting on their own, repeatedly getting involved in ghost incidents across society. The Immortality Society surely didn't want this.
I once wondered: if the Immortality Society wanted to investigate everything here, why not send their own members directly, rather than the Ghost Burial Squad? The only explanation is that, for now, the Immortality Society can't enter the Man-Eating Outcast Village.
Now I understood the origin of the name 'Man-Eating Outcast Village.' Once you enter, you become trapped like them, unable to return—forced to repeat January 1, 2000, until your mind and spirit collapse, leaving nothing but a shell.
The scene around me gradually faded away. I found myself in the wheat field on the right side of the village, gazing at the nearly vanished white fragments before me, and reached out a hand.
I don't know what happened to Leo Liu afterward, but at this moment, my resolve was stronger than ever. I have to find all thirty-one of them and end everything in this cursed village.
Slowly, I reached out and grasped the tiny fragment. It continued to fade away in my hand.
"Instinct. Coexistence..."
A black light flared up, enveloping the fragment. It was the power of this world, trying to erase it. Using my Instinct, I severed the fragment's connection to the world, then placed it inside my own body.
"Why did you come here?"
At that moment, a voice sounded behind me—it was Jonas Darong. I smiled without turning around, instead tilting my head to gaze at the sky.
"I've gotten used to being caught up in all sorts of things. I'm not like them, because I'm neither human nor ghost. I've been alone for many years, so this loneliness means nothing to me."
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A cold laugh echoed behind me.
"One day, you'll be just like them. You've already given up your last chance to leave. Ethan Zhang, you can't get out."
I turned my head and smiled.
"Maybe so."
There was nothing behind me. Night fell, and the villagers began gathering around tables, eating and drinking with noisy cheer. I took on the appearance of an ordinary villager, walked over, and joined them.
Time ticked by, and midnight approached. I sat quietly on the rooftop, gazing into the distance, thinking about David Wu—why did he die? Why does anyone who enters die? Why?
I had to figure this out. There were no clocks around me; I could only focus my mind and wait for midnight. When the time came, I had to reach the well immediately.
After a long stretch of concentration, white currents began swirling around me. Deathbane Aura was already leaking from my body.
Suddenly, I was back in the woods, rain crackling in my ears. With a whoosh, I transformed into black mist and instantly appeared at the village's dry well. There, I saw a bizarre glow—black and green light streaming from the well.
The moment I arrived, the glow vanished. I looked into the well and saw David Wu's corpse floating quietly. I went down into the well—everything was the same, his organs had been removed.
Soon, I sensed Leo Liu, Tiger Li, and the others rushing over. I quickly vanished from the well and reappeared atop a distant house.
It was the same—another repeated day. The three of them reacted as always. I pulled out a crumpled, partly burned sheet of paper from my pocket and stared at it. Only the two full pages of records written by Leo Liu still remained.
I recalled the glow I saw just now—what was it? There was no energy within, just pure black and green light. Nothing else seemed amiss in the well.
All I know for sure is that someone from the Immortality Society deliberately sent the Ghost Burial Squad here. As for what orders Old Eccentric received, only he knows. Why thirty-one people? All eight squads of the Ghost Burial Squad came.
The fragment I held contained part of Leo Liu's memory—his personality and image were now firmly etched in my mind. I wondered: was it really just a fragment?
I kept replaying everything Jonas Darong said: no escape, whether human or ghost. After Leo Liu and the others learned of David Wu's death, it took a while for Tiger Li and Mason Zhao to calm down before they left. I flew to the cemetery.
"Maybe I'll end up just like them."
I muttered, my mind full of Leo Liu's memories—how he endured those three torturous years, and what happened afterward, I didn't know.
"Maybe it's a possibility."
Suddenly, the Spirit Snake drifted out from my body. I looked at him in confusion.
"Is what you saw real?"
I stared at the Spirit Snake in shock. His eyes had become diamond-shaped, golden-red pupils silently gazing at me.
"Do you know why thirteen is the number of emperors? There's another meaning."
I nodded, looking at the Spirit Snake as he spoke. In ancient times, when numbers first emerged, there were odd and even numbers. Thirteen is split into one and three—one stands for rebirth, two for destruction. The imperial number is the symbol of rebirth and destruction.
"Maybe everything you see and feel in this world, even what you just saw, might be false."
My eyes widened as the Spirit Snake's body slowly changed, black light swirling around him as he transformed into a giant black python.