Isabelle Frost and I were halfway through our flight when, suddenly, Victor Duan blocked our path.
"You two, it's best not to go searching yet. I've already gone ahead and investigated—there aren't any of the two totems that lunatic remembers. The only strange thing is the refraction of light. The scene in this lake is reflected from another space, but it's not a ghost domain. That's all I can sense for now. But when I followed the light source, I couldn't find where it originated from."
His words made the hope that had flared up in my heart die down again. The three of us slowly descended, landing beside a house near the lake.
It was almost midnight. Many people were gathering by the lake again, holding up their phones, ready to capture the bizarre phenomenon.
"This phenomenon should only happen once every thirteen years, but it occurred fourteen years ago. What exactly is going on?"
I said helplessly, and began telling Victor Duan and Isabelle Frost about Felix Zhou. Right now, the only thing I could think of was that Felix Zhou had handed the booklet recording the names of the missing people to the Ghost Burial Squad.
But what exactly was said in that conversation between Felix Zhou and the village chief?
Isabelle Frost drifted toward the woods, determined not to sit and wait for doom. There wasn’t much time left for us to investigate—if we missed New Year's Day, we'd lose our chance.
"Ethan Zhang, can’t your instincts sense anything either?"
Victor Duan asked, and I shook my head.
Getting that glimpse of what happened fourteen years ago from Daron He’s mind was already difficult enough. Going further would be even harder.
The crowd by the lake began to get noisy. Sure enough, as soon as midnight struck, mist rose from the water, and then the eerie image of the village appeared on the lake’s surface once again. Some people even took boats out to the center of the lake.
In just a few seconds, it was gone again. No matter how many times I saw it, it still felt strange. I couldn’t sense anything, but the vision was right there in front of me.
Feeling a bit restless, I returned to the street. At this hour, the pedestrians couldn’t see me. Some people, already bored with the spectacle, sat at food stalls, chatting and bragging.
People kept passing right through my body. The sensation was extremely strange. I didn’t think much of it and planned to walk to the lakeside and keep pondering, but just then—bang! I bumped into something and almost fell.
There was a person in front of me—I had run into him.
"Sorry..."
I apologized quickly, but suddenly turned my head. A man in a black coat was soon swallowed up by the crowd. Instantly, I soared up, releasing a swarm of ghost threads to search, but I couldn’t find that guy anywhere.
Even though I was a ghost, that guy had bumped into me. I looked all around, but still couldn’t find him. I drifted back and forth through the street several times, but he was nowhere to be seen.
Just as I was about to go back and tell Isabelle Frost and the others, I suddenly turned my head toward the road into the village. There stood the same man. In an instant, I flew over, but the man in the black coat vanished again.
"Here, Ethan Zhang."
A voice called out. I looked up—he was standing on the road. I moved instantly toward him; it was Felix Zhou. I immediately realized he had disappeared again.
"Are you Felix Zhou?"
I shouted. This time, I sensed something. I looked over—Felix Zhou was sitting atop a car, staring at me.
"Oh, you know me? Haha, that's rare—hardly anyone knows my name."
"What exactly is going on here? What happened? Where is the entrance to the man-eating Outcast Village?"
"Wait, wait, Ethan Zhang, you’re asking me so many questions at once—how can I answer them all? Haha. But you—how did you know my name?"
Step by step, I drifted over to Felix Zhou.
"Frank Niu is still looking for you."
I spoke each word carefully, but Felix Zhou looked puzzled and scratched the back of his head.