This tall, burly man was named Leo Liu, captain of Ghost Burial Squad Team 1. The man who had died was Mason Zhao, and the one still sobbing was Tiger Li.
Neither of them had many questions about me. At this moment, Leo Liu silently smoked a cigarette. The rain had stopped, and he quietly watched the top of the slope, then glanced at Mason Zhao's lifeless body.
I clenched my fists, watching all of this. None of it should have happened.
"Strange, isn't it? With all that commotion just now, no one from the village came out."
Leo Liu said this, turning to look at me.
"I haven't asked your name yet."
"My name is Ethan Zhang."
I didn't tell them everything. Instead, I said I was friends with Old Eccentric and Hugh Thompson. Leo Liu asked me a few simple questions, and I answered them all. He didn't press further.
After finishing his cigarette, Leo Liu reached behind his waist and pulled out something. My eyes widened in surprise—was that a beeper? Then he rummaged through his backpack and took out a bulky, black cell phone. I was stunned; these were relics from more than a decade ago.
"No good—there's no signal at all. We can't contact anyone."
"What time is it now?"
I suddenly asked. Leo Liu glanced at the beeper, its screen glowing faintly. I was stunned—the date and time read: night of January 1, 2000.
"Is it really the year 2000?"
I asked immediately. Leo Liu looked at me, puzzled.
"Yeah, it's the millennium. The city was supposed to have a huge celebration tonight. We were all set to go party together, but..."
Then Leo Liu told me that all eight squads of the Ghost Burial Squad—thirty-one people in total—had come here and been investigating for half a month. They finally discovered that it was blood; something strange, possibly the entrance to a Blue Wraith's Shadow Realm, would react with the blood of Harmony Village's residents.
Then, at midnight on January 1st, they managed to enter this outcast village. Before that, everyone had been preparing for the New Year's Festival, half at rest, when suddenly an urgent order came down—they were to investigate the man-eating Outcast Village immediately.
This rumor had been passed down in Harmony Village for generations. At first, they all thought it was just a legend, but after a week of investigation, the missing persons list and the presence of a mad, foolish boy in the village convinced them it was real. That's when the large-scale investigation began.
They finally managed to enter the outcast village, but once inside, the other teams' members were nowhere to be found—only the three of them remained. David Wu, who had died earlier, must have perished within minutes of entering.
Just then, a faint yellow light appeared above. With a whoosh, I floated upward—it was the old man who had just opened the door for the three Ghost Burial Squad members.
The sound of drums and gongs rang out. Suddenly, every house lit up. Many villagers came out, bleary-eyed, but when they saw the corpses, none of them seemed surprised.
"Sigh, why do outsiders have to come here at this time of year?"
An old man, dressed in a thin shirt with a head of white hair, walked over. Beside him was someone I thought I’d seen before, around forty years old.
The village chief, Frank Lin, had come out. Leo Liu immediately approached him.
"Chief, when did you come here?"
Leo Liu asked. The chief replied that he had grown up here since childhood.
We soon learned that every January 1st, someone in this village dies. They say some deity needs a sacrifice, so villagers are killed, and the victim is different each year.
The chief said we were outsiders and just had to accept our bad luck. The villagers gradually returned home; a few strong young men helped move the two bodies to the cemetery.
After everything was dealt with, it was already 4 a.m. Leo Liu and Tiger Li sat silently by the well, lost in thought. I watched them, having already checked the area—there were no powerful ghosts here. But no one could leave, not even me.
With a sudden rush, the Spirit Snake emerged from my body.
"I'm counting on you. Stay here—if anything happens, I'll come back right away."
I planned to cross the river and check out the temple.
After crossing the river, I arrived at a small temple built from earth and stone. It had no door, and inside was the tribal totem I'd seen before—red, yellow, and black intertwined.
I searched carefully for a while but found nothing unusual. Then I looked at the mountains behind the temple and flew over.
After a long while, I glanced back—the village was nearly out of sight. Before me, endless mountains stretched on in the darkness, with no end in sight.
After half an hour, I returned and saw Leo Liu and Tiger Li, both still deeply troubled. I explained the situation to them.
Both were exhausted. They went to the old man's house—the one who'd opened the door for them—and slept. I began a thorough investigation of the village.
Aside from being unable to leave, there was nothing unusual in the village.
Early the next morning, someone set off firecrackers in the center of the village—a festive scene. As for last night's deaths, the villagers seemed completely unconcerned.
The villagers invited Leo Liu and Tiger Li to join the New Year's Festival.
Every household strung up lanterns and decorations, brought out chairs and stools, and started cooking. Before long, a long banquet table stretched down the street, and every villager gathered at the top of the village to eat and drink together.
The whole day passed without anything strange happening. Leo Liu and I talked it over—aside from being unable to leave, nothing seemed out of the ordinary in the village. We asked the villagers, but they just looked at us in confusion, not understanding what we meant by 'can't leave.'
It was all very strange. Some villagers even said they’d be heading to the county in a few days to buy supplies. There was nothing to do but wait. As night fell, the celebration in the village continued.
It wasn’t until ten o’clock that the banquet finally ended. Leo Liu and Tiger Li went off to sleep, both drunk and soon snoring heavily.
Darkness settled over the village again. I crouched quietly on the rooftop, watching it all unfold, a sense of helplessness weighing on my heart.
Time slipped by, minute after minute. Suddenly, I saw a white mist rising from the ground across the village. Soon, the leftovers from the banquet began to fade and disappear. Stunned, I hurried down.
Out of nowhere, my mind grew fuzzy, and I slowly lost consciousness.
When I opened my eyes, I found myself in a forest, with rain pouring down in sheets. I saw three people—Leo Liu, Tiger Li, and Mason Zhao—just arriving. Looking at their uniforms, I realized they were from the Ghost Burial Squad.
"Hey, what's the situation? Where are the others from the other teams?"
Leo Liu called out, his voice barely audible over the downpour.
"Brother Liu, what about the other teams? We came in together, so how did we end up here and they're gone?"
Tiger Li spoke, while Mason Zhao stood silent, watching it all unfold.
Suddenly, my head buzzed. I stared at the three of them, confused—how did I know their names? Yet deep down, their names felt familiar, as if I’d always known them.
The three walked toward me, seemingly planning to leave the village. I darted deeper into the woods and floated up a little. Oddly, the image of this village in my mind was so clear, so familiar, even though it was my first time here.
Just then, I saw Leo Liu and the others—though they'd walked out along the village road, their figures vanished, only to reappear suddenly at the entrance. Then, they went up to a house and knocked. After a long wait, an old man opened the door, holding an oil lamp.
"Who is it? It's so late."
"Excuse me, sir, could you tell us where we are? We’re just passing through."
Tiger Li asked. I grew even more confused—everything before me felt eerily familiar.
I watched as the three Ghost Burial Squad members entered the house. It was late, and I remained in the woods, my thoughts a tangled mess.
"What’s happened? And where did Miss Yi go?"
Just then, I sensed a surge of ghostly energy from afar. Judging by the aura, it was a Blue Wraith. I shot into the air.
A ball of green light rose from the center of the village, drifting toward the cemetery.
With a rush, I reached the village center. There was a dry well, and as I approached, I saw a corpse inside. I was stunned—it was David Wu.
How do I know his name?
I used ghostly energy to gently lift the corpse.
Damn.
Suddenly, a roar sounded behind me. The three Ghost Burial Squad members glared at me, their eyes full of fury.
In an instant, the three coordinated their spells—flames surged toward me. With a flick of my hand, I scattered the fire.
"Wait, you three, this isn’t my doing—I’m..."
But before I could finish, spell after spell, each glowing with light, crashed down on me.
"Listen to me."
I looked at the three Ghost Burial Squad members, now bound by my ghostly energy. They glared at me, hate burning in their eyes.
"Hmph, since we can't beat you, just kill us already."
Leo Liu roared. I pressed a hand to my forehead, my mind a jumble. For some reason, all of this felt so familiar, as if I’d seen it somewhere before.