Paper Figurine

The shrill scream echoed through the night, sounding all the more desolate and horrifying. *Run?* In this grim atmosphere, listening to the shrieks blaring from the Cat King Speaker, Zhang Yuanqing felt his scalp tighten as a chill gripped his heart. He had never expected the speaker to give such a warning. This was by no means good news. Zhang Yuanqing waited in silence for a moment. Seeing that the Cat King Speaker had fallen silent once more, his heart sank, and he slapped it across the front. "Hey, you don't want to stay trapped in this damned place forever either, do you? If you have an idea, spit it out! We have to work together if we want to get out alive." This time, however, the speaker offered no response whatsoever, even when he drew the Bloodthirsty Blade to threaten it. *So its only advice is really to run?* Realizing he would get no reliable intelligence from the Cat King Speaker, Zhang Yuanqing quickly reined in his panic, playing to his strengths as he began to analyze the situation. Reviewing the facts they already knew, he recalled that when the old man brought up the paper figurine, he merely said it would appear during the second watch, offering little detail beyond that. When mentioning the ghost doll, however, the old man had explained that she demanded to play games. *From the look of it, the paper figurine is entirely different from the ghost doll. The doll can be avoided by following specific rules, but with the paper figurine, there are no shortcuts—only brute force.* *The Cat King Speaker told me to run. That alone speaks volumes. This paper figurine might be even more perilous than the ghost doll. But this is a dungeon—if I could run, I'd have run ages ago. Did I really need you to tell me that?* *There's far too little information on the paper figurine. If I want to defeat it, I have to figure out its background first. Good thing I've always been cautious and asked an extra question.* He had asked the old man where the rouge box was. The answer was that it remained in Teacher Xu's house. His next objective was clear: locate Teacher Xu's house and find the rouge box. By then, he should be able to uncover plenty of useful information. *It's been about half an hour since the ghost doll left. There's a two-hour gap between the first watch and the second, which leaves me an hour and a half. The village isn't huge, but it's not tiny either. Tracking down Teacher Xu's house in ninety minutes won't be easy.* Zhang Yuanqing stared out into the deep gloom of the night, pondering for several seconds before an idea struck him. *Devour a villager's spirit to get the answers.* Wang Xiao'er was an important NPC and couldn't be devoured, but surely ordinary villagers were fair game? Leading Corpse No. 1, he picked the nearest stone house and barged straight inside. "Grrr..." Alerted by the disturbance, bloodlust flared in the eyes of the two yin corpses inside the room. Baring fangs and claws, they lunged forward. Corpse No. 1 strode forward, whipping its right leg out to shatter the female yin corpse's head like a melon. Riding the momentum of the kick, its torso spun halfway around, driving its right fist through the male yin corpse's skull with a thunderous blow. Chunks of bone and gory tissue splattered everywhere like rain. The two headless corpses staggered forward a few more steps before crashing to the floor. Pitch-black energy surged from the depths of Zhang Yuanqing's eyes, engulfing his sockets as he devoured the residual spirits within the two yin corpses. Fragments of memory flashed through his mind like broken slides. Sifting through the clutter, he quickly located Teacher Xu's residence. The village schoolteacher lived on the west side of the village in a courtyard beside the stream; he was the most educated man in the settlement. Having pinpointed Teacher Xu's home, Zhang Yuanqing felt no urgent need to rush. Instead, he sat cross-legged on the spot, closing his eyes to rest. In his current physical condition, he was utterly incapable of dealing with unexpected crises. Rather than wandering outside half-broken, it was wiser to seize this time to nurse his wounds and recover his stamina. In the absolute stillness, time seemed to blur. Zhang Yuanqing rested his left fingers against his pulse, using his heartbeat to track the passing minutes. The surrounding Taiyin power was exceptionally dense, nourishing his battered body, mending his fractured bones, and restoring his vigor. After eighteen hundred heartbeats, Zhang Yuanqing opened his eyes. His gaze was bright once more, the weariness completely washed away. His broken bones had knit back together, completely healed, and his stamina had returned to seventy percent of its peak. *Once my stamina reaches about ninety percent, I'll be able to use Howl to the Moon again. Too bad there's no food, or I'd already be at full strength.* Without lingering any longer, he brought Corpse No. 1 along and headed toward the west end of the village. A dozen minutes later, walking along a narrow village path, Zhang Yuanqing caught the cheerful sound of flowing water. Rounding a rammed-earth cottage, he spotted a three-meter-wide brook winding its way between the stone houses. The current was brisk but gentle, splashing with a crisp, rhythmic murmur. Following the stream for several more minutes, he finally arrived outside the small courtyard where Teacher Xu lived. By this point, more than half an hour remained until the second watch. To be safe, Zhang Yuanqing planned to send Corpse No. 1 inside to scout while he stayed outside. Considering that yin corpses lacked night vision, he draped the Yinyang Robe over Corpse No. 1's shoulders. Corpse No. 1 placed both palms against the courtyard gate and shoved soundlessly. With an ear-grating groan from the wooden hinges, the gate swung slowly open. Immune to the terrors lurking in the dark, the yin corpse slipped swiftly into the yard. Times like these always made Zhang Yuanqing grateful for his own foresight. He had begun preparing to refine a yin corpse the moment he reached Level 3. In dangerous, trap-ridden dungeons like this, if his true body had to clear every mine, he might have blown himself up and returned to the Spirit Realm before he even knew what hit him. Crossing the courtyard, Corpse No. 1 pushed open the latticed door of the main house and halted just beyond the threshold, turning its palm upward. *Whoosh!* A fireball flared to life, dispelling the darkness and bathing the room in light. The furnishings of the main house came into view. Directly facing the doorway was a round table flanked by round stools, with scrolls of calligraphy and paintings hanging on the walls. To the left stood a large carved wooden bed draped with gauze curtains, while the right side was occupied by bookshelves and a rectangular writing desk. There was no paper figurine, nor was there a corpse. Presumably, after discovering Teacher Xu was dead, the villagers had already buried his remains. *The paper figurine isn't here. That's a relief.* Zhang Yuanqing exhaled quietly. Stepping over the courtyard threshold, he made sure to pull the outer gate shut behind him, hurried across the yard, and rendezvoused with the yin corpse outside the main room. The paper figurine wasn't like the ghost doll. As long as it possessed a physical body, it couldn't simply ignore physical obstacles. Closing the gate wasn't meant to stop it, but to serve as a warning bell. Man and corpse stepped into the main room and closed the door. Zhang Yuanqing extinguished the fireball, his night vision cutting through the pitch-black darkness. First, he checked the bed, opened several trunks used for storing quilts and clothes, and didn't forget to bend down to peer beneath the frame. Once he confirmed the paper figurine truly wasn't here, he walked over to the desk and examined the items laid out upon it. The first thing that caught his eye was a small, exquisite rouge box. Roughly the size of half a palm and a finger's width in height, it was crafted from silver, consisting of a base and a lid adorned with delicate carvings of auspicious clouds and flowers. Zhang Yuanqing picked up the rouge box. After a few seconds of silence, its item attributes surfaced before his eyes: [Name: Blood Rouge] [Type: Cosmetics] [Function: Spirit Possession, Bloodthirst] [Description: It is said that rouge crafted from the fresh blood of eighty-eight young maidens will never dry out or fade for a thousand years, making it a coveted cosmetic for ladies of the inner chambers. Following its master's death, it was interred as a burial good, lying deep underground for countless ages. Nourished by yin energy, the vengeful spirit trapped within grew increasingly ferocious. Applying the rouge to one's cheeks or lips will invite the vengeful spirit to possess the body. The spirit harbors an insatiable thirst for blood, which can only be appeased through the sacrifice of sufficient essence blood.] [Note 1: If it does not kill others, it will kill you.] [Note 2: Over the subsequent ten minutes, a random bodily function will undergo necrosis.] [Note 3: Among the deceased maidens was a Bewitching Demon. Beware its temptations.] *The rouge box really is an item, and of extraordinary quality at that. Even if it hasn't reached the Saint stage, it's at the pinnacle of Transcendent grade, practically on par with top-tier gear like the Yinyang Robe.* With a thought, Zhang Yuanqing moved to store the rouge box in his inventory. *Ding. This item cannot be collected.* *I knew it wouldn't be that easy...* Zhang Yuanqing muttered inwardly. To his knowledge, every item within the Spirit Realm was unique and did not respawn; once taken, it was gone for good. The Spirit Realm dynamically adjusted a dungeon's difficulty based on the removal or addition of such items. If the rouge box could be taken away, the Demon Lord would have claimed it long ago rather than leaving it behind. Without the paper figurine, the difficulty of Mute Village might have dropped considerably. *Based on Note 3, Teacher Xu must have been tempted by the rouge box. That's why he painted rouge on the paper figurine, inadvertently unleashing the vengeful spirit within and meeting an unnatural death.* Pondering this, Zhang Yuanqing inspected the other items on the desk. There were several books relating to the Ming dynasty, along with a crude, hand-drawn map. The texts were written in classical Chinese. Zhang Yuanqing skimmed through them briefly before tossing them aside, turning his full attention to the map. The parchment outlined simple sketches of houses and mountain peaks, accompanied by a note at the bottom: *Location of ancient tomb: twenty-three li southwest of the rear mountain.* Connecting this with the books at hand, Zhang Yuanqing instantly understood. Teacher Xu had been trying to determine the location of the ancient tomb and deduce the tomb master's identity. Seeing Wang Xiao'er return with treasure, greed had apparently gotten the better of him, prompting him to try striking it rich himself. *Wait, that doesn't add up. Wang Xiao'er and that traveling Taoist wandered the mountains for an entire night before stumbling upon the tomb's entrance. Teacher Xu couldn't have deduced the precise location out of thin air just by sitting at home. He must have pried the information out of Wang Xiao'er when he bought the rouge box...* Zhang Yuanqing promptly pushed that thought aside. How Teacher Xu discovered the tomb's location wasn't important right now. He redirected his focus to the item profile of the Blood Rouge. *According to the old man, Teacher Xu was drained into a withered husk, which matches the rouge's description. Teacher Xu died, but the villagers next door survived. That night, the paper figurine only killed Teacher Xu...* Suddenly, a faint creak echoed from the courtyard, severing Zhang Yuanqing's train of thought. The sound was exceptionally soft, but in the dead of night, any noise was magnified a hundredfold. Zhang Yuanqing jerked his head up toward the door, his entire body stiffening on instinct. *Fuck, it's already the second watch...* Ever since becoming a Night Wanderer, Zhang Yuanqing had rarely felt this brand of scalp-tingling dread. The last time he had experienced it was back in the Mountain God Temple, when he was just an ordinary human clinging to life through sheer survival instinct. Otherwise, the unearthly terrors of the Mountain God Temple would have scared him to death long before. And now, after so long, that same visceral terror had returned. Instead of grabbing his weapons to charge out and wage a desperate battle against the paper figurine, Zhang Yuanqing pulled Corpse No. 1 with him, dashing silently toward the bed and slipping underneath. He pressed a hand against Corpse No. 1's shoulder, entering Night Walk. Night Walk concealed both aura and form; the paper figurine shouldn't be able to detect them. Zhang Yuanqing intended to observe first before deciding whether to retreat or stage an ambush. Just as man and corpse tucked themselves beneath the bed, the main door cracked open a sliver. A foot clad in a red embroidered shoe stepped over the threshold. Then came the other shoe. As it moved, Zhang Yuanqing caught a faint, crisp rustling—the distinct sound of stiff paper rubbing together. *It's the paper figurine!* Having crossed the threshold, the embroidered shoes came to a halt beside the round table, standing there motionlessly for an extended stretch, just like an ordinary paper effigy. Zhang Yuanqing scrutinized the figure, sensing a dense, oppressive aura of yin energy rolling off it—far stronger than that of the ghost doll. He edged forward a few centimeters, widening his field of view to take in the figure's full appearance. The darkness posed no obstacle to a Night Wanderer's sight. Focusing his gaze, he saw it clearly: an effigy crafted from paper, draped in vibrant scarlet garments, resembling a splash of fresh blood frozen in the dark. Its face was pasted from plain white paper, ghastly and pale, yet its cheeks were dabbed with blood-red rouge, its lips painted a deep vermilion. Most unsettling of all were the two crimson gleams burning within its hollow eye sockets. Deathly pallor and vivid scarlet combined upon a lifeless, wooden face—a sight capable of sending chills down anyone's spine. Zhang Yuanqing pulled his head back into hiding. At that moment, the effigy, which had stood frozen for so long, began moving toward the writing desk with an unnatural gait. Its walk was bizarre; its knees seemed incapable of bending, carrying it forward in stiff, mechanical goose-steps. Every stride covered the exact same distance, and every pause lasted the exact same duration. No living human could ever replicate such uncanny precision and regularity. It took over a dozen seconds to cover the four or five meters between the round table and the desk. Finally, it stopped beside the desk, tilting its stiff head downward as if gazing upon the items laid across the wood. *What is it looking at... the desk?!* Zhang Yuanqing's heart skipped a beat. He rapidly replayed his actions, and only let out a silent breath once he confirmed he had returned every item to its exact spot. The paper figurine lingered beside the desk for a brief moment before its rigid knees pivoted, walking straight toward the bed. The tension Zhang Yuanqing had just released tightened once more. *Rustle, rustle...* The paper figurine was light, its footsteps faint and airy. Zhang Yuanqing's gaze remained glued to those embroidered shoes, watching them march forward in stiff, measured steps, drawing closer and closer until they halted right beside the bed. Even in his Night Walk state, Zhang Yuanqing held his breath. Arriving at the bedside, the paper effigy lapsed into another prolonged, motionless vigil. By now, Zhang Yuanqing had barely thirty seconds of Night Walk remaining. And those embroidered shoes were less than fifteen centimeters from his face. Following a suffocating silence, the paper figurine turned stiffly away, its light, rustling footsteps carrying it back toward the door. *It's finally leaving...* Zhang Yuanqing wanted nothing more than to breathe a sigh of relief. Without warning, the paper effigy froze in place, standing motionless with its back to the bed. With his vision partially blocked by the bed frame, Zhang Yuanqing could only see up to its calves; everything above was hidden from sight. *Why did it stop?* Bewilderment flickered in Zhang Yuanqing's mind. Still staring intently at the figure, he then witnessed a horrific sight. Facing away from him, the paper effigy slowly bent its waist, lowering its head to peer underneath the bed from between its own legs. Zhang Yuanqing found himself staring straight into that pale, lifeless face. And the paper figurine was staring right back at him.