Chapter 1094: Chapter 1060: Sanyuan Paper Shop

Taiping Ancient Town seems not so peaceful.

Yang Jian entered a street that didn’t exist in reality and returned the previous mask, but the unmanned stall oddly returned him a three-yuan note.

This three-yuan note doesn’t belong to any era’s currency, and from the color and style, it looks like counterfeit money produced by a small workshop. However, this note counts as a supernatural item. The only thing puzzling him is what the difference is between the three-yuan note and the seven-yuan note.

Is it merely the different denominations?

Yang Jian explored that street, but Leuk San’s paper man stopped in front of a temple in Taiping Ancient Town.

An old man with an enamel teacup, slightly hunchbacked, and about sixty years old with one eye halted Leuk San’s approach.

Leuk San was wary at that moment, observing this person. Although at first glance, this person appears plain and ordinary, upon closer inspection, he exudes an unusual eerie feeling.

“Ghost handler?” After a brief hesitation, he immediately asked.

The hunchbacked old man inside the temple said, holding the enamel teacup, “The temple in Taiping Town is not a place for someone who’s dead to set foot. Don’t ask too many questions. Return from where you came.”

“Your place is haunted. I represent the headquarters for investigation. Do you know about Ghost Lake? Zhongzhou City has been closed off due to this, and many have died.” Leuk San stood at the temple’s entrance, not daring to enter lightly.

He was inquiring and investigating the situation here.

“Every year, there are ghosts outside, every year people die. This isn’t something I can manage. I’m just the temple keeper, I don’t know much.” The hunchbacked old man had a bad temper and responded impatiently.

“Taiping Town’s Ghost Lake? The origin seems to come from here. You must know about this.”

Leuk San continued, “Several of my colleagues have already started investigating the ancient town. If you, elder, have any clues, I hope you can tell me. Resolving this supernatural incident quickly will restore peace to this town, and people like me won’t come here again. How do you think about this?”

He couldn’t fathom this person’s background, so he inquired rather politely and patiently.

“I say I don’t know, then I don’t know.”

The hunchbacked old man took a few steps, glaring with some anger, “Talking to someone who’s dead like you feels unlucky, hurry up and leave. If you don’t leave, I’ll make sure you can’t even be a dead person.”

Leuk San’s face remained that waxy yellow, eerie look, but his gaze became somber. He had had enough patience with this person. Although he couldn’t figure out the one-eyed old man’s details, he assumed he was just a ghost handler who gained supernatural power. Even if it came down to a fight, he was confident to handle it.

“We were ordered from above to investigate the situation here. Hope you can cooperate. This temple has something odd about it. I need to go inside and take a look. If you indeed want to make a move, you better think it over. Outside are my colleagues, and even if you can take us down, headquarters will send others over. Then the situation won’t be like it is now.”

“If you cooperate with me, then nothing will happen.”

His words carried a hint of threat, telling the old man he wasn’t alone but part of a group, along with the support of headquarters, not just some unknown amateur.

The hunchbacked old man’s pale, single eye fixed on Leuk San.

The atmosphere turned somewhat heavy.

“I never believed the words of the dead. If you want to come in, just come in.” The old man spoke very straightforwardly, but his attitude was apparent.

As long as Leuk San dared to enter the temple, the outcome would certainly be bad.

“Since that’s the case, I won’t be courteous.” Leuk San was bold, unafraid.

He really stepped through the door, entering the temple.

At the same time.

Behind him accompanied several footfalls; two more Leuk San appeared, standing on either side not far from the temple, eyes fixed on every move here.

The Leuk San inside the temple was just a paper man used for scouting, ready to vanish inside the temple.

“Bang!”

Just as Leuk San’s front foot entered the temple, he hadn’t taken two steps, the heavy temple door slammed shut with a huge crash.

The surrounding light dimmed abruptly.

In the temple’s main hall, smoke was swirling around. Vaguely, where the smoke drifted, several figures appeared, standing in ranks like spirit tablets, male and female, dressed in very old attire, not from this era.

And eerily.

Figures only appeared where smoke drifted. Places not covered by smoke were still normal.

The smoke quickly dissipated.

Everything reverted to its original state, the spirit tablets remained unchanged inside the temple.

But Leuk San witnessed the terrifying scene.

He slightly widened his eyes at the moment, looking extremely shocked.

“What were those? Ghosts? Or supernatural images?” Leuk San quickly speculated in his mind.

However, the one-eyed old man indulged in anger, holding his enamel teacup, stomped over.

Hostility was palpable.

“Want to fight? Do you think you can take me down?” Leuk San collected his thoughts, coldly snorting at the one-eyed old man.

As a Captain Level ghost handler, he feared no one; even Yang Jian was merely a threat to him. In an actual fight, he was confident of risking it all against any Captain Level task, and in the end, the one surviving would be him, Leuk San.

However.

Outside the temple.

The two paper men Leuk San stood there but frowned.

Because they couldn’t feel the connection with the paper man inside the temple.

The heavy wooden door seemed like it isolated everything; inside matters were entirely unknown to them. Normally, anything happening to one paper man should be known by other paper men, so memories and supernatural occurrences should be shared.

Time passed gradually.

“Creak!”

About two minutes later.

The temple’s wooden door opened slowly.

One of the two paper men, Leuk San quickly approached, attempting to probe what was inside.

The temple was still the same.

Nothing had changed.

The one-eyed old man, however, somehow moved a small wooden stool, sitting before the ranks of spirit tablets, burning paper.

Stacks of waxy, like sheets of human skin yellow paper were thrown into the brazier.

The firelight cast on the wrinkled, dry face of the one-eyed old man.

The pale eye rotated at an impossible angle, casting towards the door where the two paper men Leuk San were.

“…”

The two paper men Leuk San glanced at the thick yellow paper in the man’s hands and fell silent.

At the same time.

In another location in the ancient town.

Shen Lin, Li Jun, and Ah Hong searched together, quickly pinpointing the point where Ghost Lake connects to reality in this not-so-large Taiping Ancient Town.

It was a small river flowing through the ancient town, beside which was a dock, seemingly quite old.

The stone slabs near the dock were worn smooth, evidence that it used to be very bustling, with frequent boats passing, used for travel and transporting goods.

But now.

It was abandoned here.

Weeds grew all around; occasionally, townspeople came here to wash clothes.

“There’s no mistake. This is the connection point between Ghost Lake and reality, everything started from here. Just follow this river continuously forward to enter Ghost Lake.” Shen Lin recalled, confirmed accurately.

The supernatural follows this river down, passing Zhongzhou City.

Thus, the Ghost Lake incident occurred in Zhongzhou City.

To enter Ghost Lake, one must follow this source downstream to gradually be consumed by the supernatural, leading to that eerie domain.

“Inform Yang Jian and Leuk San to come, get ready to enter Ghost Lake.” Li Jun immediately said.

“No rush.”

Shen Lin said, “Finding the way is one thing, but figuring out how to enter is crucial. If we just walk straight in, we’ll sink into Ghost Lake, and Leuk San’s experience will repeat with us. No one has the confidence to survive in that place.”

“We need transportation, preferably a boat, a boat that won’t sink in Ghost Lake.”

Li Jun said, “It’s impossible for that thing to exist. The Ghost Lake is supernatural, all boats will sink, it’s a supernatural construct rather than a real lake.”

The Ghost Lake is just one form of supernatural manifestation, not a real lake.

So there’s no way for a boat to float on the Ghost Lake.

“If the Ghost Lake isn’t a real lake, then the boat isn’t a real boat either,” Shen Lin said.

“Shen Lin, what do you know?” Ah Hong couldn’t help but ask.

Li Jun also stared at Shen Lin, “What are you hiding?”

Shen Lin said, “At midnight, there will be a small black wooden boat at this ferry, that’s all the information I have. I speculate it’s the key to entering the Ghost Lake.”

“Where did you get your information?” Li Jun asked.

“I infiltrated the Ghost Slave within the Ghost Lake and stole some information from the ghosts. Among the information was a small black boat flowing from this small town at night, with a coffin placed on it…” Shen Lin squinted his eyes and said, “It’s a terrifying picture, I dare not continue to peer, or danger may approach.”

Li Jun stared at him, “If the boat doesn’t appear, we’ll waste half a day for nothing.”

“It will definitely appear,” Shen Lin said seriously.

“Ah Hong, what do you think?” Li Jun turned to ask.

Ah Hong said, “I think we should wait, at least it’s an opportunity. Besides, I’ve tried before; the water infused with supernatural power can sink everything. We have no foothold when entering the Ghost Lake. Although the Ghost Domain can isolate it, if supernatural interference occurs and the Ghost Domain disappears, we’ll all fall into the lake and drown.”

“This is an S-level supernatural event, everything must be stable. We are now four Captain Level teaming up. If we lose this time, you know the consequences.”

Yes.

Li Jun understood,

This time headquarters has bet on four captains. Including the missing Cao Yang and Silver, six captains are involved in the Ghost Lake incident. If anything else goes wrong, the headquarters is finished.

“Wait.”

“Move at midnight,” Li Jun immediately made a decisive decision.

At this moment.

On the street of the nonexistent ancient town.

“Humans have medicine for sickness, how do ghosts deal with illness?”

Yang Jian’s expression shifted slightly; he stood in front of an old shop, where two signs were hung at the store’s entrance, inscribed with two lines of words.

“This is a pharmacy, but it’s closed. Seems like it hasn’t been in business for a long time.”

Upon seeing this pharmacy, he didn’t know why a different memory appeared in his mind which wasn’t his own but a memory he stole inside the Ghost Post Office.

In that memory, it was also a traditional Chinese pharmacy.

He only knew the location of that pharmacy, but the memory of that pharmacy owner was vague.

A ghost handler facing ghostly revival entered that pharmacy, and the situation of ghost revival improved.

In the Ghost Post Office, several messengers on the fifth floor had received treatment from that pharmacy in the past.

“It should be… the same one.” Yang Jian earnestly recalled that vague memory and finally hesitantly confirmed.

The pharmacy in the memory and this drugstore are the same.

But the pharmacy in Taiping Ancient Town is closed, while the one outside is still open.

“This place is very mysterious. Surely, some ghost handlers from the Republic of China Period gathered here before. They lingered, lived, and even left their traces here.” Yang Jian retracted his gaze and continued walking forward.

Ahead was a paper crafts shop.

At the entrance stood two paper figurines, one black and one white, one male and one female.

“Paper figurines again?” Yang Jian stopped and glanced over.

The shop’s door was open, but inside was empty, yet filled with many paper figurines, some very beautiful women, paper tables, paper houses… There weren’t many goods, some areas were empty, seeming like they were previously purchased.

“No paper sedan chair.”

Yang Jian mused for a moment, his thoughts connected to the paper sedan that suddenly took Chen Qiaoyang in Dadong City.

The style and design were somewhat similar to those in this shop.

“Let’s go in and take a look.”

He entered the shop.

Inside, there were no windows or lights; only the light from the door lit inside, making it seem dim and chilly.

The shop was larger than imagined.

Inside, various paper figurines and paper items were displayed.

“Perhaps Leuk San would be interested in this shop,” Yang Jian stared at the paper-made items.

Ghost eye peering.

Everything seemed normal, yet everything seemed abnormal.

There was an inexplicable feeling.

It seemed.

A certain terrifying supernatural presence was confined within each paper figurine and paper-made item.

The confinement was so tight that everything appeared so normal.

But if the confinement were released, all terrifying things would unfold.

“No wonder ordinary people rush to leave after wandering to the mask stall. It’s so eerie and peculiar here, and silent, no one dares to linger.” Yang Jian thought internally.

This street is desolate, selling masks, and paper figurines; who’s bold enough to stroll leisurely?

“Shouldn’t stay too long, time to leave.” Yang Jian’s curiosity drove him to probe, and after looking around, he intended to leave.

“Buy one, it’s cheap, only three dollars.” But just as he was about to turn and leave.

A peddling voice eerily echoed beside his ears.

The boss in the paper crafts shop seemed to be soliciting business.

Yang Jian’s steps halted, he looked around, but still saw nothing.

Perhaps a paper figurine opened its mouth to speak, or maybe a vengeful spirit or ghost was lingering in the dim, cold paper crafts shop.

“Buy one, choose one for three dollars.”

The voice didn’t stop, it continued to echo, and the more Yang Jian walked out, the more urgent the hawking voice grew as though someone was perched on your shoulder, coaxing you by your ear.

It sends shivers down your spine.

The most haunting part was.

When he reached the shop’s entrance, he suddenly discovered.

Previously standing next to the paper crafts shop, those two black and white paper figurines were somehow standing side by side in the middle of the doorway, their stiff, painted faces directed towards Yang Jian, as if blocking his way.

“What, trying to force a sale?”

Yang Jian’s gaze turned grim, his hand tightly gripping the cracked long spear in his hand.

“Choose one for three dollars, it’s very cheap now, previously sold for nine dollars each.” In the dimly lit shop, the eerie voice continued to echo.

This voice was only heard by Yang Jian, others seemed unable to hear.

“Not only the paper figurines at the shop’s entrance, other anomalies are appearing too.” Yang Jian ignored the voice and used a ghost eye to observe the surroundings.

He discovered a beautiful paper figurine had moved two meters forward from the paper figurine pile next to it, and then was eerily standing there, as if trying to tell Yang Jian to buy it.

There were also other paper items, starting to relocate, completely different from their previous placement.

“What kind of place is this exactly?” Yang Jian turned his head, his heart particularly heavy.

After a brief contemplation.

He made a decision and fished out the green three-dollar note from his pocket.

Spending money for peace of mind.

Better not clash with the ghostly presences on this ancient street.

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