1
My name is Hạ Hầu Thu, and I’m a Psychic Master.
I’m also considered an off-the-books employee of the Supernatural Affairs Bureau.
Not long ago, my friend at the Bureau, Đường Hành, said he had to go on a business trip to find someone. But more than half a month had passed, and he still hadn’t sent back a single word.
Finally, the day before yesterday, I got a call from Đường Hành. The signal was terrible, and his voice kept cutting out. “Hạ… Miss Hạ Hầu… under attack… Village A… everyone’s dead…”
“Đường Hành? Đường Hành?!”
The call disconnected. No matter how many times I tried calling back, I couldn’t get through.
Đường Hành used a specialized phone issued by the Supernatural Affairs Bureau. Short of an inhuman force, nothing could cut off its signal.
Everyone was worried and kept coming to ask me what we should do.
I crunched the candy in my mouth and said calmly, “All I heard on the phone was the name Village A. I thought he meant City A. This isn’t some CEO romance novel—how am I supposed to find someone when we don’t even have a specific place name?”
Seeing how dejected everyone looked, I reassured them. “Don’t worry. Before that guy left, I gave him a soul-keeping incense stick. As long as the incense is still burning, he’s alive. Go back to the Bureau and file a request to see the mission records. We need to at least find out where Đường Hành went.”
After everyone left, I picked up the duck by its legs and shook it. “Didn’t you say you could find the other evil artifacts? What are you playing dead for?”
It looked completely lifeless, so sleepy it could barely keep its eyes open. “Cheep, cheep…”
Translation: “Dear, I’ve swallowed three evil artifacts. I need to sleep so I can digest them. The next evil artifact is in… Village A…”
“Village A again? Where is Village A, anyway? Hey!”
I shook it wildly. “Wake up! Come on!”
The duck’s fiery red forelock shot straight up. It pointed at my phone, then passed out completely.
I opened my phone, and a livestream popped up right away.
The streamer was named A Xá. She was a little girl.
The comments in the livestream weren’t very friendly. A Xá’s voice was already shaking with tears. “I’m really not lying to you. I’ve always attracted strange things ever since I was little. You’re bound to see ghosts on my livestream. Don’t leave—they’re about to show up.”
To keep her viewers watching, A Xá shut her eyes, gritted her teeth, and stepped forward.
After a while, the screen suddenly went black.
[Just as I thought—she’s faking it. This girl’s production skills are terrible.]
[She covered the camera. Is she going to have a fake ghost jump out and scare us in a minute?]
[Boring.]
[What’s going on? Turn the camera back on, or I’m reporting you!]
I frowned slightly. Looking at A Xá’s face, I could tell she had the Yin-Si Fate. She might really have been telling the truth about often encountering ghosts. And I doubted she had covered the camera herself.
As I was thinking this, the livestream suddenly came back.
But the scene had changed from an abandoned hospital to a desolate village.
“W-where… where is this?”
A Xá was clearly terrified.
[She shouldn’t be livestreaming. She should be acting in movies instead.]
[You changed the backdrop, so do something. Even if it’s fake, give us something. I’ve been sitting here forever—there should at least be a fake ghost by now, right?]
A Xá’s voice trembled. “Everyone, I really am not lying to you. A moment ago, a black fog suddenly blocked my view. When I opened my eyes, I wasn’t in the abandoned hospital anymore. I don’t know where this is, either.”
I froze as I watched the livestream.
2
A Xá was standing at the entrance to a village. The sign read “Ai Thôn.”
On the other side of the sign, the village was packed with skeletal ghosts. They smelled fresh blood and flesh, and opened their mouths hungrily, eager to swallow the girl in front of them whole.
But someone had set up a barrier, keeping the ghosts from leaving the village.
A Xá was only a few millimeters away from them!
If she took even one more step, ghostly claws would pierce her head.
[STOP!]
I hurriedly sent a comment.
Luckily, A Xá saw it.
Then I requested to join her livestream by video.
“Take one more step and you’ll die.”
A Xá jumped. Panic filled her wide, round eyes. “M-Miss, what should I do?”
“Step back.”
I turned on my camera, revealing my face.
When A Xá saw me, she froze.
“You…”
I knew I had the face of an eight-year-old child and didn’t look very convincing, but in reality, I’d lived for more than a thousand years.
“A Xá, there’s no time to explain. If you want to live, follow my hand movements and recite this incantation.”
“Okay.”
“May heaven and earth be purified and all things at peace. I beseech the Earth God in the Qian position to protect me!”
Only Psychic Masters could perform techniques to summon gods and spirits. But A Xá had the Yin-Si Fate. Following my instructions, she couldn’t make the gods or spirits appear in person, but she could borrow a little of their golden protective light.
When it was done, a faint layer of light covered A Xá, though ordinary people couldn’t see it with the naked eye.
“Thank you, Little Master! I feel so much warmer!”
Unfortunately, the viewers couldn’t see or feel anything, so they all started cursing.
[I waited all this time just to see that?]
[Where did that kid who joined the call come from? Doesn’t this girl know child labor is illegal? She didn’t even bother to be discreet about finding an accomplice.]
[I’m dying laughing. Your crew must’ve put a lot of work into this set, huh? How about I rent it from you and open an escape room?]
A Xá lowered her head in embarrassment.
Just then, a colleague at the Supernatural Affairs Bureau sent me a file.
It was about the Village A that Đường Hành had led a team to.
But according to the file, Village A had a different name. The sign read “Thần Miếu Thôn.”
And the photograph of Thần Miếu Thôn matched the Ai Thôn where A Xá was standing.
An Mạn sent me a message: [Miss Hạ Hầu, Brother Đường went to Thần Miếu Thôn on assignment from the chairman of the Hứa Group. The Hứa family’s daughter was kidnapped. Thần Miếu Thôn is a cannibal village that preys on girls seven or eight years old, like Hứa Ngôn Ngôn.]
I asked: [Are you sure it’s Thần Miếu Thôn?]
An Mạn: [The Bureau’s files have all been verified multiple times. They can’t be wrong. It’s just that this village has been around for a long time, so we don’t know if it had this name in the past.]
I stared gravely at the livestream.
If the village was now called Thần Miếu Thôn, then what point in time was A Xá in?
She gave an embarrassed laugh. “Little Master, why are you looking at me like that?”
“A Xá, listen. You may have entered an anomalous space—which means you’re not in the year 2025 anymore.”
A Xá went deathly pale. “What?”
“Don’t be afraid. You have the Earth God’s golden light, so ordinary ghosts and spirits can’t hurt you.”
The young girl was on the verge of tears. “Then how do I get out?”
“Enter the situation and break through it to escape.”
A Xá took several deep breaths, steadied herself, and regulated her breathing. “Okay. I believe you!”
Then she slowly walked into the village.
The moment she crossed the village gate, the shrieks of little demons rang out deafeningly, and bloody handprints slowly appeared on the screen.
Luckily, A Xá had the Yin-Si Fate. Since she was the one streaming, the ghostly energy couldn’t cut off the livestream.
[Wait, what? It suddenly got this intense? Is she finally trying to scare us?]
[These effects… Actually, not bad.]
[Such tiny, cute hands. Auntie wants to hold them.]
[Hold what? You’ll only get her hurt.]
By now, A Xá was too distracted to pay attention to the comments. She kept asking me, “Little Master, what should I do next?”
“I need to know exactly where Ai Thôn is, then go to the present-day Ai Thôn and deal with what’s inside. Once that’s done, the anomalous space will disappear on its own. So, A Xá, listen carefully. Look around for a tree so big it would take ten people holding hands to circle its trunk.”
A Xá moved forward with the camera in hand. The fog in the village grew thicker and thicker until she could see only ten or twelve feet ahead.
[Oh my God! That’s a ton of fog machine smoke. She really spared no expense.]
[Am I imagining it, or are the vines on the ground moving?]
[Holy crap, can you guys hear that laughter?]
The viewers weren’t hearing things. Children’s laughter really was echoing around A Xá.
Amid the thick fog, clear childlike voices rang out one after another.
A Xá’s hand shook as she held the camera.