Chapter Two: The Midnight Funeral

At 11:45 p.m. on October 31st, Shanming City still blazed with lights; for many, the night was just beginning.

Inside the taxi, Ji Li’s eyes were shrouded in gray as he silently gazed at the fleeting scenes outside the window. Only when the cigarette butt in his hand burned down completely, singeing his fingers, did he snap out of his daze.

There were still a few minutes left to reach the location mentioned in the hotel’s email. Ji Li had departed precisely on time.

Having battled ghosts and spirits countless times, he had become something of an expert. Although the eerie location was clearly identified as Beggar Alley, entering prematurely was strictly forbidden.

Otherwise, he risked provoking an early attack from the spirits before the mission even began—a death trap with no escape.

“I remember now!” broke the silence, the voice belonging to the third personality that had just emerged.

“I’m not Ji Li... my name is Ji Li! I’m hypnotizing a patient—how did I suddenly end up inside your body?”

“Cut the nonsense, Number Three. You’re Ji Li. We’re all Ji Li!” responded the second personality sharply.

“Impossible!”

Ji Li scratched his head in disbelief. The second personality was wild and crude, without any additional memories. The third personality, who had appeared only yesterday, rarely spoke and seemed somewhat unique. But there was no time to ponder now; the taxi slowed to a stop in a deserted alley.

The driver turned his head, grinning. “Brother, this is Beggar Alley.”

Ji Li brushed the ash from his clothes, handed over a bill without asking for change, and stepped out carrying his toolkit.

“Silence. Survive this mission first, then think about what comes next,” the third personality commanded quietly. The second personality fell silent as well.

In the pitch-black alley at midnight, only Ji Li’s footsteps echoed.

The alley was deep and narrow, illuminated faintly by a single streetlamp at its center. On either side, there were no homes—just walls of stacked bricks. It took nearly ten meters of walking to spot a dilapidated, tightly locked wooden door.

Ji Li had never heard of Beggar Alley before. He had researched many alleys but found no legends of hauntings. Seeing the deserted scene now only chilled him further.

This place seemed inherently cursed.

Glancing at his watch, Ji Li noted the time: 11:58 p.m., just two minutes before the spirits would appear.

He had just set down his backpack when he heard raucous laughter behind him.

“Liuzi, you’re really drunk tonight. Can you even find your way home?”

“Hey, I’m way more sober than you. I can still walk straight!”

“Slow down, you two!”

Frowning, Ji Li saw three staggering figures approaching—it was three drunkards.

With only two minutes before the spirits arrived, the entire alley would become a zone of evil. Outsiders causing a disturbance now could jeopardize the mission.

Ji Li’s worry remained hidden; he didn’t intervene but watched as the three drunken men drew nearer.

“Heh, they’re really unlucky, but for us, that’s actually good,” the second personality sneered unexpectedly.

Suddenly, a chill brushed Ji Li’s neck—a cold wind swept by without warning. Sensing something, he spun around sharply.

What he saw now was completely different.

Beneath the dim streetlamp, yellow papers fluttered wildly. A procession of mourners dressed in hemp cloth, faces pale and rigid, carried a coffin slowly toward Ji Li’s position—silent as the grave.

“Did I drink too much? A funeral in the middle of the night?” muttered a corpulent man, frozen in place.

“Liuzi, this is really bad luck! Let’s turn back quickly!” his tall, thin companion said, face paling.

Except for Ji Li, the three drunkards all fled back the way they came. Ji Li watched silently, making no move to stop them.

The mission had begun. None of them could leave this alley.

The funeral procession drew closer. Ji Li listened to their heavy footsteps, fixing his gaze on the coffin.

“How will this ghost manifest itself?”

Not just the coffin—the hemp-clad figures were eerie, each with paper-white faces and unnervingly similar proportions, as if carved from the same mold.

As they closed in, Ji Li pressed his backpack against the wall and held his breath. The lead mourners passed right beside him without a glance.

Ignoring him...

This only deepened Ji Li’s unease. The mission had just started, and he was still in the exploration phase.

He looked at those bearing the white banners up close—he couldn’t hear a single breath.

“Could it be... they’re not human?”

At that moment, the three drunkards returned, sweating profusely, staring dumbfounded at Ji Li mingled with the funeral procession.

“Is this... a ghost encounter? We can’t find the exit at all!” Liuzi, the stout one, shouted anxiously.

Suddenly, the entire procession halted. The coffin bearers dropped the coffin to the ground, all eyes fixed intently on Liuzi.

Ji Li furrowed his brow, sensing that Liuzi’s words had touched something forbidden.

Liuzi almost collapsed, but the tall thin man and the yellow-haired companion quickly steadied him.

“Don’t say anything more!” the tall one said hastily, bowing and apologizing.

After standing still for a long moment, the funeral procession lifted the coffin again and resumed moving forward, ignoring Liuzi and the others as they passed.

“A funeral at midnight...”

The procession was halfway through the alley, seemingly about to leave Beggar Alley.

Liuzi hunched against the wall, shivering uncontrollably. His heart pounded as he watched the puppet-like white-clad figures pass by, fear tightening his throat.

Fortunately, they seemed to ignore him. He wiped his brow and breathed a sigh of relief when the coffin bearers moved past him.

He thought he was safe now.

Yet his eyes remained drawn to the pure black wooden coffin and the pallbearers’ strange demeanor.

Liuzi felt a surge of unease, as if something was terribly wrong. He scratched his head.

Then, a faint sound broke the silence.

His eyes, the size of mung beans, widened in shock. His vision was swallowed instantly, plunging him into utter darkness.

His mouth opened wide, but his throat felt blocked. He barely managed to force out a few words.

“I... I don’t understand...”

Before he could finish, his bulky form vanished into thin air.

When the tall and yellow-haired men reacted, their scalp tingled.

Liuzi had disappeared without a trace right before their eyes, leaving only a scattering of yellow papers where he once stood.