Chapter 1: DisappearanceIn the eighth month, on the day of Gengshen, a star fell north of Taiwei.

  Entering Gui, vioting accumuted corpses!

  Jiangbei Province.

  Hanshui City.

  The south wind swept up dark clouds, surging northward like a tide.

  The sudden rain arrived as expected.

  At the bus stop in front of the city hospital, the rain hammered on umbrels, creating a hazy, blue mist.

  The waiting shelter was packed with people. A young man, around 1.75 meters tall, with dark circles under his eyes and delicate features, stood absently in the crowd, his mind still repying the scene from earlier.

  "Doctor, my tinnitus is getting worse."

  "We've checked your ears, there's nothing physically wrong. What are you feeling?"

  "I always hear a group of people whispering in my ears, but I can't make out what they're saying."

  "Hmm... given your situation, have you considered going to the seventh floor, to the psychiatric department?"

  Jiang You was twenty-five years old and worked for an internet company. His tinnitus had started two years ago, initially just faint sounds that he dismissed as stress-reted. But over the years, the whispering had grown louder, recently affecting his sleep so badly that he had to take time off work to see a doctor. The diagnosis: a mental issue!

  Jiang You smiled bitterly. How could he possibly afford the exorbitant treatment costs? He might as well give up.

  "Honk! Honk!"

  The bus's horn interrupted Jiang You's thoughts. The crowd surged towards the boarding door. He fought his way to a seat and sat down.

  The air in the bus was stuffy, and Jiang You felt a tightness in his chest. He opened the window, letting in the damp, cold air.

  Suddenly, his brow furrowed. "Damn it! It's happening again."

  The tinnitus attacks were becoming more frequent. Jiang You could only hear a chorus of murmurs in his ears, the voices sometimes sharp, sometimes low, like ants crawling from his ear canal upwards, all the way into his brain.

  He put on his headphones, cranked the music volume to the maximum, and closed his eyes.

  Livin' easy, lovin' free, season ticket, on a one-way ride

  (Simple life, unconstrained love, I'm riding on a one-way train)

  Don't need reason, don't need rhyme, Ain't nothing I'd rather do

  (No need for reason, no need for rhyme, I don't want to do anything else)

  Goin' down, party time, My friends are gonna be there too

  (Going forward, to the party, my friends are all there)

  I'm on the highway to hell!

  (I'm driving on the highway to hell!)

  The violent rock music drowned out the whispers in his ears, giving him a moment of relief.

  The bus bumped along, and Jiang You unknowingly fell asleep.

  Having been sleep-deprived for days, Jiang You slept soundly, until a gust of cold wind woke him.

  He opened his sleepy eyes, pulled his clothes tighter, and checked the time on his phone. "7:30 PM."

  "Damn it, I've missed my stop!"

  He quickly pulled off his headphones and stood up. As he looked up, his eyelids twitched.

  The bus had, at some point, stalled. He was the only one left inside. The seats and floor were covered in a thick yer of dust, as if the bus had been abandoned for a long time. A rotten smell filled his nostrils.

  "What's going on?"

  His heart began to race. He quickly got off the bus, the floorboards groaning under his weight.

  This was the city center, lined with skyscrapers, the most prosperous area of Hanshui City. Yet now, it was incredibly quiet! The usually bustling and vibrant streets were eerily empty, not a single person in sight.

  Even more bizarrely, the exteriors of the buildings were incredibly dipidated, covered in bck moss and thick dust. The entire city was shrouded in a grey fog. The neon lights in the distance flickered weakly through the mist, emitting a blood-red glow. The storefronts along the street were filled with cobwebs, casting an indigo light outwards.

  Jiang You stood on the city street, stunned by the scene before him. He raised his hand to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead, his voice trembling, "Hello! Is anyone there!"

  The fog swirled, and his voice echoed between the buildings.

  "I just took a nap, and everyone in the entire city disappeared?"

  He looked down, his hands involuntarily trembling slightly.

  Suddenly, Jiang You noticed something was wrong!

  He pulled up the sleeve of his left arm. A chill ran through him. On his forearm, a line of numbers, seemingly written in blood, was constantly pulsating! He rubbed his arm vigorously, but couldn't erase it.

  "00:59:58"

  "00:59:57"

  "00:59:56"

  "This is... a countdown?"

  "What's happening?"

  Countless questions made Jiang You dizzy. He stared at the countdown on his arm, feeling his blood tremble with each fshing number. A sense of inexplicable urgency arose, making him anxious. It felt as if something incredible would happen after an hour.

  He walked惶恐(huángkǒng – fearfully, with trepidation) along the street. Although he didn't know what would happen after an hour, no matter what it was, he could only rely on himself at this moment.

  The blue light emanating from the shop windows on either side made his complexion look terrible. The fog in the city gradually thickened, reducing visibility.

  He turned a corner, and a bck, ancient temple shrouded in grey mist suddenly came into view!

  The enormous bck temple was perched in the middle of the road.

  Its eaves were high and upturned, and below was a mottled, vermilion gate, with walls of green brick on either side.

  The temple sat on a huge foundation made of white marble. The railings on both sides were carved with intricate patterns, and behind it was a churning mass of grey fog.

  Eerie and sinister!

  And behind the temple, there was surprisingly a wilderness. The asphalt road seemed to have been cut off, repced by a dirt country road. The sides were overgrown with weeds, and withered, gnarled bck trees cast ghostly shadows. In the distance, a vilge could vaguely be seen, with lights flickering.

  Jiang You stood frozen for a moment before snapping back to reality.

  "There's definitely something wrong with this temple!"

  He bypassed the temple and walked onto the dirt road, wanting to see what was in the vilge. Perhaps the key to the countdown was there?

  He had only walked for about five minutes.

  "Huh? What's this..."

  Something was fluttering down from the sky. Jiang You reached out his hand and saw a piece of grey ash nd on his palm.

  The smell of burning paper wafted from afar.

  "This is the ash from burning paper money for the dead!"

  Jiang You was shocked. Then, he heard the faint sound of suona (a traditional Chinese double-reed horn) coming from the fog ahead.

  The hairs on his body immediately stood on end. His brain screamed, and his biological instincts wildly warned him, "Run!"

  Jiang You immediately obeyed his instincts and took off running. Unfortunately, his body betrayed him. The more he ran, the weaker his legs became. After only three or four hundred meters, he fell to the ground. The sound of the suona grew louder and louder, its shrill sound piercing the sky.

  Jiang You looked back. From the thick fog in the distance, shadowy and eerie figures emerged.

  He couldn't outrun them.

  Jiang You quickly made a judgment. Looking up, he realized he had fallen right at the steps of the ancient temple.

  "Is this a coincidence, or..."

  Although he felt something was off, he didn't have time to dwell on it. He steeled his heart. "I'll gamble!" Although there were shops on either side where he could hide, he had a gut feeling that only by entering the temple could he escape this funeral procession.

  He got up and climbed the steps, running towards the temple.

  He rushed to the door in one breath. The surrounding temperature immediately dropped, and a cold draft blew out from the cracks in the door.

  He raised his hand and pushed the door.

  "Creak~"

  The wooden door opened a crack. Jiang You slipped inside and quickly closed the door.

  He leaned against the wooden door, his heart pounding like a drum, "Thump! Thump! Thump!" almost jumping out of his throat. The sound of the suona was now deafeningly loud, as if it were being pyed right next to his ear.

  He pressed his face against the door, held his breath, and looked out through the crack.

  Outside, grey ashes fell簌簌(sùsù – rustlingly) from the grey sky. In the swirling fog of the country road, a group of people wearing mourning clothes and with ashen faces, pying suona, hopped and skipped out. They passed by the steps in front of the ancient temple. Behind them followed a wooden sedan chair built from giant logs, carried by bck shadows at each corner. A woman holding a spirit tablet sat inside!

  The woman wore a conical white hat. Her face was white as if coated with putty, her eye sockets were bck, and her lips were blood red!

  Behind them was an incredibly huge coffin. The coffin was as tall as a two-story building, and its length was beyond sight, extending directly into the thick fog.

  "What kind of thing would require such a coffin?"

  Behind the door, Jiang You felt a chill run from his spine to the top of his head. He held his breath, his body frozen, until the funeral procession passed by the temple and gradually disappeared into the fog.

  "Phew!" He had been holding his breath until his face was red. Now, he gasped for air.

  While catching his breath, he looked around the temple. The temple was dim and grey, making it hard to see clearly. In front was a courtyard, with a path paved with bricks and stones in the middle. Low stone statues stood on both sides. At the end of the path, the outline of a main hall could be vaguely seen.

  Jiang You had no intention of going inside to investigate. He turned around, ready to leave.

  The moment he turned, a cold sweat broke out on his back.

  The door!

  It was gone!