The World Below Surface

A frigid sun cast its feeble rays over the town, offering no warmth or comfort, only a bone-chilling cold that made Lu Yan shiver involuntarily.

Lu Yan traversed the street that seemed to be the most desolate in the town, where many shops had closed their shutters and the pavement was barren. With each step he took, he encountered fewer and fewer passers-by. Many of them, upon meeting his gaze, hastily departed. Eventually, he found himself in complete solitude on the entire street.

How odd.

Lu Yan kept walking, his eyes scanning his surroundings for any clues or threats. His hand gripped the handle of his axe, which hung from his belt, ready to swing it out at the slightest provocation.

The sensation of being trailed lingered like a shadow.

Yet, no matter how scrupulously he scanned his surroundings, he could not detect the origin of the stare.

There was no one, absolutely no one, in sight. All the houses had their doors and windows locked and barred, as if they were hiding from a terrible danger. Who - or what - could be spying on him?

As he passed by a fashion store's display window, the feeling of being watched intensified. He lowered his head slightly, hastening his pace, then abruptly spun around.

Nothing there.

A gust of wind swept a lone leaf across the street, leaving behind a barren scene, devoid of any trace of life.

He sharpened his mind, then spun around again.

But as soon as he did, a deafening explosion erupted, shattering all the windows on the street at once, sending glass shards flying in all directions, sparkling like rainbows under the sun.

Lu Yan reacted swiftly, dodging most of the projectiles, but still getting a small cut on his cheek. He ignored the pain, and focused on the shock that gripped his mind. There was no doubt now, something was following him!

Ever since he entered this town, that thing had been following him!

And yet, he still found nothing!

A flicker of red light darted past the corner of his eye, but when he turned to look, there was nothing there, as if it had been a figment of his imagination.

"Aaaah—"

At that instant, a shriek pierced the air from a nearby building.

Right after, a figure, mutilated and bloody, was hurled from a high place. Lu Yan swiftly sidestepped, and the corpse tumbled a few times, coming to a halt not far from him. Its pallid, bloated face, bulging eyes, gawked at Lu Yan without blinking.

Instinctively, he looked up and saw a red figure flash by, but when he tried to follow it with his eyes, it had vanished.

Another shriek, Lu Yan traced the sound and saw a window stained with blood.

He had to escape. Now.

He sprinted forward, not daring to glance behind him. He barely made it around the corner when a deafening blast shook the ground. The street he had just left was engulfed in flames.

A shadowy figure had slipped away moments before the explosion, casting a furtive look at the direction Lu Yan was heading.

The figure pressed a button, and another detonation rocked the air. The street Lu Yan was about to enter was also reduced to rubble. He skidded to a halt and veered into a narrow alley.

He didn't stop until he emerged onto a new street, where the sound of the blasts was fainter. He kept running, but something was odd. All the glass shop windows on this street were smashed, leaving shards of glass strewn on both sides of the road. He had no choice but to run along the middle of the road.

He realised that something was manipulating his actions.

What was it? Why did it prevent him from going that way? And why did it destroy all the shop windows?

As he ran, Lu Yan racked his brain.

Glass shop windows... glass...

What could glass do?

The sunlight glinted off the glass shards, creating a blinding glare.

Reflection!

The thing that was chasing him seemed to be afraid of him seeing something in the window reflection!

Lu Yan felt a surge of dread.

What could be seen? He knew the answer, but he didn't want to admit it. Should he try?

As soon as this thought crossed his mind, he felt a wave of danger. He dashed across another street corner, where he saw a sign for a school zone and more people in sight.

But what stunned him the most was the face of one of the people, someone he knew very well.

Lin Chu?

She was here too?

He spotted a group of seven taskers, and his pace slowed down.

He had enough confidence to face these seven individuals, but he knew it would come at a cost. He would suffer wounds and pain, and in his vulnerable state, he could not afford to alert anyone else. His chances of success hinged on his stealth and cunning.

Lin Chu had spotted him, and she was not the only one.

"Who is this bloke? He looks out of place, not like a local."

"Should we intercept him?"

Lin Chu took the lead. "I'll do it." She sprinted towards him with flyers in her hand, raising her voice and waving the papers as if to attract his attention. "Excuse me, sir, are you acquainted with someone named Lu Yan?"

She was exposing herself!

Why would she do that? Wasn't she on a mission? Her objective was to kill him.

Di Ying's face twisted into a scowl as she glared at Lin Chu with intense animosity, and the others quickly sensed the danger, wanting to silence her.

What if this was Lu Yan? Wouldn't she be giving him a warning?

Lin Chu, with a radiant smile that matched her cheerful demeanour, closed the gap between them. "Sir, have you heard of him?"

As soon as Lu Yan met her gaze, he realised that she had no intention of, or perhaps no immediate plan to, carry out her assignment. He shook his head innocently. "No, I haven't."

"You haven't? That's a shame." Lin Chu gazed at his face, a faint blush spreading on her cheeks. "By the way, sir, what is your name? Could I... could I have your contact details?"

Lin Chu felt a bit awkward to stare at him, adopting a timid posture.

What was she thinking? How could she still act so flirtatiously at a time like this?

Lu Yan smiled warmly, with a trace of apprehension on his face. "My family name is Jiang, and my given name is Bai. But I'm afraid I can't share my contact details, I'm sorry."

Lin Chu sighed, disappointment clear on her face. With her doll-like face and petite figure, looking up at the man, one could almost mistake it for a romantic encounter, if not for the dire situation.

Of course, the others couldn't see it that way.

Di Ying was nearly enraged by Lin Chu, marching over with large strides and casting a wary glance at Lu Yan. "Mister Jiang Bai?"

(姜白: 姜 (Jiāng) is another common surname that means “ginger” or “bold”. 白 (Bái) is a unisex given name that means “white” or “pure”. 姜白 could be interpreted as “a ginger white” or “a bold purity”.)

Lin Chu's shoulder was being squeezed so hard by the other woman that it hurt, tears filling her eyes. She whimpered softly in a slightly pained tone, only to be squeezed even harder by Di Ying, who clamped her shoulder blades firmly, trapping her in her grip.

With a friendly nod, Lu Yan tried to mask the pallor of his face after the exhausting run. He drew in a few ragged breaths and pointed over his shoulder, his voice tinged with urgency. "I don't know what brought you here, but you should hurry and get out. There have been blasts ripping through the streets behind us."

"Blasts? What blasts?" Di Ying asked, her brow furrowing.

Lu Yan shrugged. "I haven't got a clue. I was just running some errands when the street erupted in flames and debris. It was a nightmare to escape."

He looked like he had been through hell, his clothes torn and bloodied, his hair matted with sweat and dust. Yet, there was still a hint of charm in his features, enough to still make Lin Chu swoon.

Di Ying was not impressed, however. She scanned him from head to toe, her eyes narrowing at the sight of the axe strapped to his back. "Pardon my curiosity, but what exactly are you carrying...?"

Lu Yan answered with a guileless smile. "Just an axe. Is that a problem?"

He seemed like a harmless bystander, caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.

But his unnatural composure only raised Di Ying's suspicions, but she still dismissed him with a wave of her hand.

Lu Yan exhaled softly, "Well, I'll be on my way then. I don't know who you're looking for, but I suggest you leave as soon as possible. If this place goes up in smoke too, it'll be a catastrophe." With that, he turned around and walked away.

Lin Chu gazed after him with longing, her eyes shining with infatuation. Di Ying clenched her fist, and on a sudden impulse, she called out, "Jiang Bai?"

Lu Yan looked back, "What is it?"

Subconscious reactions were hard to fake, and Di Ying felt a twinge of doubt, but she couldn't just attack him.

They had agreed before, if they ever ran into Lu Yan, they had to be careful. If they killed him without finding the missing person first, it could spell doom for them all.

"Nothing, just curious about your destination."

Lu Yan: "I'm heading to the hospital."

As soon as he departed, the others encircled Di Ying.

"He's not right in the head, I tell you. If only Yi Zhen Zhen were still alive, she could recognize him." Chen Hai Qing (陈海清), one of the taskers, remarked.

(陈 (Chén) is a common surname that means “exhibit” or “display”. 海 (Hǎi) is a masculine given name that means “sea” or “ocean”. 清 (Qīng) is a unisex given name that means “clear” or “pure”. 陈海清 could be interpreted as “a clear display of the sea” or “a pure oceanic exhibit”.)

Most of them had alienated Lin Chu. To be preoccupied with romance in such a perilous situation was utterly foolish.

Chen Hai Qing was especially disgusted by her, shooting her a venomous glare that made her cower, before resuming his speech. "Di Ying, you haven't forgotten about the two corpses we found in the cabin this morning, have you? Tan Xu examined them and concluded that the murder weapon was most likely an axe or something similar."

Di Ying nodded. "I remember."

The mention of Yi Zhen Zhen triggered her alarm bells.

Lin Chu had been the last person to see her alive.

And now Lin Chu had made such a blunder again...

Without hesitation, Di Ying pointed an accusing finger at her. "She's the traitor among us! We have to keep an eye on her at all times! We can't let her sabotage our survival any further."

"What?" Lin Chu gasped, but the others were not so gullible.

They had their own doubts about her. Di Ying's words seemed to confirm their suspicions, and they disregarded her protests, binding her hands with a rope and assigning shifts to guard her.

Meanwhile, Lu Yan had not gone to the hospital as he claimed, but rather to the town library.

It was odd, ever since he entertained the notion that he could not see his own reflection, the explosions that had been hounding him ceased abruptly. The library was not his voluntary choice either; every time he attempted to veer off course, a small blast would deter him, forcing him to follow the path to the library.

It was as if a hunter had laid a snare and was herding the prey into it from all sides.

Who was the mysterious figure behind him, the one who had sent him on this perilous quest for hidden information in the library?

Lu Yan stepped into the dimly lit building, his eyes scanning the dusty shelves and the faded posters on the walls.

The librarian, an old man with a wrinkled face and a drooping moustache, slouched in his chair by the window, barely glancing at the newcomer. He gestured vaguely with his hand, indicating that Lu Yan could enter without registering, then returned to his computer screen, where a crackling opera tune played from the speakers.

The library had been constructed with some care and elegance, and Lu Yan could sense its spaciousness and grandeur as he crossed the threshold. But there was also a feeling of decay and neglect, as if the place had been forgotten by time and people.

However...

Lu Yan approached the small window and tapped on the glass, hoping to get some guidance from the librarian. He asked politely where he could find the local chronicles, the records of the town's history. But he received no answer, only silence.

The old man ignored him completely, resting his head on the table, his eyes closed and his ears filled with the opera music.

Lu Yan sighed and decided to search for the books himself, wandering through the endless rows of bookshelves, looking for any signs or labels that could help him.

Suddenly, his gaze sharpened.

He remembered!

After the last mission had ended in a bloody disaster, with all his taskers slaughtered, he had used the Pisces jade pendant to duplicate himself, to summon his future self from another timeline.

His future self had given him vital information, telling him to go to the Spirit Vale Town and to carry with him the pendant, he had also drawn a few numbers on his palm, a code that would lead him to the truth.

His future self must have implanted a psychological suggestion in his mind, making him forget the numbers until the right moment, until now, when he was standing in front of the bookshelves, staring at the alphanumeric codes that marked each section. He finally recalled the string of numbers that had been burned into his skin.

0-4-0-9...

He followed the code and located the corresponding book.

It was a very ordinary children's picture book, with a colourful cover and a cheerful title. It seemed to tell the story of a king of a kingdom.

With a flick of his wrist, Lu Yan opened the picture book, feeling his pupils shrink in shock.

He recognised that stroke... It was unmistakable. This picture book, it was his own creation!

Without hesitation, he spun around and headed to the door, making his way to the glass window of the administrator's cabin.

He knocked politely, "Excuse me, may I borrow this book?" He hoped to find out when this book was catalogued, pretending to be interested in borrowing it. That way, he could estimate the time period his future self had come from.

The old man remained motionless at the desk, his back turned to him, apparently unaware.

"Hello? Hello?" Lu Yan repeated his query, but received no answer. A dreadful suspicion crept into his mind.

He stretched out his hand and touched the old man's shoulder.

The old man collapsed to the floor, his glasses sliding off, exposing his bulging eyes. His face was twisted with throbbing veins, a ghastly sight.

Lu Yan recalled, when he had entered moments ago, the old man had waved his hand with his back to him...

Was it really him waving?

This revelation sent a chill down his spine. Lu Yan composed himself, scanned the room, then pushed open the door and stepped inside.

The space for the old man to rest and work was cramped, a tiny room of five or six square metres, furnished with a bed and a set of tables. Normally, he could relax by opening the window and drawing the curtains. After Lu Yan entered, the already narrow space felt even more suffocating.

But he ignored that, instead, he searched on the computer using the book's serial number.

He discovered the date the book was logged into the system.

January 20th.

January 20th, the exact date when this mission had begun.

Today was February 2nd. He had entered the Spirit Vale Town on February 1st, so why would his future self have drawn a book from the past?

He had hoped to find more useful information on the computer screen, but as his eyes scanned the monitor, he caught a fleeting glimpse of his own reflection...

A crimson tide flooded his sight, obscuring everything else. Lu Yan jerked his head away, too terrified to look again.

His heart hammered in his chest, a cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.

What the hell was that?

The library lights flickered erratically, as if on the verge of a meltdown, and a faint electrical buzz filled the air. Lu Yan snatched a few books from the shelves and bolted out of the library, not daring to linger a second longer.

He had barely made it to the street when a thunderous blast shook the ground behind him.

**

"What's going on? Why did it suddenly explode?"

Jiang Yu and his team had planned to visit the town library to search for clues, but their route was blocked by an earlier explosion on the street, forcing them to take a longer way around. They had no idea that as they rounded the corner and spotted the library sign, they would witness the building erupting in a fiery inferno right in front of their eyes.

It was enough to make anyone paranoid. Was someone trying to kill them?

The library was full of paper books, and the explosion ignited them instantly, creating a massive bonfire. Luckily, there were no other structures nearby, or the whole street would have been consumed by the blaze.

"It's on fire! It exploded!" The residents screamed in panic.

"Quick, call the fire brigade!"

Some people tried to get help, but they were told that there were too many explosions in town today, and the police were overwhelmed, so they had to fend for themselves.

Jiang Yu gazed at the roaring flames, feeling a burning sensation not only in his eyes but also in his soul.

The library held the secrets they needed. But someone - or something - had obliterated it before they could reach it, leaving behind only ashes and rubble. A deliberate act of sabotage, or a ghost's wrath?

Jiang Yu felt a surge of frustration and anger, his face darkening with displeasure. He scanned the surroundings, taking in the nearby shops and the locations of the corner cameras. He had to find out who was behind this. He turned to his companions and said, "Let's go back."

Zhang Yun (张云), a fellow tasker, looked puzzled. "Back? Don't we need to check out other places?"

(张 (Zhāng) is a common surname that means “to spread” or “to open”. 云 (Yún) is a unisex given name that means “cloud” or “luck”. 张云 could be interpreted as “a spreading cloud” or “an open luck”.)

Jiang Yu shook his head. "No. We need to find an internet café now."

He had to access a computer.

There were plenty of internet cafés in town, and the library had computers too. But now, they were nothing but useless metal. Jiang Yu wasted no time in locating an internet café, registering swiftly, and connecting to the internet. He hacked into the cameras he had spotted earlier, hoping to find some clues.

Soon, he retrieved the surveillance footage.

On the monitor, he saw a tall, thin young man walking out of the library, carrying an axe on his back. He had a cold, sinister expression on his face. A few minutes after he left, the library erupted in a fiery blast.

"This man is highly suspicious." Jiang Yu's eyes narrowed as he made his judgement.

He quickly sent the man's image to every tasker who was still alive, warning them to be on their guard if they encountered him.

Not long after, he received a message from Di Ying.

Jiang Bai...

Was that his real name?

**

"Shen Zhu, why are we heading to the police station so late?" one of the taskers trailing behind Shen Zhu asked. "Shouldn't we have gone earlier?"

A faint tremor ran through Shen Zhu's body, but she quickly composed herself and said, "The authorities are withholding the information from us, so we have no choice but to seize it by force when the station is less crowded after the working hours. I've done some reconnaissance. There have been multiple explosions on the streets today, and most of the police are occupied with handling them. Only a handful are left behind. If we're discreet, we might not even raise their suspicion."

Her plan sounded reasonable indeed, and none of her companions voiced any objections.

Shen Zhu let out a silent sigh of relief.

She had no idea what awaited her at the police station. She had no doubt that Yan Hao Yue was dead. She had learned the hard way from countless missions in the past: ghosts born from those who perished during missions had no shred of sanity; they did not feel the same fear as when they were alive.

They were the embodiment of fear.

The sun had already sunk below the horizon.

In winter, the night arrived early, around four or five o'clock, and the darkness had swallowed everything in sight.

Shen Zhu stared at the police station's gate, her eyes wide with terror.

She knew Yan Hao Yue was dead. She had received a call from beyond the grave, and she was trapped in a nightmare. But she refused to give up, refused to let her life end in vain.

Even if death was imminent, she had to fight back!

With a surge of resolve in her gaze, Shen Zhu contemplated their plan as the team stealthily made their way into the police station.

"Now, we need to get to the archives as soon as possible. Once you locate the documents, don't forget to inform the others and take photos for evidence," Shen Zhu instructed them in a low voice. "We're looking for anything related to recent disappearances, deaths, and the like. Capture every detail."

As for Lu Yan, on the other hand, they faced a major drawback: they had no idea what their target looked like.

The taskers nodded in agreement and split up to cover more ground.

It didn't take long for one of them to stumble upon the archives room.

Most of them had acquired some lock-picking skills after completing several tasks. They deftly unlocked the door and slipped inside.

"This place is overflowing with files. How are we supposed to find what we need in time?"

"Let's sort them by date. It makes sense to start with the most recent ones, right? If we're after missing persons, they shouldn't be too hard to spot."

"That sounds reasonable. It's probably from this year or the last. The townsfolk wouldn't be so agitated otherwise. They would have moved on by now. Let's focus on this year's files then."

The others concurred with the suggestion, and the taskers swiftly gathered the archives from the last two years, laying them out on the table and scanning them for clues.

What they didn't realise was that the door to the archives room had silently shut behind them, trapping them inside. But they were too engrossed in their search to notice.

"This town is bizarre."

"And not just the missing persons cases. There are heaps of death cases too. A Spirit Vale Town... There's something seriously wrong with it, don't you think?"

…

The dossier revealed a slew of strange and gruesome cases that shocked them to the core. In their world, such horrors would have sparked a massive outcry and investigation. But the inhabitants of the Spirit Vale Town appeared to be immune to fear, carrying on with their lives as usual.

As they delved deeper into the files, the lights in the archive room started to dim and brighten, producing a soft humming noise.

A twisted black shape slowly took form.