Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

---

Chapter 1: Become a Living Sacrifice

Fang Xiu opened his eyes and saw the ground standing upright.

It took him a few seconds to realize that he was lying on the ground, with his right cheek pressed against the dirt. Dizzyingly, Fang Xiu got up, still a bit dazed.

He heard a muffled sound of a suona in his ears, the sound intermittently breaking off, making it unclear whether it was music of celebration or mourning. Fang Xiu focused to listen, but the sound disappeared again.

It was dark and cold around him. Not far away, a circle of large red lanterns swayed gently.

Fang Xiu finally fully woke up. Those lanterns were clearly a dozen meters away—his room wasn’t this big.

One moment he was lying in his bed, the next he had fallen into this dilapidated place.

His pajamas were gone, inexplicably replaced by a bright red T-shirt. He recognized this T-shirt; it was a gift from his family that he really liked.

What the hell?!

Could it be that he died suddenly in his sleep and was cremated wearing his favorite T-shirt, ending up in the underworld without any transition? Fang Xiu hurriedly patted his body all over. His breathing was steady, and his heartbeat was strong. He was probably still alive.

Being alive is good, he thought with a sigh of relief.

…Then he exhaled right onto the face in front of him.

Fang Xiu: “?”

A face had somehow appeared in front of him, less than half a meter away.

The face was pale as paper, with a stiff smile on its mouth. The eyes weren’t arranged left and right like a normal person’s, but vertically in a “two” shape, with the corners of the eyes tearing outward. Judging by the features, the face seemed to belong to a child of six or seven, but it floated at Fang Xiu’s height—it hovered like a mask in the darkness, emitting the smell of burning paper.

Fang Xiu: “…!”

Thank God, finally someone to ask for directions.

Since he was a child, he never had any particular thoughts about demons and ghosts. Whether he encountered an evil person or an evil ghost, at worst, he’d lose his life. Besides, if one compared the cruelty of humans and evil spirits, the result wasn’t really clear-cut.

Encountering a strange ghost was no different from encountering a strange person.

Fang Xiu flashed a friendly smile. “Hello.”

The face returned a more enthusiastic smile but didn’t speak or move, which disappointed Fang Xiu a little. However, since there was someone here, there might be others nearby.

He calmly shifted his gaze and moved toward the red lanterns.

The face froze for a moment, then swiftly floated back in front of Fang Xiu, almost nose to nose.

Too close. That’s a bit rude.

Fang Xiu frowned and stepped around the face as if it were forcefully handing out flyers.

The smile on the face slowly disappeared, and it persistently floated back in front of Fang Xiu. The two pairs of eyes stared silently at each other; it was hard to say whose expression was more speechless.

After a few rounds of blocking, Fang Xiu stopped in cooperation.

It wasn’t because he had a particularly good temper, but because, although the circle of red lanterns seemed close, after walking five or six meters, it felt like he was just walking in place. Perhaps he had taken a wrong turn, and the face was reminding him.

Fang Xiu calmly said, “Hello, do you need something?”

The face gradually distorted. “…Is that all you want to ask?”

Its voice was sharp and unpleasant, filled with a lot of displeasure.

“So you can speak!” Fang Xiu was pleasantly surprised. “Could you please tell me how to get out of here?”

This question seemed to trigger a keyword, and the face immediately perked up. It floated around Fang Xiu in a circle, laughing grimly. “Leave here? You think too soon, you think too soon.”

“Those who come here are all living sacrifices, meant to ward off disasters. You have to survive eight sacrificial rituals to earn a way out…”

The face spoke theatrically, and Fang Xiu listened very intently. As time passed, he gradually understood the situation:

The underworld had kidnapped him.

The underworld had trapped him in this place called the “Disaster Relief Tower”.

The underworld wanted him, a living person, to serve as a sacrifice, surviving through some sort of ritual to fulfill a survival KPI in order to leave.

It sounded like being forced to work for free, and in a high-risk job at that. Fang Xiu looked at the face that was talking non-stop, and his mood gradually darkened. “Aside from ‘leaving here’, is there any other reward?”

The face: “Huh?”

Rewards? Would a normal person consider rewards at a time like this?

From the beginning, it had tried hard to create a terrifying atmosphere. Who knew this person would be so thick-skinned? It had said everything it needed to say and followed the entire procedure, yet inexplicably, it felt frustrated.

For example, right now, it should be throwing out the “ultimate reward” as bait when the other person felt hopeless and scared.

However—

“If you just needed a living sacrifice, you could have knocked me out and thrown me onto the altar,” Fang Xiu stated matter-of-factly. “Yet you pointed out the way out and explained the rules. If I survive, it seems to benefit you.”

Fang Xiu’s words were polite, but his face was clearly saying, “The underworld is a millennia-old establishment. Don’t be so stingy.”

The face: “……”

“If you manage to survive eight rituals, the underworld will grant you a wish.” No matter how hard it tried, it couldn’t regain control of the conversation, and the face’s expression looked a bit deflated.

“Any wish?” Fang Xiu’s eyebrows twitched.

The face reluctantly added, “No, the wish must be within the bounds of your karma.”

It spoke ambiguously, but fortunately, Fang Xiu had heard similar things before.

Within the bounds of karma meant that the wish’s subject must have some connection to Fang Xiu himself. The content of the wish should also be related and cannot go beyond reality.

For example, Fang Xiu couldn’t wish for a public figure he had no connection with to streak naked, nor could he wish for aliens to visit his house. But he could ask for an enemy to hang themselves or for himself to win the lottery.

It was more or less what he had guessed. The reward was reasonable.

Given the current situation, he was in an unfamiliar place with no way to resist the underworld on his own. Now that he was here, he might as well make the best of it.

“I understand. Shall we go?” Fang Xiu’s enthusiasm returned.

This time, as Fang Xiu approached, the face floated away, looking as if it were hesitating over its lines.

“By the way, is there any other support?”

Fang Xiu continued to approach. “I’m not a professional. The idea of a living sacrifice is pretty terrifying. You’re not expecting me to go in unarmed…”

“Don’t rush. We’ll talk when we get there,” the face said dispiritedly, floating further away.

……

With the face as his guide, Fang Xiu finally approached the circle of red lanterns.

As soon as he stepped into the circle of lanterns, everything around him suddenly lit up. The light, which came from an unknown source, was particularly cold and pale.

Fang Xiu found himself standing in an old courtyard, with the lanterns securely hung along the eaves of the surrounding buildings.

In the middle of the courtyard was a long incense burner, resembling a coffin. The incense burner was painted blood red, and it was crowded with incense sticks inside, giving off a strange sweet, metallic smell.

Behind the incense burner stood a wooden staircase leading up to the second floor, disappearing into the darkness. The sky above the courtyard was equally pitch black, making it feel as if the courtyard was built inside a tomb—strange and oppressive.

Sounds of sharp gasps echoed around him.

Fang Xiu quickly turned his head to look. As it turned out, he wasn’t the only unlucky person here. There were seven others.

The others had been led here by different faces, each looking equally terrified. The middle-aged woman closest to Fang Xiu was shaking uncontrollably; the thin, dark-skinned man opposite him had wet his pants, reeking of urine.

The most composed one was a young man, who managed to stay relatively calm, though his face was pale, and cold sweat covered his forehead.

“Everyone’s here—”

The eight faces called out in unison. As their voices fell, a child-sized paper figure peeked out from behind the incense burner.

The paper figure had a blank face and was dressed in a red jacket adorned with paper flowers. Its body shape didn’t reveal its gender.

The eight faces lined up neatly, sticking to the blank face of the paper figure. They layered one over the other, fitting together seamlessly, as if they were a part of the paper figure.

As the faces returned to their place, the paper figure’s facial features became more three-dimensional, and its smile grew wider and wider.

Unfortunately, the face that had greeted Fang Xiu wore a pained expression, not quite fitting in. As the eighth face settled in, the paper figure’s eerie grin twisted into an awkward but polite smile.

The paper figure tried to pull its mouth back into place, pretending nothing had happened. “…Don’t panic, don’t be afraid. We know none of you are from the metaphysical world. Since we brought you here, naturally, we’ll provide some means of protection.”

Means of protection!

Hearing this, the other seven people seemed to find hope in their desperate situation, their eyes suddenly brightening with a glimmer of optimism.

“What kind of protection?” the relatively calm young man asked first.

He had a dignified appearance and was dressed in an expensive shirt and trousers. He took two steps forward, showing a bit of leadership quality, drawing everyone’s attention to him.

The paper figure clearly appreciated this development. It chuckled and reached into the incense burner, pulling out a filthy bamboo tube.

On the bamboo tube, large characters were engraved:

[The Fate of the Nine Springs*, Never Parting in This Life]

*It’s a poetic way to refer to the underworld/the afterlife.

“Congratulations, everyone, congratulations!” the paper figure said joyfully. “The evil spirits will assist you—do not waste this chance—”

“All you need to do is draw a lot, and you can summon a fierce ghost to stay by your side. Having a ghost guard you is a great fortune!”

Wonderful, a ghost with you 24/7. Judging by the expressions on the others’ faces, no one was thrilled by this “good news”.

The composed young man asked with difficulty, “The fierce ghosts won’t harm us, right?”

“Of course they will. Evil spirits, after all, are naturally like this.”

The paper figure’s mouth almost reached up to its cheekbones. “So, you have to negotiate with them properly and establish a contract beforehand. Once everything is settled, we’ll start the rituals.”

“What if the negotiation fails…”

The paper figure: “If you can’t, you die. There’s no other way. You don’t have to summon them, but you do so at your own risk.”

The young man immediately froze in place.

Fang Xiu could guess what he was thinking.

They had all been dragged to the underworld to serve as living sacrifices, and their opponents were likely to be all sorts of demons and ghouls. When the time came, if everyone had a fierce ghost by their side and you didn’t, it was pretty clear who would get into trouble first.

Even if you fail to negotiate with the fierce ghost and die tonight, at least it would be a quick death instead of a prolonged agony.

Sure enough, the composed young man took a deep breath and bravely accepted the bamboo tube. He shakily drew a lot. From a distance, Fang Xiu couldn’t see the characters on it.

Following the paper figure’s instructions, the young man inserted the lot into the ground. The ground seemed to be pierced, and a thick cloud of gray smoke spewed out. When the smoke cleared, there was a figure standing there.

Without a doubt, it was a “painted skin” ghost*”.

*Referring to the demon in the short story by Chinese writer Pu Songling from Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio. You can read the story by going to the Wikipedia. TLDR: Demon put on human skin and try to seduce a human.

This ghost’s features were unmistakable—Miss Painted Skin’s human skin was misaligned, her facial features were distorted, her eyes nearly drooping to her neck, and her skin was covered in terrifying wrinkles.

Looks like she didn’t iron her clothes before coming, Fang Xiu thought.

Miss Painted Skin grinned with a mouth that stretched all the way down her throat, giggling non-stop. The young man who summoned her almost lost his balance, and two people threw up on the spot.

“Next,” the paper figure sang in a drawn-out tone.

It was obvious to anyone that, as a “means of protection”, this Painted Skin ghost was definitely strong. The composed young man set an example, and people, bracing against their fear, began to draw lots with trembling hands.

Various strangely shaped evil spirits appeared one after another, each similar in style to Miss Painted Skin—the fierce ghosts, though bizarre, were all humanoid and seemed capable of communication.

Apart from a panic-stricken woman who refused to draw a lot no matter what, Fang Xiu was seventh in line to the bamboo tube.

You can’t rely on others. It’s better to rely on yourself. Fang Xiu didn’t plan to place all his hopes on a fierce ghost.

Please, it’s okay if it’s weak or ugly, just give me one that’s easy to talk to. Fang Xiu prayed silently as he shook the lot tube covered in incense ashes.

Click, click, click.

An extremely worn-out lot jumped out.

Fang Xiu carefully picked up the lot and saw eight dark red characters: [Death, Death, Death, Death, Death, Death, Death, Death]

How straightforward. No need for interpretation. The only problem was that it seemed to suggest that the entity opposite might not be very easy to talk to.

Fang Xiu: “Can I give up the summoning?”

Retreating when things go south is also a strategy.

“No,” the paper figure replied concisely.

For some reason, the paper figure looked more puzzled than gloating. It suspiciously examined the lot for a while, then counted the remaining lots in the tube.

Resigned, Fang Xiu sighed and stuck the unlucky lot into the ground.

This time, instead of gray smoke, the ground released a pure white mist. As the mist slowly dissipated, it revealed… a left hand.

The hand was very beautiful. The fingers were long and graceful, and the skin was flawless like jade. The fingers were slightly curled, the index finger slightly relaxed, in a gesture that resembled a lotus bud.

In the dim and hazy surroundings, the ghost hand seemed to emit a faint white glow.

Fang Xiu held his breath and waited for the owner of the ghost hand to appear. But after a while, the ghost hand still stood quietly in place, revealing only the palm and wrist.

He gently tugged at the hand, but it was cold, stiff, and unmoving.

Fang Xiu: “……”

The good news was that this thing didn’t seem very aggressive.

The bad news was, how was he supposed to communicate with just a hand? Become pen pals?

But the urgent matter wasn’t that. He needed to figure out how to take it with him. Fang Xiu flexed his wrist and squatted down in front of the left hand.

“Does anyone have a shovel?” he asked.

---

The author has something to say:

Starting a new project—! Right on the last day, just like me.

The comment section for this story is open without restrictions. Daily updates every evening at 7:00 PM, with advance notice for any breaks (^ρ^)/

A few rambling notes on reading:

★ This novel will have a Happy Ending. It’s set in a purely fictional world, leaning toward traditional local supernatural style.

★ Feel free to point out any typos or mistakes. As long as I see them during the serialization period, I’ll give a small reward for corrections!

★ Important: Please refrain from posting comments about ‘breaking up the main CP’. They are locked, and the key is welded into my stomach ←

Happy reading! And please don’t let the story get too fat from lack of updates_(:D」∠)_

---

Kinky Thoughts:

When this project was announced, I was ecstatic since I’m a big fan of Unlimited/Infinite flow novels and I can always count on my favorite author to write up a masterpiece. Though it has been stated this is pseudo-infinite flow.

For those new to this author, you can check out her other works I have worked on, which I all highly recommend (in order of my personal ranking): Stray, Full Server First Kill, Sendoff, Happy Doomsday, Evil As Humans, Access Denied.

For those who like infinite flow novels, you can check out these works I’ve done: Midnight Owl, Escape from the Asylum or check our My Recs for IF novels I’ve read and enjoyed.

---

|| Table of Contents || >>>