Gou Zai, a corpse sewn into a spirit in a mortuary during the Republic of China era, became a spirit

The sudden baby's voice immediately set off Xie An's alarm bells. He dropped the rattan cane, drew the dagger from his arm, held it on both sides, and looked around warily.

If he hadn't never fired a gun before... he would have picked up the rifle for self-defense long ago.

Xie An looked around and saw only dense forests all around, with occasional mountain winds whistling by. He didn't see a single person.

But the eerie laughter of the doll was so clear... it was definitely not a hallucination.

You know, in such a remote mountain forest, suddenly hearing a child's voice... is already quite frightening.

Xie An instinctively recalled the black infant and the guards who died tragically overnight...

A layer of cold sweat inevitably seeped out on his forehead.

Before Shen Qianjun could arrive, some mountain spirit or monster showed up instead...

Xie An stared for a while but saw nothing unusual, so he retreated while remaining vigilant. When he reached a thicket of thorns, he suddenly disappeared into it... At the same time, he activated Shadow to conceal his figure and lay in the thorns looking out.

Then, Xie An's eyes widened:

From the distant bushes came a rustling sound, as if something was moving about, pushing the weeds apart rapidly, and that thing was heading in the direction Xie An was.

"..."

Xie An gripped the dagger tightly in his left hand and took out the Colt M1911 pistol he had taken from Shen Molan with his right hand, aiming it forward.

Xie An wasn't confident he could hit the target from a distance.

But at close range, a shot is almost guaranteed to hit. In this situation, a gun is more effective than a knife. However, there are also potential risks... It's unclear whether Shen Qianjun's men are nearby. If they open fire... the gunfire will inevitably attract attention. If that happens, Shen Qianjun will likely dispatch a large number of men to conduct a thorough search of the area, which is always a potential problem.

It's best not to fire unless absolutely necessary.

Having made up his mind, Xie An stared intently at the bushes ahead.

Splash splash~

The area where the grass was swaying was getting closer and closer to me.

Suddenly, a small red figure darted out of the bushes...

It was a baby about a foot tall, wearing a red bib and pink embroidered cloth shoes. Its head was bare, and it moved swiftly through the dimly lit woods.

Xie An suddenly felt the hairs on his body stand on end.

Even newborn babies are two feet tall. Even premature babies... don't they need to be breastfed in swaddling clothes? How could they possibly walk so fast...?

That's absolutely terrifying.

Xie Quan's muscles tensed, his left hand holding a dagger forward, and his pistol aimed at the oncoming baby, ready to strike at any moment.

Just then, the baby stopped about five or six meters away from Xie An, put its hands on its hips, turned its body to the side, and looked around.

It seems... they are looking for Xie An's whereabouts.

The baby was still sniffing, and at the same time, it used its left and right hands to push aside the thorny branches and walked step by step toward Xie An.

Xie An thought the baby might have sensed his location...

When the baby was only two meters away from Xie An, Xie An was shocked to see that it was not a living baby, but a... lifelike paper baby figure.

The entire body was covered in a grayish-white waterproof oil paper, and the face was painted with red oil paint, blush, cinnabar on the lips, and eyes. In particular, a very strange rune was drawn between the eyebrows, from which a faint, dark light was emitted.

If you don't look closely... you might really think it's a live baby.

But... how could the paper baby be so agile?

Xie Anxin felt a chill run down her spine.

He had worked with his father in the mortuary since childhood, dealing with the business of exhuming the dead, so he naturally knew many of the taboos in the trade:

The paper figure has eyes drawn but no pupils painted on; the paper horse stands still but no mane is raised!

Paper figures represent the attendants or companions of the deceased. If eyes are drawn on them, it is believed that they will become "spiritually connected" or "awakened," potentially becoming a medium for the spirits of the dead to possess the living, or even turning against them.

Paper horses are meant to be mounts for the deceased in the underworld. If the horse's mane is drawn in a raised manner, it symbolizes that the horse is running wildly and may cause chaos in the underworld.

Both of these are taboos passed down from generation to generation, but this paper baby in front of us... not only has eyes, but can also run like a living person. The paper craftsman behind it is truly a master.

I wonder where this high-level paper craftsman comes from, whether he's a friend or foe.

Regardless... it all means that the paper craftsman behind the scenes is staring at him through the paper baby.

Did he witness with his own eyes that he killed Shen Molan and her group?

Thinking of this... Xie An's murderous intent surged.

He quietly holstered his pistol and casually pulled a box of matches from his pocket.

This baby is incredibly wicked; even knives and spears might not be able to kill it instantly. But oiled paper is afraid of fire; it catches fire at the slightest touch... Only fire can truly send this rascal to heaven.

Xie An held his breath and waited quietly for the paper baby to approach.

Finally, when the paper baby was a meter away, it suddenly split open a mechanical red lip and emitted a baby's voice:

"Hehe, I've found you. My master sent me to deliver a message to you."

hiss!

Xie An was truly shocked.

This paper figure... can it speak human language?

Is it that intelligent?

Now that he'd been discovered, Xie An stopped hiding, but instead of exiting his shadow form, he simply asked, "What message are you sending?"

The paper baby's lips curved into a strange smile. "My master told me to tell you—Shen Qianjun's men have arrived outside the mountains, but they're not in a hurry to come in; they're waiting for dawn. My master wants you to wait here and not leave. I'll go tell my master, and he'll come to help you."

Xie An: "What's your master's name?"

"Hehe... My master's name is Little Red Delight. My master is here to help you. Stay here and don't leave, okay? I'll go tell my master. If you leave, my master won't be able to find you." The paper baby gave this calm and collected instruction, then turned and left.

Before it had taken two steps, the paper baby let out a mournful "waaaaa," its whole body engulfed in flames... and soon turned into a pile of charcoal ash, scattered all over the ground.

Xie An then emerged from the thorns carrying his rattan rifle, stomped hard on the charcoal ash under his foot, and said, "Your master is kindly helping me? I don't believe you for a second... Your master is too strange, so... I have no choice but to send you to meet the ghost."

After saying that, Xie An carried the rattan cane and strode towards the cave.

……

At this moment, the east was just beginning to lighten, and the sky was beginning to glow.

However, the forest was damp and shrouded in a thick white mist, making visibility low.

This mountain is located near a mass grave, and few people usually come here. Even the local hunters of Yongning County dare not easily venture into these mountains to hunt.

A young girl, dressed in a slightly worn red jacket and embroidered shoes, skipped and hopped alone towards the mountains. She had two long, slick braids, a round face, and large, dark eyes. She looked like a very lively girl next door.

Perhaps because she was in a good mood, the girl was humming a little tune.

It's the Peking Opera style, and it sounds quite nice.

Perhaps tired from walking, the girl took out two paper dolls and a paper palanquin from her crossbody bag. She blew on them three times, and suddenly there was a "buzz" followed by a popping sound.

The two small paper puppets swelled up in the wind and grew into two burly paper men, and the palanquin also became a normal-sized palanquin.

"Sister is tired from walking, please carry me into the mountains."

And so, two paper palanquin bearers carried the palanquin, and the girl sat comfortably on it, the palanquin creaking and groaning.

The girl hummed a couple of lines from a traditional opera tune, then suddenly sensed something and muttered, "Grandma actually sent me into the mountains to rescue someone named Xie An. I wonder what kind of person he is... Hey, Little Pudding sent a message..."

"This guy's ruthless. He single-handedly wiped out Shen Molan's entire force. Hmm, his attention to detail is impeccable. His method of concealing his presence is also quite impressive; it must be a secret technique from the Yin Sect."

"If that's the case, then this guy is qualified to be my junior brother... What? He actually burned my little pudding to death!?"

"Fine, fine, I, Xiao Hongxi, went to great lengths to rescue you, but you burned my little Pudding..."

"Little Pudding is so cute, how could you do that?!"