I, the screenwriter, have experienced a resurgence of inspiration.

……

……

Fang Jie didn't answer the question about human skin, or rather, she didn't have a mouth and couldn't speak at all.

She nodded slightly, which was her way of agreeing.

"That's good...that's good..."

The corpse seemed satisfied, its voice growing weaker and weaker: "I lived my whole life... I was poor my whole life... It's good to be made into nice clothes after I die..."

After saying that, he fell silent.

Fangjie continued rolling until she had rolled the entire corpse into a thin, even sheet of human skin before putting down the rolling pin.

She then picked up a small curved knife and carefully made cuts along the corpse's hairline, fingertips, and toes.

The movements were light and steady, almost like unpacking a beautifully packaged item.

After she finished cutting, she pinched the edge of the human skin and gently lifted it.

"Rip—"

A complete human skin was peeled off and laid flat on the cutting board, with even the pores clearly visible.

She casually wiped the remaining bits of flesh and bone into the wooden bucket next to her that held the internal organs.

The entire process was smooth, clean, and efficient.

Clearly, she has done it countless times.

The group of people who had returned after vomiting stood at the door, feeling a chill run down their spines.

It's one thing to skin someone alive to make clothes, but the deceased himself even asked for "the most expensive one" to be made.

This bizarre perception is more chilling than the skinning itself.

In this building, being skinned to make clothes seems to be a normal, even honorable, thing.

After Fangjie finished dealing with the human skin, she turned around, her flat face facing them, as if waiting for them to speak.

Chen Xi steadied herself, took two steps forward, and, suppressing the churning in her stomach, spoke:

"We've just died, and the smell of life hasn't dissipated yet. We want to go out and run some errands, so we've come to borrow a few leather jackets from Sister Fang. We'll return them after we've worn them."

She followed the ghost's logic, without mentioning the word "living person".

Fang Jie nodded, seemingly unsurprised.

She reached out her hand, her slender fingers pointing to the human skin on the chopping board, and then to the human skin clothes hanging outside the door.

The group of people were taken aback for a moment.

Li Yafei reacted quickly, her face immediately turning pale: "I'll do it, I'll do it!"

She jogged out, found a long bamboo pole, and tiptoed to bring in a few empty clothes hangers that were hanging there.

Fang Jie seemed quite pleased with Li Yafei's perceptiveness and nodded slightly.

She picked up the freshly peeled human skin, stretched it out, and gently slipped it onto the wooden clothes hanger that Li Yafei had brought in, just like putting on a garment.

Smooth it out, straighten the collar and cuffs, and a human skin "clothes" is hung up.

The whole process was very quick, so quick that the freshly peeled human skin was still warm.

Chen Xi had a blank expression, and felt her throat starting to itch again.

……

……

After finishing all that, Sister Fang pointed to the basin of offal on the ground, her flat face turned to the group, and then she made a "give" gesture.

Just then, a system notification popped up:

[Side quest triggered: Delivery.]

[Task Requirements: Deliver the "goods" prepared by Sister Fang to Wong's Candle Shop at the entrance of Mong Kok alley. The transaction must be completed in person and the goods delivered before sunset.]

[Task Rewards: 10 Gold Ingots, 3-day use of a human skin suit.]

[Note: The human skin garment must not be worn for more than six hours. If worn beyond this time, it will fuse with the body and become permanently impossible to remove. If the garment is damaged, Sister Fang will personally hold the responsible party accountable.]

As expected, there was a mission.

In exchange for delivery rights, you can also accept side quests; it's worth doing.

"Let's accept it," Chen Xi said. "We'll take this mission."

Fang Jie seemed to smile; although her face wasn't visible, you could sense that she was in a good mood.

She bent down, wrapped the basin of entrails in oiled paper, stuffed in two rolls of human skin, and tied it into a heavy bundle, which she then placed on the table.

[...]

She gestured, as if silently giving another instruction. Chen Xi stepped forward and picked up the bundle, feeling its weight. Even through the oiled paper, she could feel the sticky texture inside.

"Okay, I'll definitely deliver it before sunset. Fang-jie, shall we carry the clothes ourselves?"

Fangjie pointed to the leather coat on the clothes rack, indicating that they could take it as they pleased.

The group exchanged glances and each picked out an outfit that fit them.

Chen Xi chose a gray cloth long gown, which was loose and could conceal weapons.

Zheng Wenxuan chose a short-sleeved men's uniform, while Li Yafei chose an inconspicuous school uniform.

[Item: Human Skin Suit (Durability 50/50, meticulously crafted by Sister Fang of Ghost Tower. Wearing it can temporarily conceal yang energy and reduce presence by 15%)]

After grabbing their clothes, the group didn't dare linger and practically ran away from the seventh floor.

Only after walking a long way and no longer smelling the blood did Li Yafei dare to breathe heavily.

"Wow, that's scary, that's exciting... Sister Fang, she... she uses human skin to make clothes..."

Then, thinking about how her school uniform was made in the same way, she wished she could take it off immediately.

"Think it through, or you won't be able to go outside."

Zheng Wenxuan clutched his stomach and spoke softly, "Vomiting like this is already a painful experience."

"Okay, okay."

Li Yafei thought about it for a moment, but in the end, curiosity overcame her fear, and her eyes darted around:

"Anyway, I can be with my mother-in-law even if I die... I still want to go and see what the outside world is like."

"Then let's get ready to leave." Chen Xi let out a long sigh of relief, suddenly feeling a little glad she hadn't brought Kang Xiaojia with her.

"Alchemist, find a room to change your clothes, then go out of the building. Deliver the goods during the day and inquire about the missing citizens while you're at it."

"Okay." Zheng Wenxuan immediately agreed seriously.

……

The three of them found a room and changed their clothes. The human skin clothes were soft in their hands, like leather that had just been sun-dried, yet they had the elasticity of living things.

It felt cool and refreshing when I put it on, like wearing a tight-fitting plastic suit that clung to my skin and felt a bit stuffy.

But once she put it on, she instantly transformed.

His skin was a deathly gray, his lips were bluish, and his eyes were dull, making him look almost exactly like a wandering ghost in the stairwell.

Li Yafei looked at herself in the broken mirror and tugged at her blue school uniform skirt:

"They look exactly the same! If you don't look closely—no, even if you look closely, you can't tell they're alive!"

Chen Xi also stretched his arms and legs.

The clothes were very form-fitting and did not hinder movement; the gun was tucked at the waist and completely hidden by the wide robe.

"Let's go."

The three of them then carried the oil-paper bundles and walked out of the haunted building.

The door to Uncle Biao's room on the first floor was closed. The moment the group stepped out of the building, a gust of cold wind blew towards them.

The incense ash blurred Chen Xi's vision, and he instinctively covered his eyes. When the smell of paper ash and the salty smell of seawater dissipated, he looked up again and was immediately stunned.

During the day, the area outside the building is a sheet of white.

The sky seemed to be covered with a thick layer of white paper, and the sunlight shone down, casting a pale, stark light on the street, making everything look like a paper-crafted set.

……

The port city hangs upside down overhead.

Skyscrapers, roads, cars, and pedestrians are all upside down.

The building's top is facing down, the road is facing up, cars are driving backwards, and people are walking head down and feet up on the upside-down sidewalk.

Neon lights are on, car headlights are on—it's the night scene in the mortal world.

Black and white are reversed.

Day and night are reversed.

Yin and Yang reversed.

The night here is the daytime in reality.

Here, daytime is real nighttime.

The upside-down city resembles a landscape within a crystal ball, its tops twisted and fused into the hazy dome, making it difficult to see clearly.

The bottom, the side facing them, was crystal clear, bustling with traffic and extremely prosperous.

Everyone gasped.

Chen Xi guessed that this place might be the underworld, but he never expected to see such a scene.

The world of the living is in the heavens, and the world of the dead is on the earth, separated by a layer of mist, facing each other from afar.

You can see it, but you can't touch it.

Are those missing citizens also like this, looking at their homes above their heads, yet unable to return to reality?

……

……

"Wow……"

Li Yafei looked up, stunned: "So... this is what it's like outside..."

It was her first time leaving the building, so her eyes were full of surprise.

Zheng Wenxuan was also stunned: "I've lived so long and I've never seen anything like this before... It's so spectacular."

Victoria Harbour upside down, Central upside down, Mong Kok upside down...

Familiar landmarks are presented upside down, creating an effect that is both familiar and eerily strange.

"Don't look at it anymore." Chen Xi withdrew his gaze, suppressing the shock in his heart: "Deliver the goods first, to the candle seller at Wong Kee Candle Shop at the entrance of Mong Kok."

A paper cart drove by on the street, revealing two... no, two ghosts leaning against the roadside railing eating fish balls.

A Russian ghost wearing a red dress.

A long-haired male ghost wearing a blouse.