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

The human skin clothing clung to my body, making my skin feel slightly sticky and stuffy.

Chen Xi led the way, walking as quietly as possible.

Zheng Wenxuan covered the rear, his hand on the stick at his waist, his eyes scanning the surroundings warily.

Li Yafei was the only one caught in the middle, her eyes darting around—clearly both afraid and curious, she kept stealing glances at the roadside stalls.

Wandering souls drifted about in twos and threes on the street, swaying slowly.

But after walking a short distance towards the entrance of Mong Kok, the number of "people" suddenly increased.

There are far more than a few.

The streets were packed with people, swarming together like ants.

White-collar workers in suits, tricycle drivers, elderly women carrying shopping baskets, students with backpacks, young couples embracing...

People from all walks of life and all ages were crammed together on both sides of the street.

Even the flower beds and curbs were covered with them.

At first glance, it looks like a bustling downtown area on a weekend, full of lively atmosphere.

But upon closer inspection, it only sends chills down one's spine.

Everyone maintained the same posture—looking up at the sky.

The white-collar worker held his briefcase, his arm suspended in mid-air, his head tilted back, his eyes staring blankly at the city hanging upside down above him.

The old woman sweeping the floor gripped the broom, her back bent, but her face held high, the tip of the broom just half an inch from the ground, barely stopping.

The kissing couple clung to each other, their faces close, but both were tilting their heads upwards, their lips barely touching, their posture as stiff as wax figures.

The taxi driver had his hands on the steering wheel, leaned forward, and stared intently at the sky.

Hundreds, or even thousands, of "people" all raised their heads in unison.

Each figure was in a different pose, yet all faced the dome with perfect precision, motionless, without even a breath.

The whole street was eerily quiet.

Only the footsteps of three people were particularly clear.

"What are they doing?"

Li Yafei clutched Chen Xi's clothes in fright, her voice trembling, "Madam... are these people alive?"

She was just clamoring to watch the excitement, but now her face has turned pale.

Hundreds of eyes were fixed on the sky. If you were to suddenly walk past someone, it would feel like walking through a room full of dolls, giving you a strange sense of unease.

Zheng Wenxuan swallowed hard: "Why aren't these ghosts moving? They're like they've been paralyzed."

Chen Xi didn't speak, but her brows were furrowed.

These "people" are not like Granny Li and Sister Fang, who have independent consciousness; they are more like... mindless wandering ghosts.

He kept repeating his last action before death in the same spot, but was frozen in place by some force.

What are they looking at?

Chen Xi glanced up at the top of her head, then quickly looked away.

The upside-down world of the living remains the same.

The streets were bustling with traffic and brightly lit; nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

So, do they want to return to the world of the living?

There were at least several thousand of them on the street, all standing densely packed together, their heads tilted back, like a cluster of human-shaped mushrooms growing towards the sky.

……

……

"Don't look up," Chen Xi whispered, "These things have no intelligence; they're probably immobilized by something. Try not to touch them, just walk around them."

"Oh, oh." Li Yafei quickly lowered her head, staring at the tips of her shoes, not daring to look around.

The problem is that the whole street was packed with people, shoulder to shoulder and back to back, with no room to even put your feet down.

If you want to get through, you'll inevitably encounter something.

"Which side should we put the candles on?" Chen Xi asked Li Yafei. Li Yafei raised her chin and pointed diagonally forward:

"Over there... turn into the alley at the entrance of Mong Kok. But... but you have to cross that street."

Chen Xi glanced in the direction she pointed.

The widest road was completely blocked, with ghosts piled up in layers, like a human wall.

"Wait for me here."

Chen Xi left a sentence, took two steps back, took a running start, pushed off the ground, and used both hands to support himself on the traffic light pole next to him. His movements were as nimble as a cat's, and he climbed up in a few quick movements.

She crouched atop the lamppost, squinting as she scanned the distance.

Under the pale sunlight, the entire main street of Mong Kok was laid out before us:

The densely packed, stiff figures stretched from one end of the street to the other, like countless chess pieces.

The flowerbed on the left is the only narrow section, where ghosts are sparse—but it's wide enough for a person to squeeze through sideways all the way to the alley entrance.

At the far end of the flower bed, there were several paper trash cans piled up, and next to them stood seven or eight ghosts with broken arms and legs.

Knowing what was going on, Chen Xi leaped down from the lamppost, which was more than three meters high, and landed silently.

"Take the left-hand flowerbed; the path is narrow and there are fewer people." She grabbed Li Yafei's wrist: "Stay close to me for a while, don't touch anything, and don't say anything."

"Yes!" Li Yafei nodded quickly.

Zheng Wenxuan gripped the stick tightly and nodded: "Then I'll cover the rear."

The three of them carefully stepped onto the edge of the flower bed, keeping close to the roadside.

The flowers in the flower bed were a dull color, and among the red and green paper flowers, there was even a patch of black grass growing. Chen Xi couldn't help but take a second look.

The three of them tiptoed along the grass, trying to stay as far away from the ghosts as possible.

The closer you are, the clearer you can see.

At the alley entrance stood a woman in a cheongsam, her face covered in thick powder, her lips painted blood red, her head tilted back, not even blinking.

—The powder on her face was cracked, like a paper doll that had been sitting for decades.

Li Yafei held her breath, barely daring to make a sound, and carefully squeezed past from the side, almost falling into the flower bushes.

Chen Xi reacted quickly and steadied her, whispering, "Be careful."

Li Yafei nodded.

After walking a few steps, Zheng Wenxuan suddenly whispered from behind, "Captain Chen, don't you think... they seem to be waiting for something?"

Chen Xi pursed her lips.

Yes, they all looked up at once, and remained motionless, as if they were waiting for something.

This collective stiffening of the ghosts is highly unusual.

"Don't overthink it, just deliver the goods." Chen Xi suppressed her unease. "Go back to the building as soon as you're done."

She always felt that something terrifying was hidden beneath this abnormality.

……

……

As you walk closer to the alley entrance, the number of moving ghosts gradually increases.

The old man, who had lost a leg, limped along, the bone fragments protruding from his leg, leaving long black streaks of blood on the ground.

The young man, with a kitchen knife stuck in his stomach, clutched his belly, his intestines protruding from between his fingers and dragging on the ground.

He would occasionally reach out and shove it back in, only to have it slip out again, over and over again.

The student, whose head was half shattered, had brain matter mixed with blood dripping down his cheek, and was still clutching half a loaf of bread in his hand, munching on it as he walked.

Li Yafei was so disgusted that she closed her eyes and dared not look, relying entirely on Chen Xi to pull her along.

Zheng Wenxuan's face was numb—after seeing how Sister Fang obtained the "raw materials," his tolerance threshold had obviously increased significantly.

"Little sister, are you coming with us to the candle shop, or are you going to see your grandmother?"

Chen Xi suddenly asked, and Li Yafei was taken aback for a moment before thinking and replying:

"It's scary outside, but it doesn't seem like anything really happened. I'm not willing to go back like this... I'm going to find Grandma."

She pursed her lips: "She should be performing the voodoo ritual on Temple Street. I'll go find her. You guys hurry back to the building after you finish delivering the goods; it's too dangerous."

"Then be careful."

Chen Xi didn't try to persuade her further. He took out a packet of glutinous rice and lime from his backpack and handed it to her: "Sprinkle this if you encounter danger. It will hold you off for a while. Don't go to places with few people."

"Okay, Madam, you're so loyal! I'll treat you to dessert when I get back!"

Li Yafei was deeply moved. She waved to her, and the figure in the blue school uniform quickly disappeared into the shadows.

Zheng Wenxuan looked in the direction she disappeared, a little worried: "She's just a child, will she be alright?"

"To be able to stay in the building for so long, there must be a way to save their lives, plus the vengeful ghost Granny Li protecting them—"

Chen Xi withdrew his gaze: "Let's go, let's take care of business first."

The two turned and walked deeper into the alley of Mong Kok.

The alley was darker than the main street, and both sides were lined with incense and candle shops and paper craft shops.

The storefront was narrow, with white paper lanterns hanging on it, swaying precariously in the cold wind.

After walking only a few dozen steps, Zheng Wenxuan suddenly stopped, his face turning slightly pale: "Officer..."

"What's wrong?"

"I...I feel..." Zheng Wenxuan swallowed, his voice a little tight, "Those ghosts that were motionless just now...seem to have moved."

Chen Xi felt a chill and turned around abruptly.

On the main street outside the alley, the ghostly figures that had been standing still began to move.

Like a rusty machine, it slowly turned its neck and lowered its arms, its movements stiff and slow, like a puppet being pulled along.

A low, mournful wail rose from the street, and the entire street came alive instantly.

Even more bizarrely, without any warning, the sky suddenly darkened.

Just moments ago, the sky was a blindingly bright white.

In the short time it took to say just a few words, the sky darkened at a visible speed.

The white paper turned grayish, then dark gray, and in just over ten seconds the whole street went dark.

The white paper lanterns by the roadside lit up automatically, their dim light making the ghostly figures appear even more eerie.

……

"What happened?" Zheng Wenxuan exclaimed, "We've only been out for a short time! How did it get dark already?!"

They've only been out for about twenty minutes.

Twenty minutes, from day to night?

Chen Xi's face darkened completely.

The day/night cycle in this instance is probably not calculated based on time at all.

"Oh no." She gritted her teeth. "Night patrol time is almost up, and the mission is going to be overdue—"

Uncle Biao once said that he would patrol at dawn.

But she wasn't sure if the flow of time inside the building was the same as outside.

It's dark outside now, is it time to go inside the building too?

It's definitely too late to rush back.

It will take at least twenty minutes to get back to Shengjing Building from here.

By the time they get back, the night patrol will have already exceeded its time limit, and who knows what kind of punishment will be triggered.

"Captain Chen, what do we do now?" Zheng Wenxuan asked, a little panicked.

Day and night are reversed, and ghosts are moving about—it's too eerie.

"Let's finish the delivery first. If we fail, we might anger Sister Fang."

Chen Xi took a deep breath and quickly made a judgment: "Kang Xiaojia and Jiang Chen are still in the building. I hope they can hold on."

"Walk!"

Without further hesitation, the two took off running into the depths of the alley.

The doors and windows of the paper craft shops on both sides creaked, and rustling sounds came from inside, as if something was trying to crawl out.

Behind them, the mournful wails of ghosts grew louder and louder on the street.

[It's so bitter, I'm so bitter...]

[Waaaaah... Waaaaah...]

[I want to go home...I want to go home!]

[I'm so hungry, so hungry, so hungry, I can't seem to get enough to eat, I'm so hungry, so hungry, so hungry...]

[It tastes like a living person, it really does!]

[It smells so good! So good! So good! So good! So good!]

Amidst the chaotic footsteps, various murmurs surged towards them like a tide.

The two ran forward desperately, with gusts of cold wind swirling and whistling past their ears.

After running for about two minutes, a shop appeared at the end of the alley.

The shop was small, with a dark facade, and its shape resembled an overturned coffin.

A wooden sign hangs above the door, bearing the five traditional Chinese characters for "Huang's Candle Shop." The characters are reversed and crooked, as if they were carved with a fingernail.

This is exactly where they are looking for.

……

……