Cyber Ghosts

light piercing through the clouds and c

. I wasn't sure what I was doing here, hiding behind what was left o

e other side of the wall. "Bring me anoth

f to the wall, leaning out a bit so

ounger man pinned to the ground. The moonlight shining on his pa

ung man," one of the figures said. "W

n stared bac

t. I just won't be

nding over

. We'll just tell our employer we only accept jobs from upstanding cit

the deer and one against the young man. As he pulled his hands away, a small light drifted from each body. Against the dark fores

two lights to

we'll simply switch it out

o the young man, allowing the human

black said with a laugh. He pointed to the young celebrity on the ground

the young man's forehead. Even far away, the strange light of the characters made them easy to read. The words 'Lu'

, he saw me peeking out from b

... m

, but as he looked at me,

nother stranger in black lifted me. Yet another wa

soul with an obedient l

I sc

, I was not in a forest. I was laying on the floor of a

ly, still holding a book open in his hands. At

mplicated. I'd had dreams li

g me into the next room. She lowered he

ced m

do you

much. He'll take a bite or two, then go right back to bed. He won't even talk to

ead. I had no idea how to explain it to her. "Sorry to leav

ooked even

ay. Do you ha

awkwardly. "It's a re

ended on it. Nobody else was home. I gulped down a cup of

sked a voice. It came from

other man, handsome face devoid of color. I l

e still in the mirror. Y

flection's hair. I ducked away without thinking a

have scared me out of my mind. After this week

Week

d I was sorting documents

ddenly asked me, "do you

d on how to advertise products. The title sounded grand, but my job mos

tinctive feature was his notably large eyes. His eyes, however, seemed mostly decorative, as his art was filled with

me would also fall on me. 'Hao Ning, as marketing director, shouldn't you care about wha

d. He knew every good spot in the city. Every weekend, he devoted himself to tryi

with him. "The boss just said I have no sense of design and can't lead my team.

charged on. "Speaking of my taste, I was just making plans to go to Heaven's Eye Lake. The scenery is lovely, and there's a hot spring to relax the body and the min

m with your basin sized face? Hunting needs good eyesight. You can't even match colors.

o you mean, my face is the size of a basin? I may eat a lot, but

ving nightmares. They featured some sort of devil, a heavenly book, and a divine seal. I had

S City. Zhou Yuan drove. In the backseat s

eat deal about human hair, but he'd lost all of his before graduation and been unabl

to learning programming. Now people tended to assum

asant, but that could only stay interesting so l

I'll tell a very long story tha

said, getting

ld monk telling a story. Do you know what that story was?" Zhou Yuan asked with a laugh. "Once upon a time,

ng until we reach our destination, that

ed again, takin

truth, didn't

filled with small villas overlooking the lake. Birds f

and took a deep bre

h further from the city wh

t inside," Zhou Yuan said, gesturi

ocals to cook. The 'wild game' was most likely a half-domesticated type the locals br

I heard a burst of laugh

y are awesome! We have

ies of some wild rabbits while the other two carried bags. The woman lo

ing, let me introduce you. This is Miss Lan. She's a fellow foodie. Miss L

s Lan was hard to read, but they look

of the rabbits. It didn't seem dead quite dead and kept twitching every once and a while. "Tonigh

said with a laugh. "One shouldn

right? We can talk about that other matter later." Miss Lan gave a polite s

aid with an unnatur

ly your lucky day," Miss Lan said

ou Yuan. Somet

two need to talk

but I thought I heard him mut

ed to talk to Miss Lan about something. He came back calm, telling us he'd confirmed pl

showing me his phone, "wha

make me work? I thought I was supposed to r

were carefully chosen, the layout clean and readable, and each detail had been attended to. I

Zhou Yuan, "if you can find a map this beautiful, it's proof

no, a third of this skill, nobody would laugh at you. Look, I don't mean to gossip, bu

u Yuan said. "I drew t

ed, putting a h

ow what your work looks like. Do you remember how the other night your drawing was

e have to keep going on

, but saying his art was too horrible to use was going too

hou Yuan didn't

is the new me. From now on, my designs w

have lost his appetite. He ate a few vegetables without even touching th

one else went to the hot springs to bathe, but I h

flickered. I looked up and saw a man sitting in front of me. He was handsome, but his face wa

some people robbed hotel rooms while the occupants slept, but I d

u?! What do

dy to throw it at him i

forget the story you wrote abo

ou mean 'A Visit from the Devil'? That was

in charge of guiding souls in the reg

out to stand up and hand it to me bu

to sell anything, lend money, or buy insurance. I'm only carrying 500 yuan. Do yo

I was here to collect a soul, and sinc

then pulled out a small, glowing bottle. The

is a

e, and I stared

e man," I told him. "Your scams are on par with Mast

led aw

t you can't

other step

lled, holding my laptop, re

ally don't know why you're the one..." He frowned

and placed it

Me Your Mana!'" he

izing I could still speak. "What i

ors. The light from the bottle in his hand gradually shra

l my teeth were chattering. The tiny figure in the bottle was we

good deal of money until two documentaries came out framing him as a stage