The surface of Stone Bridge River under the midnight sky was afloat with billowing mist, obscuring the fuzzy crescent moon above.
Below the prostrate black hills, a few torches flickered unsteadily. Winding paths crisscrossed each other, and a small courtyard fenced with wicker stood with a thatched cottage inside. Snow-white strings of garlic and bamboo sieves hung from the windows, while the wooden gate was pasted with red-brown talismanic portraits of malignant ghosts.
"Meow~"
The sound of cat paws scratching on the door panel was subtle and intermittent, hardly noticeable in the silent night.
"Creak~"
The door loosened, and a dark figure took advantage of the dim moonlight to slip through the gate like a wisp of smoke.
"I already told you not to come looking for me these days! Couldn't you at least have waited until after that ghost's seventh-day ceremony?"
