[Rules-based horror + national destiny + ghost bride + paper effigy craftsman + play the pig to eat the tiger]
As spiritual qi revival swept across the land, the Heavenly Dao enveloped Blue Star and strange tales descended. Every three days, one contestant from each nation was selected to enter an instance and face its rules-based horror challenge.
China’s national destiny score had already fallen below the danger line. If it failed again, the supernatural would invade the entire country, leaving it on the brink of collapse.
Su Nan, a paper effigy craftsman, was selected to take on the never-before-cleared B-rank instance: The Blood-Red Wedding Banquet!
[Rule: You must bow before midnight. You may not refuse the bride’s requests.]
When the ghost bride demanded they consummate their marriage, the other contestants wondered how to escape. Su Nan, however, turned around and livestreamed their wedding night...
The bride flew into a rage, the instance difficulty shot up, and a Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts was triggered!
In this supposedly inescapable death trap, Su Nan crafted a million ghost soldiers. They trampled the hundred ghosts, captured the ghost bride, and left the instance in style.
Faced with a succession of S-rank instances, Su Nan used the paper in his hands to shake heaven and earth and command the spirits.
“Vengeful ghosts claim souls, and the Black and White Impermanence come to collect? No problem. I’ll craft a pair of my own. Whoever wins is the real Impermanence!”
“Seven Fiends suppress souls, and nine sons pin down the dragon? No problem. I’ll craft a colorful qilin. With the qilin striding across auspicious clouds, every hardship in the mortal world will disappear!”
As China’s national destiny recovered, its leaders wept with joy, thinking the supernatural threat had finally passed.
Little did they know...
Every ghost in the instances had ended up inside a paper effigy.
Months later.
Many countries besides China suffered supernatural invasions and devastating casualties. One after another, they appealed to China for help.
After signing a series of unequal treaties, the peerless patriot Su Nan made his grand entrance.
With a wave of paper scraps, he scattered beans that turned into soldiers, and a million ghost soldiers and Yellow Turban warriors assembled in force.
With a twitch of his finger, fighter jets, cannons, missiles, and submarines struck up a symphony of war.
Su Nan: “Sorry, I happen to know a little about using paper effigies for physics-based exorcisms.”
