A Brush with Death in Broad Daylight

[The next book will be Ten Days of Strange Tales [Infinite]! If you're interested, please add it to your favorites.]

Synopsis:

--The girl who lived on the second floor killed herself. Yesterday marked the seventh day since her death.

When Yan Zhao heard about it from a neighbor, a chill ran down his back and he was left in a daze.

Because just yesterday, he had run into that girl by the elevator.

She had said only one thing to him: "You're about to be in serious trouble."

What happened next seemed to prove her words right.

A roommate who shouldn't exist, terrifying visions in the mirror at a youth hostel, long black hair spreading like seaweed... And in the end, Yan Zhao was fired for some incomprehensible reason, losing his source of income.

Those eerie things kept invading his life, putting him in danger.

Just as Yan Zhao was about to despair, a strange young man barged into his life. He saw the root of the problem at once: Yan Zhao still had an unfulfilled promise between him and the girl.

"Death doesn't cancel a debt. She's dead, but you're still alive. That's a debt between the living and the dead. Think carefully: what did you promise her?"

Yan Zhao suddenly understood. He remembered that he really did owe the girl one last wish.

Even after the matter was resolved, Yan Zhao couldn't relax. He realized that although the girl was gone, the "things" he saw in his daily life hadn't disappeared.

Then the young man named Qi Yanzhuo came knocking again.

"You're a rare case of pure yin constitution. You have nowhere else to go right now, so why not come work with me? We can ward off evil and choose auspicious days, and both make a profit."

Yan Zhao was baffled. He couldn't figure out why Qi Yanzhuo had set his sights on him.

Qi Yanzhuo persisted: "People have all kinds of names for us: yin-yang masters, exorcists, or charlatans. None of that matters. Everyone has to make a living."

Yan Zhao: "...So you just called yourself a charlatan, right?"

Qi Yanzhuo: "Actually, this line of work pays very well."

Yan Zhao didn't hesitate: "Then it's a deal!"

It might be dangerous, but any job that could make him financially free was a good job!

Later, Yan Zhao followed Qi Yanzhuo and witnessed all kinds of strange and wonderful happenings he had never imagined before.

An ill-fated romance with a ghost, a ghost stealing someone's soul, a grave that wouldn't stay still, a deadly blade hidden in a tomb...

Until one day, in a "Yellow Millet Dream," he entered a shrine for the dead where a ritual was being held. He looked at the bizarre statue on the altar, lifted the red cloth, and saw the "sacrifice."

It was a human head. His own.

From that day on, Yan Zhao finally learned that he was destined to become the sacrifice in a "deity-worship ceremony."

To become the bride of a "god."

He was caught in the river called "Fate," pushed ever onward by waves known as "Karma."

Amid the chaos, Qi Yanzhuo covered Yan Zhao's eyes and whispered softly in his ear.

"You won't become anyone's sacrifice. You'll live on."

"You'll live to a hundred."

*This story is entirely fictional. Many of the settings were created by the author, and nothing described in this book has been scientifically verified. Do not try to imitate anything in it! Do not apply it to real life!

Theme: A good life comes from keeping your feet on the ground