A cold wind blew through the alley, like a thousand wailing spirits echoing from the void.
The crowd in the alley froze, eyes fixed on the shadowy figure that had appeared without warning.A chill ran down their spines, an ancient, bone-deep fear stirring in their souls—As if this dread had been etched into their bloodline long before they were born.
"Black Warden…" the fat man muttered, his voice barely a whisper, eyes glazed with terror.
Yu Xiaolong's throat bobbed involuntarily as he swallowed."Heh… Is this really the best the Spirit Authority can do now? Dressing up like some cheap death god to scare people?"
He laughed dryly, trying to steady himself—but the trembling in his clenched fists betrayed him.Even more telling was the terrified reaction of the ghost inside him.
The ghost—a creature known as the Screaming Wraith—wasn't ordinary.Though only a Class-C ghost, it held the rare potential to ascend to Class-A.It had been gifted to Yu Xiaolong by his father after countless efforts, a priceless tool for his golden boy.
This thing could go toe-to-toe with a Class-B evil spirit without flinching.
But now?
Now it was curling into itself in fear.
Shivering.Weeping.
The Wraith had never acted like this before.
Dressed in black robes, face shadowed beneath a black hat…Peace to the Living, Death to the Guilty.
That was the rumored appearance of the Black Warden, the netherworld's enforcer, the soul ferryman of the underworld.
Yu Xiaolong didn't believe in gods or spirits. He was sure this was all just a Spirit Authority trick—A trick that was working a little too well.
The Warden's eyes swept across the group—emotionless, empty, and cold as ice.Wherever his gaze passed, fear slithered like a serpent into the hearts of everyone present.Even the air around them seemed to thin, suffocatingly heavy.
Yu Xiaolong instinctively let go of the woman he had been holding and inched backward.Then, in a sudden burst of desperation, he shoved the fat man beside him straight toward the Black Warden and turned to run.
Ghost energy surged from his body, glowing an eerie green as he tried to escape.
BOOM!
"Damn you Spirit Authority bastards!" he screamed in his mind."You really dare come after me? Wait till I tell my father—he'll burn your whole bureau to the ground!"
But before he could make it out of the alley, a black chain shot out like lightning, wrapping around him in an instant.Several of his companions were caught as well.
CLANG!
The chains rattled ominously, yanking them all back and slamming Yu Xiaolong to the ground before the Black Warden.
He struggled to speak, to reason, to bargain—But as he looked up at the Warden's towering figure, his tongue turned to stone.
In that moment, the man before him seemed larger than mountains.A god of judgment cloaked in the night.
The Warden's Mourning Staff rose—and fell.
CRACK!
"AAAHHHHHH!"
Yu Xiaolong screamed as agony tore through his body.A long, fiery gash opened across his back, the pain like hellfire licking at his bones.
He writhed on the ground, rolling back and forth, but the chains only tightened—Their coldness like needles stabbing into his skin again and again.
He gasped, desperation overtaking him.
"My father is—"
CRACK!
Another swing. Another crack of the Mourning Staff.
Yu Xiaolong collapsed, body limp.The others—less fortunate—were already dead, their souls scattered into nothing.
The Warden didn't spare them a second glance.
He slowly turned to face the girl on the ground—bound hand and foot—Yu Manman.
Her heart seized up. For a moment, she felt like Death itself was whispering in her ear.
That unknowable fear surged through her blood like ice water. She couldn't even move.
But the Warden simply stared at her… and then turned away.
Dragging Yu Xiaolong and the others with his chain, he began to walk toward the far end of the alley.
Yu Manman thought—just for a second—that she could see something terrifying.Yu Xiaolong's soul… slowly being peeled away from his body, suffering endlessly, fading inch by inch.
Where the Black Warden walks, evil spirits are destroyed, the wicked are punished, and the guilty suffer eternal torment.
The chains clinked behind him as he vanished into the moonlight.
"Huff… Huff…"
Only now did Yu Manman dare to breathe again.
The fear in her eyes faded—replaced by something strange.
Excitement.
"In black robes and hat… Peace for the living… It really was him… it was the Black Warden!" she whispered, trembling not with fear, but awe."He's real… The underworld is real!"
A devout believer in mythology and ancient folklore, Yu Manman had spent her whole life searching for proof.Even when the whole world mocked her, she never gave up.
Now, her dream had come true.
Somehow, she had forgotten she'd just been on the brink of death.
TAP. TAP.
Footsteps echoed at the alley's entrance.
"You okay?!"A Spirit Authority officer had arrived, eyes widening at the sight of half-devoured corpses.
He rushed into the alley, looking around warily. His ghost companion stirred within him, sensing something unnatural.Even though the main threat was gone, the lingering aura was suffocating—like standing where a dragon once lay.
He hurried over to free Yu Manman.
"This place isn't safe. Come with me, I'll take you to the Spirit Authority Headquarters."
Yu Manman wanted to refuse, but the image of the Black Warden flashed through her mind—And she found herself nodding, almost involuntarily.
She climbed onto his back, and he took off, carrying her away from the alley.
But he didn't know…
Bringing this girl back to HQ would trigger a storm so fierce, it could tear the Spirit Authority apart.
A storm that had already begun.