Chapter 1 - The Ghost

Gasp!

Zhi Yu woke up with bated breath, clutching at his chest—or at least where his chest used to be. With every passing day, his silhouette grew thinner and more translucent. He wouldn't be surprised if he woke up completely invisible someday.

'A nightmare... It's just a nightmare, just a nightmare?'

'...I can't remember. I can't recall a single thing.'

His head pounded while his vision blurred. He grimaced at the impending headache it announced.

'Wait, can ghosts even have headaches?'

'...'

'Forget it.'

Zhi Yu lazily slipped from the sheets, semi-floating towards the main hall.

'Day 527 of being stuck here.. or was it 531? It's been too long.'

He passed a room where the small squeaks of mice could still be heard. Another one. They usually died within a day or two of being stuck in this building.

'The good thing about being a ghost is that you don't have to make your bed, chase away the rodents, or do anything else. You exist.'

The building was composed of four main halls. The first one led from the Front courtyard to the frequented quarters. The second one tied the Medicine hall to the Main building. The third bridged away from the pond Temple, and the fourth formed a path straight from the Armory to the main buildings. He crossed the Front courtyard, past the arch decorated in delicate golden wood engravings, and marched straight towards the entrance gate.

'I can do it this time.'

He walked hesitantly, the grass around his feet flattening as if it wished to avoid his ghostly energy.

Nothing happened. Nature was as loud as ever, and the pond swished in crystalline sounds.

He took another step.

Again, nothing happened.

'Maybe? Could today be the day?'

He found himself praying, drunk on the false hope that filled him every day, even though he knew it was futile to hope. As he tried to cross the threshold, he found himself rebound of several feet.

Wham!

He would've crashed into the building wall if not for his lack of heaviness rendering him light as a feather.

"Ugh...! Again," he cursed as he tried to stand up, but his legs collapsed under him. This sensation was one he was all too familiar with. Being thrown back, the pounding headache that followed, and the lack of strength everywhere in his body all pointed to a penalty awarded for committing a misfit.

'Damn it! When was leaving a building considered a crime?! How many times has it been? How many days have I been stuck in this hellish building?'

'Just let me out for god's sake!'

Absorbed in his self wallowing, Zhi Yu failed to notice a looming presence until the shadow of a creature cut itself from the bright sun rays.

"Yes, you will do just fine," a deep, gravelly voice concluded. 

'Huh? Who...'

He lifted his head to scrutinize the newcomer. 

For once, he wished the sun would stop shining brightly, for it would allow him to gaze back at the person he instinctively knew stared right at him, the mysterious pair of eyes hidden in the shadow. 

"Who are you? How can you see me?" he croaked out, feeling nauseous from the recent impact.

"That matters naught. Tell me, do you want this to stop? I know the way you can get out of here." 

The person extended his hand.

"Take my hand, and I'll give you what you desire the most, may it be freedom, wealth or knowledge. Take my hand, and I'll take you Beyond where you belong."

'This feels like a dream come true. Is this real or a hallucination?'

'Well, as long as it gets me out of here.'

Tentatively, Zhi Yu raised his hand, ready to accept the offer. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; who says he'd get another way to escape the manor in another hundred years?

"Good choice, good choice." The creature smiled and took his hand. Now, let us go into the light and beyond."

And with a powerful beam of golden light that stung his eyes, the creature disappeared, and he fell into a deep sleep.

. . .

Zhi Yu dreamed.

He dreamed of the afterlife.

Of running through the flowery fields with his friends. Of drinking wine and eating heartily with his family. Of the feeling of wind sifting through his hair.

He dreamed of Beyond.

He sat with [???] on the mountain hill and gazed at the shooting stars.

"Look, aren't they pretty?" he asked.

"Yes, truly beautiful." [???] said.

"Who...?"

"What's wrong? You look pale."

"Who said that?"

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[You should've stayed put. Stayed in the box. Why can't you listen?]

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When he woke up, he found himself in a void. A dark space in which heavy silence dripped. His surroundings were dark and shrouded in a blurry veil and he had trouble seeing beyond an arm's reach, feeling around with his hand like a blind man.

"Hello?" he called out. "Is anyone there?"

His words, as soon as spoken, faded into emptiness. 

'This place... It has no echo.'

'Could this be a dream? Or inside my mind?'

Zhi Yu walked around hurriedly, unsettled by the silence and lack of life. His eyes looked around intently, hoping to find a way out or an explanation. 

'What happened?'

He tried to recall the events before waking up here: the strange creature that offered him a way out, the golden beam of light. Could this place related to the deal the creature provided to him? When he thought about it, it was quite shady. They didn't request anything in return, nor did they specify what they called "a way out." 

He sighed. It was too late to review his words. He had been caught in a desperate moment, and he would've done anything to escape that maddening prison. 

As he walked, the air slowly grew heavier onto him, pressing him down with unexplainable tension, given that he was in a void-like place.

'Light!'

In the far distance, his eyes distinguished a slight difference in tone, barely noticeable, but to him, it shone white like the sun. He started hurrying towards it, his walk breaking into a slight jog.

Strangely, the more he walked, the heavier his feet seemed to become. It was as if each foot was burdened by sandbags, dragging him down the more he moved. The ground swallowed his footsteps, eagerly licking up his ankles.

'No! I won't give up! I won't sink! Not again!'

He tripped and swiftly tried to get up, but he found himself getting sucked by the darkness like a moth attracted to light. He tried to reach upwards, to find a stable point where he could grip with all his might, but his futile attempts to claw himself out only dragged him further down.

Zhi Yu could briefly see the gleam of the light before the ground closed on his eyes, as light as the river's surface.

'How beautiful...'