A Manual for Surviving a Weird World

Chapter 416 Taking a Brush
"Are you sure you didn't 'see' anyone?" Ning Zhe asked, frowning.

Sensing something amiss in his tone, Feng Yushu suddenly became somewhat insecure: "Yes, yes... there are only three people in the vicinity: you, me, and Zhang Genshuo. There is no fourth one. Unless someone deliberately hides in the shadows, Te Rang would not have failed to notice."

"What is that?" Ning Zhe raised his finger and pointed to the sky.

Feng Yushu looked up and saw a pale figure floating in mid-air above the mill. The figure was dressed in the paper clothes of the White Impermanence and was swaying in the night wind like a small boat drifting with the current.

"Ah Jian!" Zhang Genshuo immediately panicked, hurriedly carrying a lantern and floating up to the roof, heading towards the pale, paper-clad figure.

Ning Zhe, however, remained calm, gazing up at the pitch-black night sky, and said softly:

"Terang can only capture the shadows of living people. To it, dead bodies are no different from inanimate objects like buildings and stones. Since you didn't see the shadow of the fourth person, it means that the one floating upstairs is either dead or not human."

The two walked through the gate into the mill, and only when they got closer did they realize that the pale white figure floating in the sky was indeed not human.

“It’s a paper figure…” Feng Yushu murmured.

It was a paper figure made of bamboo strips, white paper, and glutinous rice paste. It was tattered and drafty, as if it had been through a lot of damage. The bamboo strips at the lower legs had broken off and were stuck between the roof beams and tiles, like a kite string tethering it to the roof, which is why it was not blown away by the wind.

Jang Geun-suk took the tattered paper figure down and placed it on the ground, momentarily dazed: "I thought it was Ah-Kin, but it's just a paper figure."

"Isn't this the paper figure from Qin Shou's house?" Feng Yushu asked疑惑地, "How did it end up here?"

Ning Zhe squatted down and carefully examined the large, tattered holes on the paper figure. He shook his head and said, "No, it shouldn't be."

Feng Yushu blinked: "Isn't that right?"

"Didn't you notice? When we were watching Qin Shou paint masks for Ding Wei in that room before, there were clearly two faceless paper figures, one black and one white, hanging on the wall."

Ning Zhe said calmly, turning to look at Zhang Genshuo: "The remaining two paper figures with faces were placed behind the stage by you to watch over the paper figures performing the opera, right?"

Jang Keun Suk nodded: "That's right."

“That makes sense.” Ning Zhe nodded. “There are four paper figures in total, two black and two white, and none of them are missing. The paper figure in front of us is not any of them.”

Feng Yushu was even more puzzled: "If Qin Shou's four paper figures are still here, then where did this paper figure come from?"

They hadn't seen the paper figure when they were grinding tofu at the mill or when they came back to restock after the first batch of tofu. Ning Zhe was meticulous; if it had been there, he would have definitely noticed it.

"In other words, this paper figure appeared here after we left the mill."

Ning Zhe flipped the paper figure on the ground to its front. The white paper rustled, revealing a large hole in the face of the paper figure, through which the bamboo frame and traces of glutinous rice paste could be seen.

The three searched around the mill again, but still couldn't find either Zhang Genjian or Xu Beicheng. In the end, they returned empty-handed, dejectedly carrying the tattered paper figure back to the small house behind the stage.

Before entering the room, Ning Zhe went up to the stage. Lifting the curtain and walking inside, he saw more than a dozen paper figures of different shapes and colors arranged in an orderly fashion on the ground. Each paper figure had a different face painted on it, with mountain ridges, bird feathers, and the character for longevity in red ink, symbolizing the different roles they played in "The Tale of the White Robe".

Two paper figures, one black and one white, were placed on the far left and far right respectively, surrounding the paper puppet troupe like prison guards.

"One, two, three..." Jang Geun-suk counted the number of people: "Okay, not one is missing."

At this moment, Ding Wei, who had already finished painting his face, transformed into a short, chubby Black Impermanence and floated down from the roof, landing on the stage. He asked, "Brother Ning Zhe, what are you looking at?" "Checking if any paper figures are missing," Ning Zhe said. Feng Yushu picked up the tattered White Impermanence and said, "We searched the whole village but couldn't find Zhang Genjian and Xu Beicheng. However, we found this on the roof of the mill."

"Another paper doll?"

Seeing that something was wrong, Ding Wei hurriedly went back into the house. By then, Miao Miaomiao had already placed the camera on the table and was preparing to lie down so that Qin Shou could paint her face.

"Wait a minute!" Ding Wei shouted, "Miaomiao! Don't lie down yet!"

Miao Miaomiao was taken aback: "W-what's wrong?"

"I... I don't know how to say it... Anyway, don't lie down yet." Ding Wei scratched his head, wondering why Ning Zhe hadn't come over yet. Had he floated too fast?

Qin Shou put down his paintbrush, his expression somewhat displeased: "It's getting late. I have to perform on stage tomorrow. If you finish painting sooner, you can all get some rest."

Ding Wei ignored what he said and continued, "Brother Qin, did you only make four paper figures of Black and White Impermanence?"

"Why are you asking this?" Qin Shou asked, frowning.

"Just answer me if I'm right or not," Ding Wei continued, talking to himself.

"..." Qin Shou's eyes showed a thoughtful expression, and it was unclear what he was thinking.

Seeing this, Miao Miaomiao quickly picked up the camera and hid behind Ding Wei. Qin Shou remained calm and slowly put his hand inside his clothes.

"What are you doing?!" Ding Wei immediately became alert. "I was just asking a question, what do you mean by this?"

Qin Shou didn't answer, but instead reached into the inside pocket of his coat, looking at Ding Wei with a calm yet appreciative gaze, as if he were looking at a proud painting.

Immediately afterwards, Qin Shou frowned and reached into his pocket, only to find nothing.

"What happened?" Qin Shou was shocked, his face changing drastically: "Where's my pen?"

Is this what you're looking for?

A clear, youthful voice came from outside the door. The three people inside looked in the direction of the voice and saw Ning Zhe standing outside the door, holding a long, cloth bag tied with rope.

"My pen! How did it end up with you?!" Qin Shou's eyes widened, and he lunged at him without saying a word.

Ning Zhe neither dodged nor flinched, but simply said, "Take one more step forward and you'll die."

Qin Shou dared not gamble on whether these words were true or false, and indeed stopped in his tracks, his face turning red and then white: "What do you mean?"

"Literally, if you come one more step closer to me, you die." Ning Zhe played with the cloth bag in his hand. A completely transparent four-fingered ghost hand extended from his spine, like a flexible tail trailing behind Ning Zhe, or like an octopus's tentacles, swaying gently in the water.

At the foot of the cottage wall, the figure of a woman with a full figure and a plump body stood quietly.

(End of this chapter)