The Record of Spirits Chapter One: The Record of Spirits

“Jiang Li! Jiang—Li—!” Even before he was fully awake, Jiang Li heard someone calling his name through a haze of confusion.

He found himself lying alone on a cold, hard surface. Groggily, he opened his eyes and struggled to his feet. Only then did he have the chance to look around and take stock of his surroundings. He was in a remote mountain village, and nearby, several other people lay sprawled on the ground, unconscious.

Jiang Li knelt beside a casually dressed young woman and tried to wake her. At his urging, the woman roused, stood up, and surveyed their environment. Then she turned to Jiang Li with a questioning look. Jiang Li could only shrug helplessly—he was just as baffled as she was.

A short distance away, five men and three women also began to regain consciousness one by one. Almost as if by some unspoken agreement, they all turned to look at Jiang Li and the woman in the tracksuit, the first to awaken.

Jiang Li shook his head, indicating that he was just as confused—he, too, had only just come to. The group of ten began to examine the village in earnest.

Jiang Li surveyed the place: sparsely populated, with perhaps twenty-odd households. The entire village was shrouded in darkness, not a single light to be seen. It was utterly silent, cloaked in a gloom so oppressive it felt suffocating, as though they’d wandered onto the set of a horror film.

Trying to clear his head, Jiang Li rubbed his temples. He distinctly remembered sitting at home, watching TV and sipping a fine bottle of liquor a friend had gifted him. How had he ended up in this eerie and terrifying wilderness with a group of strangers? He wasn’t the only one doubting his sanity—each of the other nine was frantically rewinding their memories, but none could recall how they’d gotten here.

Suddenly, a burning pain seared through their chests—a sensation as if something inside was about to burst out. Jiang Li hastily pulled down the collar of his long-sleeved shirt and stared at his chest, only to feel the same pain flare up on his left wrist.

Just as quickly as it arrived, the pain vanished. Now, inexplicably, a digital timer was embedded in his left wrist, the numbers ticking down relentlessly. At the same moment, a cold sensation brushed his neck—a crimson skull pendant had appeared, hanging over his chest.

Jiang Li picked up the bizarre skull, examining it. The instant he looked into its hollow eyes, a beam of red light shot into his mind, and suddenly he found himself standing in a featureless white world. The crimson skull, now the size of a human head, floated before him, accompanied by a scarlet book. The book opened, its pages blank.

A hollow voice echoed through the white expanse.

“First: No one may leave before the timer on your wrist runs out. Whoever tries will meet the same fate as him.”

As the voice faded, the other nine people materialized in this white space. A red light from the skull’s eyes beamed onto a man in his thirties at the far end. Instantly, the man’s body erupted in ghostly flames and was consumed before their eyes.

“Second: Complete each of your assigned tasks.

“Third: Do not attempt to kill the ghosts in your missions.

“Let me be clear: no matter what you do, the evil spirits in your tasks cannot be killed.

“Seek clues to escape during your missions. Only success in returning to the city counts as survival.

“Anyone who flees or breaks the rules will be killed by the evil spirits.

“The mission begins now. Before the timer ends, find the ghost haunting this place. After completing the mission, consult the book for ways to return and further rules.”

This incomprehensible phenomenon shattered Jiang Li’s worldview. He had always been a staunch atheist, a believer in science and modern civilization. Now, faced with the supernatural, he dared not make a rash move.

Jiang Li was formerly a special forces operative, discharged in March of this year and recently returned to his hometown after just one month. He’d grown up in a county orphanage in Zhengxin City, and his introverted nature had left him with few childhood friends. Su Mo was one of the rare companions from those years.

While Jiang Li was serving, he learned that Su Mo had fallen gravely ill. Jiang Li hoped to take leave to visit him, but that was during the outbreak of a new coronavirus in China. As a special operations team leader, Jiang Li was assigned to protect some of the nation’s top medical experts, including the renowned Dr. Nan.

Jiang Li first heard of Dr. Nan as a child of six, during the 2002 SARS epidemic. China was rapidly developing, but the virus posed an unprecedented threat. Dr. Nan led the country’s best scientists in developing a vaccine, becoming a hero in the field of medicine. Eighteen years later, at age twenty-four, Jiang Li and his team were tasked with safeguarding Dr. Nan and other researchers during the COVID-19 crisis. Thanks to their efforts, a vaccine was produced in just over a hundred days.

After completing that mission and resting for a time, Jiang Li applied for discharge—not only because of his friend’s illness, but also because of troubling news. The international assassin known as Blue Eye, infamous for her activity in the Central Plains region, had resurfaced in China. Jiang Li’s heart was haunted by memories of the woman he’d once loved, who had been brutally murdered by Blue Eye during an operation two years prior. Though his superiors urged him to let go, Jiang Li knew his duty as a soldier—he couldn’t act recklessly.

Now, two years later, word reached Jiang Li that Blue Eye had returned to the Central Plains. He knew his time had come. Three days ago, he traveled to a remote county in Zhengxin City to visit Su Mo. The sight of his childhood friend nearly broke him.

Su Mo was little more than skin and bones, so emaciated Jiang Li doubted he’d recognize him outside of a hospital. His face was gaunt, his body frail like an old man’s. When Jiang Li arrived, Su Mo stared at him in terror, his finger trembling as he pointed behind Jiang Li. Shuddering, he whispered, “There’s—a—ghost—Jiang Li—save me…”

Only after much soothing did Su Mo calm down. Jiang Li stayed a while, then left alone. The next day, while exercising at home, he received a call from Su Mo’s parents—Su Mo had died. Jiang Li rushed to the hospital, where he found his friend’s corpse cold as ice, eyes vacant, face frozen in terror, his hands clenched so tightly on the bedsheet that the fabric was left in disarray.

Now, Jiang Li wondered: Do ghosts truly exist?

He snapped back to reality. Three minutes had passed. Suddenly, the previously pitch-black village blazed with light. People appeared in the streets as if conjured from thin air, filling the lanes in a festive bustle reminiscent of a temple fair or lantern festival.

The rules demanded that Jiang Li and the others enter the village, but everyone was paralyzed with fear. Who dared be the first to step forward? Moments before, the village had been lifeless—now, it was alive with people and light.

Steeling himself, Jiang Li stepped into the village. In an instant, he was no longer at the entrance but standing inside a villager’s home, where a family was cheerfully enjoying dinner.

Inside, all seemed calm, but outside, the others were stunned. Jiang Li, who had just entered the village, vanished before their very eyes. One after another, fear-stricken, they followed, as if tumbling into a pit.

Jiang Li glanced at his watch—it was only 6 p.m., though outside the village it had looked well past nine. The family invited him warmly to join them for dinner. Unable to refuse, Jiang Li sat with them, his hunger overwhelming any concern for the mission or the spirits.

As they ate and chatted, Jiang Li suddenly sensed something was wrong. The lively conversation had faded into silence. He looked up in alarm—the family had vanished. In their place sat three decaying corpses, picking up chopsticks and eating from the dishes like the living.

Jiang Li’s nerves tightened to breaking. He peered into his own bowl—his food appeared normal. But from the corner of his eye, he saw what the corpses were eating: the remains of one of the men who had been brought here to complete the task with him.