"Mm, it's pitch black all around—feels like someone's watching us from the shadows..."
Following Guinaifen's lead, they soon reached the heart of Fyxestroll Garden.
"Family, ever heard the rumors about Fyxestroll Garden being haunted?"
"Spill the details?"
"Good question! As a sightseeing streamer, I've done my homework. Let me pull up the script..."
Guinaifen fished out her phone. "[Immortal Fox, Plump and Vast Tail], Fyxestroll Garden was originally crafted by a foxian artisan as a serene pocket realm for kin to rest, wander, compose poetry, and hold banquets... Er, skipping the next five hundred words."
"Legend has it that thirty years ago, during the War of Abundance, the foxian flight corps suffered devastating losses. Folks spontaneously gathered at the Fox Repose Mound in Fyxestroll Garden to mourn the fallen... This left the garden deserted, bereft of laughter."
"Over time, eerie will-o'-wisps flickered in the gloom, ghostly sobs echoed from nowhere—and word of [Fyxestroll Garden's haunting] spread like wildfire among Luofu residents."
After Guinaifen's rundown, Stelle figured she'd really dug into it.
"You know the Luofu's customs inside out, huh?"
"Family, some things are best left unsaid. I paid Mr. Xiyan to write this script—how could it not be pro?"
"The haunting rumors sound absurd, but the Ten-Lords Commission's involvement this time? That's real." Guinaifen turned serious.
"On that note—if anything stirs up ahead, we three better steer clear. Forget ghosts; if we bump into judges, we'll get booted, and this trip's a bust."
"No worries—trust the [ghost-hunting master] I brought in."
Both turned to Adrian. Don't underestimate a stream's top spender—loaded pockets mean real chops too.
"Fair point. Feixiao mentioned Mr. Adrian's a long-term partner of the [Eternity Church]... Oh, no wonder you sponsored little Guizi!"
Recalling her childhood, Guinaifen always saw the Church through rose-tinted glasses. Pity—she'd grown up without spotting that pale-gold-haired liturgist again.
Probably retired in her old age.
"Partner... In a sense, Adrian really is."
He regularly supplied the Church with quirky gadgets: Herta puppets, Aether tapes, custom Light Cones, twisty bubble gum, life-sized [ETERNITY] Aeon body pillows... What else but sponsorship?
Mm... Seems a weird one's slipped in, but of course, the essential milk tea's never missing!
"Alright, warnings given—let's move. Watch your step."
...
They'd barely gone a few paces when spectral mansion bailiffs and Ten-Lords judges nabbed them red-handed.
"Stelle, see that? This sister's skin's deathly pale, eyes all shifty... Is she even human or ghost?"
"Once you enter the Ten-Lords Commission, treat me as one of the departed. I am [Xueyi], judge of the lowest rank, overseeing the duties of capture, binding, punishment, and interrogation."
Xueyi's tone was even. "Thus, I know a thing or two about you three."
"Guinaifen: Outworlder, unemployed... Entered Fyxestroll Garden two days prior with Cloud Knight recruit Feixiao."
Guinaifen's lips drooped visibly. Ouch—that stung.
"Hey, unemployed? I'm a street performer and hot-topic streamer! Streamer! It's legit work!"
"As for these two..."
She'd heard of the gray-haired one; the man beside her? Never laid eyes on him.
Odd... Anyone like that on the Luofu?
Huohuo's focus stayed glued to Adrian. She'd just seen this milk tea boss earlier.
Sigh~ Guess the milk tea boss loves crashing the party. Fyxestroll Garden's no drop-in, drop-out spot.
Safety in numbers for the nerves, sure—but pack protection too!
"Th-that quick to sell me out? Fine—one person's deed, one person's burden. Yeah, I roped them in."
"Whoa! Owns up and stands by her crew—rare for a streamer these days. Following you right now!" Stelle felt a surge of admiration.
"Whose idea doesn't matter... You three, this area's off-limits now—no non-essentials allowed."
Xueyi eyed Guinaifen first: "Out with it—back so soon, why?"
"Er, nothing much—just haven't updated in ages. Wanted some spooky visuals for video fodder... Heh heh."
"I've said it: No ghosts on the Xianzhou. That's superstitious nonsense. As Luofu folk, don't spread or swallow rumors."
"But I saw them—flickering with that eek-eek ghostfire, cackling all weird. Feixiao saw too..."
Huohuo, who'd tangled deepest with [those things], stepped up.
"Miss Guinaifen, it's hard to explain in a nutshell, but those aren't the ghosts or specters you imagine. Don't overlay your homeland's folklore on this..."
"Those prowling pests are highly dangerous energy parasites: [Aurumatons]."
Guinaifen and Stelle swapped glances: "For real? I don't buy it. Aurumatons? What's that?"
"Oh~ I get it—on the Xianzhou, Aurumatons are just ghost lingo, right? Gotta be." She rambled on, oblivious.
Faced with Guinaifen's baffling logic, Huohuo shook her head in defeat. Outsiders always reacted this way.
"Guess Mr. Tail's gotta step up... T-Tail? Mr. Tail?" Huohuo glanced warily at her glowing tail.
The verdant tail stayed limp.
"Mr. Tail? Hey? React already."
Huohuo wagged it. Oversleeping couldn't last this long—what's with him today?
"Hiss... Two scary types here—per this lord, lay low for now."
Heir to [Lone Pyre's Pride], the tail acted totally out of character—Huohuo'd never seen this.
But the worst? Mr. Tail blurted it aloud, in front of everyone. Whisper next time...
"That's you, Teacher Adrian." Stelle smirked. No matter how haughty the Aurumaton, facing the milk tea Aeon? Instant meek.
No ghosts sighted, yet Stelle spotted something scarier... Ten-Lords judges.
Logic said these three were flesh-and-blood, but one creepier than the last:
The scrawny girl hosted a yokai; the tall woman, white-haired and veiled, voice like a specter; and the only familiar, Xueyi, a mech-puppet...
By contrast, ghosts seemed tame.
To shoo Stelle and Guinaifen away, the judges launched into patient lectures: No ghosts on the Xianzhou—just millennium-old alien parasites loose.
Quit wandering and messing with official business.
Good news: No rogue ghosts in Fyxestroll Garden.
Bad news: Alien parasites scampering everywhere... That's way scarier!