"Welcome to the Bureau of Strange Affairs, Lu Feng."
Under the dim light of a long corridor, Lu Feng stood silently, eyes fixed on a bronze nameplate that read: Department of Paranormal Investigations. The air was thick with the faint scent of mug-wort and sulfur—like he had walked into an abandoned shrine instead of a government building.
He was only twenty, not even finished with university, yet an unexplained encounter with a ghostly figure had brought him here—to the very organization that existed only in whispered rumors.
"Follow me."
A cold voice interrupted his thoughts.
Lu Feng turned and saw a tall woman in a deep purple trench coat approaching him. She walked with sharp precision, eyes like hawks—penetrating, unreadable. Her name was Kai Lin, director of this division and, starting today, his superior.
"You're the one who can see the 'shadows,' right?" Her voice was indifferent.
Lu Feng nodded. "Yes… I can see what lingers, sometimes even hear their last words."
Kai Lin's brow twitched slightly but said nothing more. She tossed a sleek black communicator into his hands—its surface engraved with spell-like symbols.
"You're coming with me tonight. Whether you live or not, that's up to fate."
His first case had come faster than he expected.
Midnight.
A black armored van pulled up to the front of the shuttered Red Plum Motel, a building drenched in urban legends—three suicides in a year, whispers of sobbing in the dark, showers turning on by themselves.
"Police sealed it twice. Nothing found. But every night, new footage keeps showing up online," Kai Lin said.
"So… it really is a ghost?"
"Not every anomaly is a ghost. Could be residual emotion, a cursed object, even a tear in space-time." Her eyes narrowed. "But tonight, yes. It's a ghost."
The motel door creaked open on its own. A rush of icy wind greeted them. Lu Feng gripped the spectral scanner in his hand. The red light blinked wildly.
The lobby was thick with mold and death. A cracked mirror behind the counter shimmered oddly, like it was breathing.
"There's something watching us," Lu Feng whispered.
Kai Lin said nothing. She knelt and drew a five-pointed sealing sigil with a charm-infused pen. With a flick, a talisman landed at its center.
The mirror shattered.
A scream tore through the air—sharp, inhuman.
A pitch-black figure lunged from the shards, red eyes blazing, limbs like vapor.
"Don't move!" Kai Lin snapped.
A glowing charm exploded mid-air, freezing the spirit in place.
"It's a wandering ghost. One of the suicides, maybe." She glanced at Lu Feng. "They don't mean harm. They just… can't let go."
"Can we help it move on?" he asked, softly.
Kai Lin stared at him. "You're too soft. Soft people don't survive a month here."
Yet, she still pulled out a spirit bead and began chanting.
The ghost moaned, slowly dissolving into the light.
"This is just the beginning," she said, stepping toward the creaking stairs. "There are two more upstairs. If you make it out alive… maybe you'll be a real investigator."
Lu Feng followed, eyes still fixed on where the spirit had vanished.
He didn't know if it was the ghost or her—
But something in this place had already begun to haunt him.