Chapter 23

Pi Yanlin hugged the base of the wall as he inched forward. The heel of his shoe crunched against a fragment of brick, making a barely audible click. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end. The black shadow had been lingering near the mill for at least a quarter of an hour. It neither fled nor hid, as if it were deliberately luring him in. The phantom created by his "Slothful Shadow Projection" technique was still sprawled on the clay bed in the post station's side room, currently gnawing on its fingernails while facing the window paper—a perfect imitation of his usual slacking-off routine. This was a skill the System had just granted him, and it had taken him three tries to grasp the trick: the phantom would copy the movements of the original body but with a half-beat delay, which was perfect for fooling patrolling guards.