The sky was as clear and transparent as crystal, refracting a dreamlike powdery blue in the sunlight. Large, fluffy white clouds drifted across the heavens like dollop after dollop of whipped cream. Anyone would have called it a one-in-a-million gorgeous day.
Except for the young woman who had already spun around in circles multiple times without finding her destination.
Ming Youyou, an 18-year-old innocent college girl, loved anime and was obsessed with The Prince of Tennis. Having heard that a massive comic convention was being held in the city, she had started preparing three months in advance, planning to go all out before starting university. Instead, she had completely botched it.
"This makes no sense! The map says it's right here!"
Ming Youyou’s eyes rolled into spiral patterns as she stared at her phone screen hard enough to burn a hole through it.
She had double-checked several times. Today, this place was Wansheng Plaza—so why couldn't she find the convention?
Was the map broken?
Ming Youyou gave her phone a shake, nearly sending it flying, but luckily her reflexes kicked in just in time to catch it by the edge.
There was no way she had gone the wrong way. Being directionally challenged and unable to tell east from west, she had followed the little arrow on the map back and forth multiple times to confirm her route.
How could it be wrong?
The map led people astray; people trusted the map; people were good, but the map was bad.
Just as the girl pulled out her phone intending to make a call, the other person beat her to it. The ringtone was piercingly loud. Even without putting it on speaker, it blasted out so clearly it sounded as though someone was roaring right beside her ear.
Subconsciously pulling the phone away from her ear, she heard her best friend Ruyan’s voice: "Ming Youyou, where are you? Why haven't I seen you yet? Do you know the convention is about to start?!"
On the other end, Ruyan was tapping her ten-centimeter stiletto heels, supporting her right arm with her left hand, lifting her toes and tapping them so fast sparks were practically flying.
Ming Youyou felt like crying without tears. She had arrived, but she just couldn't find the place!
"I'm at Wansheng Plaza, but I don't see any convention!"
Ruyan narrowed her eyes. For some reason, she had a bad predisposing hunch. Hearing Ming Youyou's panicked voice, which sounded on the verge of tears, she let out a soft sigh, softened her tone, and comforted her:
"Don't panic yet. Here, send me your live location, and the two of us can follow the map. We'll find each other."
"Okay!"
Ming Youyou exited the interface and sent her live location to Ruyan. But when she saw that their avatar icons were miles apart, both of them let out a piercing shriek simultaneously.
"Isn't this Wansheng Plaza?!"
"Why are you at Wansheng Plaza?!"
Ruyan was on the verge of laughing in exasperation. This little scatterbrain was always muddle-headed, and the one time she hadn't come along to keep an eye on her, she'd slipped away!
"You big dummy! It's *Wan-sheng* Plaza, with the *sheng* for holy, not the *sheng* for blooming! You idiot!"
Wansheng Plaza (Prosperity Plaza) and Wansheng Plaza (All Saints Plaza) sounded identical, but their locations were worlds apart! One was on the east side of the city, and the other was on the west side—a three-hour drive away even without traffic lights or traffic jams.
Ming Youyou felt as though the sky were collapsing!
A tiny, white wisp of a soul seemed to be expelled from her mouth, and her entire figure looked as though it were fading away.
"I'm sorry, Ruyan. You clearly came to accompany me to the convention, but now I can't even go."
Ming Youyou’s voice was muffled, her throat parched as if something were lodged inside, refusing to go down.
She truly was a big fool! She couldn't even handle this tiny task. Just yesterday, she had promised Ruyan with absolute confidence that she could handle it, yet today she made such a primary-school mistake, letting down Ruyan's kind intentions to accompany her.
Hearing this, Ruyan knew right away that the little simpleton was overthinking it again. It wasn't like she did it on purpose—who doesn't make mistakes? Besides, she was the only one who knew how much Ming Youyou had been looking forward to this convention. Missing it now—she didn't even dare to imagine how hard this blow would hit her!
"Relax, relax! What is there to be sorry about? I wanted to go to this convention too, you know! Don't be sad, I'll go back and bring you back an autographed autograph from your favorite teacher." After a brief pause, she added:
"Even though you can't come this time, it's not like this is the only comic convention out there. There will be other chances; we'll go together next time!"
"Okay! I know. Have fun, and you better bring me back some merch!"
As if comforted, the girl's voice grew brisk, returning to its usual sweet clarity.
After hanging up, her tears finally refused to be held back any longer, gushing down her cheeks in large drops. While pattering along on her short little legs, she wiped at her eyes with her tiny hands.
Her delicate makeup was rubbed into a complete mess, one of her colored contact lenses had fallen out, and the single strand of hair stubbornly sticking up on top of her head hung down limply. Anyone who looked at her would call her a pitiful little thing.
Ox-Head and Horse-Face looked at the pitifully crying little girl across from them, exchanged glances, and simultaneously broke into shameless grins that stretched from ear to ear.
They were supposed to be off duty today and had already planned where to go have fun, when a single phone call from their superior hauled them back. It turned out an evil ghost had injured the underworld officer guarding him and escaped from hell. Thus, they had been magnificently summoned in for overtime.
Yes, you heard that right—cell phones! With society advancing so rapidly nowadays, the Underworld couldn't fall too far behind; they had hooked up to the internet ages ago! Their work efficiency had skyrocketed straight up!
After expending a fair amount of effort to capture the evil ghost, they had already discussed how to punish this nerve-wracking, heinous bastard.
They would give him every single torture from all Eighteen Layers of Hell twice over, and then use his soul to burn a sky-lantern. Anyway, a ghost who had been a human trafficker in life deserved whatever punishment came to him.
How did that saying in the mortal world go? Building one's own happiness upon another's suffering. Horse-Face felt it made a certain amount of sense.
Though they didn't know why the little girl was crying, whenever one felt unhappy inside, seeing someone else miserable always brought an indescribable sense of comfort.
Of course, they weren't truly dark-hearted; it was mostly just that the girl's crying was a little entertaining. She made no sound, just shedding tears, and the expression on her face looked as though she'd suffered the greatest injustice in the universe. The entire tiny person radiated an aura of pure gloom, yet even so, she didn't forget to pick up a piece of trash by the roadside and toss it into a trash can.
She was actually kind of cute!
For some reason, watching the little girl cry while still remembering to throw away her trash made them unable to hold back their laughter, instantly extinguishing the lingering hostility and anger in their bodies.
Of course, they didn't watch for free; they used a tiny bit of spellcraft to soothe away the physical discomfort the girl felt after crying so hard.
Sniffling, Ming Youyou pulled out her phone and swiftly bought two tickets. Ruyan was right—this wasn't the only comic convention in the world, so what was there to cry about? If this one didn't work out, there was always the next one.
Fall down where you stood, get back up from where you fell; she would never surrender!
Having comforted herself, she happily bounced back to her feet. To her surprise, despite crying for over ten minutes, she didn't feel the slightest bit unwell. She really was just that tough.
The thick-skinned girl silently gave herself a mental thumbs-up.
Pulling herself together and looking up, the two figures that came into view made her eyes light up.
It was Ox-Head and Horse-Face!
Appearing at this time, in this place, wearing these costumes—Ming Youyou narrowed her eyes and figured things couldn't be that simple.
There was only one truth: they had come to the wrong place just like her!
A sense of shared misery lingered in her heart. Feeling around in her fully packed bag, she made a decision.
"Over there, Big Brother Ox-Head, Big Brother Horse-Face!" Ming Youyou waved her hand, catching their attention.
"Is that little girl calling us?" Horse-Face bumped Ox-Head with his shoulder and asked uncertainly.
Watching the girl jog toward them and glancing around to confirm there were no other Ox-Heads or Horse-Faces nearby, Ox-Head stammered, "Barring accidents... yes."
"How can a living person see us?!" Horse-Face wore a look of utter terror. You had to know Yin and Yang were separate—only dead people could see them!
"I don't know either!" Ox-Head swallowed hard. He had never encountered this situation before either!
"Is there something you need?"
Looking at the little girl standing before him, who barely reached his waist, Ox-Head asked in a flustered panic.
Help! Is anyone going to save this ox?! Who could tell him how to converse with a living human?! This was truly a maiden riding in a bridal sedan chair—a first!
When Ming Youyou stepped closer, she realized these two big brothers were exceptionally tall; even Yaoman would have to bow down before them.
Straining to lift her chin upward, she forced a smile. What she didn't realize was that with her tear-streaked face, she looked like a dusty little kitten, and her smile was foolishly adorable.
"It's like this. I saw that both big brothers are wearing cosplay outfits, and I figured maybe you guys went to the wrong place just like me. Operating on the sentiment that we're fellow sufferers at the ends of the earth, I wanted to bring a little consolation gift." Ming Youyou scratched her head, suddenly feeling like she might have been too impulsive. What if they just liked wearing cosplay costumes for a stroll?
So she quickly added, "If not, that's even better! Meeting each other is fate—I'd like to make friends with you two big brothers using some cookies I baked yesterday."
At this point, Ox-Head and Horse-Face couldn't hear a single thing. They didn't understand what "cosplay" or "wrong place" meant; they only knew someone was giving them a gift, and their eyes glued themselves straight to the cookie box.
The little girl was truly a good person! Oh yeah!
Saying, *crunch, crunch, crunch*, stuffing cookies into their mouths, *crunch, crunch, crunch*, why were these cookies so ridiculously delicious?! *Crunch, crunch, crunch*.
After chatting for a few more words, the girl hailed a cab and left.
Ox-Head and Horse-Face watched the direction of the girl's departure until she vanished from sight before looking away.
A sudden, strange noise came from inside the ghost-locking bag, and Ox-Head's previously kindly ox-face instantly drooped back down. With a single spell, he released the evil ghost.
Looking at the ghost whose neck was bound by chains as it crawled on the ground beside them, Ox-Head's expression instantly turned fierce and savage again. His voice dripped with raw irritation as he snarled viciously, "You piece of trash who ruined my mood, watch how I deal with you!"
Horse-Face didn't speak; he simply delivered a couple of kicks to the evil ghost. The ghost, along with its chains, was sent flying through the air, spinning twice before crashing down—showing just how much force Horse-Face had used, dimming the color of the ghost's spirit body by several shades.
The evil ghost's expression was one of agonizing distortion, yet not a single wail escaped its lips, because its tongue had been sliced out by Ox-Head and Horse-Face for being too noisy. The evil ghost's mouth hung wide open, revealing a pitch-black cavern where even the depths of its windpipe could be seen.