As night fell, a cold, chilling rain began to fall over An City once again. The vast city gradually merged into a gray, hazy curtain of rain. In the county yamen’s prison, Zhang Younian tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep. Though the fan painting was no longer by his side, Zhang Younian constantly felt that the female ghost in the painting still lingered beside him, waiting for the right moment to take his life. A thunderclap shook heaven and earth. Zhang Younian opened his eyes covered in cold sweat, and before him was pitch darkness. “Crack!” The sound of something falling startled Zhang Younian, who discovered in shock that the iron lock on the prison door had actually opened. The iron lock fell to the ground, and the prison door creaked open. Zhang Younian hesitated somewhat—could it be that Catcher Li Si knew he wasn’t actually insane and was setting him free? A flash of startling lightning streaked past the skylight above the cell. In the sudden burst of white light, Zhang Younian saw that just a short distance beyond the prison door, there was another door—a pitch-black door, slowly opening…
Xuan Yuanshan’s heart filled with panic, a strange feeling that Xuan Yuanshan had experienced once in his childhood many years ago—a feeling that made one restless, as if being watched. Xuan Yuanshan poured himself a cup of cold tea. A blurry black shadow flashed quickly past the doorway, but how could it escape Xuan Yuanshan’s keen eyes? Xuan Yuanshan gripped his golden blade tightly and opened the door. Just as he was about to rush out, he forcibly stopped himself mid-motion. Xuan Yuanshan discovered in dismay that outside his bedroom door, there was another door—a pitch-black door, slowly opening…
What Xue Ling’er feared most since childhood was thunder, and yet after coming to An City, she encountered such a heavy rainstorm. Xue Ling’er wanted to find her uncle Ge Chong, but feared being laughed at—after all, someone who wanted to become a female god-catcher was still afraid of thunder. Xue Ling’er simply hid under her blanket, covering her little head. A thunderclap resounded, and knocking sounds came from outside the door.
“Knock knock, knock knock!” Who could it be at this hour? Xue Ling’er thought of Ge Chong and quickly got out of bed to open the door. Xue Ling’er intended to show a smiling face, but instantly her smile froze stiffly. Xue Ling’er saw that outside the door, there was another door—a pitch-black door, slowly opening…
Ge Chong had the habit of sleeping early and had already gone to bed. When his consciousness was hazy, he suddenly heard a startled cry. This voice was so familiar—it was Xue Ling’er’s cry! Ge Chong leaped out of bed in one step and rushed to the doorway. He opened the door and froze. Outside the door was another door—a pitch-black door, slowly opening…
Li Si didn’t sleep soundly that night. The anxiety in his heart led him to drink alone in the pavilion in the back courtyard. Just when he was about to drown himself in drunken dreams, Li Si heard a scream—a woman’s. Then came a second, a third, a fourth. Li Si couldn’t count the screams anymore. Each scream was heart-wrenching, gut-wrenching, a desperate cry for life. Li Si rose abruptly and gazed at the gray, hazy sky. In this An City, what kind of terrible things were happening? Had demons and devils truly taken over now?
Li Si threw away the wine jar in his hand and rushed out.
That night, Old Yu didn’t fall asleep again. Whenever it rained, he would always think of the past, remember when he was young, when he still had a girl he liked. She told him to wait for her. Heh, Old Yu smiled bitterly—in the end, he had waited almost his entire life. Old Yu also wanted to drink, but he couldn’t, because his body no longer allowed it. Old Yu listened to the rain falling outside the window. A strange sound accompanied the sound of falling rain into Old Yu’s ears. This sound made one feel hair-raising, like some kind of wild beast chewing on bones. Old Yu’s throat rolled. He turned his gaze—this sound was coming from his own backyard.
Old Yu lifted the cloth door to the backyard. In the wind and rain, Old Yu saw that the dried, blackened bark of that tree that had died and come back to life was peeling away, revealing tender new bark underneath. In the center of the newly grown bark was a large crack, with black edges, like an open black door, slowly being opened.
Feng Cheng served Lord Huai his medicine and saw him to bed. Ten years of knowing grace made Feng Cheng serve Lord Huai as if he were his own parents. Seeing the thunder and rain outside, fearing Lord Huai might catch cold, Feng Cheng wanted to find another blanket to add over him. He opened the wardrobe door and reached his hand inside, but this hand abruptly froze in mid-air, because Feng Cheng discovered with terrified eyes that inside the wardrobe appeared a black door—a pitch-black door, slowly opening…
An City was so restless tonight. In countless households, when old people, children, wives, and husbands opened various doors—room doors, cabinet doors, stove doors, sedan doors—people discovered in horror that inside the doors were more doors. Black doors. Pitch-black doors. The doors were slowly being opened…
The doors opened, like the gates of the netherworld from hell. From within the doors came low roaring sounds. Then, one by one, one by one, endless black shadows began to surge within the doors, like evil spirits escaping from hell. They crowded together, filled with rage. After another heaven-weeping, earth-crying thunder and lightning flash, in an instant, they surged forth.
A bewitching black tide appeared in this world. In all the eyes of An City, they represented devils and hell!
Xuan Yuanshan’s palms began to sweat. In that instant, whatever surged out from the black door, with the golden blade in his hand, whether ghost or god, he was confident he could subdue it. But after that instant, with a “clang!” Xuan Yuanshan’s golden blade fell to the ground. A fear that had never appeared before showed in Xuan Yuanshan’s eyes. He murmured helplessly: “So many, so many… black cats!”
What surged out from the hell gates were countless black cats. They poured out from every open black door, roaring ferociously, like black panthers. Pairs of deep blue eyes looked at Xuan Yuanshan. Xuan Yuanshan felt bound by layer upon layer of invisible ropes, unable to move at all. Xuan Yuanshan’s heart bled. He bit through his lip trying to wake himself up, but his body was still powerless and uncontrollable. Then, a hand gently reached out from within the door, guiding Xuan Yuanshan to walk into the black door.
Xuan Yuanshan’s vision began to be invaded by the aura of darkness. With a “bang,” a loud sound, Xuan Yuanshan saw a foot land on the black door. The black door trembled eerily, and from within came heart-rending screams. The surging black cats instantly leaped back into the door. A thin mist rose, and the black door disappeared within the fog.
Xuan Yuanshan’s body regained sensation. He turned his head and saw Li Si with an indifferent expression. Li Si picked up the golden blade and handed it to Xuan Yuanshan, saying: “As a god-catcher of this generation, as a bladesman, the blade cannot be dropped.”
A warm current surged through Xuan Yuanshan’s heart. He took the blade and replied with an equally indifferent expression: “You’re right, Li Si. Also, thank you.”
“Hmph! When did you become so sentimental? Let’s go, there are still many matters waiting for us.”
The black doors of An City came like ghosts and departed mysteriously. When Li Si and Xuan Yuanshan walked out of the room, they encountered Ge Chong approaching with an ashen face. Li Si noticed something was wrong and quickly asked: “Lord Ge, what happened?”
Ge Chong replied with a gloomy expression: “Ling’er was captured into a black door. I arrived one step too late.”
“Captured into a black door…” Li Si’s expression also darkened. He had saved Xuan Yuanshan but had no way to save more people.
Xuan Yuanshan looked at Ge Chong, silent.
A yamen runner hurried over. Upon seeing Li Si, he quickly shouted: “Catcher Li Si, this is bad! That madman in the prison—he, he’s disappeared.”
“Zhang Younian?” Li Si’s heart stirred. In some mysterious way, it seemed certain things were beginning to converge as he had thought.
Ge Chong’s temples moved without wind, his eyes flashing with brilliance. He stared at Li Si and asked: “Catcher Li Si, do you have any way to save Ling’er?”
“Yes.”
“What way?”
“Go into that black door!” Li Si said with resolute eyes.
“But all the doors have already disappeared. How can we enter?” Ge Chong clenched his fists tightly.
An aged voice came at this moment: “No, not all the doors have disappeared. There is, there is still one door that remains open.”
Li Si’s body trembled. He turned around. Old Yu looked at everyone with a terrified expression, turned back pointing in the direction of his noodle shop, and said with labored breathing: “The door… is still there…”
A cold wind blew, and the green leaves of the withered tree trembled lightly, swaying until Li Si felt dizzy. Beneath the concealment of green leaves, a door frame with black edges appeared at the tree’s hollow. Inside emanated wisps of cold air. The black door trembled slightly along with the green leaves and cold wind.
Li Si smiled. He turned to look at the several people behind him and said: “It seems this time we really are going to hell!”
As Li Si’s words fell, a black bird cried out among the white clouds in the high sky, overlooking the people below, not leaving for a long time.