You can hear them, can't you?
You're just like me—another poor thing they've cast aside.
Another child left behind and forgotten.
An-an Lee: Huh? Where's that voice coming from? A cop's walkie-talkie, or is it some kind of off-screen narration thing?
Her hand brushes against the well's wall. She feels the damp moss clinging to it.
The well's bottom is inescapable. The stones form a cramped, stifling cage.
An-an Lee: Hold on! The moss ... Is it moving?
As the moss creeps and crawls like a thousand centipedes, the wall fades away.
Now, I can feel you, too.
An-an Lee: ...!
Little Rooney: Okay, big mouth! Think you're so special, with those yin-yang eyes you're always bragging about, huh? Then have fun sleeping in here tonight!
He pats the metal cabinet bound in chains.
Little Rooney: I hear this old classroom gets real lively around midnight. Since you were so happy to mess up our plan and get us in trouble, how about I give you the chance to see a real ghost?
Little Rooney: Yo, pour some of the crow's blood on the cabinet! You're her bestie, aren't ya? Lend a hand, won't ya?
He pulls at the girl's hair, pushing her roughly toward the cabinet.
Zhenmei: I don't want to do this, An-an. I-I'm sorry. sob
An-an stares through the gaps in the cabinet.
An-an Lee: Eh? What am I doing here?
An-an Lee: Wait, is this like one of those creepy movies where I have to relive all my fears and sadness, basically all the messed-up stuff that happened to me, all over again?
An-an Lee: Then, I must be the main character! I'm gonna level up and beat the crap out of all those creepy creepsters!
An-an Lee: But hang on. I'm not scared one bit! So, doesn't that mean I won't "level up" at all?!
An-an Lee: This is ...
The Darkness Under the Bed: I've been waiting for you down here for so long. You do remember me, don't you?
The Darkness Under the Bed: Those old dolls you threw down here, hee-hee-hee. Their bodies have really come in handy.
Numerous twisted hands extend from beneath the bed, grabbing and clawing at her ankles.
An-an Lee: ...!
COMBAT
She slips and falls.
An-an Lee: Hahaha, so itchy ah! Stop tickling my feet! Hahahaha! You guys seriously need to work on your technique!
An-an Lee: Hey, you're doing it all wrong! And couldn't you clean your nails first? How's your customer supposed to feel comfortable with them all dirty like that? Let me show you how it's done!
She clutches one of the bloodied hands, folds the fingers, and demonstrates by scraping the knuckles across the sole of her foot.
An-an Lee: Hey, the old massage guy downstairs from my place says ... ah, this is the Yongquan point. With all the time you spend under the bed, it's no wonder you're always getting headaches. So damp and humid down there.
An-an Lee: Now, how about this one?!
Just as her massage course nears its end, a blinding white light interrupts her.
Decaying corpses, their flesh half rotten, slowly crawl through the mist.
Their tortured cries fill the air as they drag themselves forward by their teeth and half-severed fingers.
Corpse I: Ah #@￥ ... Give me back my hand ... #% ... @
Corpse II: Don't play with that! #*￥ ... That's not a marble—that's my eye!
An-an bounds from one gravestone to another like a cat, glancing down at her pursuers below.
An-an Lee: Aunty always says, "Turn the other cheek." Hehe! If you can catch me, I'm all yours!
It's so boring.
It's so boring.
As everything darkens once more, the walls draw inward, curving and forming a ring around her.
In the darkness, a soft glow emerges from the soil, sparkling in scattered clusters.
An-an Lee: Huh? Back already? I'm not done having fun yet.
A boy sits in the corner, curled up like a ball.
His thumbs are fastened together with a red rope.
An-an Lee: Huh? So you're the one who's been yapping all this time?
It's my job to figure out the fears of those who come down the well.
Dig up the dirt beneath you with your hands.
What you're looking for is right there.
An-an Lee: Wow, thanks for the help!
She squats down, grinning as she digs into the soil, piling one mound of dirt after another, like a child playing on the beach.
She finds the solid wooden hexagram jutting out from the dirt. She reaches out to grab it, only to stop midway.
An-an Lee: Hey, hang on a minute.
An-an Lee: If I take this hexagram, does that mean I won't have to worry about anything anymore? No disasters, no sickness? Like the adults said, I can ''rest easy and without a care''?
She folds her legs and sits down.
An-an Lee: If life's all smooth sailing—no twists, no turns—isn't it kinda pointless?
An-an Lee: I've been at this for ages, and I still haven't found anything actually mind-blowing. What's the point in becoming a Tianshi anyway?
Thinking about those long, tiresome days ahead, she feels an unbearable itch somewhere inside.
An-an Lee: Oh, now I get it! Aren't you the ''expert'' who hunts down fear for all the up-and-coming Tianshi?
An-an Lee: Surely you can find something that'll really shock me, right?
She rises, marching boldly toward the white light.
An-an Lee: Ehhh, you wanna come with me and find something really scary?
???: Really? I can leave this place?
An-an Lee: Hehe, sure you can! I never, ever make empty promises.
An-an Lee: Hang on. I'll help you undo this red string here.
She gently pulls at the red thread wrapped around his thumbs as though unraveling the layers of a cocoon.
With every coil she unravels, the fog begins to dissipate.
The talisman papers tear free from the well's walls and float down from above, settling in a pile on the ground.
*ding* The red thread snaps.
An-an Lee: Hahaha! Easy-peasy!
An-an Lee: Eh, where's he gone? So weird.
The dried-up bottom of the well starts to grow wet.
An-an Lee: What the heck? Why are my feet getting all sticky? This some kind of water ghost or what?
The water has already risen to her ankles.
Suddenly, a massive geyser bursts from the center of the well, spraying water everywhere.
An-an Lee: Wha—! What kinda ghost is this?!
The fallen talisman papers swirl in the water as it reaches her waist.
An-an Lee: *cough* H-Help! Help me, Sifu!
She swings the Three-Clarities Bell in vain, unable to emit any sound beneath the water.
The water stings her nose and chokes her throat. She coughs violently as she struggles to stay on the water's surface.
As the water level continues to rise, light pours in from above her head.
Water rushes out from the well, tossing the unconscious girl and the silent bell onto the ground.
Blind Fortune Teller: Wait, she's out?! This little girl, she ... she actually did it?!
Demi-Divine Chen: How? How is this even possible?
Chen whispers under his breath, paying no attention to her.
The fortune teller stumbles over to the girl and slaps her back to help her cough up the water from her throat and nose.
With a final splutter of water, she takes a gasp of air.
Blind Fortune Teller: Good. Very good. But I can't quite see. What's that in her hand? A flower?
Clutched in her palm, wrapped in red binding thread, is a mysterious-looking ...
Lily.