Chapter 4All Souls’ Zoo

The last vestiges of sunset vanished. The sky was now a deep, starless black.

Ghostly lamps flickered to life along the path, their light as pale and weak as foxfire.

"The park is officially closed," Shanyuan announced. "The paths will grow longer from here on out."

His apprentice popped back on screen. "Care for a reading? A little divination to see what the road ahead holds?"

I stared at the yawning, black entrance to the Tiger Territory. My heart hammered against my ribs. Gritting my teeth, I sent another five-hundred-dollar tip.

Shanyuan produced a turtle shell and a handful of old coins. He shook them, the rattle echoing from my phone's speaker, and cast them onto a silk cloth.

He studied the pattern. "Do not buy anything from the groundskeeper. Your currencies are not compatible."

I switched on my phone's flashlight, cutting a weak beam into the oppressive darkness. A figure stood silhouetted at the entrance to the tiger enclosure.

【That must be the groundskeeper he mentioned.】

【NOPE. NOPE NOPE NOPE. TURN BACK!】

My legs refused to move. "Demons and ghouls, get thee hence! By bell, book, and candle, I command thee!" I mumbled a panicked, half-remembered exorcism and took two shaky steps forward.

The shadow glided toward me. A terrifying, mutual advance. My knees were knocking together so hard I was surprised I was still standing.

The figure stopped right in front of me.

"Just gonna, uh, pixelate this for you guys at home," I whispered, my voice trembling. "Don't want to give anyone nightmares."

【I'm crying, she's still thinking of us.】

【What a sweetheart.】

I censored the feed and looked up. The groundskeeper's face was bloodless, a stiff, waxen mask. He offered a smile so wide it looked like it had cracked the corners of his mouth. In one hand, he held a dripping, freshly killed chicken.

"Buy a chicken for the tigers? Only twenty bucks," he rasped.

Shanyuan said not to buy anything. But he didn't say anything about getting it for free.

Time to swallow my pride. "I'm a student," I said, my voice cracking convincingly. "Can you spot me?"

The groundskeeper blinked. "?"

I leaned into it. "My family's dirt poor. I've got my eighty-year-old grandma and my three-year-old brother to support. Please, sir, just give it to me."

His words came out in a halting, confused stutter. "How... how big is the age gap between your mother and your brother?"

Tears started welling in my eyes. "It's a long story. My mom's not my real mom, and my brother's not my real brother..." The floodgates opened. I wept with the force of a Greek tragedy.

"Okay, okay! Just take it!" the groundskeeper groaned, shoving the chicken into my hands. He turned and shuffled away, his shoulders slumped in defeat.

【Our girl has at least a decade of scamming experience.】

【LMAO who scams a GHOST?】

【Poor groundskeeper never stood a chance.】

I let out a shaky breath and walked on, clutching my ill-gotten chicken.