Chapter 263: 245. Chapter 245: The Third Letter

245. Chapter 245: The Third Letter

Li Yi waited from day until night, then from night into deep midnight. During this time, he intermittently cultivated for stretches, and now he felt his body had reached a boundary—his spiritual awareness was growing stronger by the hour; within a week at most, he would naturally ascend to the rank of Spiritual Awareness Master.

Yet in this world, breaking through in cultivation brought him no joy—his relentless practice was merely to avoid wasting time.

Deep midnight.

The Jinjiang Community was empty, silent all around; at this hour, almost no residents ventured out—most were fast asleep indoors.

Li Yi moved now, and following the address, he reached the doorstep of the household without trouble.

Through his spiritual sense, he detected faint sounds inside: the snoring of someone sleeping, the hum of appliances—clearly, the house was occupied, and no supernatural events had occurred, no vengeful ghost lurking nearby.

So the purpose of this letter was to recruit others as ghost post couriers.

Li Yi thought of his own experience—everyone had been drawn into the Ghost Post Office by a letter, forced to become couriers, compelled to deliver tasks. He never imagined that after becoming a courier himself, he'd send out such a strange letter, pulling others into the Ghost Post to become couriers too.

Thus, when one batch of Ghost Post couriers died, another took their place; as long as humans existed in this world, the cycle would never end.

Ordinary people slept peacefully at home, unaware that they would soon face terrifying delivery tasks. Thinking of it, life in this world was truly desperate.

But Li Yi wouldn't stop delivering. If he didn't send this letter, he'd die. And with so many couriers in the Ghost Post Office, if he died, someone else would take his place. This curse couldn't be resisted—at least, not by him.

So Li Yi hesitated no longer, simply slipped the letter through the door crack.

That was all—it was done. His second delivery task was complete.

"Looks like this second letter was a bonus—meant to let couriers complete a delivery task almost for free. I wonder how many such bonus letters there are? Will I encounter more? If I get a few more, surviving three months shouldn't be hard." Li Yi thought to himself.

He then left the building and went to a deserted corner of the community.

Li Yi now wanted to test another item's function. He pulled out a black sheet of paper and set it alight.

Guo You had said that burning black paper would open a path to the Ghost Post Office, allowing escape after dangerous delivery tasks.

He figured that since this delivery was so simple, he should explore further, understand all possible scenarios—only then could he increase his chances of survival.

As the black paper burned, the impossible happened.

Darkness suddenly surged around him, and deep within it, a winding, eerie path appeared.

The path seemed to float within mist, unstable, as if it might vanish at any moment.

Li Yi didn't step forward immediately—he watched. He noticed the path lasted exactly as long as the paper burned; when the paper turned to ash, the path vanished.

"One sheet lasts only a few seconds—far too short for an ordinary courier to escape safely," he mused.

For an evolved being like him, those few seconds were enough. But this world had no cultivators—everything must be judged from the perspective of ordinary people. Li Yi felt he hadn't fully grasped the method yet.

Afterward, Li Yi tried several more times.

He discovered that if he lit a second sheet just as the first was nearly consumed, he could extend the path's duration—the more sheets he held, the safer it became.

Second, if he rolled the paper into a stick and slowed its burning, he could prolong the path's existence.

If he burned two black sheets in separate locations, two paths to the Ghost Post Office appeared—but the sheets had to be far enough apart; if too close, they were treated as one.

After burning through many sheets, Li Yi finally understood the mechanics and mastered their use.

"I wonder—if I return home, will burning this paper let me cross dimensions back to the Ghost Post Office?" A bold idea surfaced in Li Yi's mind.

Just as the Yin Horse could cross Ghost Street.

If this black paper could be used across dimensions, it would be incredible.

But Li Yi shook his head with a faint smile. In such a terrifying world, who would willingly come here? Even if cross-dimensional travel were possible, no one would choose to enter the Ghost Post Office to die.

After much experimentation,

dawn seemed near.

Li Yi rolled the black paper into a stick, like a black incense. He lit it. As the path to the Ghost Post Office appeared, he followed it out of Dahanshi, returning directly to the Ghost Post Office.

Soon after he left,

a private vehicle ignored the community's security, barreling straight to the spot where Li Yi had vanished.

"Cough! Cough!"

A weak cough echoed. The car door opened, and a young man, leaning on a cane and limping, stepped out. He said nothing, scanning the surroundings intently.

"The supernatural energy is gone—did the ghost leave? Or did a Spirit Controller just tamper with its power here? But the number of missing persons in Dahanshi keeps rising. That's not good news. There must be a hidden supernatural event in this city."

The cane-wielding man studied the black ash on the ground. He couldn't identify its origin, but confirmed the community was currently safe.

"Forget it. Since nothing's wrong, I'll return for now. This needs patience."

He limped back into the car. The vehicle started, and the special private car sped away from Jinjiang Community, vanishing into the night.

Li Yi now returned to the familiar Ghost Post Office, entering his Room 11.

After staying here so long, he'd developed a sense of safety.

At least inside the Ghost Post Office, he didn't fear sudden ghost attacks—so long as he stayed in his room, he was safe. Outside, however, it was different: supernatural events, Spirit Controllers—if he encountered either, survival was uncertain.

In the following days, Li Yi continued meditating and cultivating. During this time, events occurred.

Qin Bing had been forced back to the Ghost Post Office—his delivery task had begun. Li Yi spoke with him and found Qin Bing's spirit was low, depressed. He smoked constantly, spoke little, and Li Yi didn't know what he'd endured. Zhang Jing had vanished completely.

Li Yi couldn't reach her by phone; her location signal had disappeared—she must have deliberately disabled her tracker.

He hadn't seen her since their parting in Zhongyang City, and she hadn't appeared in the Ghost Post Office.

Seven days had passed. By normal logic, Zhang Jing should have received a delivery task by now.

"So, did Zhang Jing vanish after refusing to deliver?" Li Yi fell silent.

After refusing to deliver, Zhang Jing had only two fates: either she died somewhere, or—as she claimed—she broke through to the Soul Realm in these days and crossed dimensions, escaping the Ghost Post Office's curse.

"Maybe she truly succeeded," Li Yi thought, forcing himself to hope she survived.

"Qin Bing, you don't need to be so pessimistic. I've learned a lot about the Ghost Post Office's delivery system. We're on the first floor now—first-floor letters can be delivered even by ordinary people. There's no reason we cultivators can't handle them. After completing three first-floor letters, we move to the second floor and deliver three more. I think we'll have enough time to wait out the three months."

He comforted Qin Bing.

Li Yi felt their situation might not be as dire as it seemed—just a terrible start. They'd been thrust into supernatural events without understanding them, lost their team leader, then two teammates. Morale had collapsed. But once they recovered, they realized the delivery tasks weren't especially hard.

After all, ordinary couriers must deliver all the way to the fifth floor. They didn't need to. They only needed to wait three months to cross back. Hope still existed.

"I understand. It's just hard to accept all at once," Qin Bing said, smoking, frowning. "I'll endure these three months. No matter what, I must send back information about this world's dangers—so no more cross-dimensionals come here to die."

"That's the spirit. Pick yourself up," Li Yi said.

"I got a letter last night. I'm leaving today. If I'm lucky, you'll see me back in two days. If I don't return, I'm counting on you. You have great potential—I believe you'll survive and cross back safely."

Qin Bing left his belongings with Li Yi, took a yellow letter, and departed the Ghost Post Office.

Li Yi fell silent, watching him go.

He knew Qin Bing had been shattered—he needed to realize delivery tasks weren't as hard as they seemed.

Li Yi stayed in the Ghost Post Office two more days, surviving on food and water left by others. When hungry, he had nutrient solution to tide him over.

During these two days, Guo You reappeared—seven days had passed, and it was time for his delivery.

But Guo You said this was his third letter. After delivering it, he'd move to the second floor and never return to the first.

Li Yi said nothing, only wished him luck.

Two days later,

Qin Bing returned. He had completed his delivery task. His depression had lessened; he looked more like himself—clearly, this success had restored his will to live.

"Li Yi, I completed the delivery."

Qin Bing was happy—he'd realized delivering letters wasn't as hard as he thought.

But Qin Bing's happiness brought Li Yi trouble.

For he too soon received his third letter.