In the eastern corridor of the inn, there’s a room you shouldn’t get too close to.
Not because it’s heavily sealed, nor because it’s some forbidden place—but because it’s just too loud.
"Keeper! You gotta do something about him! I was just walking by earlier, and he suddenly shouted, ‘When the lantern lights up, who dares challenge me?!’ and blinded my left eye!"
"...Liuchuan Hot Spring’s Left Eye, don’t you not have eyes to begin with?"
"That’s not the point!!"
I was still flipping through the ledger behind the counter when A-Jin sighed and picked up a pair of earplugs. "You should go check on him. Today’s his death anniversary—he’s a bit unstable."
"What’s his deal?"
"Made in Showa 16. Used to be a flashy good fortune lantern at the red-light district entrance—could even rotate on its own. After getting struck by lightning, his spirit got stuck to it, turning him into a lantern yokai. Now he’s our... ahem, resident noise-maker."
I walked up to the eastern room. Light seeped through the door crack, along with the occasional wail of a suona and what sounded like DJ scratching.
"Who goes there?! Dare approach the mighty lantern?!"
The door swung open, and a floating giant red lantern smacked into me, its (yes, it had drawn-on eyes) neon-lit glare flashing. "Ohhh, the new keeper! Come, come, listen to my new rap—"
"Wait!" I raised a hand. "Calm down. A-Jin said today’s your... memorial day?"
He fell silent, then slowly drifted back into the room. The air suddenly turned quiet, like lamp oil burning low.
"...Yeah. Today’s the day that pleasure quarter shut down. I was hanging on the gate that day, waiting for this old couple—they’d come every year just to light me up once. Said seeing me was like reliving their youth."
His paper body swayed slightly. "But they never came back. And I... was never lit again."
My nose stung. "But you’re still glowing now?"
He chuckled bitterly. "That’s me lighting myself. I’m scared of the dark."
Watching his dimming glow, I suddenly remembered something—a yellowed slip tucked in the ledger.
"If the lantern burns alone, it must take a human heart as its wick."
"For whom it wishes to shine, they shall be its light."
"Hey... would you let me light you? Not the ritual kind. I mean... the heart kind." I reached out.
The lantern yokai froze, then drifted closer, his red glow flickering back to life.
That night, the eastern corridor was free of noise and DJ beats.
Only a gentle lantern burned quietly, as if waiting for a promise that would never return.
ns216.73.216.69da2
will be deducted 
and then Add to home screen.