"Where could it be hidden?"
Jiang Lin flew above the Happiness Community, surveying the area below.
Plants? Houses?
Or, within human minds?
If it were just the former two, it would be simple enough to sweep through with ghost energy.
But if it were hidden within humans, using ghost energy... finding it was one thing, and there was also the possibility of affecting human bodies.
However, Jiang Lin hadn't expected to resolve this mission immediately.
The fact that only those at the level of Underworld Emissary/First-Class Ghost Messenger or higher could accept this mission was telling enough.
"Since I can't find it, I'll make it reveal itself..."
Jiang Lin's gaze fell upon the residential buildings of Happiness Community, and he snapped his fingers.
*Snap!*
With the sound of the snap, mist-like ghost energy spread out from him.
It shot into the Happiness Community below.
Before long, the residential buildings became noisy.
In the hallways, neighbors opened their doors.
A middle-aged woman with curly hair and wearing pajamas, holding a spatula, walked out.
She asked casually, "Has the gas been cut off?"
The door next door also opened, and a head covered in white foam emerged.
A man, bare-chested, grumbled, "Seems like the water's out. I was planning to wash my hair before going out to eat..."
"It's clearly the electricity that's out."
Another resident opened their door.
A girl with two braids, around twenty years old, walked out, still sucking on a lollipop.
With puffed cheeks, she said, "It's not just the electricity, the internet is gone too."
She had been relaxing at home, watching TV and playing mobile games.
On a rare weekend, she had planned to do nothing.
Then, the TV suddenly went black.
The internet on her phone also disappeared.
As the three neighbors were conversing, a child's scream suddenly came from a nearby apartment that hadn't opened its door.
"Ahhhh! It's gone, it's gone!"
"My homework, which I just finished writing, was right here, and now it's gone!"
Through the door, the three could feel the child's terror and despair.
It was as if the end of the world had returned.
Wait, the end of the world?!
The girl with two braids' eyes widened, and she padded in her slippers to the balcony, looking out the window.
From here, she could see the community's lawn and the basketball court not far away.
Something had happened on the lawn; the children who had been playing there were either arguing or crying, looking for their parents.
There was no longer the sound of basketball on the court.
A few teenagers, about fourteen or fifteen years old, looked around, scratching their heads, seemingly quite confused.
"Where are my glasses?"
"First your glasses, then your pants, can't you keep your own things organized? Am I your mom or dad?!"
The sound of a long-awaited argument also drifted up from downstairs.
The couple downstairs always argued every few days.
They had been quiet recently, and now they were fighting again.
"There are no zombies, and no natural disasters..."
The braided girl bit her lollipop, a look of great confusion on her face.
...
"Holy crap, what did the streamer just do?"
"Water, electricity, internet, all gone?"
The viewers in the live stream sat up straighter, also bewildered.
The change had happened too quickly.
In less than five minutes, the entire Happiness Community had gone from a scene of harmony to the current state.
Residents poked their heads out of their buildings.
Anxious, scared, and at a loss.
Even the old men playing chess under the shade trees seemed to have lost something.
They got up hastily, searching everywhere.
Most strangely,
Those who were about to leave the community, upon reaching the entrance, seemed to be caught in a loop, turning back in another direction as if walking into a phantom wall.
They kept going in circles at the entrance, completely unaware.
The scene, to the viewers in the live stream, was somewhat eerie.
But upon closer thought, the streamer was a ghost...
A ghost creating a phantom wall, it seemed to make sense?
"Huddle under my quilt."
"The streamer's move is amazing!"
"I get it, don't offend the streamer, no matter who you offend."
Life without water, electricity, or internet was almost unimaginable.
...
In an instant, the happiness in Happiness Community had vanished.
No matter how much "Ling" induced or how successfully, without those basic necessities, it was all for naught.
The water and electricity in the houses, the children's toys, the basketball, the old men's chess...
All had been 'hidden'.
After doing all this, Jiang Lin withdrew his hand, concealed his presence, and observed the movements in Happiness Community with concentration.
Waiting for an opportunity.
Time ticked by.
The power covering the entire community began to show slight fluctuations.
It attempted to bring everything back to 'normal'.
Finding that strengthening its power was still ineffective, it seemed to realize what the most fundamental decisive factors were.
In the yard of the villa district, a tender blade of grass stirred.
A thumb-sized ball of light flew out, quietly stretching its body.
It first looked around, and when it saw no strange figures, it cautiously crept forward and shot into a villa.
It began to retrieve the items that Jiang Lin had 'hidden'.
With each black mist cluster it broke, something would be 'recovered' in the house.
Whether it was water, electricity, homework, or a mobile phone...
As more and more things were restored, the sense of happiness in the community gradually returned.
Hearing the laughter and joy in the community, it seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.
After a brief rest, its small body continued to fly to the next house.
As soon as it flew into the house, it bumped into a black wall.
Upon closer inspection, it wasn't a wall at all, but a palm made of black mist!
It crashed directly into the palm, as if delivering itself.
The black mist hand seemed to have discovered its target, quickly closing its fingers into a fist.
But in the next second, a small point of light slipped through the gaps between its fingers.
In a flash, it darted into the building.
The black mist hand followed closely behind.
As it pursued, it split into more capturing forms.
Nets, ropes, enclosed boxes...
Once the light point tried to hide, they would sweep through the area where it had disappeared.
Bowls and chopsticks, cabinets, plants... nothing was spared.
Every time it tried to move towards a human, it felt an inexplicable resistance.
Giving it no chance to hide.
Gradually, it began to panic.
...