Old Wang and Xiao Gu were also sent to the hospital, but Chen Ge stayed behind, working alongside the Second Operations Team from the municipal precinct to wrap up the sweep on the 23rd floor.
Seeing him push through his injuries and remain at the front line, the officers' opinion of him shot up considerably.
Standing in the room opposite 3239, Chen Ge sidestepped the other officers' line of sight and pulled out the Black Phone.
The phone had vibrated once when Zhang Ya turned the Disfigured Face into a doll, but in the heat of the crisis there had been no time to check it.
He swiped the screen. A notification message appeared on the Black Phone — after the Disfigured Face's death, the completion rate of the Third Ward trial mission had increased to eighty percent!
"Ninety percent and I unlock a reward. Just ten more to go."
Chen Ge browsed through the phone. Once the Third Ward trial mission exceeded ninety percent completion, he would earn one trial mission reward.
And after completely wiping out the Urban Legends Society, he would receive the hidden mission reward bundled with the Third Ward scenario itself.
"The Black Phone is essentially encouraging me to go to war with the Urban Legends Society. Why does it hate them so much?"
The longer he dealt with the Urban Legends Society, the deeper his understanding of them became.
Every single member played host to a ghost from behind the Door. To feed those ghosts — or rather, to avoid being devoured by the ghost living inside them — they had no choice but to keep creating urban legends and satisfying the endless demands of their parasites.
In a sense, they no longer deserved to be called human. They were more like puppets manipulated by ghosts.
This was the fundamental difference between Chen Ge and the vast majority of the Urban Legends Society's members.
"I have a feeling the Urban Legends Society isn't as simple as they seem. Their recruitment flyer features a blood-red door — those lunatics clearly know far more about the world behind the Door than I do. For all I know, that mysterious president is a ghost from the other side."
A sense of crisis crept over Chen Ge. He increasingly felt that the ghosts inside his haunted house weren't enough.
"Xiao Chen!"
The door swung open and Captain Yan walked in.
Chen Ge casually slipped the Black Phone away and settled onto the couch, putting on a weak expression. "Captain Yan? You need something?"
"See for yourself."
Captain Yan produced Xiao Gu's phone from an evidence bag. Twenty-five minutes ago, Xiao Gu had received a bizarre message on WeChat — "Chen Ge, I've got your name now."
"The message was sent from the security guard Wang Dajun's phone, but we've searched the entire 23rd floor and haven't found the victim Wang Dajun's phone anywhere. That tells us the killer has an accomplice! Someone else took Wang Dajun's phone!" Captain Yan set Xiao Gu's phone down on the coffee table. "There's also another question — why does the killer's message contain your name?"
Wang Dajun was Old Wang's full name, and the only reason Xiao Gu had entered Building Three was because of Old Wang.
"Whoever took Old Wang's phone is the real mastermind — the one who orchestrated tonight's entire plan." Chen Ge actually understood the meaning behind that message. The person pulling the strings from the shadows had laid everything out carefully, but he had fatally underestimated Zhang Ya's power and Chen Ge's own caution.
Without Zhang tonight, or if Chen Ge had been careless enough to get dragged into those two rooms, death would have been all but certain — no chance of escape whatsoever.
Thinking back on it now sent a chill through him.
"The killer sending a message voluntarily tells us at least two things. First, they're supremely confident. Second, you did something that infuriated them beyond measure." Captain Yan sealed Xiao Gu's phone back into the evidence bag. "Neither of those is good news for you. They're very likely to launch an even more savage retaliation."
The Urban Legends Society had just lost four members in one night — even the Disfigured Face, who commanded two Red-Clothed Vengeful Ghosts, had been turned into a toy. Chen Ge could well imagine how livid they must be.
"Got my name? Is that supposed to be a threat?" Chen Ge watched Captain Yan turn to leave, and a thought suddenly flashed through his mind. He shot to his feet from the couch. "Wait!"