"They really are different from ordinary criminals — more purposeful, and far more deranged." Chen Ge recalled a story he had heard at the Ghost Story Society: "That group of lunatics once drowned a middle-aged man in a water tank. The reason they did it was to treat one of their members."
"Killing someone to treat a disease?" Captain Yan found it utterly absurd.
"The patient had been abused by his family since childhood. His father had repeatedly held his head underwater, berating and threatening to drown him, leaving him with psychological scars that could never be erased."
"When he grew up, he'd become terrified the moment he saw water. Every time he drank, he felt like his soul was being submerged — an indescribable sensation of suffocation."
"The treatment plan the other patients devised for him was to eliminate the source of his fear. In their view, what that patient feared wasn't water itself — it was his father."
This story had been told by one of the Society members when the female radio host had questioned them. Chen Ge had secretly committed it to memory.
"The patients in Ward Three are a group of lunatics who are fully aware they're abnormal, that they suffer from illness — they simply don't accept conventional treatment. They want to cure themselves using their own methods."
Chen Ge's words left Captain Yan deep in thought. "A citizen's right to personal safety is protected by law. No person may unlawfully deprive another of their life. No matter what those lunatics think they're doing, they cannot escape legal punishment."
"I'm not making excuses for those lunatics — I'm simply stating facts." Chen Ge paced around the room with the phone in his hand. "The victims this time were all guilty people, and their eyes were gouged out. The similarities between the two murders are extremely pronounced. It's very likely those lunatics are conducting another one of their special treatments on behalf of one of their members."
"What kind of mental illness would be linked to eyes and crime?" Captain Yan was thinking it over too — he felt Chen Ge had a point.
"That I don't know. But you need to move quickly. You've found two victims so far, but from what I know about those lunatics, their favorite number is 'three.'"
"You're saying there will be more victims?"
"Whatever those lunatics do, they always try to tie it to the number three. I don't fully understand the specific reason behind it either."
Chen Ge had shared almost everything he knew. The Ghost Story Society was his enemy too — helping the police meant helping himself.
"Understood. We'll increase our vigilance."
The call ended, but Chen Ge couldn't fall asleep no matter what he tried.
"The Ghost Story Society only has three members left now. Xiong Qing was caught, but he probably wasn't a member — otherwise, with his personality, he would have definitely pointed me out during the Wednesday gathering."
"The mental patients who escaped from Ward Three — only three are confirmed to still be alive: Wang Shenglong, Han Bao'er from Room Six, and Wu Fei from Room Nine."
"Wang Shenglong was at his own home during the Wednesday gathering. The police have already confirmed that. He's not a member of the Ghost Story Society, and the vengeful ghost on him had snuck out from behind the door on its own."
"So now a problem emerges. Of the three remaining members of the Ghost Story Society, at most two of them are the original mental patients from Ward Three."
Chen Ge had already gathered a great deal of information about the Ghost Story Society. For instance, the president's voice was very familiar to him — it belonged to someone he had once met. And Number Ten knew him, though their attitude toward him remained vague and their stance unclear.
"When the scout jumped from the building, the last two words he uttered were 'Men Nan.' Could the three remaining members of the Ghost Story Society be — Wu Fei, Han Bao'er, and Men Nan?"