"They still had time to draw, which means the two kids weren't hurt. They must have sensed the danger and left on their own." Chen Ge had never thought of Fan Yu and Jiang Ling as ordinary children.
"What are you looking at?" Old Wei and the nurse walked over as well. They saw the words written on the drawing: "Go home"? What did the child mean by that?"
"Before they became orphans, they had homes of their own." The moment Chen Ge saw the words "go home," his first thought was of Lin Guan Village — the place where Jiang Ling had grown up. "Report the situation here to Captain Yan. Also, we might need to go somewhere very remote tonight."
"Got it."
After giving his instructions, Chen Ge looked at the fourth drawing, the one at the very bottom. It depicted a dilapidated house drawn in black lines, with something resembling a coffin standing upright to the left of the house.
"The third drawing shows entering through a door, and the last one shows a house. Is Fan Yu telling me the location of the 'door'?"
He folded the last drawing and tucked it into his pocket. Based on his guess, the "door" that Fan Yu and Jiang Ling had entered was very likely hidden inside that old house with the coffin standing beside it.
"I visited Lin Guan Village before and never saw any household keeping a coffin outside their front door. The house Fan Yu drew is probably in the Coffin Village deep in the mountains."
People were already missing. The only way to verify this theory was to go to Lin Guan Village himself. Chen Ge took a deep breath. "I have to find them as soon as possible. Once they enter the world beyond the door, it'll be incredibly hard to get back out!"
"Mr. Chen, Jiang Ling and the others — they won't be in trouble, will they?" The nurse's face was full of worry.
Chen Ge glanced at the nurse and set down the drawings in his hand. There was still one question gnawing at him — not a single one of Fan Yu's four drawings mentioned Dr. Chen!
What role had he played in this disappearance?
If Dr. Chen was a member of the Strange Tales Association, then why did the thin, elongated monster in Fan Yu's drawing reach in from outside the window instead of extending from Dr. Chen's back?
From what Chen Ge knew about the Strange Tales Association, when a parasitic ghost was torn away from its host, the host would suffer memory loss and fall into a coma. Yet there had been no sign of Dr. Chen at the scene.
"This guy is no simple character. I need to keep a close eye on him."
After comforting the nurse with a few words, Chen Ge and Old Wei left the Jiujiang Welfare Center.
"I've already reported the situation to Captain Yan. Where are we headed now?"
"Back to New Century Paradise first. I need to pick up some equipment." The Strange Tales Association had lost three-quarters of its members within a single week. They were cornered animals now, desperate enough for a last stand. Chen Ge wasn't about to let his guard down.
Old Wei didn't press for details. Captain Yan's orders tonight were simply to protect Chen Ge.
When they arrived at New Century Paradise, Chen Ge went straight into the haunted house. He stuffed the skull-crushing hammer, the repeater, the pen spirit, and Xiao Xiao into his backpack, then grabbed the comic book and headed to the Xicheng Private Academy scene. Using Yan Danian's ability, he captured the stench-emanating boy and the student who had hanged himself while standing, sealing them both inside a painting.
"If Zhang Ya were here, I wouldn't have to go through all this trouble." Chen Ge looked at his bulging backpack with a touch of helplessness. "Still doesn't feel secure enough!"
His gaze landed on the white cat lying on the table, biting its own tail. He thought for a moment and picked it up too. "I've heard that in rural areas, they say dead bodies are afraid of cats."
Under the white cat's bewildered gaze, Chen Ge placed it into a separate bag. "I've raised you for a thousand days, and now I need you for one night. I'm counting on you."
Before the cat could even react, Chen Ge grabbed both bags and charged out of the haunted house.
Back in the police car, Chen Ge finally opened the package containing the white cat. "Old Wei, let's head out. We're going to Lin Guan Village, at the border between the western suburbs and the mountain area."
Watching Chen Ge climb into the car hauling two large bags, Old Wei's expression turned odd. He thought Chen Ge was making a bit of a big deal out of this.
After all, from an ordinary person's perspective, searching for missing children was obviously less dangerous than tracking down a violent killer on the front lines.