"Ever since I encountered that person, everything has gone off course. This can't all be coincidence."
Number Ten of the Ghost Story Association stared in the direction Chen Ge had fled, his face hidden beneath a black robe, his expression invisible to anyone.
"Who can say for sure?" The black-robed figure beside Number Ten chuckled. "There's something else I forgot to tell you, though I suppose it can wait until now."
"If it's bad news, spare me. I've had enough of that lately." Number Ten clenched his five fingers, and the wooden box in his palm let out a faint creak.
"A few days ago, when I used a stand-in ghost to escape the Fanghua Yuan residential complex, I was discovered by that person."
"I warned you long ago not to do anything unnecessary." Number Ten turned his head. His voice was hoarse and unpleasant. Even when speaking to someone beside him, he still used a false voice.
"You're wrong. That stand-in ghost died a worthwhile death. I obtained a critical piece of intelligence from it." There was a hint of amusement in the black-robed figure's voice. Even surrounded by ghosts, he showed not the slightest worry.
"What intelligence?"
"The door inside his haunted house—it seems no one has entered it. Which means the Door-Opener has already left, and that door is currently unclaimed."
"The Door-Opener has left? He's not the one who opens the door?" Number Ten's pitch shifted noticeably. It took a second or two before he returned to normal. "Something this important—why are you only telling me now?"
"The Red Robe in that guy's shadow isn't necessarily weaker than the female ghost in this village. They're about the same difficulty, which is why I never mentioned it." When it came to the female ghost in Chen Ge's shadow, the black-robed figure finally dropped his smile. He gazed toward the direction Chen Ge had left with a trace of doubt. "But some details he inadvertently revealed just now make me think this is an opportunity."
The black-robed figure's voice grew colder still. "The people we sent to surround and kill him never came back. All the malicious ghosts must have been devoured by the Red Robe in his shadow."
He took a breath and turned to face Number Ten. "Including the Devil's two Red Robe children."
Number Ten instantly grasped what the black-robed figure was implying. "Swallowing an excessive number of ghosts would put one to sleep. But no malicious ghost would dare consume that many at once. Have you considered another possibility? The Devil's two children may have been turned into ghost puppets, and the Red Robe in his shadow might not have fallen asleep at all—it could be nothing more than a trap he set to lure us in."
"That's true. Given his personality, he'd absolutely do something like that." The black-robed figure made a grinding sound with his teeth. "Honestly, I'm somewhat envious of him. This guy who's cunning, sinister, and brutal to the bone somehow manages to put on an harmless face and live out in the open under the sunlight."
The black-robed figure offered a rather high assessment of Chen Ge.
Number Ten nodded slightly, clearly agreeing with the black-robed figure's analysis. "The enemy is far too cunning—we have to be extra careful. I wanted to make my move against him too, but you saw what happened just now. Xiong Qing was on the verge of killing him when he suddenly hesitated. The only thing that can affect a Red Robe is another Red Robe. Whether or not the Red Robe in his shadow is asleep, this man is definitely hiding at least one more Red Robe on him!"
"But are you willing to let it go? If we could bring them all under control, we'd directly obtain two 'Doors.'" The black-robed figure's words were deeply tempting.
"It's not a matter of willingness." Number Ten shot the black-robed figure a cold look. "Just a few days ago, the Association still had twelve members. How many are left now?"
The answer surfaced in the black-robed figure's mind. He fell silent for a moment and said nothing more.
"Twelve Association members, and now only three remain. And he accomplished all of this in less than five days. When it comes to this man, you can never be too careful." Number Ten's heart bled with every word. Each number represented a living human life—people they had painstakingly selected from countless ordinary individuals as "patients."
"Then we'll stick to the original plan."
"Let's begin. Another complication might crop up at any moment."
"Very well." The black-robed figure rolled his neck. He paid no mind to the ghost infants fighting Xiong Qing in the distance, nor to the ghosts attacking frenziedly around them. He simply walked toward the well on his own.
"Jiang Ling, have your sister stop him!" the woman surnamed Zhu called out. Jiang Ling, hiding behind her, cried out her sister's name into the air. After a moment, Zhu Xinrou, covered in wounds, charged toward the black-robed figure.
"If I dared to walk out here, do you think I'd be afraid of you?" The black-robed figure's laughter grew louder and louder. The black robe on his back was thrown open, and a blood-red monstrosity covered in human faces emerged!
"I've never considered myself particularly clever. It's just that everyone around me is too stupid." He raised a hand and pointed at Zhu Xinrou, and the face-covered Red Robe positioned itself between them.
In the distance, Chen Ge saw this and felt a jolt run through him. "The Ghost Story Association has another Red Robe!"
He had heard what the black-robed figure said earlier, and he now had a rough guess as to the man's identity.
This black-robed figure who had summoned a new Red Robe was most likely Wu Fei from the Third Ward.
Jiang Ling's sister was already injured. This time she was up against a Red Robe several times more terrifying than the Slender Shadow. So from the very start, the outcome of the battle was already decided.
Wu Fei and the Devil were both the most dangerous patients in the Third Ward, and the ghosts attached to them had both reached the level of Red Robe.
No one could stop the black-robed figure. He walked to the edge of the well and peered inside. Then he drew another wooden box from inside his robe, opened the lid, and revealed the black bloodstain within.
After several minutes, the well water showed no change. The black-robed figure smiled faintly. "No Red Robe can remain calm in the presence of this bloodstain. Just as I predicted—that female ghost has long since left the well!"
He put the box away and turned to look at the woman surnamed Zhu. "If she's not in the well, then where would she have gone?"
The black-robed figure's gaze was cold and piercing, like being stared down by a venomous snake. He walked slowly toward the procession of worshippers. Behind him, the face-covered Red Robe had already completely suppressed Zhu Xinrou—the two were not even on the same level.
"We began investigating this village half a year ago. The female ghost isn't in the well. You've been deceiving the villagers all along." The black-robed figure looked at the woman surnamed Zhu, his eyes like knives that could pierce straight through to the soul. Nothing could be hidden in front of him.
Upon hearing that the female ghost was not in the well, the first to speak were the deformed villagers standing nearby. They were struck dumb, and then a burning fury at having been deceived welled up inside them.
One of the villagers moved to confront the woman surnamed Zhu, but before he could open his mouth, the face-covered Red Robe dragged him away.
"I don't like being interrupted." The black-robed figure's voice grew even colder as he stepped up beside the woman surnamed Zhu. "You must know where the female ghost in the well went, don't you?"