"Evil spirit?"
The moment he saw the demonic figure painted behind the door, that was the first phrase that popped into Chen Ge's mind.
"Why would the Strange Tales Association paint a demonic spirit on the back of a door? Does it carry some special significance?"
The haunted house was deathly quiet. Stared at by the ten eyes on the demonic figure, even Chen Ge, who had been through countless ordeals, felt a slight discomfort.
"Five murders have taken place around New Century Paradise, and in every case the victims' eyes were gouged out. Could it be that the eyes stolen from those victims are right here on this demonic spirit?"
Chen Ge slowly crouched down and gently touched the door panel with his fingertips. The image wasn't painted on the surface of the door—it looked more like it was embedded within. Running his fingers across the front, he couldn't feel a thing.
"Before we went to Living Coffin Village, Captain Yan told me some details about the eye-gouging cases. All the victims were criminals—robbers, thieves, and wanted fugitives, among others."
"The victims used in the ritual were all guilty people, and the demonic spirit behind the door just so happens to be carrying all manner of torture implements, as if symbolizing punishment. The strangest thing is that this demonic spirit was painted on the inside of the door, facing the world on the other side."
Chen Ge thought it over for a long time but still couldn't figure out the Strange Tales Association's true purpose.
"I'll come back after midnight when the door opens. That's when I'll get a better look."
Chen Ge closed the door and, as a precaution, picked up all the wooden planks from the floor and nailed them back onto the compartment door.
After dealing with that, Chen Ge picked up the torn plush doll and carried the white cat into the utility room.
He turned on the light, found a needle and thread, and began mending the doll.
Very few men knew how to sew, but Chen Ge was the exception. When the haunted house had been struggling, he'd made most of the actors' costumes himself.
After pricking his fingers more times than he could count, Chen Ge had become a man skilled in cutting, sewing, and needlework alike.
"My parents always treated you better than me growing up. If they saw you hurt, they'd be absolutely heartbroken."
Chen Ge carefully stitched up the tear in the doll's back. The plush doll in his hands was crude, but he knew that a beautiful, pure guardian spirit was hiding inside.
Halfway through the repairs, Chen Ge suddenly noticed a long, thin red nail hidden inside the doll's sleeve—something you'd never spot unless you looked closely.
"Isn't this the nail I brought back from the director's office at the Third Ward?"
During the Third Ward trial, Chen Ge had found a great many letters inside the director's cabinet. The cabinet had never been tampered with by outsiders—all four corners had been sealed shut with nails just like this one (see Chapter 167).
At the time, Chen Ge had believed these nails had the power to suppress evil spirits, so when he'd gone back to retrieve the Skull-Crushing Hammer, he'd pulled out all the red nails and brought them back to the haunted house.
"There's blood on the tip of the nail. It might have been left by the killer. I can have someone help analyze it tomorrow."
Chen Ge put the nail away safely and resumed mending the doll.
Time ticked by slowly. The bored white cat jumped into a ball of yarn and started playing with it on its own. Somehow, it managed to get itself tangled up in the thread, dragging the small basket holding the yarn all over the room.
Chen Ge ignored it. He finished stitching the wound on the doll's back, then gently lifted it up with both hands.
The doll bore two especially prominent scars—one new and one old. The fresh wound was the one the Strange Tales Association had just inflicted, while the old one ran along the doll's neck, nearly severing its head entirely.
Chen Ge's fingers traced the scar on the doll's neck, and memories from years ago came flooding back.
After the doll was made, Chen Ge's parents had insisted he keep it with him at all times, no matter where he went.
A boy carrying a plush doll around with him always struck people as odd. Chen Ge had been reluctant, but he hadn't quarreled with his family over something so trivial.