The sculpture had once been connected to the Supernatural Spirit Society, but it was now
Chen Ge rushed into the underground set, pushed open the door to the one-star scene—the Wife's Room.
The ugly sculpture stood by the bed, its lifeless eyes staring at some spot in the room. No one could tell what it had been through.
"How on earth did Old
Chen Ge walked up to the sculpture and pulled out
The sculpture didn't understand Chen Ge's words, but it could distinctly feel its body tremble slightly, as though some kind of emotion had stirred within it.
"The murderer who killed you has hidden deep inside the underground morgue. It's extremely dangerous in there. If you can join my haunted house, I'll take all my employees there right now to settle the score for you." Chen Ge was fully armed and spoke with unwavering resolve. It was obvious he wasn't joking—he was genuinely prepared to go.
The sculpture felt something was off, but after using its ability, it confirmed that what Chen Ge said was true. He wasn't deceiving it.
"I will avenge you. Tonight I'm heading to the underground morgue to capture the mastermind who hurt you."
The sculpture's ugly face gazed at Chen Ge, and faint traces of bloody tears could be seen seeping from its eye sockets. Chen Ge was telling the truth. He really was planning to take all his employees to the dangerous underground morgue tonight and risk everything.
"Come with me. You're familiar with that place—if you can help me, tonight will be much easier."
The sculpture was a little afraid. It didn't really want to go back to the underground morgue. The horror of that place was beyond what outsiders could imagine. Yet it couldn't refuse Chen Ge's proposal.
The man before it was willing to put himself in mortal danger and go to such a terrifying place just to fulfill its dying wish. A thread of warmth flowed through its cold heart.
Seeing that he had laid enough groundwork, Chen Ge flipped open Yan Danian's comic book. "Come inside. Once we get there, I'll have plenty of questions for you."
The sculpture had spent several years in the underground morgue. It knew the place inside and out, which was one of the main reasons Chen Ge insisted on bringing it along.
The bloody tears stopped flowing. The sculpture's ugly face gradually changed shape—the face that symbolized truth slowly softened, until finally a young woman standing over 170 centimeters tall materialized in front of the sculpture.
The young woman bore a thirty to forty percent resemblance to Ma Ying. She looked very serene, and it seemed to be a hereditary trait—the women in their family were all quite tall.
After separating from the sculpture, the young woman dove straight into Yan Danian's comic book. On a blank page, a female sculpture appeared.
The sculpture was sorrowful and anguished, saturated with betrayal and despair.
"The Sculpture Ghost is willing to help too. The odds of completing tonight's mission have gone up significantly." Chen Ge left the "Wife's Room" and entered the Muyang High School set, collecting the stench-emitting boy and the standing hanged man into the comic book as well.
"When the Third Ward trial mission exceeded ninety percent completion, it rewarded me with a set of psychiatric patient case files. Each case file contains a madman's soul. Should I bring those along?"
Those madmen had originally been members of the Supernatural Spirit Society. Even after death, they remained gripped by insanity. Chen Ge rarely dared to use them casually.
"Bring them. At least they count as one of my trump cards." After a moment's thought, Chen Ge stuffed those few pages of case files into his backpack. "When the president of the Supernatural Spirit Society sees all his former members standing on my side, he'll probably cough up blood from rage."
Chen Ge had to admit he was going a bit far—not only had he inherited the entire Society's legacy, but he had also conscripted its former "members."
"The Supernatural Spirit Society used to act far too recklessly. If I become its president, I'll change all of that. I'll make them see the error of their ways and find true redemption."
With his backpack on his back and the Skull Crusher in hand, Chen Ge had just stepped out of the haunted house. Before he even had time to close the front door, Li Zheng's phone call came through.
"After
"Brother Zheng, I have other things to handle tonight. I probably won't be able to stay long. Could you try sending someone else to talk to Gao Ruxue?"
"It has to be you." Li Zheng's voice was firm. "On the day she was targeted by the eye-gouging case killer, we checked her phone. She spent the entire day calling you. I don't know what kind of relationship you two have, but I know it's definitely not ordinary. Chen Ge, I hope you can stand by your principles when it comes to what's right and wrong."
Only now did Chen Ge realize that Li Zheng and the others had misunderstood.
That day, Gao Ruxue's phone had been controlled by the Phone Ghost. Everyone else's calls could get through, but only his couldn't. Gao Ruxue had kept calling him purely out of curiosity and unease.
"Fine. I'll head over right away."
From Li Zheng, Chen Ge learned that Gao Ruxue was currently living alone at Doctor Gao's psychology clinic. She didn't dare go back to school to live with her roommate, nor was she willing to return to the Qixia Lake residential area.
Chen Ge took a taxi to Doctor Gao's clinic. After getting out of the car, he realized the clinic was very close to Jiujiang Forensic Medical College.
There was an undercover officer watching Gao Ruxue around the clock. The officer had already recognized Chen Ge the moment he stepped out of the car.
The officer was surprised by Chen Ge's appearance, and his gaze lingered for a long time on the white cat in Chen Ge's arms. In the end, he decided to follow his superior's orders and approach Chen Ge.
The undercover officer filled Chen Ge in on Gao Ruxue's recent situation, then handed him a pen that doubled as a recording device before leaving.
Chen Ge knocked softly on the door. It was a long time before Gao Ruxue opened it.
She didn't seem to have rested well the night before. She looked exhausted, without any energy at all.
"Chen Ge? What are you doing here?"
"I heard you've been having a rough time lately. I was worried about you." Chen Ge was carrying a heavy backpack, and his tone came across as slightly stiff. To ease the awkwardness, he lifted the white cat with both hands. "Do you like cats?"
The fluffy little head, paired with those heterochromatic eyes, gave the white cat a bewildered expression as it turned to look at Chen Ge.
The white cat's "adorable" look cheered Gao Ruxue up a little. She reached out and patted the cat's head, then stepped aside. "I'm doing okay. Come in. Would you like something to drink?"
Gao Ruxue had been alone for so long that she wanted to talk to someone. She just didn't know who to reach out to.
"No, thanks."
Chen Ge followed Gao Ruxue into Doctor Gao's office. The room was filled mostly with books—all kinds of books, many of them rare editions you couldn't find online.
"Doctor Gao really loved reading, huh?"
"Mm. He didn't have many hobbies. Besides reading, he just liked collecting strange artwork." Gao Ruxue brewed two cups of coffee and brought them over.
Chen Ge took a small sip of his coffee, chatted about this and that for a while, then asked as if it were nothing in particular, "Come to think of it, we've known each other for quite some time, but I don't think I've ever heard you call Doctor Gao 'Father.' You two always seem a bit distant."