The tattooed man spilled everything he knew. As for whether he was lying, that was something Chen Ge would have to judge for himself.
Chen Ge glanced at the five women's heads tattooed on the man's arm, and his pupils contracted. After activating his Yin Eye, he discovered that something within those tattoos was crying and wailing — the five heads likely represented five lingering obsessions.
"The ones who killed them weren't me. I was just their vessel," the tattooed man waved his hands frantically. "I have a special constitution. Even as a small child, I could see ghosts. The ability weakened considerably as I grew up, but it never fully disappeared. Maybe that's exactly why the Shadow found me — he used my body to hold some particularly dangerous ghosts."
The tattooed man pointed at his arm. "These five women were all once mothers of the Nether Fetus. They were all living humans with special constitutions, handpicked by the Shadow. But perhaps because the Nether Fetus contained far too much negative emotion, it died in the womb five times in a row, and its resentment grew stronger each time. I could sometimes sense that both the Nether Fetus's mothers and the Shadow himself seemed to harbor a trace of fear toward it."
"The Shadow is afraid of the Nether Fetus?" That feeling of being terrified of yourself — Chen Ge couldn't quite wrap his head around it. He didn't dwell on the topic further. "I'm willing to cooperate with you, but on the condition that you do as you're told."
"Wise choice. I actually know some other secrets about the Shadow too. Once we escape, I'll tell you bit by bit." The tattooed man was worried Chen Ge would silence him after getting what he needed, so he hurried to demonstrate that he still had untapped value.
"Fine." Chen Ge gave a faint smile, unconcerned. He and the tattooed man had fundamentally different goals.
The tattooed man only wanted to escape — and the vast majority of the people here thought the same way. But Chen Ge was thinking about whether he could find an opportunity to take out the Shadow. Capturing it alive would be even better.
Everyone thought out-of-control doors were terrifying. Even Dr. Gao had been unwilling to come here while he was alive. But in Chen Ge's eyes, as long as you prepared thoroughly, an out-of-control door was a tremendous windfall.
Back on the first floor, the tattooed man stashed his box in a corner. The bone whistle he had been clutching was nowhere to be seen — he must have slipped it into his pocket.
Seeing the tattooed man meekly following behind Chen Ge, the woman looked puzzled. She had seen him before and knew he was not someone to mess with. "You two..."
The woman leaned her upper body forward, sidling close to the tattooed man as he passed, as if trying to say something. But the tattooed man ignored her entirely.
He could barely keep himself alive — right now he wouldn't do anything that might arouse Chen Ge's suspicion.
"Scissors, go check the front door. If there's no one else on the street outside, go ahead and shut the restaurant's doors."
Scissors did as told. He had been completely won over by Chen Ge.
Through the blood mist, they could make out drifting shadows and people waving, but they all kept their distance from the restaurant, not daring to approach.
"There are only shadows on the street. No living people."
"Close the doors, then. If they don't want to come in, that's their loss." After all the commotion at the restaurant, the natives of Liwan Town had surely been alerted. It would only be natural for them to come investigate.
Once the restaurant doors were shut, Chen Ge surveyed everyone inside. "Ladies and gentlemen, we've all gathered here tonight for various reasons — you could call it fate. I have no intention of hurting any of you, nor would I ever do anything against your interests. I simply want to discuss something with all of you — namely, how we get out of this godforsaken place."
The moment Chen Ge finished speaking, the tattooed man's composure cracked. He frantically tried to signal Chen Ge with his eyes. "The more people know, the smaller our chances of success! The Shadow can become any one of us. If he learns our plan, we'll fail one hundred percent!"
"Exactly — the Shadow can take on anyone's appearance. That's actually the second thing I want to tell you all. I hope no one does anything foolish. I won't hurt any of you, but that doesn't mean I won't hurt the Shadow." Chen Ge stood at the head of the dining table, his backpack in hand.
"That's so like you..." the drunkard muttered under his breath. Ever since following Chen Ge's advice and taking the antidote, the drunkard had inexplicably found himself trusting Chen Ge. The guy could be terrifying at times, but for his allies, he was absolutely reliable.
"This man has lived in Liwan Town for quite a while. He knows where the exit door is. In a moment, all of us are going to follow him out together. I'll do everything I can to keep you safe and get every last one of you out." Chen Ge spoke with complete sincerity. If it was possible, he would bring as many people as he could — after all, one of the missions from the Black Phone stipulated that the more innocent people he rescued, the richer the bonus reward would be.
"Sorry, I'm not planning to leave just yet. It's actually pretty nice living here," said the bespectacled high school student timidly.
Chen Ge stared at the student and noticed that he squinted frequently when looking at people, as if the glasses actually made his vision worse rather than better. "If I'm not mistaken, those glasses belong to your younger brother Bei Wen. You're Bei Ye, aren't you?"
"I don't know what you're talking about. You've got the wrong person." The high school student struggled to maintain his composure, but he was still young, and to Chen Ge's eyes, he was practically riddled with tells.
"I met one of your classmates on the bus I came here on. He told me everything." Chen Ge gently grabbed the student's arm. "You accidentally killed your own father. To escape legal consequences, you indirectly caused the death of your identical twin brother, Bei Wen, and staged it as a suicide out of guilt. In reality, you've been living perfectly well — you simply stole your brother's identity."
With every sentence Chen Ge spoke, the student's face turned a shade paler.
"Originally, only I knew about this. Now everyone in this room does. We all know your darkest secret. Given your personality, would you make a move against us?"
Before Chen Ge even finished, the tattooed man chimed in: "He doesn't want to leave, which makes him an obstacle. And now we know his secret. He'll definitely try to get revenge later. I suggest we eliminate him before that happens."
The man stroked the tattoos on his arm and eyed the cleaver on the serving cart. "Cut every threat off at the root. We only get one chance to escape. We can't afford to be careless."
"Everyone here has their own secrets. I understand that you don't want to leave. But the moment you heard our secrets, you lost the choice." The Black Phone required Chen Ge to rescue innocent people in order to earn the bonus reward, and Bei Ye was clearly not innocent. So in Chen Ge's eyes, he had no privileges as a good person.
Stared down by the majority of the restaurant's patrons, Bei Ye finally backed down. "Fine. I'll go with you."