The words on the iron gate of the residential complex were dripping with malice. Whether the real culprit was truly hiding among them or not, those words would plant the seed of suspicion in everyone's hearts, slowly eroding their unity.
"Very much like the Shadow's style. He's probably the one who left these words." Jia Ming nudged Li Zheng's arm. "Truth mixed with lies, lies laced with truth — that's exactly how the Shadow operates. It's like playing rock-paper-scissors, where some people will outright tell their opponent what they're going to throw. The Shadow thrives on psychological warfare. He's possessed countless people, peered into innumerable hearts, lived through an untold number of lives — he's an unrivaled master of the mind."
"So do you think the Shadow is actually among us right now?" Li Zheng gripped his pistol tighter. In a completely unknown environment, only his sidearm could give him a shred of a sense of security.
"Based on what I know of him, he's probably already replaced one of us." Jia Ming spoke slowly. "Everyone here could be him — you, me, all of us. And I can tell you with certainty that the person he chose would be the one you'd least expect."
"The one I'd least expect?" Li Zheng scanned their surroundings, and his gaze finally settled on
"When you think he is, he isn't. And when you think he isn't, he'll kill you the moment you let your guard down — without giving you even a sliver of a chance to fight back." Jia Ming's voice carried an eerie chill.
"You've said a lot, but it amounts to nothing. I'm starting to think you're deliberately muddying the waters." Li Zheng's brow furrowed. "Don't tell me you're just defending yourself — dragging everyone else down to clear your own name."
"I've told you a dozen times already — the Shadow left my body ages ago. Why won't you believe me?" Jia Ming shook his head. "There isn't a single good person in this place. Only the two of us came from the outside world, and we know each other's backgrounds. Under these circumstances, we should set aside our prejudices and start trusting each other again." Jia Ming trusted no one but Li Zheng. He had been possessed by the Shadow, and he knew just how terrifying it was.
"Half the reason I ended up in this godforsaken place is because of you. Very likely, all of this was part of your scheme — everything was deliberately arranged for me to see. You wanted me to believe Chen Ge is the Shadow, and then make me your witness." Li Zheng's reply was cold.
"I only lured you in because I had no choice. If I hadn't done what the Shadow told me, I wouldn't have made it to now. The Shadow is far more terrifying and cruel than you can imagine. Everyone who's of no use to him, he kills without hesitation. Do you understand? In his eyes, anything in this world that can't serve him is a potential obstacle — and eliminating it is always the safest option."
"I still can't trust you. Not unless you help me find the Shadow." Li Zheng lowered his voice. "The Shadow lived inside you for years — you're the person who knows him best. Who do you think is most likely to have been replaced?"
"The most likely candidate is Chen Ge. Think about it — how could it possibly be such a coincidence? We walk in and just happen to run into him? He's frantically trying to clear his name, and now he's got me to lure you here as a witness. The writing's on the wall." Jia Ming spread his hands. "This Chen Ge is a fake. He's planning to replace the real one with the fake version, and once the real Chen Ge is dead, the fake becomes the real thing."
Under Jia Ming's persistent persuasion, something shifted in Li Zheng's eyes.
"You should have figured this out long ago. Have you ever considered this question — why does the Shadow look exactly like Chen Ge? What's he really been plotting behind the scenes?" Jia Ming sensed the change in Li Zheng's attitude and relaxed slightly. "You're the only one who came in following me. The only person we can trust here is each other. Everyone else could be the Shadow."
"I still can't believe what you're saying. I'll find a chance to test him in a bit." Li Zheng stared at Chen Ge, his gaze complicated.
"Test him all you like. I just want you to remember one thing — the Shadow will become the person we consider least likely. He lives in the cracks of the human heart. We're no match for him. If you want to survive, the best strategy is to never become his enemy." Jia Ming knew about the relationship between Li Zheng and Chen Ge. As he tried to figure out how to convince him, his eyes inadvertently drifted to Li Zheng's shadow on the ground.
"The person we'd least suspect..." Jia Ming's eyes suddenly went wide. He quickly turned his head away, pretending to look at something else, masking his panic.
"What's wrong? What are you playing at now?" Li Zheng pressed the muzzle of his gun against Jia Ming's back.
"Nothing. I thought I saw something in the building next door run past." Jia Ming didn't turn around as he spoke. Inside, a tidal wave of terror was already crashing through his mind.
"The less likely someone seems, the more probable it is that they're the Shadow. Li Zheng is the one I personally brought in here. In my eyes, he's the only person worth trusting. But if I think about it differently — could he have deliberately taken the bait? Using me as a human shield to hide behind? Could he actually be the real Shadow all along, and I'm just a pawn he can discard at any moment? No one would believe the word of a criminal, especially not in front of a cop."
The more Jia Ming thought about it, the more terrified he became. His neck felt as though it had been filled with plaster — completely rigid. He didn't even have the courage to glance at Li Zheng now. He was afraid of giving himself away, afraid of standing in the Shadow's way.
"Enough stalling. Let's just get inside. Even if the Shadow is among us, it's not the end of the world." Chen Ge didn't enjoy these kinds of guessing games. If there were no familiar faces present, he would have simply used his tried-and-true method of elimination to narrow things down.
Ignoring the blood-red words on the iron gate, Chen Ge was the first to step into the residential complex.
"I know that door is on the first floor, but which specific room it's in — that still needs to be searched out carefully." The tattooed man slowed his pace and followed behind. The human-head tattoos on his arms all wore expressions of terror as they drew closer to the buildings within the complex.
Chen Ge had visited Fan Cong's residential complex several times before, but the layout of the buildings here was different from what he remembered.
"This place seems to be preserved as it was years ago." Chen Ge looked at the building facades corroded by the blood mist, where a few characters could still be faintly made out. "Liwan Hospital Staff Housing? This complex used to be called that? Liwan Hospital — does that refer to the private hospital?"
"That private hospital was built later. Liwan Hospital was demolished over a decade ago," the tattooed man said from beside him. "There used to be a hospital in Liwan Town that specialized in treating infectious diseases. At some point it was shut down, and several of its more important departments were absorbed into Jiujiang People's Hospital and a hospital in Xinhai."