Xiao Bu's one hand had been completely devoured by the shadow, and the other was in the smiling man's grip.
After the great battle ended, the smiling man had vanished without a trace — he had most likely fled during the chaos.
"Xiao Bu, you've reclaimed most of your body. Can you control that door now?" Chen Ge was worried the door in Liwan Town would keep expanding.
Xiao Bu shook their head. Blood pooled on the ground, forming several characters — The door has completely lost control. I can only slow its rate of expansion. To truly control it, I'd need to recover my entire body.
"Then can you open that door right now and send us out?" Xiao Bu was the Door Opener — in Chen Ge's estimation, this much should at least be possible.
Blood flowed, and new characters appeared on the ground: "I can, but I can only open it for one minute each day. The door has been under the shadow's control for so long — there's still much I need to figure out."
"One minute is more than enough." Chen Ge knew in his heart that Xiao Bu couldn't leave with him. Just like Men Nan, she would need to stay behind the door to guard this place.
The door of Liwan Town had already spiraled out of control. Without a Door Opener to keep watch, if some other entity were to claim it, everything that happened tonight could very well repeat itself.
Having thought this through, Chen Ge didn't press Xiao Bu to leave with him.
As if sensing his thoughts, the bloodstains on the ground shifted once more — You killed your own shadow. As agreed, I will become your new shadow. I won't forget this. Once I can fully control the "door," I'll come find you.
Xiao Bu's gaze lingered between Chen Ge and the shadow behind him, thoughts unreadable.
"All right." Killing the shadow and having Xiao Bu become Chen Ge's new shadow — this had been his parents' plan all along. But now things had taken an unexpected turn that no one could have foreseen.
Compared to the timid and easily controlled Xiao Bu, Zhang Ya was a completely different extreme. Having her as a shadow — what the future would hold, no one could say for certain.
"Oh, one more thing — I wanted to ask you." Chen Ge suddenly remembered a question. "A third of the Paranormal Society's reserves were hidden in Liwan Town. Do you know where those things are?"
Xiao Bu shook their head again. Chen Ge didn't press further. Whether it was the shadow or Dr. Gao, they were both old foxes — whatever valuable items they had stashed away would be hidden extremely well.
"Dr. Gao probably came here for the Paranormal Society's reserves too. That madman is terrifying — I expect he'll be back. You're in Liwan Town, the Red Raincoat is in the Underworld Building. You're both my friends, and a friend of a friend is a friend too. So if you run into trouble, I hope you'll look out for each other — and you're always welcome to come find me at Century New Park out in the western suburbs." After wrapping things up with Xiao Bu, Chen Ge began checking on his employees.
When they had faced the shadow, every employee in the backpack had volunteered to fight. Now they were all wounded to varying degrees. Fortunately, aside from Xu Yin, none of the others had been "infected" by the curse.
"Old Bai, thanks for earlier."
Bai Qiulin was a gambler who had found his way back from the wrong path — cold on the outside, warm within. Facing Chen Ge's gratitude, he seemed at a loss. In all his decades, both living and dead, it was the first time anyone had ever said thank you to him. The feeling of being needed was actually... not bad.
"It was nothing." Bai Qiulin shoved his hands in his pockets, as though saying any more would be a loss.
"Whether it was convenient or not, if not for you, we'd all be in serious trouble." Xu Yin had held off the shadow while Bai Qiulin led Chen Ge and the backpack to safety — the division of labor was clear. If any single link in that chain had broken, the ones standing here now would probably be the shadow... or Dr. Gao.
This high-intensity battle had also benefited Bai Qiulin. The red staining over his heart had begun spreading outward, and he could now wield roughly thirty percent of Xiong Qing's power.
Bloodstains were appearing on the hems of his clothes and trousers. Bai Qiulin was advancing toward becoming a Red Coat.
Compared to Xu Yin's ordeal, his transition was far easier.
He possessed Xiong Qing's heart. There was no threshold to overcome — as long as he devoured enough vengeful spirits, he could become a Red Coat.
When he tallied it all up carefully, this mission had been quite fruitful for Chen Ge.