Staring at the phone number on the screen, Chen Ge fell into thought: "That red-clothed Qiu Mei who can traverse between film and reality is still in the comic album... Did Chang Gu abandon her and escape alone?"
Though Chen Ge hadn't been around Chang Gu for long, he could tell that Chang Gu wasn't the type to be timid or fear trouble.
A man who would swap a Ghost Eye onto himself to save his sister—how could he possibly leave a red-clothed ghost behind and flee for his life alone?
"Could he have run into something he couldn't handle? Was it my arrival that gave him a sense of crisis?"
Taking a taxi to Yongling Mountain Resort, and with the experience from last time, Chen Ge expertly scaled the wall to get inside.
"The clothes that were hanging outside last time still haven't been taken in. The surrounding clutter hasn't changed at all. Did Chang Gu leave on the very night I departed?"
Chen Ge switched on the repeater, summoning Xu Yin. With Xu Yin accompanying him, he entered the Dead Man's Screening Room in the resort for the second time.
The door wasn't closed. A musty smell drifted in the air. The room was in utter disarray, as if someone had already been rummaging through it before Chen Ge's arrival.
"No footprints on the floor, no outside mud tracked onto the stage. The video tapes have been disturbed, and all the films in the backstage have been deleted..." Chen Ge's observation was extremely meticulous. He didn't miss a single spot, conducting a thorough inspection of the entire screening room.
"After I left yesterday, someone else came in here! They seemed to be searching for something in the screening room, but unfortunately, they came up empty-handed."
Chen Ge went to the screening room's work area: "This place also shows signs of having been searched through. Their persistent looking means whatever they wanted, they haven't obtained it yet."
He turned on the projection equipment. The login page required a password—a password only Chang Gu knew.
"If Chang Gu had been captured by them, there would be no need for them to keep searching here, turning everything upside down." Chen Ge didn't know who the later arrivals were, but he had the sense they'd long had designs on Chang Gu, only remaining in the shadows without making a move. His sudden appearance that night had thrown their plans into chaos. That was why they'd taken action immediately after he left.
"The biggest secret Chang Gu holds is the left eye he obtained from Chang Wenyu, and that left eye was something Chang Wenyu brought out from the Spirit Channeling Ghost School. Could that group's sudden visit also be about the Ghost School?"
To unravel these puzzles, the simplest method was to find Chang Gu and ask him directly.
Chen Ge opened the comic album and released Qiu Mei. This special red-clothed ghost's eyes were filled with confusion, just as they had been when she was first collected.
"Chang Gu is missing. Can you contact him?" Chen Ge asked bluntly. With only a little over twenty hours left until the Spirit Channeling Ghost School mission deadline, every minute and second now was precious.
Hearing that Chang Gu was gone, Qiu Mei's expression changed instantly. Fine blood vessels surfaced on her face, and her hollow eyes locked onto Chen Ge as she prepared to lunge at him.
"Calm down! I'm trying to help you!"
Before Qiu Mei could get close, Xu Yin was already shielding Chen Ge. Viscous blood dripped to the ground, and the entire screening room was enveloped in a thin veil of crimson.
Fear and fury intertwined. Qiu Mei's mouth opened, emitting a sharp sound.
"Don't rush. If my guess is correct, your anchor should be either the left eye or the film footage. Whether it's the footage or the left eye, they should both be with Chang Gu right now. Focus carefully and sense your anchor's location. That should lead you to him."
Chen Ge repeated himself many times before Qiu Mei understood his meaning. She closed her eyes, her body slowly fading, the blood vessels rapidly receding.