"Don't worry about how I know — just keep talking."
"That shadow seems to have been pursued by someone all along, but as it slowly grew stronger, it cared less and less about those chasing it. In all of Hanjiang, there's only one place it apparently dares not go — the western suburbs."
The more Chen Ge listened, the more certain he became that this shadow was the same one he had encountered in Liwan Town. The difference was that the shadow back then hadn't yet split off the Nether Fetus, and its power remained at its peak.
"The shadow searched all of Hanjiang and found a total of nine shrines. The one behind me is only one of them. These nine shrines correspond to nine clay figures it crafted by hand. Each clay figure is a person — each one represents one of its bodies."
"Wait, I don't quite understand what you mean. Each clay figure represents one of its bodies? Does that mean if I destroy all the clay figures, I'll have completely killed it?" Chen Ge had already found three shrines. There were two inside the Virtual Future Theme Park, though one of the shrines didn't contain a clay figure and was most likely a fake.
"I don't know either, but I'd advise you not to think along those lines. That thing is different from ordinary vengeful spirits — you can't kill it." The man had reached the point of nothing left to lose and told Chen Ge everything he knew. "I carried this shrine for years and discovered that the shadow's aura lingers on it, as though the shrine itself were the shadow's true body. I suspect the shadow used the shrine to help the clay figures adapt to its aura, so the Nether Fetus could more easily parasitize a human."
His voice grew fainter and fainter, his breath barely a whisper. "This shrine used to be terrifying, but just a little while ago — I don't know what happened to the shadow — the aura on the shrine suddenly dropped and became rather ordinary."
The "little while ago" the man referred to was almost certainly when Chen Ge and Dr. Gao killed the shadow in Liwan Town.
"So the shadow's death really did have some effect on the Nether Fetus." Chen Ge stood up and looked toward the shrine.
The inner walls of the shrine were carved floor to ceiling with the character for "death." Unlike the shrines in the Virtual Future Theme Park, this one inside the old house was also stuffed with nine paper dolls soaked in blood.
"Nine paper dolls again?"
The paper dolls had nothing on them — no names written, and they all looked more or less the same.
"Nine shrines, nine clay figures, nine paper dolls — what exactly is the Nether Fetus trying to do?" Chen Ge furrowed his brow in thought. "If I were the Nether Fetus, at the critical moment of parasitizing a human host, the last thing I'd want is outside interference…"
Chen Ge felt he had seized on an important clue, but there was no time to think it through carefully, because the man on the ground was about to dissipate.
"Forget about me. I still carry that person's curse on me. The moment I spoke of these things, my soul was already doomed to scatter." The man seemed to have made his peace. "I thought I would succumb to the curse and ultimately be forced to do something to hurt Fang Yu. This ending is already the best I could have hoped for."
"You injured me and my employees, and now you think you can just walk away? You think that's possible?" Chen Ge had the Red High Heels watch the man and began drawing the curse out of his body bit by bit. "Someone in this world still remembers you. You are her obsession. No matter what, you have to go see her one more time."
"I can't." The man's attitude suddenly shifted. "The moment she remembers anything connected to me, the curse the shadow planted in both of us will activate. She'll die!"
The man was utterly resolute. "I told you before — the shadow manipulated me. When I first saw Fang Yu's name on the clay figure, I secretly ran away to find her."
"I'm a ghost. Being in sunlight feels like a living person jumping into a pit of fire. But to keep the curse inside me from hurting her, I still insisted on meeting her during the day."
"The orphanage isn't safe anymore. All of Hanjiang isn't safe. She has to leave."
"I know what she's been through, and I know how difficult that is for her. So I've been doing everything I can to help her learn to live on her own."
"I taught her to sew her daily tasks onto her clothes. I made her get into the habit of placing her wallet, ID, and contact information in a specific pocket before bed. Everything I did was so she could live well without me."
"But I didn't realize this was exactly what the shadow wanted. The person it selects apparently has to cooperate voluntarily before the final step can be completed. It was using me the entire time."
The man had no strength left to struggle. His eyes held fury, self-blame, and despair. "Fang Yu has already started showing traces of the curse. I didn't know what to do, so I could only make her forget me. For Fang Yu, that should have been a simple thing."