Translator: CinderTL
As the leader of Pan Du's Linghu Yong, Zhao Xingguo naturally had his own tricks up his sleeve. His greatest reliance, and also his deepest secret, was the Gate he carried on his back.
Like Linghu Yong, he was a Disciple of the Door.
But the Gate's power within him was unique. It couldn't directly affect him, but it could temporarily suppress the powers of other Disciples of the Door, even Ghosts, rendering their abilities ineffective.
The condition was that he had to touch them—their physical form.
Now, staring at the straw doll in his hand, a look of relief spread across his sweat-drenched face. It was finally over.
From the moment he realized he was being targeted by the Ghost, Zhao Xingguo had never thought only of escaping. His priority was to quickly find the Ghost's physical form and restrain it.
Only then could Pan Du and Linghu Yong have a chance of survival.
So, he had been playing along with the Ghost's plan all along, enduring and biding his time, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike the final blow.
Fortunately, he had finally found it.
At the critical moment, he pinpointed the Ghost's location and immediately struck, restraining it.
According to his plan, this place was also a dream woven by the Ghost. Once the Ghost was restrained, the dream would end.
Indeed, the Gate and the path that had vanished reappeared. The Gate stood wide open, bathed in the cold moonlight.
Chen Qiang wasn't interested in this. Pan Du and Linghu Yong's bodies should have been taken to the police station by the police. His next step was to bring the Ghost's physical form to the police station.
Without delay, he clutched the straw effigy tightly, never letting his guard down. He turned and walked toward the exit, casually brushing aside the hanging straw effigies as he passed.
He had only taken a few steps when he suddenly stopped, his body trembling uncontrollably as if he had just realized something.
Earlier, he had casually brushed aside the obstructing straw effigies. He couldn't recall the exact number, but there were at least three or four. Yet...
He raised his head. The Gate was still some distance away, and several straw effigies still hung before him.
Perhaps due to the lighting, they were mere black silhouettes. He counted them one by one: "1, 2, 3, 4, 5!"
Five effigies!
Not one was missing. Zhao Xingguo's mind buzzed. What had he just pushed aside?!
Swallowing hard, he slowly turned his stiff neck, looking back over his shoulder. Just centimeters from his nose, a corpse straw doll swayed gently.
What plunged Zhao Xingguo into utter despair was the pair of red embroidered shoes on the doll's feet, glaringly bright in the dim darkness.
Earlier, they had checked every corpse straw doll, and none had been wearing shoes—only the corresponding clothes.
Trembling, he raised his head to meet a twisted, grotesque smile staring down at him. The corners of its mouth twitched and contorted, its mouth opening at an impossible angle into a black void that seemed to swallow everything.
"Giggle... Zhao Xingguo!"
"Ah! Ahhh...!!"
After a moment of desperate screams, silence fell.
"Zhao Xingguo..." In the room at the roadside inn, several people huddled together. Huai Yi's eyes held a mixture of regret and lingering fear.
Fu Fu sat on the communal bed, gulping down water. Jiang Cheng sat at the table, holding a coarse tea bowl, taking a slow sip.
"Zhao Xingguo is dead," Jiang Cheng replied with unwavering certainty, setting down his teacup.
Fatty, looking extremely cautious, bunched his chubby face into a tight knot and asked earnestly, "Did you see his body?"
"We didn't see the body, but we saw his memorial portrait," Fu Fu's voice came from another direction. "It's placed right next to Master Feng and Madam Feng's portraits. Do you want to take a look?"
As they were about to leave, they suddenly noticed two new black-and-white photographs had been added beside Master Feng's portrait.
One was of Zhao Xingguo, and the other was of the young man who had let them into Feng Manor.
The appearance of the second photograph immediately made Jiang Cheng and the others abandon their plan to meet the young man at the gate.
The situation was now clear: the young man was dead, just like Pan Du and Linghu Yong. The person they had seen earlier was a ghost.
Hearing this, Fatty sighed. "What a waste. Not only did we find nothing, but we lost another teammate."
Including Luo He, who was still imprisoned, they had now lost five teammates in total.
Pan Du, Linghu Yong, Chen Qiang, and Zhao Xingguo.
Of the original three teams, one had been completely wiped out.
"You... didn't see anyone else's photos, did you?" Huai Yi glanced sideways, his meaning clear.
Fu Fu slammed her water bottle onto the edge of the wooden plank bed with a loud "thump," sending water splashing. "Damn it, you'd die before he would!" she cursed.
Since their return, Fu Fu's temper had grown increasingly volatile. While the others had tolerated it before, her behavior had now become truly excessive.
Huai Yi wasn't without a temper himself, but he had changed a lot since meeting Jiang Cheng.
Yet being constantly bossed around by a little girl, even the most patient person would eventually snap.
His blood rising, Huai Yi cast aside his previous fear of Luo He and the Night Watcher. "Who are you talking about?!" he slammed his hand on the table, pointing at Fu Fu.
"I'm talking about you! What about it?!" To his surprise, Fu Fu jumped to her feet, shouting even louder than he was.
"What's this about? Everyone calm down, calm down," Pi Ruan hurried over to mediate. Finally, Fatty Pi Ruan took one person aside each, and the situation quieted down.
Throughout this, Jiang Cheng remained silent, offering no opinion. His attention was elsewhere, drawn to something unrelated to the Ghost.
It was Fu Fu.
Despite her life in the nightlife scene, Jiang Cheng still considered himself a psychologist at heart. Drawing on his years of medical experience, he found Fu Fu's personality peculiar.
She appeared to have a terrible temper, easily flying into a rage over trivial matters, behaving rudely, and cursing freely. Yet Jiang Cheng couldn't shake the feeling that deep down, she didn't truly want to be this way. Something was interfering with her, forcing her to act this way.
If she couldn't release her anger in time, it would fester within her, leading to terrifying consequences.
"Terrifying..." Jiang Cheng frowned, as if belatedly realizing the implications. "Why do I find this terrifying?"
"And why do I believe she's being forced, that her bad temper isn't her true nature?"
"Furthermore, why am I so certain something is interfering with her?"
In Jiang Cheng's memory, he had never met Fu Fu before, let alone gotten to know her. Yet deep within his subconscious, his mind had already analyzed the situation and reached a conclusion.
Since arriving in this world, strange and even absurd images had occasionally surfaced from the depths of Jiang Cheng's mind, as if a lock on his memories had loosened.
(End of the Chapter)
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