We kept heading north, when suddenly, footsteps echoed all around us. In the distant night sky, we saw a ball of green light speeding toward us.
"What do we do?"
Dalton Fang shouted, his voice drowned by the sounds coming from every direction—the clattering of armor rang out incessantly.
Hugh Thompson listened quietly, his face calm and composed.
"Over there." With that, we all rushed toward the road on the right. Many houses had their lights on, but only to the north, beneath the city wall, stood a three-story building shrouded in darkness.
We reached the building, its front door tightly locked. Hugh Thompson glanced at it, and Justin Huang quickly hoisted Rufina Howard, gently tossing her onto the second floor. Then, one by one, Justin pulled the rest of us up. By now, the green glow had reached the courtyard we’d just left, and all around us, Hell's Sentinel wielding torches filled the moonlit night—at least a hundred of them.
Justin Huang clung to the two pillars at the door and climbed up. We each reached out to pull him onto the second floor.
We quickly entered the room. Hugh Thompson lay prone beneath the wooden railing outside, keeping a vigilant watch.
"What on earth is going on?"
Miles Mao muttered, echoing the question that weighed on all our minds.
"It must be the number engraved on every ghost," Rufina Howard said. Hugh Thompson turned his head and smiled.
"I'm afraid that once the ghost with that number dies, the supervising ghosts nearby will know about it. Heh, who would've thought this old pervert manages the city better than humans do."
While Hugh Thompson spoke, we saw that the distant mansion was already surrounded by Hell's Sentinel carrying torches.
"All we can do now is wait and see, even though we've switched to a new place to rest."
Hugh Thompson said this as he walked in, stretched lazily, spotted a bed, and lay down without hesitation, taking off his glasses.
"Hey, hey, Thompson, what are you doing? Things are so chaotic outside right now."
Dalton Fang said as he walked over.
"Dalton, get some rest. We might need to change our battle plan soon."
We all looked at Hugh Thompson. Rufina Howard was even more direct—she walked to the bed, dragged Thompson by the foot, claimed the head of the bed for herself, curled up against her backpack, and fell asleep.
"Hey, hey, girl, what are you doing?"
I returned to the balcony, anxiously watching the situation outside. Miles Mao climbed over and joined me.
Miss Rachel Lan—I wonder how she's doing now. Sigh.
Seeing Miles Mao's disappointed expression, I patted his shoulder.
She'll be fine.' As soon as I said this, I knew I was just fooling myself.
By the way, Ethan, I heard you and Miss Rachel Lan aren't... involved, right? Miles Mao suddenly asked.
I let out an 'ah' and looked at him.
You're quite something. When we get back, maybe I'll still have a chance. Heh, it's not over until it's over.
Seeing Miles Mao's cheerful look, I nodded.
Yeah, that's right.
Suddenly, there was a commotion downstairs that startled us all. We rushed down—it was my cousin, rummaging through boxes and cabinets, flashlight in hand.