It was a little after 4 a.m. when we took Rachel Lan back to my apartment in one of the Ghost Burial Squad’s vans. This was on John Chou’s orders—bringing Rachel back could temporarily delay the onset of the seed inside her.
Back in the courtyard, the earlier commotion had vanished, leaving everything eerily quiet. Only Helen Chen and Justin Lee were there; they hadn’t joined us at the Feast of Ten Thousand Ghosts. Helen sat on a cherry tree branch, Justin leaned against the trunk below. They didn’t speak—just watched us in silence.
Walter Wu carried Rachel Lan on his back, with Rufina Howard following behind. I led them past the cherry trees, looking for a place to settle Rachel down. She was drenched in sweat and looked miserable.
As we passed the two ghosts, Justin Lee flashed me a smile. I returned it, nodding. We reached the fourth floor—Rachel’s room was right next to mine, 409.
Once inside, we laid Rachel Lan on the bed. Glancing at her, I saw that the bulge in her belly—swollen in Redmond’s ghost domain—had shrunk noticeably.
“Zhang Qingyuan, take good care of Rachel. I’ll ask the Underworld Court for help too.” Walter Wu said, hurrying out.
Rufina Howard ran to the kitchen to boil water. I sat by the bed, watching Rachel Lan—her eyes shut tight, her brows furrowed. Guilt gnawed at me; just thinking of Lord Wraith made my teeth ache with anger.
“Qingyuan, go rest. I’ll be fine.”
Rachel Lan opened her eyes and looked at me gently. I nodded.
"Qingyuan, something feels really strange in here," Rufina Howard muttered as she came out, then suddenly covered her mouth and burst out laughing.
"Alright, I'm going to wipe down this sister's body in a moment. You should leave quickly—unless, of course, you want to watch?"
I mumbled an acknowledgment, took one last look at Rachel Lan, then left Room 409 and returned to my own, Room 410.
Back in my room, my mind was consumed by thoughts of Rachel Lan. I couldn't sleep at all. It was already five in the morning, and all I could hope for was that Redmond and Berziran's men would track down the whereabouts of the last Ghost Sovereign.
Berziran once said that the last Ghost Sovereign had a heart of compassion—much better than the other five, except for Berziran himself. I lay back down, closed my eyes, and before long, sleep overtook me.
A bloodcurdling scream shattered the night. Farmland surrounded me, crops trampled and bent. The sound came from a distance. By the moonlight, I ran toward it.
"What are you doing?"
It was the Iron Mask Man. He stood right in front of me, his back turned. On the ground lay something that looked like water, but it had a head—pale-skinned, terrified—the water ghost. One of the two I encountered in Linlan County. I was confused; this water ghost should've been dead, kicked to death by Jun Huang.
"Careless, weren't you, Ethan Zhang?" Iron Mask Man turned to face me, his eyes glinting with amusement.
"What happened?"
"You let your guard down, Ethan Zhang. Heh, today's enemy—if left unresolved—could easily become tomorrow's threat."