After a while, I stared in surprise at the birth dates and zodiac signs of the four girls written in my notebook.
May Shaw is born in the year of the Dragon, while among the other three deceased girls, one is also a Dragon and the other two are Snakes. This puzzled me, and when I asked what Rainie Chen's zodiac was, May Shaw fell silent.
"I really don't know. Rainie Chen always claimed she was born in the year of the Horse, younger than all of us. But once, when I tried to look at her ID, she suddenly got angry, saying the photo was ugly and I shouldn't look. Honestly, we all suspected she was lying about her age—she's probably older than us, actually born in the year of the Rabbit."
I immediately felt confused, since I was also born in the year of the Rabbit. Given that this technique was created by the Third Master of the Nether Syndicate, the importance of the twelve zodiac branches in this ritual was self-evident.
Although I don't fully understand the birth chart, I've read a bit about it. Looking at the birth dates of the four girls, there was something odd: the year was even, the month was odd, the hour was even, and the minutes were odd. I found a similarity—my own birth date followed this same pattern.
I remembered my father once telling me that odd numbers are considered yang, also called heavenly numbers, while even numbers are yin, or earthly numbers. I started recalling what Felix Fan had told me in my dream about the Nine Transformations of Yin and Yang.
If our zodiac signs and this formation's Nine Transformations of Yin and Yang reached a certain resonance, the practitioner could use some medium to draw us into this ritual.
"May, before you came, did Rainie Chen give you anything?"
I asked immediately. May Shaw was startled. We were in a room that was fairly spacious and not too old. May was already drowsy; she nodded in response.
"Show me. What exactly was it?"
I reached out my hand, but May Shaw shook her head.
"When we first arrived, Rainie Chen said she was worried we might really encounter ghosts, so she gave us each a talisman from a temple, placed inside a scented pouch—one for each of us."
I finally understood the reason behind it all, but May Shaw immediately added:
"I threw that thing away before. Every time I thought of Rainie Chen, I got angry. Naturally, I didn't want anything she gave us."
"What about the other three girls?"
I asked. May Shaw shook her head. I was already planning to set out that very night, to return to the deserted town and have May show me where the bodies of the three girls were. There was no other choice. I had asked May before, and she told me the bodies were still there—she hadn't touched them.
But then I reconsidered, deciding to wait until the next night to go back. I still didn't know if what Chen Yuan said was true, but I had definitely seen that ruined Mountain God Shrine—there had to be something there. I planned to see if the small path would appear again tomorrow night.
Besides, I was exhausted, and May Shaw could barely move another step. That night, we found a large bed and lay down to sleep. The whole night, I could hear the wind howling outside the house.
I was deeply unsettled, wondering what Rainie Chen was really planning. Early the next morning, I woke up to find May Shaw still sleeping. After I got up, I saw snow beginning to fall outside. Glancing at the mountain wall, I noticed a small path had appeared. I was thrilled and wanted to go over, but stopped myself—if I went now and couldn't come back, I'd have to wait until night. If anything happened to May in the meantime, everything would be lost.
I started boiling some potatoes in water, planning to carry them cooked. I also grabbed a kettle and some pickled vegetables, preparing to set out. I woke May Shaw, and she helped me get everything ready.
Soon, we each carried our potatoes and set off along the small path. In less than twenty minutes, we arrived at the ruined Mountain God Shrine. I noticed something inside the collapsed shrine—something like incantations. I checked it out, and May Shaw helped me move the stones. After moving quite a few, I finally saw the shrine's interior. On the floor, someone had written strings of symbols in red, black, and purple—none of which I could understand. The shattered statue was marked in the same way.
But the investigation yielded nothing. Sure enough, when we headed back, the path had vanished. Still, I copied down the strange symbols from the shrine floor into my notebook.
I realized I had become much more cautious and mature—perhaps thanks to John Chou's subtle guidance. Rushing things only leads to trouble; staying calm lets you discover so much more.
With no other choice, we headed down to the riverside and found a spot to rest until nightfall.
"Roxie, can we still get out of here?"
May Shaw curled up by the rock wall, gazing blankly at the river.
"We can."
I replied resolutely. May Shaw shook her head, looking at me with a hint of envy.
"I'm just an ordinary person, Roxie. You've probably been through a lot, haven't you?"
I hummed in response. Compared to everything Ethan Justice and I had gone through, this was a minor issue. From the very beginning with Chen Hongyan, all the things Ethan and I experienced are unforgettable memories. Back then, we were immature, often reckless, handling things that seemed impossible for us at the time. I gradually came to understand some things—Ethan's death wasn't just caused by external forces, but also by problems within us, within himself. I quietly watched the flowing river, feeling calm.
I used to ask myself if I had grown up. Back then, the answer was uncertain. Now, I know I have. The girl beside me is, in some ways, a reflection of my past self. I smiled helplessly and patted May Shaw on the back.
"Don't worry. I've been through this sort of thing countless times before. I could tell you about things you could never know—just don't tell anyone else once you get out."
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May Shaw was suddenly interested. I began telling her about some trivial things from the past. By nightfall, I could finally see what lay beneath the ice. We set out and returned to the old, deserted town by the same route as before, then followed the chaotic current upstream.
In just an hour, we returned to our own time—to that deserted, windswept town by the river. I immediately asked May Shaw to take me to the place where one of the girls had died.
We could even find the body of the girl who'd drowned herself, but May Shaw didn't seem willing to take me there. After we returned to town, May led me through two streets to a hotel called Shu's Inn. She didn't dare look at the front of the inn, her gaze evasive.
"Jean Zeng is up there."
I hummed in response. The girl who hanged herself upstairs was Jean Zeng, like May Shaw, born in the year of the Dragon. I got the key to Room 308 from the front desk, went up, and turned on the light. The hallway was pitch dark. After a moment, I heard footsteps—May Shaw followed, still afraid, but more scared of the darkness and loneliness than anything else.
"Just wait at the door. I've seen plenty of corpses."
I quietly pushed open the door. A foul stench hit me. Though I'd seen many corpses, the smell was still unbearable. I pinched my nose and waited for it to fade a little before going in.
Jean Zeng was right by the window, in front of the curtains. The rope was fixed to the outside water pipe. But something was wrong—her tongue was sticking out, her face twisted. Though she'd been dead for over a year, her skin was now rosy. I swallowed, sensing a flow of earth energy inside her body—a sign of corpse mutation.
I walked over. Sure enough, Jean Zeng's hands had grown fresh, sharp nails, and her feet were the same. Black-green veins bulged on her skin. This kind of corpse mutation is rare—it happens when a body goes long without sunlight and absorbs earth energy, causing the transformation.
Back then, Ethan Justice defeated those three soul hunters using this very method—becoming an earth corpse. Earth corpses differ from zombies; zombies form corpse energy and eventually regain movement, sometimes even thought. Earth corpses can move for a short time, but once the earth energy dissipates, they revert to normal. Previously, when Ethan's soul was extracted, his body became a dead corpse. John Chou used his Deathstone as a medium to inject earth energy into Ethan's corpse, controlling it to defeat the three soul hunters from Ghost Mound.
Now, things felt strange. I saw clearly that some brownish-yellow, thread-like things were connecting the corpse's whole body. I wanted to lay the corpse down, but if her feet touched the ground, she'd wake up. I hesitated—if I carelessly touched her, the living energy in me would rouse her. She'd absorbed an unusually large amount of earth energy.
Suddenly, a shrill scream sounded behind me.
"Roxie, her eyes opened!"
Startled, I looked over, heart pounding. Jean Zeng, hanging from the rope, had opened her eyes, staring straight at me—but not at me, at May Shaw behind me. Suddenly, Jean exhaled a foul, gray-green breath, baring her newly grown fangs and began to struggle. I immediately drew Belle, eyeing the scented pouch hanging from her neck. My goal was the pouch—I just needed to deal with her quickly.
May Shaw was terrified, sobbing and apologizing over and over. I quickly turned my head.
"It's okay. I'm here."