It was past 2 p.m. After lunch, we bought several sets of clothes for Vincent Swallow and Mr. Blackmask. I drove, taking Chief Stone and the two of them, heading west toward the Sea of Trees.
With these two accompanying me, I felt much more at ease. After all, although my leg had recovered, I’d spent the last month walking on one foot, and I was still not used to it.
Just now, after lunch, I checked my phone. The news app’s daily headlines had changed: Leah King would hold a memorial concert for her fans at Longxi Plaza in three days. But this was no ordinary concert.
The headlines were full of eye-catching phrases—malicious celebrity, past misdeeds, turning over a new leaf, facing a special audience. Tonight, only ghosts. The publicity was sensational. Judging by the views and thousands of instant replies, most of them curses, it had already drawn a huge crowd.
Some media outlets were jumping on the bandwagon, milking the story with all sorts of so-called experts—psychologists and the like. Some TV stations had even launched special programs just for this event.
"Ethan Zhang, what are you doing here?" Serena Jing’s voice was icy, clearly not welcoming us. Her gaze was locked on Mr. Blackmask and Vincent Swallow.
"Ethan Zhang, what’s wrong?" Chief Stone asked from beside me.
"Being a celebrity is really troublesome. And that Leah King girl—even if she’s got a bad temper, the person who leaked those videos went way too far."
"That young girl’s life has been tragic. Orphaned at a young age, she struggled through the entertainment industry, suffered a lot. But once she got in, her material conditions improved and she started to inflate her ego. After all, no one was there to guide her."
Chief Stone’s words made me recall, once again, the memories in Basil Bertram’s mind—Leah King’s past lives, the things she said after being born but left uncared for.
I don’t know what Basil Bertram and his wife thought afterward. I could tell Basil was afraid of his wife, but Miranda Bertram, though outwardly domineering, was actually quite reasonable.
Basil’s pride wouldn’t allow him to act against his nature. That’s why Leah King died so alone. And in this life, it’s the same—Basil only watched her from a distance.
"Ethan Zhang, people have their own path, and ghosts theirs. Basil can’t keep showing his face. If word gets out about his daughter, that girl’s life will be miserable. Basil doesn’t want to drag his daughter into this world."
"Are we being followed?"
Mr. Blackmask murmured. I made a sound of surprise, and Chief Stone chuckled.
"Ethan Zhang, don’t you understand?"
We were near the western outskirts. Checking the rearview mirror, I saw a white van sticking close behind, shadowing us.
"Let’s pull over somewhere." Chief Stone suggested. I glanced around, then parked by the roadside. The van behind us stopped too, and I watched its door swing open.
Chief Stone and I got out. A woman stepped out, wrapped in a thick purple down coat, her features delicate, her smile radiant. Behind her was a man carrying a camera.
"Hello, officers. Hello, Officer Zhang."
The woman extended a hand as she spoke. I looked at her but didn’t shake it.
"Why are you following us? What do you want?"
"Hello, Officer Ethan Zhang. I’m Lily Tang from the ‘Mystery Quest’ crew." The woman—Lily Tang—produced a business card and handed it over.
"Miss Tang, what do you need from me?"
Lily Tang just smiled faintly.
"Officer Zhang, our show would love to have you as a guest. It’s about ghosts, after all—and you’ve been nearby for so many incidents."
As she spoke, Lily Tang suddenly pulled out a thick stack of photos. I stared in surprise—the first was of me, working at that midnight cleaning company, not knowing the other party was a ghost. Later, I ran into the rotten-faced ghost with the dragon’s foot, barely escaped, and ended up running down the street in paper clothes, caught on camera.
I looked at the other photos—when Shadow appeared, our group went to deal with him. Afterward, we were caught on camera leaving the construction site. There was also that time, because of Tina Yu, I stormed into the loan shark’s office, encountered Rufina Howard, cast a spell for her, and danced naked.
"The most recent photo is this one, Officer Zhang." Lily Tang said, smiling broadly as she held up a picture. I looked at it in astonishment.
"It was just for a moment, but Officer Zhang, you were definitely sitting in a paper car."
I remembered the first time I called Ray Lin from the Ghost Taxi Company to pick me up—I happened to run into that late-night paranormal show crew. Victor Miles was there too. Our car was stopped, and looking at the photo, it really was unbelievable; most of the image was blurry, but you could clearly see me sitting in the paper car’s passenger seat.
"There really are ghosts in this world, aren’t there, Officer Zhang? And I suspect you specialize in handling such cases. Please answer us."
Lily Tang said, pulling out a recorder. Her cameraman raised the camera, but Chief Stone dodged Lily’s recorder and switched it off.
"Miss Tang, we have nothing to say about these matters. We’re on official business today. If you keep following us, I’ll charge you with obstructing justice." Chief Stone said sternly.
Lily Tang, still smiling, forced her business card into my pocket and told me to contact her when I had time. Helpless, I put the card away.
"What now?" Back in the car, I realized Lily Tang and her crew weren’t giving up on tailing us.
"Mr. Blackmask, think of something."
Vincent Swallow spoke. Mr. Blackmask got out, and we started the car slowly. I watched Mr. Blackmask stomp hard on the ground, then quickly jump back in. I hit the gas and sped forward.
Sure enough, Lily Tang’s crew followed. With a loud rumble, the ground Mr. Blackmask stomped on split and sank. Their car creaked and got stuck, unable to move. Luckily, there weren’t many cars on this stretch, and they weren’t going fast.
"When we get back, I’ll talk to the higher-ups and have them put pressure on that show’s crew." Chief Stone said. I nodded.
The car was now on a mountain road, surrounded on all sides. In the distance, we could already see the vast Sea of Trees. I slowed down and watched.
Just then, from the Sea of Trees to our right, came a huge rustling sound. Thankfully, this road rarely saw traffic, and the pavement was bad. It was so gloomy here, most people avoided it.
Slowly, a passage layered with fallen leaves appeared, flanked by twisted trees. I drove in, creeping forward.
As soon as our car entered, the trees behind us shifted, sealing the entrance tight. After a minute or two, the road ahead disappeared.
"Basil Bertram, are you there?" I shouted after getting out. After a long moment, several trees moved, revealing a small path. Basil appeared, with Serena Jing behind him.
"Ethan Zhang, what are you doing here?" Serena Jing’s voice was icy, clearly not welcoming us. Her gaze was locked on Mr. Blackmask and Vincent Swallow.
"These two must be the ones who came out of the Forest of Desire, right?" Basil Bertram asked.
I nodded and walked over. Basil didn’t look well; I could sense his ghostly power was weak.
I kept it brief, telling Basil about his daughter Leah King. Basil sighed and shook his head.
"I’ve decided—I’m done caring."
I let out a sound of surprise, looking at Basil.
"Why?"
"Ethan Zhang, people have their own path, and ghosts theirs. Basil can’t keep showing his face. If word gets out about his daughter, that girl’s life will be miserable. Basil doesn’t want to drag his daughter into this world."
"You’re really giving up?" I looked at Basil seriously. He seemed torn, but nodded.
"She’s your daughter, and she’s taking medication now. If you don’t help her..."
"Ethan Zhang, don’t you understand?"
Serena Jing snapped.
"It’s true, Basil—your daughter died long ago. Out of guilt, you put the Wooden Contract Stone in Leah King’s body, so you’d always know her condition. But now, she’s at the end of the road. Are you really going to let those tragedies repeat?"
Basil stared blankly at me. Serena stepped forward, but Basil held her back.
"Enough. I have urgent matters. In three days, your daughter will have a concert at Longxi Plaza. I hope you’ll come."
With that, I turned and called Chief Stone and the others to get in the car. I didn’t want to say anything more to Basil. His expression was just as conflicted and agonized as before.
Maybe things now are exactly as they were back then. I knew that if people found out Leah King was Basil’s daughter, some with bad intentions would target Basil—and then Leah would lose her life as a human, pulled in for good.
"Looks like that Ghost Sovereign plans to let Leah King go. Sigh." Chief Stone said gravely. I turned the car around and drove out of the woods.
"They’re really awkward, those two."
Next, I had to hurry to see the old man and the blind woman, to ask about the first thing we needed—the Red Corpse Jade—and where to find it. I just hoped I could see my cousin wake up soon.