The term "twin ghosts" doesn't refer to twins or fraternal siblings. Instead, it describes a ritualistic union of a male and female soul through a ghostly marriage. The souls are forcibly bound together, and then devoured by the spirit being worshipped, creating the twin ghosts.
Twin ghosts are fearsome entities. They are unafraid of sunlight or yang energy. Even ghost lords show deference to them. Such beings must never be unleashed.
"Who are you? Are you working with Liu Cunxi? There are five of us here. I warn you, hand over Xiangqi immediately, or we'll take you to the police!"
Although Mo Yun was visibly scared, the thought of his sister in danger gave him the courage to speak up.
As for the so-called "five people," two of them had already hidden behind the boys, trembling in fear the moment Ye Cha appeared.
I felt a headache coming on. "This place isn't safe. Let me take you all out of here."
I had been dragged here inexplicably by Mr. Ye, only to be abandoned. Now, I was being told that a twin ghost would soon emerge in this very place. The irony couldn't be greater. Usually, I go out of my way to avoid such things, and now I was walking right into it.
For once, I wanted to do the right thing, but no one seemed to appreciate it.
"Stop pretending to care. If you don't bring back my sister, you're not leaving this place!"
This kid was unbelievably stubborn.
"Fine, fine. I'll help you find your sister, but you need to leave as soon as possible. We've already lost one girl. If we lose a boy next, none of us will make it out alive."
I hadn't expected my words to have such a drastic effect. Their faces all turned pale, which made me uneasy as well.
"What's with those expressions?"
Ye Cha sneered at them. "It's because someone was already missing before they ran into you."
I stared at them in shock. Weren't there supposed to be six of them? Where did this seventh person come from?
This time, they couldn't argue confidently. Instead, they looked away, their faces filled with guilt. Their behavior made me even more curious. Why were they hiding the existence of this seventh person from me?
"Awoo—"
Just as I was about to press for answers, a sharp wolf's howl shattered the silence. The group scattered in panic. By the time I reacted, they had run far away. Gritting my teeth, I decided to chase after Mo Yun.
Despite being the shortest among them, Mo Yun was the fastest runner. I chased him for a long time but couldn't catch up.
"Mo Yun, stop running! Come back!"
Panting heavily, I stopped by a tree and shouted. That's when Ye Cha spoke again.
"One of them is destined to be consumed by the twin ghost. Are you sure it's not the one you're chasing?"
How did Ye Cha know so much? She even knew about their original number and now claimed that one of them wasn't human.
"How do you know all this?"
Ye Cha's expression was as disdainful as ever, as if no one in the world could meet her standards. "You think everyone is as gullible as you? Believe whatever you're told without question? Just pay attention. Do you really think it's a coincidence? That there just happens to be an extra set of supplies—and they're all for a man?"
"…So you're calling me stupid."
I didn't argue. I had noticed the extra supplies earlier but chalked it up to them preparing spares just in case. If that was merely a suspicion, their reactions to Ye Cha's words confirmed everything.
"I believe Mo Yun isn't the one!"
I didn't even know where my confidence came from. Maybe I just wanted to prove Ye Cha wrong for once.
"I misjudged you. I thought you were just plain stupid, but now I see you're a complete idiot."
…
After much effort, I finally caught up to Mo Yun—only because he had tripped in his haste and knocked himself unconscious. I hoisted him onto my back, determined to get him out of the mountain overnight.
Yet, I couldn't shake the feeling of being watched. The chilling sensation was like being stared down by a venomous snake.
"Ugh…" Mo Yun groaned as he touched his injured forehead. Waking up to find himself on my back, he struggled to get down. I set him down—it wasn't easy carrying someone his size.
"Now that you're awake, walk on your own."
He hesitated, then asked, "Why did you save me? I accused you of taking my sister earlier."
Shrugging, I replied, "Being wrongly accused doesn't feel great, but I can't just leave you to die."
Mo Yun fell silent. The two of us walked side by side, our thoughts elsewhere. Neither of us noticed that we weren't heading out of the mountain until we ended up back at our campsite.
"We were heading out of the mountain, right? How did we end up back here?" Mo Yun asked, his face filled with fear.
My expression wasn't much better. Clearly, something didn't want us to leave. And while we had returned, the others who had run off were still missing.
"It looks like something is deliberately separating us to pick us off one by one."
No sooner had I spoken than a piercing scream shattered the night.
"Ahhh—"
Mo Yun and I exchanged glances before rushing toward the source of the scream. We weren't the only ones—Fang Qinghua, Huang Lianfang, and Zhang Jue, who had been missing, also arrived.
The scream had come from Huang Lianfang.
When I reached her, I saw she was unharmed but staring wide-eyed at something in the distance.
Following her gaze, I saw a bloodied face. The eyes had been gouged out, and the face was slashed so badly it was unrecognizable. The limbs were bent at unnatural angles. This person had suffered unimaginable torment before death.
One glance was all I could bear before I looked away.
"Nan Fang!!!" Mo Yun cried out.
Nan Fang?
Was this the mysterious seventh person they hadn't mentioned? How had he ended up like this?
"Are you sure this is the seventh person you never mentioned?" I asked.
Zhang Jue nodded grimly, while the two girls remained silent. It seemed this really was the seventh person. If he had been killed, that meant the twin ghost still needed one more male victim.
Realizing this, I quickly scanned the group but couldn't find Zhang Sheng.
"Where's your brother? Where's Zhang Sheng?"