In the alley, Gotō Hitori trembled, keeping her head down and her body as small as possible to avoid being seen.
She had been there for several hours, thirsty, hungry, and other physiological factors were constantly tormenting her, but even so, she dared not look up or leave.
That night, everything was too crazy for her; it was a horror story that she had only ever seen on the news.
She was very worried about her parents and her younger sister, but she couldn't even think of what she could do. She could only tremble there, enduring constant torment in her heart, hoping for some miraculous intervention from above.
Even though all the information she had received before told her it was over.
"Thump! Thump!"
That was the sound of footsteps.
Hearing the movement, Gotō Hitori tensed up, hoping the sound was just someone passing by the alley entrance.
"Thump! Thump!" Closer! So close!
"Thump!" The sound stopped, stopping right in front of her.
An immense fear arose in the young girl's heart. Her long hair, slightly messy from running, trembled with her head, and her teeth bit hard into her lip. She knew she had been discovered.
What would come next—pain, or being dragged up—Gotō Hitori didn't know, but it was precisely that uncertainty that made it even more terrifying.
"Bang!"
However, what came next was neither pain nor a pulling sensation, but the sound of an object falling to the ground.
Knowing she truly couldn't escape, Gotō Hitori tremblingly lifted her blue eyes.
What met her gaze was a phone, placed on a blood-stained cloth.
No, judging by the somewhat dried marks on the phone, perhaps the cloth had been used to wipe the bloody phone earlier.
"Don't! Don't kill me! I'll give you all my pocket money and dowry..."
However, Bochi-chan's stress-induced words were cut off halfway by Keli's voice.
"There should be enough food in the house. Wait for me here for one day. If I don't come to find you after one day, contact everyone you can, post videos on YouTube, tweet for help, contact your friends, and make a big deal about what happened here.
Remember, don't report it to the police yourself, and don't mention anything supernatural here, otherwise, the consequences will be very troublesome and hard to explain."
Hearing that somewhat familiar voice, Gotō Hitori looked up, her pupils dilating. The face she had glimpsed at dinner appeared, and not just that glimpse, but also the masked version of that face she had seen last night.
Ignoring Gotō Hitori's reaction, the person continued to speak to himself.
"Once I come out of this house, you hide inside, lock the door, and then proceed."
Having spoken in a commanding tone, the person turned and walked away.
He... wasn't he supposed to be dead? Didn't he drive the car and cause an explosion?
All sorts of questions swirled around Gotō Hitori, but she immediately lowered her head to look at the phone beside her. She picked it up but didn't dare to move.
Then she heard knocking and the person's amplified shouts at the door.
"Hey! That outsider monster is dead! Master Jingxin told us to go to a meeting before it gets completely light! This loss is truly heavy!"
Following that were other people's voices!
"Great! Coming right away..."
Then came the sound of a door opening, and screams.
"What?! How is it you?! Don't! Ahhhhhh!"
After clearing out another batch of pests, Keli washed his hands at the faucet.
Keli was very clear about where the other people were.
Aside from those who had hidden in the houses, the lingering scent in the air indicated that the rest had fled into the mountains.
But it was fine; he would deal with these things first, then enter the mountains once it was fully light.
When he borrowed the truck keys earlier, and when he questioned that yakuza, Keli had also obtained a lot of information about the mountains.
Keli had originally predicted that after his escape, there might be a large-scale pursuit, and he had even prepared for urban warfare. After all, if he were truly caught in some special fishing net and then suppressed by high-pressure water cannons while being shot with tranquilizer darts, Keli wasn't sure if he could withstand it.
However, the other party didn't seem to be as powerful as he thought. There had been no movement since they went up the mountain, or rather, the other party at least didn't dare to actually call the police for help. Perhaps they had only won over high-ranking officials in the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, and if too many people came, it would expose something they wanted to hide. Of course, it was also possible that reinforcements were still gathering and hadn't come to attack yet.
Similarly, Keli also believed that, given the number of opponents, even if he had a gun, they could at least control him by sacrificing a few lives.
But the villagers were not a well-trained army; no one wanted to die, which led to their disarray. Plus, due to the time factor, they retreated first, as ordinary ghouls would instantly turn to dust in sunlight once it was truly daylight.
If Keli hadn't been subdued by then, and they were still next to Keli, who was holding a gun, their situation would be no different from Pang Tong at Luofengpo, Soyo of Kessoku Band (Ending Band) entering the venue, or Ozawa knowing Trump had won.
Keli, after washing his knife and hands, walked out of the room and passed by the alley again, seeing Gotō Hitori still on the ground, which struck him as a bit odd.
"What's wrong? It's already been cleaned up."
Little did he know, Bochi-chan, hearing the commotion, had already imagined a scene of a perverted killer tricking someone into opening the door and then committing a home invasion.
Although the actual difference wasn't that big, only the nature was different.
Seeing Keli, who still had bloodstains on him, Gotō Hitori suddenly stood up in fright.
"Yes!"
She stood at attention and shouted, then, holding her phone, she rushed over without a care, ignoring the blood at the doorway. She ran directly in front of Keli, then looked left and right, and without caring about the blood still flowing at the doorway, she rushed into the house and closed the door.
Watching Gotō Hitori run off like a startled small animal, Keli puzzledly stroked his chin.
He looked at the dozens of houses in the distance that he or Kazuma had lit with the sesame oil they found, and the thick smoke rising.
"Am I a very scary person?"
...
On the other side, at the foot of the small mountain.
Jingxin watched the sky getting brighter and brighter, leading a group of people behind him into the shadows of the mountain.
He gritted his teeth, his mind also a bit chaotic.
This matter had gotten too big. He had to go find that old ghost Yamada via the mine cart.
He had completely not expected such a thing to happen right before the dharma assembly.
Calling the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department was impossible. He could only hope that the madman would leave after his rampage.
If he didn't leave, they would come back at night to deal with that monster.
During the day, relying on ordinary people, it was too difficult to catch that kind of madman, unless they called Yamashita, who was with that old ghost Yamada. Two Werewolves would be roughly enough. That monster's strength still seemed similar to a Werewolf, or even weaker than a Werewolf, just stronger than ordinary people. But it was completely unkillable, and he was at a disadvantage when they all had weapons.
However, how to explain this matter also bothered Jingxin greatly.
How was he supposed to explain that he, leading a group of over a hundred villagers, was utterly crushed by one person?
Of course, Jingxin would not admit that he didn't want to die for Yamada's trivial matters. If he hadn't been threatened, he would never have become this 'master' or expanded any organization. He also wouldn't admit that he was somewhat afraid of that monster, who was completely beyond his comprehension. Seeing him was like seeing that guy from 14 years ago, no... he was even more terrifying than that guy.
However, shortly after entering the woods, Jingxin and his group ran head-on into a group of young people carrying weapons.
The person leading them saw Jingxin and his group in disarray and eagerly came forward.
"Master Jingxin! What happened? Didn't you say something happened in the village? We were just preparing to go help!"