Jing Minghe hadn't expected to have such a seemingly simple-minded fanboy. He smiled generously and patted Ke Wuwen on the shoulder, saying, "Then let's begin. The three of us will split up and get everything out as quickly as possible."
Jing Minghe had originally planned to tell everyone what was in the notebook and then have them return to their rooms to retrieve the parchment hidden in their pillows.
Zhang Yu's skepticism had made him change his mind. Since someone didn't believe him, there would inevitably be others unwilling to follow his lead. While not an insurmountable problem, it would be too troublesome, and he was too lazy to engage in pointless arguments or be controlled.
Jing Minghe took out his small piece of parchment and showed it to Ke Wuwen. "I found this in my pillow. The other pieces should be the same. If not, look elsewhere."
"Okay, I understand."
Besides his and Chi Hao's rooms, there were nine other occupied thatched huts. Each person was assigned three, and the three of them quickly searched all nine huts. However, they only found eight pieces in total. Including the one in Jing Minghe's hand, that made nine pieces.
Chi Hao only found two. He handed the two pieces of parchment to Jing Minghe and explained, "Guan Wei's room didn't have one."
"He must have taken it already," Jing Minghe raised an eyebrow and smiled. "As expected, my decision was correct."
After this incident, Jing Minghe began to consider whether to try and win over Guan Wei. This person was far more meticulous than he had initially thought. If they could become allies, their future cooperation would be built on greater trust.
While thinking, Jing Minghe began piecing together the nine pieces of parchment he currently possessed. (SUDAN NOVEL NETWORK)
After Jing Minghe finished piecing them together, Ke Wuwen leaned over the table and counted, "One, two, three... six and a half. There are six and a half seal patterns on here. What does that mean?"
The seventh seal pattern was incomplete because one piece of parchment was missing.
Furthermore, why were there only seven seals? Jing Minghe remembered the fourth page of the notebook clearly stated there were eight malevolent spirits. Jing Minghe didn't believe he would confuse the characters for eight and seven.
Just as Ke Wuwen finished speaking, Jing Minghe heard Chi Hao voice the same question, "Only seven?"
"Yes, only seven."
Ke Wuwen didn't understand why Jing Minghe and Chi Hao were fixated on the number seven, but he suddenly heard Jing Minghe ask him, "Ke Wuwen, besides these six and a half seals, did you see anything else?"
Ke Wuwen didn't know why Jing Minghe was asking him this, but he honestly nodded and replied, "Just the seal patterns, nothing else."
As he spoke, Ke Wuwen leaned closer again, making sure there were indeed only six and a half seals.
Hearing Ke Wuwen's answer, Jing Minghe tapped the pieced-together parchment and sighed with a helpless smile, "It's like this again."
"What?" Ke Wuwen, seeing Jing Minghe's strange expression and peculiar words, asked with a confused look, "Idol, what's like this again?"
Jing Minghe glanced at Chi Hao, confirming he couldn't see it either. Then, he traced his finger along the bottom line of the parchment and said, "There's a line of text here that you can't see."
"There's text?" Ke Wuwen immediately crawled over to look again, his face almost pressed against the parchment. He still couldn't see a single word and mumbled, "No, Idol, is there really text here? Can you see it?"
Jing Minghe hummed and directly read out the line of text below, "Humans and ghosts dissipate, the path of the strange separates."
Although the seventh seal pattern was partially missing due to the absence of the parchment from Guan Wei's room, the text below was complete.
"Humans and ghosts dissipate? The path of the strange separates?" Ke Wuwen repeated the eight characters Jing Minghe had recited, then looked up at Jing Minghe and asked, "Idol, what does this mean?"
"What does it mean," Jing Minghe picked up the damp cloth beside him and dabbed his eyes, sighing. "I wish I knew what it meant."
Chi Hao placed a hand on Jing Minghe's shoulder and said softly, "Not feeling well? Go rest for a bit longer."
Jing Minghe waved his hand and said with a wry smile, "No, I've rested enough."
With that, Jing Minghe stood up, put away the pieced-together parchment and the notebook, and said to Chi Hao, "I'm a bit hungry. Let's go to the kitchen to get something to eat."
Ke Wuwen immediately jumped up and said, "I'll get the food. Idol, you and Mr. Chi wait here. I'll be right back."
He then rushed out of the room like a gust of wind.
Jing Minghe twitched his lips and couldn't help but exclaim, "This kid is really interesting."
Jing Minghe had only said it in passing, but he hadn't expected Chi Hao to respond, and so earnestly at that, "He's good. You can keep him."
"...That's quite rare."
"What?"
"Nothing," Jing Minghe shifted closer to Chi Hao and asked, "What are your thoughts?"
Chi Hao didn't answer immediately. Instead, he thought for a moment before slowly speaking, "Combining it with what you read to me last night, the seal patterns should also be related to the method of eliminating humans and ghosts."
"It's what I thought, but we need more clues to figure out how to do it specifically."
"They've gone to look."
Jing Minghe nodded and said, "We'll go later too. I'm a bit worried about Sister Youmi being with them."
"You care about her?"
"Her?" Jing Minghe smiled and explained, "Isn't it natural for me to care about her? Sister Youmi cares about me too, doesn't she? Besides, we knew each other before this. I often got injured during competitions, and she's always treated me. She's a very kind person."
"Do you like her?"
Jing Minghe froze for a moment, then burst into laughter, tears welling up. He almost slid off the stool, but Chi Hao quickly caught him.
"I say, Brother Chi," Jing Minghe leaned on Chi Hao's arm, laughing speechlessly, "Where did you get the idea that I like Sister Youmi? She's married outside, you know? And she's much older than me. I don't like older women."
"You don't like... older than you?"
Jing Minghe looked at Chi Hao with a speechless expression. "No, Mr. Chi, why are you suddenly concerned about my love life? If you want to set me up, shouldn't we at least get out of here alive first?"
Chi Hao turned his head away, not looking at Jing Minghe, and said in a flat tone, "Nothing, just asking."
Jing Minghe's eyes still hurt, and the light in the thatched hut was somewhat dim. Chi Hao happened to be backlit, so Jing Minghe couldn't see his expression. However, based on his intuition, Jing Minghe felt that Chi Hao had changed from the person he first met.
Of course, in Jing Minghe's opinion, this was a good sign. Chi Hao was no longer distant and aloof, which would make their cooperation more perfect. If they could build up more synergy, they would be invincible in this death city.