Die, Replay, Repeat

Another yell cut through the silence.

It came from Liu Shuai.

His legs got caught up in a mass of hair, yanking him down hard, leaving a trail of blood behind that stretched out for half a meter as he scrambled to grab onto the earth.

"I don't want to die! Help—"

But his call for help got cut off when he was yanked into the crowd of villagers. Tons of black hair burst out, looping over him, even poking through his mouth, nose, ears, and any opening.

Shen Lingxue was in a tight spot too, her Spiritual Energy all used up, her fire gone, with nothing left but her physical strength.contemporary romance

But without her Spiritual Energy, it was like she was a great fighter who'd lost their secret edge, not even able to take down a nobody, and she got hauled off into the villagers just like Liu Shuai and Zhao Hao.

Black hair wrapped around her, slipping like snakes into her mouth, nose, and every gap in her body.

Now, only Fang Xiu was left standing.

He wasn't the strongest; Shen Lingxue was better in a fight with her powerful fire that could wipe out a bunch of villagers, but it used up too much energy and didn't last.

Fang Xiu, though, with his sharp scalpel and the weird strength of pain, seemed to hold up a little easier.

To get rid of these Specter Slaves, just a little hit of his pain-powered ability did the trick, because the agony it caused was just too much.

But Fang Xiu's time was running out without his crew to back him up. He couldn't handle attacks coming at him from every angle, and even if using pain didn't burn much energy, he had only awakened five percent of his Spiritual Energy, which wasn't going to last as long as Shen Lingxue's had.

He had one last ace up his sleeve, but it wasn't the right moment to play it, since the main bad guy hadn't shown up yet. Using it now wouldn't fix the Specter problem.

Even with things looking grim, Fang Xiu stayed cool. Feeling his Spiritual Energy nearly gone, he put the scalpel to his forehead and pushed it in.

"As long as I kill myself fast enough, no Specter's gonna take me out," Fang Xiu thought, sticking to his game plan.

He did that mostly because the way Shen Lingxue and the others went out was pretty rough, especially since, apart from eyes, ears, mouth, and nose, they got into other places too.

As the blade went into his head, a brutal pain hit him, and a second later, Fang Xiu blacked out.

"Xiu, what's the deal? Have all these people been munching on black sesame seeds from childhood or what?"

"How could any black sesame seeds be that potent? I've noticed a few elderly folks, and their hair is just as black and glossy—no sign of any gray strands."

The voice of the deceased Zhao Hao and Liu Shuai echoed once more.

Fang Xiu’s attention snapped back, his look deep and tranquil, like a vast, mysterious abyss.

He took in the sight of the local villagers who hadn't changed yet, piecing together a hypothesis in his mind.

It appeared that these villagers would go on with their everyday routines until someone noticed who they really were.

This time, he held back from attacking the villagers since it was pointless; they were just Specter Slaves. Wiping them out wouldn't put an end to the Specter trouble.

To get to the root of it, he had to track down the Specter's original form.

Clearly, the being in the lake was a decoy, just another Specter Slave like the villagers, controlled by hair.

Yet, Fang Xiu wondered, _'with the army of Specter Slaves able to take us out with ease, why the Specter would bother drawing us to Blackwater River and sending the Specter Slave under water to act? Was the Specter tricking us, leading us to think the woman's body was the key? So that once she was taken out, we'd believe the job was done and head back to report our win?'_

But then, there came another puzzle: _'what was up with the Special Operations Squad being under its control?'_

At their first meeting, the squad was wiped out by their own guns.

If the Specter wanted them dead, it had plenty of chances, especially when they stayed at the village chief's place—it didn't need any complex traps.

Also, the way the Specter controlled the villagers and the squad was different; it used hair for the villagers, making each one a host, but not for the squad.

The pieces weren't fitting together right. Fang Xiu had a hunch there was a clue in this mess, but with so few facts, he couldn't make the call.

By common sense, they should probably start with the drowned woman. _'Who is she? What led to her death? Why does the Specter keep her moving underwater?'_

Answering these might shed light on where the Specter was hiding.

But Fang Xiu wasn't about to play it by the book.

Solving mysteries was a detective’s work. Facing a Specter, his job was to eliminate, not investigate.

Fang Xiu pulled out the bureau’s secure phone and started dialing.

"Su Kexin, tell the Special Operations Squad to turn back right away, hit the nearest gas station, buy up all the fuel, and bring it here."

After the command, he hung up.

Shen Lingxue and the others gave him puzzled looks.

"Xiu, why do you need all that gasoline?" Zhao Hao asked, intrigued.

"It's got a purpose," Fang Xiu said with a steady tone.

With the plan set, Fang Xiu repeated what he had done, but this round, he didn't finish off a man and a woman; he drove them off instead.

As for the Special Operations Squad, Fang Xiu instructed them to set up the water pumps, dig trenches, and then he told them to get out fast so they wouldn't fall under control.

He had watched a few times and had a basic idea of how to empty out Blackwater River and knew how to work the machinery himself.

After draining the river, the hair Specter showed up again, and Shen Lingxue fought it hard.

At the same time, Fang Xiu was checking the gasoline and diesel. The Special Operations Squad had followed orders perfectly, bringing almost a hundred barrels of fuel.

By the time Shen Lingxue was done fighting, she had turned the hair mess to ash.

"We're done here; time to head back," she said.

"It's not finished," Fang Xiu shook his head, "That was just a piece of the Specter. The real one is still in Blackwater."

Shen Lingxue was surprised and asked carefully, "You can feel it?"

"Yes, and there's more. Every single person in Blackwater is under the Specter's control; there aren't any survivors. The only thing left is to find the original Specter to end this whole thing for good."

Fang Xiu said this with an unsettling level of calm."

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