Excavating the Mastermind

The powerful, resilient vine net bound the old woman's body, leaving her unable to move a muscle except for her mouth.

The two who dragged the old woman back to the inn were as drenched as they had been last night. Hearing the commotion, Jiang Pengyu and the others, who had rushed over from their rooms, were so shocked when they saw the old woman captured in Yu Jing's hand that they were speechless for a moment.

"You're amazing, Yu Jing! Are you planning to..."

Jiang Pengyu didn't understand why Yu Jing hadn't killed the old woman. Perhaps the old woman was the ghost of this area, and killing her might end everything.

"This old woman is likely a creation of the inn. In terms of strength, she's actually no different from the simulated ghosts I encountered during tests at the Research Institute. She's definitely not the real ghost that Specialist Lu Chuan warned us about... My plan is to try and get information about this inn from her. Also, the incident with the female Supernatural Ability disciple who was violated, as reported in the newspapers in the room, is definitely connected to the inn."

"This! How are you going to ask?"

Jiang Pengyu looked at the old woman, not believing they could get any information from her.

"Let Zhang Xingyue try first. If that doesn't work, I have other ideas."

Yu Jing looked at the somewhat frightened girl beside him. The way she looked at Yu Jing had undergone a fundamental change.

Zhang Xingyue's inner thoughts: I can't believe such a powerful ghost was captured alive! This man seems unassuming, and his body appears thin. I initially thought he was just the escort for the Yu family girl. Have I misjudged him?

Zhang Xingyue had some internal thoughts, then, following Yu Jing's instructions, she looked at the old woman trapped within the net and said softly:

"If the other party's brain structure is intact, it might be possible for me to control its thoughts. Let's drag her into a sealed room first. The control process cannot be disturbed by the outside."

Everyone dragged the old woman into a sealed room on the first floor. They used vines to bind her remaining limbs and torso to the bed, rendering her immobile. Yu Xiaoxiao even specifically severed the old woman's tendons to prevent any danger.

"I'll try to hypnotize it first. If that doesn't work, I'll try to invade its mind with my psychic power."

Zhang Xingyue held her index finger in front of the old woman. The old woman seemed to smell fresh flesh and blood, opening her foul-smelling mouth to try and eat the finger. But as the finger swayed, the old woman's gluttonous desire waned. Her cloudy eyes gradually revealed normal pupils as she met Zhang Xingyue's gaze.

"Something's wrong..." Yu Jing suddenly realized something was amiss at this moment.

The old woman in front of him seemed to be hypnotized, but looking back at Zhang Xingyue, her pupils had also become unfocused.

Suddenly, Zhang Xingyue's face contorted, her body violently collapsed to the ground, and she began to twitch uncontrollably. Her teeth were clenched, and distorted words spewed from her mouth: "Blood... so many corpses, needles... thread, don't kill me! I didn't mean to offend you!"

At this moment, Men Qian, who had been silently observing, made a decisive, independent decision. He took out a scalpel from who knows where and, with precise knife skills, directly performed a craniotomy on Zhang Xingyue, severing a crucial nerve inside.

Zhang Xingyue's struggling body immediately stilled. Her eyes closed tightly, and foam appeared at the corners of her mouth.

Yu Jing cooperated with Men Qian, splitting fine threads resembling surgical needles and thread from his fingertips. Men Qian used the plant-like threads to suture the severed nerve, reconnecting it, and then repositioned the skull, stitching it up as if it had never been opened.

"Mental backlash. If it were five seconds later, Zhang Xingyue would have likely suffered brain death. I severed her central bypass circuit and reconnected it, like a computer's forced restart. A large amount of data will be lost, and her brain will definitely be damaged, requiring several hours to regain consciousness," Men Qian stated calmly.

"You did very well," Jiang Pengyu said, patting Men Qian's shoulder.

"Should we kill it?" Yu Xiaoxiao asked from the side.

"No... let's wait until nightfall. If the old woman remains unchanged when night arrives, then kill her."

Yu Jing rubbed his chin with his finger. His judgment had been flawed, leading to a teammate being endangered. He should have considered earlier that the old woman was being controlled by something hidden deep within the inn. Zhang Xingyue had tried to peer into the old woman's memories, thus indirectly connecting her mind to the entity controlling the old woman.

"I'm sorry, my judgment was mistaken," Yu Jing shook his head.

"It's okay, no one could have predicted this. Hu Zhi is dead, Zhang Xingyue is in a deep coma, and Yu Jing, you need to recover your depleted stamina. We'll stop here for today. Everyone go back to your rooms and rest. Hopefully, no unexpected incidents will occur in the meantime."

Following Jiang Pengyu's suggestion, they dragged the old woman, still bound in the vine net, to a room in the corner on the third floor.

The old woman was still under hypnosis and showed no unusual activity. Yu Jing helped Yu Xiaoxiao dry their clothes. Everyone sat in the room to rest. Yu Jing also didn't take out the strange bell for now, as he felt it wasn't the right time yet.

After some simple conversation and rest, time passed from the daytime of the next day to dusk.

Having not eaten all day, and with Yu Jing being able to absorb organic matter for sustenance, the others here were troubled by hunger.

As the last ray of sunlight dipped below the horizon, according to Yu Jing's prediction, the old woman, bound in the vine net, slowly opened her eyes. Pupils appeared within them, and the decaying parts of her body also began to heal. She no longer looked as terrifying and grotesque as she had in the morning.

"What... do you want!? My granddaughter isn't here, I don't know anything."

"Lifeless by day, human by night? What a strange transformation." Yu Jing quietly observed the old woman in the net, who appeared flustered.

"Men Qian, you communicate."

Yu Jing wasn't very good at communicating with others, and Yu Xiaoxiao was naturally even less skilled. Therefore, the task of communication fell to the more reserved Men Qian.

"Elderly one, we won't harm you. We just want to understand the situation of this inn from you... We are friends of Shen Yixuan. We really want to help you."

—Shen Yixuan—

The name of the female Supernatural Ability disciple from the newspaper. When Men Qian spoke this name, the temperature in the room dropped by at least 5°C.

Everyone present also realized that this female Supernatural Ability disciple was most likely the true ghost hidden here. It would be best not to speak this name aloud for now.

"...You know your granddaughter's name, but why are you doing this to me?"

The old woman appeared frightened. However, anyone bound like this would naturally consider the people in front of them to be ill-intentioned. But Men Qian had a plan to deal with this.

"Because you hurt people during the day. The person lying on the bed is my friend, and she's in a deep coma because of you... We are your granddaughter's friends, which is why we've come to protect her safety."

As he said this, the old woman looked at Zhang Xingyue, who was lying unconscious on the bed. Her tense expression gradually calmed down