Theater

"We're cursed. There's no way to leave this place." Sheriff Donnie gave a bitter smile. "Some people decided to leave back then, but for some reason, they returned a few years later in a daze. Mary Shaw had her eye on them. Puppets kept appearing in their homes, and strange incidents often occurred in town. It only ended when those people died."

"This was Mary Shaw's warning—to make us stay here forever. As long as we strictly follow those rules and don't think about escaping, we can at least live normal lives here."

"Going by what you said, this Mary Shaw is an evil spirit. Why didn't you seek out the church? They're quite skilled in this area," Meng Zu asked doubtfully.

"There wasn't a church in our town back then. A young priest once came here, and after several people told him about Mary Shaw, he planned to perform an exorcism and destroy her. But Mary Shaw killed the priest in the end, and everyone who told him was murdered by her as well. Mary Shaw is watching us from the shadows."

"And anyone from our town who leaves its boundaries loses all memories of Mary Shaw. So even if we wanted to tell the church about this, we couldn't." Sheriff Donnie spoke helplessly.

"Wait. According to you, outsiders like me who come here will also catch Mary Shaw's attention. Plenty of outsiders must have come to your town over the years. If Mary Shaw killed them, that many disappearances should have drawn the government's attention. Once the government discovered something strange, they'd surely send church people here."

"That's not how it is. As long as outsiders follow the rules after coming here, usually only seven or eight people a year might be killed by Mary Shaw. Those who survive leave the next day. Once they leave Ravensfair, all memories of Mary Shaw and the people she killed vanish. We also discovered that outsiders don't return after leaving like the people in our town do. Seven or eight deaths a year simply won't attract the government's attention," Donnie explained bitterly.

Meng Zu agreed with that. In the United States alone, tens of thousands of homeless people died silently every year, and even they failed to draw the government's attention. With only seven or eight people missing and no one reporting them, naturally no one would care.

"What about phones? Or using a computer to write these things down and tell the government?" Since they lost their memories after leaving, they didn't have to rely on word of mouth like people used to. They could just send the information out from here.

"It's useless. Phones and computers malfunction as soon as anything about Mary Shaw is mentioned, so nothing can be transmitted. We've also written letters, but the moment they leave town, the words disappear. And the people who wrote them are eventually killed by Mary Shaw."

Mary Shaw had penned the people here in like livestock. Based on Sheriff Donnie's account, her powers were truly terrifying. It now seemed that Sam's disappearance was connected to Mary Shaw. Meng Zu suddenly found the matter troublesome. A simple job to find someone had somehow dragged him into this.

"Mary Shaw only targets outsiders who come here. Sam has never been here, so why was he brought here?"

"Because someone has sided with Mary Shaw and specifically finds people for her outside town."

"Someone actually sided with a vengeful spirit?" Meng Zu (ŎдŎ;)

Sheriff Donnie said mockingly, "You can find every kind of person in the United States. Aren't there people who worship the devil?"

That was true enough. The United States lacked nothing when it came to beliefs. Because of freedom of religion, there were all kinds of bizarre faiths. And since supernatural things truly existed in this world, naturally there would be people who worshipped them.

"Sheriff Donnie, do you know who these people are?" Meng Zu asked.

"We don't know. We only noticed some figures carrying large bundles toward Mary Shaw's residence at night. Because of Mary Shaw, we didn't dare follow them to investigate." Sheriff Donnie shook his head.

Meng Zu had originally wanted to start with those people, but that seemed hopeless. "Sheriff Donnie, does Mary Shaw only kill at night?"

Sheriff Donnie thought for a moment. "Yes. Those people were all killed by Mary Shaw after dark."

That made Meng Zu breathe a sigh of relief. At least Mary Shaw, this vengeful spirit, could not kill during the day. "Sheriff Donnie, where does Mary Shaw live? It's not dark yet. I want to go take a look."

Sheriff Donnie tried to persuade Meng Zu. "I think it would be better if you didn't go. Since that child has already been brought to Ravensfair, Mary Shaw has completely set her sights on him. If you get involved, Mary Shaw will set her sights on you as well."

Meng Zu thought for a moment. "It's fine. I'll see whether I can find Sam. If I find him, I'll take him away immediately. If I don't, I'll leave before dark."

It was not dark yet, so he still had time. Nighttime was Mary Shaw's domain. It would be best if he could take Sam away; if not, he would give up the mission and leave. Meng Zu was not good at dealing with vengeful spirits. If it were an ordinary one, he could deal with it using Holy Light Ammunition. But Mary Shaw was obviously a powerful vengeful spirit. He might exhaust all his energy and still fail to defeat her. Fifty Contract Points were not worth putting himself in danger.

"All right. There's a theater on the westernmost edge of town. It was where Mary Shaw performed when she was alive, and where she lived as well. I'm sorry, but I can't accompany you there. You'll have to search on your own. If you can't find the child, leave before dark." Sheriff Donnie spoke apologetically.

"It's fine."

Meng Zu felt no contempt for Sheriff Donnie's actions. A real and terrifying vengeful spirit had inflicted an indelible fear upon the town's residents over the past several decades.

Meng Zu drove west along the road until he reached the theater. It had been abandoned for many years, and its exterior walls had decayed beyond recognition. Not far from the theater lay a small lake. Because it was winter, the trees around it had long since shed all their leaves, leaving only bare trunks and branches.

More than a dozen pitch-black American crows perched in the trees, all staring fixedly at the sedan before the theater. Meng Zu got out and walked to the theater entrance, where he caught a faint scent of decay, like wood growing moldy in a damp place.

Meng Zu reached out and pushed open the doors. They creaked loudly. The moment he stepped inside, he immediately felt someone watching him. He was already familiar with that sensation. A casual glance from someone would not provoke a reaction, but he could feel it when someone focused their attention directly on him.

Meng Zu turned toward the source of that gaze. A figure stood at a second-floor window, but it vanished in the blink of an eye. At the same time, the feeling of being watched disappeared.

An ordinary person might have assumed they had seen wrong, but Meng Zu was certain that someone had been watching him from that window.

"Mary Shaw?"

Meng Zu activated the Clue Guidance skill. If Sam was here, he would have no choice but to venture inside. If he was not, there was no need to enter the theater.

(It's Saturday today, so I wrote two chapters. The next chapter is still being written.)

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