"We've also reached some conclusions about the Vengeful Ghost. Your senior brother was the one who noticed this..." Basang said. "We just passed through two places ravaged by the Vengeful Ghost and found two groups of people it had killed."
"Eight died in one place, ten in the other. Add the twenty-two who died earlier, plus my two Human Sheep."
"I noticed that the number of dead was always even!" Doje said.
"That's possible. I went back just now and saw Zhuoma's and Zhunnie's bodies. Two bodies there as well," Qu Zan said.
"Ah, they're both dead?" Doje froze. "What about the Rebudian Chieftain?"
"I don't know. I didn't find their bodies, so they should still be alive," Qu Zan said. "But if it's even numbers, why was Basang able to escape? Weren't he and his Human Sheep a pair?"
Basang said, "I suspect Human Sheep don't count as people in the Vengeful Ghost's eyes. That left me alone. In front of that Vengeful Ghost, being alone is safer than being in a group.
"As long as they're within a certain range, an even number of people will all be killed. If the number is odd, one person can survive in the end?!"
"In that case, should we act alone?" Doje asked.
"Quite the opposite. We should find more people." Qu Zan shook his head.
"Exactly. If you're confident you can suppress that Vengeful Ghost, we can't travel alone, because that won't draw it to us," Basang said.
"Draw the Vengeful Ghost to us!" Doje swallowed. "Is the way out on the Vengeful Ghost itself?!"
They walked through the darkness, encountering several survivors along the way. Basang persuaded them to come along.
"Little Lama!" Dzongben Caiwang called softly beneath a distant torch.
He held the torch in one hand and