Chapter 29: Racing Against Death

The following content consists of some complaints.

Or simply put, what I did today.

The diary ends two days before the night at the manor.

To outsiders, this is just an ordinary diary.

The master still has nightmares and sleepwalking.

Later, it suddenly got better—how it got better, the diary doesn't say.

But to Tang Luo and them, the information contained within is very important.

"He was possessed by Jack the Ripper."

Chu Zhongtian said, "The first few victims were actually killed by him?"

Sleepwalking, bloodstains.

"His nightmares—are they what Jack the Ripper experienced? Signs of possession? Or weakening before possession?" Zhou Zhen'guo speculated.

Based on the inference that Jack the Ripper is growing stronger.

At first, Jack the Ripper was relatively weak.

That is, he could only make the inspector have nightmares, gradually influencing him in dreams.

Possessing and controlling people in their sleep.

Later, Jack the Ripper's possession no longer required such hassle.

The innkeeper—one second he was normal and awake, the next second he was directly possessed.

Jack the Ripper likely weakened the inspector's spirit through nightmares, then possessed and controlled him.

And this nightmare...

Easily brings to mind what Tang Luo briefly described to them—the situation in the underground experimental facility of the asylum!

"If it's what Jack the Ripper experienced, the cold 'ground' is actually the 'operating stone table' Master Xuanzang mentioned."

"The Jack heard—is it Jack White?"

"Jack the Ripper, is he an experimental subject of the organization?!"

Chu Zhongtian said.

Between the organization and Jack the Ripper, is this actually the relationship?

Are they not isolated existences?!

"What about those patients still alive?" Zhou Zhen'guo said.

The asylum admitted over a hundred mentally ill patients in total.

After Tang Luo destroyed the experimental facility, only five patients not confined to the underground lab survived.

The rest, the vast majority, became experimental subjects.

All died.

The remaining small portion were eaten by the resuscitated ones, likewise dead.

"Those patients not confined shouldn't count as experimental subjects, right?" Chu Zhongtian frowned and said.

The scene in the nightmare clearly shows experimental subjects being experimented on, dissected.

"Could it be that someone didn't die, yet was discarded by the organization as a corpse, and ultimately survived?"

This is the most reasonable explanation.

"Have we been matching wits with lunatics all along?"

Zhou Zhen'guo found it hard to accept.

All along, they had regarded Jack the Ripper as a shrewd opponent.

In the end, they discovered the other party was actually a madman.

Due to utterly different neural pathways, the opponent became extraordinarily unpredictable.

Is there anything more infuriating than this?

"Not necessarily a madman."

Chu Zhongtian said, "Master, didn't you say that the Ripper Gang also helped the organization kidnap some people?"

"Hmm." Tang Luo nodded.

"Damn it!"

Chu Zhongtian cursed—of course, not at Tang Luo.

But the organization is gone!

That Ripper Gang was also wiped out by Jack the Ripper!

The leads are cut off again!

We're just one step away from Jack the Ripper's veil.

The result: we found he had already acted first, performing the dissection.

This feeling is awful.

It's literally like having meat right at your mouth, only to have someone forcibly rip it out.

"No matter, there are files for us to check." Tang Luo said.

"Files?"

"Although the asylum is now closed, records of admitted patients must exist." Tang Luo said, "As for the Ripper Gang side, go to Gran Field—someone went missing, so there will likely be registrations or reports."

Including the missing Old John.

Someone also went to Gran Field to make a simple registration.

As for whether to look or not—just a widower, entirely up to Gran Field's mood.

Those who broke open chests and helped with the kidnappings were probably all such solitary people.

Solitary people in a small town cannot possibly be shut-ins.

Even if they live alone, they still need to maintain contact with the outside world, work to earn money, and meet daily needs.

It is not unlikely that someone would go to the Gran Field to report a missing person after a long disappearance.

"Yes."

Chu Zhongtian said, "Moreover, if someone goes missing and then returns, it can basically be confirmed that it was the Ripper!"

"Could it be that Jack the Ripper is the result of their research into immortality! Only overlooked by the organization!"

Zhou Zhen'guo slapped his hand suddenly, thinking of a possibility.

A mad organization.

Cruel experiments.

The "supernatural beings" born by accident.

Hidden in the dark, a little bit of slaughter, powerful, revenge.

The stormy waves stirred up to this day.

It turns out to be such a script!

Moreover, the most important thing is that in this world, gods and demons walk, and they should originally be racing against time.

The earlier the truth is discovered, the weaker Jack the Ripper becomes.

The longer time is dragged on, the more disadvantageous it is for gods and demons walking.

Now, Jack the Ripper seems to have already become strong to an extent that cannot be added to.

As for why, even though Tang Luo and others destroyed the organization.

It is equivalent to taking revenge for Jack the Ripper, yet they are still on the other party's hunting list.

This is easy to understand.

You cannot expect a vengeful evil ghost to maintain a clear distinction between gratitude and grudge.

Jack the Ripper started out as indiscriminate slaughter.

What he wants should be to completely vent his anger.

"The encounter on the first night was just reminding us to complete the task as quickly as possible."

Zhou Zhen'guo said.

They have already been in the small town for about half a month.

Originally seven people.

Four died.

Only three of them remain.

And Zhou Zhen'guo and Chu Zhongtian, facing the current Jack the Ripper, are probably not a match.

The only one who can fight is Master Xuanzang.

Whether they can continue to fight now is also unknown.

There is no time left!

This is a task racing against the god of death!

"Never mind, first go to the mental hospital, then to the Gran Field—we must find the true identity of the Ripper as quickly as possible!"

Zhou Zhen'guo said.

Now the sky is already gradually darkening.

Not long after, it will enter into night.

According to past conditions.

Night is when Jack the Ripper is active.

It is his home ground.

Everyone would gather together, waiting for Jack the Ripper to appear—fishing and such, in the increasingly dangerous situation where many have died, no one is willing to continue being bait.

But now, we cannot worry about so much.

Even if it is night, we must also take action to uncover the truth.

Compared to waiting for Jack the Ripper to truly appear, violently eliminating the opponent is a means to complete the task.

Finding the true identity of Jack the Ripper is currently the more viable way to complete the task.

Zhou Zhen'guo also does not think that "gods and demons" would add the condition of completing the task to "killing the Ripper" at such a high difficulty.

That would be an impossible task.

In the gods and demons game, theoretically, there is no absolutely impossible task.

Just like a normal game, it is definitely possible to clear.

It's only a matter of difficulty level, and—how many times one dies.

I don't know if it's an illusion.

Tonight's darkness is falling faster than before.

When arriving at the mental hospital gate, the sky had almost completely darkened.

The previous fire turned the hospital into a medical facility.

And the actions of Tang Luo and others.

Then turned the hospital completely into a deserted place.

The remaining few patients, I don't know where they were sent to.

To be honest, they are not very sure either.

The hospital certainly still had patient-related information, possibly already destroyed by the organization, but we could only try to look for it.

The abandoned hospital didn't even have kerosene lamps.

Water and electricity were cut off.

After Tang Luo and the others entered the building, their vision was severely restricted.

Fortunately, they had prepared flashlights, entered the archives, and the three began searching.

Information about the patients' conditions was gone.

It wasn't that the organization feared leakage; in fact, San Deke and the others had simply suppressed the matter at the time.

They only prevented it from spreading widely.

Even if the incident broke out, it had nothing to do with San Deke and the others.

At least there was no obvious evidence on the surface.

The disappearance of these records was entirely because San Deke and the others wanted to "pick up where they left off."

Since we couldn't get into the basement, we could only search for patient-related information here.

At least we managed to record part of it.

"Found it!"

Zhou Zhenguo shouted loudly; he had found the admission registration form.

With this, we could know the patients' basic information, including their home addresses.

The records were still fairly detailed.

A rough glance showed over a hundred people, which matched the number of patients the hospital had received over the years.

"To the underground laboratory."

Zhou Zhenguo said, "There should be research records there; comparing them could narrow down the scope."

"Wasn't the basement collapsed?" Chu Zhongtian said.

"Probably just partially, or maybe the passage? If the whole thing collapsed, this building would be affected too." Zhou Zhenguo looked at Tang Luo.

"Well, I just blocked the passage."

Tang Luo said.

"Master can reopen it, right? How long would it take?" Zhou Zhenguo asked.

"Not too long, probably... about one minute?" Tang Luo thought for a moment and said.

Two minutes walking, one minute clearing the path, three minutes later, the three entered the underground laboratory.

Zhou Zhenguo and Chu Zhongtian stopped in their tracks, looking at the remains of the resuscitated on the ground.

"What is this?"

The twisted posture made them forget, for a moment, their purpose of searching for records.

"Oh, it's a product of the immortality research, called the resuscitated." Tang Luo said, "That Jack released it, so I just killed it on the spot."

"On the spot..."

Chu Zhongtian and Zhou Zhenguo both felt their cheeks twitching.

Although we weren't entirely clear what this resuscitated thing was.

But the surrounding remains, that shattered electric chair, all proved this was a full-blown monster.

So you just killed it on the spot?

Monsters don't care about face!

"The research records are in these three rooms, one each?" Tang Luo pointed at the three doors and said.

20 minutes later.

"Not here, Jack the Ripper isn't among the patients!"

Zhou Zhenguo said.

They cross-referenced the records.

The total number of patients who died in the experiments, plus those seen that day who weren't sent to the underground lab and were used for decoration, plus those killed here by the resuscitated.

Exactly matched the total number of patients the hospital had received over the years.

The numbers matched perfectly.

In other words, Jack the Ripper was someone secretly kidnapped by the Ripper Gang.