Ono frowned, took out a single-rimmed glasses from his chest pocket, put them in his eye socket, and then scanned the scattered maintainers standing in the corners, searching for something. Soon, his gaze settled on Cheng Shuang.
Sihai and Dujun appeared to remain silent, but in reality, they became highly vigilant.
That single-framed eye, like the rope, must be some kind of special product.
Ono smiled condescendingly, then slowly flew to Cheng Shuang's side and extended his hand in an extremely friendly manner. "You saved me? I know you, you little kid who doesn't come home at night!"
Cheng Shuang ignored his attempts to be friendly and sneered, "Uncle who's been put into a basket, you're being a bit nosy!"
Ono's hand naturally curved, and he smoothed his hair, chuckling, "I've been looking for you, wanting to thank you. I was somewhat conscious at the time, and I knew you fed me the pills."
"Thanking me? So you gave me three card-style listening devices?"
Ono immediately composed himself and apologized seriously, "I came to see you about this too. I'm so sorry, I was unconscious at the time and didn't know what my companions were doing behind my back. They were worried about me. As soon as I woke up, they destroyed the listening device!"
Cheng Shuang remained noncommittal.
Du Jun tugged at her arm, reminding her to look to the side. Xiao Ye looked over as well and immediately introduced with great sincerity, "The two people standing under the tree are my companions."
Under the tree stood a man and a woman. The man was the young police officer from the Metropolitan Police Department back then. He smiled, revealing his teeth, and his baby face lessened the weathered look on his face; he was probably not very old. The woman was in her early thirties, with the air of a well-bred lady. She nodded slightly to them.
"Thank you for helping me get Tanaka to the police station, oh, the Metropolitan Police Department, so my comrade could have a chance to avenge me."
"I'm not helping you!" Cheng Shuang didn't want to get entangled with Ono any longer, so she told him the truth, cutting off his hopes of getting closer. "Tanaka's presence is too dangerous, and I just nipped the danger in the bud."
Ono touched his nose. He had thought children would be easier to approach, but he had been met with a cold shoulder. He knew the root of the problem, and with the intention of friendly communication, he spoke the truth: "The man I pushed in was the defeated party. They provoked us first at the rest stop! The police officers were trying to deal with Tanaka, and their identities were guessed. You were the only ones who didn't make a move."
This is the real reason why he ultimately decided to befriend Cheng Shuang and the other two.
Ono was evaluating who would be a suitable temporary partner, and Cheng Shuang, who had once saved him and given him a chance to take revenge, was naturally the best candidate. Regardless of the motive, the debt of gratitude outweighed everything else, and he was willing to accept it.
Even if some of the people monitoring the police officers were from Cheng Shuang's team, the fact that they did nothing is enough to prove that the other party was not a malicious competitor with a black heart.
"The red thread I used is a special item; it can't be untied without the owner's help. If I cut my wrist to escape, it will directly burrow into my bone marrow along the bloodstream. So I suspect that once I enter the torii gate, the special item will automatically become ineffective."
Du Jun then spoke calmly, "Perhaps it's not that it's ineffective, but rather that the other party has something that can counteract the red line."
Shikai agreed, saying, "The world inside the torii gate must be bigger than we imagine. Like a fish in the ocean, it would be very difficult to find."
Ono's eyes widened slightly. He clicked his tongue and said, "That's possible." Then he extended his hand again in a friendly manner, "How about being temporary partners? I promise we won't harm our partners."
Cheng Shuang did not stop them. The fact that they did not drive Xiao Ye away immediately was actually a signal that they were going to stay together.
After all, many maintainers have already started seeking help from other maintainers in order to get through this hurdle.
She noticed a phenomenon: teams with a full complement of members were more willing to partner with another complete team, while one or two people who had lost their members, even if they had the idea of joining another team, found it difficult to give their trust, hesitated to move forward, and dared not band together with scattered maintainers.
"It's time to go!" Cheng Shuang reminded them, her gaze sweeping over a lush tree in front of the torii gate, a reminder to the other five.
The group of people who had just introduced themselves immediately looked toward the torii gate. Most of the ghosts had already entered the gate, and the second wave consisted of patients who were still wearing hospital gowns.
Du Jun held Cheng Shuang's hand and gently wrote a character on her palm—"Qing." Cheng Shuang nodded and shook her head, her gaze fixed on the direction of the big tree.
Of course, to outsiders, she was looking at the torii gate.
Although surprised by Cheng Shuang's age, since they had already come this far, they were either maintainers or station managers. The Gate of Reincarnation wouldn't lie, so they didn't insist on certain objective conditions.
Therefore, many teams that had never fought against Cheng Shuang and her group simply glanced at the only girl under eighteen years old present and then indifferently focused on making their own plans.
Only from the direction of that big tree, a ruthless gaze seemed to be observing her.
Aside from Qinglang or his companions, Cheng Shuang didn't think of anyone else.
As for the two people killed in the Thousand Miles Hospital, Cheng Shuang didn't care much, because the young man who impersonated Du Jun was undoubtedly the station chief. His partner wouldn't hide too far away to protect the station chief, and was very likely one of the eight people who were fighting fiercely outside the hospital.
The six people arrived at the torii gate and made a point of observing the patients with vacant eyes. They had now formed groups of ten and entered the gate side by side.
There happened to be four maintainers standing at the entrance. They were not companions; they just hadn't gathered all ten of them yet. Seeing that six of them had finally come up, they wanted to go in together.
Even ghosts and monsters have to follow these rules, so no one would want to try them lightly.
No sooner had they taken a step than a gust of cold wind struck Cheng Shuang squarely in the back.
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