"......"

Upon hearing Ruby’s description, Sakurajima Mai and Hei Chuan Chi Yin’s expressions changed slightly.

"And then?"

"Then I got scared and called my sister. She told me not to worry and that she’d come to pick me up......"

"So Xiao Ai brought you back?"

Sakurajima Mai looked towards the doorway, but there was no one there.

"My sister asked us to come back first. She said she’d take a look around...... She should be okay, right?"

"I think she should be fine."

Hei Chuan Chi Yin and Sakurajima Mai exchanged a glance. The latter nodded, reaching out to place her hand on Ruby’s shoulder.

"Alright, Ruby, you’ve worked hard. You must be tired, why not take a bath first? We still need to prepare the Christmas dinner, and we can all eat together later."

"Eh? Mai, are you spending Christmas here too?"

"Of course, we’ve already planned it with Xiao Ai......"

While speaking, Sakurajima Mai pushed Ruby into the bathroom, and Hei Chuan Chi Yin hurriedly took out her phone and made a call.

The call was quickly connected, and Duanmu Huai’s voice came through.

"Hey, what’s up? Chi Yin?"

"Xiao Ai, where are you?"

"I’m in Shibuya."

"What are you doing?"

"Just handling a little matter......"

However, before Duanmu Huai could finish speaking, Hei Chuan Chi Yin heard strange screaming from the other end of the phone.

"Woo woo woo---waaaaahhhhh!!"

This sounded like a cry of agony from some creature, followed by a sound of slicing through air, the noise of flesh being cut, screams, and roars. Moments later, silence resumed, and then Duanmu Huai’s voice came through again.

"Ruby went back already?"

"Yes, Ruby is taking a bath...... Are you okay?"

"What could happen to me? I’m just dealing with some minor trouble...... Get lost!"

"Ugh ahhhhhh!!!!"

The screams rang out again, sending chills down Hei Chuan Chi Yin’s spine. It was the kind of scream that could only be produced by ultimate agony and fear. Even without witnessing it firsthand, just hearing the chilling cries was enough to imagine the immense suffering on the other side.

"Help...... help me...... ugh ahhhhhh!!"

"Kill me...... kill me...!"

The voice sounded human, yet not quite human. Hei Chuan Chi Yin hurriedly lowered the volume, afraid that Sakurajima Mai and Ruby would hear. She clutched the phone tightly against her ear, but all she could hear were the sounds of flesh being cut and the howls and groans before death.

Then, Duanmu Huai’s mumbling voice came through again.

"...... These things are really annoying...... Anyway, that’s it. Just wait, I’ll definitely make it back by twelve to celebrate Christmas."

"You promised, and I’ve prepared a Christmas gift for you."

Hei Chuan Chi Yin’s hand trembled slightly as she held the phone, but she forced her voice to remain calm. After all, Hei Chuan Chi Yin could tell that things were undeniably unusual on the other end, but she didn’t ask for more details. And...... since Xiao Ai said so, then she’ll definitely be back by twelve.

"...... ah."

"What is it?"

"Christmas gift, I forgot to buy it...... Never mind, I’ll make it up to you guys later. I have something to attend to now, hanging up."

It seemed as if it was simply because of being busy at work, Duanmu Huai casually hung up the phone. Hearing the "beep beep beep" busy tone from the other side, Hei Chuan Chi Yin closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then stood up.

Before Xiao Ai returns, let’s prepare the dinner first.

"Click."

Duanmu Huai hung up the phone, then frowned, lifting his head.

"Speaking of Christmas gifts, I did forget about it. Should I just buy something here?"

While speaking, Duanmu Huai looked around, only to see a sea of blood at the underground fourth-floor shopping street where he was. Behind Duanmu Huai, there were monster corpses hacked to pieces everywhere—not just ordinary monsters, but people whose bodies were twisted by Curse Spirit, similar to the dog-men Duanmu Huai encountered at Inugami Village.

Furthermore, they still retained their sanity.

They wailed, screamed, and begged. Some had gone completely mad, some barely retained sanity, and some even desperately wanted to end their own lives. Naturally, the only thing Duanmu Huai could do was to let their souls return to peace.

"...... Well, it seems nothing can be bought for Christmas gifts here." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

With these words, Duanmu Huai sheathed his sword and continued walking forward.

Moving through the pandemonium and monster-infested fourth floor, Duanmu Huai reached the underground fifth floor, but the situation here was somewhat unexpected for him.

"...... What’s going on?"

Seeing the crowd standing dumbly near the subway station, not moving, Duanmu Huai was a bit surprised. Honestly, if they had all been transformed into monsters, he’d have accepted it. But seeing a group of actual humans standing idly like some kind of dazed fools, staring blankly at the ceiling as if they were intellectually disabled...... that’s a different matter.

"Hey, can you hear me?"

Duanmu Huai reached out, waving his hand in front of someone, yet the crowd showed no reaction.

"...... Should I try a physical examination?"

Duanmu Huai retracted his gaze, looking at a vibrant high school girl standing on the platform beside her boyfriend, presumably, yet both stood there dumbly as if they were hypnotized.