With a slight twitch of his hands, the pistol magazine clattered to the floor as Chu Xuan swiftly reloaded two fresh magazines. He suddenly lunged toward the nearby wall, and just as the pallid women were mere meters away, he abruptly stepped onto the wall. Pushing off with his feet, he vaulted clean over the spectral figures before they could touch him, his twin pistols spitting continuous fire, blasting every approaching woman beneath him into fragments!

"Wave four!" The distinct clink-clink-clink of falling shell casings echoed from the ground below, and a faint blue-tinged smoke wafted from the barrels of his two heavy handguns. Chu Xuan quietly surveyed his surroundings. Since unlocking his Gene Lock, his precognition regarding danger had become exquisitely sharp, yet for some inexplicable reason, he felt no threat at this moment... Ju-on, was this all it amounted to? "No! No reward points, no notifications, and yet it continues..." Chu Xuan remained silently vigilant. Suddenly, the space before him flared with light. A row of traditional Japanese paper doors materialized above the rooftop, looking exactly like the entrance to a commonplace residence. The paper doors slowly slid open, revealing a standard room inside, where a man and a woman were arguing fiercely over something.

The man appeared to be relentlessly beating the woman. Then, he grabbed a knife from the table and plunged it into her. Blood erupted violently, and the woman collapsed to the ground, her eyes wide with disbelief. The man, however, showed no sign of stopping; instead, he began methodically hacking and dismembering the woman's corpse with the knife. The woman's body spasmed violently, but her eyes remained locked on Chu Xuan—the appearance of this woman was identical to the spectral, pallid forms of the ghosts from before, her blood-smeared face utterly terrifying.

Chu Xuan watched the scene unfold, reloading his heavy pistols with a fresh magazine. Only when the man suddenly whipped his head around did Chu Xuan raise his weapon and fire. Yet, inexplicably, this time the spiritual rounds did not shatter the man but passed clean through his body.

"A hallucination? Or perhaps..." Chu Xuan ceased pulling the trigger. His intuition told him there was nothing there—no object approaching, no residence, not even a sliver of danger. Thus, he could only watch coldly as the man slowly advanced on him, raising the kitchen cleaver to hack down.

(Danger! This feeling...) Chu Xuan kicked off the ground, leaping backward violently, but a significant strip of his shirt, skin, and flesh was still sliced away from his upper chest—no, not sliced away, but the very fabric and flesh vanished... He suddenly felt a sickening drop in his gut, accompanied by a strange, bloating sensation originating from that area.

"The attacked part disappeared and entered my intestines? How? It’s neither physical nor psychic... It must be some kind of ghost attack that defies scientific explanation."

Chu Xuan raised his gun and fired again at the man, but as before, the bullets passed straight through him upon impact. His senses simultaneously confirmed that his surroundings were calm, with no perceptible danger existing anywhere.

"It can't be non-existent. In other words, attacks are ineffective normally, only becoming effective the instant I retaliate..." Chu Xuan calmly extended one arm toward the man, allowing the blood-soaked figure to approach inch by slow inch. As the man swung the cleaver at his arm, Chu Xuan simultaneously emptied the magazine of his other pistol, and as his arm vanished, the man was blasted into a million pieces, disappearing completely like the other spirits.

"Ugh... such a heavy feeling. I still prefer food with pleasant colors..." Chu Xuan remained in his unlocked Gene Lock state. His arm ceased bleeding after spurting a few streams, and with a light flick of his other hand, the magazine in that heavy pistol was replaced again.

"Wave five... complete!" Chu Xuan stood still for several seconds. Suddenly, his premonition intensified fiercely, as if a ghost were attacking him, yet when he looked around, there wasn't a single spectral shadow in sight. Gradually, this feeling escalated to its absolute limit.

"Is it invisible? Or... inside me?" Chu Xuan suddenly felt his internal organs contorting violently. Blood began to pour from his mouth and nose, followed by a loud retch as he expelled large amounts of black blood mixed with countless fragments of his internal organs.

"Is this Wave Six? Attacking the viscera from within..." Chu Xuan gave a faint smile. Without hesitation, he reversed the muzzle of his gun toward his own abdomen and violently pulled the trigger...

"Did you see that? He’s contemplating those four unsolvable mathematical problems again. I truly wonder what desire he possesses besides an insatiable thirst for knowledge..."

"Shhh, keep your voice down. He’s already the Deputy Head of the Research Division. Once Director Chu arrives, he'll definitely take over as the leader... Aren't you afraid he’ll come looking for trouble with you?"

"Heh, you don't know the story then! How could such an emotionally inert being even bother seeking trouble? He probably lacks the basic drive to confront anyone..."

Chu Xuan quietly examined the notebook in his hands. With his acute hearing, he could naturally catch the whispers of those around him, but compared to the mathematical puzzle before him, he didn't even possess the desire to look up, wanting only to sit quietly and calculate numbers...

The robust old man, once gray-haired and sturdy, was now frail and white-haired, lying in a hospital bed. He watched Chu Xuan, who sat quietly beside him, the young man staring with an expressionless face, as if the two were mere strangers passing on the street.

Drips adorned the old man's hand. He strained his mouth open and whispered, "Chu Xuan, do you still hate me?"

"Why should I hate?" Chu Xuan replied blandly. "Why would I hate you?"

The old man gave a bitter smile. "Indeed, why hate me? You can't hate me anymore... If you truly hated me, perhaps I could depart with more peace of mind."

Chu Xuan opened his mouth, then finally stated coolly, "They say you are dying, that there is... no way to save you anymore?"

The old man gently shook his head. "With current technology, it’s a miracle I can still speak with you... Chu Xuan, don't follow our path, don't try to use technology to alter human nature. The wisdom of mortals only breeds resentment toward life. But who would know? Our flaws, our desires, all the imperfections within us—these are actually the treasures Heaven left for us... Chu Xuan, I am sorry. If I could live it again, I wish I could have given you a real childhood, an ordinary life. I apologize..."

Chu Xuan’s eyes dimmed slightly. "Is that so? You are dying soon, then... When?"

The old man suddenly braced himself up and exclaimed loudly, "You want to die too, don't you? No, you’ve wanted to die for a long time, haven't you? Is it because I bound you? Because I constrained you, that you have lived in such agony... Do you plan to commit suicide after I die? Or find a way to make others kill you? No..."

"Chu Xuan, I have so much technology left to develop! Yes, so many things haven't been created yet—like the stable hydrogen fusion reactor, the Gauss ultra-long-range cannon, efficient batteries... Chu Xuan, you must research these things in my stead. Promise me, until these technologies are achieved by the division, you absolutely cannot die! Promise me!"

Chu Xuan watched the old man silently for a long time, only nodding faintly when the old man's breathing grew ragged. Then, the old man's hand gripping his began to slowly slip away... "...Son, since you have no desire to live, then carry my desires with you and live on. For the final time, let me bind you just one last time. You must live, no matter what..."

Chu Xuan lay on the ground, gazing quietly at the starry sky. The beauty of this celestial canvas was truly beyond description. Only when watching this boundless expanse could he cease the relentless churning of thoughts in his mind; only in this moment could he find true stillness.

"That wasn't a restraint, Father... I am just too tired. Let me rest now, just let me be quiet..." Near Chu Xuan, a ten-meter-tall, pallid woman slowly rose from the dark silhouette of a building—this woman was the protagonist of Ju-on, Kayako Saeki, the core entity of the curse.

Before the colossal ghost could draw nearer, Chu Xuan slowly closed his eyes, a faint, relieved smile gracing his lips, peaceful and serene... "Zheng Zha, this is my final hint... Thank you..."

Next Episode Preview: The death of the supreme strategist, Chu, signals the squad's descent into desperation? Will Zheng Zha finally confront the curse directly and show his growth? Stay tuned for Episode Four: Shadow of Ju-on (Part Two).