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Chapter 144: Chapter 62: The Rainy Woman Before Death

"We’ve looked into the Rainy Woman’s background before her death. Three hundred years ago, during the Bourbon Dynasty in France, she was a royal Supernatural Expert, astronomer, and philosopher. Sofia.

"This woman’s end was very strange. She wasn’t sick or injured, but one day, after completing an astronomical chart for the royal family, she inexplicably left behind two sentences as her last words—

"Extra stars have appeared in the sky.

"No one has noticed anything is wrong. Everyone assumes those stars have always been there, since the beginning of time.

"After writing these two sentences, she locked herself in her study and committed suicide. The times were turbulent, so her family only gave her a hasty burial. No scholars ever investigated the reason for her suicide, or even her research before she died.

"Not long after Sofia’s death, terrifying folk tales about the ’Rainy Woman’ began to appear one after another in cities like Paris, Marseille, Belgium, and Luxembourg. You already know her killing pattern.

"However, back in that era, there was no internet or videotapes. The Rainy Woman’s legend spread extremely slowly. It couldn’t even be considered B-Level, let alone S-Level.

"The Catholic clergy at the time sent people to deal with her. Although they didn’t manage to completely contain her, they basically stopped her from appearing on the streets, and after a while, she was gradually forgotten."

Gao Tian knew.

In that era, the Rainy Woman couldn’t be considered a large-scale spiritual disaster. It was mainly thanks to the lack of advanced technology.

’Now that we’re in the modern era, you could say she’s benefiting from the current "version." With the way she’s spreading in Shanghai tonight, she’s S-Level at a minimum.’

The Ghost Infant continued,

"Time passed. Someone recorded a video of the Rainy Woman appearing in an alley in Paris. It then fell into the hands of a student from Xia Country, and after a series of twists and turns, it made its way into the country and eventually spread like wildfire. The whole process is rather mundane, so I’ll skip the details.

"After the Rainy Woman outbreak, our Jialan Society also dispatched Supernatural Experts to investigate. In the process, we paid the price of several colleagues being pulled under her umbrella and disappearing, but we finally discovered some of her patterns."

’This Rainy Woman... she’s truly dangerous.’

’Even for espers like them, who are just a hair’s breadth away from being ghosts themselves, once you fall into her trap, you’re basically finished.’

"Many ghosts’ killing patterns are related to their obsessions from when they were alive.

"From the Rainy Woman’s perspective, she isn’t killing people—she’s saving them.

"According to what remains of her manuscripts, a great catastrophe related to the stars in the sky is coming to Earth. We don’t fully understand the connection between the two, though. After all, the original documents are almost all lost.

"After Sofia committed suicide, her obsession was to pull as many passersby as possible into another dimension—the one beneath her umbrella. That way, even if the catastrophe on Earth arrives, she can save as many people as possible.

"In short, when she approaches you and offers you the umbrella, do not, under any circumstances, accept it. Otherwise, you’ll never come back."

Now, some things were starting to make sense.

’Why does the ghost of the French Supernatural Expert, Sofia, always carry such a large umbrella every time she appears?’

’This way, if someone were looking down from the sky, they wouldn’t be able to see what she looks like or what she’s doing.’

’She’s guarding against the stars in the sky.’

’Why is it always overcast with a light drizzle whenever Sofia appears?’

’Similarly, the overcast weather results in poor atmospheric visibility. If there really was something looking down on Earth from the altitude of the stars in outer space, it would be difficult for it to see clearly what’s happening in this area.’

Gao Tian asked curiously,

"Where exactly do you go if you take the woman’s umbrella? Doesn’t your Jialan Society know?"

The Ghost Infant:

"We don’t know.

"No one who has been pulled in by the Rainy Woman has ever come back alive.

"Not even a ghost."

Gao Tian:

"If the Rainy Woman offers me her umbrella and I don’t take it, what will happen?"

The Ghost Infant turned the mannequin’s head to look at Gao Tian and said slowly,

"You can try it and see.

"But so far, anyone who enters the range of the Rainy Woman’s umbrella ends up taking it.

"Whether human or ghost, there are no exceptions."

’I see. It’s a hard rule.’

’The Rainy Woman must have a way to make people take the umbrella. It’s either a psychic attack or she makes the victim see something.’

Gao Tian:

"After we go outside, we’re bound to run into this French Supernatural Expert, right? If I can’t even protect myself, there’s no way I can protect this female Ghost Hunter."

The Ghost Infant:

"Ghosts are not intelligent. This means that if you know the right method, you can bypass their killing patterns, or even fool them."

She was already prepared. From a corner of the building, she took out a white umbrella and brown rain boots that she had readied earlier, handing a set to Gao Tian.

"Put these on. For a limited time, the Rainy Woman might mistake you for one of her own and won’t pull you under her umbrella.

"Of course, this method won’t work forever.

"If you truly come face-to-face with the Rainy Woman and there’s no escape, you must, with extreme speed, say this to her while under her umbrella—

"Quando stellae moventur, genus humanum exstinguetur.

"After you say that, the Rainy Woman will put away her umbrella and let you go.

"But this phrase’s magic only works once. Do not use it unless it’s a critical moment, because the second time you use it, it will have no effect."

While they were talking, Ai Ning had already walked out of Liberation Mansion without a word. Following the program designed in her memory by Gao Tian, she headed toward the center of Shanghai, where the sounds of cannon fire still rumbled.

The Ghost Infant realized she’d been talking too much. She changed into her rain boots as quickly as possible and followed Ai Ning out.

What she had taught Gao Tian was a Latin phrase. Gao Tian practiced it a few times, making sure he could spit it out perfectly in an emergency. Then, he was the third to walk out of Liberation Mansion.

’With the Ghost Infant scouting ahead, she can handle most supernatural incidents.’

’After all, she’s a malevolent ghost herself. There’s nothing better for dealing with malevolent ghosts than another malevolent ghost.’

’A perfect match for the job.’

As they passed through the once-bustling Xixia Road pedestrian street, the shops on both sides were mostly closed, and the street was devoid of people. Bodies were everywhere, victims of all sorts of bizarre and imaginative deaths.

’It’s a big city, after all. You find all kinds of ghosts.’

There were also some bodies in black uniforms, still clutching guns in their hands from before they died. They were members of the Spirit Disaster Bureau. In this catastrophe, there wasn’t much difference between them and ordinary people.

Ai Ning sprinted ahead. Her mind was focused on one thing: find the Ghost Hunters’ base as quickly as possible and deliver this important intelligence from Dr. Adam. She had complete faith in her memories of the "unconscious period" in Liberation Mansion, completely unaware of what had really happened.

As they ran, Gao Tian gradually sensed that something was wrong.

The scene on this street was a bit strange.

He caught up to the Ghost Infant and said softly,

"Have you noticed? The streets in this area aren’t exactly normal."

The Ghost Infant had been a Ghost Hunter in her past life and had long since smelled something ominous. However, she deliberately asked back coldly,

"How so? Is something wrong?

"We’ve made it this far without a single ghost attacking us. Isn’t that a good thing?"

Gao Tian knew she was playing dumb. She was deliberately holding back, making him say it to test his reasoning skills.

Without dwelling on it, Gao Tian stated his deduction directly:

"With so many people dead in this area, there must have been many malevolent ghosts passing through.

"But we haven’t seen a single ghost so far. So where did all these bodies come from, and where did the malevolent ghosts that killed them go?

"There are only bodies, no ghosts."

The Ghost Infant nodded, her gaze on Ai Ning up ahead, and continued to ask,

"So what’s your explanation?"

Gao Tian stroked his chin in thought.

"There are two possibilities.

"First, after killing all the living people in this area, the malevolent ghosts all left, floating off to more populated areas to continue their slaughter.

"But the probability of that is extremely low.

"Ghosts don’t choose to gather or leave based on how many people are in an area. Otherwise, if every resident of Shanghai just stayed home alone, couldn’t they significantly reduce the death rate?"

Even the Ghost Infant couldn’t help but say,

"You’ve hit the nail on the head.

"It’s not easy to notice that.

"So, what’s the second possibility?"

Gao Tian:

"A much worse possibility.

"An especially powerful Ghost Hunter, or a malevolent ghost, has appeared in this area and dealt with all the other malevolent ghosts that were wandering here."

’If it were a person, probably only Old Sun Head or a few of the top brass from Shadow Headquarters could clear an area like this.’

’But Old Sun Head already said he wouldn’t make a move until Xu Yuan appears.’

’It’s even less likely to be Xia Ta and the others from the ’haunted apartment.’ When they set out, they headed in the opposite direction.’

’So, that only leaves the possibility of a malevolent ghost.’

Gao Tian clung to one last shred of hope:

"Could it be the Rainy Woman? Did she take all the malevolent ghosts in this area under her umbrella?"

The Ghost Infant retorted,

"If the Rainy Woman were that kind, what would be the point of our Jialan Society going to all this trouble?

"Why not just let the Rainy Woman pull all the supernatural incidents in Shanghai under her umbrella?"

’That’s true.’

As the two spoke, they began scanning their surroundings, preparing for whatever anomaly this street would present.

’Just what kind of being could scare away all the other malevolent ghosts for miles around?’

Just then, Ai Ning, who had been running up ahead, seemed to see something and noticeably slowed her pace.

In the distance, the streetlights on both sides of the road were going out, one by one.

The darkness lunged forward like a feral beast, rushing toward Ai Ning as the streetlights went out in rapid succession.

Ai Ning immediately turned and fled toward the Ghost Infant and Gao Tian behind her.

’Not good!’

’She must have seen something in the darkness. It made the female Ghost Hunter instantly lose her will to fight and choose to flee.’

But she was too slow. The darkness quickly caught up, swallowing her whole. As the last streetlight went out, Ai Ning’s silhouette vanished with it.

"We can’t let this woman die here," the Ghost Infant said coldly.

The next moment, she activated her supernatural ability.