After Rengatsu woke up, it was already bright outside. Xu Fang showed her the letter he received last night. After reading it, Rengatsu looked at Xu Fang in horror, her face turning pale.

Intelligent people tend to think more.

"This letter is a feature of that website. As long as you know the target's location, you can send the letter. This feature is only available for authors of F-level or higher," Xu Fang explained.

After hearing Xu Fang's explanation, Rengatsu's face improved slightly. She had thought that the association had already contacted Xu Fang and that he had betrayed her.

Rengatsu rubbed her temples and looked at the contents of the envelope. She said, "No matter how you look at it, those people have ill intentions."

She opened Horror Novel Web and went to her author page. She found that the chapters she had previously submitted had been rejected, just as she had expected. The reason for the rejection was that she violated the world rules.

After seeing Rengatsu's phone screen, Xu Fang nodded. "I understand."

"Well... I suggest pretending to agree to join the association first, and then take the opportunity to persuade Yousai Jun to join us. Once everyone gathers, we can leave immediately," Rengatsu quickly suggested.

"No," Xu Fang unexpectedly refused her. "I'm facing a small problem right now and I can't use the letter function or contact the association temporarily. If I use methods outside of the website, the risk will increase exponentially, so I choose to remain silent."

"A small problem...?" Rengatsu was curious, but she tactfully didn't ask further. It must be related to Xu Fang's work. No author wants to expose their pen name to other authors unless they can no longer work independently.

Because the exposure of their work would involve a very serious issue - inheritance of settings.

Authors sensitive to the rules of Horror Novel Web may notice something - although the novel website prohibits plagiarism, it does not prohibit authors from using settings created by other authors. This means that authors can use other authors' settings to write their own storylines, which may result in "derivative distortion of original works" and ultimately affect the original author. This is the reason authors do not want to expose their pen names.

"That's troublesome. If we don't reply, the association may think you're not a high-ranking author and take strong measures," Rengatsu worriedly said. "For now, all we can do is remain silent."

Xu Fang looked at Rengatsu and said, "We need to leave now. Let's get out of the forest and find a base near the city."

"No problem, I can move normally now," Rengatsu replied, having recovered some energy after a night of rest.

Before leaving, Xu Fang dismantled the temporary wooden house from yesterday and burned it thoroughly. Under Xu Fang's careful control, any traces were decomposed into gas, and even the incomplete combustion of black smoke couldn't be seen.

After destroying the evidence, Xu Fang and Rengatsu left the forest and arrived at the outskirts of the city. Long roads and railways had already begun to appear here, with occasional vehicles whizzing past.

After crossing several roads and entering another forest, Xu Fang suddenly said, "From here onwards, we'll enter an area with surveillance cameras in about 1 kilometer. The association may control the surveillance in those areas."

"If I had a notebook that could connect to the internet, I could control those cameras and replace the surveillance footage," Rengatsu said seriously. "Now, do we need to find a computer? Or should we just destroy the cameras?"

"No need for that trouble. I can heat the air using controlled energy spots to modify the air density between the cameras and us, changing the refractive index of the localized air. This way, the light we emit will bypass the cameras, and they won't capture us," Xu Fang explained.

Using the cross-atmospheric refraction effect, Xu Fang could even create a projection similar to himself. When he was battling the tentacled monster, he had considered using this trick to deceive the skill, but unfortunately, Gust constantly used energy perspective to track his location.

"Xu Fang-sama, I really need to look at you with new eyes," Rengatsu said, thumbs up, and smiled.So, the two of them walked straight into the town and finally stopped in front of a nondescript building.

"Most of the buildings around here are old, and they are located on the outskirts of the city. The area is not good, and many homeowners have rented out their homes, leaving many vacant rooms. Let's find a room as our base."

"Not bad. Compared to hotels that require registration, it is much safer here," Rengatsu agreed.

With a broad view from the upper floors, Xu Fang and Rengatsu chose the top floor without hesitation. They avoided the surveillance cameras on the road and entered the old building, climbing up six floors on the stairs.

The floors on the sixth floor were covered in dust, indicating that no one had been here for a long time.

Xu Fang inserted a strand of hair into the keyhole and hardened it with her control of energy. With a "click," the door was opened.

The room had one bedroom and one living room. It was empty with no water or electricity, only an old sofa and a double bed.

"You stay here, and I'll go to the supermarket to get some daily necessities. I'll be back in twenty minutes," Xu Fang said, walking towards the window.

"I'll go with you..." Rengatsu quickly said.

"It's inconvenient for two people to move together. It will only increase the risk of exposure. I can move faster alone. Don't worry, in the open area, within a radius of ten kilometers, everything is within my attack range. I won't go too far."

"Alright, then during this time, I'll contact Jiu Cai Jun?"

"Let's talk when I come back," Xu Fang said and then jumped out of the window, disappearing in an instant.

...

When Xu Fang came back, she handed water and food to Rengatsu. Then she pointed to Rengatsu's left wrist and said, "I went to the drugstore and got some disinfectant and gauze. Let me rewrap your wound to prevent infection."

"Thank you very much!" Rengatsu gratefully accepted Xu Fang's kindness.

To use the props, Rengatsu had cut herself and shed a lot of blood. When Xu Fang found her, she just quickly wrapped it with her clothes. Now that they had the means, they naturally needed to change to gauze.

After wrapping Rengatsu's wound, Xu Fang went out and raided the parking lot, replenishing her energy. She also casually took a laptop from a car.

Back in the rental house, Xu Fang handed the laptop to Rengatsu and said, "I have two tasks for you. First, memorize the map of Boston and familiarize yourself with the locations of all the road surveillance cameras. Second, draw portraits of all the people you saw in the association, either on the computer or on paper. You only have one morning, and in the afternoon, we will meet with Ma Youcai."

"OK, no problem!"

When Rengatsu came into contact with electronic devices, she became energized. She skillfully bypassed the password of the laptop, then opened the drawing software and started drawing.

As for memorizing the map, that was something she could do with just a glance.

While Rengatsu was drawing, Xu Fang contacted Ma Youcai and initiated his torture.

Xu Fang had Ma Youcai take buses to Harvard, MIT, Freedom Trail, Quincy Market, and some densely populated upscale communities. At each location, Xu Fang made him stay for about 15 minutes, then urged him to go to the next place.

By two o'clock in the afternoon, Ma Youcai couldn't hold it anymore, "Brother Zhang, when can we meet? I have almost seen all of Boston, and if I keep going, it will be dark soon."

"There's no other way. Miss Heize said that the people from the association might be tracking you, so for safety reasons, we have to make you wander around Boston to prevent both of us from being exposed."

"Can you tell me how to get rid of the association's tracking once I manage to escape from them? Then I can come find you," Ma Youcai suggested.

"That won't work," "Zhang Xinyuan" on the phone said, "Our phone call might also be monitored. If the people from the association know how we got rid of the tracking, they might deduce our location. It would be counterproductive."

"But is it safe for me to keep wandering around like this? What if the association suddenly comes after me..."

"Are the places you're going to crowded?""Yes, there are Africans and foreigners everywhere, but you can't see a single Chinese person."

"The crowd is your shield. As long as you stay in crowded places, the association won't act recklessly because it might alert the police and cause unnecessary trouble."

Xu Fang said with a serious face, nonsense coming out of his mouth.

"Really? Haha, then I'll just blend into the crowd, right?"

"Yes, but I think it's about time. We can meet up at a place. Take a bus to Chinatown, get off at Chinatown and immediately take a taxi to parish church. Then walk west from the west gate to the woods outside the church. Ms. Heize and I will be waiting for you there."

"Finally at the destination? Sure, sure, I'll be right there."

Ma Youcai felt relieved as he was about to meet them. There were a few unfamiliar calls just now, probably from the association. He didn't dare to answer them, unsure if the association already considered him a "traitor".

Communicating with taxi drivers was always difficult. Ma Youcai didn't understand English and the foreign drivers didn't understand Chinese. Ma Youcai could only take out his phone map and gesticulate to make the driver understand where he wanted to go.

...

At two in the afternoon, the glaring white sunlight had turned into a golden hue. Ma Youcai hurriedly arrived at parish church. After wandering around the west gate for two rounds, he walked into the small woods outside the church.

Ma Youcai never had a hint of suspicion. After walking a few hundred meters in the woods, he was about to call Zhang Xinyuan again, but suddenly he felt a pain in his neck and lost consciousness.

Damn, it hurts so much!

This was Ma Youcai's final thought.

...

"Hey, wake up..." Heize Rengatsu slapped Ma Youcai.

"Youcai-kun, wake up!" Rengatsu slapped him again.

"You said he would wake up soon, right? This is obviously too rough." Rengatsu muttered and increased the strength in his hand.

He continued slapping Ma Youcai ten times in a row, until his cheeks swelled up, then he suddenly woke up, startled. "Hmm... mom, I'm sorry, I won't go to the internet café anymore, please don't hit me..."

"Youcai-kun, I'm glad to see you awake and in high spirits." Rengatsu rubbed her numbed little hand, smiling and saying, "Hehe, and I'm not your mother."

"...Heize Rengatsu?"

Ma Youcai felt a lingering pain in the back of his head, and his cheek also felt burning. He wanted to touch it, but his hands were tied up. His whole body was tied to a tree. He was completely puzzled, "What are you doing? Let me go! Where's Brother Zhang?"

Rengatsu's face turned serious, "Xinyuan-kun is already dead. The president attacked him, causing him to lose too much blood and die. What a pity!"

"Brother Zhang is dead? What kind of sick joke are you playing? He just called me a while ago!"

"That was a fake voice I used to dispel your suspicions. If Xinyuan-kun wasn't beside me, you definitely wouldn't have come."

Ma Youcai got angry, "You've been deceiving me all along! You're the one who killed Brother Zhang, right?"

"Before I answer that question, tell me, why didn't you go back to the association and instead believed in Xinyuan-kun? Is Xinyuan-kun more important to you than President Velley?" Rengatsu asked gently.

"He's my fellow countryman, how can I compare him with an outsider? Let me go immediately, or I'll call the police!"

Rengatsu looked at Ma Youcai with pity, and suddenly a dagger appeared in her hand, slowly approaching him.

"Youcai-kun, before you die, let me tell you one last thing. I didn't actually betray the association. Xinyuan-kun is the one who betrayed us. This was just a loyalty test from the president, and clearly, you didn't pass. I have no choice but to get rid of you."

"Damn... don't come any closer!" Ma Youcai wanted to run, but he couldn't escape the ropes tied around him. He kicked his legs hard and screamed in fear.

The tip of the knife got closer and closer to Ma Youcai's eyes.

Ma Youcai closed his eyes in despair, his legs trembling violently.

"Alright, Miss Rengatsu, he has a fast heartbeat, weakened vagus nerve, and signs of relaxed urinary sphincter. If you scare him again, he might wet his pants."As the sound echoed, Ma Youcai's body relaxed and the rope binding him fell off, setting him free.

"Xu Fang, how was my acting?" Rengatsu's playful voice.

"The world owes you an Oscar." Another unfamiliar but pleasant voice.

Ma Youcai stood dumbfounded by the big tree, not recovering from the shock of seeing the little girl suddenly appearing beside him. Thinking that she was also someone held hostage by Rengatsu, he instinctively grabbed the girl's hand and turned to run.

However, the fragile-looking girl firmly held onto his wrist, surprisingly strong, and pulled Ma Youcai back.

"Calm down, Ma Youcai. Rengatsu is a friend, not a bad person."

Rengatsu stuck out his tongue, threw the knife on the ground, and raised both hands in a French salute. "Ma Youcai, are you relieved now?"

"What...what are you guys doing?" Ma Youcai was completely bewildered.

"It's a crisis reactive test," Rengatsu explained. "We suspected you were a mole for the Association, so we tested you. The results matched our expectations."

Xu Fang smiled and said, "When Rengatsu was talking to you, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex of your brain did not show signs of lying. And when Rengatsu pulled out the knife to kill you, your sympathetic nervous system released adrenaline, causing your heart rate to increase and your breath to quicken. This indicates that you are afraid of dying. People who fear death usually speak out to protect themselves or reveal valuable information. But you were simply terrified, which means you don't have any secrets or valuable information."

The brain is the place with the most nerves, mostly carrying arterial blood. Compared to venous blood, arterial blood transports nutrients and has higher energy, containing more white light spots. From the demon's perspective, judging whether someone is lying by observing physiological responses is more direct than observing microexpressions. Xu Fang would use both methods.

Next, Xu Fang and Kurozawa Rengatsu told Ma Youcai everything they knew. At first, Ma Youcai didn't believe it until Rengatsu had him demonstrate the "Silence Curse". Only then did he finally believe.

Xu Fang asked Ma Youcai to show his proof of being a member of the Horror Novel Web and proposed a cooperation request. The specific content was for Ma Youcai to provide three times of column-setting rights, while Xu Fang would provide protection.

Ma Youcai agreed.

In this way, the three formed a team.

"Zhang Big Brother, you died so miserably!"

Upon hearing the news of Zhang Xinyuan's death, Ma Youcai burst into tears, utterly heartbroken. But soon, his fear of the Association dispersed his sadness, and he began to worry about his own life.

"Xu Fang, do you have the confidence to defeat the Association? Shouldn't we quickly run back to our country? America is too dangerous!"

Rengatsu said, "It's useless. The Association has our position. No matter where we hide, they can find us. The best form of defense is offense."

"But how can we attack? The Association has many people, and there are only three of us. We stand no chance..."

Rengatsu glanced at Xu Fang, confident. "Actually, I planted a 'bomb' in the Association a long time ago. Once detonated, the Association will collapse from within. If everything goes smoothly, Xu Fang won't even need to intervene, and we can achieve victory directly."

Just then, a letter suddenly dropped from the tree.

The three looked at each other before Xu Fang finally opened the envelope--

[Dear unfamiliar author, my name is Kana. I used to be a member of the Association, but not anymore. I'm willing to offer 5000 points as a reward and ask for your help. I have betrayed the Association, and the Chairman and his subordinates are currently hunting me down. I know how to escape the Controller's position, but I need your protection. Please help me!!

I have no other choice. Staying in the Association means death. It's better to fight desperately.

And Mr. Ma Youcai and Miss Kurozawa, I truly apologize for bringing you into the Association. It was my mistake. If given the chance, I will do my best to compensate you.]This is my email: xxxxxxx...

If you find the compensation unreasonable or have other requirements, please contact me immediately, and I will do my best to meet your needs.

Help requested!!!