After completing the bizarre game, the world experienced a global resurgence of strange occurrences.

"The straw man came close to me, then took off his black top hat and placed it on my head."

Upon hearing this, Fang Yuan frowned deeply.

The woman took a deep breath and continued speaking.

"The moment I put on the top hat, I felt something pierce my brain."

Immediately afterwards, I saw straw begin to grow on my body! As the straw multiplied, I felt my consciousness gradually fading away.

After that, I don't remember anything. When I woke up, I saw you all.

"I understand." Fang Yuan's face turned extremely ugly after hearing this.

"So that's how it is! As long as you put on this black top hat, you'll be completely assimilated by the straw man and become a new straw puppet!"

Chen Zhuo shook his head slightly, his tone indifferent.

"That's not all. I'm afraid that as long as this top hat isn't completely destroyed, these straw men can be resurrected an infinite number of times."

The woman nodded solemnly.

Fang Yuan's brows furrowed even more, his face full of worry.

"Now that the top hat has disappeared, where should we even begin looking for it?"

"Instead of wasting time looking for the straw man, we should go directly to the straw man's mysterious gate."

If all goes well, the straw man can be dealt with indirectly by solving the trickery.

Even if that doesn't work, it will at least attract the scarecrow, saving us the trouble of searching everywhere.

Upon hearing Chen Zhuo's suggestion, Fang Yuan's eyes lit up.

"This idea is worth a try! Instead of passively waiting for the scarecrow to appear, let's take the initiative and catch it off guard!"

However, an uneasy look appeared on the woman's face.

She hesitated for a moment, but then spoke.

"No, that's too risky! That straw man is too strong. The three of us are probably no match for it."

She paused, her tone becoming unusually cautious.

"I think we should request more support from the branch first."

"Let's wait for reinforcements to arrive, then we can discuss this further. That would be a safer approach."

Having personally experienced the despair of assimilation, she had developed an indelible shadow over that eerie straw man.

In her opinion, even with the help of Chen Zhuo and the other two, they still couldn't possibly be that strange opponent.

To rashly seek out the Ghost Gate is no different from suicide.

Before she could finish speaking, the Mirror Ghost's voice, tinged with disdain, came from Chen Zhuo's waist.

"Support? This little monster is so insignificant, why would it need any support?"

Chen Zhuo alone is worth a thousand of your troops; dealing with him is as easy as lifting a finger.

The sudden sound startled the woman.

She instantly curled up, looking warily at the pocket watch on Chen Zhuo's waist.

Fang Yuan quickly stepped forward, patted her shoulder, and whispered words of comfort.

"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, here's what happened..."

Seeing that the woman was still wary, he recounted in detail how he met Chen Zhuo and how he rescued her in the field.

The woman's expression changed little by little as Fang Yuan narrated.

From initial fear, to surprise, and then to disbelief.

If Fang Yuan hadn't sounded so serious, she would have thought he was making up some kind of fantastical story for her.

The woman opened her mouth, as if she wanted to say something more, when suddenly Shi Mu's voice came from the back room.

"Children, dinner's ready! Come and eat!"

Chen Zhuo turned around first and walked out of the house.

Fang Yuan supported the still somewhat weak woman and followed behind.

It took the woman a while to digest what Fang Yuan had just said.

She would steal glances at Chen Zhuo every now and then, her wariness gradually turning into curiosity.

After Shi's mother finished cleaning up the dishes and left, leaving only the three of them in the room, the woman finally spoke.

"The strange door to that straw man is on a mountain next to the village."

The mountain isn't high, but it's very remote, and nobody usually goes there.

There's an abandoned wooden cabin on the mountain; the "mysterious door" is the wooden door of that cabin.

Having learned the exact location of the Ghost Gate, Chen Zhuo did not delay for a moment.

He got up, greeted his mother in the kitchen, said he was going to go for a walk in the mountains with a friend, and then turned and walked out of the yard.

After leaving Shi Mu's house, Chen Zhuo completed the recording of the bizarre file and named the bizarre creature the Parasitic Grass Man.

Upon seeing this, Fang Yuan and the woman quickly followed.

Once outside the village, Chen Zhuo quickened his pace.

Fang Yuan is alright, after all, he has some foundation and can barely keep up.

But the woman was already weak, and her body had not fully recovered from being tainted by the strange energy. She staggered as she ran, and only managed to keep up with the pace by exerting all her strength.

Looking at Chen Zhuo's back in front of her, she became even more convinced of what Fang Yuan had just said.

Just how powerful is this person?

Fang Yuan was equally alarmed.

He had already given it his all, but Chen Zhuo remained completely unfazed.

Fang Yuan swallowed hard, unable to help but wonder, "If Chen Zhuo were to use his full strength, just how formidable would he be?"

In just over ten minutes, Chen Zhuo was the first to reach the top of the barren mountain.

Chen Zhuo stood in front of the wooden house, and he could clearly feel the eerie aura emanating from the door in front of him.

"This is it."

Just as he raised his white bone cane, preparing to destroy the ghost gate, a rustling sound suddenly came from behind him.

Chen Zhuo tilted his head slightly.

"It's that scarecrow!" the Mirror Ghost exclaimed, quickly alerting Chen Zhuo.

The straw man let out a roar and, without any hesitation, the straws on its body stood up like sharp blades, stabbing fiercely at Chen Zhuo.

Chen Zhuo didn't even move his feet.

With a gentle stroke of the white bone cane, the straw broke into countless fragments in mid-air, fluttering down in all directions.

The straw man was clearly taken aback.

It seemed it hadn't expected that its attack would be so easily neutralized by Chen Zhuo.

Chen Zhuo didn't give it a chance to react. He quickly pointed out with his white bone cane, and an invisible force instantly slammed into the straw man.

The scarecrow exploded with a large hole, and straw flew everywhere. It staggered back several steps, its entire body swaying precariously.

At this moment, the straw man finally realized that the aura emanating from the person in front of him was something it could not contend with at all.

Terrified, it scrambled to its feet and turned to flee into the forest.

But how could Chen Zhuo possibly give it a chance?

The white cane was swung out again.

A sharp, eerie aura instantly slashed out, completely crushing the straw man, leaving not even a trace behind.

The black top hat fell from mid-air and landed on the ground.

Chen Zhuo walked over, bent down, and picked up the top hat.

The moment the top hat touched his fingers, it burst into flames, black flames engulfing the entire hat.

The flames burned quickly, and the top hat shrank rapidly in Chen Zhuo's hand, turning into charred remains.

As the top hat was about to burn completely, Chen Zhuo casually tossed the remaining residue into the air.

The flames continued to burn in mid-air as they slowly descended.

As it landed, the last flame went out, leaving only ashes scattered in the soil.

After gathering some straw, Chen Zhuo walked back to the strange gate.

At the same time, Fang Yuan and his companion arrived, panting and covered in sweat.