I received the next clue from the Mai! They sent me a nifty protection charm and a special code to get one of your very own. Read on. . .

The Mai sent a protection charm along with a note to beware of The Foe (at left).

I also received a creepy postcard from Batko (see gallery below). When you follow the URL to Batko.me you see a photo of Chloe with that dreamy dude from the Fifth Path video. What’s up with that dangerous looking red arrow pointed right at Chloe? Also, what does the broken arrow drawn on the postcard mean?

The photo on the postcard intrigued me. I ran it through both Tin Eye and Google Goggles with no luck, but good ‘ol regular Google turned up something interesting: a Cafe Press t-shirt that describes the photo as “Coit Tower at Night.” The post card was also created using Cafe Press. According to Wikipedia:

Coit Tower is a 210-foot (64 m) tower located in the Telegraph Hill neighborhood of San Francisco, California. The tower, located in the city’s Pioneer Park, was built in 1933 at the bequest of Lillie Hitchcock Coit to beautify the city of San Francisco; Coit bequeathed one-third of her estate to the city “to be expended in an appropriate manner for the purpose of adding to the beauty of the city which I have always loved”.

If you want to know the significance of Coit Tower, you can click here for a spoiler from the book.

Don’t forget to go to abcfamily.com/ninepaths and enter the code “deception” to get a protection charm of your very own.

The Nine Paths to Chloe King Free Gift offer (“Offer”) is valid from 5/24/11 at 8:00 AM Pacific Daylight Time (“PDT”) to 6/14/11 at 11:59:59 PM PDT or until supplies last, whichever is sooner. Offer open to residents of 50 US & DC, 13 & older who follow a participating blogger in The Nine Paths to Chloe King Blogger/Journalist Program (“Blogger”) at time of redeeming free gift (“Free Gift”). Each 1 of 3 Free Gifts available is tied to a different code word which will be revealed by Blogger at 3 separate times (estimated to be 5/24/11, 6/6/11, and 6/10/11). To redeem a Free Gift (while supplies last), go to abcfamily.com/ninepaths & enter code. Expect Free Gift within 8-10 weeks from 6/13/11. Limit: 1 Free Gift/person. Void where prohibited.

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Open only to persons who are, as of entry, 18 years of age or older, legal residents of, and physically located within, the 50 United States or D.C. and who are bloggers or journalists specifically invited to participate by Sponsor. Starts May 24, 2011 once game boxes are received and ends on June 14, 2011 at 11:59:59 PM PDT. Void where prohibited. Click here for Official Rules Terms and Conditions and complete entry and prize details.