Thriller Zone: From the Mental Hospital to the Ghostly World

"Let's not talk about this yet."

"What happened just now?"

Tian Qinghe immediately stepped forward, her expression very solemn.

After Xu Yuanshuang, no one else came out of the main room for a full twenty minutes.

He had realized that something must have happened inside.

"and many more."

Chen Ji interrupted him and looked at Du Tingfeng and Fei'er:

"What happened to you after Zhang Zhaodi dragged you into the house?"

All six of them were stunned for a moment.

Xu Yuanshuang immediately pressed, "Who is Zhang Zhaodi?"

"You mean that old woman?"

Chen Ji nodded.

Du Tingfeng pondered for a moment and said, "After I went inside, I went to offer incense."

"After I finished offering incense, the old woman told me to come out through the back door."

Tian Qinghe and the others nodded; they had the same experience.

"Didn't you see that portrait of the deceased?"

Liu Zi suddenly interjected from the side.

After he finished the first bow, he discovered the anomaly in the portrait and refused to continue bowing, even at the cost of his life.

After that, Liu Zi was confined to the Eight Immortals Chair.

"You mean the picture frame covered by a black cloth?"

Li Bo was taken aback, then shook his head and said, "That cloth was never lifted at all."

Chen Ji seemed to be deep in thought, and then recounted his and Liu Zi's experiences.

However, he deliberately described the process of how he discovered a way out in a very vague way.

After discussing for a while, the group confirmed that only Chen Ji and Liu Zi had seen the coffin and the portrait.

The initial draft on the altar only appeared after Liu Zi went inside.

"...In short, I got the first draft, and then I brought Rokuko along with it."

Chen Ji said, seeing Liu Zi nod at him, a hint of gratitude in his eyes.

"Then, I found these two clues in the first draft."

Chen Ji took out a photo and a receipt from a clothing rental shop from the book.

There are two people in the photo, one of whom...

It was none other than Zhang Zhaodi.

She was wearing a brand new outfit, but her back was still hunched, and her hands were awkwardly placed in front of her.

The dark red new dress only made Zhang Zhaodi's face look even paler, devoid of any color.

Even though this is just a photo, everyone can see the strong sense of illness emanating from her.

Standing next to Zhang Zhaodi was a thin man in his forties.

"This is....."

Du Tingfeng murmured, touching the man's yellowish face in the photo:

"This is the author of 'A Ghost Story Every Day'!"

The man in the photo is wearing glasses, has messy hair, and high cheekbones like Zhang Zhaodi.

It has exactly the same characteristics as Fat Man Hua described.

He wore an ill-fitting synthetic suit, and the smile on his face looked forced.

Tian Qinghe's eyes were filled with complex emotions:

"This photo was probably taken specifically because he knew his mother was about to pass away."

Just then, Li Bo suddenly staggered forward a step for no apparent reason.

He adjusted his glasses before speaking to Chen Ji:

"Wait a moment."

"You only saw this first draft after you found a way to survive, right?"

A hint of doubt flashed in Li Bo's eyes:

"How did you know before that Zhang Zhaodi was the mother of the ghost story author?"

Chen Ji glanced at him, holding a fountain pen in his hand, and said:

"I have my own way."

Just as Li Bo was about to continue speaking, he was interrupted by Liu Zi's gruff voice:

"Why the hell do you care so much? Are you a cop?"

Du Tingfeng chuckled.

“…”

Li Bo gave Liu Zi a gloomy look and shut his mouth.

Xu Yuanshuang patted Li Bo on the shoulder and said apologetically:

"Xiao Chen, Xiao Bo was scammed in the last time, so he's a bit sensitive. I'm sorry."

She gave Li Bo a reproachful look, smoothed her hair, and then smiled apologetically at Liu Zi.

"fine."

Chen Ji said that he would no longer discuss the topic and took out the receipt from the clothing rental store.

"The name on this might be the real name of the author of 'A Ghost Story Every Day'."

He pointed to the receipt and showed it to Tian Qinghe and the others.

【Rental Item: One gray suit in size XL (Note: Limited sizes available at 7% off)】

[Renter: Liang Xiaobao]

[Rental period: January 18, 1999]

Liang Xiaobao.

Tian Qinghe nodded and silently memorized the name.

He took out his button phone from his bag, turned it on, and frowned again.

Still no signal.

Tian Qinghe said, "I just tried calling Officer Chen and Inspector Zhong several times, but I couldn't get through."

A hint of suspicion appeared in Fei'er's eyes:

"Will Officer Zhong have a problem?"

Chen Ji and Liu Zi's experience in the main room has already shown that the phone call from Zhong Sir in the morning was nothing but a ghost call.

"It's hard to say, let's go to the police station later."

Chen Ji explained to Fei'er gently, "That call was probably made by Zhang Zhaodi impersonating Inspector Zhong."

After a while.

As the group watched the East Gate remain motionless, a bad feeling began to creep into their hearts.

Bang!

Just then, the back gate was suddenly flung open!

Chen Ji's heart sank immediately.

"Xue Ran is dead."

Tian Qinghe sighed softly.

The door has been opened, which means that this incense offering is now completely over.

But... Xue Ran didn't come out.

A gust of cold wind blew by, carrying the eight people to the doorway, as if driving them away.

crunch--

At the same time, the east door of the main hall was slowly pushed open.

Chen Ji grabbed the doorknob to prevent himself from being blown completely outside, and immediately turned his head to take a look!

A second later, he sighed, closed his eyes, and let the wind carry him away.

On the threshold connecting the main room to the backyard...

Zhang Zhaodi stood there expressionless.

In her hands, she held a black and white portrait adorned with paper flowers.

Beneath the paper flowers... was Xue Ran's face, filled with utter terror!

The door to No. 44 Jia Yi Street was completely closed.

Liu Zi looked at Chen Ji with complicated emotions. He hadn't seen the final scene, but from Chen Ji's expression, he already knew Xue Ran's fate.

Chen Ji stood before the dilapidated gate, his heart churning with emotions.

Tian Qinghe and his group had already moved aside, seemingly wanting to have nothing more to do with this village house.

Now, only Du Tingfeng and Fei'er are standing beside Chen Ji.

"what happened?"

Du Tingfeng asked softly.

“I left her a hint… a very obvious hint.”

Chen Ji murmured in confusion, "Why did Xue Ran still die?"

Fei'er lowered her head silently, recalling when she first entered the domain, only Xue Ran ate mung bean soup with her.

"You've already used the same method, but she might not be able to use it again."

Du Tingfeng said calmly.

Previously, Chen Ji had privately told him about his reasoning process.

Chen Ji guessed that Zhang Zhaodi was the mother of the ghost story author based on the facial features in the portrait and the sound of her being pounded on the back.

He made the right bet.

Du Tingfeng was silent for a moment, then said:

"Besides, no one died... so how can new ghost stories appear?"

Chen Ji was speechless for a moment.

In the distance, Tian Qinghe's deep voice came:

"A new ghost story has emerged."

He looked at the book open in front of him, and noticed that an extra page had appeared inside.

[Memorial photo]

The protagonist is Xue Ran.

This proves that the curses in ghost stories do indeed happen every day.

"Drip-drip-"

Just then, Tian Qinghe's cell phone rang.

"It's Inspector Chung."

He glanced at the caller ID and said somewhat cautiously.

Chen Ji and the other two immediately stepped forward and watched as Tian Qinghe turned on the speakerphone and answered the call.

“…”

Tian Qinghe remained silent.

"Hey?"

Inspector Chung's voice was extremely anxious.

"Where are you? I've called you more than a dozen times but haven't been able to get through!"

"I went to Fatty Hua's house, he's dead!"

Tian Qinghe and Chen Ji exchanged glances before speaking:

"we know."

"What?" Officer Zhong was clearly surprised.

"The area has been cordoned off by the police. I was the only one who went in. How did you know?!"

Tian Qinghe did not answer, but instead asked:

"Where is Fatty Hua's house?"

Officer Zhong immediately gave a list of addresses that no one had ever heard of before.

He paused for a moment before continuing:

"There's one more thing..."

"The Fat Hua family doesn't have that book, 'A Ghost Story Every Day'."

This was not unexpected for most people.

Tian Qinghe glanced at the clothing rental receipt in her hand before saying:

"It's okay, we've already received the first draft."

The person on the other end of the phone immediately pressed, "What—"

“A lot has happened,” Tian Qinghe interrupted him.

"We're going to the Dapu Police Station to find you now, and we'll talk in detail later."

"By the way, could you check this out for us now..."

"Who is the owner of No. 44, Jia Yi Street?"

“…OK.”

Officer Zhong's voice came from the other end of the phone, followed by the sound of keyboard typing.

A few minutes later.

"Hey?"

"Only two residents are registered at the address you mentioned."

"The first one was Zhang Zhaodi, 78 years old, who passed away in April 1999."

"The second one is her son, who was registered as missing a little over a month ago."

"His name is Liang Ming."

What's wrong with those two?

Tian Qinghe suddenly turned her head and looked at Chen Ji and the others!

A look of confusion appeared in everyone's eyes.

He took a deep breath and asked again:

"Liang Ming, didn't you have a former name, Liang Xiaobao?"

"Also, doesn't he have any other relatives?"

Officer Zhong replied quickly:

"No."

“Liang Ming is an only child, and all his relatives have passed away.”

"And who is Liang Xiaobao?"

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Thank you to reader Half a Wing for the generous update!