Thriller Zone: From the Mental Hospital to the Ghostly World

Tai Po Street in the afternoon.

The warm sunshine made me feel drowsy for no reason, and even the stray dogs on the roadside were taking a nap along the way.

But after the incense offering at noon, Chen Ji and the other eight felt as if they had been doused with cold water, becoming extremely sober.

Without explaining the details to Inspector Chung, Tian Qinghe hung up the phone and led the group straight to the police station.

Chen Ji, Du Tingfeng, and Fei'er walked at the very end of the group, deliberately slowing their pace.

"what happens?"

Fei'er looked at Chen Ji. She had been walking quickly with her head down when Du Tingfeng suddenly pulled her to the back of the group.

"After you finished offering incense, did you still have this red thread on your hands?"

Chen Ji asked in a very low voice, his eyes fixed on the several entrants directly in front of him.

He turned his left hand over, revealing a red line on his wrist that looked like it had been drawn with a pen.

This red line is branded on; it can't be wiped off.

Du Tingfeng examined his wrist and frowned, saying:

"No?"

Fei'er also shook her head.

Suddenly, as if realizing something, her eyes turned sharp:

"Someone wants to harm you?"

Chen Ji glanced at Fei'er with some surprise.

Although Fei'er sometimes fails to read between the lines, she has a strange sixth sense and is very sensitive to other people's malice.

"Correct."

"Whoever it is, he has succeeded."

Du Tingfeng immediately glanced at the backs of the people in front of him, a hint of wariness flashing in his eyes:

"how do you know?"

Chen Ji thought for a moment, then brought up the internal document that Xu Sandao had shown him before:

"Among the 'Company's' list of strange items, one in particular left a deep impression on me."

"Its name is 'A Thread Connecting Us,' and its shape is a red string."

"I forgot the exact level, but the ability is roughly this: the user can temporarily shift the ghost's attention to another person."

"The price is that the probability of him being attacked the next time he faces a ghost will be greatly increased."

"At the same time, this ability can be used a maximum of twice in a row."

"After the second use, will the ghost... undergo some strange changes?"

Chen Ji frowned and briefly recounted the words he remembered.

"You mean, you weren't among those originally intended to be cursed when the incense was offered?"

"Has someone transferred a curse onto you?"

Du Tingfeng frowned.

Can you be sure?

Chen Ji nodded: "I later secretly checked Liu Zi's wrist, and everything was normal. This proves that the appearance of the red thread has nothing to do with offering incense."

"So, it must have been one of the other four who did it."

Fei'er suddenly said:

"I did not see the red string on these people."

Apart from Huici, the other three were all wearing short sleeves, their arms bare.

"fine."

Chen Ji said calmly, "As long as we confirm that there are people from 'the company' among this group of entrants."

"Also, although Li Bo, Xu Yuanshuang, and Huici are more likely to be suspects, Tian Qinghe cannot be ruled out."

"I initially thought he was from the '13th Bureau,' but after thinking about it again, he might be a mid-to-high-level manager at the 'Company.'"

Chen Ji hadn't forgotten how Tang Qin had imitated the hospital doctor, and knew that one couldn't judge a person solely based on appearances.

He held a pen in his hand and whispered a few words to Du Tingfeng and the other man.

After a moment, they both nodded.

Chen Ji clipped the pen to his collar and stopped discussing the red thread. Instead, he took out the first draft.

He opened the notebook, which seemed more like a collection of inspirations, and slowly followed the person in front of him, lost in thought.

Before heading to the police station, the eight men had already reviewed the first draft.

There's no story in this!

Instead, it consisted of disorganized titles, symbols, and some outlines.

Only the first page, hastily written with the story of "The Wedding Dress," is the draft version that Li Bo has.

The second page contained a dozen or so headings in a hasty manner:

[Abnormal] [Red Umbrella]

[Memorial photo] [Elevator]

[A joke in the soil] [I saw you] [Another dimension]...

These headlines are packed with information!

Because the [abnormality] and the [posthumous image] have been confirmed to be curses that have occurred.

So, the curse that the newcomers will encounter in the future lies in the rest of the story.

However, Chen Ji also had some guesses.

Not all of these stories will necessarily come true.

Firstly, because the number of people entering the domain is simply not that many.

Secondly, next to some titles, the author Liang Ming either drew an "x" or marked it with a "?".

But what truly led to significant progress in this mission was...

This is the last page of this first draft!

A page with most of it torn out!

This page only has one line of title left.

[Liang Ming's Story]

This very page gave everyone a vague idea of ​​how to survive!

They already knew who the author of "A Ghost Story Every Day" was, but the exit of the Yuhe River had not yet appeared.

However, on the second draft, all the individual titles were circled together with a pen.

Below this large circle, an arrow appears, and the label next to it reads:

[The Story of Liang Ming].

In other words, "Liang Ming's Stories" includes all the individual ghost stories.

This may be what the domain's guidance refers to as the "source of fear."

Chen Ji closed the book. Now, everyone's goal was to find "Liang Ming's Story" and see what it was about.

He squinted slightly, kicked a pebble on the ground, and followed Tian Qinghe onto the main road outside.

The narrow, dirty neighborhood was left behind by the group.

Sunlight reflected off the building's glass onto the clean street, as if illuminating a new world.

.....

After a while.

Outside the Daepo District Police Station.

Kelly Chen, dressed in a neat uniform, walked towards the group.

“I found Ah Xiang’s police report.”

She held a few pieces of paper in her hand as she accompanied the newcomers into the police station.

"pretty good."

Tian Qinghe said absentmindedly, glancing around frequently:

Where is Inspector Chung?

Kelly Chen pointed to an office ahead, and without stopping, continued:

"Ah Xiang claimed that her husband, Zheng Zhongshan, had bought a boat ticket to the inland before he suddenly disappeared."

"Furthermore, after careful investigation, I discovered some suspicious aspects to Zheng Zhongshan's disappearance case."

"He was sleeping next to Ah Xiang just an hour ago."

"after--"

"Officer Chen."

Xu Yuanshuang frowned and interrupted Kelly Chen.

Her tone was somewhat impatient and cold:

"Ah Xiang's case is closed. Your investigation was misguided."

“We have made other progress now, and we need to let Inspector Chung know.”

Kelly Chen was stunned.

She waved the documents in her hand somewhat helplessly, as if she wanted to say something, but Tian Qinghe had already led several people into the office.

At the very back of the line, a brown-haired man stopped in front of her.

Du Tingfeng and Chen Ji exchanged a glance and then said:

"Officer Chen, could you please make a copy of Ah Xiang's police report for us?"

Chen Ji continued, "Also, we want to know if Zheng Zhongshan's ticket has been used."

Kelly Chen forced a smile:

"Okay, I'll bring it to you in a bit."