Thriller Zone: From the Mental Hospital to the Ghostly World

Inside the office.

Officer Zhong was sitting at the table, his brows furrowed deeply, and the ashtray in front of him was almost full.

He didn't waste any pleasantries and went straight to the point:

“I checked the bureau’s system. There are many people named Liang Xiaobao, but none of them should be the person you are looking for.”

As he spoke, he pushed a sheet of printed paper toward Tian Qinghe:

“There are only two people named Liang Xiaobao who are registered in Dapu District and are around forty years old.”

"One returned to the mainland ten years ago, and the other went to live abroad."

Tian Qinghe shook her head; the timing didn't match.

The person they were looking for, Liang Xiaobao, was still active in Dapu District at the beginning of this year.

Inspector Chung lit another cigarette and said quite frankly:

"I don't think you need to look for this person anymore."

"This is very likely an alias for Liang Ming. He comes from a poor family and may not want to return the clothes."

As he spoke, he took a document out of the drawer: "You can take a look at Liang Ming's information."

Tian Qinghe took the document and slowly read it aloud:

"Liang Ming was born at home in Daepo District in 1959. He was not delivered by a hospital."

"My father died early, and my mother raised me."

"He had excellent grades in middle school and won several essay competitions, but he dropped out of school midway due to poverty."

"From 1980 to 1990, I worked as a temporary worker at the magazine, and was later laid off."

"After that, I was unemployed until the census more than a month ago, when I was classified as a missing person."

This is Liang Ming's experience, the life of an ordinary person.

"He may already be dead."

Chen Ji recounted his encounter with the ghosts of Liang Ming and his mother at No. 44, Jia Yi Street, and then asked:

Do you have any information on Zhang Zhaodi?

Inspector Chung nodded: "There is a medical record."

"Zhang Zhaodi was diagnosed with lung cancer more than a year ago, but she did not go to the hospital for treatment and later passed away."

He sighed:

"I think it's possible that Liang Ming's resentment was too great, which is why he turned into a ghost to seek revenge."

"But what does this have to do with Ah Xiang and Fatty Hua?"

Li Bo suddenly interjected, "Fatty Hua once cursed Liang Ming, saying that nobody reads his ghost stories."

"That's true, but... it's not some deep-seated hatred."

"I frowned," said Mr. Chung.

Chen Ji stood at the back of the crowd, lost in thought.

The previous speculation was that anyone who read ghost stories would be cursed.

But now there are already three versions of "A Ghost Story Every Day".

Furthermore, the initial draft before Zhang Zhaodi's portrait did not feature any new ghost stories.

Besides, where did Ah Xiang get that book from?

Was Liang Ming's curse applied randomly?

Du Tingfeng whispered in his ear:

"Do you remember what I mentioned before about the different types of domains?"

"In a domain with a backstory like this, the preceding events are unlikely to occur randomly, right?"

Du Tingfeng's meaning is very clear.

He believed that there must be a deeper connection between Ah Heung, Fat Man Wah, and Leung Ming.

Chen Ji nodded slightly. The fact that he had read ghost stories should only be the most superficial reason for the curse.

Aside from the few who entered the domain, the deaths of the others, if connected, might be able to fully construct the story of Liang Ming.

Officer Zhong discussed it with the others again, but they didn't come to any conclusions yet.

He also suggested that people could spend the night at a police station or a temple to avoid encountering ghosts again.

However, Tian Qinghe declined.

Based on past experience, those who enter the domain know that the ghosts within have almost no fear.

Hui-Ci also stated frankly:

"The temples here can't keep out ghosts."

He had always been rather low-key, preoccupied with his own thoughts, so his sudden interruption was quite unexpected.

Chen Ji couldn't help but look up at the little monk and see a strange confusion in his eyes.

It seems that the little monk has been in this state ever since he left Ah Xiang's house.

It was as if there was something he couldn't be sure about.

Chen Ji's heart stirred slightly, and he decided to ask again after leaving the police station.

After leaving Officer Zhong's office, Kelly Chen handed Ah Xiang's photocopy to Chen Ji.

She wasn't discouraged by Xu Yuanshuang's previous words and remained serious.

"I still think Zheng Zhongshan is a key target for investigation."

"If you find any leads later, please contact me directly."

……

Hotel entrance.

After discussing it, the eight people decided to split into two teams for the time being.

Chen Ji and his two companions wanted to go to A Xiang's village house to try and find her connection with Liang Ming again.

The young monk Huici also joined them.

Tian Qinghe, Li Bo, and Xu Yuanshuang were preparing to go to the clothing rental shop listed on the invoice to confirm Liang Xiaobao's identity.

Liu Zi originally wanted to go with Chen Ji and the others, but after seeing Li Bo's gloomy face, he ultimately chose to go to the clothing rental shop instead.

He was a suspicious person and knew that he and Li Bo had developed a grudge after several verbal exchanges.

Chen Ji's side isn't closely related to the main mission, and since Chen Ji saved me, he probably won't deliberately hide any clues.

But Li Bo, and Xu Yuanshuang who was with him... that's another story.

Liu Zi muttered something to Chen Ji again, as if to say, "Be careful," but his voice was unclear.

Then, with his hands in his pockets and a sour expression, he followed Tian Qinghe and the others.

Chen Ji and his two companions, along with the young monk Huici, turned and walked towards the street next to them.

It's July now, and the weather is hot, so almost everyone entering the realm has taken off their coats.

Only Huici was still wearing a stuffy gray monk's robe.

"Master Huici, aren't you hot?"

Chen Ji thought for a moment before speaking carefully.

He wanted to use this as an excuse to get Huici to roll up her sleeves so he could see if there was a red line on her wrist.

"Fortunately."

Huici shook her head, speaking somewhat absentmindedly.

Chen Ji was speechless for a moment, stumped by his words.

After a few seconds, Huici suddenly spoke, her voice sounding hesitant:

"There's something I need to tell you all."

"Regarding yesterday, the chair that was inexplicably pushed over next to Ah Xiang's body."

"That's not a ghost—huh?"

He was only halfway through his sentence when he suddenly looked at Fei'er in surprise.

Fei'er was pulling Hui Ci's arm, rolling up his sleeve to his shoulder.

"No."

She said calmly, "Put Huici's arm down."

She didn't see a red thread on Huici's wrist.

Huici was somewhat confused: "Nothing?"

Chen Ji cleared his throat, somewhat embarrassed, and said, "Fei'er thinks I saw a bug on your clothes just now..."

"You might have misread it."

He quickly changed the subject: "Master Huici, what you just said is that the one who pushed the chair over wasn't a ghost?"

"Correct."

Huici didn't pay much attention to what had happened before and nodded.

"But there wasn't a single person there."

Du Tingfeng disagreed, saying that he was in charge of searching the bedroom yesterday and found nothing at all.

"Just because we can't see it doesn't mean it doesn't exist."

Huici stopped walking, her expression calm.

"I'm pretty sure it wasn't a ghost."

"Because if it were a ghost, I would know immediately."

Chen Ji and the other two exchanged glances, unsure of Hui Ci's meaning.

Is it the ability of a strange creature?

"It's not a ghost."

Huici saw through their thoughts and added:

"My birth chart is entirely Yin, and I was born on the Guiwei day during the Ghost Festival; the Yin energy in my destiny is unrestrained."

“When I was a child, someone told my fortune and said that I would not live past 20 unless I became a Buddhist monk.”

He smiled before saying:

"The advantage is that I am very sensitive to the existence of ghosts."

"Therefore, as soon as I entered Ah Xiang's house, I knew there were no ghosts there."

Fei'er didn't understand what Huici meant at the beginning, but she did understand the last sentence.

She frowned and looked at Huici suspiciously:

"If there were no ghosts, what were you looking for peace of mind about?"

The young monk Huici grinned and said very seriously:

"Just because there were no ghosts back then doesn't mean Ah Xiang won't become a ghost later."

Chen Ji was also confused by what he heard, but he didn't ask any more questions.

He kept thinking about a sentence that Huici had just said!

"...Just because we can't see it doesn't mean it doesn't exist."

If Ah Xiang really does have someone by her side....

Who could that be?

He looked up and saw Du Tingfeng flipping through the documents in his hands.

It was Kelly Chen who gave them Ah Heung's police report.

The evidence showed that Zheng Zhongshan was sleeping next to A Xiang an hour before he went missing.

When Ah Xiang opened her eyes again...

He disappeared!

Meanwhile, those two tickets were never used.

Two boat tickets.

Whatever the reason Zheng Zhongshan wanted to return to the mainland, he must have wanted to take Ah Xiang with him.

Therefore, it's highly unlikely that he would do so without informing Ah Xiang...

He left suddenly.

"It's Zheng Zhongshan."

Chen Ji suddenly spoke up.

A sudden realization flashed through his mind, and he immediately opened the first draft in his bag.

"Ah Xiang is not the first person to be cursed."

Chen Ji turned to the second page and pointed to one of the ghost story titles, saying:

“Zheng Zhongshan is the one.”

Everyone's expression changed, and they looked in the direction Chen Ji was pointing.

On the paper, there were four large characters followed by a strange asterisk.

【Otherworld】

"The reason this ghost story hasn't appeared yet is..."

Chen Ji murmured.

"It's because Zheng Zhongshan is not dead yet."