Thriller Zone: From the Mental Hospital to the Ghostly World

Tian Qinghe gave Du Tingfeng a deep look, and this sentence was a very insightful summary.

"Xiao Du is right."

"Liang Xiaobao, the newsboy, is very likely the main character who connects the story of Liang Ming."

He calculated that from initially providing guidance and finding Fatty Hua, to selling newspapers today and letting newcomers see the obituary—

Newsboys were involved in every single event and every important juncture.

“But Inspector Chung said that Leung Ming is an only child and has no other relatives.”

Xu Yuanshuang pointed out a key issue.

Liang Xiaobao and Liang Ming share the same surname, making it hard for the group not to speculate whether they are related.

"This question may not be answered until we find Liang Xiaobao."

Tian Qinghe said, already getting up and looking out the window.

It was already 8 p.m., but everyone still went downstairs to look for the newsboy.

They can't afford to waste any more time!

Tomorrow, a new ghost story curse will appear again.

No one knows whether they will be the next one to be cursed.

After searching for a long time, the group finally found the newsboy eating a boxed lunch in a corner of an alley.

The alley was extremely narrow and dark, with sewage flowing on the ground, and some homeless people were sleeping at the very end.

Newspaper boy Liang Xiaobao was sitting on the ground, with some cardboard underneath him.

He seemed oblivious to the stench of the nearby ditch, burying his head in his lunchbox and munching away with gusto.

"Liang Xiaobao!"

Li Bo gave a low shout.

"?!"

Liang Xiaobao suddenly raised his head, his expression instantly turning somewhat frightened, his mouth full of rice grains.

As soon as he saw Li Bo, he recognized him as the man who had grabbed him yesterday.

In an instant, Liang Xiaobao threw down the lunchbox and darted out like a mouse.

However, how can he be compared to an adult?

Liu Zi emerged from the darkness, took a few steps forward, and easily grabbed Liang Xiaobao by the collar.

He stared at the child's struggling figure, his expression somewhat complicated.

"Don't wander around here. We need to ask you something."

He said fiercely, but his grip loosened a little.

"Answer obediently, and you'll get paid later, understand?"

Liang Xiaobao kept his mouth tightly shut, his eyes wary.

Chen Ji stepped forward, pointed to the cardboard sign next to him, and said in a very calm tone:

Are you staying here now?

Liang Xiaobao remained silent.

Li Bo clicked his tongue and was about to step forward when Du Tingfeng stopped him.

Chen Ji smiled and continued:

"Is it because Aunt Zhang and Liang Ming are both dead that you can't go home?"

Liang Xiaobao was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly raised his head and roared:

"Ming is not dead!"

"He's dead. I saw his ghost."

Chen Ji squatted down, looked Liang Xiaobao in the eye, and spoke in a low voice.

"No! He was just eaten by the book!"

Liang Xiaobao stopped struggling, a hint of stubbornness shining through his dark eyes:

"Once I've saved enough money, I can find the old Taoist priest in the mountain to perform a spell and bring him back!"

"Ugh....."

Huici sighed heavily behind her.

He had been to the temples here and knew that the "old Taoist priest" Liang Xiaobao mentioned was just a charlatan at the foot of the mountain, who only wanted to make money.

Chen Ji shook his head, not shattering Liang Xiaobao's illusion, but instead stating:

“You are not Liang Ming’s biological brother.”

"Were you adopted? Or were you recognized by someone else?"

Liang Xiaobao muttered, "I recognize him..."

Perhaps because Chen Ji had treated him quite well before, and had even given him money after asking him questions in the morning, Liang Xiaobao gradually revealed his relationship with Liang Ming.

It turns out that Liang Xiaobao was an orphan who often went hungry.

Fortunately, Liang Ming and his mother, who lived nearby, helped him. Later, Liang Ming even recognized him as his sworn brother and took him home to live with him.

They even gave him a name, Liang Xiaobao.

Liang Ming's family was very poor, but he could occasionally sell some manuscripts, and with the money he had saved up, he could barely make ends meet.

Until last year, Zhang Zhaodi was diagnosed with lung cancer...

Treatment will cost a lot of money.

After that, Liang Ming wrote and submitted articles day and night, trying to earn enough money to pay for his mother's medical treatment.

That day, Fatty Hua, who did business on the same street, came to their house.

Liang Ming was very respectful, offering cigarettes and wine, and later they went inside for a private talk.

Liang Xiaobao overheard Fatty Hua telling Liang Ming with a chuckle:

"I know people at the magazine. Give me your book, and I'll make you a lot of money!"

It seems to be referring to a story written by Liang Ming?

Liang Xiaobao knew nothing about what happened after that.

All he knew was that Liang Ming hadn't suddenly become rich.

Without money for treatment, Zhang Zhaodi soon passed away.

After that, Liang Ming continued to write simple ghost stories every day and had Fat Hua print them out for him to sell.

But, in the dead of night...

Liang Xiaobao always saw Liang Ming hunched over his desk, writing and writing, writing a book that he had never shown to anyone...

A ghost story every day.

Until one day, Liang Ming suddenly went out briefly.

That very night after he returned home, Liang Xiaobao discovered something to his utter horror...

Liang Ming's body slowly melted away until it became one with the book!

Liang Ming was eaten by the book!

"...Fatty Hua lied to Liang Ming, most likely by stealing his manuscript."

Tian Qinghe stood behind Chen Ji with a solemn expression, and silently sighed in her heart.

This kind of thing is not uncommon, even in modern times.

Liu Zi had let go of Liang Xiaobao's hand at some point, and he had disappeared without a trace.

Chen Ji counted out a stack of banknotes and handed them to Liang Xiaobao:

"Thank you for your answer, it's very helpful."

He watched as Liang Xiaobao quickly stuffed the money into his waist pouch, then suddenly asked:

Do you know Zheng Zhongshan?

Liang Xiaobao shook his head blankly.

“Mountain tiger,” Chen Ji added.

This time, Liang Xiaobao immediately nodded and said:

"You're talking about Tiger!"

"Of course I know him! He's Ming's childhood friend, and he always comes to visit us!"

"However, I heard later that he was going back to the mainland, so we didn't keep in touch much anymore."

Chen Ji nodded and stood up.

He was just about to take Liang Xiaobao back to the hotel to take a shower and rest for the night when he saw Liu Zi walking quickly from the alley entrance, carrying a bowl of roast meat rice.

"Liu Zi, you....."

Chen Ji was taken aback.

"We scared this kid so badly he lost his dinner."

Liu Zi shrugged, seemingly unconcerned, and tapped Liang Xiaobao on the head, his tone still fierce.

"It's to make it up to you, understand?"

His gaze held a hint of disdain, as if he were looking at Liang Xiaobao, or perhaps at his former self.

Chen Ji pursed his lips, looking at the two people in front of him, one tall and one short, bickering—their expressions were strangely similar...

An hour later.

Liang Xiaobao was arranged to rest in an empty room.

Now, the eight entrants no longer sleep in separate rooms.

After midnight, a new ghost story curse will appear, and everyone must be on guard.

Chen Ji, Du Tingfeng, and Hui Ci slept in the same room.

The three of them discussed it briefly:

First, there's the matter of Zheng Zhongshan.

Hui Ci and Fei Er will go to A Xiang's house together tomorrow morning to supervise the funeral home staff in moving the body.

Meanwhile, we should observe whether Zheng Zhongshan can respond again.

Secondly, there's the question of where the page about "Liang Ming's Story" went.

According to what Liang Xiaobao said after returning to the hotel, he sent the first draft to Fatty Hua after Liang Ming disappeared.

He vaguely guessed that there was something wrong with the book, and he also knew that Fatty Hua had lied to Liang Ming.

So, Liang Xiaobao harbored a dark hope that Fatty Hua would also be devoured by this book.

However, he also said that he had never opened the book, nor had he torn out the last page.

"So... where did the last page of the first draft, 'The Story of Liang Ming,' go?"

Du Tingfeng frowned.

"In the end, the point where the problem arose during the circulation of this first draft was Fatty Hua."

Chen Ji flipped through the first draft again, his hand tracing over each of the titles.

"We need to ask Inspector Chung tomorrow to see if Fat Man Wah has any clues about this page."

"Also, Liang Ming disappeared on June 3, 1999."

"We need to investigate whether Liang Ming and Fatty Hua had any other plans during those days."

Huici touched the prayer beads, slowly opened her eyes, and whispered:

"It should be easy for the police to find this information."

"What we need to worry about..."

"That's another matter."

His voice, unusually, changed, becoming somewhat solemn:

"There's less than an hour until tomorrow."

"A new ghost story curse, who knows who it will befall."

All three were silent.

The neon lights outside the window shone into the dimly lit room, bathing the entire space in a reddish glow...