Thriller Zone: From the Mental Hospital to the Ghostly World

A TV series once said that time is like a wild donkey; once it starts running, it never stops.

The same applies to Chen Ji.

I'll go to the hospital, then spend the whole afternoon in a bookstore, and watch Liu Zi's live stream in the evening.

Three days passed just like that.

Chen Ji leaned against Wusu, watching the child play Candy Crush on his phone.

Du Tingfeng pushed open the door, a smile on his face, seemingly in a good mood.

"The sun finally came out today." He untied his scarf, still smelling of disinfectant from the hospital. "It's been raining the whole time, I felt like I was going to get moldy."

Chen Ji stretched and asked, "Does Sister Yu have any good news?"

These past few days, Du Tingfeng hasn't been coming home until late at night, and today is the first time he's come home so early.

"Guessed it right."

Du Tingfeng smiled and said, "The doctor said my sister will wake up in less than a month."

He took a small Christmas tree ornament out of his pocket and carefully hung it on the door.

Du Muyu is a woman who values ​​rituals. After she and her brother became financially secure, she would hang up appropriate decorations at home whenever a holiday came around.

It's already the end of November.

Chen Ji walked to his side and said, "Once these decorations are hung all over the house, Christmas will be here, and she will be able to come back."

Since the day before yesterday, Du Tingfeng has been buying a small decoration every time he comes back from the hospital.

He said his sister would be very happy to see these things when she gets home.

Chen Ji straightened the ornament, picked up his coat with one hand, and gestured to Du Tingfeng behind him:

"It's your turn to look after the child."

"Are you going to the bookstore again?" Du Tingfeng glanced at his watch. "Shall I take you?"

Chen Ji waved his hand: "No need."

"After I send you a message, just pick me up at the end of the street."

That area was a blind spot for the bookstore, making it easy for Du Tingfeng to monitor whether he had come out safely without being noticed by the bookstore owner.

He didn't say anything more, picked up his phone and hat, and went out.

Twenty minutes later.

Chen Ji bought a cup of coffee and leaned against the outside of a small bookstore, looking around.

This place is no different from when he came two days ago.

The bookstore is located in a creative park, not in the city center, but it has become a new popular spot for internet celebrities in Tianhai City because of its unique scenery.

Twenty kilometers further on, there is a winding mountain road. After crossing the mountain, you leave the area of ​​Tianhai City.

jingle——

Chen Ji pushed open the deliberately aged wooden door of the bookstore, and the bell on the door rang out crisply as a reminder. On the table, a porcelain lucky cat dangled its arm, and the recorded audio was muffled.

"Welcome, welcome!"

A disheveled boy was dozing off at the front desk when Chen Ji knocked on the table:

"Is the boss not here today?"

"OK."

The other person muttered something lazily without even looking up.

"They said they wouldn't be back until tonight."

Chen Ji nodded, feeling somewhat relieved.

However, he did not leave immediately. Instead, he randomly picked a book from the bookshelf and sat down by the window.

The afternoon sun streamed into the room, and the air was filled with swirling dust.

The bookstore was quite large, with a moderate number of people. A few junior high school girls were reading at a table, their legs dangling on high stools.

The two high school students, who seemed to be a couple, sat next to Chen Ji, silently doing their homework. Sometimes they would glance at each other unintentionally, but they didn't dare to look too closely.

This place is full of students who come to the park to take photos.

They were all about the same age as Chen Ji.

The owner isn't here, and there are quite a few people in the store, so it's unlikely that anything will happen today.

Chen Ji breathed a sigh of relief and decided to enjoy this rare afternoon.

Comfortable and peaceful.

These two words can be used to describe the current situation, but they haven't been associated with Chen Ji for a long time.

He took a sip of coffee, casually opened a book, and let the sunlight fall naturally on his face.

This is a book that introduces foreign customs. The first chapter is about Mexico's Day of the Dead, and it is accompanied by many pictures.

Those giant skeletons adorned with brightly colored flowers left Chen Ji, who had witnessed ghosts many times, completely unmoved.

"It's quite pretty."

He smiled, turned the page again, and found it was still a skull, this time a relief mural from a church in Germany.

In the picture, a white skeleton is bent over, leisurely blowing bubbles.

“【The Grim Reaper blowing bubbles】…” Chen Ji read aloud, “It’s very beautiful.”

He turned to the second chapter and suddenly paused, realizing that the entire page was filled with pictures.

There were more than a dozen decorated, deathly white masks with distorted and eerie expressions. In the place where the eyes were, there were only two dark holes.

"The Venice Mask Festival..." Chen Ji frowned. These humanoid masks were far more frightening than skulls.

He quickly turned the page and was about to continue reading when he suddenly heard a burst of laughter.

A high school girl with a ponytail and glasses, her face flushed, kept glancing in Chen Ji's direction.

Behind her, several other girls whispered and chuckled.

The girl wearing glasses bit her lip, then stood up and walked to Chen Ji's side.

Her voice was soft and slightly shy, as quiet as the wind rustling through leaves:

"Hello, my name is Xiaoguo."

"I'm on the No. 4 Middle School swimming team..."

"Can we get to know each other?"

Chen Ji was immediately embarrassed. His identity was too special; how could he possibly add a girl on WeChat?

After stammering for a while, Chen Ji finally managed to come up with a reason to get away with it, already drenched in sweat.

The girl named Xiaoguo pursed her lips, nodded slightly, and went back somewhat dejectedly.

Chen Ji quickly turned around, put away the book, checked his watch, and sent a message to Du Tingfeng.

[Extreme: Come quickly, I'm going back]

He didn't dare to look up at the girls' faces, and could only pretend that nothing was wrong, staring at the couple next to him.

As the two of them were doing their homework, their hands slowly moved towards the center of the table until, under Chen Ji's gaze, their hands almost touched.

The girl released her grip as if she had been electrocuted.

The boy was also taken aback.

After struggling for a while, they finally managed to hold hands, both of them blushing.

Chen Ji suddenly felt like a human-shaped, glowing light bulb!

Even though he was close in age to these students, he always felt out of place in the atmosphere.

Just then, Chen Ji saw a silver-white blur appear outside; it was Du Tingfeng's car.

Finally here.

Chen Ji breathed a sigh of relief, quickly got up, and walked outside.

Ding-dong-

"Welcome, welcome!"

Chen Ji pushed open the wooden door, and the porcelain lucky cat made a faint sound again.

He took a step forward—

A dazzling white light shone on Chen Ji.

That's not sunshine.

Chen Ji was stunned for a moment.

Behind him, the bookstore door had just closed...

It made a loud, unusual sound, as if it were not a wooden door, and slammed down with a thud.

Chen Ji took a step back, his back pressed against the door, feeling only the cold touch of the iron.

"Where...are we?"

A familiar voice trembled. He turned his head and looked at Du Tingfeng beside him in disbelief.

The other person was wearing a hospital gown.

He was one of them.

This is the hospital's basement!

He stepped out of the bookstore and into the hospital's basement!

This is completely different from the capture that Chen Ji had envisioned!

And why is Du Tingfeng here too?!

The smell of disinfectant and formaldehyde wafted over, and a cold white light, like a bucket of ice water, poured over Chen Ji, almost freezing his blood!

Just then, Chen Ji suddenly heard someone giggling foolishly beside him and Du Tingfeng.

And the water was being stirred...

A rustling sound.

Chen turned his head in horror, and the moment he saw the other person's face, his mind went completely blank!

No, that's not right...

Why is she here?

That girl.....

The girl in the bookstore with glasses and a ponytail.

She was wearing a hospital gown, her limbs were twisted, and her body below the head was completely immersed in a pool of formalin solution. Her face was pale and swollen.

The girl seemed to notice Chen Ji's gaze, and she turned her head stiffly, her eyes wide apart.

"My name is Xiaoguo."

She said, biting her nails, her voice completely unlike that of a normal person, revealing extreme madness!

"I'm on the No. 4 Middle School swimming team."

She said her arms were still moving.

She always....

Swimming in this pool of formalin.

"Let's get to know each other, hehehe, let's get to know each other!"

Her arm movements became increasingly rapid, her smile grew more and more eerie, and her lips, which had turned white from being soaked in water, kept twitching.

Her voice grew faster and faster!

He kept repeating the same sentence over and over again!

"My name is Xiaoguo. I'm on the No. 4 Middle School swimming team..."

"My name is Xiaoguo. I'm on the No. 4 Middle School swimming team..."

until--

She suddenly shut her mouth.

wow-

She suddenly stood up.

Her face, which had been beaming with laughter, turned expressionless in a second.

She seemed to be getting out of the pool.

Chen Ji didn't have time to figure out if she was a human or a ghost, or why she was here!

Without any further hesitation, he grabbed Du Tingfeng, turned around, and ran!

He yanked open the metal gate, and behind him came the sound of wet footsteps!

Bang!

The iron gate was closed.

Chen Ji's heart pounded. He looked at Du Tingfeng, only to see the other staring blankly at the white wall in front of him.

That's the hospital sign.

[Tianhai City Third Mental Hospital - Basement Level]

A few seconds later, the words on it suddenly jumped a few times.

Chen Ji's vision blurred, and when he looked again, it had changed to:

[Tianhai City Asylum - Basement Level]

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Dear readers, I have some family matters to attend to today, so tomorrow's two chapters will be updated a little later, and will be posted before noon.