Thriller Zone: From the Mental Hospital to the Ghostly World

"mom!"

Usu shouted.

Du Tingfeng picked up the child, walked to the window, and saw Chen Yuetan getting out of the car.

"Uncle Chen is back."

A moment later, Chen Yuetan walked into the house, bringing with him a chill.

"I went to see Xiaotian and met some old friends."

He said something simple, then turned on the TV and tuned it to the news channel.

Tian Qinghe.....

Chen Ji was taken aback, then suddenly thought of something.

"uncle."

He took a pen out of his pocket and placed it on the table.

"The pen is still the same as before, there's no change."

On the table, the pen lay motionless, its body dull and no longer gleaming with its usual faint sheen.

Since leaving the Netherworld, the pen has remained in this state.

It went into hibernation.

"Is it because of the Netherworld?"

Du Tingfeng frowned; this was the first time such an anomaly had occurred.

"will not."

Chen Yuetan shook his head.

"The rules of the Netherworld and the Domain are similar; the strange creatures will revive on their own after they leave."

He picked up the pen and pondered, "This strange creature of yours has no instructions and possesses sentience..."

"Very special."

Chen Ji glanced silently at Wu Su, who was clinging to his uncle's leg, and decided not to comment.

He thought for a moment, then suddenly said:

"Uncle, I feel like something was off when it used its skill last time."

"It seems to... be affecting reality."

Chen Yuetan was taken aback: "You haven't lit up the second star yet, so the monster's skills can't be used in reality."

Chen Ji did not answer him directly, but looked at Du Tingfeng:

"When you came to see me that day, you happened to run into Tian Qinghe, right?"

Du Tingfeng nodded.

After Xu Sandao told him the address of the convoy, Du Tingfeng saw Tian Qinghe making a phone call in a car by the roadside.

Just then, Tian Qinghe was on the phone with Chen Yuetan and told him about Chen Ji being arrested by the company.

After that, he and Du went to the highway ahead of time.

Not long after, Chen Yuetan arrived at the highway and rescued Chen Ji.

"I've always felt like something's not right..."

"Isn't Tian Qinghe's appearance too much of a coincidence?"

Chen Ji murmured:

"Later I realized that Tian Qinghe was not in the scene that Wusu told me about!"

In an instant, everyone's expression froze, and they all looked at Wusu.

Caught in the gaze of the three men, Wusu clung blankly to Chen Yuetan's trouser leg, her voice tinged with fear:

"I did not lie!"

That's exactly what I saw!

Du Tingfeng thought for a moment, then tentatively asked, "Is it possible that it's because he's never met Tian Qinghe?"

"After all, the company's special agents weren't even in the 'scene'."

Chen Ji shook his head: "That's because they're dead."

"Moreover, Wusu had never met Tang Qin either, but he was able to accurately describe her appearance."

"I feel that... the trajectory of some things has changed."

Chen Yuetan said thoughtfully, "But in the original scene, apart from the absence of Tian Qinghe, nothing else has been changed."

"The result was not changed."

"Moreover, after I left the domain, I contacted Tian Qinghe once and left my contact information and Xiao Du's address."

"I asked him to help me take care of you guys."

"After that, I left Tianhai City and only returned yesterday."

Du Tingfeng was taken aback:

“He has never contacted us.”

The group checked the time and confirmed that Chen Yuetan had contacted Tian Qinghe two days before Tian Qinghe entered the "A Ghost Story Every Day" domain.

It was during Tian Qinghe's vacation at that time.

Chen Yuetan's expression immediately turned grim. He had already instructed Tian Qinghe to contact Chen Ji in case of any unforeseen events.

"I'll ask him."

After a few minutes.

Chen Yuetan hung up the phone and looked at Chen Ji:

"He forgot."

He said that he didn't remember that I had contacted him until that evening.

"Moreover... Tian Qinghe was supposed to work overtime that day."

"But for some reason, he suddenly wanted to go and see that creative park."

I forgot.....

This reason is very strange.

But it turned out to be just as Chen Ji had guessed.

“It’s because of the Clue Book,” he said. “Tian Qinghe used the Clue Book in the last domain and forgot the memory of a certain day of the holiday.”

He immediately opened his notebook and drew three boxes:

"The scene that Wusu saw was the timeline before Tian Qinghe was affected by the 'Clues Book'."

[Normal development:]

After leaving the country, Tian Qinghe contacted Chen and Du, leaving her phone number.

After Chen Ji's incident, Du called Tian, ​​who then contacted Chen Yuetan.

Chen Yuetan found Wusu and rushed to the highway.

Since Du didn't meet Tian at the creative park, only Chen Yuetan, Wusu, Chen Ji, and Du were present.

"This is our current timeline."

[Current Timeline]

On the day Chen Ji was dragged into the Netherworld, Du met Tian in the creative park.

[Tian Gang remembered Chen Yuetan's contact information and was on the phone with Chen Yuetan.]

Afterwards, Tian and Du went to the highway, where Chen Yuetan arrived shortly afterward.

"There's one more..."

Chen Ji said slowly, "There aren't that many coincidences; it's just the most natural development."

Du Tingfeng did not meet Tian Qinghe.

Du Tingfeng did not have Tian Qinghe's contact information.

Du went alone to rescue Chen Ji.

Without Chen Yuetan's time rewind, Chen Ji would have died by slitting his throat.

"......"

Looking at the three timelines before him, Chen Yuetan remained silent for a long time.

Chen Ji, however, recalled the look in Tian Qinghe's eyes when he left the domain.

It's like looking at someone who has passed away.

If he remembers Chen Yuetan looking for him...

How could Tian Qinghe possibly have that kind of look in her eyes?

"What you're trying to say is that the pen changes reality, making the influence of the 'Clues Book' disappear."

"Then, by a coincidence, Tian Qinghe was arranged to appear near Du Tingfeng."

"But... how does it know which day Tian Qinghe forgot?"

Chen Yuetan said softly, picking up the pen, a thoughtful look in his eyes.

If that's really the case, then the pen's capabilities, in terms of both time and range, far exceed the intensity Chen Ji used before.

"Perhaps that's why it's going into hibernation..."

Chen Ji murmured, stroking the fountain pen.

The three of them were silent.

All of this is now just Chen Ji's speculation.

Confirmation of this matter will only be available once the pen comes to life.

Chen Yuetan believes that lighting up a second star might awaken the fountain pen.

The pen violated the rules of the domain by forcibly altering reality when there was only one star left; perhaps this is its punishment.

"And one more thing."

Chen Ji temporarily put aside the matter of the fountain pen and brought up what Tang Qin had said.

Before she died, Tang Qin said, "I am a..."

""sinner"."

He pronounced the word, word by word, a word he had heard countless times.

"Mother-killer, madman... What crime is the company trying to pin on me this time?"

"If you want to incriminate someone, why bother?"

Chen Yuetan said calmly.

"The definition of justice and evil cannot be determined by one side alone."

“For a wicked person, killing him is also a crime.”

"But for others, what you did was just."

"Different perspectives will lead to different definitions of 'crime'."

Chen Ji smiled and said, "That's true."

He doesn't need to fall into the trap of self-justification.

He was about to say something when he suddenly paused and looked at the television.

Chen Ji's name appeared in the news just now!

Dear Audience,

The high school student's matricide case, which caused a huge uproar, has finally come to a conclusion.

According to the latest information, the police have stated that the original suspect, Chen Ji, is 18 years old, and after multiple investigations...

[Declared innocent]

Meanwhile, Chen Ji's diagnosis of schizophrenia has been proven invalid.

Chen Yuetan patted Chen Ji on the shoulder, his voice very soft:

"This is my uncle..."

"A belated coming-of-age gift for you."

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - The End