Thriller Zone: From the Mental Hospital to the Ghostly World

[I've noticed that many readers have misunderstood the place name in the previous chapter. To clarify: the place name Xu Sandao mentioned is purely fictional and has no connection to reality. To avoid any misunderstanding, I've changed it to Shisun Village.]

Chen Ji watched the snowflakes fall onto the tractor not far away, his heart heavy.

Suddenly, he was stunned for a moment.

A figure wearing a bright red jacket slowly emerged from behind the tractor. He was a teenage boy with a face whiter than snow and lips that looked as if they had been frozen.

It was as if they were being spied on.

Are they miners?

Chen Ji had a vague feeling that something was wrong; every miner he had ever seen had a dusty, gray face.

But he wasn't a newcomer; Chen Ji had never seen this face before on the tractor.

The boy was hiding behind the tractor, only his left side was visible, and his eyes were dull and lifeless.

He wasn't just staring at Chen Ji; his eyes darted around, scanning everyone standing in the cave.

Then, he stretched out his hand and pointed at Chen Ji and the others.

"Who the hell are you?" Some people had already noticed the boy in red.

The boy in the red jacket didn't say anything.

He continued to point his finger at Chen Ji and the others as if he were counting them.

“…Something’s not right.” Chen Ji frowned.

A strong smell of cheap liquor wafted over, and some of the miners, already furious at not being able to go home, immediately started cursing and swearing as they walked toward the boy in red.

Chen Ji and Xu Sandao followed closely behind.

At that moment, the boy finally showed an expression—

He chuckled, his lips curving upwards to his ears, revealing his gleaming white teeth.

Chen Ji suddenly stopped in his tracks!

This is clearly not a living person!

The three drunken, burly men were unaware of anything amiss and continued walking towards the boy in red.

Xu Sandao grabbed Chen Ji; both of them appeared calm, but goosebumps were already running down their spines.

Because they all saw that there was a gap between the exposed half of the boy in red's body and the tractor!

The boy wasn't peeking at all!

From beginning to end, they were exposed outside the tractor...

That is his entire body.

crunch--

The boy in the red jacket suddenly took a step forward.

Without the tractor obscuring it, its body was immediately revealed...

Above the bright red leather jacket was half a head that had been neatly shaved off.

The entire right half of his body was gone.

Inside the bright red jacket, the right sleeve hung empty, swaying incessantly in the cold wind.

Chen Ji's heart pounded. He was about to say something when Xu Sandao pressed down on his shoulder.

Xu Sandao gestured for him to be quiet.

The two carefully retreated towards the cave dwelling, trying to minimize their presence.

The method worked—the red-clothed ghost's gaze never left the drunkard.

Until the middle-aged miner who spoke first finally noticed something was wrong!

His body trembled violently, and he froze on the spot. Then he rubbed his eyes in disbelief.

"ghost!"

"There's a ghost!"

His face went from flushed to deathly pale in an instant. He clung tightly to the other two miners, too terrified to even scream!

He had barely finished speaking when the boy in the red jacket disappeared.

"what?"

One of the young miners was so drunk he could barely walk. He broke free from his restraints and walked towards the back of the tractor.

"Is there a ghost?"

"There's not even anyone here... hiccup!" the young miner mocked. "It's just a piece of clothing, are you seeing things?"

As he spoke, he walked out from behind the tractor carrying a piece of clothing.

It was that bright red jacket.

......

Chen Ji withdrew his gaze.

He and Xu Sandao quickly retreated back into the cave and witnessed everything outside through the window.

The young miner insisted that there were no ghosts at all.

Soon, alcohol filled the brains of the three of them again, and after some persuasion, the middle-aged miner also realized that he had seen wrong.

After all, the actual time he saw the red-clothed ghost was no more than three seconds.

But the red patent leather jacket was still left in the snow...

It was particularly eye-catching.

There was no one outside. Chen Ji turned his back and saw Lao Yang counting money.

He made no attempt to hide it from Chen Ji and the other man, holding a crumpled roll of banknotes in his hand, some in small change and some in large.

"Children's tuition fees."

Old Yang muttered, "Xiao Yu should be starting elementary school next year."

Xiaoyu is the older child.

He counted the money twice, then put it away inside his clothes.

"Uncle." Chen Ji felt a little awkward and quickly changed the subject: "We just saw someone outside..."

He then recounted what he had just witnessed.

Xu Sandao added from the side:

"That jacket wasn't thick, and it looked quite clean, with a duck embroidered on the collar—"

Old Yang's expression suddenly changed!

He immediately followed up with, "Is it a shiny red jacket?"

Xu Sandao nodded.

"Those are Liu Er's clothes!" Old Yang's lips trembled slightly. "Liu Er died in the mine a few days ago!"

He asked the boy several more questions, and the more he asked, the paler his face became.

"...When Liu Er died, only half of his body remained."

Now all the details match up; the red-clad ghost in the snow outside is Liu Er.

Something bad is likely to happen tonight.

Old Yang took a deep breath and glanced at his watch: "As soon as Old Sun comes back, I'm going to lock all the doors and windows."

Chen Ji nodded.

He himself knew that the appearance of the red-clothed ghost meant that this domain had officially begun.

but.....

Five people died at the time.

Have all five of them turned into ghosts?

Moreover, Liu Er, the red-clothed ghost, pointed at several people, and every time he pointed at Chen Ji... This is not a good omen.

Chen Ji's thoughts were in turmoil. He put the pen and the monkey with him and climbed onto the kang (a heated brick bed).

Xu Sandao followed behind him and said in an extremely low voice:

"At least you didn't touch that red jacket."

He meant that whoever touches an item belonging to a ghost has a greater chance of being visited by the ghost.

"I'm afraid the ghost has more than one target."

Chen Ji frowned and asked, "Also, why did that ghost leave without killing a single person?"

He was puzzled. The red-clothed ghost seemed to appear only to scare people, disappearing after counting the number of people.

"The main event is probably yet to come."

Xu Sandao thought for a moment and said, "Just like Lao Yang said, tonight probably won't be peaceful."

Before they could exchange more than a few words, the door slammed shut, and a middle-aged man covered in dirt walked in.

It was Old Sun.

......

Late at night.

The surroundings were as silent as a tomb.

The beds, from left to right, are: Lao Sun, Lao Yang, Xu Sandao, and Chen Ji.

A deafening snore filled the air; Old Sun seemed very tired and fell asleep soon after lying down.

The doors and windows were locked, but wind still seeped in through the cracks, and the bright white snow outside made the outside world very bright.

Chen Ji couldn't sleep at all; his brain was constantly working.

He had been pondering what exactly the "waste" in this domain guidance was.

The instruction is: [Find five pieces of scrap material]

However, no further description was given.

Could there be a piece on the red-clothed ghost's body?

Chen Ji turned over, staring out the window, his heart pounding with tension.

The most crucial question is...

When will Liu Er, the red-clothed ghost who only has half a body left, appear?

crunch--

crunch--

Suddenly, in the complete silence, Chen Ji's heart began to race!

The sound of footsteps crunching in the snow slowly drifted up from afar.

Gradually getting closer.....

Xu Sandao gently nudged Chen Ji, indicating that he had also heard the sound.

Both of their bodies tensed up instantly in the next second.

The sound of footsteps on the snow stopped at the entrance of their cave dwelling!

By the light of the snow outside the window, Chen Ji could vaguely make out the figure outside, whose back was hunched and whose body was bloated.

Immediately afterwards, a flustered male voice rang out from outside the door, sounding to be around thirty years old:

Has anyone seen my brother?

"His name is Liu Er!"

The aged male voice trembled incessantly, its tone filled with deep sorrow and despair.

"I am Liu Yunfeng!"

"I've been working in this mine for several years, you all know me, right?"

"Please—please help me find my brother! He's been missing in the mine for days!"

It was still snowing heavily outside, and the wind was howling; it was incredibly cold.

Chen listened to all of this with a heavy heart.

Perhaps no one could bear to tell Liu Yunfeng that his brother was dead.

Chen Ji thought of Liu Er, who was now only half a body, and of those bright red, empty sleeves.

The red jacket was still lying in the snow outside...

A red jacket in the snow outside the cave!

Chen Ji's blood suddenly froze instantly!

How could Liu Yunfeng not see such an eye-catching piece of clothing?!

At that very moment, Chen Ji felt Xu Sandao nudge him, gesturing for him to look out the window—

Using the reflection on the glass, Chen Ji could vaguely see...

The man wearing a military overcoat was carrying something on his back.

A strong wind swept by.

A bright red sleeve fluttered in the wind.

No wonder Liu Yunfeng couldn't see the red jacket...

Because his younger brother was always lying on his back!

Boom boom boom!

There was a knock on the door of the cave dwelling.

Chen Ji tensed up, and when he heard Old Sun's snoring stop, the room became completely silent.

Boom boom boom!

"Old Yang, Old Sun, I'm begging you, please help me find my brother!"

"It's so cold outside, and it's snowing heavily... He was only fifteen years old. I just brought him into the mine, and he died less than a month later!"

Old Sun seemed to wake up, mumbling groggily:

"Liu Yunfeng...? Old Liu?"

He shifted twice on the bed, but before he could say another word, Lao Yang grabbed him and pinned him down!

Chen Ji and Xu Sandao weren't the only ones who weren't asleep.

A voice, barely audible and tinged with suppressed fear, could only be heard by the four people inside the room:

"You're fucking insane!"

"Liu Yunfeng died along with his brother!"