Thriller Zone: From the Mental Hospital to the Ghostly World

Back in the city.

After leaving the mountains, Chen Ji's cell phone finally regained signal.

Because of the sudden disappearance, the group chat was already overflowing with messages, and the more people guessed, the more outrageous it seemed, causing Chen Ji to frown deeply.

Du Tingfeng suspected that he might have entered the domain.

Fei'er thought the timing was wrong and had already concluded that Xu Sandao was a fraudster in the company, so she kidnapped Chen Ji.

Zuo Shiming further discovered through technological means that Chen Ji's cell phone had lost signal for several days and disappeared deep in the mountains, his words revealing a rather pessimistic outlook.

[Extreme: Accidentally entered the domain]

After quickly letting everyone know he was safe, Chen Ji explained what had happened in the past few days and then began browsing the posts he had made.

As expected...

Everything has been blocked.

Chen Ji wasn't too surprised. He had posted all of these messages on various social media platforms, hiding his identity and using fake IP addresses to avoid being tracked down by Zeng Guichuan.

The post was, of course, about the 2011 Kunming murder case.

Chen Ji recounted the tragedy from back then, mentioning Zeng Guichuan, and sought out those who had experienced it firsthand, hoping to obtain some clues.

I sent more than a dozen messages using different methods.

Only one post on a local forum wasn't deleted, and that was because Chen Ji's wording was very subtle, almost like an implication.

But no reply was received.

The single-digit number of clicks proves that this post has at least not been blocked.

"call....."

Chen Ji sighed heavily.

He looked up at Xu Sandao, who was gazing out the car window at the city of Chuncheng.

Where are you going next?

Chen Ji thought for a moment and asked, "A long time ago, Xu Sandao had subtly suggested that he would not go to the tomb with the uncle and nephew."

"Yanjing. Going home for the Chinese New Year."

Xu Sandao rubbed his eyes wearily and didn't say anything more.

Chen Ji glanced at him with some surprise, then suddenly realized that he had never heard Xu Sandao mention where he was from before.

".....All right."

Chen Ji didn't ask any further questions.

Since leaving the territory, Chen Yuetan's condition has been off, and the atmosphere between them has become heavy.

Xu Sandao might not have been very comfortable there either.

After spending the night in Chuncheng city, Xu Sandao left.

After replenishing their supplies, Chen Yuetan, along with Chen Ji and Wu Su, embarked on their journey to Mang City.

Mangshi is located in the Hengduan Mountains in western Yunnan, near the border and not far from Myanmar.

After driving for six hours, we crossed the Lancang River Bridge and were greeted by towering mountains. The road frequently featured steep slopes and sharp turns.

The sky was a deep, clear blue, as if it had been washed clean, and endless white clouds seemed to float right above the car roof.

The altitude here is already quite high.

Chen Ji sat in the passenger seat, gazing quietly at the scenery outside the window, feeling a sense of disorientation.

The day before, he was in the Tuotuo Mountains, where the snow was white and the sky was gray. All he felt was the biting cold wind and the oppressive atmosphere.

In the blink of an eye, we arrived in southern Yunnan, where spring reigns all year round.

"Let's stay in the city for one night first."

Chen Yuetan said, his voice sounding very tired.

Last night they studied the map and determined that the gate was located in a primeval forest in the mountains surrounding Mang City. That area was not open to the public and had no maintenance or facilities.

For safety reasons, it's best to wait until daylight before going in.

They arrived in Mang City very quickly.

That evening, Chen Yuetan received a phone call from Tian Qinghe.

The matter I inquired about earlier has been resolved.

Tian Qinghe found a fragmented record that confirmed that researchers from the Thirteenth Bureau (formerly the Special Area Institute) did indeed visit Chuncheng back then.

However, this researcher died in the field many years ago.

[Archival Records - The Kunming Human Skin Case]

[Organization: Special Spiritual Realm Research Institute]

[Recorder: Jiang Lei (ID 0113)]

[Date: October 29, 2011]

Location: Chuncheng City, Yunnan Province

[Introduction: Yunnan authorities notified me of the case in mid-October, and seven days later I was assigned to investigate in Kunming.]

[Case Description] Number of deaths: 12

Based on all the crime scene photos, the cause of death is consistent: all the victims died from the loss of all their internal organs and flesh, leaving only a human skin.

The skin was completely intact, with no visible wounds.

However, in three of the images, the human skin was still trembling slightly when discovered, suggesting that it had not completely lost its vitality.

[The last victim, railway employee Zhu Hong (pseudonym), was still seen working at noon on the 15th. His human skin was discovered that night, making him the fastest victim to be discovered among all the victims.]

During the autopsy, Zhu's skin was particularly bizarre; it was still wriggling, and even after losing all its organs, it could still utter incoherent, dialectal murmurs, making the specific content impossible to discern.

This anomaly disappeared after six hours.

[Note: With the help of the "Spirit-Seeking Pearl," I ruled out the factors of the Netherworld going out of control and strange creatures. This directly reduces the possibility that the culprit is an entrant to the Netherworld.]

(Photo on page 2)

A police auxiliary officer surnamed Luo contacted me.

Officer Luo has been investigating this case privately.

On the night of Zhu Hong's crime, due to a shortage of manpower, Luo also participated in the scene maintenance and was responsible for moving Zhu Hong's human skin.

Luo claimed to have clearly heard Zhu Hong's delirious murmurs before his final death.

Most of the babbling was in pain and calling for his mother, but Luo noticed some useful information:

The murderers are two people (ghosts?); one is shameless and behaves in an exaggerated manner.

The other is a middle-aged, obese man who has recently appeared in the news.

The following is a transcript of my conversation with Officer Luo.

......

That's the end of this page; Tian Qinghe only took pictures of these two sheets of paper.

He said this was the only remaining document.

Chen Yuetan sent the photo to Chen Ji: "Can this help you?"

"Ah."

Chen Ji nodded, lost in thought.

This incomplete document contains a wealth of information!

First, this proves that Zeng Guichuan was indeed conducting experiments!

These human skins gradually changed over time.

At first, it was still in a dead state.

The skin that later became active.

When it came to the last victim in Chuncheng, Zhu Hong retained his ability to speak and think for a certain period of time after being transformed into human skin.

Finally... there was Wu Jinbao, the half-human, half-ghost security guard at the tin mine.

Even more than a decade later, his human skin could still talk and ask for help.

The instigator was Zeng Guichuan.

"news....."

Chen Ji frowned. It seemed that at that time, there was more than just tin mining as an industry.

In 2000, Zeng had already made his first fortune from the Tuotuoshan coal mine.

If Zeng Guichuan could make the news, then he must have already become successful in 2011.

Let's stop thinking about Zeng's background. After all, Zeng Guichuan has now become an energy tycoon, which is a foregone conclusion.

More importantly, the last paragraph of these two pages.

Sure enough, someone assisted Zeng Guichuan at the time... According to the letters found in the tin mine, this person should be the "Mr. Wang".

New problems then arose:

Is Mr. Wang a human or a ghost?

Shameless.

Chen Ji imagined a bloody, mangled face, with scarlet muscles, blood vessels, and nerves exposed, and two eyeballs that could never close.

Despite having such a face, his movements are quite "exaggerated".

Like a theatrical actor?

Gradually, Chen Ji began to visualize Mr. Wang in his mind.