Thriller Zone: From the Mental Hospital to the Ghostly World

The three walked numbly on the dirt road.

A gust of cold winter wind swept by, making Chen Ji's bare calves feel chilly.

His clothes, which he wore through mountains and forests, waded through ditches, and even hid in tombs from ghosts, were torn to shreds by a dog not long ago.

They had been walking on this dirt road for half an hour, and even the dog was no longer willing to chase them.

There are no mountains around here, and it's unknown how far away it is from where they entered the tomb.

Chen Yuetan turned on his GPS device and determined that they were near Yun County in Yunnan Province, at least 3 to 400 kilometers away from Mang City.

"Drip-"

Ten minutes later, Chen Ji's phone beeped several times.

We have a signal!

They immediately searched for the nearest village, confirmed their target, and only then did Chen Ji begin to check WeChat.

First of all, this morning, Du Tingfeng entered the domain with Fei'er and Liu Zi.

Because the time for entering the domain is approaching, Liu Zi has not returned to Snow City yet, and plans to go home after leaving the domain.

Scrolling back further, Du Tingfeng posted pictures of the New Year's Eve dinner he made, a group photo, and even photoshopped Chen Ji into it.

Chen Ji looked at everyone's messages and a slight smile appeared on his lips.

He saved the group photo.

Then Xu Sandao asked him if he had come out of the tomb and if he had gained anything, and also wished him a happy new year.

Chen Ji shared some information with him, but he was still unsure about the apocalypse and planned to discuss it later.

Modern murals depicting the "end of the world" may be a hint, or they may be a sign that the end of the world is about to begin.

But apart from Yu Tianrong, he didn't understand what the other paintings were depicting at all.

On the other side, Chen Yuetan appeared to be on the phone with someone from the Thirteenth Bureau.

A moment later...

The two slowly walked into the village.

I stayed at a villager's house, had my first hot meal in days, and slept well.

The next morning, a kind villager drove a three-wheeled vehicle to take them to Yunxian Railway Station.

After a brief struggle, Chen Yuetan forced the money into the villager's hand and dashed into the station.

They took the train back to Mangshi, then went back to the mountains to pick up their rental car. It wasn't until evening that they returned the car and went back to the hotel where they had stayed.

The next day we went to Kunming, and then returned to Tianhai from Kunming.

Chen Ji followed behind his uncle as they checked in, when the front desk suddenly called them to a stop.

It is said that.....

Someone came here and asked Chen Ji.

She was a woman in her early twenties, very tall, and wearing glasses.

"He came the day before yesterday at noon," the receptionist recalled. "She asked me if Chen Ji lived here, and when I asked if he was a boy with black hair, she didn't know either."

“I told her you checked out a long time ago, I didn’t expect you to come back today.”

After hearing the description, Chen Ji realized that he did not know this person.

Moreover, it seemed that the person only knew the name and didn't know what Chen Ji looked like.

Did she leave her name or phone number?

Chen Yuetan asked.

The receptionist shook her head.

Chen Yuetan thought for a moment, then simply said he understood and left the hotel with Chen Ji.

The two changed hotels, with Chen Yuetan booking a room and Chen Ji sneaking up later.

inside the room.

"Could it be someone from the company?"

Chen Ji was somewhat confused; no matter how he thought about it, he had no recollection of this person.

"perhaps."

Chen Yuetan packed his backpack, seemingly lost in thought: "When you were in Chuncheng recently, did you have any private contact with anyone?"

Teacher Zhou, the milk tea shop staff...

Gone.

However, he did kill one of the tapeworms that Zeng Guichuan had left for Teacher Zhou; I don't know if that's related.

But Zeng Guichuan should know what he looks like, right?

Chen Ji sent a message to Xu Sandao, asking if he knew about this, but did not receive a reply.

There has been no response to the long string of messages I sent yesterday.

Xu Sandao didn't seem to be checking WeChat.

So busy? Are you going back to work now?

Considering this was Xu's alternate account, Chen Ji decided to wait a little longer.

He opened Wan Xiaoshuang's chat window and saw that she had sent a long New Year's greeting, written with great flair, beautiful words, and a touch of poetry...

However, it seems to be a mass message.

[Extreme: Happy New Year! Do you know Wang Chao?]

[Wan Xiaoshuang: Who?]

[Extreme: I worked with Zeng Guichuan for 11 years, and I suspect he is the founder of the company.]

The text then describes Wang Chao's flamboyant personality and the characteristic of wearing a mask.

Wan Xiaoshuang: I'm not a company employee.

.....Too.

Chen Ji was a little embarrassed. Wan Xiaoshuang's understanding of Zeng made him completely forget that the other party had nothing to do with the company.

By the way, Wan Xiaoshuang is a freelance entrepreneur who owns an art gallery.

drip-

A new message came in.

[Wan Xiaoshuang: However, I do think I did see him when I was a child.]

[Wan Xiaoshuang: I've only met her once]

Wan Xiaoshuang: I'll go check it out and let you know if I find any clues.

As a child?

Chen Ji narrowed his eyes, catching the word, and suddenly had more guesses about Wan Xiaoshuang's family background.

Wan Xiaoshuang's family is mostly connected to the Twelve Directors.

At this point, Chen Ji suddenly looked at his uncle.

Ever since he saw the Wang family ancestors, he has had a question.

"Could Wang Chao be a member of the Wang family?"

The Wang family specifically refers to the clan associated with the Yuhe River and the ghost infant.

Chen Yuetan seemed to have considered this issue and was not surprised.

He thought for a moment and said carefully, "The Wang family is all dead, at least in my domain."

With the mother of the splitting entity still present, Ping An Yuan will likely suffer the same fate.

"Have you heard of Wang Chao's name while you were at Liting Apartments?"

Chen Ji shook his head, no at all.

He calculated his age.

Wang Chao, Wang Weiwei, Wang Yunfei, and others are roughly from the same generation.

With the curse of "wanderers must return home" in place, it's impossible for Wang Chao, if he were a member of the Wang family, not to leave a trace at the Liting Apartments.

"The relationship between the domain and reality is becoming increasingly chaotic..."

Chen Ji frowned.

The spinning top left by the uncle ended up in the Liting Apartment ten years later.

This is a continuation between two domains.

This proves that Chen Yuetan did indeed influence the timeline of the "Wang Family of the Domain," but whether it changed reality is unknown.

After all, they had no idea where the original sites of the three tenement buildings and the Liting Apartment were.

Even Wang Yunfei's fate in reality remains unknown.

However, Chen Ji believed that he was most likely dead.

He had a fleeting moment of doubt that Wang Chao was actually Wang Yunfei; but then he thought about it and realized that their personalities were too different.

"However, it is highly suspicious that Wang Chao assisted Zeng in modifying his body."

Chen Yuetan added, "He did similar things to the Wang family."

This is also the main reason for Chen Ji's suspicion.

However, even if it is 80% certain that Wang Chao is related to the Wang family, the fact that no trace of his existence can be found cannot be confirmed.

After all, everyone has a home, a place of birth, and traces of their upbringing...

However, the three tenement buildings and Liting Apartment seem to have no connection with Wang Chao.