Thriller Zone: From the Mental Hospital to the Ghostly World

Just then, the door at the far end of the second floor was also pushed open.

Du Muyu, holding a cup of coffee, looked with some confusion at the two anxious-looking people on the stairs:

"what happened?"

Chen Ji's heart skipped a beat. He was about to come up with another excuse when he heard Du Tingfeng speak, his voice very natural:

"Chen Ji is going to enter the domain again."

He immediately glanced at Du Muyu, only to find that the other party showed no doubt or surprise, as if she knew of the existence of the domain.

"Now...?"

Du Muyu's voice sounded somewhat worried.

Du Tingfeng nodded and said, "Yes, within five minutes."

Just then, ripples suddenly appeared in the air, tearing open a crack in the air to reveal a star-studded river within.

Chen Ji immediately looked at the river. Du Tingfeng, who was beside him, glanced at his expression and said softly, "The Domain River has opened?"

"Ah."

When Chen Ji's domain was opened, no one else could see it except himself.

"be careful."

Du Muyu's voice was soft and filled with worry as she silently walked behind Chen Ji.

Du Tingfeng patted his shoulder, looking quite relaxed.

"Let's go."

Chen Ji nodded, glanced back at the siblings, and his figure was instantly swallowed up by the Domain River.

......

A musty, dusty smell, carrying a hint of age, instantly filled Chen Ji's nostrils.

He opened his eyes, looked around, and found himself in the lobby of an apartment building. Judging from the decor, it must have been built in the early 2000s.

There are two old elevators in front, with some dolls and other odds and ends piled up next to them, and the stairwell is on the other side.

On the velvet sofa to the right sat two women, their eyes closed. One was tall, while the other looked very young.

Chen Ji turned around and looked at the apartment door. Although it was a transparent glass door, he couldn't see any scenery outside at all; all he could see was darkness.

Beside the door, a middle-aged man had just opened his eyes, seemingly still somewhat dazed.

He had droopy eyelids and looked very tired. He was wearing a slightly wrinkled white shirt and his eyes met Chen Ji's.

"Hello."

The middle-aged man smiled, showing no surprise at suddenly arriving in another world; he was clearly a veteran who had been to this realm before.

"My name is Zuo Shiming." The man extended one hand.

Chen Ji nodded, shook hands with Zuo Shiming, and then said, "My surname is Chen, you can just call me Xiao Chen."

He did not reveal his full name and did not want to explain further about the matricide case.

"Mr. Zuo, did you just finish working overtime and come here...?"

Chen Ji suddenly asked, glancing at Zuo Shiming's white shirt.

"No, I drive for a ride-hailing service," Zuo Shiming explained somewhat awkwardly, "I finished driving too late last night."

"oh oh."

Chen Ji nodded and said nothing more.

In fact, he learned a lesson from Fang Jia's experience and wanted to make sure that the people around him were entrants to the domain, rather than people who were originally from the domain world.

That's why they deliberately tried to find out about Zuo Shiming's profession.

Just then, a series of soft noises came from the sofa next to the two of them.

Chen Ji and Zuo Shiming turned their heads and found a man leaning against there, who had been hidden by the sofa.

He was a young man in his twenties, wearing glasses and carrying a camera.

He rubbed his eyes, opened them and closed them again, his face full of confusion.

"where am I?"

As he spoke, he stood up, using the sofa armrest as a support, and bumped into the girl's arm on the sofa.

The young man was immediately drawn to the two girls on the sofa, staring intently at their bodies, especially the tall woman, whom he glanced at several times.

"Cough cough."

Zuo Shiming cleared his throat, trying to distract the man. Just as he was about to speak, the two men on the sofa trembled and opened their eyes at the same time.

"Sister Li..."

The young-looking girl's gaze met the young man's greedy eyes. Startled, she immediately leaned against another girl next to her.

A few minutes later.

After Zuo Shiming's introduction, the three of them learned about the existence of the domain, and they found it hard to accept at first.

The tall woman, named Hu Li, is a dance teacher, and she and the young girl next to her, Yuan Yuan, are good friends.

Her face was deathly pale, her lips trembling, but she still held Yuanyuan protectively in her arms. After a long while, she forced herself to look at Zuo Shiming:

"Mr. Zuo, what might be in the domain...?"

Zuo Shiming thought for a moment before saying, "It would be very dangerous."

Chen Ji glanced at him, knowing that Zuo Shiming was being tactful out of consideration for the newcomer's mental state.

He continued, looking at the three newcomers, and said directly, "There are ghosts, they will kill people."

"What......?!"

Zhuang Rui let out a short scream, her eyes filled with intense fear.

Even Lian Yuanyuan and Hu Li turned pale after hearing this answer.

Zuo Shiming glanced at Chen Ji helplessly, but he also knew that the newcomer would find out the truth sooner or later.

Rather than letting them have a mental breakdown later, it's better to prepare them mentally in advance.

"It's just a ghost, what's so scary about it?"

Suddenly, an impatient female voice rang out from beside the elevator.

Chen Ji was stunned for a moment, turned his head to look, and couldn't help but widen his eyes slightly.

The doll he had always thought was discarded turned out to be a girl. However, because she was too small and was hidden by clutter, Chen Ji couldn't tell the difference at all.

Accompanied by the rustling of lace and silk, a girl who was just over 1.5 meters tall, wearing a gorgeous dress, stood up from behind the pile of clutter.

She had two curly pigtails, a baby face, and very delicate features; she looked like a doll.

It's obvious that this girl is not a newcomer.

"Fei'er".

Zuo Shiming, standing behind Chen Ji, paused, wiped the sweat from his brow, and softly called out the girl's name.

The two know each other and may have worked in the same domain.

Chen Ji glanced at Zuo Shiming and inexplicably sensed a hint of apprehension in his voice.

The photographer, Zhuang Rui, however, lit up when he saw her. After looking at Yuan Yuan and Hu Li, the fear in his eyes was gradually replaced by other emotions.

Fei'er ignored his blatant gaze, scanned the apartment lobby, and suddenly looked at Zuo Shiming:

"Old man Zuo, the guidance of the domain hasn't appeared yet?"

Guidance?

Chen Ji suddenly remembered the words that appeared on the blackboard at the beginning of his repeat high school years.

Judging by the time, it should be about time for it to appear.

Zuo Shiming shook his head and looked towards the stairwell:

"Not everyone has arrived yet."

No sooner had he finished speaking than several heavy footsteps echoed from the stairwell.

Immediately afterwards, a short-haired woman walked out, her brows furrowed, her steps brisk.

Behind her was a middle-aged man with a rather refined demeanor. He adjusted his glasses and quickly scanned the crowd.

The short-haired woman's voice, like her temperament, was brief and powerful:

"Have you finished introducing everything that needs to be introduced?"

"My name is Murong Qing, and I'm not a newcomer."

The man behind her took two steps forward, past Murong Qing, and leaned more towards the other group.

"Hello everyone, nice to meet you."

"I am Wu Zhonghai, a math teacher."

"This is my first time in the region." His expression still held a hint of nervousness that was difficult to detect.

"When I saw that you were all still asleep, I went upstairs with Ms. Murong to check on you."

Just as Chen Ji was about to ask a question, he suddenly looked at Fei'er, who was staring straight at the bulletin board on the lobby wall.

There were some water bills hanging there, but now a black and red piece of paper has appeared out of nowhere and is hanging on a nail on the bulletin board.

Fei'er took down the red paper, on which were written two lines of large characters. The group looked at them together:

The past is never truly gone, and what has passed has never truly left.

[Mission Objective: Escape from Liding Apartments.]