Thriller Zone: From the Mental Hospital to the Ghostly World

Chen Ji held up an umbrella, struggling to make out the building number in the pouring rain.

Xu Sandao lived in Building No. 8 of this old residential area.

They searched for a long time before finally stopping in front of a low building with its door half-open and the dim, warm yellow light in the stairwell distorted by the rain.

The group entered the building, put away their umbrellas, and were almost completely soaked.

"It's raining so hard." Fei'er's bangs were all wet, and strands of them stuck to her forehead, which she irritably brushed aside.

Du Tingfeng, standing next to him, also looked very unpleasant.

In this kind of weather, I wonder how Du Muyu is doing now, and where she is.

Without saying another word, the four of them squeezed through several bicycles. The floor was incredibly slippery, and the residents coming and going had covered them in mud.

The elevator opened very slowly and awkwardly, making a clanging noise.

Soon the group arrived at the sixth floor and found Xu Sandao's house.

It's not obvious that anyone lives here.

There were no Spring Festival couplets on the door, only a few locksmith advertisements.

Boom boom boom!

Chen Ji knocked on the door several times, but after waiting for a while, there was no response.

The only sound was the piercing cry of the neighbor's child.

"he is not at home."

After knocking on the door several times, Liu Zi said, "It's a workday today, did he go to the company?"

Chen Ji shook his head.

Just as he was about to send a message to Wan Xiaoshuang, he saw Du Tingfeng look around, then turn around, open the fire hydrant cabinet on the wall, rummage around inside for a while, and take out a key.

“Eighty percent of people keep their spare keys near their front door,” Du Tingfeng said. “I used to do that too.”

"But did he know we were coming?"

As he spoke, Du Tingfeng handed the key to Chen Ji. A small piece of paper was stuck to it, with something scrawled in blue ink:

【List】

Chen Ji was taken aback.

Xu Sandao had never told him his home address.

To be precise, it's up to now...

I haven't told him yet.

The four of them looked at each other.

In the silence, Chen Ji opened the door.

The room was dark, as if it had been filtered through a gray lens.

The windows were tightly closed, and all was silent except for the sound of raindrops hitting the glass heavily.

This is a house of about 60 or 70 square meters with two rooms, but at a glance, you can only see traces of one person's life.

The umbrella hung on the wall; it was dry and covered with a layer of dust.

The living room was empty. There was hardly any furniture. A small sofa, no TV, a dining table, that was it.

"There's no human presence in this house at all," Liu Zi said hesitantly. "Does he really live here?"

"Ah."

After entering the house, Chen Ji felt an inexplicable sense of oppression. Xu Sandao had spent the New Year here.

This was completely different from what he had imagined.

They quickly confirmed that Xu Sandao hadn't returned for at least several days.

They couldn't find a trace of Xu Sandao's past in this house.

But people always leave traces of their past lives, such as graduation certificates, group photos, or trinkets that they used to like but later forgot about in some corner.

But Xu Sandao had nothing.

It's as if he was born this way, with no past and no family.

Wan Xiaoshuang mentioned that Xu Sandao only gave her his address, but never invited her to his home.

The only thing that felt somewhat alive was the pile of hair dye bottles stored in the bathroom cabinet; meanwhile, the bathroom mirror was broken.

The largest room in this two-room house was used as a study. As soon as they entered, they were taken aback to find two incongruous figures inside.

One is a safe.

Secondly, there is an offering table.

There were four black photo frames on top, clearly meant to hold portraits of the deceased, but three of the frames were empty.

The one on the very edge is left...

His head was cut off.

This creates a very strange scene: three empty photo frames and a black and white half-body photo that only shows the neck.

The incense burner below was filled with incense ash.

"No..." Liu Zi exclaimed, "His entire family has passed away?"

Why not post photos?

The only black and white photo shows a man wearing a trench coat.

His figure looked familiar.

trench coat...

Chen Ji suddenly froze.

He was instantly horrified and looked closer in disbelief. He then ran into the bedroom and opened Xu Sandao's wardrobe!

These are Xu Sandao's clothes.

He saw the other person walk through.

"Holy crap..." Liu Zi muttered, "That headless portrait is Xu Sandao himself!"

But why cut off his head?

This situation made Chen Ji suspicious. He realized that even though he had had many contacts with Xu Sandao and had even entered the domain once, he didn't really know him.

And that safe.....

All eyes turned to the safe, but there was no combination, and it was impossible to force it open.

"and many more."

Du Tingfeng suddenly frowned: "Chen Ji, he left your name on the key, which is obviously to let you into his house."

"That must be for some purpose."

"But we haven't found anything here. Is it possible that the key wasn't left for you to use?"

Chen Ji immediately understood what Du Tingfeng meant.

He was saying that, perhaps for some reason, Xu Sandao had set up a timed text message or sent a letter.

Only then did she tell Chen Ji her address, where she kept her keys, and what he needed to do.

It may also include the safe's combination.

However, because of Du Muyu's disappearance, Chen Ji came to Yanjing and took the initiative to ask Wan Xiaoshuang for her address, which brought forward the time when they found the key.

This matter is shrouded in mystery.

The four sat on the sofa, and Chen Ji began to slowly go through the known clues.

Xu Sandao initially contacted him in order to bring down Tang Qin.

Prior to this, he plotted to kill Zhang Heng, Tang Qin's subordinate, and killed the interrogator during his interrogation, but the matter was eventually dropped and he was not held accountable.

Tang Qin believes that Xu Sandao is an internal traitor, influenced by Su Qiuyue, and has connections with the Thirteenth Bureau.

But Chen Ji didn't realize this at all, and his uncle didn't recognize Xu Sandao at all after he returned.

After Tang Qin's death, Xu Sandao was promoted to head of the operations department.

He had achieved his goal, and even obtained the A-level Ghost in Tuotuo Mountain, opening the Netherworld. After that, his whereabouts became mysterious.

"Why is he so determined to bring down Tang Qin?" Chen Ji pondered. "He told me before that it was to obtain the right to use the A-level ghost and open the Netherworld..."

But this is clearly a lie.

If that's truly his purpose, he wouldn't need to hide the fact that he's already been to the domain nine times.

After taking pictures of the unusual places in the room and sending them to Wan Xiaoshuang, Chen Ji put away the key and left Xu Sandao's house with the others, his mind heavy with worries.

The neighbor's door was open, and a middle-aged woman holding a child stood on the threshold, watching them lock the door with their key.

She suddenly asked, "Xiao Xu has moved out?"

"No, we're his colleagues. We haven't been able to get in touch with him for several days." Chen Ji's heart skipped a beat: "You know him?"

The woman nodded hesitantly.

"He has eaten at my house before."