Thriller Zone: From the Mental Hospital to the Ghostly World

The three simple sentences, as always, have an ambiguous meaning, like handwriting blurred by water.

"One-on-one..."

The boy glanced at Hong Tian, ​​seemingly lost in thought: "So you mean one person corresponds to one ghost?"

Everyone guessed this to some extent, since Hong Tian had already seen a group of ghosts whose characteristics matched theirs, which corresponded to the first sentence of the guidance.

But Hong Tian saw nine people.

Chen Ji's eyes flickered slightly. Hong Tian himself had said that he turned his head and saw the water ghost with a ponytail, which was Zheng Meng. So what about himself? And what about the ghost that Hong Tian was supposed to be?

This question not only occurred to Chen Ji, but everyone else noticed it immediately.

Several people's expressions were already somewhat unnatural.

But no one spoke.

Hong Tian didn't overlook this detail. He didn't hide it and stared straight at A Gou, who had a suspicious look on his face. Then he looked at Zheng Meng, who had originally planned to team up with him. Zheng Meng smiled at him, but her eyes subtly revealed a hint of evasion.

Anger surged within him. He was the one who had encountered the ghost, and he was the one who was frightened, but now these people were clearly suspecting that he was the ghost!

What worries Hong Tian even more is that if his teammates in this domain become suspicious, it will directly slow down the progress of the mission and leave him isolated and helpless.

On the other side, Chen Ji was also pondering the matter of Hong Tian's disappearance.

Yu Xin believed that Hong Tian was not a ghost, because no matter how he thought about it, he couldn't remember Hong Tian violating any taboos!

To say that the demon killed Hongtian at the very beginning of the domain without any reason would be far-fetched.

The ghost they encountered was a water ghost, but only he and the boy had ever actually been near water; Hong Tian had never even gotten wet.

And most importantly, they weren't even there. If Hong Tian really is a ghost, then no one can verify what he says. Why would he leave such a big loophole and reveal that there are only nine ghosts?

Wouldn't that be too disadvantageous for him? Wouldn't that obviously arouse suspicion?

Zhong Ge said casually, "And the second sentence?"

"One for one, this connects to the first sentence, does it mean that ghosts will choose us to be their scapegoats?"

"Not necessarily," Zhu Guang said. "It's also possible that we're looking for a ghost."

"This mission is vague and there are too many possible interpretations. Right now, we don't have any clues, we just know that the first sentence corresponds to something."

His point was that people shouldn't rush to conclusions, as guessing wrong would lead them further away from the truth.

The phrase "finding a substitute" can be interpreted in different ways.

People are looking for ghosts.

Or are ghosts looking for people to die in their place? If ghosts are looking for people to die in their place, then let them find substitutes...

Will it eventually turn into people searching for each other?

Zhu Guang didn't elaborate on the extra details. His eyes, narrowed to slits, darted around, deliberately changing the subject to prevent Brother Zhong from continuing and leading to a third guess.

He wasn't too keen on the possibility of this kind of incitement to self-destruction. Besides, just mentioning it, even if it wasn't true, could very well plant a seed in some people's minds.

"Zhu Guang is right."

Tongzi snorted softly. Unlike everyone else, when he saw that the mission was related to "stand-ins," he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows and relax a little.

"I think we should find out the identity of that junior high school student first. You all saw Teacher Zhan's attitude towards the red backpack, right? That person is probably his student."

"That ghost kept repeating the same sentence."

"We were classmates... Is this referring to us, or someone else?"

Initially, everyone thought the junior high school student was talking about someone else, but now that they are students themselves, the meaning of the statement has changed.

Just as everyone was pondering this, Chen Ji suddenly heard someone whisper:

"Hello....."

Chen Ji immediately turned around and realized that a girl was standing behind him.

The girl was short and thin, like a straw, with dark skin. She was wearing crystal sandals and pacing nervously on the ground, making a clattering sound.

She glanced at the red schoolbag, then at Chen Ji, and said in a barely audible voice, "Teacher Zhan asked me to give him the schoolbag."

"Why does he need the schoolbag—" the boy immediately asked, then coughed and asked again when he saw the girl's expression change slightly:

"Teacher Zhan, did you say what you need the schoolbag for?"

"I don't know, it might have been sent to Zhang Wenxuan's parents. I heard they work in Shenzhen," the girl muttered. "His parents didn't come at the time; Teacher Zhan received it for him...received it..."

The body was collected.

Chen Ji automatically continued the words she couldn't say.

So that drowned ghost was named Zhang Wenxuan?

He was certain there was nothing else in the bag, so he handed it over.

The girl carefully twisted the bag in her schoolbag with two fingers and ran away in a flash.

Class was about to start, so the group went back to the classroom and found their seats.

Whether by coincidence or not, the ten entrants were divided into five tables, two people per table, which made everyone ponder.

At the same time, everyone realized that Zhang Wenxuan was indeed their classmate. His desk was covered in dust and empty, and even his deskmate was nowhere to be seen.

Li Yinghe put her Chinese textbook back on the table and took out her math book with the others. This was a math class.

She leaned against the wall and observed silently.

The people in this class reacted indifferently, and no one seemed particularly sad.

The classroom was very crowded, with more than eighty people at first glance. People in the back rows were sleeping on their desks, some were secretly eating snacks, and others were whispering. In short, very few people were paying attention in class.

The teacher on the podium seemed to have gotten used to it, and even the teacher himself was absent-minded, rushing through the knowledge points.

Li Yinghe's deskmate to her left is Zhu Guang, who is also her and Tong Zi's friend in real life. He looks like a kind and easy-going person, but he is actually very meticulous.

"I'm thinking about something."

Zhu Guang raised his eyelids slightly: "Don't you think this domain is a bit strange?"

“I’ve been thinking about our analysis of the guidance, and now I’m pretty sure that the one-on-one thing refers to the drowned ghosts that we and Hong Tian saw.”

"But the question now is, assuming that's the case, what exactly is Zhang Wenxuan's ghost doing? What role does it play?"

Li Yinghe was taken aback, then thought about it again and realized that it was indeed true.

The discussion focused entirely on the ghosts that corresponded to the nine people, but no one mentioned the drowned ghost that had initially chased them.

Nine ghosts correspond to them.

Ten people.

Nine isn't enough, but if we add this drowning ghost... wouldn't that make a perfect ten?

Thinking of this, she suddenly shuddered. Although this couldn't explain why her face looked different, Li Yinghe couldn't help but murmur:

"Could that ghost correspond to Hong Tian?"

Zhu Guang did not give a direct response, but said, "Hong Tian is not a ghost."

“His every move was just like a normal person’s behavior. At first, he was afraid that we were ghosts and kept avoiding us. If he really was a ghost, he would have come over on his own long ago.”