Thriller Zone: From the Mental Hospital to the Ghostly World

第539章 （2章合1）【域·2重门】第2阶段

Outside the funeral home.

Feng Yao stood at the back of the crowd, feeling a damp sensation in her palm.

She looked down in a daze and saw that Da Huang was rubbing its nose against her hand.

Strangely enough, a dog's eyes shouldn't show any emotions, but Feng Yao still saw a hint of worry in Da Huang's eyes.

"..."

Feng Yao forced a smile and patted Da Huang's head.

Luo Weicheng's team's discovery at the beauty salon has already revealed a corner of the truth.

In the past, Feng Yao would definitely have shared her thoughts and participated in the discussion... but she didn't this time.

On the contrary, she remained silent throughout the discussion at the breakfast stall.

Because Feng Yao's thoughts were in a mess, like a ball of yarn tangled together by fear and confusion, she had no time to be distracted and think about anything else!

an hour ago.

After receiving the text message, Huang Yue and Feng Yao left Jinxiu Garden with Da Huang.

The information overload of the entire night had lessened Feng Yao's fear of seeing the diary.

However, she still couldn't forget the corpse she saw on the study wall, the dismembered body, the extremely gruesome death, and it was herself!

Two people and a dog were waiting for a taxi outside the residential area.

It was already daylight, but it was still early. Although there were already quite a few passersby, the traces of the night had not completely disappeared.

Feng Yao pondered the messages in the group chat, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Da Huang sniffing the ground next to her, its tail wagging, looking very relaxed.

A peaceful morning.

As if nothing had happened last night... Feng Yao thought absentmindedly.

In the distance, a taxi slowly drove up.

Feng Yao whistled at Da Huang to signal it to follow, and then took two steps forward.

Big Yellow didn't move.

Big Yellow raised its head and stared intently at the taxi in the distance.

"Ugh..."

Suddenly its tail stopped moving, its eyes narrowed, and it let out a low growl as it faced the intersection.

"what happened?

Feng Yao was startled and subconsciously stepped back. Last night's experience had already taught them that Da Huang could warn of the ghost's appearance!

but......

Where are the ghosts?

And haven't they already left Jinxiu Garden?

She and Huang Yue followed Da Huang's gaze in confusion, only to see a light green taxi.

The most common type.

Through the windshield, you could see the driver yawning, but there was nothing unusual about it.

Is there something wrong with the taxi? Is the driver a ghost? But he looks perfectly normal.

No, even if it looks normal, we can't rule out the possibility of it being a ghost. The previous DVDs have already demonstrated this point...

Feng Yao's heart sank slightly. The ghost they were facing was the most mysterious and terrifying of all the teams.

Because it's so relatable to everyday life. And unlike a red bowl or an incense burner, it doesn't have a physical form... or rather, they haven't seen a physical one yet.

In other words, this ghost could appear in various forms at any time.

The sense of security that came with the daytime instantly faded at this moment.

“Let’s walk there.” Feng Yao immediately abandoned the idea of ​​taking a taxi.

She took several steps back, shielding herself behind the railing, her eyes fixed on the taxi.

The car was driving very slowly.

The driver seemed extremely sleepy.

Just as the car was getting closer and Feng Yao's heart was racing, she suddenly saw the driver slowly turn his head in their direction.

He looked at Feng Yao.

Open your eyes wide—

boom!

A large truck coming from the same direction roared past, blocking Feng Yao's view.

She was stunned.

Then she heard a "thud," followed by an extremely painful scream—

Feng Yao's blood vessels froze instantly.

She watched in disbelief as the truck drove past her without stopping, even as it hit or ran over someone—a woman who seemed to appear out of nowhere.

A woman was crushed on the ground after a truck passed by, her body torn to pieces like a pancake.

Herself.

Feng Yao stared blankly at the gruesome corpse on the road, half of its head crushed and one eyeball bursting out, staring back at her.

The corpse's mouth was still moving.

Feng Yao couldn't hear what she was saying, but she must have been in immense pain—the next second, she suddenly shuddered violently, and her fingers spasmed.

A sharp, crushing pain suddenly exploded inside her!

It was as if she were her own corpse on the ground, feeling the same pain!

This feeling is absolutely terrifying... Is this what death feels like?

Is death really that painful?

"Wang Wang Wang!"

The large yellow dog's anxious barking suddenly roused Feng Yao from her remaining consciousness.

The feeling of impending death vanished instantly.

"Want a ride?"

Just then, the green taxi stopped beside them, and the driver rolled down the window and asked.

His face still held a tentative, solicitous look.

Feng Yao moved her lips, but found that she couldn't say a word and was covered in sweat.

"What's wrong with you?" Huang Yue asked, frowning.

"You can't see it."

Feng Yao wasn't asking a question; she was stating a fact directly.

"What? What did you see again?" Huang Yue was stunned for a moment.

"A large truck...did any truck pass by just now?"

"Yes, they did, but they were taken away."

"...Let's go, the problem isn't with the taxi."

Feng Yao's voice was extremely hoarse. She shook her head and got into a taxi with Da Huang.

The big yellow dog wasn't barking at a taxi, but at a large truck!

They just happened to need a ride and thought the ghost would target what they were about to do, so they focused on the wrong thing.

Of course, the ghost was indeed targeting them.

This is aimed at Feng Yao alone.

But it doesn't actually happen; instead, it forces Feng Yao to confront the naked truth of how she died without any preparation, and to personally experience the pain of her own death!

Throughout the entire journey, she was extremely anxious, especially when trucks and vans passed by, her heart rate spiked.

What just happened was a prophecy.

She will die like this in three days...

Three days.

Wait, what if the contents of that notebook change?

Thinking of this, Feng Yao began to feel anxious again. The unease she had felt since realizing her death was imminent had finally erupted after what had just happened.

But she didn't realize it...

The unease had long since turned into fear.

But the fear had spiraled out of control.

.....

Inside the funeral home.

Chen Ji stared at Feng Yao.

He had already learned from Huang Yue what had happened on their way here, and he couldn't help but think about it.

Of the six groups, apart from Ren Yu who left the team, only the Feng/Huang group gave him the strangest feeling.

There was even a dog that could warn of ghosts... On the surface, it's a good thing, but it actually shows that the curse, or rather the ghost, that Feng/Huang's group is facing is more difficult to detect than that of other groups.

So much so that external assistance is needed!

Moreover, while the curses of the others were equally bizarre, at least some clues could be deduced, such as the red bowl and the crossroads, the paper figure and time, and the incense burner, which was even more obvious, was the mirror world.

But Huang Yue and Feng Yao didn't have it.

It was said that the date of death appeared in the notebook, but it also appeared in the memo later. Huang Yue even saw a ghost on the TV in the living room at the same time.

It makes it impossible to find the source of the curse.

“No source, no pattern…” Chen Ji frowned. This was the greatest terror, because no one knew what would happen next.

Regardless, they still managed to deduce clues for the next stage from Feng Yao's experiences.

Firstly, Feng Yao was the first to encounter a ghost, so her second wave will also occur earlier, which is this morning.

Chen Ji believes that for some of them, the second stage is very likely to be the curse radiating into reality.

This means it is no longer a specific time point, such as automatically ending at dawn and officially starting at midnight.

It no longer happens only in specific locations.

For example, if Liu Zi wants to see the red bowl again next time, he might not even need the crossroads as a condition.

But the most important thing is something else... Chen Ji didn't tell Feng Yao because her current state is clearly not right.

Feng Yao's second wave is unlikely to end so easily.

It can no longer be described as a "second wave"; it has jumped directly to an entire phase with an unknown duration.

Take back your thoughts.

Chen Ji thought for a moment, then walked over to Feng Yao and said a few words to her.

Only then did he turn around and walk toward the funeral home counter.

Behind them were Du Tingfeng and Xu Sandao.

"How is she?" Du Tingfeng glanced at Feng Yao and asked.

“It’s not very good, but we’re adjusting,” Chen Ji said. “There’s something wrong with her condition; it’s like her emotions are being amplified.”

“I told her that, regardless of whether the death date is real or not, even if it is, the time hasn’t come yet, so she won’t die before then.”

“She will adjust,” Xu Sandao said briefly. “She has to believe what you say, otherwise her judgment will be affected by her emotions.”

Chen Ji nodded slightly without saying anything more.

The three fell silent for a moment, the only sound the rustling of the ledgers turning.

"Have you checked everything?" Du Tingfeng asked again.

"almost."

Chen Ji said, "There's still one place missing, the warehouse where the paper figures are kept."

Du Tingfeng tilted his head towards the corner of the shop; the door to the warehouse was hidden behind a pile of boxes.

"You can go and take a look; neither of us has found any more clues."

After watching him go inside, Du Tingfeng lowered his head again.

He didn't like staring at the store for too long, for a simple reason: the funeral home's decor and overall atmosphere were very gloomy.

Piles of tattered cardboard boxes, along with scattered paper money and ingots for the dead, were piled up outside, with rows of wreaths bearing the inscription "Offering Remembrance" displayed nearby...

Nobody likes to stay in this environment, and after a brief search, everyone else waited outside the store.

Like everywhere else, there is no boss here.

He looked down at the names circled in red on the ledger.

Zhou Liang.

"He appeared frequently around the beginning of the year, and I'm curious to know what he bought."

Xu Sandao said thoughtfully, "Of all the curses, only the paper dolls are most relevant to this place, and the paper dolls Chen Ji had were sold by this shop."

However, their previous reasoning made it difficult to connect Zhou Liang with the original two paper figures.

"It might not be a paper figure; it could be something else." Du Tingfeng shook his head, looking at the long list of names followed by a dense array of phone numbers.

Do you think Zhou Liang's phone number could be inside?

"It's unlikely." Xu Sandao shrugged. "He's mute."

“But the phone numbers here match the number of names on this page.” Du Tingfeng calculated for a moment: “We can give it a try. Maybe Zhou Liang left the phone numbers of someone he was with back then.”

After all, they have no more clues about Zhou Liang now.

After several attempts.

Xu Sandao dialed a new number.

beep......

beep......

"Go back?" The person on the other end of the line spoke with a heavy accent.

"Do you know Zhou Liang?" Xu Sandao asked directly.

He didn't have high hopes, but unexpectedly, the other side said:

"Ah."

Xu Sandao immediately stopped Du Tingfeng from making other calls, and then asked:

"What's your relationship with him?"

The person on the other end made a sound that was difficult to understand.

Covering the microphone, Xu Sandao and Du Tingfeng looked at each other in bewilderment.

No one could understand what was being said on the other end of the phone.

“…Excuse me, I didn’t hear you clearly. Could you say it again?” Xu Sandao pressed.

There was no reply.

silence.

A dozen seconds later, just as Xu Sandao began to wonder if the call had been disconnected, he suddenly heard a quick, fleeting chuckle from the other end of the line.

The briefness of the sensation might even make one think that it was just an illusion.

But Xu Sandao knew that wasn't the case.

Because the very next second after he heard that chuckle, even before his mind could process it, his body was already covered in goosebumps!

The malice in that laughter could not possibly have come from a human being.

He was about to hang up the phone immediately, but just then, he suddenly heard a very clear, accent-free, and perfectly articulated voice from the other end of the line.

Very loud.

It's like shouting into a walkie-talkie on the other end of a phone:

"Wishing you great success in your business!"

Then the call was hung up.

beep.....

beep.....

Only a busy tone remained.

Xu Sandao held his phone and looked at Du Tingfeng.

The two looked at each other.

A chill crept up their backs.

"Zhou Liang is still in the cemetery."

A few seconds later, Du Tingfeng began to speak.

"And he's mute."

"Is this our curse?"

Xu Sandao immediately shook his head: "No, we made the phone call on our own initiative."

"The other curses all occur passively... If it is a curse, then the triggering conditions are also lenient."

He paused, and the last shout still makes his ears ring.

"Wishing you great success in your business..."

Xu Sandao repeated the sentence softly, his words unclear.

But at this moment.

He suddenly saw someone push open the door of the funeral home.

A man, wearing a white T-shirt, with an ordinary appearance, so ordinary that you would forget him in the blink of an eye.

He opened his mouth and said in a completely flat tone:

"Buy paper money."