Chen Ge checked the sending dates of all the text messages. They were all sent after midnight, which perfectly matched what Wang Qi had said. But that was also the most chilling part for Chen Ge.
How could a corpse bricked into a wall send text messages every night?
A supernatural phenomenon? If it really was a vengeful ghost wreaking havoc, how could the people who dug up the corpse still be alive and well?
"Someone must be behind this." Chen Ge had connected all the clues now, and he was very clear in his mind: "The person using the deceased's phone to send Wang Qi messages every day is the killer of his fiancée. He is also the real culprit behind the family massacre case five years ago."
"I think I already know who the killer is." Chen Ge stood in the room, holding the phone. "Wang Qi is considered crazy by the tenants in the apartment building, and the landlord even drives him away every time he sees him. He's the only person I've encountered tonight who doesn't live in the apartment building but is always seen around it. So his lodging must be very close to the building."
"But the key point is, when I had a disagreement with the landlord over the rent, he told me there were no places to stay within several kilometers. That means Wang Qi can't be staying at any other apartment or hotel. Thinking about it, he most likely hides in this wooden house most of the time."
"If he is the owner of the wooden house, then everything can be explained. This pitiful man who carries missing person posters every day, searching for his lost wife, is actually the killer who murdered his own fiancée!"
Chen Ge could hardly believe he had actually chatted with a murderer and even tried to open his heart to communicate with him.
His Adam's apple bobbed, and only now did he feel a sense of fear: "This madman must have been traumatized. He collects the deceased's clothes from when she was alive, uses her phone to send himself messages... perhaps there's even a second personality hidden inside him, one that takes over his body whenever he falls asleep."
The more he thought about it, the creepier it became. Chen Ge swiped through the phone, trying to find more clues: "There should be his fingerprints on the pink phone. This is evidence and must be kept safe."
He stared at the screen. He wasn't sure if it was from being overly nervous and seeing things, or for some other reason, but he actually saw the faint reflection of a girl's silhouette on the screen. The child looked about seventeen or eighteen, wearing a bloodstained school uniform.
Rubbing his eyes, he was about to look closer when a sudden chill spread across the back of his neck, as if something had brushed against him. The sudden shock made Chen Ge whip his head around!
The air in the wooden house seemed to freeze. Looking behind him, Chen Ge felt his heart was about to leap out of his chest.
The door had been opened at some point, silently. About two meters away, Wang Qi, his eyes bulging and bloodshot, was slowly raising the axe in his hand!
Time seemed to stop. The two stood on opposite sides of the room, neither moving.
"So close..." Wang Qi's voice was completely different from before. It was a suppressed madness, like an uncontrollable beast.
Chen Ge didn't speak. He gripped the tool hammer tightly, feeling a sliver of gratitude for the ghostly figure that had appeared on the screen. If that vengeful ghost hadn't materialized to warn him, Wang Qi might have already struck him down by now.
"What a shame." Wang Qi took a step forward. Chen Ge immediately positioned the hammer in front of himself. "Don't be agitated. You saw what's on the phone?"
He didn't know what this madman was planning. He was on high alert.
"It's really not that big of a deal." The exhaustion on Wang Qi's face vanished completely, replaced by great excitement, making him look like a different person. "From the moment you entered the apartment building and spoke with me for the first time, I told you my wife was definitely hidden inside the building. See? I didn't lie to you, did I?"
He used the axe to lift a piece of clothing his fiancée had once worn. "After all, I personally bricked her into the wall."
As he spoke, Wang Qi's tone suddenly changed. His emotions fluctuated wildly, as if something painful had come to mind. He grabbed the axe and slashed viciously at the clothing. "I'm not wrong! She is! She insisted on leaving. I was only trying to use my own strength to keep her with me."
Wang Qi blocked the doorway, holding the axe, staring at the tattered clothes on the floor. "I didn't want to do this, you know? I didn't want it to be like this..."
No matter what Wang Qi said, it couldn't change the fact that he had committed murder, so Chen Ge didn't take any of his words to heart.
Gripping the tool hammer, Chen Ge secretly slipped the deceased's phone into his pocket. His eyes were fixed on the wooden house door, looking for an opportunity, ready to flee at any moment.
"I'm a really hateful person. Almost everyone around me says so. No, even if they don't say it, I can feel it." Wang Qi wasn't just a psychopath; his mental state was severely deteriorated. Every time he spoke, it was like he was talking to himself. He seemed to have walked into a strange loop, unable to climb out.
While Wang Qi was talking, Chen Ge slowly adjusted his angle. He mentally simulated three or four escape plans—like distracting the other person or luring him closer—but because the space in the wooden house was so small, these plans had very low feasibility.
Wang Qi's voice grew sharper and sharper. His state was very unstable.
The longer he stayed, the more dangerous it would become. Chen Ge decided he couldn't wait any longer, and he would stop thinking about convoluted schemes. Every muscle in his body tensed. Just as Wang Qi was about to lose control of his emotions and swing the axe unconsciously, Chen Ge pushed off with his calf like a shell and slammed his body forward into Wang Qi!
Even a rabbit will kick an eagle when cornered. This was probably the boldest decision Chen Ge had ever made in his twenty-something years of life. When facing off against the serial killer, he was even crazier than the murderer himself!
The distance of two or three meters vanished in an instant. In the darkness, Wang Qi reacted a split second slower than Chen Ge. It was calculated recklessness against unpreparedness. Chen Ge had already aimed for Wang Qi's head several minutes ago.
*Thwack!*
The tool hammer struck down hard. He felt a bit of warmth on his wrist. Chen Ge then kicked Wang Qi hard in the abdomen and bolted out the door!
After bursting out of the wooden house, Chen Ge ran toward the dense forest. This time he had the right direction. The trees gradually thinned, and the view opened up. But the danger was still there. He could sense someone following him through the woods. The wavering beam of the flashlight and the constant sounds of branches crashing and breaking were proof enough.
Not daring to stop for even a moment, Chen Ge ran as if his life depended on it. It wasn't until he saw the concrete road near the village that the sounds behind him finally faded away.
"Those people must have left." Following the concrete road, Chen Ge ran a few hundred more meters when the sound of police sirens suddenly reached his ears. Looking into the distance, police lights flashed at the end of the road, and several police cars came roaring toward him.
"I'm saved!" He stood in the middle of the road as if he had just encountered long-lost family. "I'm the one who called the police! I caught the killer from the family massacre case five years ago!"