The students from Jiujiang Forensic Medical College were no strangers to
"Don't worry — this time we came specifically to challenge the Living
"You won't run into trouble if you skip the Underground Cadaver Storage scenario, but you should still be careful in there. If you see anyone wearing a doctor's uniform, signal the cameras immediately and I'll come in to get you right away." Chen Ge added a few more words of caution before personally escorting them into the underground set.
The students from Jiujiang Forensic Medical College were old acquaintances, and their dean had been very cooperative, so Chen Ge didn't make things difficult for them this time. He used ordinary background music and didn't send Old
"Have fun."
About forty minutes later, a burst of cheering erupted from the lounge next to the haunted house. The whole place seemed to erupt in celebration.
On the large screen displaying scores, the rankings of several visitors from Jiujiang Forensic Medical College shot upward — they had become the first group of visitors to clear the Living Coffin Village scenario.
When Yang Chen came sprinting out of Living Coffin Village clutching the Embroiderer's wedding dress, he actually felt tears welling up in his eyes. God only knew what he had endured during those forty minutes. All nine seniors had "died," and in the end, he had barely managed to carry the wedding dress — imbued with a female ghost's lingering obsession — out of Living Coffin Village.
"We did it!"
Living Coffin Village was a three-star horror scenario. Clearing it carried a completely different significance from clearing Muyang High School. It meant that visitors finally had the ability to take on three-star scenarios. Even if it was just a single time, it was a start. As walkthroughs and leaked details about the interior spread, more and more people would manage to clear it.
Seeing the visitors so happy, Chen Ge wore a smile as well. He genuinely enjoyed this feeling — providing visitors with a better experience had always been his goal.
"The Living Coffin Village scenario is only at seven percent completion. The Well-Drowning Ghost is still alive. It's an incomplete scenario, and in terms of horror level, it's only slightly above Muyang High School." The two most terrifying scenarios in Chen Ge's haunted house right now were Third Ward and the Underground Cadaver Storage — two completely different styles.
"If I used the case files from Third Ward to actually control those psychiatric patients to scare visitors, the horror level would skyrocket." Chen Ge had never underestimated his visitors. In the little over a month since he had obtained the Black Phone, visitors were already clearing three-star scenarios — that said a lot about how formidable they were.
"To keep the haunted house mysterious and maintain visitors' interest, I need to have new things to offer." Chen Ge pulled out the Black Phone and checked on the four-star trial mission — Spirit Medium Ghost School. "I should wait a bit longer.
The timing wasn't right, and Chen Ge decided to build up his strength a bit more. "As long as I unlock Spirit Medium Ghost School before Virtual Future Theme Park opens, I'll be set. With a four-star horror scenario as my trump card, it doesn't matter what kind of tricks Virtual Future Theme Park pulls — I won't have to worry. For now, I'll deal with the East Suburb matter first. At the very least, I need to get my hands on that last bus before I consider anything else."
Seeing that someone had cleared Living Coffin Village, many visitors became excited. Even those who had previously been too afraid to attempt a three-star scenario were eager to try.
The day passed quickly. When the haunted house closed at six-thirty in the evening, there were still many visitors lingering outside. It took some persuasion from the staff before they reluctantly left.
"The peak season is almost here. I could consider opening evening sessions — visiting the haunted house at night. That's something only the bravest few would dare to take on." Chen Ge and his two employees tidied up the haunted house in short order before letting them head home.
Alone in the staff break room, Chen Ge ordered takeout and settled comfortably onto his bed. "I'll call Captain Yan later to ask about the dismemberment case in Mingyang Community, and check on Fan Cong's game progress. Also need to keep an eye on Huang Ling's husband Jia Ming…"
After finishing his meal, Chen Ge dialed Li Zheng's number.
"Officer Li? Have the other body parts from the female corpse in Mingyang Community been found?"
"No. Based on our analysis, the girl's torso should be buried somewhere in the central area between the four apartment buildings, but the police dogs searched the entire day without finding anything." Li Zheng's voice sounded a bit hoarse — he didn't seem to be feeling well. "However, we did make another important discovery. The forensics team cross-referenced our internal database, and the identity of the dismembered girl has been confirmed. Her name was Bu Yi. Five years ago, she had surgery at the city hospital following a car accident."
"Bu Yi? Her surname is Bu?" It was the first time Chen Ge had encountered anyone with the surname Bu.
"Mm. This girl went missing in the East Suburb three years ago. Who could have imagined she would be killed so brutally." The suppressed fury in Li Zheng's voice was unmistakable.
"Mingyang Community was built eight years ago. The ceiling of Room 104 has a painting of the investor Jiang Long and his family. Bu Yi's left arm was buried inside Room 104." Chen Ge tried to piece all the clues together. "Officer Li, do you know when Jiang Long had his car accident?"
"There were three investors in Mingyang Community. The first investor died in an accident six years ago. The second developer, Jiang Long, died in an accident three years ago. The third developer committed suicide by jumping from a building in Mingyang Community two years ago." Li Zheng had committed every detail to memory.
"The year Jiang Long had his car accident — that's when Bu Yi went missing." Chen Ge held the phone, his mind churning over a single question: could Bu Yi be Xiao Bu?
Chen Ge still remembered a scene from the game — when he had controlled Xiao Bu to go to a classmate's house and search for a hidden passage.
When he reached the second floor of the classmate's house, he had spotted a certificate of merit posted on the wall. The name of the person being commended was Jiang Xiaohu — and Jiang Xiaohu happened to be Jiang Long's son. That meant the Xiao Bu in the game and Jiang Xiaohu were classmates.
"There's actually another connection between Jiang Long and Bu Yi." Li Zheng and his team had investigated thoroughly. "Bu Yi's father passed away when she was very young. After that, Bu Yi's mother took up with Jiang Long as his mistress to support the family."
When Chen Ge heard this, an image from the game flickered through his mind unbidden — Xiao Bu wearing her mother's nightgown, going to a classmate's house to search for a hidden room.
"Where is Bu Yi's mother now?"
"Before Bu Yi went missing, her mother had already disappeared. If the school hadn't reported Bu Yi missing, we wouldn't even have known her mother had vanished." Li Zheng sounded as though he was flipping through old case files — the contents must have been harrowing.
"Bu Yi's mother went missing, and Bu Yi went searching for her — and then Bu Yi went missing too." This sequence bore an eerie resemblance to the game Chen Ge had been playing. His hand slowly clenched into a fist as the image surfaced in his mind — the painting on the ceiling of Room 104 in Mingyang Community, depicting Jiang Long's family of four, all of them biting down on the limbs of the girl in the center.