"Is that really necessary?"
As a visitor, Chen Ge was left standing alone in the themed attraction. Every employee of the Virtual Future Park seemed to have reached a silent agreement—as soon as they spotted Chen Ge, they would detour around him immediately, giving him absolutely no chance to get close.
"I feel like I've been completely isolated."
Chen Ge's phone was still live-streaming, and the netizens watching couldn't help but find the whole thing hilarious, flooding the chat with teasing comments.
"So the Virtual Future Park has decided to ignore me outright. Have they just given up?" Chen Ge figured there was no point in sticking around any longer. He stepped out of the Reincarnation-themed haunted house and was about to leave when his phone suddenly buzzed.
"Everyone at the park knows I'm streaming right now. Who would be calling me at a time like this?"
Chen Ge normally used only one phone. He glanced at the caller ID and saw it was Li Zheng, so he picked up immediately.
"Captain Li, you were looking for me?"
"So you're the one who said there was a hidden murder case in Jiangyuan Residential Community on the east side?" Li Zheng got straight to the point without a single pleasantry.
"That's right."
"The body has been found. Where are you now?"
"Wait— the body was found, so what does that have to do with where I am? I'm not the killer." Chen Ge wasn't sure whether the live-stream could pick up his side of the phone call. He hadn't closed the broadcast when he answered, after all—over a million viewers meant even one extra minute of streaming brought in considerable revenue.
"Get to Jiangyuan Residential Community immediately. We found one of your hairs at the crime scene."
"My hair? That's impossible!"
Chen Ge thought it over and figured it must have been a strand of his hair left on the coat he had lent to the female ghost. "Last night I kept my eyes closed the whole time. I have no idea what that female ghost actually looked like, let alone what appeared in front of me then…"
"Stop dawdling. If you're not here within the hour, things will be very different when we come to get you."
"Please, don't come—I'm already on the east side. I'll head over right now." Chen Ge was still live-streaming. If over a million viewers saw him being driven away in a police car, he would never be able to explain his way out of that.
He hung up. The live-stream returned to normal. Chen Ge didn't even have time to read the chat messages, exchanged a few casual words with his viewers, and ended the broadcast.
"Overall, my visit to the Virtual Future Park was pretty good. Not only did I get to relax, I also found a lead related to the Underworld Fetus." Chen Ge looked at the comic book inside his bag. During his second entry into the Reincarnation-themed haunted house, he had finally found the wind chime of the Cursed House. Attached to it was the obsession of a little girl, and that obsession seemed to be connected to the red stage costume—so Chen Ge hadn't wasted much time before inviting the little girl into the comic book.
"Time to go."
Chen Ge glanced back at the Virtual Future Park behind him. Visitors streamed in an endless flow. It was nearly noon, and vehicles were still shuttling more guests toward the entrance.
"If it weren't for my haunted house,
He opened the roulette page on the black phone. Chen Ge had lost count of how many times he had read the roulette rules. "This roulette has a chance of drawing a powerful ghost, but it's far more likely to land on something else."
Walking to the main gate of the Virtual Future Park, Chen Ge squeezed into the crowd. He glanced up at the sun and deliberately chose a spot where the sunlight could reach him.
"Let me give it a try first." He swiped the screen and spun the roulette.
When the pointer stopped, the black phone gave a gentle vibration.