Chapter 20: The Scene
A bizarre fire, a vanished killer—Chen Ge realized for the first time that he had a knack for storytelling. Combining online news reports with his own deductions, he roughly reconstructed the massacre from five years ago.
"That's the gist of it. To find new material for my horror house, I explored the haunted apartment at night, but I made a startling discovery: every single person in this building is abnormal. I suspect the murderer from five years ago is hiding among them!" Chen Ge stubbed out his cigarette and looked at his phone screen.
"Interesting. A real-life Werewolf game. Let's hear from the Seer."
I Am a Little Green Caterpillar: "Streamer, keep making stuff up. Talk all you want—if even one person believes you, I'll lose."
"Fu'an Apartments in Hanjiang City. I looked it up online. Seems real."
He Shan: "I believe the streamer."
I Am a Little Green Caterpillar: "Even if the streamer isn't lying, how does he prove the room he's in is the crime scene from back then? He says the building was burned in a fire, but look at his room—smooth walls, clean floors, furniture intact. Does that look like a haunted house?"
"I won't deceive you on this. Proving it is way too easy." Chen Ge moved the vanity table aside, took out a fruit knife, and gently scraped off the paint from the corner wall. "After the incident, the building changed its name and was completely renovated inside and out, but no matter how much they renovate, some things can't be hidden."
He scraped away a layer of paint, revealing the smoke-blackened bricks underneath. "This is one piece of evidence that a fire once happened here."
All Cheaters Must Die: "Wait, what I'm curious about is why you'd bring a hammer and a knife to a hotel? Are you trying to pose as the suspect's accomplice?"
"Ripping up the nice wall paint—feeling sorry for the apartment owner for a second."
"How much does a night in this apartment cost? Not even a TV."
Chen Ge watched the comments and couldn't help himself after holding back for so long: "Guys, can you not focus on the weirdest details? Show me some respect, okay? I'm risking my life streaming this for you!"
All Cheaters Must Die tipped a coin: "Tossing a dime to show respect."
Dealing with the viewers, Chen Ge could only sigh. These seasoned trolls were relentless. "Alright, let's get back on track. In this apartment building, I've run into six people so far. The first was a woman who might have mental issues—she smiled at me through the crack in the door when I came in. I don't know much about her, so I'll skip her for now..."
Chen Ge described the physical traits of all the tenants in the building to the viewers, mixing in his own analysis: "From a motive standpoint, the landlord is the most likely suspect, but he limps and moves slowly. From a physical condition angle, the tattooed guy on the first floor and the short, fat man on the second are more plausible. Of course, the woman on the first floor and the scrawny Wang Qi can't be ruled out either."
All Cheaters Must Die: "You've basically said nothing. I'm starting to think the real killer is the old man in the wheelchair. After all, he benefited the most from the fire five years ago."
"That's possible. The old man is paralyzed in a wheelchair now, but that doesn't mean he was five years ago. Besides, the killer didn't use physical combat—he set a fire. The old man could have done it."
"Right, his paralysis could be faked. The least likely suspect might be the real killer."
"Honestly, I'm more suspicious of the woman on the first floor. That smile at the streamer must mean something. Streamer, do you remember the height of her lip lift and the width of her mouth when she smiled? Let me analyze it from micro-expression psychology."
"I don't remember..."
The viewers' enthusiasm was sparked, and the stream's popularity began to grow faster.
Chen Ge silently watched the comments, finding nothing valuable. "Looks like I'll have to search for more clues myself."
He held his phone in front of him. "I did a preliminary check earlier and found that the first and second floors of this building have been fully renovated, but some spots on the third floor still look like they did five years ago. I'll go in and search thoroughly later, hoping to find something useful."
"Still looks like five years ago? Creepy."
"Unsolved case—could the dead still be lingering there?"
"Exploring a haunted house at night—that's hardcore!"
"How else would you run a horror house? Let me tell you, last time a group of us went to the streamer's horror house to challenge it, the two bravest guys—one got scared to tears, the other passed out cold."
"Wait, why would the bravest two get scared like that? What about the cowards?"
"What kind of question is that? Who the hell would dare go into his horror house if they were cowards?"
"Makes sense, I guess."
He Shan: "Heh."
The chat had gone off the rails, but Chen Ge didn't mind. He put the fruit knife in his pocket, practiced drawing it a few times, then held his phone in one hand and the tool hammer in the other as he walked to the door.
This time, he was smarter. He peeked through the crack to make sure the hallway was empty before gently pushing the door open.
When closing the door, Chen Ge plucked a strand of his own hair and placed it in the keyhole. If someone opened the door while he was away, the hair would be pushed deeper into the lock.
Ready, Chen Ge crossed the second-floor corridor to the stairwell.
He moved quietly, not triggering the motion-sensor lights, relying only on the glow from his phone screen to feel his way forward.
As he climbed the steps, the color of the walls on both sides deepened, and a strange, indescribable smell hung in the air.
Reaching the third floor, Chen Ge turned on his phone's flashlight. He pressed his back against the wall, his focus razor-sharp.
The first time he'd accidentally come to the third floor, he'd seen a blurry shadow dart through the hallway—a vague human silhouette.
"Whether it's human or ghost, I need to be careful."
The light from his phone revealed the crime scene from five years ago. Chen Ge looked at the deep scratches carved into the walls and tightened his grip on the tool hammer.
Ping'an Apartments had a unique layout—only one stairwell, located near the right side of the building, making the left corridor seem especially long and eerie.
Walking through it, a chill ran down his spine. Even pressed against the wall, he felt unsafe.
"If the fire started on the third floor, this place wouldn't have survived, so the killer probably didn't come here." Chen Ge walked through the dark hallway, phone in hand. The doors on both sides were half-open, many warped from the fire.
Stepping around the debris on the floor, Chen Ge entered the nearest room.