Chapter 199: What Color Do You Like?
In the corridor of Tian Teng Hospital, the legs of the female corpse prop were torn off. Her body seemed to be dragged by something, the rope around her neck cutting through the skin, revealing the cheap stuffing inside.
"What is this thing trying to do?"
Ever since arriving near the female corpse, the vengeful spirit in the tape had stopped making any sound. The more Chen Ge thought about it, the stranger it seemed: "The female corpse prop is Xu Zhenzhen's anchor object. Is the tape vengeful spirit trying to force Xu Zhenzhen out of the prop?"
*Snap!*
As he pondered, the rope around the female corpse model's neck couldn't withstand the strain and snapped in the middle.
The female corpse hanging in the corridor fell to the ground, the model's head rolling several meters away before stopping at the corner of the wall, its eyes staring at its own body.
That crudely made face slowly began to change—from twisted terror to gradual calm, finally returning to normal. The cracked lips opened and closed as if trying to say something.
Only a few seconds passed before screams echoed through the corridor again. But this time, a woman's voice joined the cacophony.
"It hurts! It hurts so much!"
A man and a woman surrounded Chen Ge, their piercing cries driving him to the brink of madness.
"How did Xu Zhenzhen start screaming along with the tape vengeful spirit? Does it have some special ability to assimilate other ghosts?"
Chen Ge had no idea what the tape vengeful spirit had done to Xu Zhenzhen, but this was likely its greatest secret.
The alternating screams of a man and a woman rang in his ears, making his eyelids twitch. He tried again to turn off the recorder, but it was still useless.
Sensing the vengeful spirit's voice drawing closer, Chen Ge raised the recorder high, ready to smash it and destroy the tape the spirit inhabited.
"It hurts... it really hurts..." The voice brushed against Chen Ge's face, then gradually faded. A crisp sound came from the recorder, the buttons popped up automatically, and the red indicator light went out.
The oppressive feeling in the corridor lifted. Breathing became easier, and even the head lying on the ground didn't look as frightening anymore.
Chen Ge opened the recorder. As he removed the tape, his black phone vibrated lightly.
"Why am I getting a message now?"
Standing beside the female corpse model, Chen Ge pulled out his black phone and tapped the screen.
"Lucky favored one of the vengeful spirits, congratulations on triggering Xu Yin's affinity mission. Complete the mission to significantly increase Xu Yin's affinity! There is also a certain probability of hiring him as a haunted house employee!"
"Mission location: Fanghua Yuan Residential Complex."
"Mission objective: You have only one night. Find Xu Yin's beloved!"
"Mission hint: Darling, white, black, and red—which color do you like?"
The information on the screen was only a few lines. Chen Ge read it two or three times: "Fanghua Yuan Residential Complex? Isn't that where Wang Xin lives? I went there once to help the Ouija board spirit fulfill its wish."
The missions issued by the black phone always carried some danger. Judging by the tape vengeful spirit's appearance, it must have suffered a great shock in life, leaving behind such heavy resentment in death.
Having just completed the Third Ward trial mission, Chen Ge didn't want to run around recklessly. But the reward of hiring a ghost was incredibly tempting.
"The vengeful spirit in the tape is a bit stronger than the Ouija board spirit. If I can hire him, future trial missions will be much safer—it's like having an extra trump card." The more Chen Ge thought about it, the more tempted he became. This tape vengeful spirit seemed to possess special abilities other ghosts didn't, making it a unique type like the Ouija board spirit.
"The affinity mission starts at night. I have plenty of time to prepare, and it won't affect the afternoon business. I can give it a try." Just as Chen Ge made his decision, his own phone in his pocket suddenly rang. He glanced down—it was an unfamiliar number.
"Only a few people know my number. Who could this be?"
After a few rings, Chen Ge pressed the answer button and put the phone to his ear: "Hello?"
"Chen Ge, it's Captain Yan."
"Captain Yan? What do you want?"
"The three suspects you found in the Third Ward—two of them died at home."
"Dead?!" Chen Ge's voice trembled. Just as he was about to ask Captain Yan for details, the black phone in his other hand vibrated again.
A new prompt appeared on the screen. When Chen Ge opened it, he found that the completion rate of the Third Ward trial mission had increased to sixty-five percent!
After the two patients died mysteriously, the mission completion rate had risen by five percent. Chen Ge had a vague feeling he was onto something.
"Chen Ge? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. I'm just a bit shocked. How could people who were fine just a day ago suddenly die?"
"At three o'clock yesterday morning, we received a call from someone named Xu Tong. He said a lot of nonsense, his logic all over the place—it was unclear what he was trying to express."
"Didn't you ignore him?"
"How could we? Xu Tong's name was on our watchlist. The dispatch center immediately informed us. But by the time we tracked his phone location and found him, he was already dead." Captain Yan's voice was calm but carried an indescribable undertone. "He and a one-armed man were stuffed into a cabinet. The exact cause of death is still unclear—there were no obvious injuries on either of them."
"Could the killer be their accomplice? The one named Xiong Qing? He has a facial deformity, so he's easy to identify."
"Leave the investigation to us. The reason I asked Captain Li for your number today is to warn you." Captain Yan sent two photos to Chen Ge. "We found these in the deceased's phone. They might be targeting you."
The image transfer was slow. After a few seconds, Chen Ge could make out the photos.
The first was a picture of Chen Ge being escorted into a police car at the Third Ward. The second was a picture of him leaving the city bureau. Both were blurry, taken from a great distance by someone extremely cautious.
"Did Xu Tong take these?" Chen Ge hadn't expected to be followed one day.
"Whether Xu Tong took them isn't the point. What matters is that they're organized and premeditated in their actions. That changes everything."
"Right. I told your people that morning—there might be eight killers. All of them were former patients of the Third Ward at the Rehabilitation Center." Aside from Wang Shenglong, the rest seemed like deranged lunatics to Chen Ge.
Captain Yan sighed softly. "The clues you provided have been a great help. We've reviewed records from four years ago and cross-referenced them. Of those eight patients you mentioned, three seem to have vanished completely over the years. We can't find any trace of them online or in the real world."