Chapter 205: Don't Take the Elevator
In the favorability mission sent by the black phone, there was a hint: "Darling, do you like black, white, or red?"
That's why Chen Ge was particularly sensitive to these three colors.
Wang Xin's foster mother favored black and white clothes, and the woman he'd encountered earlier in the elevator wore red high heels. Both of them had traits worth suspecting.
Taking a closer look at Wang Xin's foster mother, Chen Ge was surprised to find that this middle-aged woman had a well-proportioned figure. Her complexion and appearance made her look much younger than her actual age.
Not to mention her younger days, even now, she could definitely be called beautiful.
"Patient No. 2 is terrified of aging..."
Chen Ge had no improper thoughts and grew more cautious. He glanced at the teacup in her hand and felt relieved he hadn't drunk that water earlier.
"Dr. Chen." The middle-aged woman stepped forward, seemingly sensing Chen Ge's shift in demeanor. "Are you scared?"
"Now that you mention it, I do feel a bit uneasy and frightened." Chen Ge went along with it. "Can you tell me which specific room is haunted?"
"Room 3133 on the 13th floor. After the police investigated, they found that the white shadow had run into that room. But the owner wasn't home at the time, and later she seemed to have moved away, so the matter just fizzled out. Since there were no casualties or property damage, we residents couldn't really press the issue."
"Maybe she didn't move away." Chen Ge's voice was low.
"What did you say?"
"Nothing, I'm just curious—why are there so many threes in her room number?" Starting from the Third Psychiatric Ward, Chen Ge had noticed that the number three appeared frequently in his life. Even back when he summoned the Mirror Ghost, the countdown on the mirror began with three.
"3133 stands for Building 3, 13th floor, Room 3." The middle-aged woman explained to Chen Ge.
"I asked around with the security guards here, and they said many tenants on the 13th floor of Building 3 have left. Is it because something strange has happened here in the past year or two?"
"It's not too bad. We rarely go out at night." The middle-aged woman thought for a moment. "There's something I should tell you—when you go downstairs later, it's best not to take the elevator. About a few months ago, a drunk man was taking the elevator home at night when it broke down on the 13th floor, and a white shadow got in with him on that floor."
"Elevators usually have surveillance cameras. The whole thing should have been recorded. Didn't the property management give an explanation?"
"That drunk was terrified. The next day, he went to the property management, and it caused quite a stir." Wang Xin's foster mother recalled the scene. "The management pulled up the surveillance footage, but there was no white shadow in the video—just the drunk owner randomly pressing buttons in the elevator, going from the first floor to the top and back down. The doors opened several times intermittently, but no one got in."
"Opened several times?"
"But each time was brief. Only when it stopped on the 13th floor did it stay open longer. The management's explanation was that someone might have wanted to take the elevator that night, saw the drunk inside, and decided not to get on."
"That's a flimsy excuse."
"Exactly. After that, we rarely use the elevator at night."
Nodding, Chen Ge held onto a sliver of hope and asked, "Can that surveillance footage still be found now?"
"The management should have a backup. I can ask for you during the day."
"Alright, thank you very much."
Chen Ge wasn't a police officer and had no authority to view the community's surveillance footage. After chatting a bit more with the middle-aged woman, he left.
The door closed, and Chen Ge walked a few meters away before circling back. He took a torn piece of paper from his backpack, folded it several times as a marker, and wedged it into the gap of the security door.
The middle-aged woman had told him that residents rarely went out at night. If her door opened after dark, she would become highly suspicious.
After setting everything up, Chen Ge took the stairs to the 13th floor.
The entire building had no motion-sensor lights on the 13th floor. In the pitch-black hallway, the only source of light was the green sign hanging above the emergency exit.
The faint green glow made the scene even more eerie. Chen Ge held the ballpoint pen in his hand and slowly entered the corridor.
It seemed no one had lived here for a long time. The security doors on both sides were covered in dust.
"Room 3133."
Chen Ge found the room where the madwoman had once lived in the middle of the hallway. What struck him as odd was that the security door here had very little dust, as if someone had been living there all along.
He shone his phone's flashlight on the door and made a new discovery.
A piece of white paper was taped to the middle of the security door with transparent tape, stating that the room was available for cheap rent or sale, along with a phone number.
"After the madwoman left, did someone else buy this place?"
The paper looked fresh, as if it had been put up recently.
Chen Ge lingered outside the door for a while but heard no movement inside. Unwilling to leave empty-handed, he pulled out his phone and dialed the number.
It rang for a full half-minute, and Chen Ge was about to give up when the call connected.
"Hello, I saw the ad for the property in Fanghuayuan Community. The price is very reasonable, so I'd like to buy your apartment there." Chen Ge was a bit nervous. Calling at this hour might alert the other party.
There was silence on the other end for a long time before a woman's voice finally came through: "I've been seriously ill and need money urgently, so the price is low. If you're genuinely interested, let's set a time to meet at Xinkang Apartment in the old city."
"Xinkang Apartment?"
"My condition could worsen at any time, so I found a place close to the hospital. Just come to the third floor when you arrive."
"Alright, I'll be there soon."
"Soon?" The voice on the other end rose, turning sharper, and the tone shifted. "Fine, come on then."
Hanging up, Chen Ge grew more puzzled. There didn't seem to be any major hospitals in the old city. Was this person lying?
Leaving Building 3, he felt a bit lighter.
Taking a taxi to Xinkang Apartment, Chen Ge ran straight to the third floor and called again: "I'm here. There are three rooms on the third floor—which one are you in?"
"Hold on." The call ended, and the leftmost door in the apartment building opened from inside. "Come in. The place is a bit messy. I'm not in the mood to clean up in my condition."
Chen Ge pushed the door open, and when he saw the woman who answered, his heart clenched tightly.
She had no hair or eyebrows, and her face was deathly pale—utterly terrifying.