Chapter 1 The Beginning

Hearing the clamor outside,

Zhou Ze, who had been squatting there, sat down on the ground with a sense of weariness. The tile floor was cold, but his heart was even colder.

Oh,

forgot,

he no longer had a heart.

Lifting his shirt, Zhou Ze discovered that the empty space where his heart used to be had been restored, completely healed in just one night.

This made Zhou Ze suspect that he might have fallen for the other party's illusion, and that his heart was actually still there.

Because he could still feel a heartbeat, his body still maintained its vitality, and nothing seemed to be wrong.

But it seemed that a certain emotion had been drawn away.

Some of his instinctive reactions were also marked with a forbidden symbol, as if an invisible wall was trapping him.

Last night, he should have rushed to the deceased's side like Xu Qinglang, even if his first reaction was to determine that the deceased was definitely dead, the old him should have reacted that way.

Just like just now, when Xu Qinglang rebuked him, he retorted with "What does it have to do with me?"

Actually, given his state last night, after first fighting that monkey, and then being dragged to the dining table by that inexplicable old man to enjoy a unique meal, he was already somewhat dazed.

Even when those people were playing the Ouija board game, he sensed something, but it was impossible to make any clear reaction.

Last night, he was like a frightened bird, seeing threats everywhere, and any so-called "悸动 (jì dòng, palpitation)" was somewhat ambiguous.

Of course, these were all excuses. Zhou Ze now clearly felt that he was like getting "braces," you can still eat, you can still drink water, but you are always subject to some restrictions, and you just feel uncomfortable.

People are like this, when you encounter the greatest misfortune and exploitation, as long as there is still hope in front of you, you can always continue to grasp it tightly and continue to move forward.

Zhou Ze in the orphanage was like this before, and Zhou Ze in the hospital was like this,

even now, he is still like this.

To put it nicely, it's called resilience, to put it bluntly, it's better to live badly than die.

Supporting himself with his hands,

he raised his head,

and took a deep breath.

He didn't have time,

he kept telling himself in his heart that he had to find that thing as soon as possible, then catch it, throw it into hell, and earn performance points; this was definitely a lucrative opportunity.

But how could he not clearly know that if that thing was not found, as long as one person died, there would definitely be a second and a third?

Once a ghost really kills someone, it will only become more and more insane; to repent, for a ghost, is to vanish into thin air.

Therefore, people will continue to end their lives inexplicably in this way.

But Zhou Ze couldn't think that way, couldn't use this as a goal to feel anxious, otherwise the stabbing pain in his chest would make him wish he were dead.

Just like what the old man said at the dining table: if a person loses his conscience, no matter how good he is, he can't be good enough.

Just then, he stared blankly at the ceiling, he saw a faint black line.

Suddenly,

Zhou Ze's body trembled.

He found it,

he found that thing.

It didn't come in at all; it wasn't in this bookstore last night either.

It's above,

its gaze is looking down,

watching everything here!

Even, the hand it stretched out influenced the pen tip, and in this way, bit by bit, it joined this game.

This was an incomprehensible way, a way that transcended Zhou Ze's understanding.

"Finally, no one else has to die!"

"Hiss...that hurts..."

Zhou Ze, who had just stood up, had to bend over and squat down again.

"Now I can finally get my performance points."

Okay, it doesn't hurt anymore.

Damn it!

…………

"The deceased is Chen Yinong." Xu Qinglang said to Zhou Ze, who had just come out, while chewing betel nut.

"The guy who was going to confess his love last night?" Zhou Ze asked.

"Yeah, that's him. I just overheard some things from the police. He should have just finished making his statement. Who knew he would show up here as soon as he left the police station and then jumped."

The police did not identify a specific criminal suspect, so after Zhou Ze and Xu Qinglang made their statements, everyone else was allowed to leave after the investigation was over. The only restriction was that they were not allowed to leave Tongcheng during this time.

"So, he just returned from the police station and committed suicide?" Zhou Ze sighed. "What a truly terrifying wedding."

"Hey, can you be a little more respectful, the guy is dead." Xu Qinglang said to Zhou Ze.

"Respectful? Do you need to be respectful? I still have some ghost money there. If you need it, you can burn it." Zhou Ze shrugged.

"I don't know who invented this stupid way of accumulating merit by burning ghost money. Do you think burning ghost money can solve all your problems and let you accumulate merit?"

"That sounds like saying that money is the root of all evil. Then why don't you sell all your twenty-something apartments and donate them to Project Hope?"

"…………" Xu Qinglang.

"Come with me to a place." Zhou Ze said.

"Where?"

Zhou Ze pointed to the high-rise building on the west side and said, "There."

…………

There were several high-rise buildings in this commercial center, all connected by passages. Of course, as this commercial center became deserted, the businesses in these high-rise buildings had long since moved out.

This was one of the manifestations of overdevelopment in the city. The construction of high-rise buildings exceeded the needs of people's daily lives, and such huge ghost buildings often appeared, which was also a waste of resources.

The elevator had been shut down, so Zhou Ze and Xu Qinglang could only go up the stairs.

"Hey, those two people jumped from the opposite side." Xu Qinglang reminded. "It's on the opposite side, directly above my and your shop. What are you doing here?"

The two of them were now located on the west side of Zhou Ze and Xu Qinglang's shop, and there was a gap of nearly a hundred meters from the place where the suicides had taken place.

"You can be considered a Xuan cultivator. Then, what makes you, an insider, also mistakenly believe that ghosts need to stand in front of people and stab them with a knife to kill them, just like living people?" Zhou Ze asked rhetorically.

"Then what makes you think that thing would be here?"

"The grooves on the tiles."

The two had reached the fourth floor. Zhou Ze selected a location with the shortest straight-line distance to his shop, and then extended his index finger and gently slid it in front of him.

"What does this mean?" Xu Qinglang asked.

"If you're just going to be a curious baby and ask 'why' next to me, I suggest you go act in suspense dramas, because they always need a clueless assistant to stand next to the protagonist and keep asking 'why,' to set the stage for the protagonist to show off."

"Damn, you're getting more and more sarcastic." Xu Qinglang said with dissatisfaction.

"Because I've always treated you like a brother, not a woman." Zhou Ze reached out and patted Xu Qinglang's shoulder.

"But you don't seem to be very gentle to Bai Yingying either."

Zhou Ze made the index finger sliding motion again, and then said, "Actually, this should be a parallel line, can you understand?"

"You mean when those people were playing the Ouija board game last night, they really summoned something, but that thing didn't get close, but stood in a similar position to where we are now.

Then, using the method of its finger, it controlled the movement of the pen tip, pointing at you?"

"You guessed it." A smile appeared on the corner of Zhou Ze's mouth. "So, that thing is very daring. Last night, the question asked by those members of the enthusiast association was whether they could successfully see a ghost tonight, and then the pen tip was controlled to point at me.

It doesn't mind offending me, and it doesn't even mind killing people next to me."

"So crazy?"

"No, in my eyes, this means it's more valuable, and the performance points I can get after sending it in are more obvious. This is a big fish, a big fish that doesn't even care about the ghost messengers."

"Wouldn't that be very dangerous?" Xu Qinglang muttered.

"That's why I called you." Zhou Ze looked at Xu Qinglang. "I said I treat you like a brother, so if the other party is very terrifying, we'll die together. Isn't that romantic?"

"…………" Xu Qinglang.

"Romantic, my ass, you pervert!"

"It's okay, at worst, we'll go to hell. I've been there before, I know the way."

Zhou Ze gestured again, then took out his phone to look at the line in the photo, continued to estimate the angle in his heart, and then pointed to the roof, saying, "It should be on the fifth floor, there shouldn't be too much deviation."

"Hey, at least you should have notified me earlier so I could bring some magical artifacts!" Xu Qinglang complained as he followed Zhou Ze up the stairs.

"Remember the night you subdued Bai Yingying, whether you have magical artifacts or not, it doesn't make much difference."

Xu Qinglang was speechless for a moment and cursed, "You heartless bastard."

Zhou Ze paused and smiled.

Then,

the two walked together to the window on the east side of the fifth floor.

This should have been an amusement park, but it had accumulated dust, and some of the machinery and facilities that had not been moved away were still placed there, showing an extremely desolate atmosphere.

Xu Qinglang was a little nervous, but Zhou Ze continued to walk forward unhurriedly.

It should be in this position.

Suddenly, Zhou Ze stopped in front of an inflatable toy city.

"Oh, long time no see!"

A familiar voice came from behind the inflatable bed.

Zhou Ze raised his head

and saw an old man wearing a dirty, stained Taoist robe jumping down from there.

"Big brother, long time no see. I really miss you. Come, come, let's drink tonight. My treat, to repay your favor from last time!"

The old Taoist came over to greet Zhou Ze.

And at this moment,

Xu Qinglang instinctively formed a hand seal:

"天地无极，玄心正法 (Tiāndì Wújí, Xuánxīn Zhèngfǎ, Heaven and Earth are boundless, profound heart orthodox method)!"

He directly bit his index finger and then pointed it at the old Taoist's forehead.

The speed was very fast, without any hesitation.

But the next scene shocked Xu Qinglang. The old Taoist glanced at Xu Qinglang as if nothing had happened, and said with dissatisfaction:

"Is there something wrong with your wife? Or is this a custom in your family, that you like to smear people's faces with blood when you greet them? This is more dazzling than the Dai people's water-splashing festival!

Come, come, let me teach you the customs of our hometown."

As he said this, the old Taoist reached out and scratched his crotch, as if he was going to return the favor to Xu Qinglang.

But at this moment, Zhou Ze suddenly reached out, his nails grew out, and he directly掐 (qiā, pinched) the old Taoist's neck.

And in the hand that the old Taoist had just taken out of his crotch, he unexpectedly pinched a bright yellow talisman, and looked at Zhou Ze with a surprised expression:

"Damn it...you're faster...than me..."

Zhou Ze glanced at the talisman, and then his fingernails exerted force. The old Taoist was electrocuted, and finally, with a gentle push from Zhou Ze, the old Taoist fell to the ground and rolled several times.

Ignoring the old Taoist who had fallen to the ground and fallen into a coma, Zhou Ze jumped over the inflatable bed.

Behind the inflatable bed,

lay a person,

covered in injuries.

He found it.

It was indeed here.