At 11: 34 pm, Chen Ge received a call from Captain Yan in the police car.
"Things are not looking good. The enemy is very cautious, and they seem to have discovered us." Captain Yan then sent a picture to Chen Ge. "After our investigator entered the elevator, he saw a phone left inside, and there was a message that was being edited on it."
It was Xiao Gu's phone in the picture, and there was a strange message in the WeChat input bar.
"Father killed us and placed us on the stairs.
"Big brother is lying behind me.
"Little brother is lying in front of me.
"Can you find us?"
"What does that mean?" Chen Ge was confused when he saw the message on Xiao Gu's phone. He did not quite understand what it meant.
"I suspect the group of madmen has discovered us, and that's why they purposely left this message in the elevator."
"You've already entered the third building?" Chen Ge had reminded Captain Yan earlier not to alert the enemy.
"The two teams are all in casual clothes, and they haven't entered Fang Hwa Apartments yet. The cars are parked at the intersection about 150 meters away from the area, and there are people waiting inside."
"Then how could they have been discovered? Could it be that there's a problem with your scouts? "
"Impossible. The investigator who entered the third building is one of our veterans. He has seven years of experience, and he has helped us solve many dangerous cases." Captain Yan did not think there was anything wrong with his subordinate. "Furthermore, he saw this phone when he opened the elevator. To set up this phone without being seen, it would have taken at least three minutes, and in those three minutes, our investigator still hasn't entered Fang Hwa Apartments."
"I understand what you mean. In other words, the suspect had already set up this phone before you arrived." When Chen Ge understood that, his expression shifted. "Where is the investigator who found the phone now?"
"He's still inside the third building. He was the one who took the picture and sent it back."
"Oh no! Hurry and get him back! " Chen Ge knew very well that the Society of Strange Tales tricked Xiao Gu to deal with him! The phone with the strange message should have been prepared for him!
After interacting with many ghosts, Chen Ge had discovered some patterns. Including the Red Specter, most ghosts needed a medium to harm others.
For example, he received a love letter from Zhang Ya, played Xu Yin's tape, and played the Pen Spirit game with a ballpoint pen.
Ordinary people needed a "special item" to be the switch to access the other world.
The message left on Xiao Gu's phone was actually a switch. Seeing the message was equivalent to being targeted by one or more unknown ghosts.
"Alright." Captain Yan did not ask for the reason. He used the internal communicator to order the investigation team to temporarily retreat, but to his surprise, in just a few minutes, he lost contact with the investigator!
"Did something happen?" Captain Yan did not hang up, so Chen Ge heard it loud and clear. "I'll arrive in another three to four minutes. Do not send any more people in!"
The officers on the other side of the phone were discussing a solution. Ten seconds later, Chen Ge heard the sound of a car door opening. It sounded like someone had found Captain Yan.
After the conversation, Captain Yan had him stay in the car and then took out his phone to tell Chen Ge, "Earlier, the investigator's disciple found me. His master sent him a WeChat message."
"When you tried to contact the investigator earlier, he didn't reply, right?" Chen Ge was even more confused. "What did the investigator send to his disciple?"
"Just three words — are you there?"
"Are you there?"
"This message was definitely not sent by our investigator." Captain Yan's voice turned serious. "An experienced investigator would not send a meaningless message to his disciple during the middle of a mission. If he needed anything or was in danger, the first person he would think of would be the commander. "
"Looks like the investigator is probably dead." Chen Ge did not say that out loud; he merely thought about it internally.
"Whether he's dead or not, we have to prepare for the worst." The investigator was in danger, so naturally, Captain Yan would not wait outside the residential area anymore. "Inform Team One and Team Two to move out immediately! Enter the third building! "
"Captain Yan, don't be rash! The mental patient inside the building is very dangerous! "
"The situation has changed, so we have to use another plan. Give the phone to Ol 'Wu and have him drive the car to my place and meet up with me."
With a life on the line, Chen Ge knew that he could not persuade Captain Yan otherwise, so he gave in. "The others will be fine, but make sure that the officer who received the message doesn't enter the building. He might be targeted already."
The investigator saw the message that Xiao Gu was editing on his phone, and then something happened.
After that, he immediately sent a message to his disciple. Chen Ge had a feeling that there was something wrong with this.
He thought back to when Xiao Gu called him, and the first thing he said seemed to be related to Ol 'Wong.
Xiao Gu had confirmed that he was working at the Haunted House, so the chance of him patrolling Fang Hwa Apartments at night was not high, so why would he appear at the third building?
"The danger that Xiao Gu is in is probably because Ol 'Wong sent him a message first!"
Chen Ge still wanted to say something to Captain Yan, but Captain Yan had already started the deployment, so he hung up.
Three minutes later, Chen Ge arrived at Fang Hwa Apartments.
"Have you found the missing investigator?"
"We've found him at the corner of the second-floor staircase. He's physically fine, but he's unconscious. According to the people at the scene, his pupils are dilated, and his face is pale." Captain Yan stood next to the car and held the internal communication device in his hand. His brows were furrowed. "What I'm curious about now is, how did the killer manage to knock out a healthy adult with basic combat knowledge in just a few minutes?"
When the two conversed, the investigator had been carried out, and there were people taking care of him.
Chen Ge glanced at the investigator's outfit. He looked like a normal person. As long as he did not take off his shirt and did not see the walkie-talkie, he would not be able to tell who he was.
"The Society of Strange Tales probably treated this undercover officer as a passerby. They view human life as worthless, and they will show no mercy even to the innocent, but this time, they've run into a wall."
When Chen Ge went to the 24th floor for the first time, Zhu Xiu made a request to the Society of Strange Tales, hoping that the Society of Strange Tales would help him escape from the police, but the Society of Strange Tales rejected him outright. "
This small detail proved one thing — the Society of Strange Tales did not dare have a direct confrontation with the police. They were like rats that lived in the shadows of this city. They created trash and chewed on rotten meat, but they did not dare show themselves in the light.
"Captain Yan, have you found the phone that was left in the elevator?" Chen Ge asked another important question. The unfinished message on Xiao Gu's phone was a trap left behind by the Society of Strange Tales. Reading it might trigger a bad omen.
"It's been found by Team 1 and placed inside the evidence bag."
Captain Yan did not realize the severity of the situation, but Chen Ge was different. This concerned several lives, so he did not dare waste any more time. "Captain Yan, the real target of those mental patients is me. I cannot run away from this."
Then, he walked toward Fang Hwa Apartments.
"Wait a minute." If this was another victim, Captain Yan would have stopped them, but Chen Ge was different.
He took out a walkie-talkie and shoved it into Chen Ge's hands. "Do you know how to use it?"
"Yes, when my Haunted House had a lot of employees, everyone had one."
"That's good." Captain Yan was still worried, so he waved at Ol 'Wu, who was driving. "You two go in together. At least you can look after each other."
Chen Ge did not reject Captain Yan's kindness. He entered Fang Hwa Apartments with Ol 'Wu.
To prevent unnecessary panic, Captain Yan did not inform the tenants, so the third building was eerily quiet.
The dim light reflected on the white walls. Chen Ge and Ol 'Wu walked to the elevator.
"Captain Yan told us to follow behind Team 2. We'll go to the fifth floor now." Ol 'Wu had just confirmed the location of the two teams through the walkie-talkie. "Stay behind me and don't wander off."
It was rare for a victim to participate in an arrest, but considering the series of events that had happened to Chen Ge, Ol 'Wu soon understood.
The man beside him had used three weeks to fill up a row of filing cabinets at the Serious Crime Division.
With that in mind, Ol 'Wu nudged to the side and maintained a distance of two meters from Chen Ge.
"Ol 'Wu, we'll go find Team 1 first! There's something wrong with that phone, and Team 1 is in danger! "Chen Ge said urgently. The longer this dragged on, the greater the chance that Team 1 would be in danger.
"No, Captain Yan told you to follow Team 2."
"We'll go take a look first. If nothing happens to Team 1, we'll go meet up with Team 2."
"Okay." Ol 'Wu hesitated for a long time before entering the elevator with Chen Ge. He pressed the button for the eighth floor. "Team 1 and Team 2 are responsible for the stairs on the left and right. Team 1's progress is faster, so the chance of them running into danger is higher than Team 2."
"It's fine." Chen Ge answered casually. He saw the number on the monitor change bit by bit, but his eyes stopped at the extra number — 24.
The two soon reached the eighth floor. By then, Team 1 had already reached the ninth floor. They searched floor by floor, and their progress was fast.
Ol 'Wu contacted the leader of Team 1 through the walkie-talkie, and the two crawled into the emergency exit to the ninth floor.
They waited for a while before the leader of Team 1 and two people ran out from the corridor. "Why did you bring him with you?"
The leader of Team 1 was very muscular. When Chen Ge was being interrogated at the station, this man had been sitting across from him. Captain Yan had called his name once, and it seemed to be Lee Zheng.
"It was Captain Yan's order. I'm just following orders." Ol 'Wu looked at the two people next to Lee Zheng. "How come there are only three people left in your team?"
"I had Xiao Jia and Ah Cheng wait in the corridor to prevent the criminals from escaping when we enter the building." Lee Zheng looked down the corridor. "Didn't you run into them?"
Hearing that, Chen Ge had a bad feeling. "The phone that you found inside the elevator, is it with them?"
"Yes, what's wrong?" Lee Zheng had heard of Chen Ge's name for a long time. He seemed to remember something, and his brows furrowed. He held the flashlight and stood in the dark corridor shouting, "Xiao Jia! Ah Cheng! "
The voice traveled down the corridor, and soon, a reply came from Lee Zheng's walkie-talkie. "Brother Zheng, I don't know what's going on with Xiao Jia, but he keeps running up the stairs! We're on the fourteenth floor, and I just caught him … Xiao Jia! What are you doing? You've lost your mind! "
The voice from the walkie-talkie suddenly became chaotic, and then there was the sound of something heavy falling.
"Ah Cheng?" Lee Zheng held the walkie-talkie and shouted behind him. He led the rest of the team to rush up the stairs.
Chen Ge and Ol 'Wu chased after him. They rushed to the fourteenth floor, and Ah Cheng was lying on the ground with his hands over his face. Blood seeped out from between his fingers.
"Ol 'Wu! You two send Ah Cheng down now. "
"Brother Zheng, I'm fine. You need to go find Xiao Jia. He looks like he's possessed!"
Lee Zheng moved Ah Cheng's hand away to look. His cheek was bitten, and there was a wound on the back of his hand.
"That phone, is it with Xiao Jia?" Of everyone, only Chen Ge's emotions were relatively stable. "Did the two of you read the message on the phone?"
"I didn't. Xiao Jia glanced at it when he put the phone into the evidence bag," Ah Cheng answered honestly.
"So, it's related to that message." Chen Ge thought back to the content of the message, and it was very strange. He thought about it in his heart. "Father killed us and placed us on the stairs. The first two sentences of the message should be hinting at the stairs, but what does the sequence of brother and brother mean? And why did they have to go look for them? "
While Chen Ge was thinking, Lee Zheng had already led his team up to the fifteenth floor.
"Ol 'Wu, you stay here and watch over Xiao Jia. I'll go up to take a look." Chen Ge did not give Ol' Wu the chance to speak and ran up the stairs.
"The first investigator who saw the message fainted, and the second person who saw the message, Xiao Jia seemed to have gone crazy. Why are the symptoms different?"
Lee Zheng and the rest did not dare split up, but they were afraid that they would miss the floor that Xiao Jia was on, so they ran up the stairs. Chen Ge did not have that concern. After he reached the fifteenth floor, he walked to the elevator.
When the door opened, he pressed the button for the 23rd floor. He planned to go to the most dangerous floor to take a look. After all, Xiao Gu had mentioned this floor on the phone.
"Hopefully, Xiao Gu will be fine."
The elevator door slowly closed, and Chen Ge's finger rested on the button of the recorder.
If he had come alone, he might have fallen prey to the unknown tricks of the Society of Strange Tales. Unfortunately, this time, he had come with the police, so he had the advantage in terms of numbers.
The number on the screen kept changing. When the elevator reached the twenty-first floor, Chen Ge's own phone suddenly vibrated.
He swiped the screen, and to his surprise, it was a message from Xiao Gu's phone.
"Are you there?"
The moment he saw the message, Chen Ge replied to him with one sentence.
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