At 11:34 pm, Chen Ge received a call from Captain Yan in the police car.
"The situation is not good. The other party is very vigilant and seems to have discovered us." Team Leader Yan then sent Chen Ge another photo: "After our investigator entered the elevator, he saw a mobile phone thrown inside with a message that was being edited."
The photo shows Xiao Gu’s phone, and there is a very strange message in the WeChat input field:
"Dad killed us and put us on the stairs."
"Brother lies behind me."
"My brother lies in front of me."
"Can you find us?"
"What do you mean?" Chen Ge was confused after seeing the message on Xiao Gu's phone. He didn't quite understand the meaning of this sentence.
"I suspect that group of lunatics have discovered us, so they deliberately left such a message in the elevator."
"Have you entered Building No. 3?" Chen Ge had previously reminded Captain Yan and his team not to alert the enemy.
"Both action teams were in plain clothes and had not yet entered Fanghuayuan Community. Their vehicles were parked at an intersection 150 meters away from the community where the incident occurred, and there were special personnel on standby inside the vehicles."
"How could it be discovered? Is there something wrong with your investigator?"
"Impossible. The person who entered Building No. 3 for investigation is a veteran here. He has seven years of criminal investigation experience and has helped us solve many vicious cases." Captain Yan did not think that there would be any problems with his men. "Besides, he saw the phone as soon as he opened the elevator. It would take at least three minutes to set up the phone in advance without being seen. During those three minutes, our investigators had not yet entered Fanghuayuan Community."
"I understand what you mean. That is to say, the suspect had already set up this phone before you arrived." After Chen Ge figured it out, his face changed: "Where is the investigator who found the phone now?"
"He is still in Building No. 3. He took the photo and sent it back."
"Oh no! Hurry and get him back!" Chen Ge knew very well that the Ghost Story Association's fundamental purpose in luring Xiao Gu into the trap was to deal with him! The phone with the strange information left on it should have been prepared for him!
After coming into contact with many ghosts, Chen Ge has figured out some patterns. Including the one in red, most ghosts need a medium if they want to harm people.
For example, he received Zhang Ya's love letter, played Xu Yin's tape, played the Ouija board game with a ballpoint pen, and so on.
Ordinary people need a "special thing" to act as a switch in order to access another world.
The message left on Xiao Gu’s mobile phone is actually a switch. Seeing the message is equivalent to being targeted by one or more unknown ghosts.
"Okay." Captain Yan did not ask the reason in detail. He used the internal communication device to give the reconnaissance team members an order to temporarily evacuate. However, to his surprise, the investigator lost contact after only a few minutes!
"Something happened?" Captain Yan didn't hang up the phone. Chen Ge heard it clearly: "It may take me three or four minutes to get there. Don't send anyone in again!"
Several policemen on the other end of the phone were discussing countermeasures. After more than ten seconds, Chen Ge heard the sound of a car door opening from the phone, as if someone had found Captain Yan.
After the two sides talked, Captain Yan asked him to stay in the car, then picked up his phone and said to Chen Ge: "The apprentice that the investigator just taught found me. His master sent him a WeChat message."
"When you contacted the investigator just now, didn't he respond to you?" Chen Ge became more and more confused: "What did the investigator send to his apprentice?"
"Just three words—are you there or not?"
"Are you there?"
"This message definitely wasn't sent by our investigator." Captain Yan's voice became serious. "An experienced investigator would never send a meaningless text message to his apprentice while on a mission. If he needs anything or is in danger, the first person he would think of should be the on-site commander."
"It seems that the investigator may be in danger." Chen Ge did not say this out loud, he just thought about it in his mind.
"Whether he was killed or not, we must prepare for the worst." The investigator was in danger. Under such circumstances, Team Yan would naturally not wait outside the community: "Notify Team One and Team Two, take action immediately! Enter Building Three!"
"Captain Yan, don't be impulsive! The mentally ill person in the building is very dangerous!"
"The situation has changed. We have to adopt another plan now. Give the phone to Lao Wu and ask him to drive the car to my side and meet up with me."
Human lives were at stake. Chen Ge knew he couldn't persuade Captain Yan, so he could only give in. "Everyone else is fine. Be careful not to let the policeman who received the message enter the building. He may have been targeted."
The investigator saw the message that Xiao Gu was editing on his phone, and then something went wrong.
After the incident, he immediately sent a message to his apprentice. Chen Ge vaguely felt that there was something wrong.
He thought again of the first words Xiao Gu said when he called him, which seemed to be related to Lao Wang.
Let's re-deduce it. Xiao Gu has already come to the haunted house to work, and the probability of him running into Fanghuayuan community to patrol late at night is low. So why did he appear in Building No. 3?
"Xiao Gu was in danger, it is very likely that Lao Wang sent him a message first!"
Chen Ge wanted to say something to Captain Yan, but Captain Yan had already started his deployment and hung up the phone.
Three minutes later, Chen Ge arrived at Fanghuayuan Community.
"Has the missing investigator been found?"
"He has been found at the corner of the second floor stairs. He is fine, but unconscious. According to the on-site personnel, his pupils are dilated and his face looks terrible." Captain Yan stood by the car, holding their internal communication device, with a frown on his face. "What I'm curious about now is how the murderer could make an adult with a basic fighting skills and a strong body fall into a coma in just a few minutes."
While the two were talking, the investigator had been carried out and was being taken care of by someone.
Chen Ge took a look at the investigator's attire. He looked just like an ordinary person. As long as he didn't lift up his coat and didn't see the police walkie-talkie, he wouldn't be able to find out his identity.
"The Ghost Story Association must have thought that this plainclothes police officer was an accidental stranger. They regard life as worthless and will show no mercy even to innocent people. But this time they have hit a wall."
When Chen Ge first went to the 24th floor, Zhu Xiu made a request to the Ghost Story Association, hoping that the Ghost Story Association could help him escape the police's wanted list, but the Ghost Story Association clearly rejected him.
This small detail proves one thing: the Ghost Story Association does not dare to have a head-on conflict with the police. They are like rats living in the shadows of this city, creating garbage and tearing at rotten meat, but never dare to see the light.
"Captain Yan, have your people found the phone in the elevator?" Chen Ge asked another crucial question. The unedited message on Xiao Gu's phone was a trap deliberately left by the Ghost Story Association. It is very likely to trigger bad luck after reading it.
"It has been found by a team and put into an evidence bag."
Captain Yan didn't realize the seriousness of the situation, but Chen Ge was different. Since several lives were at stake, he didn't dare to waste any more time. "Captain Yan, those psychopaths really want to deal with me. I can't escape this."
As he spoke, he walked towards the Fanghuayuan community.
"Wait a minute." If another victim came, Captain Yan would definitely stop him, but Chen Ge was different.
He took out a walkie-talkie from the car and put it into Chen Ge's pocket: "Do you know how to use it?"
"Yes, when my haunted house had more employees, everyone had one."
"That's fine." Captain Yan was still a little worried, and waved to Old Wu who was driving, "You two can go in together, so that we can take care of each other."
Chen Ge did not refuse Captain Yan's kindness, and he and Old Wu entered Fanghuayuan Community together.
In order to avoid causing unnecessary panic, Captain Yan did not notify the residents in the building, and Building No. 3 remained eerily quiet.
The dim light reflected the pale wall, and Chen Ge and Lao Wu walked to the elevator.
"Captain Yan asked us to follow Team 2. Let's go to the fifth floor now." Old Wu Gang confirmed the location of the two action teams through the intercom: "You will be behind me later. Don't run around."
It is very rare for the victim to participate in the arrest, but after considering the series of things that happened to Chen Ge, Old Wu soon felt relieved.
The man next to him filled up a row of filing cabinets in the serious case archives room in just three weeks.
Thinking of this, Old Wu took a step to the side, keeping a distance of nearly two meters from Chen Ge.
"Old Wu, let's go find Group One first! There's something wrong with that phone, and Group One is in danger now!" Chen Ge said urgently. The longer they delayed, the more likely it was that Group One would be in danger.
"No, Captain Yan has told you to follow Team 2."
"Let's take a look first. If nothing happens to Group 1, we'll go meet up with Group 2."
"Okay." Old Wu hesitated for a long time before entering the elevator with Chen Ge and pressing the button for the eighth floor. "Group One and Group Two are responsible for the stairs on the left and right respectively. Group One is progressing faster, so the possibility of encountering danger is greater than Group Two."
"It's okay." Chen Ge replied casually. He watched the numbers on the display change little by little, but his eyes stopped at the extra number - 24.
The two of them quickly reached the eighth floor. At this time, one group had already reached the ninth floor. They searched each floor and made rapid progress.
Old Wu contacted a team leader on the intercom, and the two of them went through the nearby emergency passage and reached the ninth floor.
After standing at the entrance of the corridor for a while, two people followed the team leader and ran out of the corridor: "Why did you bring him here?"
The leader of Group 1 was a very strong man. When Chen Ge was interrogated at the Municipal Branch, this man was sitting across the table. Captain Yan called his name once, and it seemed to be Li Zheng.
"Captain Yan gave me instructions. I just followed orders." Old Wu looked at the two people beside Li Zheng and asked, "Why are there only three people left in your group?"
"I asked Xiao Jia and Ah Cheng to meet us in the hallway to prevent the criminals from escaping when we entered the floor to search." Li Zheng looked into the hallway and asked, "Didn't you meet them?"
After hearing what he said, Chen Ge immediately had a bad feeling: "Is the phone you found in the elevator in their possession?"
"Yeah, what's wrong?" Li Zheng had also heard of Chen Ge's name for a long time. He seemed to have thought of something, frowned, took out a flashlight, and stood in the dark corridor and shouted: "Xiao Jia! Ah Cheng!"
The voice in the corridor was heard from far away. Not long after, a response came from Li Zheng's intercom: "Brother Zheng, Xiao Jia keeps running upstairs for some reason! We are on the 14th floor now, and I just caught him... Xiao Jia! What are you doing?! Are you crazy!"
The sound in the intercom suddenly became chaotic, followed by the sound of something heavy falling.
"Acheng?" Li Zheng held the walkie-talkie and shouted behind him, leading several other team members to rush upstairs.
Chen Ge and Lao Wu also quickly chased after him. They ran to the 14th floor and saw Ah Cheng lying on the ground with his face covered, blood oozing from between his fingers.
"Old Wu! You two should take Ah Cheng down immediately."
"Brother Zheng, I'm fine. Go find Xiao Jia right away. He looks like he's possessed by a demon!"
Li Zheng took Acheng's hand away and took a look. His cheek was bitten and there was a wound on the back of his hand.
"Is that phone in Xiao Jia's possession?" Chen Ge was the only one who was relatively calm among all the people: "Did you two read the information on the phone?"
"I didn't look at it. Xiao Jia took two glances at the phone when he put it into the evidence bag." Acheng answered truthfully.
"Sure enough, it's related to that message." Chen Ge recalled the content of the message, which was very strange. He thought to himself: "Dad killed us and left us on the stairs. The first two sentences of the message should be hinting at the stairs, but what does it mean for the older brother and younger brother to be one after the other? And why did we have to look for them in the end?"
While Chen Ge was thinking, Li Zheng had already led his men to the fifteenth floor.
"Old Wu, you stay here and look after Xiao Jia. I'll go up and take a look." Chen Ge didn't give Old Wu a chance to speak and ran up directly.
"The first investigator who saw the message fell into a coma, while the second investigator, Xiao Jia, seemed to be crazy. Why are the symptoms different?"
Li Zheng and the others did not dare to separate, as they were afraid of missing the floor where Xiao Jia was, so they chased up the stairs. Chen Ge did not have this concern. After he ran to the 15th floor, he walked to the elevator.
After waiting for the elevator door to open, he directly pressed the button for the 23rd floor. He planned to go to the most dangerous floor, after all, Xiao Gu mentioned this floor on the phone.
"I hope Xiao Gu is okay."
The elevator door slowly closed, and Chen Ge placed his finger on the switch of the repeater.
If he came alone, he might have been caught in the unknown tactics of the Ghost Story Association. Unfortunately, this time, he came with the police, so he had the advantage in numbers.
The numbers on the display kept changing, and when the elevator reached the twenty-first floor, Chen Ge's phone suddenly vibrated.
He swiped the screen and unexpectedly it was a message from Xiao Gu's phone.
"Are you there?"
The moment he saw the message, Chen Ge replied to him.
"Tell me your location, I'll come find you now."
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