Thriller Zone: From the Mental Hospital to the Ghostly World

Chapter 389 [Domain·Drowning] Huang Family Noodle Shop (2)

Zheng Meng spotted that dark red color at a glance.

"Zhang Wenxuan's schoolbag is here... If we calculate the time, she went home last night and hid the red schoolbag here?"

She followed Wan Chengzhong to the back of the noodle shop and sure enough, she saw a series of shallow footprints embedded in the soil. The marks were soft to the touch, which proved that Huang Ying had come over in the last few days.

The footprint is a normal women's size.

It's hard to tell if it's a mark from Huang Ying's sandals, but this is Huang Ying's home. Who else would come here besides her?

Her reason for returning was easy to guess: she took her schoolbag away from school and hid it.

"Zhang Wenxuan's schoolbag is definitely very important for this mission!"

Zheng Meng looked slightly excited. They had lost their schoolbags yesterday, but found them today. It was as if Lady Luck was on their side.

Wan Chengzhong smiled but didn't say anything. He knew that Zheng Meng must have mistaken the red backpack for the strange object in the domain this time.

Perhaps it is, perhaps it isn't...

However, Wan Chengzhong believes that whether it can actually restrain ghosts is still debatable.

"Let's go."

Wan Chengzhong gestured for Zheng Meng to jump into the window: "Let's go upstairs and take the schoolbag."

"Be careful, try not to let those downstairs hear."

Zheng Meng gave him a meaningful look and said, "Hmm."

The two sneaked into the back room, looked around, and found that there was nothing on the back of the first floor except for a staircase leading upstairs.

You can hear Chen Ji explaining the compensation to the old man in the noodle shop ahead.

After climbing the stairs, you're greeted by a small living room, the ambiance even worse than a noodle shop...

Huang Ying's house was very dirty, and there was a strong smell of cat urine in the air.

"Is her grandma still upstairs?" Zheng Meng whispered. "Won't she find out about us?"

"They're clearly still asleep..."

Wan Chengzhong said helplessly, "The noodle shop only opens at noon."

Before entering the noodle shop, he noticed a sticker next to the roller shutter door that showed the opening hours: noon to 9 pm.

Upon opening the door, what came into view was not Huang Ying's bedroom, but a place resembling a storage room, filled with snakeskin bags and enzyme barrels; a small table was placed in the far corner.

This appears to be where Huang Ying was studying.

There is another door behind the storage room.

"Huang Ying's grandparents partitioned off the storage room to make it her bedroom."

Zheng Meng said thoughtfully, "No wonder we can see the wall at the end of her room from the first floor; her bedroom is too small."

"For a family like this, it's already a blessing to even give her a bedroom to live in."

Wan Chengzhong spoke absentmindedly, not entering the room immediately, but glancing at the table instead.

Textbooks and scraps of draft paper were scattered on it.

Zheng Meng didn't notice that he leaned almost imperceptibly towards the table. She sniffed around, but couldn't help herself and covered her nose.

"Brother Zhong, did you see that he keeps a cat?"

Wan Chengzhong raised his head, put his clenched hands into his pockets, and shook his head.

"Then why do I always smell a pungent odor?" Zheng Meng's expression changed slightly. Having entered the domain so many times, she no longer believed in illusions or harbored any wishful thinking.

"Have you noticed that the smell gets stronger as soon as we go up to the second floor?"

And the root of the flavor....

It seemed to have come from Huang Ying's room, inside the storage room.

“I think we shouldn’t search,” Zheng Meng said again, taking a step back. “My intuition tells me there’s something wrong with the house.”

But to her surprise, when she turned around, she saw Wan Chengzhong's expressionless face.

"No."

Wan Chengzhong said stiffly, "The red schoolbag is inside. If you don't take it this time, you'll never have another chance."

"and....."

His tone softened slightly, and he turned the doorknob, gesturing for Zheng Meng to come and see for herself.

"The door was locked from the outside."

Zheng Meng's heart skipped a beat. She immediately reached out to touch it, and sure enough, the door wouldn't turn at all!

But they had only been inside for less than two minutes!

Who locked the door?

She didn't hear the sound of someone going up the stairs at all!

Could it be that...

"Huang Ying's grandparents have problems."

Zheng Meng murmured in disbelief, "It was her grandma who locked the door from the outside, and she found out we came in!"

A thought flashed through her mind in an instant: to create a commotion and attract the attention of those below.

But she immediately rejected the idea, because if it really was Grandma who locked the door, how could Grandpa not know?

Moreover, putting aside whether Chen Ji and Li Yinghe will help them, the first person to be attracted will definitely be the grandfather on the first floor.

“Chen Ji and I have a grudge,” Wan Chengzhong said bluntly. “There is absolutely no way he would come to save us.”

"Now what?"

Zheng Meng frowned and patted her pockets, but her expression instantly darkened.

Her strange object... is of no help now.

"Go straight inside."

Wan Chengzhong pondered for a moment before saying, "The way out is right in the middle of the dead end. Let's try to get out through the window."

"What if Huang Ying is inside?"

Zheng Meng was unwilling to go in. Although Huang Ying's last appearance had not harmed them, she was still a ghost, and it was only a matter of time before she killed someone.

So many near-death experiences in the domain...

Zheng Meng had realized something long ago.

Even the kindest person, the most innocent child, once they become a ghost, carries with them an innate malice.

That's their instinct.

"Huang Ying is gone!" Wan Chengzhong said impatiently, "Do you still want to escape?"

After saying that, he ignored Zheng Meng, opened the door to Huang Ying's bedroom a crack, and slipped inside.

Zheng Meng breathed a sigh of relief, a glint of shrewdness flashing in her eyes.

Huang Ying has left, but who knows if going into the house will violate her taboos?

She didn't move, but took two more steps back, listening to the sounds inside... but the next second...

Suddenly, Zheng Meng's vision blurred!

She was suddenly pulled into Huang Ying's bedroom by a hand—

At the same time, Wan Chengzhong, holding a small doll, rushed out of the door and slammed it shut!

Zheng Meng's heart started pounding, and she broke out in a cold sweat. She slammed her body against the door!

The door was firmly shut by the people outside.

Zheng Meng heard Wan Chengzhong panting in pain, suffering the side effects of using the strange artifact... This was all planned in advance!

Was that door really locked by Grandma Huang Ying?

Or......

but why?

Why did he insist on going inside?

Just for... that red backpack?

At this time.

Zheng Meng suddenly heard a light rustling sound behind her.

It's like the wind blowing through the leaves, or like the hem of someone's skirt, gently swaying...

However, Huang Ying's bedroom window was closed.

Zheng Meng slowly turned her head, and the first thing she saw was the red certificate of merit on the wall.

Then she saw two puddles on the ground, like urine left by someone who had lost control of their bladder.

Finally, she saw that dark red color next to the wardrobe.

Long, soft, like a nightgown.

Floating in the air.

That wasn't a red schoolbag at all.

It was a corner of a dark red nightgown.

Zheng Meng's legs went weak instantly. Her face turned deathly pale, and her lips trembled as she stared at the hanging corpse in mid-air.

Above the rope, an elderly woman with gray hair stared at Zheng Meng, grinned, and revealed the few teeth she had left in her mouth, her wrinkles all squeezed together.

She is Huang Ying's grandmother.

There was also a lasso beside her.

Zheng Meng suddenly remembered the very beginning...

Before Huang Ying's grandfather came down, there was a sound coming from upstairs, like something falling to the ground.

Bang.