Chapter 181 Home

Zhou Ze’s body gradually relaxed, his forehead no longer so tense, the beads of sweat ceasing their frantic descent.

Those who have undergone half-body anesthesia should have a similar feeling: the part of you that was operated on loses sensation, you can't feel pain, but when the doctor cuts into you, you have a vague perception, not pain, but a strange and uncomfortable sensation.

Zhou Ze slowly calmed down.

Even though that woman was still wrapped around him, calling him "husband,"

Even though the two children were still disemboweling him, rummaging through his insides.

Zhou Ze had specifically discussed matters regarding similar illusory realms with the little loli. The little loli had said that illusory realms were low-level existences, with more advanced ones being called barriers. When encountering an illusory realm, maintaining one's composure was the most important thing.

Only when a person is calm can their eyes truly see things. Illusory realms are designed to stimulate various emotions by creating all kinds of scenarios.

The most common tactic is for your deceased wife or parents to appear and call out to you right after they’ve died, or for you to relive some past setback.

The little loli also said that in Hell, there is a specific layer where the punishment is to make the guilty endlessly relive their most painful and unwillingly-remembered day, without end or conclusion.

From deep breaths to slowing down his breathing rhythm,

Zhou Ze forgot about the woman behind him and the two children in front of him.

Gradually, he began to transcend it.

Boss Zhou had experienced many illusory realms. He even possessed a Yin-Yang Record, which was the pinnacle of illusory techniques.

After experiencing something enough times, you become numb to it, indifferent.

Zhou Ze slowly stood up and walked out.

He saw a man being embraced by a woman, two children tearing at the contents of his belly.

The man was unfamiliar; Zhou Ze had never seen him before, and he didn't resemble him.

The surrounding background had a crude, fake feel, somewhat like a stage play with a painted backdrop representing a "forest." Most of it relied on the audience's imagination.

Zhou Ze stood in place and watched intently for a while.

Observing their movements, expressions, postures, and behavior.

He thought,

It’s actually quite interesting.

But this illusory realm is a bit special; it even allows for a "third-party" perspective.

After watching for a while, he found it uninteresting.

Zhou Ze took a step back,

Yawned,

And lightly scratched his fingernails on the nearby door panel, creating a low, dull sound.

Slowly,

The sound began to grow louder,

Becoming more and more ear-piercing.

The sound was like sharp knives, piercing through everything around him. Finally, the scene and background before him began to twist and dissipate.

In the air,

A scent of incense ash permeated.

Stretching, Zhou Ze looked down at his belly, which was, of course, intact.

His gaze shifted to the other side, where Zhang Yanfeng was sitting on the old Daoist on the floor, as if riding a horse.

The old Daoist was pinned beneath him, foam starting to appear at the corners of his mouth.

Zhou Ze walked over and lightly pricked Zhang Yanfeng with his fingernail. Zhang Yanfeng shuddered, the loving expression on his face gradually disappearing. He shook his head and immediately stood up when he saw the person beneath him.

Following suit, Zhou Ze pricked the old Daoist, who weakly opened his eyes. When he saw Zhang Yanfeng, he trembled. When he saw Zhou Ze, he was moved to the point of tears.

"Boss..."

Baby was ridden,

Baby felt wronged.

"I'm sorry, old brother."

Zhang Yanfeng was also embarrassed and helped the old Daoist up.

Fortunately, Zhang Yanfeng was riding a carousel horse, not galloping across the prairie. If it had been the latter, it would be difficult to say if the old Daoist would have survived.

The three men sat down on the sofa in the first-floor living room.

The old Daoist had suffered a lot physically, but his mental state was fine. He had seen a lot, having worked for two generations of ghost bosses and having weathered many storms.

On the other hand, Zhang Yanfeng still seemed to be in a daze. Indeed, for him, what he had experienced today was another shattering of his worldview on top of the iron chain incident.

Zhou Ze looked at his right hand.

His hand,

Was his artistic signature.

Especially his fingernails; no matter how skilled the nail salon technician, they couldn't create such a feeling.

At the fingertips, a wisp of black mist was swirling around. Palm down, Zhou Ze plunged his fingernails into the floor.

The black mist began to spread in all directions. This was Zhou Ze’s method for finding ghosts.

Some ghosts are good at hiding, so much so that even ghost messengers have a hard time finding them. This method is extremely effective against ghosts and even demons.

However,

This time,

It didn't seem to work.

The black mist continued to hover, and even after spreading out, it would all swirl back together in a short while.

After Zhou Ze began using his fingernails to find ghosts, the old Daoist braced himself. This time, he vowed that if something happened, he would jump directly onto his boss.

He absolutely couldn't let that police officer hug him again.

He was a professional at catching criminals, but when it came to catching ghosts, the boss was more reliable.

Zhou Ze shook his head and retracted his fingernails with some confusion. He gently stroked the palm of his right hand with his left, and said:

"There's nothing wrong with this house."

Yes,

If there was something here, it would be impossible not to sense it at all.

"What? Boss, are you running a fever?

Nothing wrong?

If there's nothing wrong, what happened to us earlier?"

Zhou Ze lit a cigarette and exhaled a smoke ring, "I experienced that scene too. It was a bit terrifying."

"A bit terrifying? It was more than a bit."

As the old Daoist spoke, he gave Zhang Yanfeng a resentful look.

His old bones had almost been crushed to death.

"Terrifying is terrifying, and bizarre is bizarre, but in reality, I didn't detect any ghostly aura, nor any demonic energy."

"Then what is it?"

"I don't know." Zhou Ze shrugged. "There are many supernatural things in this world. Maybe this villa is causing this phenomenon for some other reason."

Zhang Yanfeng silently lowered his head and scratched his hair.

"I saw a carousel. I saw my sister and her two children."

"I saw it too." The old Daoist chimed in, "Oh, and a huge Alaskan Malamute!"

"Yeah, in fact, although I didn't see a carousel, I did see a woman with two kids, but I didn't see any dog."

"Dog?"

At first, Zhang Yanfeng didn't react when the old Daoist said "dog," but when Zhou Ze mentioned "dog" again, Zhang Yanfeng finally woke up. As if he had thought of something, he took out his phone, opened his photo album, pointed to a photo, and asked the old Daoist:

"Is this the dog?"

The old Daoist leaned in for a look and shook his head, "That's a small Alaskan Malamute. The one I saw was a behemoth."

"A behemoth?" Zhang Yanfeng narrowed his eyes.

Zhou Ze also fell into thought. "The implication is that the things that appeared in the two scenes we saw all exist in reality.

The doll must have been in the house before.

The dog was from childhood, but it's still a dog, still an Alaskan Malamute.

Carousel... Actually, when you came in, did you notice that there was a small carousel in the flowerbed by the entrance? The kind that someone has to push, a small toy for children to sit on and play with. It can't compare to the ones in amusement parks, but it's there.

Everything that appears in the scene actually originates from real life."

"Boss, what are you thinking? Just say it."

"The problem is, I still haven't thought of anything."

Zhou Ze flicked his ashes and said helplessly:

"This is so troublesome. I even want to go back and advise Yingying to sell this house. It's too troublesome to live in."

"Is this a dream?" Zhang Yanfeng suddenly said, "Because dreams are projections of reality."

"A dream?" Zhou Ze smiled. "It's not a dream."

A low-level illusory realm couldn't possibly let him fall asleep. Unless Bai Yingying was by his side, Boss Zhou couldn't fall asleep even if he took sleeping pills like crazy. If he couldn't sleep, there was no point in talking about dreaming.

"It's not a dream, but it's a projection of reality. What else could it be?"

Zhang Yanfeng was still muttering to himself.

"I said, old brother, everyone has their own expertise. Don't get involved. This matter is getting more and more dangerous. Don't come here alone in the future. Anyway, this house has been sold to my boss, right?"

The old Daoist was saying this out of kindness.

Although Zhang Yanfeng had almost sat him to death just now, the old Daoist still recognized him as a good police officer. As ordinary people, everyone still loves good police officers.

Just then, Zhou Ze's phone rang. It was actually a call from Bai Yingying.

"Hello."

"Waaah,

Boss, where are you?"

"Investigating a case with the police."

"Oh, the boss is working so hard."

"What's the matter?"

"It's like this. Today, when I was organizing the property... Oh no, when I was cleaning the house, I found the file that you told me to hide the other day so you wouldn't see it."

"Oh." Zhou Ze responded. "So?"

Zhou Ze originally thought that Bai Yingying would say that the location of the murder in the file was the villa she had just bought.

But Zhou Ze was wrong.

Bai Yingying had no concept of this at all. She had bought too many houses. She only remembered the number. If she didn't check the property certificate, she wouldn't know where her house was.

"Boss, I recognize the deceased in this file."

"Recognize?"

Zhou Ze frowned.

"Yeah, I see her every day when I clean the bookstore."

She's in the bookstore?

"What exactly do you mean?"

If the woman's spirit was in the bookstore, was Zhou Ze blind? How could he not see her?

"It's really in the bookstore. She cleans the bookshelves every day. There's a row specifically for horror and suspense novels. I've seen her name.

Her name is Zhang Tianquan. Her pen name is even more hilarious, 'Lonely Second Sister-in-Law.'

Boss, every time I clean the bookshelves and see this book, I laugh until my stomach hurts."

"'Lonely Second Sister-in-Law' is your sister..." Zhou Ze looked at Zhang Yanfeng. "No, it's Zhang Tianquan, it's..."

"It's my sister's name."

Zhou Ze nodded and asked, "Yingying, what's the name of her book?"

Zhang Yanfeng had said before that his sister usually stayed at home to take care of her children and write novels, but Zhou Ze didn't expect that she had actually published a book.

"The title,

Is,

*My Beloved Family*,

But the title is printed in blood-red font."