CHAPTER 1157: CHAPTER 1156: GOING TO INVESTIGATE

The last time Zhao Ruxue and Ye Qiu came over, it was a rainy day. Back then, this place was still a desolate abandoned building site, filled with wild grass and trees.

Now it’s completely different, transformed into a large construction site, looking very different from before. However, Zhao Ruxue felt that this place was just as eerie as last time, even during the day.

Now, the workers were moving all their clothes and belongings onto trucks, preparing to leave, while Zhao Ruxue dispersed her officers to investigate the missing persons here.

Very quickly, they discovered that, just as Cai Jialin had said, they couldn’t get anything out of these people anymore.

As for where the missing people had gone?

These people couldn’t be sure.

And as for the first to disappear, A-Fei and his uncle, were they really down in that deep pit? Were those two sets of bones in the pit theirs?

Since they had already been burned down to ash and taken back to their hometown by their families for burial, it couldn’t be confirmed.

Zhao Ruxue went to the security office to retrieve all the surveillance footage from there, starting from the beginning. The footage could take a long time to review, even when sped up.

...

After Ye Qiu finished his lunch at home and called Zhao Ruxue again, she was still over at the construction site.

The area was now cordoned off with police tape, no outsiders were allowed in, except for the relevant authorities and some workers who were taken back to the City Police Bureau for investigation. Another group of officers began contacting the families and even friends of the missing people to see if they had any news.

However, the main focus was definitely on the construction site because the people had disappeared from here.

And among the police personnel, apart from Zhao Ruxue, most didn’t really believe in these things, as people educated in modern times generally don’t.

So, in addition to Zhao Ruxue, more than a dozen officers stayed behind to investigate.

Once Ye Qiu confirmed Zhao Ruxue was still there, he drove over himself after lunch.

He had the time anyway, driving his Land Rover over. As he approached, dust filled the air, and the roads were bumpy, looking completely different from last time. From afar, Ye Qiu sensed that the place was already completely different.

The closer he got, the more sinister the place felt.

When Ye Qiu arrived not far from the workers’ makeshift quarters, he parked his car and saw police personnel had cordoned off the area. Ye Qiu called Zhao Ruxue, saying, "I’m near the quarters, where are you?"

"I’m at the security office, come over!"

Zhao Ruxue replied.

Ye Qiu got out of the car and found that what used to be an abandoned building overgrown with wild grass was now a developing construction site, clearly in the foundation stage.

However, now he saw that outside the quarters, it was all trash, and no one was around.

Ye Qiu walked over to the security office Zhao Ruxue mentioned and, along the way, only saw Zhao Ruxue’s colleagues, confirming that he didn’t see any other workers on site.

Arriving at the door of the security office, he knocked, pushed open the door, and went inside. He saw Zhao Ruxue and two colleagues reviewing surveillance footage.

"Ye Qiu, come take a look. Six people have disappeared here, including two security guards and four workers."

Seeing Ye Qiu arrive, Zhao Ruxue inexplicably felt much more at ease.

"This is the timing of their disappearances. We’ve reviewed the surveillance tapes, and apart from the first two whose disappearances weren’t captured well, the others were recorded."

A-Fei and his uncle also disappeared in succession, but the initial scope of the surveillance wasn’t broad, so not much was captured.

However, the disappearances of Er-Dan, Da-Hu, and the two guards were clearer, except just before they disappeared, there was nothing on tape about where they went.

Ye Qiu watched and found that these people disappeared in the early morning hours.

Ye Qiu accompanied Zhao Ruxue as they watched a lot, but they couldn’t deduce anything.

However, at night, the strange expressions of these people were obvious; they had certainly discovered something that caused it.

"There’s also the walkie-talkie recordings of the two guards; you can listen to their last conversation. But I don’t understand what they’re talking about."

"Let me listen."

Zhao Ruxue had a colleague fetch the walkie-talkie recordings of Xiao Wu and the others. After Ye Qiu played the recordings, he quickly heard that these two seemingly saw the missing people from a distance and pursued them, but then there were no more voices, just static and crackles possibly due to signal issues, or perhaps something else.

"Ye Qiu, what did you hear?"

"The guard mentioned they saw the missing people, then they went to check and finally, there were no more voices."

"Did they really see them?"

"They saw something, but it was a mirage, not real people."

"What is it exactly?"

"By a mirage, it might be an illusion, possibly even their imagination. As for those so-called people, even if they do exist, they’re not human but what you usually refer to as ghosts."

"What?"

Zhao Ruxue didn’t expect that explanation.

Her colleagues thought Ye Qiu was talking nonsense. But Ye Qiu had helped Zhao Ruxue accomplish great things several times, like when he burned that living corpse. Zhao Ruxue was very aware of that.

So, while ordinary people wouldn’t believe someone could be dead yet alive and still capable of killing, most would say it’s impossible.

But since Zhao Ruxue had witnessed it firsthand, she couldn’t help but believe.

Based on Ye Qiu’s explanation of illusions, phantoms, and ghosts, it could indeed be possible, or else how could those missing people appear and disappear when searching for them?

Clearly, something sinister was afoot here.

"Do you remember those missing hooligans?"

Back then, Ye Qiu had brutally beaten them, but upon returning, only bones were left, which made Ye Qiu feel that this ghostly place was truly unsuitable for ordinary people.

"I remember, they also disappeared without a trace."

If you include those hooligans, the number of people who went missing here exceeds twenty, because those hooligans, including the Tiger Gang leader, all disappeared.

When Ye Qiu and Zhao Ruxue came back, they only saw some bones and vehicles, which led him to conclude that these people didn’t disappear for no reason but ended up underground.