Chapter 132: When the Living and Dead Switch—

Chapter 132: When the Living and Dead Switch—

Upon unzipping the black backpack, the first items Zhong Yi noticed were two articles of clothing.

During the last meeting when Grandfather Zhong and the police discussed investigating the hot spring hotel, Zhong Yi was present. He had helped his grandfather, Grandfather Zhong, pack some essentials.

In comparison to the strict hierarchical traditions of the Bai family, the daily interactions within the Zhong family were relatively normal.

Although remnants of their family traditions meant their bond wasn't as warm as typical families, it was common for a grandson to help his grandfather pack for a trip.

Recognizing them instantly, Zhong Yi saw the knitted vest he had packed for his grandfather, Grandfather Zhong. He had added extra clothing, fearing the elderly man might get cold.

When Grandfather Zhong left the hot spring hotel, he didn't take any luggage with him. He had dashed out of the hotel alone and collapsed just outside the entrance.

It was evident that the situation was dire at the time. It was already fortunate for him to have survived, let alone take anything with him.

Strangely, when the police later investigated the hotel room, they couldn't find Master Zhong's luggage. Moreover, the luggage of the other three who entered with Master Zhong was also missing. It seems all of it ended up here.

Of course, since Master Zhong had his notebook with him, it wasn’t lost like the other items.

"Did the police ever search this room?"

Zhong Yi thought hard but couldn't remember. Although he had been fully involved in the police investigation, there were too many rooms in the hot spring hotel, and the area was vast. He couldn't possibly remember every detail, especially the specifics of places where nothing significant was found.

Deciding it was fruitless to recall, he took out Master Zhong's woolen vest. Like the black bag, the vest was damp as if it had just been pulled from the water. However, since the bag was placed amidst towels wrapped in plastic, it had mostly retained its moisture. It was impossible to determine how long it had been wet.

Underneath the woolen vest were various items: a phone, two swimsuits, a bagua mirror, a brush, and what appeared to be soaked talisman papers.

Officer Li wouldn't carry these items. Aside from his phone, he would only have a protective amulet. Zhong Yi, having collaborated with Officer Li many times, knew this.

So, these items weren't Officer Li's. Zhong Yi recognized some as belonging to Old Hu and some to Uncle Shan. But why these items were in Officer Li's bag was a mystery, just like why the bag was found wet.

After taking everything out, Zhong Yi attempted to turn on the phone. He wasn't optimistic, given its soaked state, but to his surprise, the screen lit up, only to dim again with a low-battery warning.

This unexpected event made Zhong Yi almost jump. He quickly wrapped the phone with a towel to dry it. Searching the room, he found a socket and retrieved a charging cable from his spacious coat.

Always one to be prepared, Zhong Yi had a power bank, but it was damaged when it fell into the hot spring the previous night. The charging cable, however, was still functional.

While the phone was charging, Zhong Yi didn't idle. Earlier, when he had pulled out a towel, he noticed something behind the pile. After moving all the towels, he gasped at the sight before him.

It looked like a junkyard or perhaps a thrift store clearance section. Every item appeared to have been fished out of the water, all covered in moisture.

He recognized many of the items as the personal belongings of Uncle Shan or Old Hu. There were also things he didn't recognize, such as women's items, hinting that the pile contained more than just the possessions of those he knew.

Without hesitation, Zhong Yi dived into the pile. He quickly found two notebooks belonging to Uncle Shan and Old Hu.

Both notebooks had been waterlogged, sticking together. When Zhong Yi tried to open them, some pages tore, and some writing had become illegible. He could only make out a few fragments of sentences.

He first opened Old Hu's notebook:

"Today... Shan is acting odd. I suspect he isn't the real Shan."

……

……

Xiao Li was busy cleaning the hotel. When did he start doing this...?

……

……

The water... It's... odd.

Is it me?"

Uncle Shan's notes are even more severely damaged.

"Don't...

...Old Hu...

It wasn't the ghost... that killed...

You're alive!

You...

You're alive!!

You're still alive!!!"

The last few lines were scrawled haphazardly, revealing a frenzied state of mind, immediately raising doubts about the sanity of the writer.

Zhong Yi felt as if he'd been struck with a rod, frozen in place. It took him several seconds to look down again at the writing. He knew these were Uncle Shan's notes meant for his own eyes. Those last erratic lines felt as if the missing Uncle Shan was screaming at him with all his might.

"Ding-ling"

In the silent storage room, the sound of a phone turning on startled Zhong Yi. He turned to see the slowly brightening screen of the phone after it charged, and a thought struck him.

If he became a ghost, could the charging cable he carried still charge his phone?

Holding the notebook, he slowly stood up from the pile of clutter, walked over to the socket, and picked up the phone.

Officer Xiao Li wasn't accustomed to jotting down notes. This practice was a family tradition, cultivated to record encounters with spirits and apparitions.

Would Officer Xiao Li leave messages on his phone instead?

Zhong Yi planned to comb through the mobile phone but stumbled at the first step.

— He didn't know the unlock password.

Faced with the device, Zhong Yi felt at a loss. He believed Officer Xiao Li might have left crucial information within. But if he couldn't access it, it was as if there was no message at all.

Zhong Yi began a silent vigil before the phone, attempting all means he knew to unlock it, including secret passcodes and emergency call modes, but to no avail.

After all his unsuccessful attempts, hunger struck. He grabbed two tangerines from a box and ate them, contemplating his next move.

As Zhong Yi pondered over the locked phone, Chi Shen had already reached the administrative building. Soon, he found the medical room, though it was more of a security room with a stock of common medicines than a true medical facility.

Chi Shen tossed the manager onto a chair and started ransacking the room.

The manager, startled by Chi Shen's sudden actions, wanted to escape the moment he was thrown into the chair. However, Chi Shen was quick to bind him to the rotating chair the moment he showed a hint of fleeing.

"That's why patients should behave," Chi Shen remarked.

Gleefully, Chi Shen collected some alcohol, bandages, and adhesive band-aids, preparing to administer first aid to the manager with a kind demeanor.

"What are you doing?!" The manager's usual grin vanished, and with a near-teary voice he exclaimed, "You can't do this to me! Get off, get off!"

"Oh?" Chi Shen poured alcohol onto a bandage with interest. "You seem quite scared of this?"

"No, it's just... I'm allergic to alcohol," the manager stammered, sweat trickling down his forehead, clearly wanting to distance himself from the liquid.

Chi Shen pondered momentarily, playfully twirling the alcohol bottle. Without warning, he pressed the alcohol-soaked cloth onto the manager's head.

"Ah—!" The manager let out a shrill cry akin to a pig being slaughtered, "Don't! Take it off! Don't touch me with it—"

Unfazed, Chi Shen continued, "The note mentioned, after a hot spring bath, one shouldn't drink water but alcohol, right?"

"What? Drink what?" the manager's face turned ghostly pale, but he honed in on the query.

"Why are you so wary of alcohol? Is it because alcohol disinfects and the... entities inside you don't want to be exterminated?"

"What? What are you talking about?" The manager, panic evident in his eyes, exclaimed, "I'm dead. How can there be anything inside me—"

Seeing the manager utter the word "dead," Chi Shen chuckled, "Indeed, you are dead."

With that, Chi Shen poured the entire bottle of alcohol over the manager's head.

The manager's screams intensified. Simultaneously, lumps the size of fingers began to bubble up from his scalp, writhing more violently with each of his louder shrieks.

Chi Shen tilted his head slightly. In his hand, he held a fruit knife, or perhaps it was better described as a peeler, which he'd taken from the kitchen the previous night. He raised the blade and delicately made an incision on the manager's scalp.

Blood dripped down the black hair strands. From beneath the scalp, a brown thread-like creature emerged, darting towards Chi Shen, as if attempting to burrow into him.

"As I suspected, you believe you're a ghost, but you aren't."

"You're human."

"True ghosts don't realize they've died."