Chapter 2220: Love Trapped in the Cycle of Fate 19

The 8th floor looks even more dilapidated.

It seems large-scale destruction once occurred here; the walls, light tubes, and safety facilities within the corridors and hallways, as far as the eye can see, were destroyed beyond repair.

With the erosion of time, it has become shocking to behold.

Xu Yi glanced down the corridor a few times, astonished, "I haven't come up to look yet; how did it get so ruined?"

"Chenzi, look here."

Shao Huai was meticulous at the critical moment; his keen eyes spotted a clear line of dust‑sweeping traces on the side of the corridor, running from beside the 801 door to 805 and ending at 806.

Not only that.

Near the edge of the 806 doorframe, Jin Chen's gaze swept over and he found several spots that had been polished.

He stepped back a few steps, "This place looks as if blood had been splashed here."

Xie Guan: "I've come up here a few times too, and I also feel that 806 resembles a former murder scene, and…"

"Chen Bo has a whole set of keys for the floor; I've gotten hold of them, except for 806."

Xie Guan reached out to fiddle with that iron lock, then lifted his gaze to the top of the door.

"There are five locks here."

【That's far too simple; it can't hold back your eager-to-try skills, Host.】

The eager-to-try Jin Chen pressed it back.

Jin Chen returned to the corridor, rummaged through the pile of junk and found some wire used for zip ties, casually picked up a few, pinched them, and stuffed them into his pocket.

Two minutes later, the main gate of 806 opened for the four of them.

Xu Yi exclaimed, "This is practically a lock king incarnate."

Even a professional locksmith couldn't be this fast.

As the door was pushed open, a cloud of dust flooded the room, carrying the uncleaned bloody smell and the rotten, damp stench.

Even as the door was pushed, large chunks of wall plaster fell from the ceiling; Jin Chen, quick‑eyed and quick‑handed, pulled Xie Guan back behind him and raised his hand to shield him.

Xie Guan only felt a flash before his eyes, and instantly smelled a dry, warm scent.

He slightly tilted his head, and unconsciously his fingertips tightened the cuff of his sleeve.

"Fuck…"

Shao Huai faced the falling dust head‑on, choked and coughed repeatedly, and Xu Yi pulled him back a step.

Xu Yi: "This place has been unoccupied for too long; an empty house ages quickly."

As Xie Guan had previously guessed, the interior of 806 had been cleaned up so thoroughly that almost no clues remained; even knowing it was a murder scene would be of little use.

Even the wall markings that looked like some kind of graffiti had been roughly polished clean.

Xu Yi, however, had a different discovery.

"This place seems…"

Xu Yi hissed, "It seems some kind of ashes‑placement ritual was performed here, but it's not common where we are."

Having only recently graduated from mortuary science, Xu Yi's knowledge hadn't completely faded; after wandering around the room a few times, he became certain.

"If I'm not mistaken, the bedroom cabinet is where the ashes were finally placed."

Jin Chen is very proactive; in an instant he pried open the iron lock on the cabinet's exterior and slid the door open.

In the dim light, a black box sat centered at the top of the cabinet, covered with a triangular scarf, making one dare not look directly at it.

Shao Huai: "... How could there be ashes here? Isn't it…"

Shao Huai abruptly stopped speaking, cautiously glancing at Xie Guan.

Xie Guan calmly shook his head, "No."

"My parents' ashes I personally collected; they wouldn't appear here."

Shao Huai let out a long breath, "Then that's good."

Xu Yi suddenly exclaimed, "Jin Chen, can you move this cabinet? Move it out."

"Sure."

Jin Chen replied offhandedly and shifted the whole cabinet outward.

Immediately he paused slightly, "Yo, there's still something here."

Behind the cabinet lay another world: a small offering niche carved into the wall.

Xu Yi's guess was confirmed, yet it turned out to be rather complicated.

Shao Huai hurriedly asked, "What's wrong?"

"In some places, such placement means the whole house is treated as a coffin, and moreover superstitious methods are used…"

Xu Yi picked up a half‑burned incense stick from the ground, his brows almost knotting together.

"How strange; this is two completely opposing ritual practices. On one hand, they want to press the dead inside the house, believing in superstitious rites that this can prevent those who died violently from seeking vengeance."

"But here there is also… a sacrificial worship practice, in which the entire apartment's occupants are taken as offerings to appease the slain; if the one conducting the worship is extremely zealous, they might actually kill, which is utterly brutal."

Jin Chen raised an eyebrow, "Is the latter sacrificial practice obvious?"

"Not obvious; I also read about it before, and only noticed it after you moved the cabinet." Xu Yi pondered, "Logically, the former—who wants to press the dead down—wouldn't dare move the cabinet."

Jin Chen contemplated, lowered his gaze, and hooked a finger with Xie Guan's, "Back then, in that murder case, did you find any information?"

Xie Guan's fingertips curled, and instead they hooked even tighter.

"The case was suppressed tightly; the only thing uncovered was that the police at the time ruled it as revenge‑motivated murder, premeditated, and that the perpetrator had lain in wait in this building beforehand."

Since the murderer has never been found, that's why he feels it might be related to the landlord, prompting him to move here.

"Could it be…" Jin Chen quietly shifted his position, angling the cabinet more conspicuously.

"The one who died by sacrificial rites was the murderer back then; the one who wants to make the whole apartment's people offerings is the current murderer."

While the three beside him pondered, Jin Chen added, "Chen Bo frequently goes in and out of the 8th floor and has never moved the cabinet, so he's probably not the latter; as for whether he's the former…"

Xie Guan frowned, understanding Jin Chen's meaning.

Could it be… that all the current victims are the perpetrators of the first murder case?

Shao Huai, however, shook his head. 'Eh… if that's the case, Song Gong might be possible, but Zhou Jin… could this kid also be the murderer? Does he have the guts?'

The honest man Xu Yi had already been infected. 'Zhou Jin, wasn't he tied up by us? We'll interrogate him later.'

The proposal passed with three votes.

Ling Gun Gun, who was staring at the monitor, let out a cry and appeared.

【Host, run fast, you're going to be surrounded and attacked!】

——

Xu Yi and Shao Huai hurried down the stairs of the fourth floor, when they were called out by Uncle Wang holding a flashlight.

'You two youngsters, have you seen Song Gong and Old Chen?'

Sure enough, they came to look for someone.

Shao Huai followed Uncle Wang's gaze backward, and his heart suddenly jumped.

How did so many people come?

Uncle Wang and Aunt Li, the couple, needless to say, seemed to have a deep friendship with Uncle Chen; Zhao Chunmei and Granny Chen were also there… perhaps they just wanted to find Song Gong to fix something.

But Han Dong and Zhao Zu were also there; these two delivery guys plus the cat-loving man didn't seem to have anything to do with these matters.

Shao Huai suddenly felt that Xie Guan's speculation was not without reason; perhaps Zhou Jin was also the perpetrator of the first murder case.

Even the little girl Duoduo from Room 603 timidly followed behind, her eyes red.

'Brother, do you know where Uncle Song is?'

Shao Huai steadied himself, 'What do you mean? Song Gong and Uncle Chen are missing?'

'I really haven't seen them today; just a moment ago I was playing chess with Xu Yi in Room 701.'

Xu Yi nodded in agreement and added, 'Could it be that they went out for something? You're rushing to look for them—what happened?'

Although they're all neighbors, logically everyone has their own affairs; Song Gong and Uncle Chen have only been missing for less than half a day, yet you're in such a hurry to find someone.

To say there's nothing suspicious—no one would believe it.