“I shouldn’t get ahead of myself. The landlord is suspicious, but that doesn’t mean he’s really the murderer.” Chen Ge scratched his head and said to himself, “Perhaps I should talk to some of the tenants for more details.”
Since Chen Ge arrived at the apartment, he had seen four different individuals: the woman hiding behind the door; Wang Qi, the person who pasted those missing person notices all over the place; the recalcitrant landlord; and the old man in the wheelchair.
“The old man stays with the landlord, so speaking to him is out of the question. The lady on the first floor weirds me out, so the only remaining candidate is Wang Qi. He should know some things about this apartment.” Chen Ge placed the bottle in the room, locked the door behind him and went downstairs.
The voice-activated light came on, giving Chen Ge enough light to see Wang Qi hugging the stack of notices, walking down the corridor. He slipped a notice under each door, regardless of whether they were occupied or not. This naturally attracted Chen Ge’s attention. Normally, missing person notices were posted at places with high traffic, but this man personally focused on these apartments, which seemed quite deserted.
Chen Ge followed behind Wang Qi quietly. It was not until Wang Qi finished slipping the last notice under the door that he said, “Brother, I can understand your feeling of having a loved one vanish, but you should stay strong and not do this kind of meaningless action to torture yourself.”
Wang Qi slowly turned around up hearing Chen Ge’s voice. His clouded pupils seemed unable to find a point to focus on. “Understand? None of you will ever understand how I feel, nor have I asked for your understanding…”
Chen Ge did not waste time going down this rabbit hole with him. He grabbed his phone and searched for the police report he made when his parents disappeared several months ago. “I’m not lying to you. My parents suddenly disappeared half a year ago, and at the beginning, I was feeling down in the dumps, too.”
“Do you mind telling me your story? Considering we’re somewhat in the same boat, perhaps I can help you,” Chen Ge said. Weirdly enough, he found himself meaning what he said.
Wang Qi hesitated. Perhaps recalling that Chen Ge had helped him pick up his notice earlier, his gaze that fell on Chen Ge softened. “Thank you, but you won’t be able to help me. You’re a nice young man, so listen to my advice, run away while you still can. Don’t try to spend a night here!”
“I’ve already paid. You’ll have to give me a more convincing reason if you want me to pack up and leave.” Chen Ge’s purpose there was to complete the Trial Mission. If he surrendered, he would lose the opportunity to unlock the Murder by Midnight scenario forever.
“Is your life more important or your money?” Wang Qi looked about them, and after making sure there was no peeping eyes, he lowered his voice to say, “Everyone here knows there have been murders in this building before.”
“I’ve heard a thing or two about that, but I failed to find any information on it on the internet; I suspect that’s merely a rumor,” Chen Ge replied.
“Previously, this building was called Fu An Apartments; it was after the incident that the name changed to Ping An Apartments. The murders were big news at the time, and until now, they haven’t been solved. The will of the dead hasn’t been appeased, so they appear at their place of death every day at midnight,” Wang Qi said. It sounded like he really believed it.
“You still believe ghost stories like that at an age like ours?” Chen Ge smiled awkwardly. Internally, he was incredibly nervous because he knew better than anyone how real the other world was. If possible, he really did not want to have any more encounters with these spirits.
“To be honest, I don’t really know. In fact, I had not even heard of this apartment before her disappearance. I got the place’s name from the police; they told me it was at this place that all clues were lost.” Wang Qi’s hands relaxed, and several strands of hair hung listlessly between his fingers. “I’ve run out of ideas, and that’s why I moved in here.”
“Then, have you discovered anything?”
Wang Qi’s lips fell open, but before he could say anything, he suddenly stopped himself. Instead, he reached into his pocket to pull out his phone to type something on it.
Chen Ge was dumbfounded reading the typed message; he had not expected this development. “Brother, a kidnapping and a disappearance are two very different thing.”
Wang Qi shushed Chen Ge, telling him to be quiet. He turned his back toward the corridor and flipped his phone over to show Chen Ge. Chen Ge saw the messages in the phone inbox, and his eyes slowly widened with shock.