There is a trick

Chapter 148 Spring Hospital (5K, 1/1)

The car wobbled as it drove along the dilapidated asphalt road. The wild vines on the roadside were blown by the wind, shaking off their leaves.

The car's high beams illuminated a two-story building in front.

On the exterior walls of the building, the green paint has mostly peeled and faded, and the walls are covered with vines.

The fence surrounding the building was rusty and had large holes caused by human damage.

Above the two brick doorposts, the large gold-plated characters "Spring Hospital" were hung on the wrought iron door lintel. Now they were swaying in the wind, with rust corroding the gold paint, making the characters seem even more worn out by the passage of time.

Finally, Zhou Chang drove the car and stopped on the side of the road.

He pulled the handbrake and reminded the young woman in the back seat: "Beautiful lady, we have arrived."

“Thank you, Master.

The money has gone.”

The woman with a beautiful face and a pair of eye-catching long legs shook her cell phone at Zhou Chang, and the glowing screen of the phone illuminated her slender fingers.

She opened the door and stepped out of the car.

At this moment, two red flames suddenly flashed in the shadow corner of the abandoned hospital.

——Two young men walked out from the shadowy corner, smoking.

They obviously knew the passenger Zhou Chang had just picked up.

When they met, they greeted each other: "Song Jia."

"Jia Jia."

The woman called 'Song Jia' also smiled and said, "How long have you been here?
I rushed here as soon as I received a call from my leader. I hope I didn't waste your time or make you wait too long.

Have you read the information sent by the leader? "

"We've checked it out. We just got here not long ago." The young man who called Song Jia "Jia Jia" came up to the woman and nodded repeatedly, "Jia Jia, Brother Ren and I have already checked inside, and there is nothing unusual.

There are only some props left by the three anchors.

They probably use these props to perform pranks and pretend to be ghosts to gain traffic.

This place itself should not appear——"

The young man was still talking attentively to Song Jia, when Song Jia suddenly turned around to look at the car parked on the side of the road.

Her eyes showed no expression, but the young man understood what she meant instantly and stopped talking immediately.

In comparison, the man in his forties or fifties next to him seemed much calmer.

He first went to Zhou Chang's car and handed a cigarette to Zhou Chang in the driver's seat: "Master, would you like a cigarette?"

Zhou Chang doesn't smoke.

But his 'reflection body' smokes.

The smell of cigarettes in the car and the lighter and cigarette box in the glove box in front of the armrest all indicated that Zhou Chang should smoke today.

So Zhou Chang took the cigarette without hesitation, took out his lighter, lit it with a click, and held the flame in front of the middle-aged man: "Here, light it."

"thanks, thanks."

The middle-aged man half-bent his body, protected the flame with his hands, and lit the cigarette in his mouth.

A cigarette brought two people who had no connection at all closer together.

"Master, this area is not safe. It is said that there is a wanted criminal who killed a family of three nearby. He is still on the run and has not been caught yet. It's so late, you'd better go back early." The middle-aged man flicked the ash from his cigarette and spoke with a smile, saying things that no one knew whether they were true or not.

Zhou Chang also laughed and said, "You guys took the bus here, how are you going to get back later?
It might be difficult to get a taxi in this place.

I'd better give it to you——"

At this point, he suddenly stopped, closed the "DaDa" platform on his phone that was still accepting orders, logged off his account, and then turned off the camera hanging on the A-pillar. Then he said in a relaxed tone: "I'll take you to the city, and I'll still pay the original price, okay?"

Zhou Chang has never driven for an online ride-hailing car. His current behavior is actually an imitation of the various behaviors of the online ride-hailing drivers he had seen in the past.

The platform does not allow online ride-hailing drivers to accept private orders without going through the platform.

But when the orders go through the platform, the platform will deduct a lot of commission.

Therefore, when many online taxi drivers pick up passengers for their return trip, they will discuss with them to not go through the platform for this order and conduct the transaction privately.

These conversations often take place after turning off the cameras that the platform leaves on the vehicle.

The middle-aged man smiled and said nothing. Instead, he turned to look at Song Jia who was not far away and asked her, "We were in a hurry to leave today, and neither of us drove. After we finish looking at this abandoned hospital, shall we take this driver's car back?"

Song Jia glanced at Zhou Chang in the car.

She pondered for a moment, nodded, and said, "Okay."

"Then master, please wait here for a while outside. We will take your car back to the city later." Song Jia said to Zhou Chang. She did not mention that she had previously claimed that she came to Wangyingzhuang to help poor households solve their livestock problems.

As an online car-hailing driver, Zhou Chang would not meddle in other people's business and ask the other party too much. He nodded and said, "Okay!"

Song Jia no longer looked at Zhou Chang, and together with the young man and the middle-aged man, they passed through the gap in the fence and walked into the dark, abandoned hospital.

Before leaving, the middle-aged man also told Zhou Chang: "Master, if you encounter something that you think is wrong, or if we stay in there for a long time and don't come out, don't wait, just drive away first."

The man also left a phone number for Zhou Chang.

Zhou Chang took careful note of the phone call.

Based on Zhou Chang's previous conversation with Song Jia, and the attitudes vaguely revealed by the three people, Zhou Chang speculated that the work of these three people should be unusual.

There is a high probability that it is related to the detection of supernatural events.

When Song Jia talked to her boss, the way she addressed her boss and her tone of voice also made Zhou Chang feel that this should not be a makeshift troupe.

Perhaps there is a certain official background.

Zhou Chang lowered the seat back and half-lay in the car.

He looked up at the dirty roof of the car, the smoke from his mouth lingering in his sight.

After finishing the cigarette, Zhou Chang put out the butt and threw it out of the car window, then sat up in his seat, opened the sun visor and looked in the mirror.

This incarnation looks like Zhou Chang, and appears to be in his twenties.

Zhou Chang observed his features and felt that this incarnation was somewhat similar to his own.

When Zhou Chang looked in the mirror for a long time, the face in the mirror gradually became blurred, and Zhou Chang's true face appeared.

The response body is just an identity that people from that world suddenly connect to after entering the mining area.

Just a shell.

The Zhou Chang inside remained the same as before, without any change.

But this response body is not completely without cause and effect. Where does it come from?

Zhou Chang pondered over it, and he took out a wallet from his inner pocket. In addition to some banknotes and bank cards, there was indeed this identity document left in the wallet.

According to the ID, Zhou Chang's name is now "He Ju".

After writing down his current name and ID number, Zhou Chang took out another mobile phone from the junk box next to him.

"He Ju" should be using these two mobile phones to take orders and solicit passengers in rotation. There are also several charging cables plugged in the center console of the car, which shows that he is quite diligent in the online car-hailing business.

Zhou Chang didn't know the password of the phone, but he knew how to use this smartphone.

He turned the screen towards himself, and the screen was not unlocked, so he pressed his fingerprint under the screen, and the phone lit up and unlocked.

After that, Zhou Chang clicked into He Ju's address book, social platform, food delivery platform, photo album, browser and other applications in turn. He browsed the contents on the two phones in turn and quickly pieced together He Ju's simple experience in his mind:
He Ju, 24 years old, is about the same age as Zhou Chang.

His education level should be above high school, he is probably not married, and he seems to have a girlfriend.

He now lives in Yangzhuang Village, Shinan District, Baihe City.

He doesn’t have many social contacts on weekdays. Apart from contacting his girlfriend and parents on WeChat Moments, he only occasionally speaks in a few online ride-hailing driver groups.

Recently, there have been some problems in the relationship between my girlfriend and I, and we have had several big arguments over the issue of marriage gifts.

His girlfriend, who used to live with him, recently moved out of his residence.

But the two of them spent Valentine's Day together a few days ago, so they should be in a stage where they are about to break up but have not yet broken up.

Zhou Chang briefly learned about Ying Shen’s personal experience and then put the phone back where it was.

He rested one arm on the window sill and leaned sideways to look at the abandoned hospital building.

Under the dark sky, the hospital, with its outer walls covered by many vines and lush vegetation growing everywhere in the yard, does look eerie.

The architectural style of this hospital is very old and it is not very tall overall. It should be an old hospital building from the 1990s or even earlier.

There are even some red brick buildings scattered throughout the hospital.

Furthermore, it is located in an area with no people around and covered by trees and hills.

If a hospital is built in such a deserted place, the patients admitted there are unlikely to be local residents. The hospital itself should not be used by ordinary people.

Zhou Chang speculated that this hospital might have been built before the founding of the People's Republic of China and may have been used as a field hospital or a rear-area sanatorium.

As his mind turned, he wanted to release a wisp of sacrificial qi to benefit his spirit and soul, so as to observe whether there was anything abnormal in this hospital under the mixed state of sacrificial qi - however, when Zhou Chang had the thought, not a single sacrificial qi was released from himself.

This made him stunned.

He then tried several more times, using various methods to try to release a ray of feasting thoughts, but he was unsuccessful every time.

——In the current world, it seems that "Feasting Qi" does not exist.

There are all kinds of thoughts in the human body. No matter how chaotic and negative those thoughts are, they only remain at the level of "thoughts".

They will not affect reality and cannot infect all things, so the idea of feasting will have no basis for existence!
Does this situation only occur in this mining area in the current world?
Or is it exactly the same in every Yin mine?
When Zhou Chang was confused, Song Jia and three others climbed out from the hole in the fence again.

The three of them greeted Zhou Chang and got into the car.

Zhou Chang gathered his thoughts, started the car, and returned to the city along the original route.

On the way, the three of them looked relaxed and chatted in low voices.

Originally, the young man 'Shi Jue' wanted to sit in the back seat of the car with Song Jia, but Zhou Chang saw that he was showing off to the middle-aged man 'Qian Keren' who had just given him a cigarette.

Qian Keren also walked towards the passenger seat of the car with a smile.

But at this time, Song Jia opened the side door and sat in the passenger seat.

So Shi Jue could only sit in the back seat with Qian Keren.

Shi Jue leaned forward and brought up the topic of a delicious restaurant he had recently discovered. The next step should be to invite two colleagues to dinner. At this time, Zhou Chang suddenly spoke up: "Did you find anything in that abandoned hospital?
What’s wrong with this place?”

As soon as Zhou Chang finished speaking, Shi Jue in the back seat frowned and shouted, "Don't ask questions that you shouldn't ask!"

His tone was so bad probably because Zhou Chang interrupted him midway.

When Song Jia and Qian Keren heard Shi Jue's words, they both hesitated to speak.

Although Song Jia was unwilling to continue chatting with Shi Jue on the previous topic, she didn't know how to answer since the master directly asked them about the situation at the hospital.

Shi Jue refused outright. Although it was unkind, it was just the right way to deal with this sudden situation.

Hearing this, Zhou Chang glanced at the rearview mirror and said with a smile: "Don't be so angry. You didn't find anything. Maybe I can provide you with some clues..."

"What clues can you provide?" Shi Jue curled his lips with some disdain.

"The three anchors just now took my car to Spring Hospital for a live broadcast." Zhou Chang said, "They left something in my car.

I think that thing is not right..."

As soon as he said these words, Shi Jue's face changed. He wanted to say something, but his colleague Qian Keren next to him patted him on the shoulder, and he swallowed the words back.

"Master, please take it out and have a look?" Qian Keren said with a smile.

Song Jia also turned her gaze to Zhou Chang, seemingly re-examining this inconspicuous online car-hailing driver.

"That was something that was left behind by a passenger. Even if I thought it looked strange, I would only call the police if it was something illegal.

What they have is not illegal. I have to wait for the platform to contact me and then deliver the item to the passenger.

How can I show it to you?"

Zhou Chang shook his head repeatedly.

He is taking advantage of the situation.

Song Jia and Qian Keren looked at each other.

The latter took out a book of documents and said, "We suspect that the three anchors may be involved with the wanted criminal who recently escaped. Master, please cooperate with us and take out the things for us to see."

"Is there really a wanted criminal?"

Zhou Chang stopped the car on the side of the road.

He looked at the public official investigation certificate that Qian Keren showed, his face full of surprise, and asked the three people in the tone of a bored old driver who likes to ask about strange things: "I haven't heard of any major cases happening here recently?

Who killed whom? How many people died?"

"I can't say." Qian Keren put away his ID, still smiling, but that smile was full of officialdom, "Master, what did those three people leave on your car?
Please cooperate with us."

"It's just a wallet..." Zhou Chang said as he opened the armrest box.

The wallet left behind by the three anchors, along with the "curse letter" inside, was handed over to Qian Keren.

The letter remained in his hands, and he didn't know how to deal with it.

It is better to leave it to these 'public officials' to deal with.

He believed that these three people did hold public office, but their duties were most likely inconsistent with the investigative credentials they showed.

“I thought the hospital was really haunted.

You are high-level talents from the country's "Psychic Research Association", "Special Ability Association", "749 Bureau" and the like." Zhou Chang said with regret in his eyes.

When Qian Keren heard his words, he smiled indifferently.

Song Jia and Shi Jue, on the other hand, had unclear expressions.

Zhou Chang could see the expressions of all three people.

"Perhaps there really are these so-called associations, Bureau 749 and the like now..." Zhou Chang murmured in his heart.

He glanced at Shi Jue and Song Jia and smiled inwardly.

Young people just can’t hide things on their faces.

After Qian Keren took the note, he looked at it carefully and winked at the two men: "Let's talk about it when we get back to the bureau."

"Master, I'll write down your name and platform ID. If the three anchors come to you to ask for the items back, you can ask them to contact my phone number that I gave you earlier.

If they complain about you for this reason, don't worry, we will send a letter to the platform. "Qian Keren handled all the matters without any mistakes.

Zhou Chang had no choice but to nod and agree hurriedly.

He restarted the car and drove the three people back to the city.

This time, none of the three spoke much.

Zhou Chang couldn't get any useful information out of them.

After sending the three people to their destination, Zhou Chang took note of their get-off point.

It was almost midnight, and Zhou Chang took on a few more orders. He was busy until one or two in the morning before he parked his car and returned to his residence in Yangzhuang Village.

In today's cities, development is taking place everywhere, and people are trying to sell land and make money. Urban villages that can accommodate migrant workers at low rents are becoming increasingly scarce.

When Zhou Chang drove back to his residence, on the streets of the urban village, except for the street lights that were still on and one or two 24-hour convenience stores that were open, all other shops and restaurants were closed and locked, and everywhere was quiet.

It really feels like a rural area here.

Occasionally, the sound of dogs barking could be heard in the houses along the street.

After parking the car in the courtyard of the house he rented, Zhou Chang took out his key and opened the door.

As soon as I opened the door, a stuffy atmosphere in the room hit me in the face.

Along with the stuffy atmosphere, there was also a faint stench filling the room.

Zhou Chang turned on the light, turned on the fan, sniffed, and walked around the house, but he couldn't find the source of the stench.

The stench was still very faint, probably because a rat had died in a corner and had not been discovered yet.

He opened the window for ventilation, and as the evening breeze blew into the room, the stench became increasingly faint.

The house where "He Ju" lives has a one-bedroom and one-living room layout. When you push open the door, you will see the living room, and further inside is a bedroom connected to the toilet and kitchen.

Originally He Ju and his girlfriend lived here together, and a house of this size was just right for them.

But now that his girlfriend has moved out, the house seems a little too big for him to live in alone.

"I'll find time to move to a smaller house later."

Zhou Chang muttered to himself, looking at the women's clothes scattered on the ground that had not been picked up yet. He sat down at a computer desk, found a pen and paper, and began to list some things on the paper.

This was the first time since he entered the mining area that he had a chance to stop and sort out his thoughts.

"The first thing we need to find out is the whereabouts of Grandpa, Xiu'e, and Uncle Yang.

They clearly entered the elevator with me, so why did they disappear when I got out?
If this was some kind of rule for entering the mining area, the three Xiao family priests would not have missed such an obvious rule and not reminded us...

They should also be assigned 'response bodies' here. How can we find their whereabouts?

Secondly, there is the matter of mining.

What kind of 'ore' can be found in this mining area?"

(End of this chapter)