This actor is full of tricks.

That evening, Lin Jue and Hu Rui talked on the phone and agreed on a meeting place. Lin Jue arrived at the agreed place early, squatted on the roadside with a bucket of instant noodles in his hand, and started slurping the noodles.

Just as Hu Rui finished his bowl of noodles and was drinking the soup, he rushed over, not even having had time to change out of his uniform. He looked apologetic: "Sorry, sorry, the colleague who was supposed to relieve me was a little late..."

When he saw the instant noodles in Lin Jue's hand, his apologetic expression deepened, and he was deeply moved. It seemed that he still held a very important place in Minister Zhou's heart, and that he would arrive on time even if it meant eating instant noodles.

At the same time, he was also impressed by Lin Jue. Even though he had risen to the position of minister, he was still so down-to-earth, squatting on the roadside eating instant noodles like a street urchin.

"Minister Zhou, why don't we go get something to eat first? We won't be full just eating instant noodles." Although Lin Jue was eating instant noodles himself, Hu Rui felt that he had to be polite.

"No need." Lin Jue threw the instant noodle cup into the trash can and took out a tissue from his pocket to wipe his mouth. "Let's go take care of things first. It's already evening. What if we eat dinner and it takes up too much time, and then the knocking on the door won't come again today?"

Hearing these words, Hu Rui was moved to tears, and he thought to himself, "Minister Zhou is truly a good minister who is wholeheartedly dedicated to protecting the people. Those of us in this profession must learn from him."

The two got into the car and drove for about ten minutes before slowly stopping at the side of the road in a residential area.

A young man was waiting by the roadside. When he saw Hu Rui's car, he hurriedly came over and said, "Uncle."

The young man was in his early twenties, his face was somewhat pale, and he looked like a frightened bird, constantly turning his head to look left and right.

"Xiao Zhu, come here, let me introduce you." Hu Rui put his arm around the young man and looked at Lin Jue with a smile: "Minister Zhou, this is my nephew, Xiao Zhu, whom I told you about."

"Xiao Zhu, this is Zhou Yue from the Inspection Division. He is the Minister of the Inspection Division and manages the entire Sanjiang City Inspection Division."

"Let's go, let's hurry up and shut up the knocking so that Xiaozhu can move back in." Lin Jue nodded to Xiaozhu and gestured for the two of them to lead the way.

On the way, Xiao Zhu recounted what had happened to him in more detail. The young man's lips trembled as he spoke, clearly quite frightened by the incident. He had just graduated and rented an apartment, ready to make his mark, but this incident left him restless and distracted at work, almost costing him his job.

"The main problem is that we can't contact the landlord either. He has to take some responsibility for this. He must have known there was something wrong with the house, which is why he rented it to me at such a low price." Xiao Zhu was almost crying as she spoke. She had just graduated and hadn't experienced the harsh realities of society yet, and she had been cheated by an unscrupulous landlord.

"Something's not right." Lin Jue sensed something was amiss: "Your rent is 600, and a six-month lease would be 3600. Even though there are strange knocking sounds at the door, if you sell it without telling anyone, it could still fetch over a million even if the property depreciates in this location. But if someone dies, you can't hide it, and you'll lose the property completely."

"Choosing to disappear for 3600 yuan and losing a house is not worth it no matter how you look at it."

Hearing Lin Jue's words, Hu Rui also realized: "That's right, it's completely unnecessary."

"Who can understand the thoughts of a mentally ill person?" Xiaozhu muttered a complaint.

mental illness?
What do you mean?
These three words immediately struck a nerve with Lin Jue, who immediately asked, "You mean the landlord is mentally ill?"

"Yes, I didn't know at first. I only found out when I checked the surveillance footage. The property management said that the landlord had a mental illness a few years ago and stayed in a mental hospital for a long time. He was only discharged this year."

Upon hearing Xiao Zhu's answer, Lin Jue hurriedly asked, "Which hospital? Is it Yongning Rehabilitation Hospital?"

Xiao Zhu thought for a moment and nodded, "It seems to be that name." The missing landlord turned out to be a patient at that mental hospital!
This was something Lin Jue hadn't expected at all. He had thought this strange incident was very simple, but now it seemed that it wasn't so easy. Once it got involved with that mental hospital, it would inevitably become complicated.

"Is there a problem?" Hu Rui asked curiously. He had vaguely heard of the name of that mental hospital, but he didn't know how terrible it was.

Not wanting to cause panic, Lin Jue immediately shook his head and said, "There's nothing wrong, I was just asking out of curiosity."

The three arrived at the door of the room Xiaozhu had rented. Xiaozhu looked terrified. This place had left him with a deep psychological scar. If it weren't for Lin Jue and Hu Rui, he would never have returned here again.

After the door opened, Xiaozhu was the first to go in and turn on the room lights. The room was an ordinary one-bedroom apartment, decorated in a cozy style, and there was nothing strange about it from the outside.

"Minister Zhou, Uncle, please have a seat. I'll pour you some water," the assistant said, gesturing for Lin Jue and Hu Rui to sit down.

After sitting down, Lin Jue took the water and asked, "How long does it usually take for the knocking to start?"

"It used to ring precisely at midnight, but it would suddenly disappear every time I went out to check."

Is it 12 o'clock every day?
Lin Jue glanced at the time; there were still nearly four hours left.

"With so many people around, they're bound to come knocking, right?" Hu Rui asked from the side.

"Brother Hu, have you ever seen a strange creature choose to run away when it sees more people?"

Lin Jue's words made Hu Rui chuckle awkwardly: "That's true."

Lin Jue finished the water in his cup, stood up and looked around the room, touching and looking at everything. Finally, he stopped by a wall and knocked on it.

The wall made a crisp sound, and Lin Jue's fingers paused before tapping it again.

Hu Rui also noticed that something was wrong with the sound, so he came closer and knocked on the wall like Lin Jue had done: "This wall is hollow."

“It’s not a load-bearing wall, there might be something hidden inside.” Lin Jue said, and then had his assistant bring a hammer, which he then smashed hard against the wall.

The wall suddenly cracked open like it was made of paper, leaving a large hole.

Lin Jue and Hu Rui exchanged a glance, then reached out and peeled off the wallpaper from the wall. Lin Jue forcefully tore the wall open, and a pungent stench immediately wafted out from the large hole, filling the entire room.

When Xiaozhu saw what was hidden inside the wall, she screamed in fright and collapsed to the ground.

Even Hu Rui, a police officer, looked grim at this moment.

Inside the wall, a desiccated head was visible. (End of Chapter)