Forbidden Zone of Deception

Chapter 108 Lime Juice and Recharge Card
Dr. Lin quickly made a gesture to remind everyone that from now on, everyone must communicate using sign language and no more talking is allowed!

Everyone understands.

At that moment, almost everyone held their breath.

At this time, the visibility outside was only about one meter, and the Xingfu residential area across the street was completely invisible.

Just then, Azi's face suddenly turned deathly pale.

Her legs went weak, and she had to hold onto the shelf to keep from falling.

"What's wrong?" Murong Yan asked in sign language, supporting her. "Low blood sugar?"

Her body trembled, and she managed to wave her hand to express her meaning.

Her period started.

Of all times!
Azi's legs were trembling slightly as she continued to sign language, explaining that her periods had always been regular, but the loss of all her professional skills and being trapped in such a cramped and inescapable convenience store had caused her period to come early due to intense fear and stress. She had prepared sanitary napkins, but the problem was… they were inside her Reincarnator Watch, and she couldn't get them out!
Seeing her current embarrassed state, Jiang Jin was stunned for a moment.

Besides Lao Chen, the second person he suspected was Murong Yan, and the third person he suspected was A Zi.

When she first woke up, A Zi appeared calm and collected, but after her skills were sealed, she immediately lost all her energy and spirit. Crucially, when people asked her name, she simply stated that her name was A Zi.

Ah Zi, is that really her real name? Most people who hear this name would probably immediately think of a famous character from Jin Yong's novels, right?

But seeing Ah Zi's somewhat ferocious expression due to menstrual cramps, Jiang Jin was unsure what to do.

There were sanitary napkins on the shelves, but the problem was, there was no way to get them! This store doesn't accept cash at all! Their payment code doesn't work here either!
Most importantly, who would dare use the goods from this store?

Azi could barely support her body, indicating that she could still manage to hold on a little longer.

Murong Yan pulled her along, using sign language to indicate that they needed to go to the restroom first and use some toilet paper as a temporary measure. Otherwise, if they encountered a ghost in this state, they wouldn't even have anywhere to escape!
The others exchanged bewildered glances as they watched the two open the office door and walk inside.

Jiang Jin watched Murong Yan's retreating figure. The reason she was listed as the second suspect was because Jiang Jin had once seen her leave a scratch on the glass door of the freezer with her fingernail.

Police officers often deal with cases involving glass, so he had specifically studied glass-related procedures. Convenience store freezers are typically made of tempered glass or insulated glass, which has a very high surface hardness, around 6-7 on the Mohs scale, far exceeding the Mohs hardness of a human fingernail, which is about 2-3.

However, this isn't entirely inexplicable. She's a Level 1 Grass Witch, and using her class skill might have side effects: her hair would grow longer, her eyes would appear more cloudy and pale, and her nails would become harder. Now that her class skill is disabled, it's ambiguous whether her nail hardness will decrease. After all, it's neither an active nor a passive skill, just a side effect; disabling it or not seems plausible.

Then, after about five minutes, suddenly...

"Ding--"

The automatic door opened.

Everyone turned their heads away!
A customer, also wearing a Guichi Nuo opera mask, walked in.

【Welcome!】Everyone responded with sign language.

At this moment, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. At least what came in wasn't a pale-faced, ferocious ghost, nor did it pounce on them to kill them.

After entering the convenience store, the customer began to walk around, checking the goods on the shelves. Almost everyone's eyes were fixed on him, their hearts pounding, afraid that he would notice the freezer.

The customer moved slowly, and at this moment, he was slowly moving in the food area. After a while, he came to the doll toy.

At this moment, everyone suddenly realized...

The doll returned to its original pose!

Immediately afterwards, the customer looked at the doll!
At that moment, everyone felt a chill run down their spines.

What if a customer takes a doll off the shelf and says they want to buy it?
Should we put a sign on it saying it's not for sale? But no one dared to do that; after all, the doll was too eerie. Everyone had seen the consequences of putting a sign on the freezer. If we did it again, who knew the doll wouldn't take their lives?

The customer continued to stare at the mannequin, then seemed to notice that the mannequin's finger was pointing towards the cashier, so he looked over. But after a while, he turned his head back.

A minute later, he picked up some newspapers and went to the cashier.

This is the first time I've encountered someone buying a newspaper today. In this day and age, it's true that almost no one reads newspapers anymore.

After Jiang Jin paid the bill, the customer took out a prepaid card and handed it to Jiang Jin.

Recharge card!

Of the customers who came to shop before midnight, very few used prepaid cards; in total, no more than five.

At this moment, the office door opened, and Murong Yan helped Azi out.

The customer took the newspaper, glanced at Murong Yan and Azi, and then left.

Murong Yan asked in sign language: "Dr. Lin, could you please let Azi sit in the dining area for a while?"

Dr. Lin nodded, indicating, "If a guest comes in, even if it's just one, you must get up immediately." Meanwhile, Wu Ge's gaze remained fixed on A Zi, seemingly lost in thought.

Jiang Jin looked at him, guessing that he was also wondering whether A Zi's behavior was an act or genuine.

At the same time, Dr. Lin walked up to the doll, and Jiang Jin followed.

Looking at the doll in front of him, Dr. Lin used sign language to tell Jiang Jin: "He stared at this doll for quite a while."

This is actually quite normal. The doll looks so strange, and it's placed in the food section; anyone who sees it will take a look.

However, Dr. Lin noticed something.

"Have you noticed something?" he said to Jiang Jin using sign language. "None of the customers who came before thought this doll was strange, nor did they stop to look at it. And no one came to the cashier to ask about it."

After seeing Dr. Lin's gesture, Jiang Jin immediately realized that this was indeed strange!
Not a single customer passing through the food section saw the doll and came to the cashier to ask what the doll toy was.

It's worth noting that this convenience store is located right at the entrance of the residential area, so most of its customers are likely residents of the community and neighbors from the surrounding area.

Jiang Jin asked himself, if it were the convenience store near his apartment complex, and there was such a scary doll on the food shelf, he would definitely come and ask what it was all about. Could it be that all those customers wouldn't have any curiosity at all? That just doesn't make sense.
There's only one reason why no one is curious.

For customers shopping at convenience stores, it's not unusual to see a doll displayed in the food section!

Two possibilities: First, this doll doesn't only appear on the night of the Ghost Festival; second, the people living here all know what this doll means!
Thinking back to the customers in the food section earlier, Jiang Jin believed it was the second possibility!
Jiang Jin stared intently at the doll, and then, he suddenly thought of something else.

Then, he used sign language to say to Dr. Lin: "Dr. Lin, this doll appeared exactly after the first can of lime juice was sold!"

Dr. Lin immediately understood Jiang Jin's sign language.

This doll appeared after the first can of lime juice was sold!

At the same time, they also discovered that the number of lime juice bottles remained at 8, without decreasing!

At this moment, Dr. Lin and Jiang Jin both looked at the doll in front of them, and combined with the burning of the paper on the glass door of the freezer just now, a thought involuntarily arose in their minds.

The addition of lime juice, could it be...?

Is this doll being "restocked"?
At this moment, Wu Ge walked over.

He also saw the sign language the two had just used, and then he thought of something.

They were always worried that someone would come to buy lime juice; if someone passed by the freezer and didn't buy any, their anxiety would subside. Over time, they psychologically overlooked one thing.

Are there too few people buying lime juice?
In recent years, people have paid more and more attention to healthy drinks, and fruit juice drinks are more popular in the market than high-calorie carbonated drinks.

However, the sales of lime juice seem too low, don't they? Only one can has been sold in such a long time!
Nobody had thought of this before, precisely because they were praying so earnestly that no one would buy lime juice, so they hadn't bothered to consider why no one was buying more lime juice!
At this moment, Jiang Jin suddenly felt a jolt in his heart!
He rushed back to the cashier and used sign language to ask Old Chen: "Do you remember how the only customer who bought lime juice paid? Did they use a payment code or a prepaid card?"

After studying Jiang Jin's sign language for a long time, Old Chen recalled for a moment and then made the gesture: "[Prepaid card. I remember it's a prepaid card.]"

After all, very few customers use prepaid cards, and since the person bought lime juice, Old Chen immediately remembered it.

Recharge card!

Jiang Jin clenched his fists.

Yes, a prepaid card!

The person who bought the lime juice even checked the expiration date.

In other words, the customer didn't know why they wouldn't let him buy lime juice! After all, the night shift employee handbook was posted behind the cashier, and customers generally couldn't see it clearly unless they went inside the cashier area.

Jiang Jin, Dr. Lin, and Wu Ge exchanged their findings.

Currently, there are two types of customers.

Customers who use payment codes to shop know the convenience store's secrets and the purpose of the dolls, and they won't buy lime juice.

Customers who use prepaid cards to shop are unaware of the convenience store's secrets, or what the dolls represent. To them, lime juice is just an ordinary product!

In other words, are people who use prepaid cards to shop considered "outliers"?

The recharge card may not contain RMB, but rather a currency that can be used for both Yin and Yang purposes!
Just then, a "ding" sounded, and everyone looked over again; the automatic door had opened again.

Another new customer has come in!

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(End of this chapter)