Thriller Zone: From the Mental Hospital to the Ghostly World

Chapter 422 [Domain·Drowning] Finding the Red Schoolbag

The sun was high in the sky, and the sunlight outside was so dazzling that it seemed out of place with the corpses lying around.

That strong will, half-forcing and half-leading, pushed Chen Ji and the others all the way to the shallows.

The river water still had a faint, dark green hue.

"First, confirm Zhang Wenxuan and Hong Tian's locations, then find Huang Ying."

Chen Ji checked the process with everyone again.

He also warned that the riverbed was now even more dangerous, because they hadn't seen any ghosts on their way back.

This can only prove one thing.

As the rain stopped, or rather, as this domain came to an end, all the ghosts returned to the Jagu River.

thump!

Water splashed everywhere, and soon the group had dived to the bottom of the water.

Just like having a navigation system, the thoughts in their minds naturally propelled them, guiding them in one direction.

That should be the location of another Hongtian.

Now that he's in a floating corpse state, Chen Ji walks in the water just like he's walking on land, without feeling any discomfort.

He no longer needed to breathe, and his swimming speed became faster and his body lighter.

The same was true for everyone else, except for Hong Tian, ​​who remained motionless.

Looking at Hong Tian in his arms, Chen Ji's lips twitched slightly.

to be honest.....

In this realm, Hong Tian was both unlucky and lucky. From the very beginning, he was enduring the pain of being gradually drowned, and the psychological pressure was also the greatest.

Chen Ji had already guessed that Hong Tian was unable to enter a dream because of his special condition. He saw Teacher Zhan's corpse in reality, and then probably saw Huang Ying come, which is why he escaped to the bottom of the bed.

He then fell into a semi-drowsy state.

He was the only one who was passive throughout the entire process, and could only wait for his teammates to rescue him; but at the same time, he was lucky enough that he was not visited by ghosts.

The only time was when he was framed by Wan Chengzhong and then saw the fake drowned ghost.

Originally, Hong Tian could have just quietly died, but because of the seduction of the substitution method, a whole bunch of things happened afterward... indirectly causing everyone to fight amongst themselves, and Chen Ji himself was also dragged into the water.

The most difficult part of this mission was ensuring Hong Tian's survival; if he died, everyone would be doomed.

Simply put, it's a system of collective punishment.

Chen Ji sincerely hopes... he won't encounter this type of domain again next time.

As his thoughts wandered, the boy suddenly nudged him, gesturing for Chen Ji to look ahead.

It was a secluded riverbank. Only when several people swam to a specific angle could they see a reef behind the slope through a narrow gap.

The middle of the reef has been hollowed out, and it's dark and impossible to see through.

A figure sat quietly on the reef with his back to them, the edges of his body blurred, just like Chen Ji after he was replaced.

It's Zhang Wenxuan!

Everyone remained in place, afraid to go any further.

Because right next to Zhang Wenxuan, there were several severed limbs and a head that had turned white from being soaked in water. How could anyone not see that it was Ah Gou's head!

This almost perfectly replicated the scene from Hong Tian's dream.

Is Hong Tian in the rocky cave?

Zhu Guang gestured and asked.

Chen Ji nodded, and the strong will in his mind suddenly dissipated upon seeing the reef.

This is probably to tell them that they have arrived at their destination.

After a few simple gestures, the group decided to retrieve the red schoolbag first.

Based on his memory of the location, Chen Ji led everyone to swim towards the spot where Huang Ying had first appeared.

Near the bottom of the river, the closer you get, the darker the water becomes, until finally even the water plants turn as black as ink.

This unexpected change left everyone feeling uneasy.

Soon after, a strand of black hair drifted onto Wan Xiaoshuang's face.

She was startled and instinctively looked down.

Above the riverbed, a glimpse of white peeks out from among the algae; it is from there that the black hair drifts by.

It's a corpse!

The group parted the seaweed and found Wan Chengzhong.

His clothes were disheveled, and his exposed skin was pale and slightly wrinkled.

Wan Xiaoshuang had only heard that his death was gruesome. Although she had prepared herself mentally, seeing Wan Chengzhong's exposed skull still sent chills down her spine.

Its mouth was washed open by the river water, revealing a large clump of dark hair.

"Wait a minute." Chen Ji stopped him, pointing to his arm.

Wan Chengzhong likely still possesses some strange artifact.

He hadn't had time to search before because he was trying to escape, but now that he'd stumbled upon this opportunity, he couldn't let it slip by again.

The group immediately searched the body, but they couldn't find Wan Chengzhong's A-level ghost anywhere.

The other person was completely naked.

Only after Chen Ji pried open his clenched fist did he find a small wooden puppet inside.

Looking at Wan Chengzhong's corpse, Chen Ji's heart sank. Now that he thought about it, the reason why Wan Chengzhong's clothes were disheveled was very likely because someone had already searched for the ghost.

Besides them...

Those were the deceased entrants.

Tour groups, or perhaps black leather jackets.

The group exchanged glances, their eyes filled with seriousness. Now, they could only hope that they wouldn't encounter them before finding Huang Ying.

After putting the puppet into his pocket, Chen Ji continued swimming to the side, which was the spot where Huang Ying had first appeared.

They had dived deep enough that they soon saw a pair of footprints on the muddy riverbed, deeply etched into the soil, unwashed away by the current.

It's as if someone has stood here for a long time.

"Huang Ying," Chen Ji gestured, "the marks on the soles of these shoes are the same as those outside Huang's noodle shop."

But Huang Ying was nowhere to be seen in the vicinity. Where did she go?

Chen Ji vaguely guessed what was going on. His eyes flickered slightly, and he stopped thinking about it. Instead, he and the others searched around the footprints.

They found some traces near the rocks.

There was a spot where the mud and sand were loose, as if it had been dug up and was not piled up firmly.

There were two pits, one was empty, and the other, when dug open, contained a corpse.

Chen Ji's eyes suddenly narrowed.

It's Huang Ying!

She was as quiet as if she were asleep, with no signs of drowning on her body, and her clothes were unfamiliar; she wasn't wearing a pink dress and crystal sandals like Huang Ying, whom they had seen before.

Chen Ji thought of the autopsy report.

The sandals Huang Ying was wearing were the ones she wore when she died in July...

Chen Ji immediately understood that this was another Huang Ying, the same Huang Ying who was in the "teaching building" on the night she encountered the ghost!

already dead.

Beside him was a bright red schoolbag.

The boy picked up the red schoolbag, rummaged through it, and sure enough, found two pieces of paper.

The two pieces of paper, after being soaked in the river for a long time, only softened slightly, which was enough to prove that they were the guide.

With smooth edges, the papers are pieced together to form a complete sentence:

One-on-one

One for one

[A substitute has been found]

Rescue your comrades!

Looking at the last sentence, Chen Ji felt a mix of emotions.

If we had known this statement from the beginning, along with the survival tips in the diary, this situation wouldn't have been so complicated.

But... it's also possible that the difficulty of the Ninth Domain lies in the fact that the guidance was torn apart.