Thriller Zone: From the Mental Hospital to the Ghostly World

Chapter 164 [Domain · Red-Eye Flight] Guishan Tin Mine

"Have both the front and rear cabins been checked?"

"We've checked everywhere, it's not there!"

The flight attendant looked anxious and followed closely behind Liu Zi, the counter in her hand clicking incessantly.

"Captain, how could a living person just disappear on board?"

She looked around, speaking very softly, but her anxiety was palpable.

"Such a big thing has happened, I think we should report it to headquarters."

Liu Zi waved his hand, not answering the flight attendant immediately, but looking at Fei'er and Sun Weiming walking towards him in the distance.

Wan Xiaoshuang and Chen Ji went to the rear cabin to check the stone bricks. Liu Zi, the captain, had to deal with Duan Cong's disappearance first.

"We searched all the restrooms, food preparation rooms, and even the most obscure corners."

Fei'er simply said, "I didn't see Duan Cong."

Upon hearing this, the flight attendant's face turned pale instantly, and she was thrown into a state of panic.

Liu Zi said, "I'll go down and report to headquarters."

Did Duan Cong bring any personal belongings?

The flight attendant nodded hastily; she had already checked the baggage compartment after discovering Duan Cong's disappearance.

"It's a backpack, and I've already put it in its place."

"Okay." Liu Zi waved his hand: "Don't spread this around, so as not to cause panic among the passengers."

The flight attendant nodded quickly, then looked at Fei'er and the other person, and said hesitantly:

"Who are these two...?"

"My friend, he was with Mr. Chen from before." Liu Zi gave a casual reply and then told the flight attendant to go back to the front cabin to wait for instructions.

After saying that, he led Fei'er and Sun Weiming to the side of row 45.

At 45A, where Wu Zhou originally stood, a few water stains could still be faintly seen.

45C appears to be normal.

Fei'er reached into the pocket in front of her seat, then suddenly her expression changed, and she abruptly withdrew her hand.

"The vomit bag is full..."

She muttered, feeling a bit nauseous.

"But I didn't hear anyone vomiting before?"

A hint of doubt flashed in Fei'er's eyes. Her senses were very strong; she shouldn't be unable to hear someone vomiting.

"It might have been from when we vomited before entering the domain."

Liu Zi said in a deep voice.

The three of them looked rather pale. The bag of vomit they had found reminded them of the initial symptoms they had experienced before their deaths.

First, my stomach churned, and then, my hair was about to crawl out of my mouth.

"Don't touch the vomit bag yet." Liu Zi looked at the backpack on the seat. "Check if there are any clues in Duan Cong's bag."

This is a regular black backpack, the kind that many business people carry.

Liu Zi opened the bag, rummaged through it, and took out some clean clothes.

At the very bottom, there were a few scattered business cards.

Guishan Tin Mine Co., Ltd.

Business Manager: Duan Cong

Contact number: 132xxx.....

Contact Address: Gejiu City, Hezhou Prefecture.......

"He works in the mine."

Sun Weiming said knowingly, "That's true, there are quite a lot of tin mines in Gejiu."

"Honghe Prefecture is the Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture in southwestern Yunnan, which is close to Vietnam."

Sun Weiming works in an energy company and has a more detailed understanding of this type of information than the average person.

"and many more."

Liu Zi suddenly frowned: "Is Chuncheng very close to Gejiu?"

"It's not close," Sun Weiming said after thinking for a moment. "More than 200 kilometers."

Liu Zi immediately retorted, "Then what is he going to Yancheng for? Gejiu isn't close either, and he won't be affected by the Chuncheng serial murder case."

"Going on a business trip." Sun Weiming glanced at Liu Zi with a strange look. "Why are you being so sensitive?"

"For people like us who work in the energy and mining industry, it's normal to travel for business."

A hint of suspicion flashed in Liu Zi's eyes: "Does it have to be this time for a business trip?"

According to the intelligence Chen Ji obtained, the reason why the flight was full was because the serial murder case in Chuncheng had caused widespread panic.

Airline tickets were sold out long ago and are extremely difficult to obtain.

Liu Zi suspected that Duan Cong had planned this trip in advance, otherwise, if it were a last-minute business trip, he wouldn't have been able to buy a plane ticket at all.

"And he only had a few clothes and business cards in his bag; he didn't even bring company documents..."

Liu Zi muttered to himself, then reached into his bag again, before suddenly pausing.

"There's a cell phone."

This is an important discovery!

Fei'er and Sun Weiming immediately surrounded them.

Fortunately, the phone had no password, so Liu Zi swiped the screen and browsed through it briefly.

"It contains all the system's pre-installed software."

He said softly, scanning his contacts; there were no contacts in the list.

There was only one message in my text message inbox:

[Dear Mr. Duan:]

Your round-trip flight from Kunming to Yantai/Beijing has been booked.

【春城-烟京：C5321；起飞时间：2011年12月3号23：55】

【烟京-春城：Y339；起飞时间：2011年12月4号19：15】

Even Sun Weiming felt something was amiss after reading this message.

"He arrived in Kunming and returned to Kunming on the same day?"

Sun Weiming frowned. Normally, when traveling for business, one would stay overnight.

The flight arrived in the early hours of the morning, which meant that Duan Cong would have to fly back to Kunming immediately after finishing his business.

Fei'er suddenly interjected, "Just this one text message?"

Liu Zi nodded. He had just checked the text messages and phone records, but found no other records.

"and many more......"

Liu Zi suddenly paused.

It seemed that there was only this one text message on the entire phone; even the recycle bin was empty.

Who was Duan Cong specifically carrying this phone to contact?

Liu Zi thought for a moment and then opened the system settings.

"wrong!"

"I knew it was a ghost."

Liu Zi swiped up and down: "Does the [Clock] software have that much memory?"

On the screen, the clock app occupies over 200MB of the phone's memory, far exceeding the usage of other apps.

The clock app is just a built-in system software, and normally it should be at most 5MB in size.

"He flashed the ROM and changed the software's appearance!"

Sun Weiming said in surprise, "Why is Duan Cong, a mere salesman, being so secretive?"

At this point, everyone was certain that Duan Cong was connected to the appearance of the Hair Ghost.

Liu Zi immediately flipped through the pages and found two "clock" apps.

Clicking on one of them revealed pages and pages of email records!

"They're all the same person..."

"Mr. Zeng."

Liu Zi murmured.

He scrolled up and down for a long time but couldn't find the end. Duan Cong had exchanged nearly a hundred emails with this "General Manager Zeng".

"The most recent email was sent yesterday..."

From: Duan Cong

[Mr. Zeng, the plane is taking off tomorrow. I'd like to ask again, is this safe?]

Mr. Zeng did not reply.

The previous post was published on November 25th.

From: Duan Cong

[Mr. Zeng, who should I contact after I arrive in Yantai/Beijing?]

[Reply from: Mr. Zeng]

It's still Mr. Wang.

Going back further, to November 20th.

From: Duan Cong

[The boss is on my side.]

11 month 3 number.

[From: Mr. Zeng]

[Old Duan, you must handle this matter properly; it's extremely important.]

I'm stuck here and can't leave; I have other things to take care of. Otherwise, I'd fly to Yancheng myself and deliver the keys there.

That damn policeman surnamed Luo, he's low-ranking, but he's like a fly, buzzing around everywhere.

Resolve this matter as soon as possible.

Later that same day, on the same email:

From: Duan Cong

We found Ms. Zeng. Her son attends Chuncheng No. 5 Middle School.

......

"I have this feeling..."

Liu Zi frowned and said, "Is this Boss Zeng involved in organized crime?"

The contents of these emails have almost no connection to the "Hair Ghost" (a fictional character), but they seem to be related to official sources.

“In earlier years, these mine owners were more or less not very clean.”

Sun Weiming, standing nearby, said with apprehension, "Especially since this is in a remote area."

"Officer Luo's matter should have nothing to do with this flight."

Fei'er pointed to the email dated November 3rd: "The key point is that Duan Cong went to Yanjing, seemingly to deliver the 'keys'."

"But we never found the keys in his bag."