The cloth strip tied to Luo Chu's back was not loosened. But the torch fixed in the cloth strip fell off for no reason.
There is no doubt that external forces are involved.
However, within the line of sight, not even a shadow was seen, not to mention a person.
Jiang Yue frowned and suggested, "Luo Chu, why don't you go in front?"
"No, I am still the queen." Luo Chu really didn't believe it anymore. He picked up the torch, put it on his back again, and tightened the cloth tightly to make sure that there would be no risk of it falling.
This time, Luo Chu chose to walk backwards.
It's not easy to walk down the stairs backwards, but the three of them went down the stairs very slowly, so they didn't worry about accidentally falling while walking backwards.
Jiang Yue still walked in front, holding the torch high, trying to expand the lighting coverage as much as possible.
Going down to the next floor, I heard the sound of bare feet running, as if it had never appeared before. The corridor on this floor was dark, with no end in sight, and it seemed like it was leading to a gloomy hell.
Since they decided to go downstairs, the three of them did not explore whether there was anything lurking at both ends of the corridor, nor did they care about the sound of barefoot running before.
When Jiang Yue was about to continue walking downstairs, he suddenly heard a cough coming from the end of the corridor. At first, the three of them thought it was an error in their ears.
Then there were several coughs in succession, which were extremely clear.
This cough originated from the unknown darkness and seemed extremely strange. Every cough seemed to hit their hearts hard, making them tremble with fear.
Luo Chu couldn't help but touch his waist, but Mr. Ke said: "Don't mind your own business. Let's go downstairs. Let's go downstairs first, okay?"
Now let alone two coughs, even if the sky falls, Mr. Ke doesn't want to join in the fun. His only thought is to escape from this ghost place quickly.
What's more, this cough appeared in the dark and was obviously evil.
It's not too late to escape, so why bother asking for trouble?
Jiang Yue pondered for a moment, then suppressed his curiosity and continued down the steps.
At this moment, a sigh suddenly came from the darkness.
Then, a voice said faintly: "A good living person, why do you want to take a dead end?"
This voice sounds old? It seems a bit old. It is somewhat similar to the cough just now.
Jiang Yue paused for a moment? Then he stopped again.
But Mr. Ke urged: "Go quickly, go quickly. This must be a ghost playing tricks on us? It deliberately makes us uneasy. It is afraid that we will leave!"
In Mr. Ke's opinion, what good things can happen in such a ghost place? Whoever made this sound must have bad intentions and just want to mess with their minds.
This kind of thing? You must listen to it in reverse.
The other party said it was a dead end? Then maybe it was a way to survive.
Jiang Yue ignored Mr. Ke's urging and turned back to stare at the source of the sound for a moment.
"Let's go and have a look."
His decision immediately made Mr. Ke anxious: "Don't go, you must not go! This must be an evil spirit trying to lure us there to die!"
Jiang Yue frowned and said, "Do you listen to you or do you listen to me?"
Mr. Ke really wants to listen to me? But he really has no say in this three-person team? He can't afford to offend anyone here.
At that moment, I could only shut up and follow Jiang Yue, turning around and walking towards the depths of the corridor on this floor.
The direction that a torch can shine is always limited.
The three of them slowly approached the source of the sound. The corridor was actually not long. But when they walked, it seemed like there was no end.
At this moment, a chair appeared in Jiang Yue's field of vision.
This chair is very spacious? Jiang Yue and the others have their backs.
Jiang Yue vaguely felt that there seemed to be a figure sitting in front of the chair. This figure was obviously very short. Sitting on the chair, it was completely blocked by the back of the chair. Only a little bit of hair could be seen. It looked like the hair had turned white. He should be a little old man.
.
Jiang Yue slowed down and stopped about five meters away from the chair.
well!
With another long sigh, the figure on the chair slowly stood up. As expected, he was a rickety little old man. He looked less than 1.6 meters tall. It seemed that his body had shrunk greatly due to old age.
"Old-timer?"
The short, rickety figure turned his back to them and said nothing. He stumbled away silently. In the darkness, his back looked even weirder, swaying and misty, as if he would disappear into the darkness at any time.
Mr. Ke complained: "What the hell?"
Jiang Yue turned around and glared at him, telling him to shut up.
The rickety old man walked for more than ten steps and finally stopped.
The place where he stopped was the doorway of an apartment.
The old man's movements were very slow, but his movement of pushing the door was very skillful, as if he had done this action at least thousands of times and was familiar with the road.
The door was pushed open and the old man slowly walked into the apartment.
Jiang Yue whispered: "Go over and have a look."
Mr. Ke hesitated and said, "Do you have to go? Aren't you afraid it's a trap?"
Jiang Yue said coldly: "If you want to set up a trap, where can't you set it up? What's the difference between this place and other places?"
"Let's go." Luo Chu was very vigilant, but he still walked backwards. His back was stolen once. He was now extremely vigilant and on guard at all times.
While they were talking, the three of them had already arrived at the door of the apartment.
Jiang Yue looked around the apartment with a torch and found that it was just an ordinary apartment, but the decoration was old-fashioned and relatively simple. Compared with the apartments upstairs, it looked a little shabby. And there were a lot of life in the room.
The supplies all looked very old.
Jiang Yue slowly approached and saw an old fabric sofa in the living room. There were obvious holes in several places.
An old-fashioned coffee table is also mottled and lumpy, and looks like it has been at least twenty or thirty years old.
There are some newspapers and a cheap thermos cup on the coffee table.
In addition, there is also a portable music player, which most elderly people like to have in their hands.
Jiang Yue looked at the dates in the newspapers. The latest one showed a date twelve days ago.
The thermos cup is filled with water, but the water inside has already cooled down.
Jiang Yue held up the torch and took a look around. The old man who came in earlier didn't seem to be in the room.
The three of them were secretly frightened. They followed the living room to the kitchen, then the kitchen to the bathroom, and then went to the bedroom.
I searched every corner, but there was no trace.
It was as if the old man just entered the apartment door and completely evaporated from the world.
Mr. Ke's teeth chattered loudly: "I'll just say it's haunted..."
The windows are closed, which basically eliminates the possibility of jumping out of the window.
Jiang Yue sniffed and frowned: "This house must have been empty for a while! There is a slight musty smell in the room."
"Xiao Jiang, if no one lives in this house, then who was that old man just now?"
"Alas..." Jiang Yue sighed. In fact, everyone had the answer in their minds, but no one wanted to reveal the answer personally.
Most likely, the old man I just saw is no longer alive.
Moreover, the old man's death should be within half a month. From the date in the newspaper, it can be inferred that the old man's death will never exceed half a month.
Although it was less than half a month ago, due to the lack of popularity in the apartment, spiders began to invade the apartment. Spider webs appeared in the corners of the walls, and there was a light dust on them.
Other than that, there doesn't seem to be anything unusual about the apartment.
Neither the imagined clues nor the traps imagined by Mr. Ke appeared.
That weird old man was like an insignificant symbol appearing in a nightmare, without causing any waves.
"Let's go, I think you're just pretending, why waste your time?" Mr. Ke urged.
Jiang Yue didn't move, and started rummaging around the apartment.
Various details show that this is indeed the residence of a widowed old man. However, the old man must be very fond of literature and art. In addition to many books, there are many ethnic musical instruments in the apartment, such as flutes and erhus.
In addition, there are also the traditional Four Treasures of the Study, as well as many calligraphy and painting works by old people. Although they are all created haphazardly, they also show considerable skill.
It can be seen that the old man should be an old man who is very interesting in life, but also returns to his original nature.
It's a pity that such a lovely old man is probably no longer alive.
Thinking of this, Jiang Yue felt somewhat sad.
Arrange the old man's belongings one by one and put them back to their original places.
Suddenly, Jiang Yue saw a large group photo on the pull-out shelf of the TV cabinet.
The group photo says: Group photo taken at the first owners’ party of Yin Yuan Apartment.
In this group photo, there are at least more than a hundred people in the group photo. Although it is a large group photo, each person in the photo still looks very small, but the outline can still be barely distinguished.
Although Jiang Yue had not seen the old man's front face before, judging from his back and temperament, Jiang Yue easily found the old man's position in the group photo.
The elderly sit in the first row of seats, which is relatively central. Although it is not the C seat, it is still considered a core position.
It can be seen that this old man should be a relatively famous figure among the owners of the entire apartment building, and his original social status is probably not low.
"Luo Chu, do you know this old gentleman?"
Jiang Yue pointed to the location of the old man in the photo.
Luo Chu glanced at it and recognized it carefully for a moment: "That's him? Mr. Mei, the old principal? The old principal of Xingcheng No. 1 Middle School. A senior figure in the education industry in Xingcheng."
Principal Mei?
Jiang Yue seemed to have heard of this name. Before his father left home, he was an official in the education department, and he seemed to have mentioned Principal Mei often.
Star City No. 1 Middle School has always been the best middle school in Star City. It was only in the past ten years that Yangfan Middle School slowly caught up, and even had the potential to catch up.
But Mr. Mei should have retired twenty years ago.
Who would have thought that Mr. Mei, who was full of talents all over the world, would spend his later years in this simple apartment?
"I heard that Mr. Mei's children are all abroad, and they rarely come back once or twice a year. It is said that the thing Mr. Mei regrets most in his life is sending his children abroad. Of course, this is just a hearsay. Except for his close relatives
No one knows what is true or false."
Luo Chu actually knew quite a bit about Principal Mei.
His tone suddenly condensed: "Xiao Jiang, what we just saw is Principal Mei?"
"Most likely." Jiang Yue sighed.
Luo Chu's heart tightened. He also knew that the old Principal Mei he saw just now was probably not a human being, but a ghost that had not dissipated.
It's just that he is an old man who has nothing to do with the world. At this age, who does he provoke?
Jiang Yue suddenly said: "Luo Chu, Mr. Ke, come and take a look. Are there anyone else familiar in this photo?"
Luo Chu was startled. What does the other familiar people have to do with the current matter?
But he reacted quickly and immediately thought of something.
Pick up the group photo and search carefully.
In his line of work, his eyesight is very sharp. Soon, he found a woman in the second row, fourth from the left.
This woman is actually the deceased who was murdered and dismembered in the apartment upstairs?
"Is that her?" Luo Chu pointed at the woman in the photo and murmured.
"Wen Yuqian." Jiang Yue nodded.
Luo Chu stared at the group photo again with an ugly expression, and said in a complicated tone: "Everyone who doesn't know how to take this group photo has already..."
The possibility Luo Chu mentioned is the worst possibility.
Jiang Yue felt that this possibility was extremely high.
There may really be no living people in the entire apartment building. Even if there are, they have either moved away, or they have properties elsewhere and do not live here permanently.
Those who live here for a long time are probably in bad luck.
"I told you that this entire apartment building is full of ghosts. You still don't believe it. This is a ghost building. The whole building is full of ghosts! There is not a single living person! No, there is also a half-dead old man!"
When it came to Lao Dong, the three of them were equally confused.
Previously, Old Dong was tied up in the corridor by Mr. Ke and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
If this was a ghost building, where did he go? In this ghost building, his condition would most likely lead to death.
But if you are alive, you want to see people, and if you are dead, you want to see corpses.
Even if he dies, where will he die?
The most important thing is, if all the residents in this entire building are really dead, who did it? How was it done?
In an apartment building, each apartment is a single apartment, and there must be two to three hundred households. Even if the occupancy rate is half, there are still a lot of people.
Judging from this group photo, there are indeed a lot of people. There are still people who are interested but have not participated in the party.
So, how could it be possible for so many people to be killed so cleanly? Isn’t there a fish that slipped through the net? Isn’t it possible that no one noticed anything unusual?
If it is man-made, then this is definitely not something that one person can do.
If it is a ghost that causes trouble, what kind of ghost can do this?
According to Jiang Yue's previous reasoning, Wen Yuqian should be the first victim. She was killed and quartered. She harbored resentment and turned into a ghost. As a result, she caused trouble in the entire building and angered other residents.
But now it seems that this reasoning may not be the only answer.
Of course, this possibility cannot be ruled out.
Judging from the photos, Wen Yuqian looks sweet, soft and weak, and she does not look like a strong woman. It is difficult to combine her in the photos with the fierce ghost who comes and goes without a trace.
Of course, the bigger question in Jiang Yue's mind was not Wen Yuqian.
But Mr. Mei.
The three of them were about to go downstairs. Principal Mei appeared in the form of a ghost. What did he want to show them? What did he express?
Impossible. Principal Mei appeared in the corridor for no reason and led them to this room for no reason at all. There was no purpose at all.