Chapter 1453: Chapter 896: Prying Eyes (Part 4)
It seems the ghosts here have varying strengths, and this Waist-breaking Ghost is indeed a menacing presence. At the same time, Zhou Mingxiao thought of the Throat-locking Female Ghost that initially haunted Yang Xiao, which obviously wasn’t an ordinary ghost either, probably holding a similar status to the Waist-breaking Ghost.
Thinking of this, Zhou Mingxiao couldn’t help but feel grateful that he survived thanks to Yang Xiao; otherwise, encountering either of these ghosts alone could have had an unpredictable outcome.
"Crack—"
"Crack—"
The sound of friction came from afar, about 20 meters away from Zhou Mingxiao. This was a relatively safe distance.
It allowed him to prepare for the Waist-breaking Ghost’s sudden turns or change of route, while also deterring other burnt ghosts from showing themselves easily.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Zhou Mingxiao checked the rooms along the way and found a warehouse filled with numerous film props, costumes, equipment, signboards, and so on.
During this period, Zhou Mingxiao also confirmed that the type of films this company shot had issues. Many props were ragged, stained with "blood," and included various horror masks and ominous instruments like brutal knives and hatchets.
Just from these props, they could shoot a dozen different murder movies without repeating.
And in another small room nearby, Zhou Mingxiao even found some very realistic fake corpses, severed body parts, heads, and limbs; the scene was extremely bloody.
It was similar to their previous investigation; this company primarily targeted the Asian market, especially Southeast Asia, as these props exhibited Asian racial characteristics.
Moreover, there were no Western demon or vampire-type items among the props.
However, knowing these prop corpses and corpse chunks were fake didn’t prevent him from breaking into a cold sweat upon seeing them unexpectedly in such an environment.
Zhou Mingxiao continued onward; he approached a larger integrated office area close to the core region. To his disappointment, this area was also near the center of the fire and had been almost burnt to ruins.
Only some basic remnants were left; the entire office area presented a dark and tragic appearance. The doors and windows remained, but only the frames were left, and there were a few metal cabinets near the wall side.
Unreconciled, Zhou Mingxiao, since he was already there, cautiously stepped inside, carefully avoiding debris underfoot. Some burnt items made loud noises when stepped on, and he worried about drawing trouble.
"Hmm?"
Suddenly, Zhou Mingxiao seemed to notice something out of the corner of his eye, in a corner.
Looking over there, Zhou Mingxiao was initially stunned, then quickened his pace to go over. Upon closer proximity, he was surprised to find it was a small wooden table.
A wooden table is not particularly odd, but its presence here felt wrong. Given the surroundings, not to mention wooden tables, even metal cabinets were unrecognizably burnt, with no intact items remaining.
But this wooden table was an exception, abruptly appearing here, standing out against the surroundings.
Zhou Mingxiao carefully examined the table. It was deep red in color, very old-fashioned, with a bit of a Republican era feel, coated with a layer of deep red paint, and covered in dents and scratches.
The table wasn’t large, with a drawer in the middle that could be pulled out.
Currently, the drawer was slightly pulled out by someone, and through the gap, he could see something inside.
Taking a deep breath, Zhou Mingxiao surveyed the area, confirming no burnt ghosts had appeared, then nervously began to pull the drawer open bit by bit.
In the next moment, he froze for a second, seeing that it contained a vintage handheld DV camera, with its screen still unfolded.
The feeling was as if its owner had just placed the DV camera inside not long ago.
Before Zhou Mingxiao could decide, the horrifying event occurred; the DV camera suddenly powered on by itself, first the power indicator light, then the screen also lit up.
Meanwhile, the DV emitted a "shhhh" electrical noise, eerily distinctive in the quiet environment.
Zhou Mingxiao didn’t hesitate any longer, reached out, and picked up the DV camera. At this instant, he was astounded to find that the world he saw differed entirely from the scene captured on the DV camera’s screen.
In his eyes, the surroundings were scorched earth, a devastated fire scene, whereas the DV screen captured a spacious, bright office hall with computers and folders on desks, ceiling lights on, walls adorned with photo frames.
Zhou Mingxiao immediately swept the lens around, relieved that his worst fear hadn’t materialized—there were no people, not even ghost shadows. It was a deserted and silent office hall, without the slightest sign of fire disaster.
Realizing, Zhou Mingxiao understood this must be a glimpse of the company before the fire; the DV seemed like a portal allowing them to briefly witness Chen’s Strange Film Company’s pre-tragedy scene.
Simultaneously, through the lens, he noticed the photo frames hanging on the wall.
Approaching, despite aiming at a wall in the real world that’s burnt pitch-black, the screen bizarrely showed a photo.
Calling it a photo might be inaccurate; it was a very old, packaged VCD disc, framed anew and displayed on the wall as if for commemoration.
On the disc packaging, there was a name scrawled in trembling bloodred letters: Xinglin Hospital Morgue Ghost Corpse Snatching Incident Investigation Report.
