Chapter 1: Strange Phenomena in the Underworld

  Two people were talking, when suddenly a hurried footsteps came from outside the house, it was clear that many people ran to Chen Zhenhua's office, and listening to the footsteps could imagine how eager they were, as if competing for something.

  Chen Zhenhua was perplexed, he couldn't think of what would happen at the police station. The people he saw at the police station were all a group of lazy and idle "colleagues", so he was certain that these policemen should not have such urgent footsteps, maybe even if a terrible ghost appeared in front of them, they wouldn't have any reaction.

  He turned around and looked towards the door, saw a group of reporters rushing in, as soon as they saw the police, they asked non-stop, whoever was caught would be questioned left and right, even Chen Zhenhua was surrounded by five or six reporters.

  "Excuse me," a reporter squeezed to the front of the crowd and asked Chen Zhenhua, "Can you tell us how you cracked that sensational murder case that shook the whole city recently?"

  Chen Zhenhua had no idea what case they were asking about, and for a moment he was speechless. The reporters, however, stared at him foolishly, one hand holding a pen and the other holding a notebook, waiting for Chen Zhenhua to recount the brilliant process of cracking the case so they could record it.

  The police officer Huang Aiguo, who was talking to Chen Zhenhua earlier, was afraid that Chen Zhenhua would reveal a flaw and wanted to show his face in the media, so he hurriedly pulled Chen Zhenhua's clothes aside and stepped forward with a smile to block Chen Zhenhua from view. He coughed twice and said: "Uh, this case he doesn't know, what happened was... The real culprit wasn't actually caught by Chen Zhenhua."

  The journalist turned around to face Huang Aiguo, who smiled and cleared his throat before continuing: "Here's what happened. After our colleagues at the police station analyzed the case day and night, gathering evidence, we finally figured out who that ruthless suspect was. Later, we heard that the killer had fled to a remote mountain area. We were worried that this dangerous individual would harm the local villagers, so everyone made up their minds to capture the killer. So, on that rainy day, all of us police officers set out - except for Chen Zhenhua, who happened to be hospitalized with an illness - and we ran to the outskirts of Wubang City, not far from the remote mountain area, conducting a thorough search of the mountain and engaging in a fierce battle with the suspect. In the end, we finally caught that damned suspect."

  Many police officers were staring at Huang Aiguo, and they were all stunned by the vivid scene of catching thieves that he had imagined. They all surrounded him quietly, listening to him intently. Chen Zhenhua was also leaning to one side, listening seriously, nodding from time to time. In his mind's eye, a scene of fierce battle between police and bandits emerged, which he had seen on TV before and had fantasized about being one of the righteous police officers himself.

  "Is that so?" The reporter was diligently taking notes, but didn't record the policeman's spittle flying everywhere. Apart from this, even his expression was recorded seriously, it seems this reporter still wants to make a big deal out of the policeman's brilliant description. In fact, all of this was fabricated.

  Chen Zhenhua just listened to Huang Aiguo's wonderful speech, he didn't dare say anything, nor did he dare express any opinion, he could only quietly listen, it wasn't until half a day later that he clearly remembered the case the reporters and police were talking about, the murder case that had shaken the entire Haibei City a year ago, but he knew the ins and outs of this case, although not having seen it with his own eyes, before entering the police station, he had more or less heard some things, catching the criminal was not as simple as what the police said.

  The reporters left with a satisfied visit, but the police station's floor was left with many footprints. Last night, there was a moderate-sized rain, and there were still puddles on the road, so the group of reporters who came in also made the floor dirty. Under the office desk, there was a discarded tissue that someone had used to wipe their nose, which was quite disgusting. Seeing the trash on the floor, Chen Zhenhua's habit of sweeping the streets as his profession "relapsed", and he searched all around for a broom so that he could sweep the floor clean.

  "By the way, help me wipe the office desk, there's a lot of dust on it." A police officer who was playing poker with his colleagues saw Chen Zhenhua find a broom and hastily arranged for Chen Zhenhua to do so, as if arranging temporary work.

  The police officer spoke very rudely, not even looking at Chen Zhenhua in the face. Chen Zhenhua didn't care about these things and helped to sweep the entire office clean, just like he used to sweep the street he managed before. Until noon when everyone else went to eat, he was still busy wiping the tables.

  Just as he was getting into the swing of things, a phone suddenly rang out, and with his heart racing, he walked over to it. He reached out to pick it up, but still hesitated - even now, he couldn't shake off the feeling that he was just a janitor.

  People are such contradictory animals, always complaining about their own bad situation, but once they get out of trouble, they still think about their previous life. Chen Zhenhua is like this, when he was sweeping the street before, he always hoped to be a policeman, but now that he can be called a "policeman", his conditioned reflex still makes him think of things related to sanitation work.

  He didn't dare to answer the phone, still accustomed to his identity as a cleaner. Once he answered the police station's call, he was afraid of being ridiculed by others. Before, when he was at the sanitation station, it was pay day again. He went to the leader's office, but the leader wasn't there. Just as he was about to turn around and leave, the leader's phone rang. He thought he had a good relationship with the leader, so he helped answer the phone. But before he could even speak, the leader came in and severely scolded him.

  So the police station's phone rang and he didn't dare to answer it, standing beside the telephone, struggling painfully in his heart, stretching out his hand and then withdrawing it, repeating this action many times, the non-stop ringing of the telephone made him anxious with sweat dripping from his face.

  He finally decided to answer the phone, taking a deep breath and picking up the receiver with his trembling right hand, carefully placing it against his ear, panting heavily as he said in a tense, low voice: "Hello, this is the Sanitation Department... no, I mean the Police Station!"

  There was no sound on the other end of the phone, and nobody spoke.

  "Hey, is there something I can help you with?"

  However, the other party still did not respond, but he knew that the person was still listening on the phone, because he could hear the other party's breathing sound.

  He was puzzled why the other party didn't speak, so he shouted "Hello" several times in a row, each one louder than the last. Finally, there was a faint sound on the other end of the phone. He finally heard a voice, but it was a woman's crying voice, intermittent and weak, like a female ghost whimpering softly at night. Chen Zhenhua felt his hair stand on end, although he was also a soul now, but hearing such a cry still scared him.

  His voice trembled as he asked again: "Excuse me, what can I do for you?"

  The other party still didn't speak, and after a moment, let out a loud cry, then vaguely said "save me", and no sound could be heard again.

  Chen Zhenhua listened attentively and nervously, and when he heard the other person say "save me", he became tense with fear. He thought to himself that there must have been a murder case, but he didn't know who was calling for help or where they were calling from.

  He stood foolishly beside the phone, feeling very uneasy, biting his lower lip with his teeth, and tapping the desktop lightly with several fingers of both hands.

  He picked up the phone and dialed the number displayed on it. The call went through, but all he heard was a busy tone that lasted for half a day without anyone answering.

  Chen Zhenhua was even more certain now that someone had been harmed and was originally calling for help, but hadn't had time to say anything before being harmed.

  But this is also hard to say, he thought again, if the other party has no time to explain the situation, why do they have time to cry? It's impossible that I really met a ghost?!

  When Huang Aiguo and the others returned, Chen Zhenhua told them about the strange phone call. Before Huang Aiguo could say anything, the director rushed in, looking flustered, and gave orders with a serious expression like a general.

  "Received a call from the 110 command center, saying that a citizen reported a case, in the Rose Garden community in East City, Happiness Building A unit B building third floor safe passage found a bloody palm print, preliminary estimate may have a homicide occurred, this case will be investigated by the homicide team." The director finished speaking, turned around and quickly left the criminal police office, he took out his mobile phone from his pocket and walked out while making a call. Chen Zhenhua could tell from the content of his speech that the director was definitely calling the mayor or someone higher than himself.

  Upon receiving the order, a team of police officers rushed out of the office one after another, with Huang Aiguo and Chen Zhenhua also hastily following suit. Everyone got into several police cars, which sped out of the police station.

  The police car sped through the downtown area, rushed through the old city streets, and soon stopped at the entrance of Rose Residential District. The policemen quickly got out of the car and ran towards Building A, Unit B of Happiness Mansion.

  It's said that a murder case occurred in the neighborhood, and people began to discuss it eagerly. Several groups of people stood at the entrance of the neighborhood, watching the police arrive, as if they were watching a movie.

  Chen Zhenhua followed in the police ranks, he saw people watching on both sides of the road, feeling a bit proud and proud, also showing off extremely, just like a movie protagonist, others were centered around him, highlighting his importance.

  When they arrived at the third floor mentioned by the director, the police indeed saw a bloody palm print. Before Chen Zhenhua and his team arrived, security guards and police officers from the Rose Garden Police Station had already been maintaining order at the scene. Other residents of the community stood in a circle at a distance, surrounding the passageway, making the safe passage extremely crowded.

  Chen Zhenhua and others rushed up, someone turned around and saw them, then loudly shouted: "Quickly move aside! The police are here!"

  With this shout, the "audience" surrounding them in a circle parted to make way for Chen Zhenhua and his group to enter the scene.

  As soon as they saw them coming, they gave way to them. Chen Zhenhua was once again intoxicated with pride. He was extremely pleased in his heart. He enjoyed this sense of pride.

  Upon arrival at the scene, the bloody palm indeed existed. In the third-floor corridor, there was a small pile of trash wrapped in black plastic bags, and the bloody hand was right next to the plastic bag, brutally appearing in people's sight. Chen Zhenhua saw the bloody palm with one glance, and his triumphant mood instantly vanished, replaced by a wave of nausea and terror.