Midnight Bookstore

The basic elements of a horror movie were all gathered deep in the mountains… the villa, the corpses, and the Ghost Shadows. The effect was great. Boss Zhou and the group of ghosts and a zombie were all shocked.

Zhou Ze was not in a hurry to go out and look for the human shadow that had floated out in Lawyer An's words. Instead, everyone gathered all the corpses in the villa together. They found gasoline from the villa's garage and poured it on the corpses. They lit the corpses on fire.

When Zhou Ze was looking for gasoline, he found that there was half a box of detonators sealed in the garage. He did not know what they were used for, but Boss Zhou was not so bored that he would use detonators to blow up the bodies for fun. Although this could also have the effect of preventing them from turning into zombies. Zhou Ze was too lazy to deal with the bodies most of the time. He could just leave the cleanup work to the police or call Old Zhang directly.

However, the corpses this time were different. The corpses in the mountains would be cooler than the outside world. It was unlikely that the corpses would completely decompose through the summer. If they were allowed to lie there, these corpses were likely to turn into white-haired zombies.

Although this was not his jurisdiction, he could still do it easily. If these zombies spread out, it might lead to very bad consequences. Looking at the burning flames, Zhou Ze suddenly thought of something. Winter Clothes Day would be coming soon. The words that Madam Bai said to him before she left began to ring in Zhou Ze's mind.

Subconsciously, Zhou Ze looked at Bai Yingying who was standing beside him. 'Hehe', Zhou Ze shook his head and dispelled those thoughts. Yingying had to stay by his side. No matter what happened, she had to stay by his side.

After the bodies were dealt with, no one had a meeting to discuss what to do next. Lawyer An had already thought of a plan. This villa had two big wolfdogs, but they were dead just like the people in this villa.

However, the wolfdogs weren't bitten to death. The zombie that killed people probably didn't go to Xuzhou to taste the delicious dog meat of Wang Pozi's house, so he wasn't interested in dog meat.

The two dogs were kicked to death, Zhang Yanfeng concluded. Yes, Zhang Yanfeng's occupational instincts were acting up. He would even investigate the cause of the death of the dogs!

The murderer had kicked the two dogs with great force, leaving footprints on their bodies. How much force was needed to kick the big wolfdogs to death? The kicks had caused the bones and internal organs of the wolfdogs to instantly collapse. They were kicked to death!

After realizing this, Zhang Yanfeng suddenly fell into deep thought. He thought of last night when he took the suitcase down from the car. At that time, the old man inside seemed to be planning to secretly escape, but was stopped by the monkey. Then, he kicked the suitcase a few times. After that, there was no movement in the suitcase. He thought that the old man had been honest.

Hiss… This!

Zhang Yanfeng awkwardly glanced at Lawyer An, who had just taken the dog leash from him. Could the old man in the suitcase have been kicked to death by him? That old man was placed in the suitcase, so no one knew what position he was in. If he had kicked Zhang Yanfeng then, it was very likely that he had kicked the vital parts, such as his head, and then…

The specific cause of death could not be determined unless an autopsy was performed. The old man's injuries might have been too many and too complicated. An autopsy would not draw an accurate conclusion of death.

However, the more Zhang Yanfeng thought about it, the more he felt that it was possible. He looked at Lawyer An, who was happily tying the leash on the cha.

Zhang Yanfeng suddenly felt very ashamed. Lawyer An seemed to have taken the blame for him. He had even used this matter to contradict him during the day, making him feel embarrassed.

Forget it, let's not talk about wild guesses anymore. The dead are already dead. Let him rest in peace.

"It's tied." Lawyer An pulled up the rope and let the cha be at ease. "This thing has light in its eyes as if it was infected by some kind of energy. It is no longer a pure animal in the forest."

"So you are walking the dog. No, you are walking the cha…"

"Are we walking the cha so that it can lead us to its nest?" Zhou Ze asked.

"Yes, let's give it a try. What if it works? Besides, we have no other clues. The ghost is long gone."

"Okay, let's give it a try."

Just like that, in the middle of the night in the forest, three men and a woman were secretly poking at the ground. They were following a cha. If they were driving, they would take the highway. If they were following a cha, it might not necessarily take the highway.

In short, everyone was still walking in circles in the forest at almost three o'clock in the morning.

Zhou Ze's feet were a little sore from walking, and he was getting impatient.

Lawyer An was also a little embarrassed. After all, he was the one who came up with the idea. It didn't seem to work now, and he had been walking in the forest with his companions for so long.

"It seems that this cha is not as smart as a dog." As soon as he finished his words, the cha who was originally being led by the rope suddenly slipped into a crack in front of him. Lawyer An grabbed the rope with both hands and tried to pull it out. However, the end of the rope loosened, and the rope was pulled out. Cha was gone.

"You are so cunning. You even know how to break free?" Lawyer An held the other end of the rope and said, "I'm sorry, everyone. I've made you work all night for nothing."

"No. Boss and Old An, come and see." Zhang Yanfeng lay on the ground where Cha had disappeared and waved for everyone to come over. When everyone got closer, they found Old Zhang digging up the soil on the ground with his hands. Although it was closer to the north and they would be out of the closed-door cultivation if they went further north, the soil was not as hard as the frozen soil. Besides, it had rained recently in the mountains, so the soil was not hard.

"There are bricks down here." Lawyer An pointed down and said.

"Yeah, they look like bricks." Zhou Ze took out his flashlight and shone it on the ground. At the same time, he patted Lawyer An's shoulder and said, "Old An, your idea is not bad. Maybe that Cha led us to the right place. Come on, let's dig. Let's see if there are any passageways nearby."

Everyone immediately got busy. Although they didn't have any tools, except for Old Zhang, the others were all good at digging fast.

"Boss, we found it!" Yingying shouted. As expected, Yingying dug to the entrance of the tunnel. Under a big tree, when she looked down with her flashlight, she could see the steps below.

"Why does it feel like a Tomb Raider?" The serious old criminal policeman wanted to make a joke to liven up the atmosphere.

Lawyer An glanced at Old Zhang and said, "There are two zombies in our team. How is this a tomb raider? This is like going home."

"Old An," Zhou Ze shouted.

"Boss?"

"You go down first."

"…" Lawyer An.

Although he felt that this was revenge, Lawyer An had no choice but to bite the bullet and go down first. Zhou Ze was the second to go down, followed by Old Zhang and finally Yingying. This arrangement was also to take care of the old criminal policeman who was the most fragile among the four. Of course, it was also because they didn't feel at ease with Old Zhang standing behind them.

The path down was quite smooth. Other than the moldy smell that was somewhat unbearable, they didn't encounter anything else. After going down for about seventy to eighty meters, a passageway appeared in front of them.

"Looks like it is a tomb chamber. It's not buried in a temple or something like that." Lawyer An analyzed.

There were ruins of ancient temples in many places, and some were even buried underground. However, things like temples were worshipped by the living during their glory days, so it was impossible to build such a passageway. Only tombs built specifically for the underground would have such a structure.

"Boss, do you think Lin Ke is in here?" Lawyer An asked.

"I don't know. Let's walk further. If it doesn't work, we can still go back with some Netherworld artifacts."

Old Zhang, who was following behind, heard this and wanted to say something, but he hesitated. He wanted to say that everything underground belonged to the country. The things that were dug out must be handed over to the country. However, he thought about his current status and decided that it was better not to say it.

"F*ck. Boss, are you serious?" Lawyer An was a little speechless. His boss was thinking about not leaving empty-handed at this time.

"Yingying's funerary goods were sold quite a lot before. Choose a few good ones and give them to her." Zhou Ze said.

"Oh, f*ck, come on. It's so late at night in the tomb, and you're still giving me shit?" Lawyer An shook his head and continued to walk forward.

There were probably many things that ordinary tomb raiders needed to avoid when entering a tomb. It was even possible to set up a sacrificial table to pay tribute to the tomb owner. However, there was no need for these four people to follow these rules. There were either ghosts or zombies in the group. Logically speaking, the tomb owner should be paying tribute to them.

After walking along the corridor for a while, they found a turn ahead. However, at the corner of the turn, Lawyer An stopped and raised his hand to signal his companions behind him to stop as well. "There's a miasma ahead!"

"The color of the bricks on the ground are all different with this corner as the dividing line. It's the result of the long-term infiltration of the miasma. If we walk forward, it'll be easy for us to hallucinate. This isn't a pure miasma, it's something that's almost materialized. It was somewhat similar to the powder fog that could be emitted from my white-bones hands. Boss, this tomb isn't simple. Even if it's the tomb of an emperor, it wouldn't have such a high-grade thing."

After he finished speaking, Lawyer An looked at Zhou Ze. He had to continue walking forward, but the road ahead was too dangerous. This miasma would cause hallucinations. It was equivalent to a permanent illusion.

"Boss, I'll go in with you." Lawyer An knew that among the four of them, the ones with the strongest resistance to the illusion were himself and his boss. Yingying and Zhang Yanfeng might be affected by the illusion and lose their minds.

"Yingying, you and Old Zhang go back the same way. It's best to drive to the mountain road nearby and wait for us to come out to meet us." Zhou Ze ordered.

"Boss, I want to stay with you to protect you…" As Yingying spoke, she still obediently pouted her lips and nodded. She didn't know how to refuse her boss's orders and demands. Even the television drama scenes like "You go… I won't go… You go… I won't go if you don't go… I won't go if you don't go" could not be fully comprehended by her. Some things were just branded into her bones and blood.

"Boss, then be careful. I'll wait for you upstairs."

"Oh right, there's still a detonator in the villa. I'll go back and get it later. Let's agree on a time. It's a quarter past four in the morning. If you guys still can't come out by nine in the morning, I'll try to use a detonator to blow up this tomb. Is that okay?"

There was no signal underground, so they couldn't contact each other by phone. Lawyer An thought for a moment and nodded. "Okay, let's set it at nine in the morning."

After receiving the order, Zhang Yanfeng and Yingying went back the way they came. The path below was indeed not suitable for them to follow.

"Boss, we have to continue exploring." Lawyer An smiled. He took a deep breath and walked in. Zhou Ze followed behind. As soon as the corner was turned, he immediately felt different. it was as if the air had become much thinner. There was a subtle feeling of weightlessness.

Zhou Ze subconsciously reached out his hand to support the wall of the tunnel. Lawyer An opened his mouth and said, "It's not weightless. It's just that our senses are starting to be misled. Boss, can you hold on?"

"No problem." Zhou Ze replied.

"Alright, keep walking. I'm starting to see phantoms."

Zhou Ze continued walking for some distance. Phantoms appeared before his eyes as well. The dizziness started to appear. Zhou Ze struggled and resisted with all his might. His ability to withstand illusions was indeed strong. Lawyer An was also a master of illusions. The two of them could still withstand it.

Suddenly, Zhou Ze only heard Lawyer An say, "F*ck!" Before Zhou Ze could raise his head to observe, he felt an empty space beneath his feet.

"F*ck!"

Then, his entire body slid down. He continued to spin and fall. He rolled and crashed. Zhou Ze felt that his already somewhat muddled consciousness had completely lost control in an instant. He did not know how much time had passed. When he forced himself to focus his consciousness and open his eyes, he discovered that he was sitting in an underground cave. There was also a stove next to him, and there was a fire burning inside.

His head hurt. Zhou Ze rubbed his head and stood up shakily.

"Boss…"

Zhou Ze looked to his side and saw Lawyer An beside him.

"This damn thing must be intentional. With the arrangement of the miasma and the slope of this blind spot, even people like us who can resist it on our own will not be able to withstand it."

"Where is this?" Zhou Ze asked.

"Underground, or perhaps, we have completely entered the miasma." Lawyer An took a deep breath and exhaled heavily. "This is too extravagant. It's not ordinary."

There was a faint noise outside the cave. It was as if people were drinking there.

"Shall we go out and take a look?" Zhou Ze asked.

"No, don't be hasty." Lawyer An reached out and grabbed Zhou Ze's shoulder. He continued, "We have to first confirm that we are real and not a delusion while we are unconscious. One of us might be a delusion. In other words, boss, you need to confirm whether I am real or not from your standpoint. I need to confirm whether you are real or not from my standpoint. Do you understand what I mean?"

Both of them were panting heavily as they spoke. It was as if they were in an oxygen-deficient environment on a plateau.

"Sure, how do you want to confirm?" Zhou Ze asked.

Lawyer An extended his hand. The flesh and blood on his left hand were slowly fading away, turning into a skeletal hand.

"Fortunately, everything can be faked, but it doesn't feel like it can be faked. Both of us have the characteristics of being able to confirm our identities. Fortunately, Old Zhang didn't come down, otherwise, there would be no way to confirm his identity. How about this, boss? I'll first stab you with my bony hand. Then, you stab me with your fingernails. This way, we can confirm each other's identities."

"You go first?"

"Okay, I'll go first." Lawyer An grabbed Zhou Ze's arm with one hand, and his bony hand stabbed Zhou Ze's arm.

"Hiss…" Zhou Ze was in so much pain that he sucked in a breath of cold air. The pain was as if a hundred years of rheumatism had taken effect in an instant. The muscles on his entire arm were completely spasming. The pain was unbearable.

"Do you feel it?" Lawyer An asked. He had not let go yet.

Zhou Ze was in so much pain that his entire body was twitching. He wanted to speak, but he could not.

"Do you feel it, boss?"

F*ck you, let go!

"Can you feel it, boss?"

F*ck you, let go!

"Still can't feel it? That's impossible. Am I not real?"

Finally, Lawyer An pulled out his bony hand. "Boss?"

"I can feel it." Zhou Ze held his arm as he panted and nodded.

"Oh, that's good."

"Now, is it my turn?" Zhou Ze asked.

"Well, you do it, boss." The lawyer stretched out his arm.

Zhou Ze nodded his head. The fingernails on the right hand grow out slowly. Then it went straight into Lawyer An's arm.

"Hiss!!! Oh!!! Woo!!!" Lawyer An was in so much pain that he was jumping all over.

How terrifying is Zhou Ze's nail power!

"Feel that?"

"Ow!!!"

"Don't cry, do you feel it?" Zhou Ze asked.

"Hiss!!!"

Lawyer An's face began to turn green. He stuck out his tongue.

"Do you feel it? Say something!"

"Uh…"

"Am I fake? That's impossible. I feel like I'm real."

"…" Lawyer An.

Finally, when he saw that Lawyer An was rolling his eyes and foaming at the mouth, Zhou Ze pulled out his fingernails. It was as if Lawyer An's entire body had been hollowed out. He immediately knelt on the ground. He was gasping for breath.

"Hu… hu… hu… hu…"

"Do you feel anything?" Zhou Ze lowered his head and asked.

Lawyer An nodded his head reluctantly. He said, "The feeling is very strong."