I am a full-level celestial master, you let me enter the strange talk of rules?

The strange tales had barely begun when this eerie noise started, and Jones's hair stood on end.

He stared intently at the doorway, motionless, holding his breath.

The sound grew closer and clearer. He could tell that the wheels weren't the large wheels of a stroller, but small wheels, like those of a toy car or a suitcase.

The sound stopped at the door.

Jones stared at the door, wondering what it was.

But nothing happened.

The sound stopped for a moment, then started again, not moving forward, but getting farther and farther away, as if the thing pushing the cart had turned around and left.

Jones's feet seemed glued to the ground; he wanted to look, but he just didn't dare to go over.

The sound slowly, little by little, disappeared at the end of the corridor until it was completely inaudible.

At this moment, Jones's clothes were soaked with cold sweat.

Something's not right. Something's extremely wrong.

He began to doubt his own judgment, feeling that if he didn't find any intelligence and continued to remain motionless, he would surely die.

This is already a warning.

He hasn't even had a chance to watch the surveillance footage yet, and he's already so scared his heart is about to stop.

This supernatural world is too outrageous; they don't give us any information.

The rules have been broken, the match might be a hint, there's an extra key, and there's an unknown creature outside the door. How are we supposed to play this?
Jones took a deep breath, slowly exhaled, then took another deep breath and slowly exhaled again.

After several attempts, my heartbeat finally stabilized a little.

He still didn't close the door, nor did he dare to approach the door or windows.

Jones carefully moved back to his seat, sat down, and began watching the surveillance footage, searching for clues.

There are eight surveillance cameras in total. The eight screens are placed in front of him, some large and some small, and they are arranged randomly. They are not straight, some are crooked, and some are even on top of other screens.

He divided them into three rows according to their positions.

There are three screens in the first row, three in the second row, and two in the third row.

The one in the very middle of the first row, and all three in the second row, are problematic.

In other words, only four out of the eight surveillance cameras were functioning normally.

Jones carefully examined the four malfunctioning screens.

Two of them are snowflakes, black and white snowflakes that twinkle densely and make a soft "rustling" sound.

Both are in the second row, one on the left and one on the right.

Jones's analysis: The snow-like pattern likely indicates a problem with the signal or the wiring.

Is it a suggestion that he should repair and restore the surveillance system?
Both screens fall into the category of "problems during operation".

The other two are black screens, one in the very center of the first row and the other in the middle left of the second row.

If the static indicates a malfunction, then a black screen seems to suggest that the device is powered off or not starting up.
Or perhaps, these two surveillance cameras were removed?

Because these two units made no noise, nothing at all.

Jones reasoned: "Do I need to solve something to be able to access these two surveillance cameras?"
In other words, perhaps I need to install surveillance cameras?
There are no results yet; Jones is just guessing. As he guesses, he keeps these phenomena in mind, a method Zhang Yangqing taught him.

Don't be afraid of guessing wrong. Make more guesses and gradually gather information to get closer to the answer.

The position of each screen, the state of each screen, and any anomalies that occur on each screen.

Jones took meticulous notes because in these worlds of ghost stories, information is life.

No matter how powerful you are as a chosen one, focus and diligence are essential for survival.

Disregarding the rules leads only to death. Don't be fooled by Zhang Yangqing's seemingly carefree demeanor; he may appear relaxed, but that doesn't mean he's unfocused.

Jones's gaze finally fell on the four old-fashioned surveillance cameras that were still usable.

The picture is black and white with very poor quality, like a closed-circuit television from the 1980s—blurry, shaky, and with occasional horizontal lines.

Upon seeing this, Jones, like the other chosen ones, could only think: This monitor is terrible; it can show ghosts even when there aren't any.

Despite his complaints, he still looked at them one by one.

The first scene is a toilet.

The video shows several cubicle doors, all of which are closed.

The floor is covered in white ceramic tiles, but some tiles are broken, exposing the cement underneath.

There is a mirror on the wall, reflecting the window opposite. The window is closed, and the curtains are half drawn.

Jones frowned and muttered to himself: What a perverse sense of humor, installing surveillance cameras in the toilet.

But he didn't look away because he noticed that the door of one of the stalls in the picture was shaking slightly. It wasn't from the wind, because there was no wind in the toilet; it was the kind of shaking that comes from someone gently pushing it from the inside.

The judgment is simple: the window is closed, and even if the toilet door is open, the door inside the toilet will not move if there are no other ventilation openings.

Based on the surveillance footage alone, it was definitely a windless environment.

The second scene is a strange library.

The bookshelves were very tall, reaching all the way to the ceiling. They were crammed full of books, but they weren't placed vertically; they were piled horizontally, crooked and some books were about to fall off.

There was no one in the picture, but Jones noticed a pair of shoes in the aisle between the bookshelves.

There was only a pair of shoes, no feet, no legs, and no person.

The shoes were black leather shoes, with the toes pointing towards the camera, as if someone was wearing them while standing there, but the camera couldn't capture their upper body.

Jones stared at the shoes for several seconds, feeling as if they were moving, not moving forward, but slowly, as if they were alive, twisting in place.

But upon closer inspection, it seemed the position hadn't changed. Could I be seeing things? Jones began to doubt himself.

The problem is that the monitor is really old, and many details are very blurry; it's possible the screen is shaking.

The third scene is a laundry room.

Or rather, Jones thought it was a laundry room.

The video shows several old-fashioned washing machines, cylindrical in shape, with the lids open and the inside dark.

Clothes were scattered on the ground, some neatly folded, some just thrown around.

There were some clotheslines hanging on the wall, with bed sheets and duvet covers hanging on them, motionless in the scene.

Jones noticed that the lid of a washing machine suddenly slammed to the ground with a "thud," making some noise.

Jones was almost startled.

The washing machine lid rolled over and landed on the ground, still visible on the surveillance footage.

It felt like an accident, as if the lid simply rolled off due to vibration or some other reason.

But Jones felt that this was a world of ghost stories, and there must be some clues here.

He silently noted down the original location of the lid, which was also a characteristic of that washing machine.

The washing machine appears to be missing a corner; something is propping it up underneath, and it's slightly tilted.

Jones will have to find this place and take a look; maybe he can get some clues.

After making these notes, Jones continued to observe.

The fourth scene is a restaurant. (End of Chapter)