The Last Mr. Dongguo

The waiting time is always agonizing; in just ten minutes, even the air feels almost stagnant in the confined space.

Sizzle, sizzle.

The brief radio wave notification made Fei Li glance warily at the overhead camera out of the corner of his eye. Then, quite naturally, he took out an eyeglass case from his pocket, carefully removed his glasses, and put them on his nose.

"Da da, da da, da, da da."

This was the secret code between the three of them.

"How are you?"

Fei Li straightened her bangs and casually tapped a rhythm on the table with the four fingers of her right hand.

"I'm fine."

"The air in this room is only enough for an adult to breathe for twelve hours."

"The other side's plan is well-thought-out, but I don't understand why they would involve the Criminal Investigation Division. What benefit would they gain from doing so?"

"I'm trying to figure out where the signal is coming from."

"Any progress?"

"The signal's location is uncertain; the other party is a master."

"Can you get in touch with Bai Xin?"

"Not right now, it seems we've already left the museum grounds."

"The art exhibition is fake."

"Act according to the situation."

Fei Li typed out the final coded signal.

"The results are now being announced," the anxious voice announced again. "Unfortunately, your answers are not unified. Six people chose green, and three chose red. You have another twenty minutes for the final vote."

The results have been announced, and Feng Hao was the first to speak out.

"Damn it, who chose green? There are actually people who choose green. People like that should pay with their lives."

"Shouldn't we at least know the whole story?"

The speaker was Gu Hezhi, and it was clear that he had chosen green.

"Yes, perhaps, perhaps there's a reason?" Zhang Tingyu said guiltily. The content of "Ode to the Divine Crow" had deeply offended his bottom line.

"A predicament? Then let's ask the person involved to say a few words!"

A "click, click" sound came from the speakers, and a beam of light shot out from above everyone's heads, hitting the opposite wall. Instantly, a disgusting scene appeared before everyone's eyes, and the male protagonist in it was Zhang Tingyu.

The disturbing video only played for ten seconds before the scene changed to a woman being carried out of a villa by an ambulance.

"Mr. Zhang, tell me, how did you cause Feng Xin's family to be ruined and destroyed?"

Silence, stillness.

The projected image abruptly stopped, and darkness returned to the room. Zhang Tingyu was slumped on the floor, his shirt soaked with sweat. He didn't bother wiping his sweat, his eyes fixed on the security camera, his breathing rapid.

"You and President Liu each had your own agendas, and you really put on a good show. Liu Ting used any means necessary to get Feng Xin's shares in the company, threatening Feng Xin's family to force her to comply. President Liu and you have been married for many years but have no children, and you only coveted Feng Xin's beauty. You both had your own agendas, and in the end, you achieved your dirty goal. But afterwards, fearing that Feng Xin would change her mind, you plotted to tamper with Feng Xin's food and secretly sent someone to infiltrate the hospital to inject Feng Xin with a foreign serum that would cause her to have an allergic reaction and die. Zhang Tingyu, you really went to great lengths."

"Hmph, these are all your guesses. Do you have any evidence?" Zhang Tingyu unbuttoned his shirt and glared at the camera, disregarding his image. "This video proves nothing. It's all something you did to frame me. It has nothing to do with me."

"Is Feng Xin really dead?"

Shock—this simple question was enough to be fatal to Zhang Tingyu.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't you know? Feng Xin has disappeared without a trace, so it's possible that she's still alive."

In another room, Liu Ting sat trembling on the floor. From the moment the projector started playing, what was being explained to her wasn't the so-called audio equipment, but a person, a person who had already died—Feng Xin.

The audio and video recordings in the nine rooms are not interconnected.

"Sister-in-law, how are you?"

Feng Xin spoke coldly, her waist-length hair covering half her face, her fair face expressionless, and her once delicate eyes filled with hatred.

"Are you a human or a ghost?"

"Of course I'm a ghost. Heaven thinks I died unjustly, so it specially arranged for me to come and talk to my sister-in-law today."

Feng Xin slowly walked towards Liu Ting, who was now cornered against the wall. She felt a chill slowly enveloping her, a deathly cold that pierced her to the bone.

"No, no, this is impossible. How can a dead person talk? You, who are you?"

"I am Feng Xin, sister-in-law. Do you remember that night? You and Mr. Zhang were lying in bed whispering sweet nothings, while I was lying in the icy cold of the hospital. The chilling wind kept seeping into my bones. I wanted to leave, but I couldn't move. I wanted to speak, but I couldn't shout. Do you know what it feels like to fall off a cliff with nothing to hold onto? Helplessness, pain, loss, despair. All my hard work has only resulted in this tragic ending. It's not fair."

"Sister-in-law, have you forgotten how the Feng family helped you back then? I can't believe you're so heartless. Now that the Feng family is in trouble, you want to use a surrogate mother. Hmph, I really don't know what you want. You're all wolves that can't be tamed."

Liu Ting could no longer distinguish between reality and illusion; the person before her exuded an aura that was definitely not that of a normal person. All Liu Ting could feel was a chilling coldness, a chilling coldness from hell.

There was no wind in the room, yet Feng Xin's long hair seemed to flutter involuntarily. Every word Feng Xin spoke was like an ice dagger piercing Liu Ting's body. Liu Ting was already riddled with wounds.

White, cold mist, a dark space, a terrifying atmosphere, and helpless despair. Only this time, the victim was Liu Ting. How she wished it was all a dream, how she wished Feng Xin was a real person. But her mind seemed to be out of her control, her thoughts slowly convincing her that Feng Xin truly came from hell.

"Sister-in-law," Feng Xin bent down, looked at Liu Ting's lifeless eyes, and chuckled, "Don't think you're so smart, and don't think that Mr. Dongguo is always at the mercy of others. Maybe in the end, you will die at Mr. Dongguo's hands."

From Liu Ting's eyes, Feng Xin could tell that she had gone mad.

The sound of "boom" came again, and a hidden door opened. The dark doorway was like a passage connecting two worlds. Feng Xin turned around and quickly disappeared into the darkness.

A deathly silence fell over Zhang Tingyu's room. He repeatedly reviewed his actions, feeling they were flawless and impeccable. Yet, he couldn't understand why Feng Xin's body had vanished. And how did the mastermind behind this incident know what he had done? Countless questions flashed through Zhang Tingyu's mind, and he was slowly beginning to believe that Feng Xin might not truly be dead.

"Mr. Zhang, let me settle some accounts with you."

Zhang Tingyu could no longer bear the external stimulation, and he suddenly stood up to find the source of the sound.

"Come out, stop playing tricks."

The gates of hell opened before Zhang Tingyu, and a cold mist accompanied by Feng Xin rushed towards him.