Chapter 334: Murder Case! 'Ghost Knocks on the Door!

Chapter 334: Chapter 180: Murder Case! ‘Ghost Knocks on the Door!

“Why would you think that?”

“Well… this apartment of yours must have been pretty cheap, right?”

“It is cheap. How did you know?”

“Because… the last tenant disappeared.”

The old woman shook her head as she spoke, peering suspiciously into the apartment.

“Disappeared?” Zhang Min asked, astonished.

“Yes. It was about two weeks ago. The previous tenant disappeared. He never showed up, not even after the rent was past due by the maximum grace period.”

“The landlord couldn’t reach him by phone and figured he’d run off. After a few days, he packed up the tenant’s belongings and took them to cover the rent.”

The old woman explained.

Zhang Min shook her head, still confused.

‘This is a pretty common situation—a tenant skipping out on rent and disappearing. It happens all over the country, and every landlord has dealt with it. Some don’t even bother calling the police, especially if they can just sell off the furniture to cover the loss.’

‘What does that have to do with the rent being so cheap?’

“Young lady, take a look at what’s on the left.”

The old woman gestured for her to look toward the end of the left hallway.

A surveillance camera hung there, quietly recording everything.

“The last tenant… a week before he disappeared, he suddenly went crazy. Said he saw… a ghost!”

“A ghost was chasing him, getting closer day by day. He hid everywhere, every day, but he couldn’t escape.”

“He caused a huge scene, got everyone on edge. Luckily, after a few days, no one else had seen anything, so people let it go. But the problem is…”

“Until one day, he said he saw the ghost again. He came back from outside in a panic, went into his apartment, and never came out again…”

The old woman muttered quietly, pointing at the surveillance camera.

“The surveillance footage shows that after he went into the apartment, he never opened the door again.”

“He went into the room and didn’t leave, but no one could find him. He vanished into thin air…”

“What I mean is…”

“He might… still be in your room.”

Hearing this, a chill went down Zhang Min’s spine, and she instinctively glanced back.

But she saw nothing. She could only turn back and give the old woman a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

“Ma’am, please don’t try to scare me. If he was really in the apartment, how could he possibly not be found? It’s just one bedroom and one living room…”

“If you don’t believe me, go talk to building management. Go check the surveillance footage.”

The old woman shook her head.

“Could he have climbed out the window?” Zhang Min pressed.

“This is the fifth floor…” the old woman said in a low voice. “And there’s a camera on the first floor, too.”

“So, he might… still be in your room. You should be careful.”

“Ah, forget it. Believe what you want. It’s all just idle gossip from people in the building anyway. It’s been a week and nothing’s happened, so maybe we’re all wrong.”

With that said, the old woman turned and left, went into the apartment across the hall, and shut the door.

Leaving Zhang Min standing alone in the hallway.

Zhang Min suddenly felt her skin crawl, and she glanced back over her shoulder.

The newly arranged furniture exuded a cozy atmosphere, the curtains fluttered quietly in the breeze, and the entire room was empty and silent.

As if it were quietly waiting for the next resident to move in.

Zhang Min hesitated for a moment. Then, bracing herself, she stepped inside.

After a moment’s thought, she began to search the room.

The layout of the apartment was simple: one bedroom, one living room, and one bathroom. There was no space to hide in the bathroom, and the same went for the living room. After all, a minimalist decor didn’t offer many hiding spots.

The bedroom only had a few simple pieces of furniture.

After a quick search, Zhang Min felt mostly relieved.

‘Phew. When did I get so paranoid?’

Zhang Min smiled wryly at herself.

‘It’s been two weeks. There’s no way someone is still here…’

Now, she was starting to believe what Wang Chao had said.

‘Jiangsan City…’

‘…it really does seem a little creepy.’

Of course, with this sort of thing, it only exists if you believe in it.

Zhang Min was a law student and a high-powered career woman. She never paid attention to this sort of thing before, but the old woman’s voice had unconsciously drawn her into the story.

With that thought, she turned on the lights, walked into the living room, and went back to reading her law textbook.

However, this time, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t focus on her reading. She kept glancing around, her eyes scanning the small gaps and crevices.

Until…

RING RING RING~

A phone began to ring.

Zhang Min answered the phone as quickly as possible. “Hello?”

“Hey, it’s me. My dear niece, still getting used to Jiangsan City?”

“Your Brother Huo and I are going to take you out for a spin, get you familiar with the business and our operations, and grab some dinner.”

Wang Chao’s boisterous voice on the other end of the line helped ease Zhang Min’s anxiety a little.

She hesitated for just a moment, then nodded.

“Okay.”

With that, Zhang Min immediately grabbed a notebook and headed out.

CREAK~

The door closed, and the apartment returned to its original state, utterly silent. The furniture was deathly still, like stones. Only in the living room, the swaying curtain… looked like someone waving.

…..

…..

“My dear niece, our operations in Jiangsan City aren’t that big right now. Four shops in total, but that’s just the foundation.”

“Beyond that, most of our plans revolve around the future of our core business: ‘cell phones’.”

“For example, the ‘ride-hailing’ concept I brought up not long ago.”

「Later that night.」

At ten o’clock, Wang Chao spoke boisterously from their table at a barbecue stall.

Ride-hailing was a business opportunity he had just spotted.

His idea was to integrate traditional taxi-hailing with mobile phones. Instead of raising your hand to flag down a driver, you could just press a button. A driver would then use a map to come to your location. The efficiency would skyrocket, and getting around would become so much more convenient.

The idea was novel, and Wang Chao was mulling over how to implement it once the market had deepened.

Normally, Zhang Min would have been intensely interested in this, but now…