I’m Really Scared
Chapter 36: Quiet Simulator

Tang Zhi's words left Chen Yunpeng stunned: "Chalk dust?"

Tang Zhi excitedly explained, "There was chalk dust on the ground! And not just a little! It was piled up in the corners where the wall and floor meet. There's only one place where this happens!"

Gao Ye mused, "In a classroom?"

Chen Yunpeng realized, "Only prolonged use of chalk for writing on a blackboard would cause chalk dust to accumulate in the corners."

Tang Zhi nodded, but then hesitated, shaking his head, "No, the place was narrow, at most one and a half meters high. In the scene I saw, Worker Bee Three had to stoop to enter it — and as soon as he did, his thought was 'smelly.'"

He gestured, "And there was light filtering in from above, with no floor tiles but dirt."

Gao Ye frowned, puzzled.

This description didn't match a classroom, but the corners had chalk dust...

The three of them exchanged confused glances.

At that moment, Xia Lei's voice came through the earpiece: "It's a pigsty."

The trio: "???"

Chen Yunpeng was dumbfounded, exclaiming, "A pigsty?! But... how could there be chalk dust in a pigsty?"

Xia Lei explained, "Some rural houses leave the bottom floor empty, using the gap for raising pigs while the people live above."

"The light filtering in that Tang Zhi saw was from gaps in the wooden floor above, and the chalk dust suggests the upper floor was used as a classroom, with the dust falling through the gaps, similar to the positioning inside a classroom."

He concluded, "So, what Tang Zhi synesthetized was likely a pigsty beneath a rural school in a poor village."

Chen Yunpeng suddenly understood, "No wonder Worker Bee Three found the smell unpleasant."

Gao Ye pondered, "There shouldn't be many villages still this impoverished. If we send people to investigate each one, we might find it."

Tang Zhi smiled bitterly, "But just knowing it's under a village school is still like finding a needle in a haystack."

Gao Ye shook her head, "At least now it's the Mediterranean Sea, not the Pacific Ocean."

Tang Zhi and Chen Yunpeng exchanged hopeful looks.

The Death Hive had been conducting experiments on the Ascension Candy in secret for at least a year, with the Special Security Group constantly on their trail.

But the Death Hive was elusive, spreading their locations widely, often retreating immediately after administering the Ascension Candy, showing extreme caution with no second visits.

The Ascension Candy's test subjects often caused them trouble, slowing their investigations.

Various Special Security Groups could only tackle them one by one until Guan Shan's appearance caused the Death Hive to slip up, exposing several experiment sites.

Tang Zhi, invigorated, said, "Alright! Let the logistics team investigate while we head to those experiment sites! This time, we'll bring down the Death Hive!"

Chen Yunpeng curiously asked, "Captain, how did you think of linking it to 'learning'?"

Gao Ye's expression was serious, "Guan Shan told me."

Chen Yunpeng was shocked, "Damn, he really knows the Death Hive's movements?"

Gao Ye nodded confidently.

When asked why he couldn't tell her, Guan Shan responded that kids should focus on studying... and not answer questions with questions.

Yes, not answering questions with questions.

But when Guan Shan first answered Gao Ye's question about Zhao Hong, he used a question in return.

He couldn't be playing word games with kids.

So, his point was to eliminate all the questions in between, leaving the answer!

"Kids should focus on studying," obviously referring to the children being held and their surroundings.

Gao Ye thought to herself, this guy claimed he wouldn't reveal anything for free, yet he did.

Hmph, tsundere.

---

Guan Shan and Shen Dinghua took a break, then went to check the apartment building where the stubborn tenant lived.

The building had ten floors, with the tenant on the seventh floor, in unit 704.

As they walked through the corridor, their footsteps echoed clearly, almost with a hint of reverberation.

Guan Shan leaned on the railing, looking down. The apartment was quite large, with a fully enclosed structure. The central courtyard had various common fitness facilities, now rusted.

Doors were locked, faded spring couplets fluttered in the wind, and the mostly emptied apartment building looked desolate.

"Thank goodness it's broad daylight; otherwise, it would be quite creepy..."

Guan Shan was about to make a joke when he suddenly felt a chill.

This scene was too fitting. Was the Horror Game Simulator about to activate again?

Shen Dinghua blinked and tilted her head towards him, "Xiao Shan, you seem a bit nervous. Are you scared?"

She spread her arms wide, "If you're scared, just hold me tight."

Shen Dinghua's face was full of anticipation.

Was this role reversed? Guan Shan twitched his mouth, shaking his head, "No... we're on the seventh floor."

Guan Shan pointed to the floor number on the wall, quickly walking up.

He reassured himself, if the simulator was going to activate, it would have done so already. No response now meant it wouldn't activate.

"704... here it is."

Guan Shan looked at the tightly closed door and knocked tentatively.

There was no response from inside.

He knocked a few more times and called out, but it was useless.

"Well, this tenant is really troublesome. Not afraid of insults, just no response."

Guan Shan sighed, "Let's go."

Shen Dinghua comforted him, "No rush. We'll think of another way."

Guan Shan nodded, "I'll start by checking on Qin Deguang's wife and daughter."

Shen Dinghua walked ahead, hands behind her back, cheerfully saying, "Xiao Shan, I heard many people come here to test their courage at night. They say it's really scary."

People love excitement...

Guan Shan smiled wryly, about to respond, when he suddenly felt a cool drop on his neck, like liquid.

He paused, touching his neck.

"…"

Rubbing his fingers, he felt a slick texture. Looking up at the ceiling, he was puzzled, "Oil?"

He squinted, inspecting for a long time but saw no water marks.

Guan Shan frowned, glancing again at the closed door before leaving, only to see an eye staring through the peephole.

His hair stood on end, and he stumbled back several steps.

Guan Shan, still shaken, was about to call Shen Dinghua, but the eye was gone, leaving a dark, empty hole.

Shen Dinghua turned back, puzzled, "What is it?"

Guan Shan forced a smile, "N-nothing..."

Was that eye... Qin Deguang's? When he knocked earlier, was Qin Deguang staring at him like that...

Shen Dinghua jogged over, pulling the stiff Guan Shan away, urging, "Let's go. I know a great restaurant nearby. Let's have dinner there, then go home."

Guan Shan opened the simulator interface, hoping for the first time for a scene scan confirmation...

But unfortunately, the simulator remained motionless.

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