Chapter 31: The House of the Pursuer (Part Four)

1:00 AM.

At the Dayangshu Branch of the Public Security Bureau, the nearest one to the Rome City residential complex, a suspicious individual appeared at the entrance. The man claimed his name was Ding Chaojie and that he had come to report a crime in the middle of the night.

His speech was frantic and disjointed. "It's real! There's a house hunting me down. The door is green. I'm not lying."

"Someone came to my place today. I bet she isn't from the Public Security Bureau at all. She's a fraud."

"She tried to lure me into the green door. She wants to kill me! She's a murderer! You have to go investigate her!"

"Don't pull me! I'm not crazy, I'm telling the truth, I'm begging you."

"Who am I? I'm a thief. Right, just lock me up! I steal, I trespass, and I fled after intentionally hurting someone before. I have a criminal record, go check my record!"

"Is he a lunatic? Get him out of here."

"You don't believe me? I—I—I'm a murderer, how about that! I've killed people!" Ding Chaojie screamed at the top of his lungs.

"He's a madman, a complete lunatic. Old Liu! Get him into a holding cell! Don't let him make a scene here!"

Ding Chaojie was eventually locked in a holding cell. Unexpectedly, the man who had been impossible to control earlier turned quiet once he was inside. Under the long-term effects of mental contamination, Ding Chaojie was on the verge of a breakdown. Upon entering the cell, he immediately lay down on the cot and curled himself into a ball.

"Is this kid sick? Does he think he's back home?"

"Forget about him. We have a lot to do today; just let him stay the night."

"What about the criminal record he mentioned? Just ignore it?"

"We'll deal with it tomorrow. There's no time now. Seeing how frantic he is, he might be more rational by tomorrow."

The two officers grumbled and walked away, their footsteps quickly fading.

Ding Chaojie lay curled up on the bed, but his eyes remained open. His reddened eyes stared fixedly into the void. Suddenly, his pupils constricted as he widened his gaze.

A green door appeared on the blank wall opposite him!

At first, only an outline emerged, then the full image of the green door surfaced. The door was covered in mottled dark shadows, looking just like drying, congealing blood.

Ding Chaojie’s entire body stiffened.

With a creak—

The green door opened a crack. A pitch-black fissure faced Ding Chaojie directly. Inside, dense black lines were writhing and squirming madly.

It was here. It had hunted him down!

"Help!" Ding Chaojie shrieked. "Save me!"

The night-shift officer was quickly summoned by his shouting. "What's going on? Behave yourself!"

Ding Chaojie pointed at the wall opposite. "There's a door! A green door!"

"What door?"

Ding Chaojie: "It caught up to me, I’m not lying to you! It really followed me here, save me, please save me!"

Ding Chaojie grabbed the officer's collar through the iron bars, as if clutching a life-saving straw.

"Damn, he really is crazy," the officer cursed. "Look closely, where is there any door?"

The officer glanced inside. The wall was perfectly clean, with nothing on it. What was Ding Chaojie raving about?

"It's there! Look again, I'm begging you, look again! Don't go, don't leave me!"

It took a great deal of effort for the officer to pry Ding Chaojie's hands off. "If you're crazy, go to a mental hospital."

Ding Chaojie’s hands were left empty, clawing desperately at the air, trying to grab the officer’s collar again, but he grasped nothing.

"Save me, save me, I don't want to go in."

"Old Yang, forget him, let him rant by himself," someone called from afar.

Old Yang straightened his collar, feeling a pang of pity for the young man—how could someone so young be so mad? Old Yang said, "Calm down, get some sleep. I'll call a doctor for you tomorrow."

A doctor? A doctor would be useless.

Old Yang looked at Ding Chaojie, finding him truly bizarre. "Tomorrow, I'll just send you to the Cleaning Center."

With a click, Old Yang shut the main door.

"Don't... don't leave me alone."

Ding Chaojie broke down in tears, his face pressed against the iron bars, regretting that he hadn't chosen to go with Zhu Ning.

At least Zhu Ning could see the green door; these people couldn't even see it. At least Zhu Ning would listen to him; she wouldn't think he was a lunatic.

Ding Chaojie had led himself into a trap. He and the green door were now locked together; he couldn't even run away!

Suddenly, he felt a chilling coldness creep down his back.

Ding Chaojie didn't dare turn around; he gripped the iron bars tightly. He felt it—the green door was right behind him, pressed against his back, motionless.

It felt as if someone was embracing him from behind.

...

It was a pity Ding Chaojie hadn't chosen to come in with Zhu Ning. Hopefully, that unlucky guy would meet someone decent.

Zhu Ning stood before the large green door and took a specific look at the peephole. She didn't see the eyeball Ding Chaojie had mentioned. It looked like a very ordinary door; perhaps Ding Chaojie had been mistaken due to mental contamination at the time.

Before entering, Zhu Ning sent a message to Liu Niannian: "Get ready. In an hour, come to the 13th floor, Building 22 of Rome City residential complex. Wait for my instructions."

Zhu Ning only had a rough estimate; she should be able to finish in an hour. If not, the mission would be a failure.

Liu Niannian, who seemed to be lurking in front of her sub-brain, replied instantly: "Understood, Boss!"

Zhu Ning: "..."

She had no idea where this wealthy heiress got all this enthusiasm.

Zhu Ning could find the source of the contamination alone, but she certainly couldn't finish the containment of the contamination spores by herself. After thinking it over, the only person available was Liu Niannian.

Liu Niannian’s mental value was quite high; she wouldn't have any issues even if she stayed for the night.

Zhu Ning turned off her sub-brain. After making all preparations, she gripped the doorknob and gave it a gentle push. The green door didn't budge.

It seemed that only the owner of the house could enter the green door.

It adamantly refused any intruders, which was likely why the green door hadn't been purged by the Cleaning Center for so long.

Zhu Ning had studied the purge cases of the Cleaning Center. Usually, these involved large-scale contamination that would infect the entire district if not contained immediately; older, stable contamination zones were always pushed to the back of the queue.

After all, the cost of every mission was high, and money had to be spent where it mattered most. The underground organization founded by Prometheus, led by "Grave Note," had been the one consistently clearing old contamination zones.

The green door had strong rules. If its current owner was Ding Chaojie, no one but him could open it.

However... the green door was a bit unlucky today.

Zhu Ning had a cheat code.

System: [Universal Key prop opened. Do you wish to use it?]

Zhu Ning: "Use it."

With a click—

The green door swung open. The Universal Key could open any door and any lock; while the green door was a pollutant, it was, at its core, a door.

Just like the previous two times, the interior of the contamination zone was filled with twitching black lines, which served as the background of the zone.

Inside Zhu Ning’s helmet, data was being broadcast: [Cleaner Zhu Ning confirmed to have entered the contamination zone. Contamination level estimated at C-rank. Please select whether to report to the technical department of the Cleaning Center.]

[The current contamination concentration has reached 120%. The contamination zone is 2,500 cubic meters in size, and there are active pollutants inside.]

The area was smaller than the hotpot restaurant, but the concentration was higher.

It was also a C-rank mission, but the hotpot restaurant could accommodate many people, while this house, as Zhu Ning recalled, was a three-bedroom apartment. Such a high concentration in such a small space might make it more dangerous than the hotpot restaurant.

As usual, Zhu Ning chose not to report to the Cleaning Center, but she didn't send another timed text. If Zhu Ning couldn't control this contamination zone, the AI would notify someone to come on its own.

With a soft thud, the green door closed.

Zhu Ning was in the foyer. Like any home, the living room was directly ahead.

There were three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and one kitchen in total. It had to be said, living in such a large house alone must be quite comfortable.

Zhu Ning immediately spotted the first anomaly. Huang Yaruo hadn't explained why she bought such a large house; she was a single woman, and the video mentioned she lived alone.

She had no children, no husband, and no intention of bringing her parents to live with her.

Furthermore, Huang Yaruo was not wealthy; otherwise, she wouldn't have agonized so much about whether to move in the first place.

In the wasteland world, space was truly worth its weight in gold; the price difference between a three-bedroom and a two-bedroom apartment was substantial. An average single woman would choose a one-bedroom apartment, or at most a two-bedroom, to reduce her economic burden.

Why did Huang Yaruo need three bedrooms? Was she really planning to raise a child?

Zhu Ning didn't change her shoes, of course. She was still wearing her full cleaner’s gear to prevent contamination spores from latching onto her again.

Zhu Ning walked carefully through the house. The furniture was arranged normally. The sofa faced the television; none of the furniture was turned away from the occupants.

It had to be said, Huang Yaruo had put real effort into the decor. The red fabric sofa, warm yellow wallpaper, green curtains, and retro, high-end flooring—she had matched everything with her own aesthetic. At a glance, one would feel the house was truly beautiful and comfortable.

Even though this house had turned into a "haunted house" that hunted people, the interior was remarkably well-preserved. There were no scratches on the walls, and the sunflowers on the table were fresh flowers. It was much more comfortable than Zhu Ning’s hive.

By comparison, Zhu Ning even felt like living here.

So what if it was a haunted house? Being poor was scarier than any ghost. Plus, this haunted house even came with a built-in tracking system—once it recognized its owner, it would follow you wherever you moved.

A dream home.

Zhu Ning walked around the house and pulled back the curtains to take a look.

Outside the window was the "normal" view of the apartment complex. The landscaping in the Rome City complex was well-maintained, and there were few people walking around in the middle of the night.

The house was perfectly embedded within the complex, looking like just another ordinary residence.

With a swish, Zhu Ning tried to open the window. She reached out, but felt no breeze; it was deathly quiet outside.

The view outside must be an illusion constructed by the pollutants; otherwise, anyone who entered the green door would have run away long ago.

If there was one thing particularly strange about this house, it was the silence. It was the ultimate, absolute silence. Besides the sound of Zhu Ning's own movements, there was not a single other sound.

No wind, no faint hum of an air conditioner, no rustling from neighbors—the house’s space-time was completely isolated.

Zhu Ning circled the place. She didn't find any sign of Huang Yaruo, nor did she find any further clues. It was certain that she was the only one in the house.

The system instructed Zhu Ning to get some sleep in the house.

She opened the master bedroom. One entire wall of the room had been turned into a bookshelf. Perhaps the owner loved to read, or perhaps it was just for decoration.