Peeking Begins

"That's right, that's right!"

Yu Guo slapped his palm hard, grinning as he darted to Fang Shenyan's side, familiarly slinging an arm over him.

Ji Li wrapped his trench coat tighter, lowering his head as he walked towards the master bedroom, saying as he went:

"The owner of this room should be a man, and perhaps a rather peculiar one!"

Hearing this, the others exchanged glances, a little confused by his meaning, but Fang Shenyan's eyes flashed with understanding.

Ji Li looked at the bedroom, which exuded a peculiar fragrance, and frowned, his nose feeling somewhat uncomfortable.

The scent was cloyingly sweet.

He gently pulled open a closet door, revealing a jumble of various clothes scattered inside, some for men and some for women.

Ji Li remained silent, quietly putting on his gloves and meticulously organizing the clothes from the wardrobe, laying them out one by one on the bed.

Several pieces of clothing, in different patterns and styles, lay on the bed, a corner of one pair of pants dangling onto the floor, resembling limp corpses.

Men's clothes on the left, women's clothes on the right.

Ji Li rubbed his nose and pointed at them one by one, saying softly, "Did you notice?"

Cao Yuan poked his head out from the back and said blankly, "There are only half as many women's clothes as men's… and most of them are undergarments!"

Fang Shenyan nodded, apologizing, "I was too preoccupied with the clothes piled up in the cabinet, all bundled together, to conduct a thorough analysis."

Ji Li waved his hand, signaling it was alright, and then circled the pile of clothes a few times.

"It's almost certain now, the owner of this house is a man, and a psychologically twisted pervert!"

Everyone couldn't help but glance again at the messy pile of women's clothing.

Ding Miaoxin's face turned even redder, her hand supporting her mouth, feeling a wave of nausea.

She said tremblingly, "Then… these women's clothes…"

Ji Li stopped, nodding, "They were likely stolen!"

Yu Guo casually walked around the room a few times, then plopped down on the headboard of the bed, making the entire bed frame creak.

With a "creak," he interrupted Ji Li's conversation.

Yu Guo's expression froze. He looked at Ji Li's pale face and quickly got up, "I just sat down, how is this bed so flimsy?"

He felt the pillow beneath him, as if touching something hard, and then proceeded to tear it open.

A black notebook appeared in his palm.

Ji Li and Fang Shenyan took a few steps forward, while Cao Yuan and Ding Miaoxin dared not move rashly, staying put.

Yu Guo casually flipped through it. At first, he wasn't too concerned, but as he read on, his expression grew increasingly grim!

Fang Shenyan walked closer, bewildered, and asked, "What's wrong?"

Yu Guo handed him the notebook he was holding, saying in a low voice, "This is that perverted man's… voyeuristic diary!"

Their conversation reached Ji Li's ears, but he didn't ask any further questions.

Instead, he began to walk around the headboard, his eyes narrowing as if he had discovered something.

Ji Li waved his hand, calling Fang Shenyan and Yu Guo to the side, and with great effort, pushed the bed.

A gap appeared between the headboard and the wall.

He was astonished to find a faint light seeping through from the wall.

Yu Guo looked up at Ji Li and asked, "Is the breakthrough coming this quickly?"

Ji Li didn't have time to pay attention to him. He immediately called Fang Shenyan and Cao Yuan, along with Yu Guo, and the four of them worked together to lift the entire bed to the other side.

Now, the entire east wall, where the headboard had been, was exposed.

"Ding Miaoxin, go turn off the bedroom lights."

Ji Li didn't dare to move rashly. He wasn't sure where this abnormal beam of light was coming from, nor what was behind the wall, so he proceeded with caution.

Ding Miaoxin said "Oh" and walked towards the door, turning off the lights, then leaned against the door, too afraid to move.

The five living people of "701" were all plunged into darkness.

But the beam of light on the east wall became even brighter!

"This must be a hole…"

Cao Yuan rubbed his forehead and couldn't help but take a step forward, but Ji Li immediately stopped him.

"Judging by the structure of the building's exterior, the master bedroom of 701 should be connected to 702."

Ji Li's voice echoed softly, explaining everything that was happening.

"I paid attention to the situation in 702 earlier. There was a pink doll on the door, so I assume a young woman lives there.

If we also consider the stolen women's clothing from the perverted man in 701…"

The beam of light reflected off Fang Shenyan's glasses, turning them a cold white. He quietly added, "701 is occupied by a psychologically twisted perverted man, and his master bedroom is separated from room 702 by just one wall."

He then chiseled through the wall by the bedside, all so he could spy on the young woman as she got off work, washed up, and went to sleep at midnight...

Fang Shenyan spoke with a steady voice, but the others, upon hearing this, felt an involuntary chill run down their spines!

Ji Li, not far away, stared intently at the opening and said to Fang Shenyan, "Read the diary entries..."

Fang Shenyan took a deep breath, his voice soft and low, and began to read the words filled with sin and filth, pouring them out bit by bit!

"From the moment that person moved in next door, I was completely lost.

I contracted an illness; if I couldn't see that person for even a moment, I felt like I was burning in the fires of karma, my insides scorched!

I wanted to see their every move, every moment of the day, so I carved an opening in the east wall.

I sleep in 701, and they sleep in 702.

I watch them, but can they feel me?"

Perhaps the woman in that room never noticed any of this. She continued to live alone as always, attributing her stolen clothes to simple misplacement.

She had no idea that a pair of cloudy, greasy eyes were peeping into her life every single day, every single moment!

"Ah!!"

Just as the footsteps of the five people involuntarily moved towards the opening, a muffled, yet piercing scream suddenly echoed out!

The sound came from "702," separated only by a wall!

Ji Li hesitated, then glanced at his watch. It was already 8:32.

Theoretically, the ghost could appear at any moment.

"Let's go, let's go! What are you afraid of? Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Something's definitely up next door!" the Second Personality urged Ji Li impatiently in his mind.

"No, I've felt that something was wrong with 702 for a long time. Now it seems the focus of this mission is these two adjacent rooms. We absolutely cannot rush in!" the Third Personality desperately tried to stop Ji Li.

Fang Shenyan cleared his throat quietly. Sweat had already appeared on his forehead, but he quickly flipped through his notes, searching for useful information beyond the love confessions to read aloud.

"They get home punctually at 6:34 every day. The pink doll on the door and their phone case are a set. It's a shame I couldn't find the same style online anywhere.

I've been watching them, living like this for a very, very long time.

Their habit is to open the bedroom window before going to work each day, which also provided me with convenience.

Allowing me... to sleep in their bed, to hold their clothes, to take what I wanted to take..."

The perverted actions in the diary were escalating.

At the same time, the argument next door grew louder.

It sounded like a man and a woman were having a fierce conflict. The woman's cries and the man's roars put the nerves of the five staff members on edge!

As everyone was caught in a dilemma, Ji Li suddenly spoke.

"Yu Guo, use your phone to block the opening!"

Yu Guo blinked in surprise but immediately reacted, rushing towards the east wall.

He turned on his phone, which he used for live streaming, and pointed the camera at the gap.

Inside the cylindrical black edge was a cold, white scene, blurry and indistinct, like a black-and-white recording.

Ji Li held his breath, squatting on the ground, his eyes glued to what was happening next door. The more he watched, the more his scalp tingled!

It was also a bedroom...

A woman in a long dress lay on the bed, her hair disheveled, her face completely obscured. However, her head was twisted at an exaggerated angle, undeniably declaring that she was dead!

"This..." Ding Miaoxin felt her limbs go weak and sat down on the ground with a thud, her mouth agape as if about to scream. Fortunately, Fang Shenyan quickly covered her mouth.

Cao Yuan and Yu Guo were sweating profusely. They were ordinary people, and now, instead of seeing a ghost, they had witnessed a murder case first. How could this not fill them with dread and terror!

Fang Shenyan paused for a very long time. He didn't continue reading, and the entire 701 fell into dead silence.

That breath remained trapped in Ji Li's chest, unable to go up or down.

The incident had happened so suddenly. Despite his quick thinking, he was still a step too late.

The woman was already dead. He had missed the process of the crime and the perpetrator!

He was one hundred percent certain that this was no simple murder; everything was connected to the ghost that had yet to appear!

Yu Guo's arm was already aching, but Ji Li still wanted to wait and see if there would be any follow-up.

After all, murder and disposal of a body should be connected.

One minute, two minutes...

Five minutes passed. Ji Li couldn't hold his breath any longer, but as time went on, there was no further movement in the room next to the opening, apart from the recently deceased female corpse!

After waiting for sufficient time, the other four finally let out a long sigh of relief.

After all, they weren't facing a murderer, but a ghost.

Only Ji Li licked his dry lips, feeling a sense of helplessness at missing a clue.

Fang Shenyan looked up at the group, their expressions varied, then closed the notebook and looked at the opening connecting to 702.

He read out the content of the last page, word by word.

"It found me.

I'm dead, I'm going to find it..."

"Bang!"

A muffled impact suddenly sounded against the adjacent wall!

Yu Guo's arm trembled from the shock, and the phone pressed against the peephole wavered.

But in the darkness, Ji Li saw the scene that made his soul tremble!

An eyeball, bloodshot and clouded with dullness, yet exuding endless malice, stared directly at him through the peephole!