I Am a Killer Without Emotion

"No." Captain Li shook his head, refusing without a second thought. "Catching fugitives is a job for the police; how could we let you take such a risk?"

"I'm staying in the House of Horrors to create a facade, making Zhang Peng believe he hasn't been exposed yet. This way, he'll follow his original plan to find me. The probability of him appearing near the park is very high, which will make it easier for you to capture him." Chen Ge had spoken only after careful deliberation. "If we don't catch him this time, I'm afraid I'll have to live in constant fear from now on. After all, he could return at any moment."

"The specific capture plan can only be determined after consulting with the municipal criminal investigation team. They are in charge of the Ping An Apartment Massacre, and our West City Police Station is only assisting. I will pass your proposal on to them." Captain Li packed up his laptop, made a phone call, and walked out of the integrated control room with two other plainclothes officers.

"Xiao Chen, why don't you listen to the police and go hide somewhere for now?" Uncle Xu said, his voice laced with worry, only daring to approach once Captain Li and the others had left.

"Evasion won't solve anything, so please don't try to persuade me." After checking the surveillance, Chen Ge returned to the House of Horrors.

"Boss, today's lunch is green pepper and pork over rice." Xu Wan leaned against the safety railing. Seeing Chen Ge emerge from the control room, she pointed to the lunchbox on the seat. "I snuck an extra scoop of meat in for you while the auntie wasn't looking."

Taking the lunchbox, Chen Ge looked at Xiao Wan but ultimately didn't reveal anything about Zhang Peng. He ate heartily, just as he always did, and began the afternoon's business.

Xu Wan played the ghost in the Ghost Marriage scenario while Chen Ge sold tickets outside, his head bowed, his eyes constantly scanning his surroundings.

Zhang Peng's appearance is both a bad thing and a good thing for me; it all depends on how I utilize him. After completing several tasks for the Black Phone, Chen Ge felt his logical reasoning had been sharpened, and he had become increasingly calm and composed.

The House of Horrors is currently locking away a Mirror Monster. This thing can travel freely between mirrors and reality; it's fair to say that as long as a mirror exists, it remains invincible. Chen Ge sold tickets absentmindedly while his brain raced. He Shan and He Feng were attacked in succession, and their experiences were nearly identical. According to He Feng's account, the monster seems to be preparing to enter their bodies to replace their consciousness or simply to inhabit them. It's unclear what the monster's goal is, but one point is worth considering: if the monster enters a person's body, is it unable to leave for a short period?

Chen Ge had realized this question while talking to He Feng, but he had no way to prove it, as using any tourist for an experiment would be a dangerous act.

He had actually abandoned the idea, but then Zhang Peng appeared this morning.

The moment he saw Zhang Peng on the monitor, Chen Ge finalized his plan: he would use Zhang Peng as a test subject, lure him into the House of Horrors, and find a way to let the Mirror Monster possess his body.

In this way, he would not only deal with Zhang Peng but also get rid of the Mirror Monster—killing two birds with one stone. This was the reason he insisted on staying in the House of Horrors as bait.

Let's do it. It's dangerous, but if it succeeds, I can eliminate two hidden threats at once.

After five in the afternoon, Chen Ge called Xu Wan out and told her to clock off early. He then began preparing various things inside the House of Horrors; he was going to arrange everything for Zhang Peng with absolute precision.

At five-thirty, Captain Li called again to tell Chen Ge that they had already set up a perimeter around the park. As long as Zhang Peng appeared, he would have no way to escape.

After dinner, Chen Ge took his quilt and the Skull-Crushing Doctor costume into the control room. He locked the door and sat in front of the monitors; if nothing went wrong, he would likely be spending the night here.

The number of cameras is truly too low; there are many blind spots in the House of Horrors. I cannot let my guard down.

The sun sank below the horizon. Unlike the daytime, the New Century Park at night was deathly silent.

As the night deepened, Chen Ge crouched in the control room with his quilt. He waited until midnight, but the person who should have come didn't, while something that shouldn't have been there did.

Just like the previous night, the eerie sound of something being cut emanated from the Midnight Escape scenario.

It starts making a ruckus as soon as it hits the middle of the night. Is this monster trying to intimidate me? Chen Ge tossed the quilt aside and walked to the door, but after a moment's thought, he didn't go out to trouble the Mirror Monster. I'll let it jump around for a while longer.

Putting on his headphones and clutching the ragdoll his parents had left him, Chen Ge continued to watch the monitors.

Around one in the morning, just as Chen Ge was about to give up, the bathroom door on the monitor suddenly moved.

Someone's there?

He instantly perked up, eyes locked on the screen.

Not long after, the bathroom door opened a crack, and a tall, thin man holding a 20-centimeter boning knife slipped out.

This bathroom is where I completed my first nightmare task. The window connects to the outside; he must have scouted the location in advance and tampered with the window lock. Chen Ge watched the video calmly. The control room door was locked, and its location was quite secluded; it would be nearly impossible for someone unfamiliar with the layout of the House of Horrors to find it directly.

On the screen, Zhang Peng moved stealthily, a knife in one hand and a phone in the other, walking cautiously through the corridors of the House of Horrors. He had no idea he had already been discovered, remaining focused on avoiding the debris and various props scattered along the path.

It took a full fifteen minutes for Zhang Peng to find the staff break room. He stood at the door, hesitant, his chest heaving violently, the hand holding the knife trembling slightly. He tried to push the door several times, pulling back each time his fingertips touched the wood; it was clear he was deeply conflicted.

Standing right under the surveillance camera, Zhang Peng dithered for dozens of seconds before finally making up his mind.

He raised the sharp knife, grabbed the doorknob, took a deep breath, and slammed the door open, charging into the staff break room like a leopard spotting its prey!

A minute later, Zhang Peng walked back out, knife in hand. There was a smear of blood on the blade; he seemed to have accidentally cut his own arm.

Switching the knife to his other hand, the expression on Zhang Peng's face turned even more vicious. He glanced toward the upper floor, then quickened his pace along the corridor.

It was clear from the surveillance footage that Zhang Peng was heading toward the control room. Chen Ge sent a message to Captain Li, then picked up the forty-centimeter-long iron hammer belonging to the Skull-Crushing Doctor and stood behind the control room door.

He had prepared a classic horror movie trope—a jump scare upon opening the door—but to his surprise, Zhang Peng simply walked past the control room and entered the staff passage with his knife.

What is this guy planning? For a moment, Chen Ge didn't understand the man's intent. He hurried to the computer; the surveillance footage showed Zhang Peng using his knife to pry open the wooden boards at the end of the staff passage and walking inside without a second thought.

Why did he run into the Midnight Escape scenario? Chen Ge took off his headphones, his eyes wide. The sound of something being cut has been coming from the Midnight Escape scenario the whole time. He doesn't think I'm in there sawing something, does he?