Chapter 31-I Clean Up Garbage in a Wasteland World

Chapter 31: The House That Hunts People-4

Early morning.

At the entrance of the Dayangshu Branch of the Public Security Bureau, nearest to the Rome City residential complex, a suspect behaving strangely appeared. The man claimed his name was Ding Chaojie and that he was there to report a crime in the middle of the night.

His speech was incoherent and disordered. "Really, there is a house chasing me to kill me. The door is green. I'm not lying."

"Someone came to my door today. I suspect she isn't from the Public Security Bureau at all; she's a fraud."

"She wanted to trick me into entering the Green Door. She wants to kill me! She is a murderer! You need to investigate her immediately!"

"Don't pull me! I'm not crazy! Everything I'm saying is the truth, I beg you."

"Who am I? I'm a thief. That's right, just arrest me. I steal things, I trespass on private property, and I even fled after intentionally injuring someone before. I have a criminal record! Go check my record!"

Ding Chaojie made a huge scene at the entrance, attracting quite a few onlookers. The officer in charge hurriedly moved to control the situation. "Is this guy sick? Get him out of here."

"You don't believe me? I-I-I... I am a murderer! Is that enough? I've killed people!" Ding Chaojie screamed at the top of his lungs.

"Detain him first! Don't let him make a spectacle of himself here!"

Ding Chaojie was finally locked into a detention cell. Unexpectedly, the madman, who had been uncontrollable before, became quiet once he entered the cell.

Under long-term Psychic Contamination, Ding Chaojie was already on the verge of a breakdown. Upon entering the detention cell, he immediately lay down on the bed and curled himself into a ball.

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

"Forget about him. We have a lot going on today and we're short-handed. Just keep him locked up for the night."

"What about the criminal record he mentioned? Are we ignoring that?"

"We'll deal with it tomorrow. No time right now. He looks completely nuts; maybe he'll be a bit more normal tomorrow."

The two agents walked away muttering, and soon their footsteps faded.

Ding Chaojie lay curled up on the bed, but his eyes were not closed. His bloodshot eyes stared tightly at the void. Suddenly, his pupils contracted, and his eyes widened.

On the blank wall opposite him, a green door appeared!

At first, it was just a square outline, and then the full appearance of the Green Door emerged. There were mottled shadows on the Green Door, looking like flowing blood.

Ding Chaojie’s entire body tensed up.

Creaaaak—

The Green Door was opened a crack. A pitch-black gap faced Ding Chaojie directly. Inside, dense black lines were wriggling and wandering frantically.

It was here. It had caught up to kill him!

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

Xiao Zhang, the guard on the night shift, was quickly summoned by his shouts. Xiao Zhang was a rookie who had only been working for a week when he encountered Ding Chaojie. His senior had told him to show authority when facing suspects. He slapped the iron door and scolded, "What are you doing? Behave yourself!"

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

"What door?"

"It caught up! I didn't lie to you! It really chased me here! Save me, save me!" Ding Chaojie grabbed the guard's collar through the iron bars, as if clutching at a life-saving straw.

The guard cursed, "Are you sick? Look clearly, where is there a door?"

This kind of detention cell had held many people. The stains on the walls were varied; previously, a criminal had been incontinent, leaving the room in a mess. Someone else had scribbled on the wall with blood. There was everything on this wall, except a door.

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

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

Ding Chaojie’s hands grasped at empty air, struggling to grab the guard's collar again, but this time he caught nothing.

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

"Xiao Zhang, leave him be. Let him go crazy alone," someone shouted from a distance.

Xiao Zhang straightened his collar. He seemed to feel that this young man was quite pitiful—how could he go crazy at such a young age? "Calm down. Get some sleep first. I'll call a doctor for you tomorrow."

Doctor? A doctor was useless.

Xiao Zhang looked at Ding Chaojie, finding him truly strange. Suddenly, he paused. He seemed to realize something—could he have encountered the special situation his senior mentioned? The supernatural kind?

But the investigators responsible for such incidents were not at the bureau today; they hadn't returned from a mission. However, his senior said that half of those who came to report crimes every year were crazy, and true supernatural events were a minority. He looked Ding Chaojie up and down, unable to figure out if he was a lunatic or if something was really wrong. His tone softened a bit. "I'll help you contact the Sanitation Center tomorrow."

Once Xiao Zhang felt something was wrong with him, the atmosphere became a bit eerie, as if there really were unseen things in this space. The adjacent detention cell was empty; only Ding Chaojie was locked up. Xiao Zhang swallowed his saliva, afraid that unclean things would find him too. After comforting Ding Chaojie, he closed the main gate and left hurriedly.

"Don't... don't leave me alone." Ding Chaojie didn't even finish his sentence.

The detention cell was empty. He pressed his forehead against the bars, regretting not choosing to leave 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 patiently to him; she wouldn't think he was crazy.

Ding Chaojie had led himself into a dangerous situation. He and the Green Door were now locked in together, with absolutely no way to escape.

Suddenly, he felt a sinister chill on his back.

Ding Chaojie didn't dare turn his head. He gripped the iron bars tightly, like an ostrich burying its head in the sand. He felt the Green Door was right behind him, motionless, pressed against his back.

Like a person hugging him from behind.

...

Rome City.

Zhu Ning stood right in front of the large green door. She specifically looked through the peephole but didn't see the eyeball Ding Chaojie had mentioned. It seemed like a very ordinary door; perhaps Ding Chaojie had seen it wrong due to Psychic Contamination.

Before entering, Zhu Ning sent a message to Liu Niannian: "Get ready. Come alone to Rome City, Building 22, 13th Floor in one hour. Wait for my command."

Zhu Ning actually only had an estimate; she didn't know exactly how long it would take to finish, so she told Liu Niannian to come in an hour.

Liu Niannian answered instantly, as if he were squatting in front of his Sub-Brain. "Okay, Boss!"

Zhu Ning: "..."

She had no idea where this wealthy young lady got her enthusiasm.

Zhu Ning could find the Source of Contamination alone, but she definitely couldn't finish containing the Contamination Spores afterwards by herself. After thinking it over, the only person she could use was Liu Niannian.

Liu Niannian's Sanity was quite high; containing for a night shouldn't cause any problems.

Zhu Ning turned off her Sub-Brain. After making all preparations, she gripped the door handle and pushed gently. The large green door didn't budge.

It seemed that to enter the Green Door, one must be the owner of the house.

It resolutely refused entry to any intruder, which was probably why the Green Door had not been purified by the Sanitation Center for so long.

Zhu Ning had studied the purification cases of the Sanitation Center. Generally, they prioritized large-scale contamination—the kind that would infect the entire district if not immediately controlled. Some old and stable contaminated areas were queued for later.

After all, the cost of each mission was very high, and money had to be spent where it mattered most. Conversely, the underground organization created by Prometheus, which used "dead posts" as information sources, had been cleaning up old contaminated areas.

The Green Door had strong rules. If its current owner was Ding Chaojie, no one but Ding Chaojie could open it.

However... the Green Door was a bit out of luck today.

Zhu Ning came with a cheat.

System: [Item Universal Key opened. Use?]

Zhu Ning: "Use."

Click—

The Green Door opened in response. The Universal Key could open any door, any lock. The Green Door was a Contaminant, but it was essentially a door.

Just like the previous two times, there were twitching black lines inside the contaminated area; that was the background of the zone.

Inside Zhu Ning's helmet, data was being broadcast: [Confirmed Cleaner Zhu Ning has entered the contaminated area. Contamination level roughly estimated at Grade C. Please choose whether to report to the Sanitation Center technical department.]

[Current contamination concentration reaches up to 120%. The contaminated area is 2500 cubic meters in size. There are living Contaminants inside.]

The area of the contaminated zone was smaller than the hotpot restaurant, but the contamination concentration was higher.

It was also a Grade C mission, but the hotpot restaurant could accommodate many people, while Zhu Ning remembered this house was a three-bedroom apartment. Such a small area with such high concentration might be more dangerous than the hotpot restaurant.

Zhu Ning chose not to report to the Sanitation Center as usual, but she didn't send a scheduled text message this time. If Zhu Ning couldn't control this contaminated area, the AI should notify someone to come on its own. The posts were pushed by Prometheus; he surely knew she was here.

With a soft bang, the Green Door closed.

Zhu Ning's position was in the foyer. Just like every home, facing the foyer was a living room.

A total of three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and one kitchen. It had to be said, living alone in such a large home must be very pleasant.

Zhu Ning immediately discovered the first suspicious point. Huang Yaruo hadn't mentioned her reason for buying the house. She was a single woman, and in the video, she said she lived alone.

She had no children, no husband, and no intention of bringing her parents over.

Moreover, Huang Yaruo wasn't wealthy; otherwise, she wouldn't have spent so much effort agonizing over whether to move early on.

The Wasteland world was truly a place where land was as expensive as gold. The price difference between three bedrooms and two bedrooms was significant. An ordinary single woman would choose a one-bedroom apartment, or at most a two-bedroom, to reduce financial pressure.

Why did Huang Yaruo want three bedrooms? Did she really intend to raise a child?

Of course, Zhu Ning didn't change her shoes. She was still wearing her full set of Cleaner's Uniform to prevent Contamination Spores from parasitizing her again.

Zhu Ning walked carefully around the house. The furniture placement was normal; the sofa faced the TV, and no furniture had its back to people.

It must be said, Huang Yaruo really put thought into the renovation. A red fabric sofa, warm yellow wallpaper, green curtains, and retro, high-class flooring.

Huang Yaruo had designed it specifically with her own aesthetic. If someone else had done the renovation, this color scheme might not have looked good, but matched by her, it appeared stylish. At a glance, Zhu Ning felt the home was beautiful and comfortable.

And even though this house had become a "ghost house" that hunted people, the interior was extremely well-preserved. There were no scratches on the walls, and the sunflowers on the table were actually fresh flowers, much more comfortable than Zhu Ning's place at The Hive.

Comparing the two, Zhu Ning even wanted to live here.

So what if it's a haunted house? Being poor is scarier than ghosts. Besides, this haunted house came with a GPS system; once it recognized a master, it moved wherever you moved.

A dream house.

Zhu Ning walked around the home and opened the curtains to take a look.

Outside the window was the "normal" residential complex downstairs. The landscaping in Rome City was done very well, and there were few people walking around in the middle of the night.

The house was perfectly embedded inside the complex, looking like an ordinary residence.

Swish. Zhu Ning tried to open the window. She stuck her hand out, but felt no wind. Outside the window was complete silence.

The outside world should be an illusion constructed by the Contaminant; otherwise, people who entered the Green Door would have escaped long ago.

If there was something particularly strange about this house, it was that it was extremely quiet—quiet to the extreme. Aside from the sound of Zhu Ning walking, there was not a single sound.

No sound of wind, no subtle noise of the air conditioner running, no rustling from the neighbors next door. The time and space inside the house were absolutely independent.

Zhu Ning circled around. She didn't find any trace of Huang Yaruo, nor did she find more clues. It was confirmed that she was the only one in this house.

The System told Zhu Ning to sleep in the house.

She opened the door to the master bedroom. Inside, an entire wall had been made into a bookshelf. Perhaps the owner loved reading, or maybe it was just decoration.

The bed was covered with a silk duvet, and every detail demonstrated the owner's love for life. Zhu Ning habitually searched every corner. After confirming no one was hiding in any possible hiding spots, she tried lying on the bed.

The bed was very soft. Nothing strange happened, and no tentacles suddenly extended from under the bed to drag Zhu Ning into the abyss.

Zhu Ning's Danger Sense didn't trigger.

Very... quiet, peaceful.

But this calmness revealed a weirdness, like a tranquil lake before a storm.

To complete the System's task, Zhu Ning thought, she was actually sleeping in a haunted house.

If an outsider came in and saw this, they would definitely think it was abnormal. She hadn't taken off her clothes; she was still wearing a biker suit and a full-coverage black helmet.

Zhu Ning clasped her hands together, lying as peacefully as a mummy.

She thought she wouldn't be able to fall asleep; it was too awkward. Unexpectedly, after less than three minutes, Zhu Ning's eyelids actually began to fight.

Before she closed her eyes, the clock on the bedside table displayed 2:16 AM.

Zhu Ning closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

Ring, ring, ring—

The alarm clock vibrated frantically. Zhu Ning opened her eyes suddenly, and the first thing she saw was a sun-shaped lamp hanging from the ceiling.

She woke with a start, then began to breathe heavily, feeling somewhat dazed for a moment.

What was she doing just now? Did she really fall asleep in the haunted house? How long did she sleep?

Soldiers could absolutely control their bodies; that was the instinct they relied on for survival.

Especially for someone like Zhu Ning, whether as a professional shooting athlete or a garbage-collecting Cleaner, the main reason she could remain calm in most situations was that she believed she possessed absolute control over her body.

But just now, that sense of control over her body had vanished. She didn't know when she fell asleep, nor when she woke up.

Clearly, she hadn't encountered any monsters or Contaminants right now, yet she felt an extreme panic—the panic of having lost control of her own body.

This house was indeed weird.

Zhu Ning took a deep breath, blinked, and moved her gaze away from the ceiling. Something wasn't right in front of her.

The furniture in the home had changed.

But unlike Huang Yaruo's description in the video, the wardrobe and furniture were not facing away from her; they were facing directly at her.

The wardrobe, desk, coat rack, and green plants inside the bedroom had all been moved by someone.

They were tightly clustered by the bedside, surrounding Zhu Ning on the bed in a circle, as if quietly observing this intruder.

← Previous Chapter Next Chapter →