The weapon by the pillow

Chapter 5, OP... step forward!

"Holy crap..." Ah Zhe couldn't help but exclaim softly, his voice trembling.

Xiao Fei covered his mouth, his face turning deathly pale.

The research enthusiast adjusted his glasses, leaned closer, and his body trembled slightly.

The swaying beam of Lynx's flashlight betrayed his inner turmoil.

Lin Qian frowned deeply, her sharp gaze sweeping over each "weapon," finally settling on the pair of pliers.

The shadow remained silent, but its gaze became even more profound, as if it were recording and analyzing everything.

Old K stood at the door, not coming in, but squinting at the scene inside the room, his expression indistinct in the shadows.

Cheng Tan didn't even bother to look at the expressions on everyone's faces.

Pliers! Damn pliers!

He felt all the blood rush to his head, his ears ringing. He stared intently at the pliers, the sensations, sounds, and images from his dream resurfacing vividly, more real than ever before. He could almost smell the strong, sweet, metallic scent of blood washing over him like a tidal wave.

He involuntarily took a step forward, as if drawn by an invisible force, towards the area littered with the murder weapon. He slowly crouched down, his hand trembling, reaching out to touch the pair of pliers…

Just as his fingertips were about to touch the object—

"Don't move!"

A cold voice suddenly rang out, breaking the silence in the room.

It was a shadow. He had appeared beside Cheng Tan without anyone noticing, placing a hand firmly on Cheng Tan's wrist. His gaze was no longer wary, but rather filled with a knowing calm.

"These things," Shadow's voice wasn't loud, but it clearly reached everyone's ears, "shouldn't be touched casually." His gaze slowly swept over Cheng Tan's pale, bewildered face, then over the other people in the room with their various expressions, finally settling on Old K at the door.

"And," he paused, calmly posing his question, "doesn't any of you find it strange? At the crime scene thirteen years ago, even after the police left, how could the landlord or anyone who came after have allowed these clearly bloodstained 'murder weapons' to remain here for so many years? They're too 'intact,' too 'deliberate.' It's like..."

"...It's like something meticulously arranged, waiting for us, or rather, waiting for a specific person to discover it."

As soon as he finished speaking, the room fell into an even more eerie silence than before.

A howling wind outside the window, like a long and sorrowful sigh, suddenly rushed in, stirring up a layer of dust before sinking back down. The beam of the flashlight flickered in the dust, illuminating faces filled with surprise and uncertainty.

The weapons scattered on the ground cast grotesque outlines in the light and shadow.

This haunted house, sealed off for thirteen years, seemed to finally reveal its long-hidden, cold fangs to these uninvited guests at this moment.

Cheng Tan didn't move. He remained in a squatting position, his fingers frozen in mid-air, feeling the pliers so close to him emanating a chill that penetrated to his very bones.

Shadow's words stirred up a violent ripple in his heart.

"...It's like something meticulously arranged, waiting for us, or rather, waiting for a specific person to discover it."

Waiting for a specific person.

He looked up abruptly at the shadow. In the dim light, the other's sharp eyes seemed to pierce through the shadow of his hoodie, staring directly into the deepest fears and secrets of his heart. Was he talking about me? Cheng Tan felt his heart pound uncontrollably.

The air in the room seemed to freeze into a lump of ice, pressing down on everyone with their different expressions.

"What...what do you mean?" Lynx finally couldn't hold back any longer. His voice trembled slightly. He subconsciously moved the powerful flashlight in his hand away from the weapon on the ground and warily scanned the shadow and Old K at the door.

No one wants to be suspected. The meticulous researcher adjusted his glasses, his Adam's apple bobbing, and muttered, "Yes... it certainly doesn't make sense. After a criminal scene investigation, important physical evidence is sealed up. Even if it couldn't be determined which item was the murder weapon at the time, it's impossible to leave these suspected murder weapons at the scene for so many years... unless..."

"Unless this isn't the primary crime scene at all?" Ah Zhe blurted out, then turned even paler at his own guess.

"Or perhaps someone put it back later," Lin Qian said, her voice unusually calm, completely out of place with the atmosphere. She took a few steps forward, not looking at the murder weapon on the ground, but carefully examining the walls, corners, and the only window that was mostly boarded up. "These things are too 'clean'."

"Clean?" Xiao Fei asked, puzzled.

"The dust covering it seems to have a subtle difference in thickness and texture compared to the dust in other parts of the room." Lin Qian squatted down, still not touching anything, but just closely observing the dust around the wrench. "It looks like it was wiped clean and then a thin layer of dust was deliberately sprinkled on it to imitate the effect of time's accumulation, but the imitation... is not perfect."

Her words sent a chill down everyone's spine. If these murder weapons were planted later, what did that mean? Did it mean they hadn't stepped into a long-forgotten scene of the past, but rather... a trap? A stage?

"Who? Who would do this?" Lynx's voice rose eight octaves, his flashlight beam sweeping haphazardly across the empty room, as if the person who arranged it was hiding in the shadows.

Old K, who had been silent and leaning against the doorframe smoking, suddenly let out a hoarse chuckle. He threw away his cigarette butt, crushed it out with his foot, and his cloudy eyes swept over Cheng Tan, then over the murder weapon on the ground, finally settling on the shadow.

"Waiting for a specific person?" Old K's voice was muffled from a hangover. "Who knows? Maybe it's not waiting for someone, but... a ghost? The ghost from thirteen years ago, coming back for her things."

The word "ghost" seemed to perfectly complement the eerie environment and scattered murder weapons, instantly sending chills down A-Zhe and Xiao-Fei's spines. They instinctively huddled together.

"Stop fucking playing tricks!" Lynx shouted, but his tone seemed to betray his inner fear.

Shadow ignored Old K's strange remarks, his gaze fixed on Cheng Tan. "OP," he spoke slowly, as if trying to see through Cheng Tan's innermost thoughts, "did you really post that thread just because you 'heard it by chance' and 'out of pure curiosity'?"

Instantly, all eyes were focused on Cheng Tan.

Under the beam of the powerful flashlight, his pale face, bloodshot eyes, and slightly trembling fingers were completely exposed to everyone's gaze.

"I..." Cheng Tan opened his mouth, "I've seen them with my own eyes."