Chapter 12:
Police waiting outside the department store

Jing Qizhen was holding the bottle of rock sugar and snow pear drink when he found a place to sit down on a nearby metal cabinet.

After hearing Manman’s boyfriend’s complaints, he thought about what the Earth, which acted more than a ball of planet, had said before. He couldn’t resist asking, “Brother, you mentioned there are games similar to ‘Silent Hill’ before. Can you recommend one?”

Everyone: …

The foreigner did not know whether to cry or laugh and said, “I know you have an old saying about preparing for a rainy day…” But saying this in their situation gave people an ominous feeling and it did not seem very auspicious either.

Jing Qizhen took out a piece of corn sausage from Old Xiao’s shopping bag, opened it and ate it, but still looked relaxed and said, “When you have nothing to do, it’s not bad to play games. Just treat it as a pastime. If something like this happens again, you would be prepared!”

The foreigner covered his face, “Okay, you’ve convinced me.”

Speaking of games, Manman’s boyfriend became interested, “Oh, there are a lot of games like this. Let me think about it and recommend some classics to you!”

Manman suddenly interrupted her boyfriend and said seriously, “When we get back, we will make a detailed list of games for you. Some horror novels or comics with related themes can also be used for reference.”

Manman was obviously more attentive. After saying this, she smiled and cheerfully said, “By the way, let’s all exchange contact information! Although there was not much danger here, we are basically friends of life and death.”

With Manman’s suggestion, everyone began to exchange contact information.

There was water and electricity in the department store, but perhaps because of the space cracks surrounding the building, there was no mobile phone signal at all. Naturally, everyone can only use the most primitive method. Everyone recited their names and mobile phone numbers and saved others’ information.

The only surprise was Yun Shuanghua. He blinked innocently and said with a helpless smile, “I usually just dial up my mobile phone number or scan the code, so I don’t remember my number…”

Jing Qizhen: …

Glancing at Yun Shuanghua, Jing Qizhen took out a notepad and a pen from his bag, tore out a piece of paper, and then copied all the numbers he just got and handed them to Yun Shuanghua.

Yun Shuanghua took the piece of paper, glanced at it, and said thank you seriously.

Because it was still dark outside and no one wanted to invite trouble, even if the female ghost had left, no one left the small duty room.

Everyone tacitly agreed to stay for the night without discussion, and then return to the supermarket after the announcement of the opening of the department store was broadcast in the morning.

Old Xiao murmured, “Who knows how long the day and night time here will last.”

Jing Qizhen glanced at the time on his phone. From Store A, they inexplicably entered the strange Store B on February 22. However, the time on the mobile phone was actually still on the original timeline, which did not match the closing time of Store B here.

However, it is also an advantage. After they return successfully, they may be able to determine the time comparison between the erosion area and the real world based on the time changes on their mobile phones.

Thinking of this, Jing Qizhen regained his composure and asked directly, “Did anyone notice the time displayed on our mobile phones when the supermarket radio was broadcast before? At that time, the radio mentioned it was 8:45 p.m.”

Several people thought about it and all shook their heads.

They were nervous before and had to actively stay calm and minimize omissions by relying on group thinking. Even so, it was difficult to cover everything.

Only Old Xiao said, “Ah” and quickly said, “I remember, I looked at the time on my phone and it was 17:12.”

After the ‘security guard’ was seriously injured and passed out, and they reached an agreement with the female ghost, Old Xiao finally calmed down a lot and his forehead was not sweating as much.

Jing Qizhen wrote down the time 17:12 on the memo on his phone.

Manman reacted quickly, “Are you calculating the time difference between the two worlds?”

Jing Qizhen nodded, “Yes. Do you remember what the female ghost– I mean, what Ms. Li said, someone called the police in this supermarket on February 22nd?”

Gold Chain Brother suddenly realized, “It’s because of our disappearance!”

Jing Qizhen nodded, “Yes, although there were mostly strangers and tourists around. Maybe we don’t pay too much attention to other people around us, but among us, Guijuan and Xiao-ge were in a different situation!”

If they suddenly disappear in a supermarket with only a few customers around, people may not think much about it. At most, they may think they were mistaken.

However, if the cashier girl standing behind the cash register suddenly disappeared, the customers waiting to check out at the cashier aisle would definitely find out, and the cashier girl’s colleagues and leaders would also realize that something was wrong.

In the same line of thought, Old Xiao was halfway through the payment for the items in his shopping cart. The cashier at his checkout counter would only be more aware of the customer who was checking out in front of him and the items in the shopping cart disappeared. Even if the cashier thinks he is daydreaming, checking the cash register will prove that the sudden disappearance did happen for real.

In this case, someone would definitely call the police. When the police retrieved the supermarket’s surveillance video, they discovered that the cashier girl and Old Xiao were not the only people who had disappeared from the supermarket.

Everyone exchanged glances for a while.

Jing Qizhen held his chin with one hand and said seriously, “I think, after we go back, we should go to the police station to make a report or something.”

The old lady smiled, “That’s right. Besides, our situation is so unique that it wouldn’t be a bad thing to report to the police.”

Jing Qizhen nodded, “That’s true. Moreover, if we are taken away by the police, it will be easier and more convincing for us to tell Ms. Li what happened!”

Upon hearing this, Manman immediately came up with a better idea, “Then we should go directly to the police station, ask the police to inform Ms. Li, and then explain everything clearly in the police station! Even though it will happen in the future, it’s still a murder case!”

Everyone nodded.

The cashier girl glanced at Manman even more excitedly. The manager had helped her before, so she naturally hoped her manager would live well…

The originally long waiting time became less difficult amid everyone’s jokes.

After a while, the old lady who couldn’t stay up late yawned.

Old Xiao, who had been sitting on the side of the single bed, immediately stood up and suggested, “How about you lie down and rest for a while?”

Jing Qizhen then added, “For the others, if you are tired, just lean against the wall and take a nap. Let’s not all fall asleep together.”

Manman’s boyfriend left and looked at Manman, “Baby, do you want to sleep on me for a while?”

Jing Qizhen, who had just suggested everyone to rest: …

These two people are forced-feeding him dog food again!

Manman leaned forward comfortably and snuggled into her boyfriend’s arms, but she didn’t want to close her eyes at all. She was still full of energy when she smiled and spoke, “Staying up late is not that hard, right?”

Manman’s boyfriend nodded, “That’s right!”

As a programmer with thick hair, staying up late is really not a big deal!

Manman also took the initiative to explain to others, half serious and half joking, “Both of us are night owls, we always stay up late to exercise to avoid sudden death. We are really not very sleepy.”

The foreigner responded, “I stay up all night to party.”

Gold Chain Brother also said concisely and succinctly, “I’m not sleepy.”

Yun Shuanghua blinked his eyes, “I’m not sleepy at all either!”

The middle-aged worker who was tired every day and couldn’t stay up late: …

The cashier girl Guijuan who lives a relatively simple life and has a relatively regular schedule: …

Jing Qizhen looked at the two of them and suggested with a smile, “Guijuan and Grandma can just lie down on the bed! Xiao-ge will have to suffer and lie down on the table to take a nap for a while.”

The old lady was really exhausted. She nodded and called the cashier girl Guijuan to her side. She also sincerely thanked the others.

She lay on her side on the single bed; it was a little crowded. After a day of physical and mental exhaustion, the old woman and the cashier girl quickly fell asleep.

Old Xiao sat on the chair, leaned on the table with his arms as a pillow and soon began to snore lightly.

After someone fell asleep, the others who were still awake did not continue chatting. Instead, they fiddled with their mobile phones and charged them all one by one.

Nothing happened all night long.

As the opening announcement with the same sizzling noise rang in the supermarket, everyone was aroused.

Jing Qizhen rushed to the door. Through the gap in the door, he saw with his own eyes the ‘security guard’ disappeared in the corridor outside the duty room. There was not even a pool of blood left in the corridor. Only the giant axe stained with blood was still left on the floor, proving that everything last night was not an illusion.

Gold Chain Brother walked over and woke up Old Xiao.

Manman also reached out and gently patted the old lady and the cashier girl Guijuan awake.

Manman’s boyfriend took the time to export all the seemingly untouched surveillance videos recorded in the duty room that night and stored them in his mobile phone.

Jing Qizhen opened the duty room door and took out his mobile phone to take a picture of the whole scene outside.

The foreigner walked over, bent down and tried to touch the one-meter-long giant axe, but suddenly let out a low cry, “Huh? This thing! You all, touch it and see!”

Curious, Jing Qizhen tried it. Suddenly, an item introduction appeared in his mind the moment he touched the giant axe.

[Name: Bloody Giant Axe]

[Type: Weapon]

[Quality: White]

[Use: If you can carry it, use it!]

[Restrictions: Physical attack]

[Remarks: An ordinary big axe; its attack power comes entirely from its weight. The blood stains didn’t give it any magical power. It just made it look more like a murder weapon. It tears and wears out, and it doesn’t seem to have any use other than preventing you from being easily blown away by strong winds. Perhaps scrapyards would welcome it more than weapons collectors. ]

The foreigner looked at everyone, “What do you think?”

Gold Chain Brother who rarely took the initiative said, “Take it back!”

Jing Qizhen also nodded, “There are blood stains on it. If the police do a DNA test, they will know which staff is the ‘security guard’ after making a comparison.”

Since he agreed to help, he would just help her until the end. Since the female ghost Ms. Li did not care about the ‘security guard’, Jing Qizhen had reason to believe the other party was also involved in the murder on March 19.

Everyone: =口=!!! What you said makes sense!

Those who were still hesitant at first immediately made up their minds to take the bloody axe away. At the very least, they had to take some blood samples out with them!!!