"Exactly, exactly!"
Yu Guo clapped his hands hard, grinning as he bounded over to Fang Shenyan's side, slinging an arm around him like an old friend.
Ji Li pulled his trench coat tighter around himself, head lowered as he walked toward the master bedroom. As he moved, he said:
"The owner of this room should be a man—perhaps one with peculiar habits."
At these words, the others exchanged puzzled looks, but Fang Shenyan's eyes flickered with a brief light.
Ji Li stepped into the bedroom, a faintly strange fragrance drifting in the air. He frowned, his nose uncomfortable.
The sweetness of the scent was cloying, almost nauseating.
He gently opened the wardrobe. Inside lay a jumble of clothes—some men's, some women's.
Without a word, Ji Li slipped on gloves and methodically sorted through the garments, laying them piece by piece across the bed.
The clothes, varied in pattern and style, sprawled over the bed, some hems drooping to the floor—like limp corpses.
Men's clothing to the left, women's to the right.
Ji Li rubbed his nose, pointed at them one by one, and asked softly:
"Have you noticed?"
Cao Yuan poked his head out from the back, stunned.
"The women's clothes are only half as many as the men's… and most of them are intimate garments!"
Fang Shenyan nodded, apologetic.
"The pile in the wardrobe distracted me. I didn't analyze carefully."
Ji Li waved it off, unbothered, circling the bed a few times.
"It's almost certain now—the owner of this house is a man. And a twisted pervert at that."
At this, everyone's eyes drifted again toward the scattered women's clothing.
Ding Miaoxin's face flushed crimson. She covered her mouth with the back of her hand, gagging slightly.
Her voice trembled:
"Then… these women's clothes…"
Ji Li halted, nodding.
"They were most likely stolen."
Yu Guo swaggered around the room a bit before plopping onto the bed. The frame shook violently.
Creaaak. The sound cut through the tense air.
Yu Guo froze at Ji Li's pale face and scrambled upright.
"I just sat down. Why's this bed so flimsy?"
Feeling under the pillow, his hand brushed something hard. He tore it open.
A black notebook slid into his palm.
Ji Li and Fang Shenyan stepped closer. Cao Yuan and Ding Miaoxin, too frightened to act rashly, stayed rooted in place.
Yu Guo flipped it open casually, at first indifferent—but as he read on, his expression darkened.
Fang Shenyan approached, puzzled.
"What is it?"
Yu Guo handed the notebook over, voice low and grim.
"It's that pervert's… voyeur diary."
Ji Li heard their exchange but didn't question further.
Instead, he paced slowly around the bedframe, then narrowed his eyes as if spotting something.
He waved for Fang Shenyan and Yu Guo to step aside, then pushed hard against the bed.
Between the headboard and the wall, a gap appeared.
From within the wall seeped a faint thread of light.
Yu Guo looked up at Ji Li.
"Breakthrough already?"
Ignoring him, Ji Li called Fang Shenyan and Cao Yuan over. Together with Yu Guo, the four of them hauled the bed aside.
Now the eastern wall—once hidden—was fully exposed.
"Ding Miaoxin, turn off the bedroom light."
Ji Li dared not act rashly. He didn't know where that beam of light came from, or what lay behind the wall. Caution was his only choice.
Ding Miaoxin murmured an "okay," walked to the switch, and flicked the lights off. Then she pressed against the doorway, too afraid to move.
The five living souls of Room 701 stood swallowed in darkness.
But the beam on the eastern wall shone all the brighter.
"That's a hole…"
Cao Yuan rubbed his forehead, stepping forward, but Ji Li quickly stopped him.
"From the layout of the building, 701's master bedroom should back against 702's."
His voice was low, steady, explaining.
"I noticed earlier—702's door had a pink doll hanging on it. Most likely, a young woman lives there.
If we connect that with the stolen women's clothes found here…"
The light glared off Fang Shenyan's glasses, turning them cold white. He whispered:
"In 701 lives a twisted man. His master bedroom shares a wall with 702.
So he carved through the wall behind his bed—just to watch, at midnight, as that young woman returned home, washed up, went to bed…"
Fang Shenyan's voice was steady as he spoke, but the others felt a chill crawl up their necks.
Not far away, Ji Li fixed his gaze on the hole and said to Fang Shenyan:
"Read the diary…"
Fang Shenyan drew in a deep breath. His voice turned low and winding as he recited the filthy words, line by line.
*From the moment that person moved in next door, I was lost.*
*I have a sickness. If I don't see that person for even a moment, my body burns as though set aflame, my organs scorched.*
*I want to see every movement, every action, every day, every hour. So I carved a hole into the east wall.*
*I sleep in 701. They sleep in 702.*
*I watch them. Can they feel me watching?*
Perhaps the woman in that room never noticed anything at all. She still lived alone as always, blaming her missing clothes on misplacement.
Never knowing that a greasy, clouded eye was fixed on her every moment of her life.
"Ahhh!!"
Just as the five of them found themselves drawn toward the hole, a shrill, muffled scream ripped through the air.
It came from just beyond the wall—702.
Ji Li hesitated, glanced at his watch. It was already 8:32.
In theory, the ghost could appear at any time.
*Charge! Don't be afraid, no guts no glory! Something's happening next door!* His reckless second persona urged him on.
*No! I sensed from the start that 702 was wrong. Now it's clear—this mission centers on these two neighboring rooms. We can't force our way in!* His cautious third persona pulled him back.
Fang Shenyan cleared his throat, sweat beading on his forehead, but quickly flipped through the diary, searching for more than just twisted love notes to read aloud.
*They always arrive home at 6:34 sharp. The pink doll on the door matches their phone case. I scoured the internet but never found another set.*
*I've been watching their life for so long.*
*Every morning before work, they open the bedroom window. That gave me the chance… to sleep in their bed, to embrace their clothes, to take whatever I wanted…*
The depravity in the diary only grew worse.
At the same time, the sounds of struggle from next door intensified.
It was as if a man and a woman were locked in violent conflict—the woman's cries, the man's roars—stretching the five to their breaking point.
Just as indecision gripped them all, Ji Li suddenly spoke.
"Yu Guo, use your phone to see through the hole!"
Yu Guo froze, then quickly reacted, rushing to the east wall.
He held up his streaming phone, camera aimed at the gap.
Through the dark circular edge appeared a pale-white blur, like grainy black-and-white footage.
Holding his breath, Ji Li crouched, eyes fixed without blinking. The longer he looked, the more his scalp tingled.
It was a bedroom.
On the bed lay a woman in a long dress, hair spilling wildly, her face obscured. Her head was twisted grotesquely—undeniable proof she was already dead.
"This…" Ding Miaoxin collapsed weakly to the floor, mouth open to scream, but Fang Shenyan clamped his hand over it just in time.
Cold sweat drenched Cao Yuan and Yu Guo. They were ordinary people; seeing a ghost would have been terrifying enough, but instead, they had witnessed a murder. Their nerves were shredded.
Fang Shenyan paused for a long time, saying nothing. Room 701 fell into dead silence.
Ji Li's breath was trapped in his chest, unable to rise or fall.
It had all happened so suddenly. Sharp as he was, he had still been too late.
The woman was dead. He had missed both the crime and the killer.
But he was certain—this was no simple murder. It was inseparably tied to the ghost that had yet to appear.
Yu Guo's arm ached from holding the phone, but Ji Li insisted on waiting, hoping to see what would follow.
After all, killing should be followed by disposal of the body.
One minute. Two.
Five minutes passed. Ji Li could no longer hold his breath. Yet apart from the fresh corpse, nothing stirred on the other side of the hole.
At last, the others exhaled in relief.
They were not facing a murderer—they were facing a ghost.
Only Ji Li licked his dry lips, regret gnawing at him for the missed lead.
Fang Shenyan lifted his head, took in the expressions of the others, closed the notebook, and turned his eyes to the hole connecting to 702.
Slowly, word by word, he read the final page.
*They discovered me.*
*I'm dead. I'm going to find them…*
*Bang!*
A dull crash thundered from the wall next door.
Yu Guo jolted in fright, his hand trembling. The phone pressed against the hole shook violently.
Yet in the darkness, Ji Li still saw a sight that made his soul tremble—
A bloodshot eye, clouded and lifeless yet filled with endless malice, staring straight through the peeping hole, locking eyes with him.