Things that defy the laws of the world cannot exist, just as a flame that has lost its fuel cannot continue burning.

While my "firefly" was indeed an unnatural creation, it was far from a fleeting existence.

The reason it could persist was because of the spiritual connection between us. My mental energy continuously fueled its existence, like adding firewood to a flame.

However, the hole before me was like a barrier, invisible and intangible. When the "firefly" descended, the unseen barrier, although not actively obstructing it, mercilessly severed the spiritual connection between us. It was as if to say, "The divide between 'real space' and 'spaces that should not exist in reality' is as clear as the distinction between yin and yang. Those of the living cannot defy the laws of nature, attempting to breach the boundary and establish free passage between the realms."

"So what do you plan to do?" Chang'an didn't notice the disturbance on my side.

He first asked for my opinion, then looked uneasy, "I think we should close the lid quickly. What if there's something nasty hidden under the hole..."

"Hold on a moment." After thinking for a moment, I asked, "Do you have a Bluetooth camera or anything like that?"

"You're going to throw a Bluetooth camera down there to replace your own eyes?" He immediately understood, then shook his head regretfully, "But I don’t have one."

"No worries, just give me your phone."

He obediently handed me his phone, and I took out my own, opening WeChat and sending a video call request to Chang'an's phone.

Once the call was connected, I went to the kitchen to grab a broom, then used a rubber band from the takeout barbecue to attach both my phone and flashlight to the end of the broom, turning it into a glowing selfie stick. I squatted on the floor and extended it down into the hole.

"So there’s another way to do this!"

Chang'an's eyes lit up as he leaned in to look at his phone, eager to see the video feed coming from below.

But then he made a sound of confusion and disappointment: "…Huh?"

Unfortunately, no image was transmitted.

Ever since my phone entered the hole, the network signal had automatically been cut off.

I retrieved my phone, changed the connection to share Chang'an's mobile hotspot, and tried sending it back into the hole again, but it still didn’t work. It seemed the network was being blocked by an invisible barrier.

It seemed that not only the spiritual connection, but also electronic signals were unable to pass through.

I retrieved my phone again, took a deep breath, and mentally prepared myself.

This time, I extended my arm directly into the hole!

Chang'an couldn't stop me in time and could only shout, "What are you doing!"

I ignored his voice, focusing entirely on the sensation of my arm.

Ultimately, human perception and control of one's own body rely on electronic signals. If this hole truly interfered with electronic signals, I should not have been able to move my arm at all.

But this time, the signal wasn’t blocked. I could clearly feel my arm and move my hand smoothly.

"Spiritual connection" and "electronic signal connection" are essentially both "wireless connections." Based on the current situation, since the brain can maintain the physiological connection to my arm, does this mean that other forms of "wired connections" should also work?

Or is it that the human body itself has some mysterious quality, like how certain magical items in fantasy stories can’t store life but can store everything else? Could it be that this hole simply cannot block the life signals of living beings?

If it's the latter, then I would have no choice but to enter the hole myself.

Wait, it seems I've been misled by the earlier disappearance of the "firefly."

If all I want is to understand what’s inside the hole, I don’t need to worry about wired or wireless connections. I could simply switch my phone to video mode and repeat the previous method!

I know why I didn’t think of such a simple approach right away. It’s because I was so fixated on the phenomenon of the hole being severed from the outside world. It’s the first time I’ve encountered something so unbelievable, and I couldn’t help but focus on exploring the exact mechanism behind it.

Seeing that I was unharmed, Chang'an let out a sigh of relief and quickly grabbed me, trying to pull me away from the hole.

"You’re being way too reckless! Didn’t you think about what could happen to you!?" he said, his voice filled with lingering fear.

"Chang'an, let’s try again," I turned to him and said what I was planning.

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After hearing this, his first reaction was: "You really just want to use your phone to record what’s down there, right? You’re not planning to go down yourself, are you? After seeing it, you’ll be satisfied, won’t you?"

"…"

"Why are you turning your head away?" He glared at me.

Chang'an's intuition was correct. I couldn’t possibly be satisfied with just a quick look inside. Even if there were some "dirty things" down there, I would still persist.

I started thinking about how to convince him, or perhaps find a way to get him to leave.

Although it wouldn’t be impossible to rush into the hole, doing so might lead him to follow me in. What if there’s danger inside? The reason he’s encountered these strange events is likely because of me, but I never intended to drag him into this.

The most practical solution might be to pretend to agree for now and then investigate on my own afterward. After all, he doesn’t live in this house anymore.

It seemed like I couldn’t move forward with my investigation for now.

"Chang'an, I..."

Just as I was about to speak, an unexpected situation interrupted our conversation.

Knock, knock, knock.

There was an unexpected knock at the entrance.

I could only helplessly close my mouth. Why does it feel like I keep encountering people knocking on doors today? This is already the third time, although this time, it isn’t my own door being knocked on.

"Who’s there?" Chang'an called out.

But there was no answer from outside, just the persistent knocking.

I stood up and walked toward the entrance, while Chang'an grabbed the black plush carpet nearby, temporarily covering the hole. While it wasn’t exactly a secret, when it came to such unknown supernatural things, perhaps it wasn’t wise to expose it to random strangers.

However, this time, the person at the door, at least, was not a stranger we had never met.

When I opened the door, the person outside saw me.

"Hmm?" The person first appeared confused and surprised, and after a moment, he finally recognized my face. "…You live here? This doesn’t seem right."

The person was none other than the police officer who had knocked on my door not long ago to investigate the serial killer witness sightings.

He’s even come this far with his investigation?

"No, my friend lives here," I quickly suppressed my surprise and turned to call out to Chang'an.

Chang'an immediately rushed over and introduced himself to the officer.

The officer looked at me with confusion but eventually addressed Chang'an: "You're the one who made a false report the other night, right?"

"I didn’t make a false report," Chang'an said, his neck stiff with defiance.

"The people in our department checked back later, and it turns out a very serious murder occurred in this house some time ago. The murderer has yet to be apprehended," the officer asked seriously. "You say this place is haunted—are you sure it’s just ghosts? Please tell me again what abnormalities you’ve noticed."

It turns out this officer was here to investigate a murder case from eight months ago.

I had heard that law enforcement takes murder cases very seriously, with slogans like "All murder cases will be solved." But that was an incident from eight months ago! I didn’t realize they would still be pursuing a case with such intensity even after such a long time.

I had once read online about a fugitive who, after laying low for a while, went to a *Jay Chou concert, only to be spotted and apprehended by law enforcement in the middle of the crowd. Given that, it didn’t seem that strange that the authorities were still focusing so much on a murder suspect who had been at large for so long. *famous chinese singer

But I remembered that this officer had been investigating the recent serial killer case, yet now he was taking time to ask about a completely different case. Is it common for them to juggle cases like this? Or perhaps…

"It really is haunted!"

In his eagerness to prove his point, Chang'an hurriedly invited the police officer inside, then walked over to the black plush carpet and yanked it away.

"Look!" He pointed at the magic circle on the floor, "See? This really... really..."

But as he spoke, his voice trailed off.

What lay before us was nothing but an empty floor. There was no sign of any basement. Only the magic circle, painted in black, remained on the ground. Not even the wooden lid was there.

It wasn't just Chang'an who was stunned—so was I. The basement had disappeared?

What was going on? The last time the police came, the basement vanished. And now, with the police here again, it had vanished once more.

Could it be that the police, with their upright and righteous presence, caused the basement to disappear, as if the basement were some dark and malevolent thing that hid itself at the arrival of authority? That didn’t make any sense!

The situation before me made me remind myself not to panic. This wasn't the first time the basement had appeared and disappeared, so perhaps this was part of the strange phenomenon I needed to explore.

"Where's the ghost?" the police officer asked, his expression unreadable. "Let it show itself."

"Ghost... ghost..." Chang'an stammered, unable to speak.

The police officer sighed, then seemed to notice something. He immediately crouched in front of the magic circle and began to touch the painted edge with his finger.

He rubbed his finger thoughtfully, his expression growing more serious, and after a moment, muttered to himself, "...Blood?"

---

Although the strange basement wasn't visible, the police officer's attitude clearly changed after he made contact with the magic circle. His already serious expression became even more intense.

He led us downstairs and then asked Chang'an, "Do you have another place to stay?"

"What?" Chang'an was still processing the question.

"The house you rented is now a crime scene and must be secured again. At least for today and tomorrow, you cannot go back there to stay," the officer said in an authoritative tone.

"Ah? But..." Chang'an seemed like he was about to say something.

However, he suddenly closed his mouth, glanced at me, and then decisively said to the officer, "No problem, I wasn’t planning on staying there anyway. Please make sure the scene is protected properly, not even a mouse should be allowed in!"

It was really a bit much to be called a mouse.

He must have said that to prevent me from going into the basement. Honestly, he was worrying for nothing. If I had truly made up my mind to enter that basement, no matter how many ordinary people showed up or how strict the precautions were, it would all be in vain.

"By the way, why are we protecting that house?" Chang'an finally asked. "Is it because of the murder case from eight months ago? But that happened eight months ago, right? The killer might have already fled to another city by now."

"You can't say that," the officer replied. "This is a homicide case, and it's not just any case. The methods were extremely brutal, and the situation is very serious. The department has been paying close attention to it. And..." The officer seemed to be debating whether to reveal more.

After a long pause, he looked at Chang'an, then at me, and finally said, "The killer is still roaming around Xianshui City, and may even still be causing trouble."

"What?" Chang'an was stunned.

I made a connection through the officer's gaze and, combining it with my earlier suspicions, came to a conclusion.

"The serial killer who has been committing murders in the city over the past two months... is the same person who killed the previous tenant in that house eight months ago?"

The face of Ma Zao also surfaced in my mind.