"I saw that trying to persuade Gouwa's wife was useless, so I went to Gouwa, but he still had that blank look in his eyes, as if he'd lost his soul. No matter how I called him, he didn't react."

"They walked further and further away, and the fog grew thicker and thicker. I was anxious and begged him not to go any further, to quickly take his wife and children home."

"Hearing the word 'home' finally got a slight reaction from Gouwa. His lips moved, and I leaned in close to hear what he was saying. He said he was going to listen to opera."

"That's right, to listen to opera!"

"He also said that after listening to the opera, he could go home."

"I couldn't understand it. It was the dead of night, everyone was asleep. Where... where were they going to listen to opera?"

"At this point, that strange man noticed me. He reached out and grabbed my arm." Speaking of this, the old woman's face changed drastically, and her tone became hurried. "His hand was very hot, like... like a red-hot branding iron. I wanted to struggle, but I couldn't break free. Finally... finally, until I heard a sound!"

"It was... a gong!" The old woman raised her head, adamant. "That's right, it must be a gong. It was the gong that opera troupes use to call people before a performance."

"After the sound of the gong, the strange man let go of my hand."

"Only then did I realize that I had encountered something unclean. I didn't dare stay any longer and immediately turned around and ran towards home."

"But I was still worried about Gouwa and his family, so after running a long way, I couldn't help but turn my head and take a look."

"It was that one look that I saw... I saw a part of the thick fog dissipate, and about 50 meters away from me, there actually... there actually was an opera stage!"

"The stage looked like it was built temporarily, with many strange flags stuck on it, and the surrounding area was wrapped in white cloth."

"Through the white cloth, I could see shadowy figures moving on the stage, accompanied by the sound of singing. Gouwa and his family were sitting in front of the stage."

"Not just them, there were... there were other people around, at least a dozen!"

"They were all in the same posture, all with their backs to me, watching the opera without moving."

"But the next second, suddenly their bodies changed, they started burning, all these people started burning!" The old woman's voice became shrill. "From their feet to their heads, crackling and popping, I could smell a burning odor, but these people didn't move at all, even as they were burned to charcoal!"

"But not everyone burned. There was one person among them who was fine. He was sitting in the front, in the middle position. After those people were burned to charcoal, he walked onto the stage."

"After that, after that, the stage, and this man, disappeared at the same time."

"The charred corpses in front of the stage, they all disappeared too."

"And then... then I woke up and found myself lying on my bed in my room. My body, and the blanket, were soaked with cold sweat. Then, my two sons rushed over, dressed, saying they heard my screams."

"I was terrified, and I tremblingly told them about this dream. They all comforted me, saying it was just a dream and told me not to think too much about it, but... but I know it wasn't a dream, absolutely not a dream! It's real!!"

After listening for so long, the police officer felt a tightness in his chest, but he couldn't help but say, "Old... old woman, you said yourself that you woke up and found yourself lying in your bed at home."

The old woman raised her head, and her originally cloudy eyes were filled with a strange light. After a moment, the old woman raised her arm and laboriously pulled up her right sleeve. The next second, everyone present was stunned.

On the old woman's thin, skin-and-bone forearm, there was a pitch-black handprint.

"Then how do you explain this handprint?" the old woman asked in a hoarse voice.

The police officers and others found that this handprint could not be erased no matter what, and it seemed to be directly imprinted into the flesh. Connecting all of this with the recent events, they had to believe that there might really be something unclean at work here.

Through further questioning, the old woman provided two more important clues.

First, the time she woke up from her nightmare was exactly midnight, 12 o'clock.

Second, judging from the direction Gouwa and his family were walking, it should be towards the west side of the village.

"Midnight, 12 o'clock?" The police officer keenly seized on this point, asking without showing any emotion, "Old woman, you must have been very scared after having such a nightmare, how could you still be thinking about the time?"

The old woman shook her head. "My second son works outside. He usually gets home around 12 o'clock during that period. That day, he just got home when he heard me scream."

The old woman's second son was standing beside her, a burly man who looked very honest. The man also nodded in agreement with the old woman's words, and carefully took out an old pocket watch from his pocket, looked at the police officer, and said in a muffled voice, "Because of my work, they gave me a pocket watch to record the time."

"I remember very clearly, that day when I got home, took off my clothes, and habitually looked at my pocket watch before going to bed, I heard my mother's scream, and then I rushed over."

"12 o'clock?" someone asked softly.

The man turned his head and nodded very solemnly, "That's right, it was midnight, 12 o'clock."

This moment of yin and yang transition once again added a mysterious flavor to the case. The police officer steadied his mind and prepared to start with another clue. They asked the villagers where the path on the west side of the village led.

The villagers responded that very few people usually walked on the path on the west side because it led to the mass burial ground outside the city, so everyone was more cautious.

Hearing the words "mass burial ground," the expressions of the police officers and their team became even worse.

They had no choice but to report the matter to the higher-ups after concealing it to a certain extent, and at the same time, they indirectly hoped that the higher-ups would not investigate further.

Of course, it would also be best to permanently close the inauspicious Roman Grand Hotel.

But things didn't go as they wished. After receiving their investigation report, the higher-ups were furious and gave them a strict order to go to the mass burial ground outside the city and dig up the nameless charred corpse.

After all, because of this incident, there was already a storm of rumors outside, and everyone was secretly spreading that these bosses had done something unconscionable and offended the ghosts and gods, who were now seeking their lives.

In order to dispel these rumors, it was necessary to destroy the charred corpse.

After hearing this, the police officers and others didn't waste any words and directly resigned. They immediately took off their uniforms and threw them on the chief's desk. No matter who tried to persuade them, it was useless, and they left in their shorts.

Although these people quit, the police station, under the pressure of the powerful figures behind the hotel, had no choice but to send another team to investigate the matter.