I changed the world.

Page 181

"Zhongtai Amusement Park" is an amusement park in Wuzhong City that has been operating for over forty years. Located in the western suburbs of Wuzhong City, it holds many childhood memories for Wuzhong residents. However, as time has passed, the amusement park's facilities have inevitably become old and outdated. Especially after the opening of "New Wuzhong Amusement Park," which is larger and has more advanced facilities, ten years ago, many Wuzhong residents gradually made it their first choice for entertainment. As a result, the business of "Zhongtai Amusement Park" declined at a visible rate. It is said that in recent years, the major shareholder of "Zhongtai Amusement Park" has been looking for someone to take over, hoping to sell the business.

Five years ago, the operators, unable to find a buyer, began a transformation. The major shareholder's proposal emphasized breakthroughs in single projects, highlighting asymmetric competitive advantages, and achieving more with less money. Under this approach, after six months of renovations, "Zhongtai Amusement Park" expanded with a series of surrounding buildings centered around the haunted house, creating what was touted as the largest haunted house in the entire southern part of the empire.

Following this, the park's external promotion focused on the "Haunted House." This transformation strategy certainly attracted attention, drawing thrill-seeking tourists from all over the country and gradually improving the park's business. While it wasn't exactly booming, it at least achieved positive growth in revenue and expenses.

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A black sedan pulled up on a street not far from Zhongtai Amusement Park. Located on the outskirts of Wuzhong City, Zhongtai Amusement Park is surrounded by large green spaces, as well as restaurants and accommodations rented out by the park management. Normally, at this time, there would be some tourists strolling around, as it's a haunted house and usually closes at 21:00 PM. But today was different. The entire street was deserted; all the shops were closed, guard posts were set up, and there were also some well-established military facilities. The area looked more like a makeshift military base than an amusement park, with heavily armed soldiers patrolling the streets vigilantly.

Yuan Shen and Li Huai got out of the car, and the last to get out of the back seat were Master Chaba Aose and his disciple Langri, who had come with them. A hint of tension flashed across the Master's face. On the way, he had seen at least three roadblocks, especially the latter two, where the roadblocks were blocked by fully armed soldiers with armored vehicles and other heavy equipment.

Chapter 306 The Ritual of Opening the Altar

Even more impressively, not far from here, they could see a massive antenna as tall as a five-story building, along with a series of other pieces of equipment they couldn't identify...

As soon as the vehicle stopped, several people wearing exoskeletons strode over. Leading the way was a middle-aged man with a serious expression. This was Yan Jishen, the former captain of the Special Task Force of the Jiangling City Police Mobile Unit, who had now been transferred to the newly established Special Operations Unit of the Fourth Division of the Special Investigation Bureau of the Ministry of Justice. He was the highest-ranking on-site commander for this operation.

"Captain Yan, hello." Yuan Shen greeted the middle-aged man with a smile and a cupped-hand salute. Although they hadn't had much contact before, there were quite a few rumors circulating about Captain Yan within the Fourth Division. It was said that he was quite experienced in handling Category IV incidents…

"Detective Yuan, thank you for your hard work." Yan Jishen forced a smile onto his serious face and greeted Yuan Shen politely before turning his gaze to Cha Ba Ao Se, who was getting out of the back seat of the car.

"Let me introduce you. This is Master Chaba Aose and his esteemed disciple," Yuan Shen said with a smile.

"The matter we've encountered urgently requires the assistance of a professional like you, Master. I thank you in advance!" Yan Jishen bowed deeply to Chaba Aose with utmost sincerity.

"Sir, you're too kind. It's just my duty." Chaba Aose keenly noticed the insignia on the middle-aged man's collar, a badge that marked him as a second-level police inspector. In the police force of an ordinary city, this rank was definitely high-ranking. At this moment, he felt slightly uneasy; everything seemed a little different from what he had expected. However, things had come to this point, and he couldn't afford to lose face. So, Chaba Aose clasped his hands together and said, neither humble nor arrogant.

“The situation we are facing is very complicated. We are increasing our search efforts. Now that a master is involved, we should be more confident.” Yan Jishen smiled and gestured to the side, “Please follow me.”

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Inside a semi-open field tent not far from the Zhongtai Amusement Park, Yan Jishen was hosting a field discussion, with Yuan Shen, Li Huai, Chaba Aose, and others also in attendance.

To ensure that the newly joined Cha Ba Ao Se and his apprentices had a clearer understanding of the situation, Yan Jishen added a brief introduction to the event.

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"At 10:05 on February 19, the Wuzhong City Police Department received a report from Zhongtai Amusement Park that two staff members responsible for the nighttime maintenance of the park's haunted house had gone missing. After investigation and questioning by the police, the whereabouts of the three people could not be found."

"At 22:21 on February 21, the emergency hotline in Wuzhong City received a call from Zhongtai Amusement Park. The caller was extremely terrified and incoherent, claiming to have seen a monster in the park. The call was then cut off. After receiving the call, the radio station urgently coordinated with nearby patrol officers to go and investigate. Subsequently, two patrol officers went missing. It was later confirmed that the two patrol officers who went to investigate after receiving the call, along with three security guards responsible for nighttime security at Zhongtai Amusement Park, went missing."

"On February 22, due to the special nature of the incident, it was transferred to our Special Crime Investigation Bureau's Fourth Division through a special coordination mechanism. After preliminary confirmation through technical means, the incident met the requirements of the Category 4 Incident, Category 1 Response Plan."

"Starting at 11:00 AM on February 22, we completed the blockade of streets within a two-kilometer radius of Zhongtai Amusement Park, announcing it was for an investigation into a potential leak in the energy pipeline network. All personnel at Zhongtai Amusement Park and nearby buildings have been evacuated. To avoid causing a significant public reaction, a media coordination mechanism has been activated, and nearby military personnel have also been included in the coordination mechanism."

"At 13:25 on February 22nd, our team attempted to reconnoiter the park using technologies including satellites and drones, but found nothing unusual. Afterwards, our armed personnel entered to conduct a systematic search. However, to date, we have not been able to find any missing persons. However, we have not found anything entirely; we discovered a line of text in the small square in front of the haunted house. Please see the image..."

Yan Jishen then displayed an image on the virtual projection. The image showed a line of blackened text with distorted words: "Save me!"

“We have confirmed that these words were written with human blood. Based on previous handwriting identification, it is suspected to be Wang Dong, one of the missing security guards.”

"Given the complexity and unusual nature of this case, our technical staff have installed detection equipment throughout the park and increased surveillance efforts."

"Furthermore, through reviewing local records, the department discovered another fact. This is the latest information that just arrived. This Zhongtai Amusement Park was built 46 years ago. By reviewing the records from that time, we were able to confirm that the site of Zhongtai Amusement Park was originally a mass burial ground. Later, due to urban expansion, the local government, together with local gentry, funded the reconstruction of a public cemetery on a selected site, and this land was then sold. Because the land was cheap, Zhongtai Group bought it and later built Zhongtai Amusement Park on it."

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It was 21:55 PM. In the center of the Zhongtai Amusement Park, a temporary altar had been set up.

During the meeting just now, Yan Jishen asked Master Chaba Aose for his opinion on the incident. The master stated that there was no doubt that evil spirits were present in the area. Considering that the place had once been a cemetery, the possibility of lingering resentment from malevolent spirits causing trouble could not be ruled out. Of course, the master did not make any definitive statements, only saying that he would first perform a ritual to suppress the evil spirits. After all, this was a mass burial ground that had accumulated countless resentments over the years, and the master only said that he would try his best to suppress them to some extent.

As for why the accumulated resentment only erupted fifty years later, the master gave a mystical explanation based on the theory of the Five Elements and the Eight Trigrams. Of course, as professional soldiers, Yan Jishen and others had been studying traditional classics since entering the Fourth Division, but they still only understood it vaguely.

Of course, they cooperated with the master's plan to the greatest extent possible. Based on the master's calculations, they quickly cleared an area in the central square of the Zhongtai Amusement Park as the location for setting up the altar.

This is a Buddhist altar in the style of the Buddha Sect, and the equipment was brought directly by the master and his disciples in the car.

At this moment, there was an offering table on the altar, covered with a huge mandala, like a tablecloth. On the left side of the mandala were three Vajra protectors of Buddhism, and on the right side were some tablets with mysterious writings.

Chapter 307 Insurance