"How can you remember things so clearly from several days ago?"

Li Xiang was worried that the aunt might be talking nonsense or perhaps not remembering correctly, so he asked another question to see if she could provide more details, allowing him to make a judgment.

"There's no mistake. I found it strange at the time, wasn't that stationery factory shut down? The entire factory, just an old man left keeping watch. How could anyone have gone in? At first, I thought the factory had come back to life and was hiring again."

Grandma continued to recollect, detailing the specifics meticulously, which didn't seem fabricated. After thanking Grandma, Li Xiang planned to go with Sun Zhidong for a look.

"The shut-down Sunshine Stationery Factory? This place is pretty suitable for shady business."

Li Xiang and Sun Zhidong arrived at the Sunshine Stationery Factory Grandma mentioned. The place had indeed been abandoned for some time. The factory sign was rusty and crumbling, the wall paint was peeling off everywhere—clearly long neglected—and inside the factory, it was eerily quiet, lacking any vitality.

"Xiang, something's not right. This place is deserted; it doesn't seem like a shady operation base."

The two peeked inside from outside the walls but couldn't see anything out of the ordinary.

"Hey, you two cowards, what are you doing?"

At that moment, a gatekeeper emerged, seeing the two peering inside and came out to check the situation.

"Hello, sir. We're here to find someone. Have you seen this person?"

The old man glanced at the photo on Li Xiang's phone and quickly shook his head: "Haven't seen her. The factory shut down years ago; there's no one inside. You might want to check elsewhere."

"Alright, thank you, sir."

Li Xiang didn't say much. After thanking the gatekeeper, he dragged Sun Zhidong away.

"What's going on? Why are we leaving just like that?"

Sun Zhidong was a bit confused, feeling at a loss. Grandma said she saw the girl go in, but the gatekeeper said otherwise. Who's lying between them?

Why didn't Li Xiang probe further? Why did he simply drag him away?

"It's not convenient to talk there. Wang Liping definitely went in."

Li Xiang pulled him aside, releasing him only when they were out of the gatekeeper's sight, and explained the reason.

"How do you know?"

"Just now, when I asked the gatekeeper if he'd seen the person, he immediately explained the factory's been shut for years, that there's no one inside. I didn't say she went in, he essentially gave himself away. Combine that with what Grandma said, I'm certain the gatekeeper is lying."

"Makes sense. So what do we do now?"

"We need to find a way to sneak in and look inside. I feel something's amiss here."

"Alright, I'll follow your lead."

After a discussion, the two circled the perimeter looking for a way in. They finally found a breach to climb over the wall. Li Xiang's agility went without saying, but Sun Zhidong struggled quite a bit before getting into the premises.

"This area is quite large, let's split up and search."

"Okay."

-----------------

After confirming Li Xiang and Sun Zhidong had gone far, the security guard returned to the guard room, took out the phone, and looked outside again. Once sure no one was around, he dialed a number: "Hey, boss, two young men just came by the factory looking for someone. From the photo, it's the girl you brought back the other day."

"Understood."

The voice on the other end was emotionless. The security guard's impression of him was that he was a man of few words, giving off a sinister vibe.

But understanding his paycheck came from the boss, he didn't dare say much. As long as he received his salary every month, he would do his job properly.

The boss instructed not to let people in, so people wouldn't enter.

-----------------

Outside, the Sunshine Stationery Factory looked small, but inside it seemed quite large. There were many rooms in different factory buildings, and many areas had layers of cobwebs, evidently vacant places that didn't warrant inspection.

Attention was only given to spots showing signs of recent activity.

"Xiang, come here quickly."

Li Xiang hurried over as soon as he heard Sun Zhidong's call.

"What is it?"

"See for yourself."

"What?"

Li Xiang was stunned at what he saw, jaw dropped. Who could have thought that a dilapidated stationery factory held a workshop making silicone dolls?

Along the far wall was a lineup of silicone dolls resembling real people, surprising anyone to mistake them for living people at first glance.

These dolls were all exceedingly beautiful, with exquisite makeup, silky hair, dressed in provocative outfits making one's blood rush.

Some had facial features that seemed familiar, like those of celebrities.

On the other side, there was a workbench with unfinished items and corresponding molds. Judging from the semi-finished products, these dolls had steel frameworks, movable joints, limbs, and digits.

Various raw materials and chemicals surrounded them, indicating a complete array of tools.

"Who would have thought a rundown stationery factory held such secrets? These silicone dolls are top-notch, easily fetching prices over ten thousand yuan in the market."

Sun Zhidong scrutinized the dolls with keen judgment, estimating their market value.

"You actually know this?"

Sun Zhidong rolled his eyes: "Haven't eaten pork but have seen pigs run, right? A friend of mine once bought a platinum silicone doll and had me look it over."

"Got it."

Creating fictional friends, yeah, Li Xiang understood.

"You don't know anything, but I feel these dolls are even more realistic than my friend's. Here, touch this skin—it's as if it's real."

Sun Zhidong touched the doll's arm, noting it didn't feel like silicone, lacking only the warmth of human skin, yet it was as delicate as real skin.

The craftsmanship must be top-tier domestically?

Given that the best silicone for dolls in China is platinum silicone, which resembles human appearance but still feels like silicone upon touch.

"How did he achieve this?"

"Let me look. This seems not to be a one-piece silicone mold. How come there's an untreated seam? Without this seam, they'd be more perfect, but even so, they feel like the real deal..."

"Ah~"

"Damn, Sun Zhidong, what are you doing? You startled me."

"Li Xiang, you… you know… you might be touching real human skin..."

"What?"

Instinctively, Li Xiang dropped the silicone doll. Upon hearing Sun Zhidong's words, a foreboding sensation arose in his heart.

"Real human skin?"

Could it be these silicone dolls were sewn with actual human skin?

Li Xiang dared not continue this train of thought and promptly walked over to Sun Zhidong's side to inspect.

He hoped the truth wasn't as he feared.

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