When Nan Zhi returned home, she immediately began searching for news related to the "Qianli Ghost Building."
Seven years ago, that fire had indeed occurred.
Back then, the official report released by the police in conjunction with the fire department stated:
On the day the fire broke out, a suspect surnamed Zheng (male) carried two buckets of cooking oil into the elevator to the fifty-ninth floor at exactly eleven o'clock that night.
Subsequently, around eleven-thirty, Zheng used a lighter he had on him to ignite clutter stacked by a merchant at the entrance of the stairwell.
Due to the high volume of people in the building and the fire starting in a stairwell where it was not easily detected, the fire developed rapidly, eventually spreading to the entire floor.
The fire was fierce, and because Zheng had used cooking oil as an accelerant, the flames spread quickly, resulting in a flashover.
By the time firefighters arrived, the blaze was already out of control.
The entire fifty-ninth floor was engulfed in flames, and the fire produced a massive amount of toxic smoke, blocking the escape routes for businesses on higher floors.
The Qianli City Fire Brigade immediately launched a rescue operation, racing against time to deploy aerial ladders. Firefighters even charged into the inferno to carve out a path of survival for the trapped civilians.
However, the fire was simply too intense. Although the blaze was eventually extinguished, it resulted in a major tragedy with ten dead and three injured.
The arson suspect, Zheng, died at the scene.
The subsequent forensic report determined that he likely did not leave immediately after starting the fire, but instead lingered at the scene.
Ultimately, he inhaled a large amount of smoke and died of asphyxiation.
Among the rescue workers at the scene, there was a young firefighter surnamed Yang.
While saving others, he inhaled a massive amount of smoke and eventually fell into a vegetative state.
He has yet to wake up.
When the news broke back then, the internet was flooded with overwhelming condemnation.
Some said the arsonist died too easily and that he should have been saved just so he could be executed. Others questioned why someone like Zheng, who had a history of mental illness, was allowed to walk through a busy city area with dangerous materials.
Some even tracked down Zheng's home address and suggested his family should kowtow and apologize to the innocent victims and the firefighter.
There were even a few conspiracy theorists who proposed that the arsonist might have been someone else, questioning how a mentally ill person could have carried out such a plan.
However, all these claims were dismantled one by one by the official chain of evidence.
Zheng suffered from mental illness, and his family had taken him to another province for treatment.
During the treatment process, Zheng had more than once revealed to his primary doctor that he "wanted to set fires," "wanted to burn things," and "liked the smell of things charring."
His family had also discovered that Zheng had burned his own clothes, his nephews' and nieces' toys, and the feathers of dead birds at home.
He would even pour gasoline on stray cats and light them for amusement.
Building surveillance footage showed that in the half-month leading up to the fire, Zheng had visited the building multiple times to scout the location.
And at the time of the fire, Zheng's actions of pouring oil and setting the fire were also captured by surveillance.
Therefore, all of this was enough to prove that on the day of the fire, Zheng was sufficiently conscious.
He was fully capable of understanding the consequences his actions might cause.
If Zheng were still alive, he would certainly have faced the full weight of the law.
After all, illness is not a reason for some to escape their crimes.
【Reality Instance: Prosperity Underneath (Recommended Cultivation: Qi Refinement stage one to Qi Refinement stage three)】
【Mission Location: Green Ti New City】
【Mission Content: You have seen the prosperity of this city, but have you ever observed whether those hurrying through it are all the living people you assume them to be?
After midnight, enter the fifty-ninth floor of Green Ti New City. Distinguish carefully to find the black evil ghost hidden within and slay it.】
【Instance Completion Rewards: Snake-Bear Pill ×10, Blood Supplementing Pill formula ×1, Azure Blood Grass ×5 (Main material for Qi-Supplementing Pill), Wangning Fruit ×10 (Main material for Blood Supplementing Pill)】
She just went out for a meal and managed to trigger a reality instance?
This was intense.
Nan Zhi paused for a moment and began to think seriously.
The instance level wasn't high, and the mission rewards clearly weren't as generous as the last one.
But it was enough to prove that there really were ghosts in Green Ti New City.
Furthermore, it was a ghost capable of evading her perception while wandering through the building.
The mission content was also quite interesting.
Find the black evil ghost hidden in the crowd and slay it?
The strength of a black evil ghost is below that of a red clothed vengeful ghost, meaning this ghost is weaker than Wanniang but slightly stronger than Shu Jiulang.
While the rewards weren't lavish, Nan Zhi was very interested in the formula for the Blood Supplementing Pill.
In any story about cultivating immortality, alchemy was essential.
Even though she knew nothing about alchemy right now, maybe she would in the future!
Nan Zhi snapped her fingers cheerfully.
She had been wondering how to find a suitable opportunity to contact the authorities.
Now, wasn't this the perfect reason delivered right to her doorstep?
But before that, she needed to flesh out the background story for her alias.
She had to find an identity for her Painted Skin Ghost persona that could eventually appear before the public in broad daylight.
...
...
The experimental zone on the twenty-fifth floor of Hongxing Mansion was still brightly lit.
"Everyone, you should have all received the materials distributed today."
In the specially modified conference room, Qin Yue sat at the head of the table, her hands propping up her chin, her brows furrowed deeply.
"I don't need to say it; you all know what the theme of today's meeting is."
Behind her, on a massive projection screen, was a map of Great Xia, dotted with countless dense red dots.
Everyone present held their breath, flipping through the materials in front of them with serious expressions.
【Dexing Private Middle School Collective Suicide Case】
【Ximen Bridge North Purple Star Garden Walking Corpse Case】
【Green Ti New City Fire Haunting Case】
【Changping Red-clothed Little Girl Case】
【White Egret Reservoir Water Ghost Case】
【Cat Faced Old Lady Post-mortem Reanimation Case】
Behind every case was a noted time, location, and the testimony of witnesses and victims.
A single file often represented several living souls.
Everyone present understood this very well, so no one dared to be slack, nor would they be.
Qin Yue nodded to a man in a white lab coat to her right.
The man stood up, wearing rimless metal glasses on his meticulous face.
"As you can see, this is a data map created by our researchers based on reports sent from brother units in various provinces and districts.
On the map, we can see that in the past three months, the total number of supernatural incidents across Great Xia has exceeded the total number recorded in the official database for all of last year.
A small red dot represents one supernatural incident.
For example, in our Qianli City, a total of twelve supernatural incidents occurred this month.
Four of them resulted in casualties and property damage."
The researcher pushed up his glasses and gestured for everyone to look at the screen.
"Our research personnel have discovered that the magnetic fields across Great Xia seem to be undergoing some kind of change that we humans cannot understand. Or rather, a change that is currently beyond human comprehension."
"It is precisely because we do not understand these changes, because we fear them, and because we are still accustomed to using past experience to handle cases.
That is why we have failed time and again in our missions, even resulting in two of our colleagues being injured.
As the person in charge of the Special Investigation Section, I hold myself accountable."
Qin Yue stood up and bowed deeply to everyone before sitting back down.
She didn't seem to feel she was losing face by apologizing in front of her subordinates.
"Losing face now is better than losing your life later."
Qin Yue let out a breath, her gaze sharp as she continued:
"Take, for instance, last month's 'Red-clothed Little Girl Case' and the 'Route 114 Bus Disappearance Case.'
Our people paid a heavy price during the investigation to complete the task.
I believe it is because we lack experience in dealing with ghosts and tried to apply past methods, which led to our failure.
The times are changing too fast now, and the world is undergoing changes we cannot fully grasp.
If we still use our old attitudes to face our future enemies, there will be only one result: failure.
In yesterday's meeting, Director Ma fully conveyed the opinions from above, and you should all be clear on them.
Change is urgent; there is no time to lose!"
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