The meeting ended, and the doors swung open. People filed out in a steady stream, accompanied by bursts of cold air from the air conditioning.
He Xiaoyi, Zhang Yue, Fang Zijiang, and Zhao Daxian were in no hurry to leave, however, because they were still waiting to see someone.
Or rather, a ghost.
The ghost who served as the Information Group Leader of the Special Incident Investigation Section.
Chen Ping.
Zhang Yue clutched her phone and cautiously suggested to the group, “This is the internal group chat. Please use your police handhelds to scan the code and join. If there’s any news in the future, I’ll notify everyone in the group immediately.”
“Good, good. Having WeChat nowadays is so convenient. Back when I was young, if you wanted to find someone, you could only make a phone call. If they didn’t pick up, they’d just forget about it later. This is much better. If you miss a message, you can check back ten minutes later, and the message is still there,” He Xiaoyi said cheerfully as he scanned the code to join the group, even gesturing for the others to follow suit.
“Let’s all add each other on WeChat too. Don’t look at my age; I’m not behind you youngsters at all when it comes to playing with phones.”
“Let’s get one thing straight first: I don’t check my phone outside of working hours. If there’s an emergency, find Section Chief Qin. The first and fifteenth of every lunar month are my days for meditation in seclusion.”
Zhao Daxian scanned the code briskly and waved his phone at the others.
“During those times, even if the sky falls, the Trisolarans invade Earth, dinosaurs come back to life, or volcanoes explode, do not look for me. Thank you for your cooperation.”
“Haha, I usually live alone. Lately, I’ve been doing experiments, so I eat and sleep in the lab. If you ever need anything, you can find me anytime,” Fang Zijiang said with a smile as he opened the WeChat group and added everyone’s contact information one by one.
“Of course, if you come across any research materials, feel free to contact me at any time.”
Zhang Yue nodded along, her face full of anticipation. “Yes, yes, yes! I’m in charge of everyone’s logistics. If you have any needs, you can find me anytime. I guarantee I’ll be on standby twenty four hours a day.”
As they were exchanging pleasantries, Qin Yue walked out of the conference room and glanced at them. “All acquainted? Good. Let’s go.”
With that, she walked straight toward the elevator that led to the twenty fifth floor experimental area.
The group exchanged looks and followed her.
...
...
This was the first time Chen Ping was meeting his future colleagues.
In the special reception room, which simulated nighttime, the lights were dim, and one could only vaguely see the outlines of objects.
The only light source in the room came from the funeral portrait hanging on the wall.
“Click.”
Qin Yue turned on the light and signaled for the group to sit down. “Introduce yourselves. In ten minutes, we’ll have a brief meeting.”
In the black and white funeral portrait, the honest and simple looking man was framed, signifying the end of his brief and messy life.
On the leather sofa, the dusty, translucent Chen Ping sat by the coffee table, greedily sucking on a can of cola.
The coffee table was piled high with burgers, fried chicken, iced cola, roast duck, pastries, and small barbecue skewers.
At the very front stood an incense burner with three sticks of incense neatly inserted.
As Chen Ping breathed, the red embers at the tips of the incense sticks burned at a noticeably abnormal speed.
As the incense burned down and the ashes fell, the food also underwent a change, becoming cold to the touch.
Keep in mind that this food had been painstakingly delivered by a delivery driver only twenty minutes ago.
Everyone witnessing this had strange expressions on their faces.
Zhang Yue pinched her hand hard, barely managing not to scream.
Even though she had mentally prepared herself, seeing it with her own eyes was still quite a shock.
The Chen Ping before them was a genuine ghost.
A ghost.
A living one!
One that could talk!
A ghost!
Joining the investigation section was worth it for this alone!
Unlike the blue faced, fanged ghosts that frequently appeared in films and literature, Chen Ping could not only communicate normally with people but also retained his consciousness as a human from when he was alive.
To a layman, this might not seem like much.
After all, TV shows were constantly filled with nine tailed foxes, phoenixes, demon gods, and true gods, all with maximum prestige. Seeing a ghost that could speak human words in reality didn’t seem that strange by comparison.
But to Zhao Daxian, everything—including Chen Ping’s existence—was wrong.
He had been apprenticed to Taisu Monastery since he was very young and had always followed Taoist Master Dingyi in his cultivation. Therefore, after the age of eight, Zhao Daxian knew that ghosts really existed in this world.
There were even many things that couldn't be simply explained by stories of gods and ghosts.
Many ghosts, to put it plainly, were similar to a type of magnetic field. Magnetic fields were invisible and intangible, but they could indeed influence reality.
For example, there was once a family where an elder had passed away. The younger generation didn't know better and hadn't handled the funeral rites properly. Within a month, the eldest son and second daughter of the family fell ill one after another, and the grandchildren started talking nonsense as soon as night fell.
His master, Taoist Master Dingyi, took their money to look into the matter. After re burning yellow paper and paper horses to send the troublesome things away, the family’s life returned to normal.
Throughout that process, no one actually saw a ghost with their own eyes. But everyone had a vague feeling that there was some thing in the house.
In reality, if anyone told you their magic was so profound that they could make a ghost manifest its form, they were full of it.
Forget Zhao Daxian; even his master had to rely on external aids to see those things. For instance, willow water, cow tears, or crow eyes.
Willow water was obtained by taking willow branches picked during the ghost month and sealing them in a jar for forty nine days. Cow tears were, as the name suggested, the tears of a cow. Although cows were silent creatures, they understood human nature, and their tears could allow a person to briefly see things that didn't belong to this world.
Of course, there was also a saying that the sect founder’s mount was a large green ox, which was why cow tears had magical power. Crow eyes were even harder to come by; finding them was pure luck. Occasionally, a crow would die in the mountains. One would take the carcass, remove the eyeballs, mash them up, and apply them to the eyes. This could also achieve the effect of Yin Yang eyes, and the duration was relatively long.
Naturally, if one was born with Yin Yang eyes, they didn't have to go through all that trouble.
Because there was a complete difference between a ghost being seen and a ghost being able to be seen by people. Therefore, a ghost that could manifest its form in front of people and reveal its true body was something Zhao Daxian was seeing for the very first time.
No wonder his master insisted he come. In the words of cultivators, this was a great opportunity!
He looked up at He Xiaoyi and happened to lock eyes with the white haired old man. The two cultivators looked away in a silent understanding.
...
...
Compared to the others, Fang Zijiang was much more composed. He held up a recording pen and struck up a conversation with Chen Ping with a smile.
“How are you feeling today? These are newly replaced incense sticks; the ratio of spices inside has been adjusted. How is the sense of satiety? Does your body have any other special reactions? Do we need to do a strength test? I see you’re free this afternoon. Why don't you come to our inspection group and cooperate with an experiment?”
No matter how many times he saw it, he found it miraculous. Beyond the known fields of science, there actually existed another, higher dimensional and more mysterious type of creature.
Fang Zijiang’s features were very ordinary, but when he smiled, he gave off the inexplicable vibe of the Big Bad Wolf luring Little Red Riding Hood.
“Zijiang,” Qin Yue gave a light cough, and the latter somewhat reluctantly retracted his recording pen.
“I still feel like I can’t get full. These things only let me taste the flavor,” Chen Ping answered the questions honestly and methodically.
“That kind of hunger... it feels like I just finished watching a mukbang. Even if a table full of delicious food is placed in front of me, I always feel like I haven’t actually eaten it into my stomach.”
He rubbed his belly, a look of worry creeping onto his face. “When I used to read ghost stories, I always heard people say how miserable it is to be a ghost—not having enough to eat or wear. Now I know it really is that way. No matter how much I eat, I never feel full.”
“Right, we’re all colleagues now. My name is Chen Ping, the Information Group Leader. Please look after me in the future, look after me.”
The group exchanged names with Chen Ping in the dim light of the reception room, except for He Xiaoyi, who stood there somewhat awkwardly.
Why, you ask?
Was this a joke? If he had known back then that Chen Ping would be eating from the official bowl, he never would have accepted that company’s commission! At the time, he was scattering rice and whipping him with willow branches... Even if Chen Ping didn't hold a grudge, he couldn't show his old face here.
Rate on N.U.
