Without any hesitation.
Qin Yue tapped her earpiece and stared at the glass, her voice cold. “Don't panic. Continue with the first operational plan.”
“Copy that!”
“Copy that!”
Following the responses, the broadcast system at the top of the office was turned on, and Qin Yue’s powerful, resonant voice rang out:
“Comrade Chen Ping, hello. I am Qin Yue, Captain of the Qianli City criminal investigation detachment and the leader of the Hongxing Mansion special task force.
Please believe us, we have no ill intent. We simply wish to communicate and negotiate.”
Behind the blast-proof glass, it remained silent.
Qin Yue certainly did not expect to persuade the other party with just a few words.
At her signal, someone released a remote-controlled drone carrying documents, which landed precisely on the floor.
“Comrade Chen Ping, after an investigation, we have found significant suspicious points in your case.
The organization has located the third-party agency that produced the original inspection report. At the same time, we have questioned the property company personnel and the person in charge of the game company to restore the truth of the case.
I can guess a bit of what your demands are, but please believe me—believe the state—we will definitely give you an explanation.”
The computers placed in the office suddenly turned on by themselves. The screens flickered at an extremely fast speed, as if signaling something.
It was working.
Qin Yue’s eyes lit up as she continued to increase the stakes:
“I know you have been trapped here, and you must really want to know the current situation of your family.
So, can we temporarily trust each other and have a brief chat?”
On a computer, a document was opened. The keyboard tapped nimbly, slowly typing out a few lines of text:
【Okay】
【But first I want to know how my wife and daughter are now】
It worked! Communication was possible!!
In the backup operations room, many people hugged each other tightly and exchanged fist bumps.
This news was immediately sent to the superiors. In just two or three seconds, Qin Yue received an immediate reply:
Agree to it. Or rather, agree to him.
Qin Yue glanced at the documents handed over by the person beside her, which were filled with carefully listed questions prepared after deliberation.
“Comrade Chen Ping, your wife is currently working in sales for a cosmetics company. She is in good health and has no difficulties in her life.
Your daughter, Chen Xi, just started her first year of junior high this year. she is a very diligent student and was admitted to the local No. 3 Middle School.
At the same time, she is an outstanding member of the Young Pioneers and a candidate for the Communist Youth League. Many people like her.”
Qin Yue answered warmly, trying her best to make her voice sound amiable.
Then, according to the priority of the questions, she asked the first one:
“Comrade Chen Ping, you have suffered. How do you feel right now?”
A string of garbled code appeared on the keyboard.
What did this mean?
Qin Yue furrowed her brows.
...
...
【,/@＃-:-/ʌ＃@@＃;｛-】
A simple greeting almost made Chen Ping’s tears flow.
—Of course, that was if he still had tears.
Since he had become a ghost, no one had cared about him.
His motherland had not given up on him!
Not only did they not come to exorcise him immediately, but they even cared about whether he was doing well!
Chen Ping wanted nothing more than to howl a few times to vent his inner excitement.
In his excitement, his severed arm rolled across the keyboard, producing a line of garbled code.
Chen Ping wiped away his non-existent tears and continued to type:
【I get hungry easily, I'm cold, I can never eat my fill, and I often lose my reason.】
【I used to like crushing sparrows and bugs, wanting to see blood.】
【But that was all in the past. I am much better now.】
【I promise, I haven't killed anyone. At most, I just taught a foul-mouthed young man a lesson.】
In the past?
Qin Yue keenly noticed the loophole in Chen Ping’s words and immediately threw out a new question:
“Did some change occur within you? Can you tell me, during your time staying in this mansion, have you encountered any other... of your kind?”
Was this something he could say?
Chen Ping hesitated for a moment, but then he thought about it. The female ghost who had helped him before hadn't said anything about not letting him tell others.
Besides, given his current physical condition, honestly clinging to the state's leg was the only way out.
Maybe he could even earn some merit. He didn't ask to improve his own situation, only that the officials would take more care of his wife and daughter.
Thinking this, Chen Ping immediately confessed everything he knew, like beans pouring out of a bamboo tube:
【There are very few ghosts in the mansion. Most of it is shapeless Yin energy that dissipates when exposed to the sun.】
【As for ghosts, I have met two.】
【One is called Old Ghost. It died earlier than I did and knows a lot more. It can follow people and move around freely, going wherever it wants.】
【It told me that there is no such thing as the Underworld. When people die, they just die. Some turn into Yin energy, some just dissipate. Only a very few become ghosts.】
【Ghosts don't really have friendships with each other. Greater Ghosts eat little ghosts, and little ghosts eat Yin energy, just like big fish eating small fish.】
【The other one...】
【The other one...】
At this point, the text on the screen stopped.
The researchers who were frantically recording let out a soft sound of surprise and looked up in confusion.
Clearly, they didn't understand why Chen Ping had stopped typing midway.
Did the connection drop?
Qin Yue looked at He Xiaoyi, who shook his head at her. “The Yin energy hasn't dissipated. Chen Ping is still in the room.”
Qin Yue nodded. She did not rush Chen Ping but waited with bated breath.
It seemed the other ghost Chen Ping mentioned was very likely the female ghost in ancient clothing who had been captured on camera.
That was the fierce, malevolent, and difficult-to-deal-with ghost that Taoist Master Dingyi had spoken of.
So it was natural for Chen Ping to have reservations.
She could wait.
Fortunately, after a ten-minute pause, the keyboard began to dance lightly again:
【The other one is a particularly fierce, particularly fierce, particularly fierce Greater Ghost.
The murderous aura and resentful energy on her are so thick they could practically drown this entire office.】
【I don't know what her name is, but she didn't eat me.
Instead, she used yellow paper and candles to lead the way for me, telling me to come to the twenty-seventh floor to make a scene and reclaim justice.】
【She didn't say why she was helping me. She only told me not to harm people and said she wanted to see if any soul reapers would come to take me away after my wish was fulfilled.】
Why did this Greater Ghost do that?
Did she not treat Chen Ping as food?
Or was the earlier hypothesis correct—that Greater Ghosts could also be communicated with?
Qin Yue’s brow twitched.
“Record everything. Ideally, don't miss a single word,” she whispered to the recorder beside her, then continued to ask:
“Do you have a way to leave this mansion?”
【Tried it, no way. As soon as I reached the ground floor, I was bounced back.】
“Can you pass through walls? To what extent?”
【I don't know about other people's walls, but I can pass through walls inside the mansion, no matter how thick they are.】
【Old Ghost said that ghosts can pass through some people's walls but not others. It might have something to do with Door Gods.】
“How did you move those chairs?”
【You've seen Star Wars, right? Telekinesis? Anyway, I just thought about it and I could do it.】
【Before, my power wasn't enough. At most, I could only pop a lightbulb or turn on the air conditioner, but since that time, I seem to have become stronger.】
“Can you still contact that Greater Ghost who helped you?”
【Don't know. She didn't say how to contact her.】
“Do murderous aura and resentful energy have physical forms? Can they be monitored with instruments?”
【Don't know.】
One asked, one answered.
The recorder wrote rapidly. Everyone was intensely focused, wishing this moment could last forever.
—Everyone understood that this was destined to be a conversation of landmark significance.
From now on, everyone here would leave a profound mark on history.
Rate on N.U.
