The Second Ghost

Another unnatural death occurred in the old district; the victim was suspected of being involved in an anomalous event.

Yu Duanhong took the initiative to accept the task of handling this case.

The duty dispatcher was somewhat surprised. "Xiao Yu, don't you still have screening tasks on your hands?"

"It's on the way," Yu Duanhong said, his voice flat. "I'm familiar with the old district."

He wasn't telling the truth.

The real reason was that he had encountered that long-haired man again.

While dozing off during his lunch break, he saw the man standing on that pitch-black water.

"You want to delay the recovery? There is indeed a way."

Yu Duanhong held his breath.

"Find another ghost and let the two ghosts counteract each other within your body."

"Where is there a second ghost? I've looked through so much data and haven't found a single ghost of this type."

"There's another one over in the old district. It's at..."

At this moment, Yu Duanhong sat in an official vehicle headed for the old district.

The car belonged to the Bureau. The soundproofing was mediocre, allowing the noise of the streets outside to filter in clearly.

The closer they drove to the old district, the more chaotic the scenery became.

The main roads could still maintain basic order, but the scene changed once they turned into the secondary streets.

There were twice as many piles of trash as usual, and more people, most of whom had numb, anxious expressions.

They were all refugees who had fled from Hu City.

Forging City was not a small city; it could briefly accommodate a large population.

But the problem was that these people weren't tourists.

There were no signs of the anomalies in Hu City and its surrounding areas abating; instead, they were spreading. Now that these people were here, they likely wouldn't be leaving for a long time.

This meant that housing, jobs, healthcare, and education resources all had to be redistributed.

Conflicts occurred every day. Local residents complained about the deteriorating environment and worsening public order.

Some refugees had nowhere to stay and couldn't receive timely aid.

Even more troublesome were those with potential mutation risks.

They had been contaminated and quietly seeped into Forging City along with the refugees. By the time their symptoms manifested, it often resulted in tragedy.

As a Bureau insider, Yu Duanhong could clearly feel the daily tightening of pressure.

Anomalous incidents were skyrocketing, and they were forever shorthanded. During occasional assignments, he would hear senior investigators conversing in low voices, saying that the higher-ups were discussing new policies for the refugees, and that they would surely be properly resettled.

The official vehicle got stuck at an intersection.

Two private cars in front had a fender bender. The owners got out to curse at each other's families while a cacophony of horns blared behind them.

Yu Duanhong closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

He could feel that he only had a couple of days left; the Knocking Ghost inside him would completely kill him.

Time was running out.

Ten minutes later, traffic finally began to move.

The car turned into an alley and stopped at the location of Old Chen's grocery store.

Cordon tape had already been set up. Yu Duanhong showed his ID and ducked under the tape.

A stench of death permeated the alley.

Yu Duanhong's brow furrowed slightly; this stench didn't seem like something a freshly dead body could emit.

At the entrance of the grocery store, Old Chen's body had already been covered with a white cloth, but the outline was still visible. Next to it, a humanoid shape had been drawn on the ground with chalk.

The first forensic doctor on the scene was a young man named Xiao Wu. Upon seeing Yu Duanhong, he said solemnly, "This case is a bit weird. It's not like those previous mutants parasitized by plants."

"How so?"

Xiao Wu lowered his voice. "The surface of the corpse is uninjured, but it's highly decomposed, as if it's been dead for a long time."

He pointed inside the grocery store. "Take a look inside."

Yu Duanhong stepped over the threshold.

It was dark inside the shop, and the shelves were crowded. Everything seemed normal, except...

All the reflective surfaces.

The glass counters, the stainless steel, and anything else that could reflect an image—wherever a silhouette could be mirrored, the surfaces were dirty, looking like marks left behind after being wiped with a filthy rag.

And at the very back of the shop, on the wall behind the counter, hung an old-fashioned round mirror.

On the ground beneath the mirror lay a pile of old bedsheets.

Yu Duanhong stared at the mirror.

He could feel the Knocking Ghost inside him suddenly stir.

"Is the mirror the key?"

Yu Duanhong walked up to the counter and leaned in close.

The mirror reflected his own face; his eye sockets were dark, giving him the appearance of a dead man who had been drained of his vitality.

But in the next instant, he saw the "self" in the reflection slowly curl the corners of its mouth upward.

It wore a stiff, eerie smile.

Yet in reality, Yu Duanhong wasn't smiling.

His eyes lit up.

It was here.

The second ghost was in the mirror!