Gao Ming looked at Li Jun again. Li Jun immediately lifted his chin, signaling for Gao Ming to go up and shake hands.
Wang Xiaoming’s voice rang out at that exact moment as well. “Gao Ming, have you been on annual leave for so long that you’ve forgotten you’re still a person in charge?”
Those words were like a basin of cold water poured over Gao Ming’s head, jolting him awake. That’s right—he was a person in charge. Wang Xiaoming had urgently transferred him back, so it had to be to handle a supernatural incident.
And before his eyes... was an extremely bizarre supernatural incident.
Steadying himself, Gao Ming straightened his somewhat disheveled clothes, then reached out and grasped the hand of the corpse before him.
But something uncanny happened. To the touch, this ghost was completely different from what he saw with his eyes.
A soft, warm sensation came from the hand. He could actually feel the body temperature of a living person from that hand! It was as if he were shaking hands with a normal person, yet what stood before him was clearly a terrifying fierce ghost. This was completely against common sense!
But Gao Ming had already calmed down. He said, “This is truly unbelievable. A ghost controller actually recovered into an ordinary person. If there’s a chance, we should have a proper exchange. You used to be a person in charge as well, so there’s no need to talk about guidance. Let’s look after each other from now on.”
“Enough. Let’s go.”
As Wang Xiaoming walked toward the door, he said,
“Li Jun, stay here and guide Tong Qian together with Qin Meirou. Gao Ming, come with me.”
Without looking back, he left the office. Seeing this, Gao Ming immediately followed. He needed to ask exactly what was going on.
They took the elevator down to the first underground floor. The foundations of the new headquarters had been completely hollowed out; every building led directly to the underground area. It had to be said that when it came to infrastructure, the country truly deserved to be called “maniacal.” Less than a month had passed since the Starving Ghost incident ended, yet this base had already been fully completed, and every metric had far exceeded expectations.
“Professor Wang, what exactly is going on? Why is there a ghost in headquarters?”
Gao Ming still felt lingering fear at this moment. A ghost was actually swaggering in and out of headquarters, and had even been assigned to work as an operator. This was simply inconceivable. More importantly, it had just happened right in front of him.
“You weren’t mistaken.” Wang Xiaoming’s voice was as calm as ever.
“That is a ghost, but at the same time, it is also Tong Qian.”
The two exited the elevator and arrived at Wang Xiaoming’s office.
“I don’t understand what you mean. Are you saying that ghost has been controlled by Tong Qian?”
Wang Xiaoming did not answer him directly. Instead, he took a file from a drawer and handed it to Gao Ming. It contained his analysis report on Yang Jian and Zhang Wei’s resurrection.
Gao Ming took the report and read it carefully. His gaze gradually shifted from surprise to shock. There were actually people in this world who could truly be resurrected through supernatural means.
Wang Xiaoming said, “All supernatural phenomena come with a price. A taboo such as resurrection from the dead is even more unpredictable. The living should have been resurrected inside that mirror, then come out from it.”
At this point, Wang Xiaoming paused, appearing to be thinking. He continued,
“Since people can walk out of that mirror, then can we reasonably suspect... that ghosts can do the same?”
As he spoke, he took out another photograph. It showed an old wooden door that looked eerie and strange.
“This type of incident is not happening for the first time. This door is the best proof. Once, a ghost also ran out from behind a door.”
Gao Ming roughly pieced together the sequence of events. He asked, “According to your conjecture, that thing currently calling itself Tong Qian is the ghost that ran out from the mirror? Then where did the real Tong Qian go?”
“I don’t know.” Wang Xiaoming shook his head.
“Perhaps dead. Perhaps hidden away by Yang Jian. But that doesn’t make sense. Yang Jian would never allow a ghost to run around freely.”
He adjusted his glasses, his brows furrowing slightly without him noticing.
“It’s a lack of information, a lack of intelligence. Reasoning to this point is already the limit of what can be inferred from the information currently available. But the law of that ghost, if my guess is correct... should be imitation.”
“Imitation?” Gao Ming was stunned.
“That’s right.”
“It is imitating Tong Qian. Whether memories, behavior, or even subconscious reactions, it has imitated them perfectly. At least, I can’t see through it. That’s why I called you back—to confirm my final conjecture.”
“What if that ghost loses control...”
Gao Ming trailed off, not daring to continue. The matter of Zhao Jianguo’s memories being altered by the Newspaper Ghost was still vivid in his mind.
Wang Xiaoming saw Gao Ming’s concern and said,
“There is no need to worry too much for the time being. Based on current observations, that ghost’s imitation is too perfect—so perfect that even it itself has not realized that it is a ghost. It believes it is Tong Qian. As long as we do not take the initiative to expose it, it will continue existing as Tong Qian.”
At this point, a hint of madness appeared in Wang Xiaoming’s eyes, making him look somewhat frightening.
“We can even take advantage of this and attempt things that have never been done before. Perhaps it will yield miraculous results. The supernatural has always been like this. One must put oneself in danger to explore its essence.”
Gao Ming listened from the side, dumbfounded and unable to speak for a moment.
From what Wang Xiaoming meant, he intended to have that ghost stationed permanently at headquarters, observed and recorded by him in the capacity of an operator, and then search from that for another path to exploring the supernatural.
But this plan was simply too inconceivable: using the ghost’s own rules to deceive it, making it continue living as Tong Qian. It could even be said that this was gambling the entire headquarters against an unknown outcome.
But this was very Wang Xiaoming. He had always done things this way—seeking life only after placing himself in a dead end.
However, Gao Ming also knew that in supernatural incidents, one hundred percent safety had never existed. Danger and reward coexisted. As long as the plan was appropriate, perhaps they really could accomplish something unbelievable.
“But before that, I still need to confirm one thing with Yang Jian.”
Wang Xiaoming took out another red-letterhead document, signed his name, stamped it, and handed it to Gao Ming.
“Gao Ming, from now on, you will stay at headquarters and monitor Tong Qian. You are not allowed to go anywhere. Your vacation for the entire year is canceled. Your salary will be doubled.”
“Are you kidding me?!”
“This is an order.”
Holding the transfer order, Gao Ming trudged out of Wang Xiaoming’s office in despair. From those pitch-black eye sockets, one could even see a trace of utter hopelessness.
This was the resentment of a beast of burden. He was a person in charge famous for working nine to five, taking weekends off, and resting on holidays. In his view, work was work, and life was life. He would never give up his life because of work.
But now Wang Xiaoming wanted him to monitor a person all year round without rest—no, to monitor a ghost. That was no different from killing him.
He let out a weak, drawn-out sigh. “If I’d known this would happen, I might as well have died in Dajing City back then.”