Chapter 115 Sometimes, He Zhao actually hates a society based on personal connections, even though many things are done according to the rules...

Sometimes, He Zhao really dislikes this kind of society where personal connections matter. Even though many things could be avoided by following the rules and regulations, some people still can't resist the pull of social niceties and will leak information to others behind the scenes. From small things like when a store will open and what promotions it will have, to big things like top schools prematurely revealing their admission guidelines, there are always some violations of the rules and regulations that happen.

This is an example of what happened this time.

Admittedly, it is pitiful for a group of children from poor families to suddenly lose their donations, but isn't the donor whose real information was inexplicably leaked even more pitiful? The staff member who leaked the information is the real culprit in how things have developed to this point.

Without that person, none of the following would have happened.

He Zhao wasn't trying to excuse or whitewash Cui Zhe, but rather that human nature cannot be tested. If Cui Zhe knew nothing, he and Zhang Shuyao would forever remain parallel lines, never intersecting, especially in the face of a serious incident like school bullying.

But once these two parallel lines converge, anything can happen.

Based on his understanding of human nature, He Zhao wasn't entirely baffled as to why Cui Zhe bullied Zhang Shuyao—he always felt the world was too unfair. His parents had died, and he had to collect garbage with his grandmother. Finally, a kind person donated to him, but then suddenly disappeared without a trace. Meanwhile, his daughter was in the next class, and he saw her happy every day.

As time went on, a seed called jealousy sprouted in Choi Cheol's heart.

Why? Why should they withdraw their donations? Why should she still be loved by her parents and carefree?

He Zhao could understand, but he couldn't forgive.

Besides, whether or not he forgives her is none of his business. But He Zhao also knows in his heart that now that things have come to this, it's impossible to keep the fact that Zhang Shuyao and her daughter are tall from him any longer. They've been bullied to this extent, and they don't even know why—how unfair would that be?

Now that things were cleared up, Cui Zhe was no longer of any use. He Zhao looked at Wang Yu and said, "You can manipulate memories, right? Erase everything about him seeing us today."

Wang Yu gave an "OK" sign.

By the time Cui Zhe came to her senses, He Zhao and the other two were long gone. They got back into the car, and as soon as Wang Yu closed the door, she eagerly asked, "What do we do next?"

He Zhao thought for a moment and then asked, "Do you have any people with that kind of talent... like, dream-based techniques?"

Wang Yu glanced back at Qiao Yanyu, then turned to He Zhao and nodded, saying, "Yes, there really is one, and you know her too. It's Li Xia. She's not good at catching ghosts, but she's very skilled at entering dreams. This kind of skill, which is only effective against people, is usually not very useful in the Countermeasures Bureau."

Wang Yu wasn't wrong; it really was useless. Li Xia's family's secret skill was actually quite powerful, but every investigator in the Countermeasures Bureau with any ability had some kind of skill to rely on, especially in defensive magic, and each one of them was more proficient than the last.

Everyone's doing jobs where they're practically risking their lives. If they don't learn some self-defense skills, they could really die on the spot. Especially things like dream manipulation; everyone's very careful about that. Few people know how to do it, but ghosts do a lot of it. Making people dream isn't exactly a ghost's specialty.

So becoming an investigator is no easy feat.

Ghosts don't dream, so Li Xia's trick was basically useless. But now, Wang Yu and Qiao Yanyu both understood that He Zhao wanted Li Xia to enter the dreams of the people Cui Zhe had just mentioned.

"What happens after entering the dream? What do we do then?"

He Zhao laughed when he heard that someone would be there, and the smile looked somewhat sinister: "Of course, let Li Xia go in and have her give those people a performance of 'I died so tragically, and you still treated my wife and daughter like this, I will die with my eyes open, I will make you all die'."

Wang Yu's eyes lit up: "This is good, this is good!"

“We need to keep them having this dream.” Qiao Yanyu, sitting in the back seat, offered her suggestion: “It won’t work if they only have it for one day. They might think it’s a coincidence. Only if they dream about it repeatedly for many days will they start to feel afraid.”

Wang Yu glanced at He Zhao, then at Qiao Yanyu, and instantly felt that compared to this young couple, she was truly kind.

Qiao Yanyu shouldn't be called Yanyu anymore; she should be renamed Yama (King of Hell). However, this plan to do something naughty still excited Wang Yu. Talk is cheap; she'd do it anyway. Wang Yu started the car immediately: "I know where Li Xia is now; let's go find her directly."

Qiao Yanyu hesitated for a moment, not because of finding Li Xia, but because she asked, "He Zhao, aren't you setting up a stall tonight?"

He Zhao waved his hand dismissively: "No, I'll go tomorrow. Missing a day won't matter!"

For He Zhao, missing work wasn't a big deal, but the system and her guests didn't think so. The system screamed in He Zhao's mind: "[You're absent again! Host, this is a bad habit of yours, and you decided to be absent without informing me beforehand. At this rate, I don't even know when you'll be able to pay back all the ghost money you owe me.]"

"Oh, you're so long-winded. We'll pay it back eventually. Besides, I'm doing this for the customers. We're running a stall business, we should always think about our customers, otherwise who will come to our stall to eat?"

The system was confused by He Zhao's words. It subconsciously felt that it couldn't be as He Zhao said, but with its clumsy tongue, it really couldn't come up with any rebuttal.

They drove directly to Li Xia's house. She was on vacation today and was a little surprised when the doorbell rang. She only opened the door and let them in after seeing them on the security camera. After they sat down, Wang Yu, as their representative, explained their purpose, leaving Li Xia somewhat bewildered.

After realizing what the three women meant, Li Xia immediately waved her hand in refusal: "No, no, the director will definitely scold me!"

Previously, He Zhao had been secretly criticizing people who didn't follow the rules, but now she was encouraging Li Xia to break them: "Hey, you're doing this for Zhang Shuyao and her daughter, right? You don't want to see such a good ghost like that tall guy turn into an evil ghost and hurt innocent people because of your stubbornness, do you?"

While inwardly condemning his own double standards, He Zhao also thought: He and that clerk are different; after all, he is a bad person.

She would never use justice to justify herself, because she knew she was doing something wrong, so she could confidently force Li Xia to do as she said. Li Xia, of course, was unwilling, explaining repeatedly, "I can't lay a hand on ordinary people! That's just outrageous!"

But Li Xia's persistence didn't last long when faced with the three of them; she was quickly swayed. She relented slightly: "Well, this is the only time. Don't come to me again next time. If I do this kind of thing too often and the bureau chief finds out, I won't even be able to work as an investigator anymore."

He Zhao and Wang Yu, those two scoundrels, exchanged a glance, both with a wicked glint in their eyes: After the first time, do you think Li Xia will have any say in the future?

"Does Cui Zhe still want to enter the dream?"

"Go ahead, why let him go?"

Because of He Zhao's words, Cui Zhe really didn't sleep well tonight. Of course, entering a dream isn't as simple as just moving your mouth; it requires a lot of preparation, such as the person's personal belongings or even their hair.

He Zhao, Wang Yu, and Li Xia couldn't handle this, and asking for help from relevant personnel at this point would be too slow. But they still had a trump card—Qiao Yanyu. They had the addresses of those people; all they needed to do was get their personal belongings. Qiao Yanyu tossed out some coins, which landed on the ground and transformed into tiny toy soldiers.

Stealing was something Qiao Yanyu couldn't bring herself to do. Although she was unconventional and would do anything to achieve her goals, stealing was too despicable. So, Qiao Yanyu's choice was to pull someone's hair out. Qiao Yanyu closed her eyes, multitasking, controlling the puppet while listening to Wang Yu whisper the address in her ear and giving her directions.

Even with such a useful skill as the action figures, it was already midnight by the time all the hairs were pulled back. The action figures were quite reliable; none of them returned empty-handed, each holding a hair in their hand.

That's enough for Li Xia.

Under Qiao Yanyu's direction, He Zhao and Wang Yu attached a piece of paper to each strand of hair to confirm that each strand corresponded to a specific person. Then, they helped Li Xia carve an array on the ground with a cinnabar pen and wrote corresponding runes on talisman paper, wrapping the names and hairs together.

Li Xia obediently lay down in the center of the formation, letting Qiao Yanyu and Wang Yu help protect her. Actually, Li Xia didn't use this spell much. One reason was the numerous restrictions, and another was that when she entered a dream, her soul left her body, leaving it in a state of disorientation—a fatal attraction for ghosts. They desperately wanted a living body; constantly bound to one place, they could move freely with it. Any ghost would be tempted by that.

Without anyone to protect her, if her body were to be possessed by a powerful ghost again, Li Xia would become a wandering spirit.

Therefore, Li Xia would never normally perform dream-entering spells. It was only because Qiao Yanyu was there this time, and she assured Li Xia that she would take good care of her health, that Li Xia felt at ease. If it were just Wang Yu alone, even if the three of them talked themselves hoarse, Li Xia would never agree.

After Li Xia lay down, she placed her hands in a peculiar gesture in front of her chest and muttered incantations. He Zhao even heard the name "Cui Zhe." Then she closed her eyes. Candles were placed around her, and at that moment, a gust of cold wind blew in from somewhere, causing the candles to flicker.

Qiao Yanyu explained in a low voice, "This candle is Li Xia's guiding light. If the candle goes out, she won't be able to find her way back."

"So that's how it is."

He Zhao exclaimed in admiration that these spells were truly powerful.

Li Xia's soul departed, preparing to enter Cui Zhe's dream.

Speaking of Cui Zhe, when he suddenly came to his senses, he felt something was off, but he couldn't remember anything, so he could only go home. After comforting his grandmother, he did his homework as usual, then washed up and went to bed. He usually slept very soundly, but today, after falling asleep, he kept tossing and turning, even waking up his grandmother.