61 061 (Updated 7.16)

◎True and false friends◎

Jiang Chuxu raised an eyebrow. Female ghost book? She had heard of ghost books before, but this was the first time she had heard of a female ghost book.

Yue Jianhua didn't seem to mind the lack of a response. She continued, "Legend has it that this book is made of the skin of a cursed woman, and the words are written in her blood. It's said she was wrongfully murdered, and her soul is sealed within the book, forever unable to escape."

"My name is Tian Shi. My family has a book about female ghosts. This book was passed down from my ancestors who I don't know how many generations ago, so our family has been cursed."

Tian Shi on the screen looked to be only in his teens, his face was a little pale, but his eyes were calm, even with a hint of relief.

Behind her was a room with ordinary furnishings but an old-fashioned feel and dim lighting.

After hearing what she said, the barrage of comments instantly became chaotic.

Human skin?

[Female Ghost Book? This name sounds eerie.]

[No, what is the purpose of making this thing? ]

【Why not burn it? 】

【Can’t lose it?】

Tian Shi recalled the family curse he had heard about.

There was a famine at that time. One day, the ancestor brought back a strange book. The cover was dark brown with an unusual texture, and it felt like old leather. The writing on the inside pages was a solidified dark red, emitting a faint smell of rust.

It is said that this book can make wishes come true, so the ancestor made a wish for food, and it is said that it really came true. Later, her family also relied on this book to get promoted and make money.

But the curse also came true. Almost no one in her family could live past the age of fifty. They did not die of illness, but were killed by ghosts. Every time the scene seemed particularly bloody.

Tian Shi smiled bitterly: "I heard from the older generation that the woman sealed in the book seems to be called Wu Jinwan."

"My dad didn't believe it. He said it was feudal dregs. About two years ago, he took the book to the backyard at night, doused it with gasoline, and tried to burn it."

When she said this, Tian Shi shuddered, obviously very scared, and her pupils dilated with fear.

"I wasn't actually asleep that day. I...saw everything."

In the firelight, the book was safe and sound. Instead, a pale hand stretched out from the book and dragged her father into the burning flames, leaving no trace of his body.

The mother also witnessed all this. Her spirit completely collapsed and she passed away in endless fear and auditory hallucinations.

Oh my god, that's too bad.

[The main thing is that this is the sin of her ancestors, why should the descendants pay for it?]

[Cannot be burned with fire yet]

[I guess someone has tried to throw away this book before, but failed]

When Tian Shi saw the barrage, she twitched the corners of her mouth, as if she wanted to smile, but failed.

She felt very different today. She could clearly feel that she was being watched by something. Normally, most people died at the age of 47 or 48, and at least 41 or 42 at the earliest.

She is only 17 this year.

But she just felt that it was today. The curse must have expired. The book had woken up, and her was the target.

As if to confirm something, she trembled and turned the camera to the desk next to her.

A book lay there quietly. There was no wind, but the edges of the pages were trembling very slightly.

The camera moved in closer, and the texture of the cover was uncomfortable, covered with dense dark red handwriting. These words were not static, but like tiny living things, slowly wriggling on the leather pages.

Tian Shi's hands were shaking so badly that she could hardly hold the phone. She didn't pick up the book or open it. The doors and windows were closed, but the book opened by itself without any wind.

On the page that was opened, two characters with twisted but extremely glaring strokes clearly emerged from the originally chaotic dark red handwriting.

"Field time".

Tian Shi felt as if he was stabbed by a thorn. He screamed and took a few steps back. His mobile phone flew out of his hand and hit the ground. The live broadcast screen spun around and finally froze in a corner of the concrete floor.

After a few seconds of dead silence, a trembling hand reached into the picture and groped for the phone.

The phone was raised again, and Tian Shi's face appeared on the screen again. Her face was pale, her lips were bloodless, her forehead was covered with sweat, her eyes were dull, and the huge fear almost swallowed her.

She didn't even dare to glance towards the desk again, but just stared at the screen of her mobile phone.

"Anchor, she really has her eyes on me, she's right there." She didn't dare to say the specific location, but her eyes quickly glanced towards the desk in fear and then retracted.

Although Tian Shi had known this was her fate a long time ago, when it really came to this, she simply could not remain calm. She did not plan to get married or fall in love because she did not want this curse to continue.

But she was worried that the book would find someone else after she died.

Just then, without warning, the old-fashioned incandescent light bulb hanging in the center of the room's ceiling began to flicker.

Zila, Zila.

The harsh and short sound of electric current accompanied by the flickering lights made people feel like their heart was stopping every time darkness fell, and every time light came on, people were frightened.

The whole picture seemed to be skipping frames, and words seemed to be constantly emerging from the book.

The lights flickered wildly one last time, then snapped and went out completely.

Not only the lights were extinguished, but also the light from the mobile phone screen. Tian Shi felt that she could not even hear her own breathing.

"Anchor? Anchor, I can't see you!" Her voice sounded with tears in her eyes. She held the phone tightly in her hand. Although she couldn't see the picture, she could hear the anchor's voice.

So she was pretty sure there was nothing wrong with her phone, she just couldn't see it right now.

"Hold the phone steady, don't panic, you'll be fine." Jiang Chuxu comforted while observing the situation over there.

In the live broadcast, there was nothing wrong with the light on Tian Shi's side, only a constant stream of negative energy seeping out from the female ghost book.

[Ah? We can see it.]

The light is on.

So there's nothing wrong with the lights or the phone, so is there something wrong with the girl's eyes?

[Could it be something like a ghost covering his eyes?]

Tian Shi gritted his teeth, tears kept flowing out, and he couldn't control them at all.

She groped her way to the door, as she knew the layout of her home very well.

Everything went smoothly at the beginning, except for bumping into chairs and tables twice.

Hope surged in Tian Shi's heart, and she continued to grope forward.

But her hand seemed to suddenly touch something that did not belong in the room.

It’s icy cold, like a human calf.

Tian Shi was so frightened that she couldn't breathe, and she groped down a little.

It's shoes.

It looks a bit like cloth shoes, and Tian Shi can't explain it clearly.

At this time, she was already very sure that there was a person standing in front of her, or rather, it was not a person at all, but the female ghost in the female ghost book.

She suddenly pulled her hand back, trying to control herself and swallowing back the scream that was rising in her throat.

She didn't dare to speak and could only turn her face to the screen, gripping the phone even tighter.

Tian Shi turned his wrist and placed the phone flat, and the face of the female ghost appeared on the screen.

She couldn't see it, but the audience in the live broadcast room saw it clearly.

In the picture, right in front of Tian Shi, a figure stood quietly. The figure was wearing a tattered ancient wedding dress, with long hair covering most of the face, leaving only a pointed and pale chin.

Tian Shi moved the camera again, and this time he saw the lower body of the ghost in front of him. On her feet were a pair of red embroidered shoes stained with mud, and it was these shoes that Tian Shi had touched just now.

The most creepy thing was that the female ghost bent down slightly, and one of her hands hanging by her side was slowly raised. Her skinny and pale fingers, with sharp black nails, were silently reaching towards Tian Shi's neck.

[Oh my god, it’s at my neck!]

[This nail makes my neck cold]

[It’s still terrible to have ghosts covering your eyes. You can’t see the ghost even when it’s right in front of you.]

[Save, save, save]

Although Tian Shi couldn't see the screen, she could feel the chill approaching, and a few seconds later, a pair of hands grabbed her neck.

Tian Shi's whole body stiffened, even his breathing stopped for a moment, his mind went blank, with only one thought left: it's over.

Just before the black nails were about to pierce the skin.

"Meow!" Xiao Hei took action.

A woman's scream, so shrill and distorted that it was heard in Tian Shi's ears, was sharp and piercing, full of pain and shock and anger.

At the same time, Tian Shi felt that the thick darkness in front of her eyes shattered, and gradually she could see a little light. The dim light in the room was like sunlight breaking through dark clouds and instantly pierced her pupils.

Vision restored!

Tian Shi squinted his eyes due to the sudden light, and then his eyes suddenly widened.

The first thing she saw was the withered ghost hand less than an inch away from her neck. The black nails seemed to emit a heart-pounding cold light under the light.

The owner of this hand, the female ghost in a tattered wedding dress, was hit hard by an invisible force at this moment, and her whole body flew backwards.

Bang!

She slammed heavily against the edge of the desk, making a dull thud. She struggled to get up, but her body seemed to be bound by invisible chains. The negative energy in her body surged, but she could not break free from Xiao Hei's suppression.

Jiang Chuxu stroked Xiao Hei's fur. After being here for more than half a month, Xiao Hei seemed to have become stronger, but it was also a good thing.

Tian Shi was so scared that she stepped back repeatedly until she hit the cold wall and regained some strength. She was gasping for breath and her heart seemed to be jumping out.

She subconsciously looked at the screen of her mobile phone. In the picture, Jiang Chuxu's expression and posture did not change much, but Xiao Hei changed from lying down to standing. The female ghost who almost took her life was nailed to the desk in a miserable state.

Tian Shi, who had survived the ordeal, was shaking with tears streaming down his face. "Thank you, host, and thank you, Xiao Hei."

Jiang Chuxu's gaze passed through the screen and fell on the ghost in front of the desk. She asked, "Now tell me about your story."

The female ghost suddenly raised her head, and her face, hidden by her long hair, seemed to be looking towards the screen. Her eyes hidden behind her hair were now filled with pain and despair.

"What?" The ghost girl's voice was hoarse and unpleasant. "How I was skinned alive, how my skin was made into this damn book? How my blood was used to write those vicious curses?!"

Her voice suddenly rose, tinged with madness. "Or... that I was sealed in this book for hundreds of years, watching those greedy people exploit my suffering in exchange for their own wealth, and then watched them and their descendants being dragged into hell by my curse?"

Her accusations constantly washed over the nerves of the audience in front of the screen and Tian Shi.

[No, I get scared when I hear about skinning alive]

[Alas, it's still terrifying to hear the victims talk about making books out of human skin and writing with blood.]

This curse is too cruel.

[But this must also be blamed on the girl's ancestors. They believed in these things, and ended up leaving their descendants with nothing to enjoy. They must have suffered 100% of the consequences.]

[The previous one, you posted too long and it flooded the screen]

[Although it was tragic, she did harm many people, including innocent people]

Jiang Chuxu already understood that the female ghost book was actually the ghost book, but the production method was slightly different.

The ghost hated the person who peeled off her skin, hated the greedy people who took advantage of her, and hated the book that bound her. However, this hatred, along with her resentment, became the source of power for the book, and also became the shackles that she could not break free from.

Jiang Chuxu thought so and said so.

The ghost girl's body trembled violently, as if the deepest pain point was stabbed.

"You think I want to?!"

She roared, her voice full of powerlessness and struggle.

"Every time, every time someone made a wish, every time a curse came true, I watched them awake, watched them fear, watched them die, and I could feel their pain.

But I can't control it. This book pushes me, forces me to fulfill those curses, to reap those lives. I'm like a prisoner tied to a wheel, watching it run over everyone, including myself!

She curled up in pain, and even though the cry from the depths of her soul was suppressed, it was still clearly audible.

Wu Jinwan also wanted to stop. She tried countless times, but she couldn't do it. Every resistance seemed to only make the seal tighter, making the power of the curse backfire more severely.

"Liberation? Haha... I want to be liberated too, even in my dreams."

Wu Jinwan sneered. She couldn't destroy the book herself, and as long as she was there, no one else could destroy it. But if the book wasn't destroyed, her resentment wouldn't go away, and she would be trapped in this hell forever, repeating the damn cycle forever.

If Tian Shi dies, the next person who picks up the book will be the next sacrifice, and the cycle will continue endlessly.

As Tian Shi listened, he felt his hands and feet go cold. It seemed that the only person he could blame was the person who created this book.

"So, the root of the problem lies in this book and your resentment." Jiang Chuxu concluded, "If I send you into reincarnation, the resentment will naturally dissipate, and the book will be destroyed."

Wu Jinwan raised her head, a glint of disbelief flashing in her eyes, but then she was overwhelmed by deeper pain and doubt. "Reincarnation? I've harmed so many people, and my hands are stained with blood. How could the underworld tolerate me? I'm afraid the punishment that awaits me is even more terrible than what's in this book."

Her voice trailed off, filled with deep fear and resignation.

"That's what you deserve." Jiang Chuxu's voice was cold as he stated the facts calmly. "Whether forced or not, killing someone is a matter of course, and the laws of the underworld will determine that. But staying here, forever without reincarnation, and continuing to be driven to harm others, is that the safety you desire?"

Wu Jinwan fell silent. Hundreds of years of pain and resentment, hundreds of years of helplessness, seemed to have reached a peak at this moment. Staying here would mean endless torture and the accumulation of sins. Going to reincarnation would be an unknown judgment and punishment that might end it all.

No matter how severe the punishment is, it is better than eternal damnation.

"I," her voice was dry and filled with a kind of dust-settled fatigue, "I've had enough."

Jiang Chuxu nodded, and she looked at Tian Shi again. Tian Shi's parents and some of the people before were all innocent victims, so whether or not to let Wu Jinwan reincarnate depends on Tian Shi's opinion.

"What do you think?"

Tian Shi was silent. She was also very confused now. Finally, she looked at the portraits of her parents not far away. The smiles on their faces were gentle.

"Forget it, I'll just pray for my parents. I hope they can be well in their next life and not suffer the punishment of dying at any time."

Then she turned to Wu Jinwan and said, "To be honest, I hate you, but I also know that this is not your intention. Besides, I really hope that my parents can be happy. Maybe it is enough for you to go to hell and receive your punishment."

This ghost has become what it is today because of hatred. Tian Shi doesn't dare to imagine what she would become if she also harbored hatred.

"Okay." Jiang Chuxu nodded, and then shared some of the merits with Tian Shi. Those merits will also be passed on to her parents through Tian Shi, which can be regarded as fulfilling Tian Shi's dream.

If you have some merits, you will definitely be happy in your next life.

A gentle force instantly penetrated the distance of space and descended into Tian Shi's room. This force was not a violent expulsion, but more like a silent guidance.

The negative energy in Wu Jinwan's body quickly dissipated like the tide, and her body became lighter.

Her figure became increasingly faint, and her originally peeled face gradually recovered, revealing her original face.

In the last moment before it completely dissipated, Wu Jinwan wanted to look back at the book that had bound her for hundreds of years, but she didn't.

Her gaze finally fell on Tian Shi, and her lips moved slightly: "I'm sorry, and thank you."

Tian Shi didn't look at Wu Jinwan, but just lowered his head.

The suffocating pressure and biting coldness in the room quickly dissipated with Wu Jinwan's disappearance, leaving only the book on the table.

"She's gone?" Tian Shi murmured, his voice as light as a feather.

"Well, let's go." Jiang Chuxu's voice brought her back to reality.

Only then did Tian Shi raise his head.

【it's over】

[My mood is complicated. This female ghost is also a pitiful person.]

[But those who were killed by her were more innocent]

I hope she can be born into a good family in her next life.

What should I do with this book? It's so scary just looking at it.

"Anchor, this book..." Tian Shi still felt a lingering fear as he looked at the quiet book.

Jiang Chuxu hesitated for a moment, then said, "It's not good for ordinary people to be exposed to this book for a long time. I'll let my colleagues deal with it."

As she spoke, her fingers moved quickly on the phone screen, apparently sending a message to a colleague in the special department.

"They'll contact you and arrive in about half an hour. Find a place to sit and wait. Just stay away from the book. It's not in danger now."

Tian Shi nodded repeatedly and bowed deeply to the screen. She couldn't control her tears again. This time, she felt more relieved after having unloaded a huge burden. The curse that had been weighing on her was finally gone. Maybe her parents could rest assured too.

Jiang Chuxu said nothing more and cut off the connection.

The live broadcast screen returned to her calm face and Xiao Hei who was already napping on her lap.

Jiang Chuxu glanced at the time and saw that he was almost home.

"That's it for today, I'm ending." She said simply to the camera, and without paying attention to the comments trying to keep her, she simply turned off the live broadcast.

The car fell silent, and the colleague in front of me said, "This female ghost book sounds really scary."

"That's usually the case with curses like this, and the way it's crafted makes it only cause more damage than normal."

Jiang Chuxu suddenly thought that the inspiration for the K organization's Buddha amulets might be similar to these cursed items?

The car became quiet, giving Jiang Chuxu time to think.

When he arrived downstairs of her house, Jiang Chuxu finally realized how the K organization's Buddha amulets were similar to their method of transforming ghosts.

It was a bit like an extremely sinister ancient sorcery she had heard of before, which involved "using soul-feeding devices to transfer sins", but it was a castrated version and not as powerful.

Knowing what it was, Jiang Chuxu also understood the possible weaknesses of the K organization.

She got out of the car, feeling a little tired today.

"Go to sleep." She patted Xiao Hei's head, and Xiao Hei meowed lazily in response.

At the same time, colleagues from the special department also arrived at Tian Shi's house.

The doorbell rang. Tian Shi took a deep breath, wiped his face roughly, plucked up the courage to walk to the door, and looked out cautiously through the peephole.

A man and a woman were standing outside the door, their expressions serious. One of them was holding a dark-colored document in front of the cat's eyes.

She unlocked the door with trembling hands.

"Ms. Tian Shi?" The leading man spoke in a low, businesslike voice. "We are from the Special Incidents Department, and we are here to deal with the remains."

Tian Shi nodded, stepped aside, pointed in the direction of the desk, and said in a hoarse voice: "Over there."

The two men strode into the room, scanning the surroundings with sharp eyes, and finally locked onto the "Female Ghost Book".

They were obviously well-trained and did not touch the book rashly. One of them quickly took out a tool similar to large tweezers from the box she was carrying, carefully picked up the book, and placed it in a silver-lined groove in the box.

When the lid was closed, there was a slight sound of the lock closing.

"The target object has been contained."

The other person reported quietly into the micro-communicator on his collar, then turned to Tian Shi and said, "Ms. Tian, if you experience any discomfort or abnormalities later, please feel free to contact us through this number."

He handed over a card with a special code and phone number printed on it.

Tian Shi took the card. She looked at the box containing the female ghost book and couldn't help asking, "What will happen to it?"

"Follow the procedures and completely destroy them," the containment officer said succinctly. "Comrade Jiang specifically instructed how to handle them."

Tian Shi breathed a sigh of relief and bowed deeply to the two of them: "Thank you, thank you for your trouble."

The two nodded, without any extra words, and left quickly with the boxes.

Tian Shi stared at the table, a trace of confusion flashed in her eyes, and the last nightmare completely disappeared. Will she be able to live like a normal person from now on?

…

Jiang Chuxu remained silent all night.

At eight o'clock the next morning, Jiang Chuxu's cell phone on the bedside table began to vibrate.

It was the alarm clock she set that rang.

After she turned off the alarm, she saw the message sent by Ding Yucheng at 6:30.

[Ding Yucheng]: Comrade Jiang, there has been significant progress in Huaishu Village. The shrimps we caught had very hard mouths, but they pried open something and pulled out a few small fish in the area. When you wake up, can we hold an online meeting to update you on the situation?

【Ding Yucheng】: software installation package.apk

There is also a message with a link to the meeting.

After seeing these messages, Jiang Chuxu instantly became much more sober and replied with an "OK".

Soon, Ding Yucheng sent another message: [The installation package is our newly developed internal software. It is safe to use it to participate in the meeting].

Jiang Chuxu downloaded the installation package.

The software icon is very simple, just a black shield. After installation, open it, the interface is also simple and clear, a bit like the forum layout for sending task details before. The top is the notification bar, and below it are several partitions: Task Hall, Internal Communication, Database, Meeting

She clicked on the [Meeting] module and pasted the link sent by Ding Yucheng into it.

The screen flashed, and instantly split into several real-time monitoring screens. Each screen was numbered, clearly showing the scenes in different interrogation rooms.

Ding Yucheng's clear voice came from the headset: "Comrade Jiang, can you hear me? Can you see the image?"

"Okay." Jiang Chuxu responded, his eyes quickly scanning the split screens.

The first picture shows a young man with dyed yellow hair and sloppy clothes. He has a panicked look and sweat on his forehead, and he is making incoherent excuses to the interrogator.

"I, I'm just a paid worker. They contacted me and asked me to go to Huaishu Village to do some work. I heard it was a simple job and there was 10,000 yuan. How would I know what it was for? It's none of my business, officer!"

The second picture shows a middle-aged man wearing a cheap suit and glasses. He appears slightly calmer, but his clenched fists and slightly trembling lips reveal his nervousness.

His voice was thick with a local accent. "I just occasionally follow instructions and pretend to be a master to give something to some people. The contact is always a single line, and the instructions are different every time... I really don't know anything else!"

The third picture shows a dark-skinned man who looks honest, but his eyes reveal a fierce and stubborn look. No matter what the interrogator asks, he keeps his mouth tightly shut and says nothing, only occasionally glancing at the interrogator with resentment.

Picture four shows a middle-aged fat man crying with tears and snot.

"I said, I always said, it was 'Viper'! A guy codenamed 'Viper' contacted me. He would occasionally give me an address and ask me to go there to put something or take something away. I was just a middleman, trying to make a living. I had no idea those things were so scary."

Ding Yucheng's voice sounded at the right time: "Combined with the current confessions, we can basically determine how the K organization operates. And the Huaishu Village attack was carried out by the small remaining forces of the K organization in the country.

The purpose is to use the powerful local vengeful spirits and the "cement ghost" that was abandoned after their failed transformation as traps and weapons to try to ambush you.

Most of those inside the country are small fry, and the core members are extremely cautious, operating remotely from outside the country, using one-off commands that are difficult to trace.

The incident in Huaishu Village was probably done by the man code-named "Viper", who was also the highest-level contact person for this operation. However, based on the descriptions of these people and their tracking, "Viper" was most likely just a high-level henchman.

It is easier to handle within the country. This live broadcast exposed many people. The department has been closely monitoring the situation. As long as people from the K organization appear again, they will be arrested.

Ding Yucheng added: "As for the overseas part, it has been handed over to the relevant departments for processing. Under pressure, the small countries that are known to be hiding the core members of the K organization have expressed their willingness to cooperate with the investigation.

Although the possibility of catching a truly powerful individual is low, at least some of their tentacles and funding channels can be cut off, making it difficult for them to organize an infiltration of this scale in the short term."

This is also buying time for themselves.

"Okay, is the female ghost book taken care of?"

"It's been handled." Ding Yucheng's tone was a little more relaxed.

"As you said, we sent it directly to the crematorium on the outskirts of the city and burned it in an incinerator. There was nothing unusual when it burned, and only a little bit of ash remained. But we still put it in a box and found a place to bury it."

"Yeah." Jiang Chuxu responded, and his resentment finally returned to dust.

The meeting continued for a while, synchronizing some other fragmentary information and follow-up arrangements.

After the meeting, Jiang Chuxu looked at the bright sunshine outside the window and decided to stretch her muscles. She took Xiao Hei downstairs to have breakfast and took a walk in the community.

In the afternoon, she reopened the live broadcast software.

As soon as the show started, familiar comments flooded in.

Jiang Chuxu adjusted the camera: "Good afternoon, as usual, handling the connection."

Jiang Chuxu glanced at the connection list and finally selected one at random.

As soon as the connection was established, a shaking picture appeared on the other side, and the connected person seemed to be running.

"Host, help! My friend and I were on the road just now, and my friend suddenly disappeared."

Maybe it was because he was running, his speech was a little incoherent and confused, or maybe he was too nervous to think.

"The person sitting behind me now is also my friend, but he is not my friend."

【Author’s words】

[Please][Please]