Chapter 110 Orphanage

The ghosts walked over slowly, obviously recognizing Teacher Nie.

They had no intention of attacking, and after a few minutes of private conversation, they all came to Tu Lanxun. Teacher Nie introduced them one by one:

"These are people who were once associated with the Tian Guo Group. They are night shift security guards, interns and their families, independent journalists, and live-streaming bloggers who once secretly filmed the Tian Guo Group."

Without exception, they were all dealt with. Some of them had been in cahoots with the Kingdom of Heaven Group, but more of them accidentally found out things they shouldn't have known.

Tu Lanxun reported the situation to Li Ao. Li Ao's face was as gloomy as iron. He had long anticipated the rampant behavior of the Heavenly Kingdom Group, but he did not expect them to reach this point, and the Bada Pan Mountain had completely become a place for dumping corpses.

The five ghosts returned with Li Ao and the others. Following their lead, the police recovered five bodies, some thrown high at the cliff bottom and some buried deep underground. If Badapan Mountain had remained unexplored for a hundred years, these remains might not have been discovered until another century.

They came here in one trip but brought back six bodies. The forensic vehicle should not have been able to accommodate them, but the six bodies were incomplete, so they were stuffed into the back of the vehicle like six pitiful big suitcase bags. No one had a smile on their face, and Xiao Zhang never mentioned the mountain farm stay again.

Tu Lanxun always felt that there was something nearby that he had not discovered, because he had a feeling that he was being watched, but he could not find the source of the gaze. He asked N and he also said that he had the feeling, but he could not find anyone.

Or a ghost.

Was it a spy left here by the Heavenly Kingdom Group? Probably not. That gaze held no ill will, merely a distant gaze, observing their every move.

"It could be a ghost that has lived in the mountains for a long time." Tu Lanxun could only speculate. "Someone who died many years ago? Maybe even an ancient person."

Mikhail laughed into Tulanxun's elbow: "I finally understand where the mountain gods worshipped by the ancients came from."

Tu Lanxun raised his voice again, "To those of you watching nearby, we are the police. We are investigating the body dumping incident here. If you have anything to say, please come forward. We will help you get justice!"

Still no one.

The group left Badapan Mountain. On the way back, Tu Lanxun heard Xiao Zhang muttering: Sooner or later, we will wipe out the Tianguo Group. It's so hateful.

As the car drove out of the mountain road, the eight mountains behind them gradually became shorter. They left behind the shade of the trees and the mountain fog, and the mountains seemed to be watching the back of the police car.

The mysterious gaze did not follow.

As usual, they returned to the Lucheng South Branch. By the time they were there and back, it was already evening. The forensic doctors were busy counting and restoring six bags of bones to confirm the evidence of the fatal injury and the time of death. However, this time it was not for calculation, but for matching.

Because the ghosts of the six dead were all sitting in the interrogation room, even the sealed rooms were restarted and cleaned, just to give them a respectful place to stay.

This round of interrogation or questioning must be completed in cooperation with the Tourism Administration. Li Ao was the first person to take the plunge, and Xiao Zhang was the second. The two of them and Tu Lanxun, who was responsible for assistance, entered the interrogation room. Tu Lanxun turned on the visual fixation device issued by the Tourism Administration.

In Li Ao Xiaozhang's eyes, the shadow of Teacher Nie suddenly appeared on the chair that was originally empty.

This former singer is no longer young, but her aura and charm have not diminished, not to mention the bloodstains on her cheongsam, which she did not clean at all, but let them cling to her body like red butterflies.

Teacher Nie placed his hands on his waist and said softly, "We can begin now."

Li Ao and Xiao Zhang concealed the shock in their eyes. They could both feel that a fateful change was coming in this country and even in all countries.

The process for interrogating ghosts was similar to that for living people. Teacher Nie followed the procedure and gave his name, household registration, and occupation. He paused when it came to his age, then said, "He was exactly fifty years old when he was alive. He's been dead for four years, so I'll make it fifty-four."

Xiao Zhang was taking notes. Li Ao asked, "What is your relationship with Kris, the chairman of Tianguo Group?"

Teacher Nie laughed sarcastically, "I thought we were a couple, the kind that only needed a marriage certificate, but judging from what happened later, she should be considered a mistress."

Without Li Ao asking, she directly told him about her past with Kris. More than ten years ago, Teacher Nie was already in her thirties and almost forty as a singer. Half of her popularity came from her singing and the other half from her beauty. The former was just a star that was not at the top in the brilliant singer universe, and the latter was about to fade with time. Naturally, she fell into the dilemma of being overshadowed by newcomers.

Another point that was very important to the thinking of her generation was that Teacher Nie had no children, and apart from three or four failed romances that were written into her romantic memories, she had never been married.

So that year, Teacher Nie, who was secretly longing for stability and a place to settle down, met Kris who came with flowers.

Like his twin brother Dong Yijian, Kris is a relatively handsome middle-aged man. Moreover, he has a lot of money, which makes him more graceful and unforgettable.

"He claimed to be my fan and wanted to sponsor my next album. He didn't mention any physical or profit sharing requirements, but just hoped that I would sing a song for him at the end of the album," recalled Teacher Nie.

It sounded like a romantic, artistic version of a wealthy businessman pursuing a singer. Li Ao asked, "Did you sing? Did you become a couple from then on?"

Teacher Nie smiled gently and said, "I sang it. The lyrics and music for that song were already prepared. At the time, the lyrics were just a short paragraph, and the music was just a little tune without a beginning or an end, but it had the potential to be made into a commercial music piece."

"I recorded a few versions and sent them to him. Kris rejected my expansion and polishing of the lyrics and insisted on just singing that short verse over and over again. However, he appreciated my team's reworking of the score."

"The last song is called 'Warm Moon', and it's also the last song in my singing career."

Teacher Nie even hummed a few lines on the spot: "Warm moon, far away in the sky, please comfort me tonight, in my dreams, beside my pillow, my lover's eyes..."

The lyrics and music are both nostalgic and old-fashioned, and were actually outdated in the year of their release, but Teacher Nie sang it in an exceptionally lyrical way, as if it were the wind coming in the moonlight, gently soothing the ears of a sleeper and sending him a sad yet warm dream.

Xiao Zhang wrote down the lyrics and had something to say. After Li Ao's prompt, he said, "He didn't write this song to pursue you, did he? Do you know who this song is for?"

"I used to think it was all for me," Teacher Nie said with a wry smile. "I really like this song, and Kris didn't try to promote it after the album came out. I think he really understood what I wanted. If I were in my late twenties, I would have wanted a hit song and a big name, preferably with a lot of money to spend. But I was almost forty back then, and I wanted a home, preferably a place to settle down after a dignified retirement."

Xiao Zhang paused, "You still haven't answered the question. Who is this song for?"

"I realized this after I'd been following Kris for several years." Teacher Nie spoke with her own rhythm, speaking as if she were giving an autobiographical interview. "He never treated me badly, materially, or even emotionally. We maintained a full emotional and physical connection, often inseparable. He even allowed me to join his Kingdom of Heaven Group."

Teacher Nie's face showed a faded look of joy. "I thought he truly valued me and wanted me to accompany him in his career. So, after more than a decade of ups and downs in the music industry, I finally got a taste of real power at the Tianguo Group."

"I helped him with his work, managed his subordinates, and took care of his life. I was the most important person and the only woman around him. At least that's what I thought at the time." Teacher Nie changed the subject, "But later it turned out that the last two were false."

Tu Lanxun vaguely sensed that Teacher Nie was about to drop some bombshell information. He looked up at the three people in the room and asked in a phantom voice, "Are you playing AI?"

Of course, the report on Cultural Promotion Week that Xiao Zhang wrote a few days ago was polished using AI, but Li Ao noticed that the tone was too strange, so he criticized it severely.

Tu Lanxun is often matched with AI when playing games.

Teacher Nie had a dreamy look on her face. She held her chin in her hand, naively like a little girl, and said, "Kris has an AI. He chats with it almost every day and even wears a VR headset. I thought it was a high-tech luxury enjoyed by the rich. Do you know what that AI is?"

Li Ao refused to accept the question and asked, "What is it?"

Teacher Nie shrugged boredly. It was obvious that she had used this joke to tease her more than once, and now she was a little disappointed that there was no response. She said, "It's Kris's wife."

Xiao Zhang: "Huh?"

Teacher Nie repeated, "Kris has a wife, and his wife is an AI. So I am just Kris's mistress."

Kris has deep affection for his AI wife and has given his whole heart to her. He would discuss with his wife in the early morning what to wear that day. After getting his wife's advice, he would tell the clothing plan to Teacher Nie, who knew nothing about it, and ask Teacher Nie to help him get clothes and tie a tie, and finally receive a warm morning kiss.

—with lips that had just been virtually kissed by the AI.

Teacher Nie chuckled twice, extremely amused by this. Her upper body bent over the table like a cheetah, and she looked up and said, "He... I saw him just get off my bed and go to his own room. I followed him and spied him apologizing to the AI..."

"In the end, he cried and said thank you to her for giving him such a wonderful experience. He completely regarded the feelings he had when he was with me as another way to interact with AI."

The expressions of Tu Lanxun, Li Ao and Xiao Zhang all became subtle.

"I'm not a jealous young woman." Teacher Nie waved her hand. "Before I retired, I was ready to become a wife or mistress. Of course, I need to be rich enough. But when I think of Kris's affectionate and breathless look towards me, I feel..."

Her voice suddenly became very gentle, "It was a long and sad time."

"Now I feel like throwing up completely!"

The song "Warm Moon" was written entirely for my AI wife.

Even the reason why I pursued Teacher Nie in the beginning was because her voice was similar enough, especially when she sang.

Tu Lanxun couldn't help but look at Teacher Nie with sympathy. Li Ao, a middle-aged man, was a little dizzy after being hit by this heavy news. He didn't know much about computer technology, but there was a hint of indignation in the eyes of Xiao Zhang, who had a stern face.

Li Ao steadied his voice, neither believing nor disbelieving, and continued the interrogation according to procedure. "So, when did you discover Kris's deception? What did you do afterwards? What conflict arose that led to him ultimately killing you?"

Teacher Nie's emotions also calmed down. She looked at Tu Lanxun, perhaps reminding her of Song Siyu. She sighed and said, "I only discovered the emotional infidelity in my last year. I guess that played a big role in my death. The long-standing conflict before that was the search for my sister. I felt that he was not dedicated in this regard and had other intentions. We began to drift apart."

Li Ao narrowed his eyes and asked, "You don't have any negative feelings towards the various unscrupulous things that Tianguo Group has done?"

"Of course it happened," Teacher Nie said. "But so what? I'm already on board, and I want to be the chairman's wife in all rights. I've seen similar things before I met Kris, but I went from being a victim to being the perpetrator. That's progress."

Tu Lanxun and others simply didn't know what to say. Teacher Nie probably didn't tell a single lie today. She had thought that Teacher Nie would take advantage of the opportunity of "the dead are greater" to cover up some of it.

Yet, Teacher Nie coldly yet intricately laid out all the tenderness and sins of her life on the interrogation table, letting them record and judge her. She had completely lost her mind.

"But you've run into a problem." Tu Lanxun made eye contact and took over the interrogation. "You can play the perpetrator, but your sister, whom you haven't found, might become a new victim. This makes you realize that you've never made any progress. You've always used perpetrators to deceive yourself into believing you haven't been harmed."

Teacher Nie seemed to have been stung. She gritted her teeth and laughed, "I'm sure there will be successors." She didn't know who she was referring to. "Yes, I did get myself into trouble. In the end, I was packed up and thrown at the bottom of the mountain. I deserved it."

At that time, Teacher Nie was caught by Qianniu on the way to escape. She begged for mercy again and again, but Qianniu was a cold-hearted and even a little perverted execution machine, so she died anyway.

After everything was recorded, Teacher Nie was taken away by Wen Chong's men. As soon as he left the interrogation room, Lu Lianbing approached Tu Lanxun and said, "Ah, these people from the Tianguo Group are truly hopeless."

Lu Lianbing had just finished another interrogation, and the remaining five deceased had been communicated with. Those who were guilty were taken away by the Tourism Management Bureau, while those who were completely innocent were handed over to Tu Lanxun, who was asked to take them back to the ghost community and settle them there first, and not to leave Lucheng for nearly two months.

"The case can be closed in two months?" Tu Lanxun's eyes lit up a little.

Wen Chong hit her on the head with a rolled-up paper tube and scolded her with a smile, "You're too optimistic, aren't you? You haven't caught the morning glory yet."

The paper tube was thrown into Tu Lanxun's arms, and Wen Chong said, "Take a look." Tu Lanxun unfolded it and found that it was a "Temporary Identity Registration List for the Pseudo-Ghost Community". She could no longer suppress the smile on her lips.

"Is it connected up there?" Tu Lanxun couldn't help but look again and again.

Wen Chong wanted to help her, but he had no tools. He could only rub his brows and say, "Are you trying to clear the toilet? It's just a temporary measure, but don't make a big fuss about it. What if the person who made this suggestion is no longer in this position after a while..."

Tu Lanxun nodded immediately. She certainly understood and was about to go back to the convenience store happily, but was stopped by Wen Chong again.

Wen Chong caresses Tu Lanxun's hair lovingly. She is wearing an electronic watch, and the moment her palm touches Tu Lanxun's forehead, Tu Lanxun feels that all the connections between herself, Mikhail, and Lu Jiasui have been severed.

"You'd better finish reading what I give you. I hope you can have a different understanding of it." Wen Chong whispered in Tu Lanxun's ear.

Tu Lanxun was slightly stunned. Wen Chong said meaningfully, "Did you really see him clearly?"

After saying this, the distance widened, and Tu Lanxun could once again sense Mikhail and Lu Jiasui. She nodded calmly.

Wen Chong smiled and said, "Go back. You must be very tired. I'll approve your field allowance later. Xiaolu and the others will get it."

"Okay!" Tu Lanxun ran away and disappeared down the stairs, his heart pounding.

#

The convenience store ghosts are in a frenzy.

They may need to have a formal identity here. Once ghosts have social connections, they will not want to reincarnate immediately, so it is important to gain recognition from the living society.

While Sonia was doing her nails, she said, "Can my mom move in?"

The computer ghost raised her hand weakly: "From now on, when I team up with others to play games online, can I take off my vest? They all want to add me to help play for them."

These questions were beyond Tu Lanxun's comprehension. She said, "Stop! Stop! These haven't been finalized yet."

Liu Maosheng came in happily, took out the previous list of ghosts' names and residences, and went door to door to confirm the registration.

"What did Uncle Liu do before?" Tu Lanxun asked.

N glanced at her, crossed his legs, and put the book back on his lap. "What did Wenchong tell you?"

Oh, have you learned how to bargain?

Tu Lanxun really didn't buy it, and tossed her hair, "I don't want to bother with you, I'm going to play games."

Then, returning to the bedroom on the third floor, Tu Lanxun put on a VR helmet with a hard drive plugged in and directly entered the "Gray Cave Simulator".

#

Wen Chong's account was offline; he was probably still busy at the police station. Those at the Tourism Management Bureau were essentially working two jobs for one salary, and the same fate would soon befall Tu Lanxun. Fortunately, she was allowed to have a side job.

The last progress was still at the point where [Wang Ella] was discovered by Nightingale at Meizhen Flower Shop.

Tu Lanxun stared at the loading icon of the daisy with jumping eyes. The surroundings darkened and brightened again, and he found that the main controller was standing in the back street of the flower shop in the gray cave.

Dragging the simulator's built-in progress bar, Tu Lanxun found the subsequent plot a bit boring, consisting of nothing more than Wang Ella continuing to investigate Rita's death. She played for two hours and achieved three accidental death endings.

The first one was that he broke into the hospital again and was discovered by Nightingale. Then he woke up from a coma and was in a car. In the end, he and the car were thrown off a cliff.

She seemed to have some idea where the inspiration came from.

The second one was the electronic soul that was tracking Rita, but was sent to the soul processing factory together with the other party. The VR helmet realistically helped Tu Lanxun experience the feeling of watching himself being crushed into a can alive.

The third is to trace Nightingale's previous high schools and universities, trying to grasp her past life. Nothing happened that day, but Wang Aila died in her sleep.

Tu Lanxun couldn't help but shudder. Even if the BOSS opposite was N, she still felt very scary!

No, it's even scarier.

It feels terrible when a familiar friend who just happened to be scratching and leaning on each other suddenly turns into a big bad guy that you don’t know.

Click on the chapter list of the simulator, and Tu Lanxun directly clicks on the second round. This round can only be started after both the [Investigate Rita] and [Investigate Bluebird Metropolitan Hospital] tasks are completed and the main controller is alive.

Of course she cheated. She is someone who can only be matched with humans or computers when playing games. Why should she work hard?

Tu Lanxun goes directly into the second round. The color tone of the second round is softer but also darker than that of the first round. The gray cave looks different from the original one. Some old buildings have replaced more modern new buildings. The buildings that looked old in the first round look new in the second round.

A line of subtitles appeared: Twenty years ago.

It turned out to be a time span. Tu Lanxun controlled Wang Aila as she walked through the city. Her former rental house was now a small boutique apartment, but fortunately, the currency was still valid for twenty years ago.

After renting a room in a small hotel, Wang Aila's evidence board, clue items and dressing space were reactivated.

At the beginning of the second round, there was no mission guidance at all, so she could only rely on herself, and Tu Lanxun decided to look for N.

Nightingale is another derivative of N's soul, and perhaps their previous life trajectories are similar.

Tu Lanxun recalled what N had said, that when he was a child he lived in the north of Lucheng, in the old city area, so she also walked towards the north of the gray city cave.

It was dusk now, and Tu Lanxun took a bus. The northern part of the gray city cave was indeed the same as the northern part of Lucheng. The buildings were gradually becoming old and low. Among the clusters of iron-gray buildings, Tu Lanxun saw a flyer for the orphanage.

The flyer reads: Give to your children, lovely and healthy, family inheritance, happy enjoyment.

It was a bit strange, but according to the address of the orphanage, [Wang Aila] groped her way over. Before she reached that road, she was almost bumped by a small figure coming towards her.

But he didn't hit her. The little thing dodged nimbly and ran away, brushing past Wang Aila. A clumsy big woman was chasing after her, holding up her skirt and cursing as she ran: "Stop! Stop! You little beast!"

The T-shirt that the woman was wearing was the orphanage staff uniform. Wang Aila looked back and recognized the child's identity from the outline. The shape of her head and neck were very delicate, her skin was very white, and her long eyelashes and kitten-like eyes could be seen from her profile.

It is undoubtedly N in its cub state.

Another doubt arose in Tu Lanxun's heart, but he slowly suppressed it and caught up with the footsteps of the two, one big and one small.

In his youth, N was quite the devil, toying with the orphanage staff until they were practically exasperated, but they couldn't catch him. A cold, smug look flickered across his kitten-like face.

"Excuse me, what's going on?" Tu Lanxun controlled [Wang Aila] and spoke at the right time.

The orphanage employee rolled his eyes at Wang Aila and said, "What's it got to do with you?" Then he continued to chase her and picked up a shovel from a roadside construction site. He was going to kill her.

[Wang Aila] yelled, “If you do that again, I’ll call the police!”

The orphanage staff then slowed down and walked towards her fiercely. N also stopped in the distance, lying on the wall and looking at the two of them with aggressive eyes.

"That kid is a monster," the employee said gruffly. "He was about to be adopted by a family, but he did something bad." She shouted in disgust, "Don't you dare say you did anything bad!"

N said nothing and continued to look at him coldly.

The employee turned his gaze towards Wang Aila and said with disgust, "He killed animals. There were dead cats and dogs all over the floor, hidden under the beds of the kids he bullied! What a pervert!"