Chapter 146: Sun Zhongyi

Tu Lanxun's thoughts that day were like a terrible prophecy, and it soon came true.

After that day, the police and the Tourism Bureau stepped up the interrogation of the detained people and ghosts, and Nanlu's treatment was also put on the most urgent agenda, but Kris was still nowhere to be found.

The brothers Zheng Liefeng and Zheng Dongyang were sent to Xiaokunshan and Xingfuquan Road several times. Meng Baojian and Team Leader Li of the task force seconded two pairs of twin system personnel from across the country, one pair of sisters who were bailiffs and municipal civil servants, and the other a pair of brothers who were military doctors and actors from the military art troupe, to occasionally replace Zheng Liefeng and Zheng Dongyang.

Tu Lanxun's convenience store is still in operation, but she doesn't stay in the store often. She is either at the police station observing the progress of the experiment with Treaty 4, or following Li Ao on field work.

Because the number of cases increases day by day.

The Fourth Treaty is crumbling, and the backlash is doubly intense. Now, the entire city of Lu, and indeed the entire world, is plunged into a state of silent panic. Some may be oblivious, but those with a keen eye will notice the recent surge in funerals, a tense, solemn atmosphere of terror hanging in the air.

"Today is the fourteenth day of the week." Li Ao munched on a steamed bun in the passenger seat and tossed two bags to Tu Lanxun. "Onion and meat or chives and eggs, take your pick. The soy milk is in the back."

Tu Lanxun woke up too early, his head resting against the back of his chair, feeling dizzy. "Where is this place? The neighborhood again?"

"No. It's the school." Li Ao said this in a stern voice.

The conflict between humans and ghosts was subtly but irreversibly intensified.

Many ghosts enjoy wandering the streets, mingling with the living, soaking up the mortal air. People often pass by someone they can't remember, never guessing their identity, unable to form even a passing impression. We are all part of the denominator of the vast multitude of living beings.

But now things are completely different. The bad things happen to the ghost first.

More than one ghost out for a stroll was glanced at casually, just like the quick glances in the past, but it happened to violate the fourth treaty.

The ghost who walked out didn't feel anything, but as each minute and second passed, he became more and more panicked.

Some of these ghosts were less sensitive, and were silently eliminated by the treaty in a corner. Some of them were quick-witted and had a sense of self-preservation, so they turned back to find the person who "saw" them.

It's a pity that the man didn't remember the ghost, and the ghost certainly didn't remember the man either. So it was another good death.

"Currently, the timeframe for the Fourth Treaty to take effect is fifteen to forty-five minutes." Tu Lanxun read the work report on his phone. "By now, the ghost community is pretty much aware of this disaster. Ghosts have ghost friends, after all. They probably told their friends about this in the few minutes they had left, and the news spread that way."

This is also the reason why Tu Lanxun and Li Ao were forced to run out early in the morning. There were incidents everywhere in the city.

Li Ao crumpled up the plastic bag and stuffed it into the trash can, saying, "How's the development zone doing?"

Tu Lanxun replied: "Not bad, many ghosts came here."

Ghosts are also becoming more diverse. Some are gentle and don't want to harm people, so they stay away from people, acting like Tarzan in the suburbs or even in the mountains and forests. Others are more violent, thinking, "Why should I avoid people, not people avoiding me?" So they normally move around places with less dense human traffic. Anyone who sees them will usually be dealt with later.

Most of the forest ghosts heard about the development zone after relocating. Having water, electricity, shelter, and food was preferable to the deep mountains and forests, so the first groups began migrating to the development zone. The area surrounding the convenience store painted with blue ink became extremely popular, and the officers at the temporary police station in the development zone were temporarily withdrawn, leaving only the Tourism Bureau personnel to monitor the data screens. Patrols organized by the convenience stores were responsible for maintaining law and order and conducting ghost censuses.

Angry ghosts are responsible for a small portion of today's murders. No matter how irritable they are, they can't go to crowded shopping malls or other places where they're likely to be seen by dozens or even hundreds of people at once. Even if they possess supernatural powers, they can't completely eliminate them. So, they tend to go to private rooms in internet cafes or the corners of movie theaters to take care of anyone unfortunate enough to see them.

Most of the casualties in homicides come from the third group of ghosts: perverted and evil ghosts.

These ghosts are made up of three overlapping groups: born perverts and bad guys, invading weirdos, and professional evil ghosts and murderers sent out by the Kingdom of Heaven Group.

They don't care whether they are actually seen or not, nor do they care about the occasion or time. In short, there are two words: committing a crime.

These ghosts are the ones who mostly muddy the waters, not only for the sake of settling the problems for themselves, but also for the thrill of the hunt and the mission of the Kingdom of Heaven Group.

The deeper the conflict between humans and ghosts, the more ghosts will feel that killing humans is justified, and the more living people will feel that ghosts are condemned by everyone, then the smoother the progress of the "Heaven on Earth" plan will be. Ultimately, a zero-sum situation will inevitably arise where the east wind prevails over the west wind.

The worst part is that even if a ghost is captured, it may not be used by the person. However, if a person is killed by a ghost, he or she will definitely become a ghost.

Tu Lanxun knew very well that people like himself, the Tourism Bureau, and even Li Ao would not have the chance to change sides even if they died. They were the first priority to be strangled on the spot after death by the ghosts of the Kingdom of Heaven Group.

"This Kris is really something." Xiao Zhang finished his chive bun, popped a mint candy into his mouth, and turned to Tu Lanxun and said, "We've almost caught up with the Kingdom of Heaven Group in China, and we've contacted the local governments abroad to control them—and now foreigners are being tortured by foreigners too. It's truly a community with a shared future for mankind. What I mean is, we've dismantled the Kingdom of Heaven Group's facade, but they can still command such a large-scale situation. Where does their management system come from? Is one person worth an army?"

Tu Lanxun wanted to say a few words to Xiao Zhang because Xiao Zhang's words gave her a lot of inspiration, but when the car arrived, it turned out to be a familiar school.

The elementary school that Bai Xiaoju and Tang Guangming attended was also the one where Liu Maosheng's daughter was a teacher.

"Why don't you say something back?" Li Ao started cursing as soon as he got out of the car. He pulled over a police officer stationed on campus. He was almost furious.

The police officer's face was pale, with beads of sweat dripping down his cheeks. He said hastily and disrespectfully, "I told you you didn't answer. Forget it, Captain Li. Something's wrong again!"

Several people were hurriedly brought into the school grounds, where they saw the students herded into their classrooms. Four or five teachers were working together to call parents, arranging routes and times for the school bus to pick up their children. The usually bustling classroom, like a flock of sparrows, was utterly silent, with only the faint sound of children crying.

"What's wrong?"

"The principal was found dead in his office this morning." The white-faced officer's voice was trembling. He turned around and explained to Tu Lanxun what she already knew, then continued, "The school reported it as a Category III paranormal intrusion incident. The children were all on their way to school at the time, so asking parents to send them back only increased the risk. After all, the more people, the safer it is. Because no ghostly presence was detected in the surrounding area, it was determined that the perpetrator of this single crime had left the scene. Teaching activities continued, but..."

Tu Lanxun heard the sound of teeth chattering again, "Just what? Tell me quickly."

The white-faced police officer said, "Just now, something happened again. It was a room... a room..."

He started to speak incoherently again. No one knew what had frightened him today, but fortunately they had reached the top floor of the teaching building. Apart from the principal's office and two libraries, there was only the school's finance office, teaching equipment demonstration center, and a public toilet.

The problem lies in public restrooms.

The corridor was very quiet, but there was a noise source at the end that could not be ignored. It was the white porcelain room with a red and blue gender label, and occasionally the sound of an automatic flush could be heard.

The bathroom door was closed, but there seemed to be something inside. The brown wooden door was banging from the inside, and the gap in the door kept widening and narrowing, as if the thing banging on the door wanted to break out.

"Are there any trapped people inside?" Li Ao asked.

"Didn't they say that the ghost atmosphere at the scene has been cleared?" Tu Lanxun asked.

The white-faced police officer's face turned even paler, as if cut out of paper. He turned to the two men with sweat dripping down his face, almost crying, "There's a janitor inspecting the sewers and a security officer in there. I don't understand ghost auras, I'm just a small clerk at the mobile police station..."

As he spoke, his legs began to tremble visibly.

Tu Lanxun had never seen such a cowardly policeman. Not to mention Zheng Dongyang, even the youngest policeman she knew, Xiao Zhang, was a hundred times calmer than the thirty-something guy in front of her when he encountered a ghost for the first time. Not to mention that Xiao Zhang was locked in the same room with the ghost himself!

"Alright." Tu Lanxun frowned and said in a gentle voice, "Where is the on-site equipment? Didn't they say they were testing for ghost auras? Can I see the data report?"

The pale-faced police officer swallowed his saliva and said nothing for a long time. Li Ao was completely furious. "Your name is Wang Dahui, right? What's going on? If you're not feeling well, I'll grant you a leave. Find someone who can talk to you properly!"

Wang Dahui was still shaking his legs, looking at Tu Lanxun and Li Ao with empty eyes, as if he couldn't understand what Li Ao was saying.

Tu Lanxun suddenly found something wrong.

There was something wrong with Wang Dahui's police uniform. He wasn't wearing a standard shirt underneath his duty uniform, but a thin, light gray canvas shirt of a different color. Given the urgency of the situation just now, no one could tell the difference at first glance.

Wang Dahui was still shaking. Tu Lanxun winked at Li Ao, and Li Ao instantly restrained Wang Dahui's arm. Veins popped out of his neck, and Tu Lanxun quickly tugged at Wang Dahui's collar.

What was revealed under the police uniform was actually a set of school worker uniforms.

There was a nameplate hanging on the chest of the janitor's uniform, with the words "Janitorial Worker, Sun Zhongyi" clearly written on it.

The photo clearly showed the face of this "Wang Dahui".

Wait, since one of the so-called trapped school workers is outside the toilet, then where is the real police officer Wang Dahui from the police station?

Sun Zhongyi only laughed and cried like an owl, and then he pushed Li Ao away with the strength of an ox and turned to run away.

Tu Lanxun chased after him without hesitation, raised his elbow, and shouted, "Mikhail!"