Chapter 166 Memorial Service

This is impossible.

Because Nanlu was still lying in the laboratory in Mu Town, surrounded by employees of the Tourism Administration.

Tu Lanxun's eyes dimmed for a moment, then raised again, "Tell me more details."

Nan Shaochen quickly organized his words and said, "I'm not sure if that was my dad. I saw it early this morning. I couldn't sleep in the early hours of the morning, so I got up to take some melatonin. Then I heard a noise downstairs."

Tu Lanxun asked, "Where were you at that time?" Then he made a gesture, allowing the computer ghost to drill into the line to eavesdrop.

"I'm in Western Province," Nan Shaochen said. "Before the full-scale weird invasion, I was touring in Western Province, and I didn't expect to be trapped here. So I stayed in an apartment in the capital of Western Province."

Nan Shaochen continued, "Our apartment complex is quite good. The population density is neither too high nor too low, and it's in the CBD, so the security is very good, so it's a relatively safe area from spooky invasions. I didn't expect that when I looked out the window in the early morning, I saw ghosts fighting."

"Ghost? Fighting?" Tu Lanxun asked, "How do you know for sure it's a ghost?"

Nan Shaochen said, "There were five ghosts in total, four of them covered in blood, with axes stuck in their foreheads, jumping around alive. They looked like ghosts. Oh, and listen to me, my dad was the only one without any knife marks or blood on his body, but he looked a little too young."

Tu Lanxun blinked, having a premonition about who he was talking about.

Nan Shaochen continued, "At first glance, he looked exactly like my dad. His features and facial folds were very similar, but he was narrower. I remember my dad as a classic square-faced handsome man, but in the early morning, his face had become angular and pointed. But his eyebrows and eyes were very similar, so I was sure it was my dad. He was wearing a black suit and a pair of black leather gloves."

The answer in Tu Lanxun's mind was about to come out. The corners of her mouth unconsciously curled up a little, and then she asked: "What happened next? Did you talk to him?"

"Of course not. I've been prepared for my dad's passing, but I didn't expect him to be so powerful." Nan Shaochen was still immersed in his own words. "Hey, does becoming a ghost change a person's appearance? My dad looks really different now, even a little younger. I can't understand why he didn't come back to see me. Now he has ended up like this, and I can only watch..."

Tu Lanxun was startled. Nan Shaochen's voice had nasal murmurs as he spoke, and his sobbing voice chilled her heart like falling snow. She sternly urged, "Don't beat around the bush. Tell me what happened in the end."

Nan Shaochen sniffed and said very hurtly: "My father is dead..."

What?

Tu Lanxun was 100% certain that the "young dad" Nan Shaochen was talking about was actually N. N looked very similar to Nan Lu when he was young.

And there is only one ghost in the world who would be so picky as to wear a pair of black leather gloves at all times.

But... Nan Shaochen said that N was dead?

"Tell me more clearly," Tu Lanxun said wearily. She preferred to think that Nan Shaochen didn't understand ghosts and might have mistaken disappearance or injury for death. How could N die so easily?

Nan Shaochen asked, "Isn't this very important to your work?" He cooperated like a sheep and said obediently, "It was the remaining four ghosts who besieged my dad. They looked very fierce, but my dad was not at a disadvantage in the fight with them. It was just that three of the last four ghosts exploded. My dad dodged the first two, but not the third."

Tu Lanxun pressed, "And then?"

Nan Shaochen said, "Then cracks appeared on my dad's shoulders and chest, like shattered statues. Silvery-white light flowed out from them, dripping down like blood. Then the last ghost besieging him pounced on him and tore him apart. He gradually became transparent, turned into smoke, and dissipated under the streetlight... I wanted to do something, but everything happened too fast, and I couldn't save him at all..."

Nan Shaochen started crying on the phone. Tu Lanxun had no intention of comforting him. He said a few words of advice that didn't seem to be very effective, and he was completely stiff.

She gripped her phone tightly, forcing herself to regain control of her body and focus her thoughts.

The scene of ghost annihilation described by Nan Shaochen seemed a little too real, and was almost exactly the same as what she had seen before.

And that ghost is most likely N.

What was N doing in Western Province? Was it some special mission like the ones abroad? Was he trying to take out those four evil spirits but was surrounded?

Or was it that for some reason, he happened to be ambushed by the ghosts from Heavenly Kingdom downstairs in Nan Shaochen Building? Wait, why did he appear downstairs in Nan Shaochen Building?

Why did he die downstairs of Nan Shaochen Building?

Tu Lanxun took a deep breath. Logically, she should feel sad at this moment, but she seemed to have traveled back to the day she was kidnapped seven years ago. All her emotions were indifferent and free. She could only think rationally and control her body to do what she should do.

She was more of a player in this world than Wang Aila was in the Gray City Cave, but she didn't do it by choice.

I called Wen Chong and he asked, "What's up?"

Tu Lanxun was silent for a few seconds, then said in a low voice, "Director Wen, the person you sent out seems to be dead."

#

Tu Lanxun came to the South Branch again. Before, coming here was like going home. This was the starting point of a new life.

But now when he sees the neat and friendly courtyard and the square buildings, Tu Lanxun feels that this place is just a stage.

The stage is dedicated to a pantomime about concealment. The pantomime has been staring at her for a long time, but she didn't know it at all.

Tu Lanxun went upstairs, turned right, and entered the bathroom, which was a public bathroom with a lounge next to it and had been bombed N times.

Wen Chong came in two minutes later and asked, "Why are you here?"

The surrounding tiles and partitions were all new, and since this place was rarely used, the only scent was clean water vapor. The mirror reflected a cold, bright light, and the sink was spotless. Tu Lanxun stared at herself in the mirror, looking particularly eerie.

"This place was bombed once," Tu Lanxun said briefly. "By that ghost friend of mine. You know, his name is Nan Xishan. You once secretly ordered me to monitor him."

Wen Chong nodded: "I have some impression."

Tu Lanxun raised an eyebrow. "Director Wen doesn't seem surprised at all. This place was blown up by Nanxishan. You seem to have known this for a long time?"

Wen Chong stared into Tu Lanxun's eyes in the mirror for a long moment, remaining silent. Tu Lanxun smiled first, then said calmly, "Because he's your subordinate or a contact."

Wencheng then showed a slightly surprised expression, but it disappeared in a flash, as if she was not really surprised, but just wanted to give Tu Lanxun some emotional comfort.

Tu Lanxun took a deep breath and continued her reasoning. "This place was bombed. At the time, I thought it was just N having fun. But if you think about the time carefully, you asked me to look at some materials in the lounge, and you were out for a long time..."

Everything connected in her mind, and Tu Lanxun suddenly looked up: "You were in the bathroom at the time, discussing something with N. It was a big deal, so N lost control of his temper and blew up the bathroom."

Wen Chong stared at Tu Lanxun, her eyes filled with a multitude of emotions: acquiescence, approval, and a sense of indifference, as if waiting for another explosion. Finally, she said, "You're right. But Nan Xishan wasn't our man from the beginning. We only contacted him after you became the head of the development zone..."

Tu Lanxun's mind is in a tizzy. Her most trusted senior colleagues and company, as well as her best friend and lover, have been playing Mission Impossible right under her nose?

"Why are you on guard against me?" Tu Lanxun asked.

Wen Chong sighed and said, "It's not that we're on guard against you. If we didn't trust you, the Tourism Administration wouldn't have handed you those tasks and the management of the development zone. It's just that you and Nan Xishan are two different parts of the overall work."

Tu Lanxun asked again: "Can I know what mission he is on now?"

Wen Chong thought for a moment and said, "I can't tell you the details, but it's probably about finding some people at home and abroad, winning over some, and then assassinating others. So, what do you think of him...?"

Tu Lanxun raised his eyelids and said, "Nan Shaochen just called me and said that in the early morning hours, he was in Xi Province's apartment and saw a ghost downstairs that looked like Nanlu being besieged by four evil spirits. Three of them blew themselves up, and one came to the rescue. In the end, the ghost that looked like Nanlu was eliminated."

Her words were so indifferent that they lacked any emotion. Wen Chong looked at Tu Lanxun deeply, did not answer, picked up his cell phone and tapped a few times, then his face darkened.

"Just confirmed the news, it's true."

Tu Lanxun felt a lump in her throat. She slowly asked, "What?"

Wen Chong answered again, "The staff from Western Province said that the person responsible for contacting us at the secret location that was supposed to be contacted at six o'clock this morning...didn't show up. The remote control device at headquarters also showed that his fluctuations had disappeared. So, apart from the mistaken identity, everything else Nan Shaochen said should be correct..."

Tu Lanxun stood there numbly, feeling Wen Chong's hand on her shoulder, but she couldn't feel any warmth. Her lips moved as she said, "Why did I have to ask you to find out? Shouldn't you have known about this as soon as it happened?"

Wen Chong said: "Every day, all kinds of information come to me from all directions like a sea. I only have one pair of eyes and one brain."

Tu Lanxun continued, "Because it's a Nanxishan-level operation, it's not confidential to you...right?"

Wen Chong pressed Tu Lanxun's shoulder firmly and said, "Alright, stop overthinking it. Your mission now is to return to the development zone and quickly get yourself back in shape. Now's not the time to dwell on your emotions. Oh, and there was a small memorial service upstairs. Do you want to go and see it?"

"Who is it for?"

"An auxiliary police officer from the police station under the South Branch just died. Because you didn't know him, I didn't call you over." Wenchong said.

Tu Lanxun understood that Wenchong wanted to tell her that many people would be sacrificed in this war, maybe her, maybe Wenchong himself, the brave auxiliary police officer, and N who disappeared in Western Province.

Each of them may die, and some have the chance to become ghosts. What will the ghosts become after death?

Somehow, Tu Lanxun suddenly remembered the contents of the first three treaties.

One is to return to the origin of world consciousness, that is, to disappear completely.

But there was another point unrelated to vanishing, which roughly meant that being observed would change the state of the observed object. She didn't quite understand it then, or now.

The memorial service was held upstairs, but the level of mourning was only mild. There were some white flowers wrapped in black and white tissue paper. On the table in the middle was a black and white portrait of a young man smiling in it.

Although the people at the scene had red eyes, they were still talking and laughing. Tu Lanxun also saw Xiao Zhang, who was peeling a piece of fruit candy and stuffing it into his mouth, laughing so hard at the people in front of him that he couldn't straighten his back.

Oh, the person opposite her was standing in front of the portrait and looked exactly like the portrait.

The ghost of the auxiliary policeman was still silly, having fun with Xiao Zhang. This was the first time that Tu Lanxun saw someone attending his memorial service.

For the staff here, nothing is over, because ghosts are humans' second lives. They gather here only to mourn the death of their living identities and the withering of the dead.

A living person can come back as a ghost after death, but what if a ghost dies?

Will you come back?

Wen Chong casually picked up a flower from the side. It was a white daisy with delicate and pointed petals, and the center of the flower was dark green, almost black.

The flower was handed to Tu Lanxun.

Tu Lanxun somehow thought of the daisy eyes in the gray cave.

That time she hid in the back room of the flower shop, and N placed a daisy in front of the gap, with its "eyes" facing Tu Lanxun.

What he means is: I see you.

Wen Chong placed the daisy in Tu Lanxun's hand, squeezed it surprisingly hard, and said nonchalantly, "Go back and get some more sleep. If you can't sleep, you can play some games."