Chapter 132 Electronic Ghost

What do people rely on to survive in this world? A heavy body.

What makes a person alive? Emotion and consciousness alone.

If one has one's own consciousness, then even if one's consciousness resides in a tree, it is still considered "alive".

But trees, like the human body, are fragile and can be destroyed at any time.

So it is better to just parasitize in nothingness and live forever without pain.

The young man made shocking remarks, and some people laughed out loud, thinking it was nonsense.

But the young man was extremely serious and asked earnestly that if he was wrong, then if a flash flood broke out now, who could save everyone in an instant?

Even after being rescued, he still fell into endless difficulties.

Since living in this world is a continuous pain, why not just live in a free consciousness?

He was so serious, so serious that everyone could see his determination in his eyes - he not only thought so, but also really decided to do it.

Some people reacted quickly and immediately arranged for people to go up the mountain to check. The villa where he was was silent and everyone was asleep.

With a smile and satisfaction, have a dream from which you will never wake up.

The young man was a doctor trusted by all the villagers, so it was easy for him to get the villagers to do anything he wanted.

But this is murder!

He wanted to save everyone, but ended up killing everyone. Isn't this going against Tiangang's wishes?

——It’s just an excuse for his murder!

Words like these echoed throughout the silent village and were echoed by many people.

But the teenager did not make any excuses, but shot himself in front of everyone.

——So I will also fulfill my promise, live forever in the free world of nothingness, and break free from the shackles of the real world.

This was his answer.

Not long after that, a flash flood broke out and buried everything.

Did the boy really foresee the future, or was it just a coincidence? Or perhaps someone deliberately caused a flash flood to complement the boy's predictions...

There is no point in talking about it anymore.

Whether it was regret or some other emotion, the matter should have ended there until the person who took the photo received an anonymous letter.

When they first met and separated, the patrol team members and the teenager took a commemorative photo at a local photography agency. The photo was developed and mailed to the people in the photo.

There were countless photos like this, and not everyone still remembered that there was such a photo, but that letter targeted everyone so accurately. One day after the photography agency was burned down in a fire for no reason, someone sent an email.

[* has added a few things to the photo, intending to surprise you all. However, * has made up his mind and successfully escaped the constraints of this world, so it has been decided to permanently erase any trace of *'s existence in this world.]

[Please destroy all photos related to * and completely forget *'s existence in this world. * will visit you in person soon and take away the photos, or perhaps the memories.]

At first, everyone thought it was a prank, after all, the boy committed suicide in front of everyone.

It's impossible for him to come back to life and come to your door.

Not long after, some people's photos were lost quietly.

Then, the person in the first photo died a tragic death, and no trace of the murderer could be found. Only in the remaining photo, the boy was completely cut out - that was a clue deliberately left by the murderer.

The second person died in his sleep, and the entire photo disappeared.

The loss of the photo was perfectly normal, and the death of the first person made people think it might be some kind of coincidence;

It is impossible to remain calm when the second person died silently and even a photo cannot be found.

Some people destroyed them completely, some went far away or gave them to others for safekeeping, and some still kept them with them and were ready to fight at any time.

The person who made the first choice survived, but the person who made the second choice - whoever saved the photo - either died or became insane, saying intermittently that a ghost emerged from the terminal, asking whether to take his life or his memory.

As for the third type of people, if they choose to fight head-on, death is the only outcome.

How can a living person defeat a ghost that has long been dead?

It is even impossible to tell whether it is a truly dead ghost receiving a message of life, or someone taking revenge in the name of a ghost. With the methods used back then, no matter how hard they try, they still cannot find the murderer.

So in the end I had no choice but to compromise.

All the photos were destroyed or recycled, everyone stopped talking about the boy and anything related to him, and then everything really returned to calm.

A few years later, Fugan District announced the trial operation of a system codenamed "X", an intelligent system that was ahead of its time and could plan and control everything for humans;

A few years later, the True Dimension World was launched - the slogan was to escape from the miserable reality and find the paradise that truly belongs to you.

At the same time, an organization called Eden was born in the dark world, advocating eternal life and freedom, glandular trade, and had a close connection with the Fugan District.

Breaking away from the real world and pursuing the illusory freedom—how similar it is to what the young man said back then!

However, no matter how they investigated, all personnel related to the system code-named "X" could find no trace of the young man's existence, and the relationship between the Garden of Eden and the Fugan District was nothing more than a vague guess - at least on the surface, the Fugan District also responded to the slogan of cracking down on illegal gangs in the dark world.

The relationship between the imperial capital and the surrounding Gansu region is not one of domination and subordination, but more like the relationship between the emperor and the vassal states in the old era.

Although they belonged to the same empire, countless historical records of the old era proved that the vassal states only flattered the emperor in vain.

Not even bothering to flatter.

In short, ten, twenty, and more than half a century have passed, and the boy from the past has completely become a ghost that has been deliberately forgotten.

But behind the forgotten, everyone knows it well—

Now it should be said that after those people died one after another, only Mr. Huo was left who still remembered him——

The young man is still alive, living in the system, and has already taken control of the entire Fugan area.

***

Old Master Huo hadn't spoken so much in a long time, which made him miss his youth which was shrouded in fear.

The two younger ones sat nearby and remained silent until he finished telling all the stories.

After a short rest, Mr. Huo said:

"Now, do you understand why I said you can't be his descendant? Even those who get his photo will be hunted down. Will he leave any biological descendants?"

That's impossible.

Lin Guantang sighed and said with a wry smile:

"So, it can't be just a coincidence that makes me look exactly like him."

God is really playing a joke on me.

Lin Guantang didn't know whether he should be disappointed or lucky, or what emotion he should express.

In fact, there are loopholes. After all, it seems that they only met twice. Who knows whether the boy had sex with anyone in private at that time.

But this loophole is worse than nothing, and Lin Guantang even forced himself to ignore it.

If he is really the descendant of that young man, then by inheriting his bloodline, he has inherited the greatest sin in the world.

If he is not the descendant of that young man, then all the efforts in searching for relatives would be in vain.

Each possibility is worse than the last. Lin Guantang instinctively doesn't want to admit that he is really the descendant of sin, but in fact, he is the descendant of that young man, and perhaps this is a good outcome for him.

The other party was so determined to kill him back then, and now he comes to him just because he looks like him. If he is a descendant and can hypnotize himself, the other party may want to find him to inherit the property or something... If there is no blood relationship, then it is obvious that he is preparing to kill him.

Because of his appearance, it violated the rule that the young man should disappear completely - so he appeared, so Lin Guantang must die.

Over the past sixty years, the fears of the past have not disappeared, they have simply remained dormant.

Lin Guantang doesn't want to die, so he has to find a chance to survive or kill the ghost from sixty years ago.

He began to speak, first mentioning the loophole:

"But not all photos were destroyed."

If the buried photo had not been found, none of this would have been completely and thoroughly revealed.

But Mr. Huo had already understood this point:

"Two photos, wrapped in layers of insulating materials that could be thought of at the time, one was buried underground, and the other was thrown into a well with a sinking stone."

In a sense, this is equivalent to complete destruction.

But several years later, the old house was renovated and the well was repaired. Someone salvaged the photo from the well, and then because of the ghost of the photo that was passed down, it was soon destroyed.

There is another photo, which is the one they dug out.

As he was speaking, Huo Shizhen had already taken out the photo and placed it on the table.

Although it was not obvious - but Lin Guantang was always paying attention to Mr. Huo's expression, so he still caught the horror and vigilance that rose in his heart after he saw the photo.

Then Mr. Huo laughed at himself with some nostalgia.

He didn't touch the photo, but tapped the table twice and said:

"It's this photo that has become a shadow hanging over all of our heads. Now that it's here, you should know what the truth is."

This sentence was said to Huo Shizhen, after all, the photos had always been kept by him.

Moreover, when Lin Guantang looked down at the photo, it was much more faded than the last time he saw it.

The last time he saw this photo, Lin Guantang actually thought it was too new and didn't look like an old photo from sixty years ago at all.

But now, there are large and small water stain circles on it, and the color has faded a lot, especially the "Friends by Chance", which is almost only left with an outline.

"First-level system tracking code."

After Huo Shizhen finished speaking, he made another unkind comment:

“A product of the past.”

"You can see through the mystery of this photo at a glance, so you think you are smart enough and a genius?"

Mr. Huo said something similar, but his tone was not one of pride in having a genius offspring. Lin Guantang even felt that... it was more like a mockery:

"Everything about you is merely the culmination of the Empire's deliberate efforts, but his intelligence is an innate gift."

It was rare for Huo Shizhen not to continue to retort, but seeing that his mind was blank, Lin Guantang probably didn't take Mr. Huo's words to heart.

Mr. Huo's gaze was fixed on the photo, filled with anger, resentment, and many other complex emotions that were difficult to discern:

"You're right. It's just a simple tracking code. The system can track you anytime, anywhere. With the current system level, even if it's only level 2 permission, it's easy to bypass it. Using it to conduct counter-tracking is also a piece of cake."

Although he said this, Lin Guantang did not feel any pride, but only a lot of sad emotions.

So Mr. Huo continued:

"Now you see it's an outdated product. Back then, we old guys—haha, we were also a bunch of young and inexperienced people. We felt overwhelming fear and cursed everyone, including the gods and Bodhisattvas. We gave birth to a genius who transcended his time, but why are we his rivals?"

"You youngsters haven't experienced it, so you can't feel the fear, but it's not completely incapable of feeling it—you should have reverse-traced this photo. What were the results?"

Invalid, failed, unknown source, cancelled...

As the anti-tracking was carried out, the photos began to fade, especially the appearance of the young man, which faded at the fastest speed.

——It was foreseen that no one would see through it at the time, but it would be seen through later, and a method of automatic destruction was arranged in advance to prepare for this possibility of seeing through.

Ordinary geniuses will arouse jealousy, outstanding geniuses will arouse envy, and geniuses that transcend the times will arouse fear.

But although I felt fear, I had no intention of retreating, nor did I intend to be shrouded in fear forever.

Lin Guantang said softly:

"Is that why the Empire started the creation of Hexi?"

He looked up at Mr. Huo and expressed his guess:

"Or rather, they realized that the boy was inextricably linked to the system codenamed X, and so they launched a new research project on System Y, targeting the so-called Unknown Item X."

Mr. Huo tacitly agreed with this statement:

"It seems that you have met Mingli. How did you get along with him?"

Lin Guantang was stunned for a moment. He didn't remember telling Mr. Huo that he would visit Huo Shizhen's mother before coming here.

Then he realized that Huo Shizhen had probably said it, so there was no need to tell him in advance, or -

The only place in the empire where the origin of Y is hidden is the underground research institute where Huo Shizhen's mother is.

He thought about it and nodded to answer the question:

"I have seen it, and it even helped me remove the marks left by the simulated world."

He thought about it and still didn't say the words "use the highest authority".

Mr. Huo didn't ask any more questions, but just tapped his leg and said with a smile:

"Don't be so nervous. Even if you two don't get along well, you won't see her mother-in-law many times. Even if an old man like me doesn't want to see her, I won't see her many times."

Then his tone turned dissatisfied again, and he said meaningfully:

"But we're family from now on, so we should keep in touch. We'll meet again at the parliament later. Be a good child, but don't pick up someone's bad habits. You can't even say nice things. It really makes this old man sad."

This is about recommending Lin Guantang to become a member of parliament.

Lin Guantang understood what he meant, but when he heard the second half of the sentence, he almost choked.

Aren’t we talking about the electronic ghost? How come it suddenly turned from a horror movie into a family emotional drama?

Lin Guantang couldn't help coughing and subconsciously looked up at Huo Shizhen, who gave him a...naughty look.

——So it was intentional.

Lin Guantang probably guessed that Huo Shizhen was also very sharp-tongued when speaking to the elderly, and that he was being sharp-tongued on purpose.

...The old man has a really hard life. Even at such an old age, he still has to be scolded by his grandson.

But it was impossible to tell the old man that Huo Shizhen was speaking harshly just to anger others. He thought about it and felt that family harmony should start with himself, and he still needed to restore Huo Shizhen's non-existent image.

So Huo Shizhen now speaks like a normal person, and at least he is still very nice to him.

Old Master Huo obviously didn't believe it. When Huo Shizhen said "like a normal person", he also gave him a meaningful look, but Lin Guantang deliberately ignored it - he was not wrong.

Then he forced the topic to shift to the first half of the sentence, saying that he was preparing relevant materials.

Although he said so, Lin Guantang got a headache when he thought about it.

It's not that he doesn't want to be a member of parliament, or that he feels he can't take on the responsibility and wants to back out. The main reason is that he needs to submit a lot of materials. Not to mention other things, he needs to write nearly ten thousand words, and there are also interviews and talks, which are obvious troubles.

But he knew all these things, or he could just complain to Huo Shizhen in private, but he couldn't bring it up and tell Mr. Huo -

In short, Lin Guantang behaved calmly and composedly, which satisfied Mr. Huo.

Then say:

"There won't be any major changes to the councilor's situation. Be prepared. If you agree with the O Academy's solution, that's all. As for your classmate, we'll arrange for him to divorce Dai Zhourong, so don't worry."

——Speaking of which, resolving the siege of the entire O Academy caused by Yin was the original goal of meeting Mr. Huo this time.

Lin Guantang had no objection, except for one last thing.

Lin Guantang frowned. The solution to the issue of Gu Jiaying and Dai Zhourong's marriage was not what he expected - he had other plans.

After a brief silence, Lin Guantang decided to speak out:

"But I think it would be better for my classmate to inherit Dai Zhourong's estate. With the evidence that has been unearthed about Dai Zhourong's crimes, even if he can't be sentenced to death or life imprisonment, he will at least be imprisoned for 10 to 20 years. I think that during these 10 to 20 years... my classmate can handle the Dai family's affairs."

His real plan was to let Gu Jiaying become the head of the Dai family since she was already married.

This was a plan that surprised Mr. Huo. At least on the surface, he was a little surprised. He looked at Lin Guantang a few more times. Lin Guantang did not show any guilt or retreat, but looked at him, indicating that he really thought so and felt sincerely -

It can be done.

Instead, it is a good idea, but difficult to implement.

"Xiao Lin, your classmate is not you. Just because you can do it doesn't mean he can do it too."

Old Master Huo looked at him. Although he still had a kind expression, Lin Guantang subconsciously sat up straighter because he instinctively felt a sense of majesty coming over him:

"Are you so sure that he can control the Dai family's assets? Even Dai Zhourong's close associates are not something a pampered young man like him can handle. If you force him to swallow up the family property, the result will most likely be that he will be torn into pieces and not even a scrap will be left."

This is the most likely outcome, but Lin Guantang feels that inferring future results based on past performance is not necessarily correct.

For example, when he was in District 35, he just ate and drank all day long, and he never thought that he would end up like this.

Only when something happens do you realize how great your potential is.

Gu Jiaying is indeed a pampered young master, but his actions regarding the matter of Dai Zhourong have proved that he has a brave heart.

Lin Guantang believed that given time, he might be able to create a miracle.

So he said:

"In the short term, it may be difficult to move forward, but in the future, who knows whether the Dai family will change their surname to Gu."

But Mr. Huo told him one thing:

"So, if we assume that Dai Zhourong will only be imprisoned for a few years at most, do you still have this confidence in your classmates?"

"How is that possible?!"

Lin Guantang's thoughts came to an abrupt halt, and he looked at Mr. Huo in disbelief. The other party just looked at him with a smile.

Lin Guantang's heart sank, because he had already guessed the reason -

Dai Zhourong was a famous nobleman, so it was not difficult for him to escape punishment.

But how can this be?

"Assuming it's not necessary."

In the silence, Huo Shizhen spoke somewhat boredly, interrupting their discussion on this issue:

"Because the person is already dead."

"What?!"

"You did it?"

Lin Guantang and Mr. Huo looked at him.

See the latest news received by the system on the terminal——

Dai Zhourong actually committed suicide.

Then Lin Guantang looked at Mr. Huo, not knowing what to say.

It's normal for him to be surprised by the news of Dai Zhourong's death, but Mr. Huo, you are too...distrustful of your grandson.

Old Master Huo did not seem surprised by Dai Zhourong's death, or rather, Dai Zhourong's death was not a big deal to him, but the cause of death was something he was curious about - because it seemed to be related to Huo Shizhen.

Huo Shizhen sneered and said coldly:

"I really appreciate your trust in me, but killing him would be meaningless to me."

Someone else did it.

***

In addition to the previously announced things about Dai Zhourong's actions, there is a new version that has been widely circulated on the Internet.

It is said that the reason he killed so many people was because he wanted to resurrect his first wife who died young.

To resurrect the dead, not only must the body be exactly the same as before, but also a deal must be made with the gods to call back the soul from the underworld.

The former, after countless times of practice, eventually obtains identical facial features and grafts them onto a healthy and suitable body, while the latter needs to sacrifice his life to the evil god.

The lives of common people are worthless. Only his blood relatives and friends, and the descendants of precious and famous families, can prove his sincerity and impress the evil gods.

That's why he held the wedding banquet on the ship and ran away with the bride in advance, because he wanted to plan a shipwreck and sacrifice all the people on the ship to exchange the souls of the deceased with the evil god.

Everyone on board could attest to a malfunction – one person even produced proof of a near-death experience at sea.

However, the bad guys' plans will always be exposed and fail.

Dai Zhourong's murder of innocent people was exposed by Gu Jiaying and Lin Guantang, while a shipwreck was prevented in its infancy by the imperial system.

Before this statement spread, some people, besides being angry at his crazy behavior, speculated that he was bewitched by a cult.

After this statement was exposed, in addition to this statement, some people strangely felt sympathy for Dai Zhourong.

But none of this matters. What matters is—

The nobles who were originally indifferent to Dai Zhourong's affairs even asked nobles with similar interests to excuse him because it involved the entire O Academy.

After this incident was exposed, it was decided that he should be killed.