Chapter 134 "The investigators in charge of that area have conducted investigations and confirmed whether it has transformed into a ghost or a human form..."
"The investigators in charge of that area have done their research and confirmed the correspondence between the ghosts and the human identities. All the people and events that died but have no corresponding ghosts are here, including those from the last three years. Senior Qiao, please take a look."
There's a significant challenge in associating ghosts with humans: not everyone becomes a ghost after death. Some people die without harboring any hatred, so they are quickly reincarnated. Others become too weak as ghosts, lacking sufficient yin energy to enter their bodies, and quickly dissipate.
Furthermore, ghosts can change their appearance, making it quite difficult to match them up.
But He Zhao didn't expect there to be so much information.
When Wang Yu pulled a thick book out of her backpack, He Zhao was stunned: "So many?"
Wang Yu nodded: "Yes, there are more things happening in more bustling areas, plus there are more drunk people there, and quite a few die suddenly on the roadside because of drinking too much. In addition, the little girl's appearance doesn't match the description at all, and we don't even know if she's a boy or a girl, so we need even more information."
He Zhao actually thought the child ghost was most likely female, but she wasn't a professional and couldn't rule out the possibility that the little girl's body was actually an adult male. But just thinking about the possibility that the child ghost might be a man, and a man who had died suddenly from drunkenness on the roadside, gave He Zhao goosebumps.
—What to do? This possibility is a bit disgusting.
He Zhao couldn't bear to look at the true face of the child ghost rolling on the ground. She forced a smile, hoping the truth would be as she imagined.
Qiao Yanyu quickly flipped through it and put it aside: "Send me the electronic version later too."
"good."
After finishing their meal and discussing their business, Wang Yu and Li Xia took their spicy snacks and said goodbye. Wang Yu waved the bag in her hand and said to He Zhao, "Boss, next time you have leftovers that don't keep well, don't forget me! Just treat me like a garbage can; I'll eat anything, I'm not picky."
Li Xia couldn't be as shameless as Wang Yu, but she didn't want to miss out on the delicious food either, so she nodded and said only three words: "Me too."
After seeing the two out, He Zhao went into the kitchen to tidy up and put the dishes in the dishwasher. Then he came out, sat on the sofa, and casually picked up the notebook that Wang Yu had handed him earlier to look at.
Qiao Yanyu was right next to her. When she saw He Zhao's actions, she reached out and stopped him, saying, "Don't look."
A question mark popped into He Zhao's head: "What's wrong?" It certainly wasn't because there was some highly confidential information inside that He Zhao couldn't see, so they weren't letting her see it. The head of the Countermeasures Bureau had already tacitly agreed that He Zhao could accompany them on their missions, so there was no reason for him to say that He Zhao couldn't see the information.
That's why He Zhao found it very strange.
"It's disgusting, you'll throw up if you see it."
He Zhao froze, then suddenly goosebumps rose on her skin; she felt as if her hair was standing on end. She swallowed hard before asking, "Is...is there a photo?"
"Yes, these are photos from the case."
The Countermeasures Bureau is an official agency, and its intelligence is shared with all relevant departments. Those graphic, bloody photos from the scene wouldn't be blurred out and would appear unedited in these documents. This is why Qiao Yanyu only glanced at them briefly during her meal before setting them aside.
Even someone as formidable as Qiao Yanyu would find it difficult to carefully review cases while eating.
He Zhao wasn't one to indulge in morbid curiosity, nor did she want to vomit after a meal because of something disgusting. So, she obediently placed the documents aside. If she couldn't look at them, she wouldn't. Curiosity killed the cat, and He Zhao didn't want to be that cat.
While He Zhao was watching a variety show on TV, Qiao Yanyu was flipping through documents. She was comparing information in a database on her phone while looking at the documents in her hand. Her brows were tightly furrowed. Even though she was used to this kind of thing, receiving so much shocking information and photos all at once still gave Qiao Yanyu a headache.
He Zhao, who was standing next to her, would glance over from time to time and see Qiao Yanyu rubbing her brow to relieve her physical and mental fatigue.
Seeing this, He Zhao had mixed feelings. After a while, He Zhao suddenly said, "Sister Qiao, have I caused you any trouble?"
Qiao Yanyu, who was looking through the documents, paused for a moment. She looked up at He Zhao and realized that he was serious. So she closed the documents in her hand, turned off her phone, put it aside, adjusted her posture, and asked, "He Zhao, why do you think that?"
He Zhao hesitated for a moment, unusually frank, before finally speaking under Qiao Yanyu's particularly direct gaze: "I feel that it's because of me that Sister Qiao has to do so much work. If I didn't have so much to do, Sister Qiao could have a proper rest."
He Zhao's feeling wasn't unfounded; it stemmed from the fact that Qiao Yanyu was still injured, but had been quite busy lately due to the work He Zhao had assigned her. This was even before the Countermeasures Bureau had assigned her any work. He Zhao knew that, given Qiao Yanyu's personality, she would throw herself back into work once she recovered.
Qiao Yanyu might reduce her working hours and increase her rest time because of herself, but it's completely impossible for her to stop working altogether. Qiao Yanyu is someone who will work herself to the bone for her job.
Qiao Yanyu smiled and said, "No, it's not that. I can't stay idle. Even if you don't give me these jobs, He Zhao, I'll still take on some work from the Countermeasures Bureau and do what I can." What Qiao Yanyu said was true.
In previous years, she had never rested for this long due to an injury. Now, she would have gritted her teeth and gone to the Countermeasures Bureau on crutches to ask the director for work. Even if she was physically unable to work, she would take on any job she could do at the Countermeasures Bureau, even if it was just answering phone calls or organizing documents.
Qiao Yanyu really couldn't sit still, because she really disliked the feeling of being alone and doing nothing. In an overly quiet atmosphere, she would always start thinking about all sorts of things, and as soon as she closed her eyes, childhood memories would surface, and she would often dream of her mother's death.
Then slowly, the face of the dead mother in that scene transformed into his own.
Qiao Yanyu actually has a bit of a self-destructive tendency, which is why she works so hard and pessimistically thinks that she will die one day.
It's true that this line of work is very risky, but no one thinks like Qiao Yanyu that they'll die someday. Wang Yu is the opposite of Qiao Yanyu. She's not as capable as Qiao Yanyu, and she knows this line of work is dangerous, but she has plenty of free time to do many things she wants to do, and she's happy every day.
Did Wang Yu not know that he might die at any moment? How could he not know? He just knew that it was all in the past, and until that time came, Wang Yu could live optimistically.
Qiao Yanyu, all she thinks about is death.
So, it's quite rare for Qiao Yanyu to have such a long break without any overthinking. All of this is because of He Zhao. Because of He Zhao, Qiao Yanyu's world is completely filled with her own affairs, naturally leaving no time or inclination to think about pessimistic things.
During the time she had been dating He Zhao, Qiao Yanyu rarely thought about what would happen if she were to sacrifice herself. She just wanted to live and enjoy every day she spent with He Zhao.
Hearing Qiao Yanyu say that, He Zhao breathed a sigh of relief and moved closer to her, snuggling up to her.
Qiao Yanyu continued looking at the documents in her hands, letting He Zhao lean on her shoulder while her eyes remained fixed on the television. Qiao Yanyu had previously warned He Zhao that he most likely wouldn't look at the documents in her hands; they did indeed look disgusting.
After a while, Qiao Yanyu's phone rang. She looked at the caller ID and said apologetically to He Zhao, "Excuse me, could you... um, just give me some space? I need to take this call."
"Okay." He Zhao got up from the sofa, turned off the phone, and went straight to the kitchen to prepare the things he would need for his stall that night.
Actually, if Qiao Yanyu hadn't been on the sofa instead of in a wheelchair, she probably would have moved aside herself. The reason she didn't was probably because the phone call was important and couldn't be delayed, so the best solution was for He Zhao, who was able-bodied, to step aside.
He Zhao wasn't someone who couldn't distinguish between what was important and what wasn't urgent, so he left quickly after agreeing.
After He Zhao entered the kitchen, Qiao Yanyu answered the phone. The director's voice came from the other end of the line. She didn't use the "hello" prefix and directly said, "It's me." After Qiao Yanyu hummed in response, the director got straight to the point.
"I saw the information Wang Yu collected for you. Did you encounter a ghost whose appearance didn't match the actual deceased?"
Qiao Yanyu replied, "Yes."
The bureau chief on the other end of the line was silent for a moment before continuing, "How many times has this happened to you recently?"
"The third one." Mud ghost, tall guy, and then the current child ghost.
“This number is a bit too high. Besides the ones you encountered, in the reports I’ve received, there have been 23 such cases in the past five months, and that’s just within the city. If we expand to the whole province or even the whole country, there will only be more. The investigators’ internal forum has also been discussing this recently. I suspect there’s something fishy going on behind the scenes.”
The director's concerns were not unfounded. The responses from the investigators in the downtown area showed that she had actually encountered several cases where the appearance did not match the deceased.
Has this happened in previous years? Definitely, Qiao Yanyu has encountered several cases. But…not as frequently as now. Qiao Yanyu remained calm, not asking the bureau chief's opinion. The bureau chief, without needing Qiao Yanyu to ask, instead inquired, "How is your injury?"
Once she recovers from her injuries, Qiao Yanyu will have a new mission.
Faced with this situation, Qiao Yanyu still said, "It will be soon. At most, it will be half a month before I can move around normally."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com