Chapter 63 Honestly, it's quite thrilling to be a thief in an official institution like this. ...
Honestly, it's quite thrilling to be a thief inside an official institution like this.
He Zhao had never been a thief in her life, let alone in an official institution. Clutching the stitched-up water ghost, she was visibly anxious. Thankfully, Qiao Yanyu was very confident in front of her, making her feel like she was back home… wait, no, this felt more like Qiao Yanyu's own home.
However, Qiao Yanyu was indeed remarkable. The various mechanisms within the Countermeasures Bureau that had previously given Wang Yu a great headache were all exposed in front of her. The talismans pasted on the wall, which He Zhao could not see at all, were quietly peeled off by Qiao Yanyu.
"Won't the people in the bureau find out if we do this?"
When Qiao Yanyu heard He Zhao's question, she explained, "There aren't many people in the bureau at night, only the director. She's usually busy with work and doesn't have time to deal with things that people won't notice. We can just put them on when we come out."
"oh oh."
As they walked, Wang Yu's deliberately hushed voice could be heard through the earpiece from time to time. She found it thrilling, like she was an intelligence agent behind Superwoman. Wang Yu reported points through the earpiece, easily bypassing even the investigators who occasionally came to the station at night.
As they approached the place where Lin Gao was to be imprisoned, Qiao Yanyu first placed He Zhao in the small security booth at the entrance. She went inside for a while, then came out again, waving to He Zhao to come in with her. He Zhao had only just realized how cunning the Paranormal Investigation Bureau was; what appeared to be an ordinary factory on the outside was actually a hollowed-out underground structure with many layers. They were already seven floors underground. Judging from the elevator, there were at least ten more floors below.
Following Qiao Yanyu inside, they discovered it really was a prison, though it didn't look as oppressive and was brighter. It was still the single-seat type, and the treatment was quite good.
He Zhao was still a little angry. Why did Lin Gao, such trash, get such good treatment?
But the thought of Lin Gao facing punishment later cheered Qiao Yanyu up considerably. As they neared their destination, neither He Zhao nor Qiao Yanyu went inside; instead, they released the sewn-up water ghost from the small drifting bottle.
When it first emerged, it was still carrying a thick layer of yin energy, and being trapped inside the small bottle wasn't a pleasant experience. Because of this, Qiao Yanyu was on guard. But He Zhao immediately opened his mouth and said, "What are you doing? What are you doing? Put away that yin energy, otherwise you'll expose your presence before you even meet anyone. If they're on guard then, will you still be so easy to scare them?"
The sutured water ghost, upon hearing this, realized it made sense and obediently withdrew some of its yin energy. Standing there now, it didn't resemble a malevolent spirit burdened with deep-seated hatred, but rather a cosplaying anime/manga enthusiast, specifically one from a horror game.
He Zhao moved a little closer to the sutured water ghost and patted it on the shoulder: "We've done everything we can for you. Now it's up to you." Qiao Yanyu frowned and reached out to take He Zhao's hand away, indicating that He Zhao should not touch the sutured water ghost.
He Zhao didn't care, shrugged, and pointed to the room inside: "Here, the stage is yours. Now it's up to you to perform."
"good."
He Zhao and Qiao Yanyu left, but instead of going anywhere else, they found an empty cell next door and sat down. Qiao Yanyu's phone had Wang Yu's live feed of the Linggao prison situation. He Zhao's phone wasn't working properly and couldn't play the ghost image, so she could only move closer to Qiao Yanyu and watch it with her.
There's still no sign of the stitched-up water ghost in Lin Gao's cell. Qiao Yanyu sensed it and said, "It's already lying in ambush at the ventilation shaft, just waiting to make its move."
Lin Gao in the picture looks timid and hesitant, as if the "ghost" thing He Zhao mentioned earlier really bothers him. But two days have passed, and the girl from room 501 and the other ghosts haven't come looking for him, so he's actually a little more relaxed.
Although he looked timid, he felt confident again: he was a serial killer, and that little girl hadn't been able to do anything to him while she was alive; she was a lamb to the slaughter in his hands. Even if they became ghosts, what could they do to him? They certainly wouldn't dare to come looking for him!
Just then, the lights in the cell flickered, instantly creating the atmosphere of a horror movie. Wang Yu's commentary came through the earpiece: "The trope is so old-fashioned, but this way it immediately tells Lin Gao: A ghost is here!"
As Wang Yu spoke, she made the crunching sound of potato chips, making it obvious that she was secretly eating snacks.
Well, Wang Yu actually ate all the food by herself without even thinking of sharing any with them.
He Zhao once again experienced how unreliable Wang Yu was.
However, her comment was spot on. The technique of using stitched-up water ghosts to make the lights flicker is indeed a bit outdated; eight out of ten horror movies use it. But its advantage is that it lets Lin Gao know that they've returned.
Sure enough, under the flickering lights, Lin Gao's expression visibly changed. He went from being somewhat nervous but nonchalant to being completely tense, with a thin layer of sweat on his forehead.
After that, He Zhao saw that nothing had changed on the screen, but she clearly felt a bit cold. They were still in the next cell, so one could only imagine what the temperature was like in Lin Gao's room.
He Zhao felt a little sorry for Lin Gao; he was probably frozen solid by now. But it was just a slight pity; she was more interested in how the sutured water ghost would deal with Lin Gao next. In Qiao Yanyu's phone screen, the sutured water ghost had already quietly climbed down from the ventilation duct.
Yes, by crawling.
Although it was a ghost, it used a stream of water to sneakily remove the window from the ventilation duct when the light dimmed, and then climbed down into the pipe. After doing all this, it obediently put the window back on.
It crouched silently in the corner, waiting for Lin Gao to find it.
Ordinary people rarely see what a ghost actually looks like, but it was an exception at He Zhao's stall, where Lin Gao easily saw a tall figure. At that moment, however, he only felt a chilling wind and couldn't even see the suture-sealed water ghost anywhere.
Qiao Yanyu explained, "At this point, if we gradually lower Lin Gao's sanity, he will be able to see the suture line water ghost."
This is a setting with a very strong scientific basis.
He Zhao sighed, explaining why ordinary people rarely see ghosts, yet are still affected by them. The appearance of ghosts affects a person's sanity level (SAN). Prolonged contact with ghosts unconsciously influences them; if the SAN continues to decrease, they can then see things they couldn't see before.
Some people are born with a psychic talent; they can see ghosts even with a normal SAN value. Qiao Yanyu and Wang Yu are examples of such people.
After the sutured water ghost had posed for a while, and Lin Gao had gotten used to the flickering lights, his sanity finally dropped to the point where he could see the sutured water ghost. Under normal circumstances, he might not have realized that Lin Gao knew about this, but when he saw the figure he had buried with his own hands in the dim light, he couldn't help but scream.
The loud "Ah!" rang out simultaneously in the next room and through the headphones. Even Wang Yu complained, "That sound is so loud and shrill. It sounds even worse than my neighbor's brat's scream."
He Zhao couldn't help but take off his headset and rub his ears. Wang Yu was absolutely right; the sound was loud and shrill, making his ears hurt.
There was no need to guess; Lin Gao had seen the sutured water ghost one hundred percent. This energized the sutured water ghost, and with the flickering light, it suddenly closed in on Lin Gao, repeatedly muttering, "Give me back my life...give me back my life...you've ruined me so much..."
The plot is really old-fashioned; I've seen it countless times in TV dramas and movies. But in real life, this is the first time Lin Gao has ever witnessed such a scene. As the saying goes, if you have a clear conscience, you have nothing to fear. And Lin Gao happens to be the one who has done something wrong, yet the person responsible has come knocking on his door.
The stitched-up water ghost in the picture did look a bit terrifying. Water droplets kept falling from its body, turning into a pool of cool river water that spread towards the forest. Even though he wasn't in that room, the strong, earthy smell of the river seemed to linger in He Zhao's nostrils.
This all-encompassing feast for the senses was indeed too much for Lin Gao to handle. He yelled, his legs gave way, and he collapsed to the ground. He Zhao understood. She had previously thought the protagonists in horror movies were a bit useless because they often fell to the ground, but after searching online, she discovered that people in extreme fear cannot control their bodies, so falling was understandable.
Especially now that the protagonist of this horror drama is a scumbag like Lin Gao, isn't it normal for him to fall to the ground and be slaughtered by the sutured water ghost?
Hearing Wang Yu crunching potato chips through the headset, He Zhao's mouth started to itch, and he wanted to eat something too...
In the video, Lin Gao is trembling, tears streaming down his face, and he begins to beg for mercy. He can't say anything like "I didn't do it, it was a wish," since the victim is right in front of him, and he's the one who sewed that face back on stitch by stitch. To talk about wishes in front of a water ghost with stitches would be utterly ridiculous.
He started playing the emotional card: "I...I have a child and an elderly mother at home. I'm so sorry, it was just a moment of weakness. Please forgive me!"
"You think I'll let you go?!" The stitched water ghost gritted its teeth, its voice filled with malice. It moved closer to Lin Gao, and the water droplets on its body fell onto Lin Gao's legs. Lin Gao had no choice but to move his buttocks and shrink into a corner, covering his head with his hands, trembling and not daring to look at the stitched water ghost.
But the dripping sound of water, like a death knell, was incessant.
"Then who will let me go?!"
Between threats, the sutured water ghost sighed inwardly: "What a pity, this guy's ass is sitting on the ground, it's hard to kick him."
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