Chapter 148 When Qiao Yanyu arrived, He Zhao hadn't arrived yet. He Zhao only just appeared when the appointed time came…
When Qiao Yanyu arrived, He Zhao hadn't arrived yet. He Zhao only appeared in Qiao Yanyu's sight when the appointed time came. He Zhao saw Qiao Yanyu from a distance. Her leg had just healed, so she wasn't riding her motorcycle. Without that heavy motorcycle, Qiao Yanyu wasn't as conspicuous, but He Zhao could still recognize her at a glance—the figure under the streetlight was Qiao Yanyu.
He Zhao was somewhat surprised, not expecting Qiao Yanyu to actually come. She thought that given Qiao Yanyu's busy schedule, Wang Yu would most likely be keeping her company tonight, so she was surprised that Qiao Yanyu actually made it.
Not only did she arrive, but she also brought her insulated lunchbox. He Zhao assumed Qiao Yanyu had already eaten, but to his surprise, Qiao Yanyu only opened the lunchbox to eat after sitting down. He Zhao felt a little sorry for her: "It's probably cold by now, Sister Qiao, why are you eating so late?"
Qiao Yanyu shook her head: "It's not cold, it's still a little warm. I had a lot to do tonight and didn't have time to eat. Now I can rest for a while and have a little something to eat."
Since Qiao Yanyu had said that, He Zhao could only prop his chin up and look at her. Qiao Yanyu sat next to He Zhao, quietly eating her meal. A little while later, the Mud Ghost came over. After sitting down opposite her, it craned its neck to look at Qiao Yanyu, somewhat curiously: "What are you eating?"
"dinner."
"That's quite late."
Even the Mud Demon said so, so Qiao Yanyu could only eat in silence, pretending not to hear. He Zhao couldn't help but sigh, "Yeah, that's right, it's so late."
He Zhao served food to the Mud Demon. Since they got along quite well and there weren't many other guests, the Mud Demon could chat while eating. He Zhao also remembered that Qiao Yanyu was investigating the Tonghuan Club, so he asked the Mud Demon a few questions:
Have you noticed anything strange lately?
The Mud Ghost was actually quite talkative and kind-hearted, as evidenced by the fact that it had proactively led the child ghost over. Such a ghost should be quite well-informed. However, He Zhao didn't expect to get any useful information from it, since they usually rested during the day.
Unexpectedly, the Mud Demon actually had some unexpected information: "I can't really provide any information about the 'Joyful Gathering' you mentioned before. But if you're asking about anything strange lately... well, I feel like there seem to be more ghosts around."
“I walk here every time I eat, and I sometimes stop along the way to chat with some familiar ghosts. It’s not just me who feels this way, they also say that there seem to be a lot more ghosts in the city lately. And this kind of thing hasn’t happened much, it’s only been happening for about a week or two.”
He Zhao remembered that a customer had mentioned this to her yesterday, but she hadn't paid much attention at the time. Now that the Mud Demon had brought it up as well, she really took it to heart: "Is there a lot more?"
"There are many. Some places where things often happen have a lot of ghosts. Go to the hospital and see, it might be overflowing with ghosts."
The mud ghost took a bite of rice, and He Zhao looked at Qiao Yanyu beside her. Qiao Yanyu was eating much faster, clearly eager to know more. At this moment, He Zhao felt it was her duty to step in and help Qiao Yanyu. She knew Qiao Yanyu wasn't good at communicating, so she took on this task.
"Besides the increase in the number of ghosts, is there anything else that is particularly unusual? For example, some ghosts don't match up with their appearance in life."
"I don't know about that. After all, some ghosts are confused and can't remember what they look like at all."
This lead has gone cold, but the information provided by the Mud Demon is still significant enough. Recently, the Countermeasures Bureau's attention has been drawn to the Fellowship and those unusual demons, causing some minor details to be overlooked.
After finishing her meal, Qiao Yanyu carefully wrote down what the Mud Demon had said.
He Zhao chatted with the Mud Ghost for a while, then a thought suddenly popped into his head: "By the way, Mud Ghost, do you actually have no wishes at all?"
It was clear that it didn't like the words "mud ghost," muttering a few things like "Who is a mud ghost?" and "Why do you call others such an awful name?" After that, it still answered He Zhao's question: "Yes."
The Mud Ghost has accepted its death well, so well that it still doesn't understand why it became a ghost. Qiao Yanyu didn't hide the cause of becoming a ghost from them either; the Mud Ghost naturally knew that only by hating others or being hated by others can one become a ghost.
But Mud Ghost was just an ordinary laborer, and he didn't think he had done anything to wrong anyone. Even if he had, it wasn't enough to make him hate himself to the point of becoming a ghost to vent his anger. Besides, Mud Ghost didn't even have the thought of hating others.
The moment it lunged to save the little girl, it was prepared to die. While it didn't have time to think, it didn't hate the girl. Nor did it hate the driver, because the driver hadn't actually done anything wrong; it was just a regular traffic accident.
So... how exactly did the mud ghost become a ghost?
Even though it had said before that there was a voice in its head that sounded like a child ghost, and before it became a ghost it kept babbling about how much it hated, how much it hated, and then it turned into a ghost as soon as it opened its eyes, it still didn't seem to have that much hatred.
The child ghost's transformation into a ghost is somewhat inexplicable. Although it does have regrets and wishes, it does not harbor hatred. Even after regaining its memories, it has never mentioned the idiot who killed it even once or twice. Its mind is full of thoughts about how its friends are doing. How could such a person become a ghost because of hatred?
He Zhao couldn't understand it no matter how hard he tried, which is why he suddenly asked this question.
The mud ghost's answer was perfectly natural: "No, when I was alive I had many wishes, like winning the lottery and becoming a rich woman one day. But I'm dead now, a ghost, so money is useless to me. When you're dead, what use are so many wishes?"
At this moment, Qiao Yanyu added, "He Zhao, becoming a ghost has nothing to do with whether or not you have a wish; it's only related to your own hatred. We help them fulfill their wishes because this can eliminate the hatred in their hearts, and then they will cooperate with us to be exorcised. Forcibly exorcising them would consume a lot of the investigator's yang energy, so we basically help them fulfill their wishes first."
Qiao Yanyu's words made a lot of sense, but He Zhao still felt something was off. Mainly, her thinking was different from Qiao Yanyu's, who knew from the beginning that ghosts existed. The investigators understood the reasons for the formation of ghosts as a whole, but they didn't concern themselves with why individual ghosts became ghosts in the first place.
Only He Zhao, an ordinary person, and someone who had developed a deep friendship with regulars like the Mud Ghost, would pay special attention to this matter: "But that's not right. The Mud Ghost doesn't harbor any hatred. Not just the Mud Ghost, but many ghosts I've encountered don't have any reason to become ghosts. For example, the tall guy before, he didn't harbor any hatred, and his death was an accident. At the time, I thought he shouldn't have become a ghost. But Sister Qiao told me that it might be because of other people's hatred, so I realized that's how it is."
"Even if we exclude the tall guy who became a ghost because of someone else, the original Gossian didn't really have a reason to become a ghost, and she was so powerful. She died saving people, which was a worthy death for Gossian, and she didn't have any resentment in her heart. It's true that a few people disliked her, and even that unfilial son and his mother hated Gossian, but it would be too strange if she became a ghost just because of such trivial hatred from one or two people."
He Zhao frowned in confusion. She rested her hand on her chin and asked the core question: "Speaking of which, does every ghost have that clamoring voice of hatred deep in its soul before it becomes a ghost, or is it only mud ghosts and child ghosts that have it?"
Qiao Yanyu was also somewhat bewildered by He Zhao's question, which he was asking to himself. But it must be said, He Zhao's question left Qiao Yanyu with no way of answering. Because before this, no investigator had ever cared what a ghost was thinking; they were simply completing a task, a streamlined process that barely required any brainpower—finding the ghost, helping it recover its memories, fulfilling its wishes, and sending it to its next life.
As for what ghosts actually think, investigators would never consider that, not to mention that many ghosts are confused and can only remember who they are, which is already quite remarkable. Who would think about what their situation was like before they became ghosts?
Even the Mud Demon couldn't help He Zhao with this problem, because it had been brainwashed by the incessant chattering voices every day before it became a ghost. But that's okay, He Zhao still had other ghosts to ask—that was his grandmother.
The old woman was He Zhao's first customer, and actually the one he got along with best. She was completely different from the mud ghost, the tall ghost, and the child ghost; she looked exactly the same as she did in life. Although the information didn't reveal why she became a ghost or whether she harbored hatred, her daily behavior and the things she inadvertently said to the child ghost suggested that she likely did.
In this case, the cause of the old woman's existence is completely different from theirs; she must have naturally become a ghost.
When the Mud Demon heard that He Zhao had a solution, he nodded, indicating that he was powerless to help and told He Zhao to keep trying.
The old woman arrived very late today; even the child ghost had come and gone, but they hadn't seen her. It wasn't until two o'clock that He Zhao finally saw her. She walked hurriedly, faster than usual, and only after sitting down opposite He Zhao did she breathe a sigh of relief. Her first words were the same as those of the guest who arrived late the night before:
"I'm late today, there was some traffic, have you been waiting for a long time?"
I've never seen anything like it before; to actually hear the word "block" from a ghost. He Zhao asked, "Is it because there are more ghosts now?"
"Yes, there are so many more. On the way here, some ghosts kept asking me all sorts of questions. Several of them even asked me if the food on my stall could really taste like it." The old woman's eyes were full of kindness as she said this: "Of course! Your food is so delicious, why would they need to ask me?"
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