Chapter 166 The person in front of her looked just like Li Xia, had the same voice as Li Xia, and even greeted her...
The person in front of her looked exactly like Li Xia, had the same voice, and even greeted her in the same way; there seemed to be no flaws whatsoever. Although He Zhao and Li Xia had a good relationship within the Countermeasures Bureau, the main reason was that He Zhao didn't know many people in the bureau, and Li Xia was one of the few she interacted with quite a bit.
So logically speaking, even if Li Xia were different, she wouldn't be able to detect anything.
But at this moment, He Zhao clearly noticed something was wrong. Because—Li Xia's face was too clean, too sun-kissed, not at all like a typical working-class person. Li Xia's working-class nature couldn't be hidden, just like Wang Yu's unreliability—it couldn't be concealed.
Most importantly, Li Xia's heavy dark circles disappeared completely in just two days.
They disappeared so cleanly! Although she said she wanted to rest, that was just a short break. With the Director of the Countermeasures Bureau's personality of working like a beast of burden once he finally caught a worker, plus Li Xia's current boss being a workaholic like Qiao Yanyu, how could they possibly give Li Xia much time to rest!
It's only after Qiao Yanyu and He Zhao got together that Thirteen Sister's workaholic nature subsided a bit. If it were the old her, taking a vacation? Impossible, absolutely impossible. As long as she doesn't die, she'll work herself to death. Investigators are a group of people who disregard life and death; the worst that can happen is they die from overwork. How can they easily take a break?
Regardless, Li Xia's rest will be at most half a day off. She'll be lucky to have a proper meal, take a shower, and rest. How could she possibly get enough sleep to completely eliminate her previous fatigue? In fact, she might even feel more tired after half a day of rest.
Although He Zhao wasn't a working-class person, she had friends who were working like cattle and horses before she transmigrated. Every time they got together, she either couldn't come because of meetings or overtime, or when she did come, she had a half-dead, forced smile. She could only be a little happier when she was hanging out with them; as soon as they parted, she would immediately become lifeless.
That expression was so memorable, standing out starkly from the group of people eating, drinking, and having fun, that He Zhao remembered it vividly. And Li Xia, clearly, was also that kind of working-class person. Someone like that would never have those dark circles and bags under her eyes disappear!
In conclusion, He Zhao felt that Li Xia in front of him was very strange, extremely strange.
As she approached, the talisman that He Zhao always carried, which Wang Yu had secretly given him, was slightly warm. It wasn't particularly hot, just a little bit, meaning that Li Xia in front of him wasn't a ghost, but she had definitely been exposed to yin energy.
Actually, it's not surprising that investigators come into contact with yin energy. When Wang Yu, Jiu Qing, and even the gatekeeper approached He Zhao, the talismans on her body reacted in the same way. But it's very strange that it happened to Li Xia. Li Xia is an office worker; how could she have so much contact with ghosts that the yin energy was so strong that even her talismans reacted when they were near her?
He Zhao's mind immediately conjured up images of fake people and human skin masks. She remained calm and chatted with the fake Li Xia for a while. After the fake Li Xia left, she began to feel anxious. "No way! Even Li Xia has a fake? The Tonghuan Society is so powerful, they've even infiltrated the Countermeasures Bureau!"
She racked her brains for a while, but still couldn't figure it out. She could only pass the message out and wait for Wang Yu to come in. But He Zhao was also a little scared; what if Wang Yu was also replaced?
Wang Yu visited even less often than Li Xia, but her visits were regular, usually every two days, bringing He Zhao snacks, milk tea, or other small drinks. Although He Zhao felt that his life of eating, drinking, and having fun every day was too lazy and that he would easily gain weight, Wang Yu always said, "This is what Senior Qiao requested. She can't come by herself, so she only feels at ease if I come more often." She would also secretly try to brainwash He Zhao: "Look how good I am! I'll stew pork ribs for you, and I'll also have lamb chops. I've never had roasted lamb chops before."
Wang Yu had definitely eaten roasted lamb chops before, but she had never had He Zhao's. When He Zhao first heard her mention it, he was a little confused: "How did you know I could make roasted lamb chops?"
“Xiao Hei said so.” She said while handing snacks to He Zhao, “Xiao Hei told me that Senior Qiao made a promise with it that you will make it lots of delicious food, including roasted lamb chops.”
"..." So how exactly did Wang Yu, as a human, communicate with Xiao Hei?
Another day passed, and Wang Yu arrived. She brought a whole bunch of food again, but He Zhao was wary and didn't rush to talk. Instead, he stood quietly to the side, watching Wang Yu make her move. Wang Yu acted exactly the same as before, chattering on and on: "There are so many strawberry milk teas now. You should try this one. I really like this one. It's strawberry yogurt bubble tea. I think these bubbles are even better than pearls. They're so crunchy."
Having heard Wang Yu's words, He Zhao was already mostly convinced that she was indeed Wang Yu. After all, it was hard to find another person as unreliable as Wang Yu. But He Zhao still asked, "After I get out, what would you like me to cook for you?"
Upon hearing this, Wang Yu immediately scrambled to her feet, revealing her sparkling eyes to He Zhao. Her left eye seemed to scream "I'm so hungry!" and her right eye screamed "I want to eat!" She blurted out, "Roasted lamb chops? Spicy chicken? Big plate chicken? Spicy chicken? Sweet and sour pork ribs? I'll eat anything, really! Boss, you've finally come to your senses and agreed to treat me to dinner! But is it really appropriate for me to order? Perhaps we should ask Senior Qiao first before deciding what to eat?"
I knew it was the right person from the first glance.
He Zhao immediately retracted his order: "I was just telling you."
Wang Yu felt like the sky had fallen at that moment: "No way, boss! You said you'd treat me to dinner, you can't take it back! How could you do this? Waaah, is it so hard to treat me to a meal? Considering how hard I work for you every day, just treat me to a meal, even if it's just like feeding the chickens, cluck cluck cluck..."
Wang Yu's words became increasingly nonsensical, so He Zhao could only say, "Alright, stop acting like that. You'll still get to eat."
After confirming that Wang Yu was indeed the person in question, she quickly recounted Li Xia's strange behavior to Wang Yu. Although Wang Yu wasn't exactly reliable, she understood the importance of things and cared about those around her. Knowing that Li Xia might have been replaced by someone using a secret technique, even the usually carefree Wang Yu wore a serious expression.
He Zhao asked, "Is there really such a way to impersonate someone? I was just wondering if you were also being impersonated."
“I’ve never seen this kind of magic before, but there are so many extraordinary people in this world, who knows if such a method really exists. I can more or less guess why she’s impersonating Li Xia.” She slapped her thigh, looking heartbroken: “Li Xia is just too weak. It’s fine normally, but in a situation like this, who else can we turn to but her? Besides, her own door-blocking secret technique is that dream-entering thing, which is basically useless in normal times, making it very difficult to distinguish her from the real thing in everyday life.”
"If it weren't for your carefulness, boss, I might have really been fooled."
"But isn't it easy to detect and expose the yin energy emanating from her?"
Wang Yu shook his head: "No, Li Xia is also responsible for receiving guests and occasionally patrolling the various cells to check on the situation of the ghosts that haven't been dealt with yet. She can easily say that she got involved while patrolling. Usually, no one would think that she was replaced, so she can just give a simple explanation and get away with it."
Wang Yu took a deep breath: "Now we just hope that Li Xia herself is alright. Not only does the person impersonating her need to maintain the facade so that they won't be exposed, but they also need to get more information out of Li Xia. The fake Li Xia came in disguise, she's definitely not doing this for fun. Li Xia is smart, she won't tell the other party all the information at the beginning, she will definitely control it little by little for negotiation, and she won't reveal any professional secrets."
He Zhao was somewhat surprised: "What are the professional secrets?"
"The passwords and methods to enter the ghost rooms on the last few underground floors where prisoners are held."
He Zhao was shocked: "She even knows this?"
“Normally, they wouldn’t know, but Li Xia is essentially a clerical secretary, so she knows. As for the others, I don’t know anything about them.” Wang Yu was about to leave; she was anxious to tell the director and Qiao Yanyu about this, but He Zhao stopped her and told her about the dream he had.
"Whether it's true or not, tell Sister Qiao about it and ask her to take a look."
"Okay." Wang Yu agreed, then asked He Zhao if there was anything she needed to take before leaving the room. Before leaving, she told He Zhao that since Li Xia was now being impersonated, he shouldn't be lenient and should make her do as much as possible.
He Zhao agreed.
Wang Yu hurriedly left with the two pieces of information. The bureau chief was shocked when she heard that Li Xia had been impersonated. She had never seen such a secret method before, but He Zhao's words made sense. The bureau chief knew what kind of person Li Xia was, so she simply told Wang Yu to hide and then dialed Li Xia's number, asking her to come to her office.
The bureau chief appeared to be asking only simple questions, such as the documents Li Xia had previously handled. Li Xia answered them fluently, seemingly no different from before. But the bureau chief was a cunning old fox; the moment he saw Li Xia, he knew she was indeed an imposter.
After Li Xia left, the bureau chief called Wang Yu out. She didn't touch any of the documents on her desk, but instead asked Wang Yu, "How's the investigation into the Tonghuan Club going? Are we still short-staffed?"
Wang Yu reported: "Senior Qiao has captured a member of the Tonghuan Society and obtained some inside information. If the information given by the boss is true, we can make great progress. We are definitely short of manpower. Our small team only has three people to begin with, and Li Xia has been captured and impersonated. We can't very well ask Jiuqing for help."
The bureau chief nodded: "Then count me in."
"ah?"
The bureau chief tied his hair up and stood up: "They dare to lay a hand on my secretary, they really don't want to live."
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