Chapter 68 These days, He Zhao truly feels that humans are harder to understand than ghosts. Ghosts are the most…
These days, He Zhao really thinks that people are harder to understand than ghosts.
Ghosts, at least, have a purpose when they commit crimes, and they don't care whether their victims are men, women, young or old. But when humans commit crimes, their first thought is whether the other person can outdo them. Unless it's a targeted crime, on a large scale, the first thought is usually a young, pretty, and harmless girl.
He Zhao's eyes twitched when he heard what the old woman said.
They were running around with that foreign ghost, and they didn't look like ordinary people. Even in that state, they still tried to take advantage of young girls. They were shameless.
He Zhao mentally criticized those people, then said to the old woman, "Don't worry, Grandma, I've been catching up on sleep all day, I won't go to places where no one is around." Hearing He Zhao say this, the old woman breathed a sigh of relief, and then took out some money from her pocket, wanting to buy He Zhao some candy.
The old woman's mind had become much clearer recently, but her desire to give He Zhao money to buy candy remained unchanged. He Zhao still refused, only accepting payment for the white rice, and then told the old woman to take the rest back.
It was quite late when Qiao Yanyu arrived. The sound of the motorcycle was very clear in the night, and He Zhao looked over even before she got close. When she came over, He Zhao noticed that she really looked tired, and there were even some dark circles under her eyes.
He Zhao felt a pang of sympathy. She patted the seat next to her, urging the person to sit down quickly. After they were seated, she took out a can of beverage from the drawer—a lukewarm milk tea. Qiao Yanyu said "thank you" and took the can; it was still warm.
Seeing Qiao Yanyu looking at him, He Zhao said, "It's cold, have something hot to warm yourself up."
Qiao Yanyu opened the package and took a sip. Just as He Zhao had said, it was cold, so drinking something hot would warm her up. The warm milk tea made Qiao Yanyu feel her almost frozen body warm up.
Qiao Yanyu sat obediently and finished the whole can of milk tea before letting out a long sigh of relief.
He Zhao wanted Qiao Yanyu to rest for a while, but she hadn't seen Qiao Yanyu much lately, so she wanted to tell Qiao Yanyu everything she had heard before as soon as possible. After seeing that Qiao Yanyu had finished drinking, she poured out her heart to her without holding back, offering all her advice.
Qiao Yanyu listened intently, even writing down the important points in her notebook.
After speaking, He Zhao paused for a moment before asking, "Have those bad guys made a move recently? Have any girls gone missing?"
Qiao Yanyu shook her head: "We haven't received any reports yet, but they do have a lot of underhanded tactics." She paused for a moment before telling He Zhao, "They were behind that chain-reaction car accident before." Qiao Yanyu then reminded He Zhao again, "Just like your guests said, try not to go to dangerous places during the day... I'll try to get home as soon as possible tonight and come with you."
She was indeed very worried about He Zhao, since He Zhao always went out alone at night, and the park was quite remote, so the chances of He Zhao being targeted were not small.
He Zhao nodded. She wouldn't risk her life at a time like this: "Don't worry, Sister Qiao, I'll definitely behave myself."
Qiao Yanyu was still not entirely at ease. For the next few days, she came to the entrance of the residential area on time and went with He Zhao to the stall. During this time, He Zhao also noticed that there were more shops selling fireworks on the roadside. Only then did she realize that it was almost the end of the year and the New Year was approaching.
Thinking about it, it makes sense. After the Gossian incident, we were saying that the end of the year was approaching, and sure enough, the year is about to end.
There's a group of criminals in the city, and Qiao Yanyu's idea is to simply cancel the New Year's Eve celebration. With so many people and so many eyes on the scene, accidents are very likely to happen. Plus, mobilizing personnel for security would easily scatter manpower. If a fire breaks out somewhere due to fireworks, it would make it even easier for those guys to take advantage of the chaos.
However, the New Year's Eve event had been decided long ago, and since the word had already been spoken, the truth could not be revealed to shake public confidence. Therefore, after communicating with the higher authorities, only a few New Year's Eve events in remote areas were canceled, while the events at several locations in the city center proceeded as planned.
On New Year's Eve, Qiao Yanyu couldn't come to help He Zhao with his stall because she had too many things to do. However, she managed to get Wang Yu to come, even though Wang Yu wasn't very reliable, he could at least protect He Zhao a little.
So on New Year's Eve, He Zhao and Wang Yu stared at each other blankly.
Wang Yu started complaining: "No, I really don't want to stay here with the boss. I want to stay home and watch the New Year's Eve gala, and my favorite sister is going to perform on stage."
He Zhao's lips twitched slightly: "What are you talking about? Do you think I want to spend New Year's Eve with you!" The only person she truly wanted to spend New Year's Eve with was Qiao Yanyu. Unfortunately, all her charm was wasted on Qiao Yanyu, who was busy with work.
When the first customer arrived, Wang Yu sniffed and said, "Spending New Year's Eve with the boss is one thing, but I never expected to spend it with a ghost."
While the two of them were waiting for customers, the surrounding area was desolate and bleak, except for fireworks that started blooming in the sky far away, even before the appointed time. Since this was a park with few obstructions, they could see very clearly from their vantage point.
Wang Yu felt a little happier and picked up her phone to take a picture.
Just as she pressed the camera button and entered the shooting interface, the phone she had just held up rang. Wang Yu was startled. She quickly picked up the phone, and the smile that had been on her face vanished instantly, replaced by a very serious expression.
The voice changed from a cheerful "hello" to a muffled "yes," and then the call ended. Wang Yu looked at He Zhao somewhat embarrassed, and He Zhao asked her, "What's wrong?"
Wang Yu scratched her head: "Boss, can you close up shop early today? I have something to do and have to leave." Afraid that He Zhao would be unhappy, she made a point of explaining: "It's not a personal matter, it's work-related, and it's very important right now. I really have to go."
He Zhao wasn't an unreasonable person. Seeing how anxious Wang Yu was, she nodded and said, "Go ahead."
Wang Yu breathed a sigh of relief. She was still holding her phone in her hand. She stood up, but then she remembered something and specifically told He Zhao, "You must hurry home. Don't linger on the way. If you see any people or ghosts, don't pay any attention to them. Don't look back or stop the car. Just hurry home."
Seeing He Zhao nod in agreement, Wang Yu said goodbye to him and quickly left. But before disappearing from He Zhao's sight, she called out to him, "Happy New Year, He Zhao! See you next year!"
He Zhao could hear a slight tremor in her voice. He Zhao seemed thoughtful, but still raised her hand and waved to Wang Yu.
Wang Yu left, but He Zhao didn't immediately pack up and leave. She was thinking about some things, such as... what exactly happened to cause even Wang Yu to be transferred away from her side? Wang Yu was only a level two investigator, far inferior to those at the level one. Lacking in ability and acting erratically, if He Zhao were in a higher-up's position, she certainly wouldn't have given Wang Yu a prominent role.
But now Wang Yu has been called away, which means... the Paranormal Countermeasures Bureau is mobilizing all available resources; anyone who can move has been sent there.
Such a grand display reminded He Zhao of the incident Qiao Yanyu had been investigating recently. Although she wasn't entirely clear on the details, through information from her clients, she understood to some extent that those people were ruthless and were involved in some kind of evil ritual, and that it involved quite a large-scale operation.
Adding to this Wang Yu's trembling voice, it's clear she's made up her mind with a "the wind howls and the Yi River is cold" resolve. Things have come to this point; it's definitely not a small-scale operation. And to deliberately choose today, New Year's Eve, a time when countless people take to the streets, those people are definitely planning something big.
He Zhao had another worrying suspicion: the Paranormal Investigation Bureau had summoned all its investigators, which meant they didn't have enough manpower to deal with these guys. In this situation, what about Qiao Yanyu? Qiao Yanyu had been investigating them relentlessly. If things escalated, she would definitely be on the front lines, facing those people and ghosts head-on.
How could Qiao Yanyu possibly be alive?
The mere thought of this possibility made He Zhao extremely agitated. When she was agitated, she would unconsciously bite her fingernails. This was a habit she often performed after her parents' sudden death and when she was pressured by her relatives. She never expected that she would do such a thing after coming to this other world.
She didn't want Qiao Yanyu to die. One reason was that she genuinely liked Qiao Yanyu; another was that Qiao Yanyu had protected her so many times, yet she hadn't done anything for him; and yet another was... Qiao Yanyu was her connection to this world. If that connection were severed, she would be like a kite with a broken string, drifting aimlessly all day, not knowing where she would end up.
This was her state before she met Qiao Yanyu.
She didn't want to go back to being all alone.
He Zhao knew he had to do something for Qiao Yanyu.
But she was just an ordinary person, with no means of self-defense other than being largely unaffected by yin energy, and no ability to fight against ghosts. She knew from her previous encounter with the stitched-up water ghost that if a ghost possessed the power to alter reality—like the stitched-up water ghost that could gather into puddles—she would be affected.
The pool of water where the seam-stitched water ghosts gathered really did make her feel cold. If that was the case, then if there were any ghosts with wildly growing hair, she could definitely tie their hair around her neck. Other ghostly spells would surely work on her too.
He Zhao is so weak that she needs Qiao Yanyu and Wang Yu to protect her; she has absolutely no means of countering him.
But asking He Zhao to stay still and not move was something she simply couldn't do. She didn't want to be seen as weak, and she certainly didn't want to attend Qiao Yanyu and Wang Yu's memorial service after everything had settled down. Qiao Yanyu, needless to say, she didn't even want to see him injured, and as for Wang Yu…
Wang Yu looked a little younger than her and was a lively girl. Even though they hadn't known each other for long, she didn't want to see her smile in a black and white photo.
He Zhao took a deep breath. She knew she could do it. She could do something for the people she loved and the people she knew.
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