Chapter 145 Bloody Moral Immunity
Tu Lanxun never thought that what she said would become reality in the near future.
After she reported the incident to Wenchong that day, he held a lengthy meeting with Mu Xiaozhen, Meng Baojian, Bu Linlin, and representatives from the provincial government and even the capital. But a lengthy meeting doesn't guarantee a satisfactory outcome. When Wenchong emerged from the meeting room, Tu Lanxun, who was waiting outside, saw his expression, which was not relaxed, and vaguely anticipated the outcome.
"What? The higher-ups don't approve our attack and defense proposal?" Tu Lanxun asked in a low voice.
Wen Chong and she walked to an empty corridor and entered an office. Wen Chong sighed and said, "Passed. Completely passed."
Before the meeting, Wen Chong, Tu Lanxun, Li Ao and others urgently drafted a proposal about the invasion of ghosts from heaven. In the second half of the proposal, they also brought in Bu Linlin, who had just returned from a business trip.
The proposal's thinking was largely established by Tu Lanxun, including suggestions for constructing both visible and hidden lines of defense and for transforming offense into defense. While Wen Chong and Li Ao refined some of its minor shortcomings, it was a fairly mature proposal.
"But the bureau and provincial department aren't worried about that. They fully agree to implement this proposal." Wen Chong pinched his brows wearily and said, "It's just that they predict the proposal's effect may not reach 30%..."
In other words, you are willing to use this method, but don't think it will work?
Tu Lanxun frowned, then quickly let go and said, "Has it... come to this?"
What does this mean? It means the Tourism Administration isn't fully aware of the potential threat posed by the Tianguo Group! It means they're caught off guard.
How is this possible?
Facing Tu Lanxun's questioning gaze, Wen Chong explained, "It's not that the Bureau doesn't have a contingency plan; it has always been in place. However, there have been new changes to the Fourth Treaty recently. Come with me."
Tu Lanxun wanted to ask what was new, but Wen Chong didn't say anything. She tapped her pocket, and the N inside was coiled like a small metal snake, motionless.
It seems that N doesn't know either.
So Tu Lanxun followed Wen into a place that looked like a video room. There were several rows of hard-padded chairs inside, which were more comfortable than conference chairs but not as comfortable as the soft-padded chairs in the cinema. The walls in front, behind, and on both sides were covered with large screens. At this moment, the one facing the chairs was broadcasting a Chinese program with a strange accent. The host introduced a mysterious optical phenomenon in a gloomy scene, and the screen within the screen behind him was projecting a tortuous and strange light, a bit like bouncing vocal cords, or a constantly distorted human face.
"This is an internal program organized by the Tourism Administration. If you are interested, we can update you synchronously later." Wen Chong said lightly. The two sat on the chairs. Wen Chong even called the service robot. The bulky guy with two wheels carried two glasses of iced orange juice.
Wen Chong continued, "Drink, we'll be sitting here for quite a while today."
Tu Lanxun took it, the plastic cup cool in her palm, the orange juice sweet and sour. She watched Wen Chong pick up the remote control, and the screen changed from the host with an odd accent to a self-playing PowerPoint presentation like a meeting minutes video.
Light and shadow shifted back and forth across Tu Lanxun's face. She sat back in the darkness and interrupted with some surprise, "Treaty Four... a temporary rebound?"
"Yes. A temporary rebound." Wen Chong gave Tu Lanxun a deep look. "This is the latest observation of the Tourism Administration. It has gone from theory to practice. Tu, don't think that the Tourism Administration is some idle, dying pension department."
The Tourism Administration does not keep idlers, let alone those who can only write documents or do publicity. There may be some petty thieves among them, but there is definitely no one who can get high performance rewards just by drinking tea - unless she is good at drinking tea with ghosts.
Tu Lanxun readily agreed: "I understand. Then please tell me about our initial plan..."
Wen Chong replied, "I helped write the previous plan for the Tourism Administration, midway through the current Tianguo Group case, during the Western Serial Case. Remember, I returned to the capital at that time?"
"It's perfect. Much more mature than the one we hastily wrote this morning—I mean, if you forget the part you helped me correct." Tu Lanxun said with a smile, "But it's not entirely suitable for the current situation."
Wen Chong took another sip of orange juice. Her expression improved slightly, less depressed. "You're right. The news of the rebound under Treaty IV only reached me yesterday. It was around the same time you warned me."
Tu Lanxun said, "Okay."
Wen Chong looked at her. "What's good? Excellent. Xiao Tu, you single-handedly came to a conclusion that the Tourism Administration headquarters only reached after dozens of rounds of observation and calculation. This shows remarkable intuition, courage, and judgment."
Tu Lanxun thought to herself that some of the credit actually belonged to N. However, N only provided the rationale for the Fourth Treaty; the deduction was indeed her own.
"Now you - our new proposal has been sent back to the headquarters for study. Meng Baojian and Li Ao will also respond. What I really want to say is, Xiao Tu, you must be prepared for the temporary backlash of the Fourth Treaty." Wen Chong pressed the remote control, and the screen jumped back several pages.
Tu Lanxun glanced around, reading quickly, only to have goosebumps break out all over his body. He put his orange juice cup on the person sitting next to him and stood up to face Wen Chong. "A temporary rebound without any specific direction? Indiscriminate impact?"
The text on the screen is academic and almost dry, but it all points to the same unsettling truth:
The destruction of the Fourth Treaty was already a foregone conclusion, but before it was completely torn apart, the Tourism Bureau staff observed that it had a trend of temporary, indeterminate rebound, which was becoming increasingly severe.
Tu Lanxun recalled the original content of the Fourth Treaty: any ghost that reveals its true form before a living person and leaves an impression, but ultimately fails to kill the living person it witnesses, will be wiped out by the Fourth Treaty.
It's a kind of protective oppression that's unfair to both parties. A living person might be killed by an evil ghost for no apparent reason, and a good ghost might just want to say hello to a living person and then be inexplicably jumped out and eliminated.
The Fourth Treaty ultimately created and maintained the previous balance between humans and ghosts, primarily by placing the initiative for cruelty on the ghost side: if you don't want to kill, don't show up; if you want to kill but your abilities are weak, don't show up either. In short, try not to show up.
So, apart from the strange invasion of those evil spirits, and the sporadic appearance of abnormal evil spirits before that, humans and ghosts lived in peace, separated from each other like monkeys and tigers kept in the same protected area. Ghosts don't approach humans, and humans don't know ghosts.
And now, the Fourth Treaty is about to burst out with its last strength before destruction, and is about to rebound in an indirect and temporary manner.
A rebound means that restrictions become stronger in the short term. According to the Tourism Administration, things are different now than they were before.
In the past, when a ghost appeared to a living person and left an impression, it would typically take a few hours to a day to clean up the mess, essentially eliminating the person and adding them to the long list of ghosts they were reluctant to talk to. This was a bit awkward, given that ghosts in a particular area could be seen and felt for an indefinite period of time.
I heard that many ghosts who mistakenly appeared before people were forced to do this, but they couldn't face the lives they had taken, nor the ghosts of their victims, so they turned around out of shame and reincarnated. It can be considered a form of spiritual suicide.
In the past, the standards for determining how a ghost "appeared" and "left an impression" were that it had to stand in front of someone for a while, causing them to go through a speechless state, turn pale, collapse, and then scream, or cause a minor heart attack or something.
In the case of occasionally passing by a ghost, where one does not even remember the ghost's face and cannot be 100% sure that the other party is a ghost, it will not violate the fourth clause.
But now, it's completely different. If the problem is not solved within two hours, the ghost will be strangled.
The Fourth Treaty is now like a perverted teacher who used to be both lenient and strict but is now pushing students like crazy because they have to be promoted or fired. It has doubled the standards of these things.
"I'm informing you about the ghost in the convenience store. It's dangerous for it to appear in front of humans now. Those who love shopping should stop going." This sentence should be said to Mikhail, who loves shopping the most.
Wen Chong said, "Also, don't show up when riding in a car, and don't show up when riding in a car. Don't try to confuse traffic cameras. Occasionally, someone will check behind you after you're filming, and that counts."
Tu Lanxun said, "Ah?"
Wen Chong glanced at Tu Lanxun and said, "Alright. Also, the experimenters have discovered that Convention IV is no longer easily blocked by existing equipment. The effectiveness of all our current shielding devices will be reduced by 20%."
To make matters worse, "It's even said that many people have developed the ability to see ghosts. The ghost's absence alone doesn't guarantee complete protection. It requires a more powerful form of 'intentional invisibility' or simply staying away from living beings."
Tu Lanxun's eyelids tightened. It was the Yin-Yang vision again. Tang Weining had been able to see Bai Xiaoju, and Suo Fanhua had been able to see Suo Niya. Perhaps it was due to their own luck or skill, but who knew? Perhaps the Yin-Yang vision was already budding back then.
Her heart grew colder and colder.
She herself also has "yin-yang eyes" or is blocked by the fourth treaty.
But now that the treaty has gone mad, can she and her ghosts still survive? Will she become the destabilizing factor that kills the ghosts?
"I suggest you don't rush into meeting your ghost friends. You can fly to the capital and do an experiment to test your current personal standards," said Wen Chong.
But what good would that do? The intensity of the fourth treaty fluctuated rapidly; it might have been reduced or increased the moment she took the test.
And the blue-painted Xun has an even darker and more desperate association.
"We have underestimated the malicious intent of the Kingdom of Heaven Group," said Tu Lanxun.
If the Fourth Treaty goes as planned, the conflict between humans and ghosts will be completely intensified.
First, ghosts are on average stronger than living people, so they have a stronger motivation to kill living people in order to protect themselves.
Second, many of the ghosts who were previously neutral or friendly to the living, which is also the majority of ghosts, will be forced to join the evil ghost camp due to the pressure of survival and raise their butcher knives to kill the living.
The ghost groups with these dark histories will be the core force used by the Kingdom of Heaven Group to complete the "Kingdom of Heaven on Earth Plan".
It can be said that they have obtained a bloody self-moral exemption.
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