Chapter 72

When Landor noticed the change in the words on his work badge, the uncle who was fishing next to him just caught a small crucian carp that was not even as long as his index finger.

The people watching cheered, and the uncle smiled modestly and put the fish into the fish basket. He noticed Landor squatting on the side, looking down at something, and his eyes could not help but stay for a moment. He opened his mouth to say something, but he saw Landor suddenly stand up, turn around and walk out.

In this kind of weather, holding an umbrella and wearing long sleeves, it was undoubtedly very strange. Landor didn't care about these, just walked back quickly and soon returned to Xu Ming's residence.

As soon as he pushed the door open, he saw Xu Ming standing in the living room, with a laptop in front of him and a cell phone next to him. He was flipping through the rule book quickly, as if he was looking for something.

He looked very calm. However, in his calmness, he was obviously tense, as if he was wrapped in a layer of low pressure.

Gu Yunshu and Lu Yueling were also called back, and they were standing quietly by the side, looking as if they dared not say a word. Tagore and Bugeng were also there, but they stood farther away, just standing in the yard, looking as if they didn't dare to get close.

Lando frowned, and was about to ask what was going on when he saw Xu Ming looking up at him and then waving.

"You've come just in time." Xu Ming said, "Can we go now? Go to Room 301, No. 6, May Community, Lanziqiao, East City, with Gu Yunshu. Don't rush to move when you get there. Look outside first and report the information in time through your work badge, okay?"

"Yes... yes?" Lando didn't expect to be given such a series of specific instructions right away. He was a little confused for a moment and paused, "Do you need to spy on the situation?"

Xu Ming quickly said "um", his face looked calm, but the corners of his lips were tightly pursed. Lando was familiar with her expression - it often meant that she was in an emergency and was trying to remain calm.

So when he spoke again, he also quickened his speech speed: "If it's just for reconnaissance, I can just let a dog out. When we get to the place, we can share its senses and then convey it to you. This way you can save some energy."

Xu Ming's spirit has not recovered yet, and relying on work badges to communicate itself requires physical energy. Every bit saved is a bit saved.

Xu Ming obviously thought of this, and nodded without hesitation. Then Lando leaned over, closed his eyes, and touched the head of the pine lion on the ground. When he opened his eyes again, his pupils were completely black.

He nodded to the pine lion, and the other party quickly turned into a yellow dog state that was easier to hide, and followed Gu Yunshu out. Lando was left standing there, and when he stood up again, his movements were obviously slow, and he even reached out to touch it.

It seemed that he couldn't see it.

Xu Ming was stunned when he saw this. Lando waved his hands at her, indicating that it was not a big problem. After a moment of silence, Xu Ming said softly, "Thank you."

It's okay, you don't need to thank me if it's your turn... Lando responded in his heart, but he didn't say anything after knowing that the situation was urgent.

On the other side, Xu Ming soon made subtle movements, as if she was looking for something. After a while, she picked up her phone, as if she was going to call someone.

In this state, Landor's five senses were relatively dull, and he could only hear the voice coming from Xu Ming:

"Shi Mian? Excuse me, I have some clues about a ghost story that I want to share. It's a bit urgent, so I called... Well, I'll just say it directly.

"As for the unknown internal situation of the corresponding ghost story, the following points can be confirmed at present:

"First, there is a clear real entrance. The currently confirmed entrance is 301, No. 6, May Community, Lanziqiao, and it is not yet certain whether there are other entrances.

"Secondly, the hunting method of this ghost story is very special. It is not about hunting living people by following the guidance of the dead, but after hunting the prey, it is further spread through the interpersonal network of the prey, pretending to be the prey itself and chatting with people outside to exert influence, and finally guide the new prey to the strange story area.

"The most critical point is that this strange story is suspected to have the ability to influence external existence. The existence that goes deep into the strange story will gradually be forgotten by the outside world, but the specific triggering conditions are still unknown. It may be forgotten after being killed, or it may be triggered after staying for a period of time...

"Well... oh yes, and the existence that enters the strange story area may cause certain confusion in the memory of reality. "

......?"

Hearing Xu Ming's firm summary, Lando tilted his head in surprise. Then he heard Xu Ming pause for a moment, and continued to speak to the phone: "...Yeah, yes, that's it. The Demolition and Relocation Office has organized an investigation, but I still think..."

Xu Ming took a deep breath, and his voice weakened: "As an employee of the Demolition and Relocation Office, I know it's not good to say this. But Yufei also went on this mission. And from what the director said, this strange talk is very tricky, even the mid-level salesperson is not sure, so I'm very worried... Well, if there is any progress on your side, I very much hope to synchronize it. "

Shi Mian on the other end of the phone obviously gave an affirmative answer. When Xu Ming spoke again, his tone was obviously not so tense. Then she responded a few more times, hung up the phone, closed her eyes and exhaled deeply.

"...Eh." Just as Lando turned his head and tried to listen to Xu Ming's movements more carefully, he heard Lu Yueling's voice suddenly rang beside him, "You... do you understand what the situation is now?" "

?" Lando was stunned and shook his head lightly.

"How about you go and ask? "Lu Yueling urged him, lowering her voice carefully, "I'm actually still confused now..."

Then just ask it yourself.

Landor tilted his head and thought silently.

As if seeing through what he was thinking, Lu Yueling lowered her voice again: "Hey, isn't it because you have a closer relationship with her? She is not my master..."

"Lu Yueling?"

Before she finished speaking, she saw Xu Ming turned his head again and called her name.

"......!" Lu Yueling shuddered instinctively and shouted subconsciously. Then she felt a little regretful and thought that she seemed a little scared.

Before she could let go of her regret, she heard Xu Ming speak again: "Can your friend buff only be used when you are in a monster talk with someone?"

"...Maybe? "Lu Yueling was silent for a moment, then said uncertainly, "Actually, I haven't figured it out myself... why are you asking this?"

"Maybe I'll need it later." Xu Ming said, "We'll see how the situation is then. Anyway, if there is a chance, just give me a buff."

Lu Yueling nodded as if she understood, while Landor beside her seemed to realize something and frowned slightly. Just as he was about to speak, he heard Lu Yueling ask, "Are we going to the ghost story area you just mentioned?"

"Yeah." Xu Ming nodded in response.

"Hey, it sounds so dangerous." Lu Yueling sighed with true feelings, "Do you really want to go? What if you get lost in there, then we won't remember you... eh?"

Halfway through her words, she suddenly realized that something seemed wrong.

If someone gets lost in there, people outside will forget him. This is the conclusion given by Xu Ming. But to know this conclusion, someone must get lost first. But if someone gets lost, people outside will forget about him. If they forget about him, how can they deduce such a conclusion...

"How do you know this?" Lu Yueling was really surprised. "Did your unit give you a hint?"

"No, I guessed." As he spoke, Xu Ming picked up his phone again and began to quickly send messages to assistant Tian Yiliang, informing him of the strange story in the east city. He said, "You only have two work cards with you, one with Lu Yueling and one with Xiaoliu, right?"

"...Yeah." Lu Yueling nodded blankly, not knowing why she asked this.

Xu Ming asked again: "Then do you still remember who else I issued work cards to after you got the first one?"

"How can I remember this clearly..." Lu Yueling muttered softly, but still recalled it seriously. After a pause, he glanced at the two people guarding the yard, and asked tentatively: "Tagore? Or the cow doesn't plow the field."

"Neither." Xu Ming said, putting the mobile phone that had sent the message aside, and picked up the rule book next to it, opened it, and pushed it in the direction of Lu Yueling.

There was a work card record on it, and the employee's name was "Po Haitang".

"Do you remember this work card?" Xu Ming confirmed again.

Lu Yueling shook her head blankly, but Xu Ming nodded: "It's right that you don't remember."

Because she didn't remember it either. In fact, if she hadn't been in a hurry to flip the work card record back just now, she wouldn't even notice the existence of this work card.

It has always been there, but it is inexplicably easy to be ignored.

It's hard to say whether this is the result of some kind of influence.

"Yeah." Lu Yueling continued to nod, and habitually spoke, "Then what?"

"Then, look at this." Xu Ming picked up his phone again, quickly called up a chat record, and pushed it in front of Lu Yueling -

it was a chat record between her and a person named "Bag on the Brain". Lu Yueling had an impression of this account, and it seemed to be Xu Ming's brother.

The chat record was about asking Xu Ming to go back to handle the house selling procedures. Lu Yueling read it carefully twice and looked up in confusion. Seeing this, Xu Ming took a screenshot of the chat record in front of her and released the screenshot again.

"Now?" she asked, "What else can you see?"

Lu Yueling took a closer look, but was stunned.

Because in the screenshot, the content of the chat was clearly missing half. All the messages from "Bump on the Brain" disappeared, leaving only the records from Xu Ming. At first glance, it seemed as if Xu Ming was talking to himself.

As if realizing something, Lu Yueling sighed, "Could this be..."

"My 'family' sent me a message before." Xu Ming nodded, "They said that the house at home needs to be dealt with, and asked me to go home quickly. The address is Lanziqiao in the east of the city."

When she saw the message sent by Qiu Yufei before, she felt that this address was particularly familiar. After calming down and thinking carefully for a while, she quickly locked onto the chats with her brother in the past. After a careful comparison, she found that it was indeed the same address.

Thinking carefully again, her two "family members" seemed to have revealed something strange for a long time. One is her eldest brother, who refused to let her into the house after his biological parents passed away; the other is her younger sister Lingling, who is still studying and living with her brother, always asking her to go back to see her.

... But she didn't think about it in the past, and she had a psychic body since she was a child, and her biological parents were so scared that they gave her to her relatives to raise. She didn't think there was anything strange about the exaggerated attitude of the brother and sister.

But now thinking back... maybe her idea of ​​"not strange" is itself quite strange.

Out of a desire to verify, she quickly took a screenshot of the chat record and showed it to Gu Yunshu, who returned to the house first. Sure enough, she came to the same conclusion as now -

the chat record is only complete when viewed directly on the mobile phone. Once it is re-transmitted by any means, the records belonging to the other party will be completely erased.

The signs are exactly the same as what happened to Qiu Yufei before.

... Thinking of Qiu Yufei, Xu Ming's heart sank again. But she quickly cheered up again, checking the replies to messages from various places, and continued:

"In short, all kinds of signs are enough to show that what Qiu Yufei is experiencing now is very similar to what I encountered before.

"The only difference is that she really went to that address, but I didn't."

"...Yes." Lu Yueling nodded very cooperatively, "Then why didn't you go?"

She had just read the chat record and remembered that in the end, Xu Ming clearly agreed to go.

"That's the problem. "Xu Ming said.

She knew her own character well. If she agreed to go, she would definitely go. If she didn't want to go, she would never agree. But the fact is, she is sitting here now, and she has no memory of going back. How to explain this?

"There are only two possibilities." She raised two fingers, "Either, I went back, escaped successfully, and lost the relevant memory for some reason. Or, I didn't go at all, but let another person... or existence go for me."

The first possibility, there is currently no evidence to support it; and the second possibility, there is a piece of evidence.

It is the work card with "Po Haitang" written on it.

"If I remember correctly, I should have just issued a work card to Lu Yueling before these messages were sent. Then it was Tagore and Bugeng. After that, it was Big Guo and Little Guo in Guo Shuyi's strange story. The work card records were sorted by the time of issuance. The work card of 'Po Haitang' was right between Lu Yueling and Tagore. In terms of time, the issuance time should be not far from the time when I received the message. "

But she had no memory of this ID card. Neither did anyone else.

And after discovering this ID card, she immediately locked it. The result of the lock was very confusing - she could only see darkness through the ID card, and could not determine the current state of the wearer, nor his current location.

This is not a normal phenomenon. If the other party has discarded the ID card, the corresponding ID card record should disappear directly; like the current situation, it is more like her perception is severely blocked by some kind of barrier.

Add to that the previous feeling that she seemed to have forgotten something but couldn't remember it, and the inexplicable appearance of the tissue bed in her bedside table...

This made Xu Ming boldly make the following speculation -

is it possible that during that time, they did absorb a companion named "Po Haitang". And that companion happened to have the ability to imitate human appearance, and happened to be kind and considerate. After discovering that Xu Ming was distressed because she didn't want to contact her family, she agreed to run a trip for her, but not only did she fail to come back, but she was almost completely forgotten by them...

This is why Xu Ming is so anxious this time.

Assuming her speculation is true, then Yu Fei must be rescued. Once they reach a place where they have all forgotten Yu Fei, it will be too late for everything; not only that, the inhuman existence who went to the east of the city for her cannot be ignored. No matter what, the other party waded into this turbulent water for her...

"She named herself 'Haitang', most likely she is a gentle person." Xu Ming closed his eyes and sighed secretly, "She trusts me, is willing to bind herself to my rule book, and is willing to make this trip for me... Maybe she is a gentle and kind girl like Sister Yunshu and Guo Shuyi."

Thinking of this, she felt more and more that she couldn't leave her alone.

"It sounds like she is quite pitiful." Lu Yueling nodded thoughtfully, "Then what should we do next?"

"Wait for the news from Gu Yunshu first." Xu Ming said immediately, "After confirming a wave of situations, we can take the next step."

It's no wonder that she is too cautious now-with her current physical strength and mental state, it is obviously unrealistic to want to go directly to the ghost talk. If she wants to go in and save people, she can only rely on the "Dream Walker" skill that she just unlocked. However, in this state, she can't use the active skills in the rulebook, and she can't rely on her own idiotic characteristics...

The only thing she can use is a dream simulation, and she's not sure how to use it.

In this state, it would be unwise to act rashly.

This is why she immediately informed Anxin Gardening and Dali Weeding after finding out the general situation. It would be great if she could get help or information assistance from both sides. Even if it doesn't work, at least they have been informed of the situation. What if they want to send someone to investigate in the future?

"That." At this moment, Lando spoke softly, "Can I ask one more question?"

"I was a little curious just now. It's not strange that you know the situation outside the strange talk. But why do you also..."

"Oh, you mean the one that the people inside will remember wrongly?" Xu Ming said, "I made that up."

"Although the probability is not high... but maybe they will send someone in immediately, and run into Yufei and that Haitang girl?"

These two people had not communicated with her before, so naturally they couldn't have a unified approach. It's better to find an excuse for them first, just in case.

Lando nodded with sudden realization, and on the other side, Xu Ming's mobile phone rang suddenly-it was a message from Tian Yiliang's assistant.

She immediately looked down, and just as she was about to reply, she heard knocks on the door. Xu Ming frowned, and wanted to ignore it, but the knocks did not stop, but became more and more intense.

At this juncture, any abnormal behavior is something worthy of attention for Xu Ming. So she turned her attention to the door, hesitated for a moment, and touched it carefully.

The courtyard door of the small villa is relatively old, just two small iron doors, there is no gap in the middle, and there is no peephole. Xu Ming tried to look outside and failed, so he could only bite the bullet and open the door. After the door opened, he saw the face of a middle-aged woman.

Round and plump, very kind. Xu Ming was stunned. He felt that the other person looked very familiar: "You are..."

But the aunt exclaimed, with a surprised expression:

"Ming Ming, right? It's Ming Ming, right? Oh, it's really you... My old man was fishing in front and said he saw a man walking towards here. I said that was terrible, your house was the only one here, maybe there was a thief. So I said I should come and check it out... Oh, it turned out to be you who came back. I was really scared..."

"...Auntie Wang!" Xu Ming finally remembered at this moment. This was a neighbor nearby. She was also a distant relative of her father. She often came to see her when she was a child.

At that time, she had just been taken to her aunt's house. She was alone and had no friends nearby. When the aunt was busy, this aunt would come to help check on her. Because she also had a daughter at home, she also gave her a lot of clothes.

"Hello, auntie!" Xu Ming hurriedly said. Thinking of Qiu Yufei's matter, he couldn't help but feel anxious, "Well, I'm busy starting a business recently. I don't have money to rent an office, so I moved back to live here for a while. The person uncle saw should be my colleague. I'm sorry to bother you."

"Well, my colleague is waiting for me for a meeting. Sorry..." Xu Ming looked embarrassed. "

Oh, okay, then you go and get busy." Aunt Wang nodded in understanding, and then said, "That's right, there is a house here, why do you have to go to the city? Like your brother, he sold the old house and moved to the new city, and he just changed to a small house. After the change, he still had to take out a mortgage, which was a lot of trouble..."

"Yes, yes... huh?" Xu Ming had originally wanted to close the door and go back, but he was stunned when he heard it.

She spoke again, but her tone was a little hesitant: "My brother lives in the new city?"

"Yes." Aunt Wang said as a matter of course, "When your family sold an old house, didn't you two split the money equally? He took the money and moved to the new city."

"Equally?" Xu Ming was stunned again, "Me and him, equally?"

"Yes..." Aunt Wang looked at her expression, and her face suddenly changed, "Why, is what he gave you... wrong?"

"Nannan, this kind of thing can't be done casually. No matter what, you are your parents' daughter, and what should be given to you should be given to you. You can't let him do whatever he wants..."

"No, no, no, that's not what I mean." Xu Ming hurriedly said, but his mind was even more confused, "I mean, is it just him and me who split it?"

"What about my sister? She doesn't have any? "

Unexpectedly, Aunt Wang was also stunned after hearing this.

"What sister? Where did your sister come from?" She asked curiously, "Your family only has two children."

Xu Ming: "..."

"Really?" Her heartbeat began to speed up unconsciously. She tried to suppress the strange feeling in her heart and confirmed again, "Because I heard the news before that my parents actually raised three children..."

"How is it possible! Someone must have spread it!" Aunt Wang said immediately, "Your parents paid a large sum of fines to give birth to you. How could they give birth to three children..."

"..."

She spoke very logically.

Xu Ming was stunned and couldn't speak for a long time.

——After a while.

In the distant Anxin Gardening Office, Shi Mian's mobile phone lit up again.

A message from "Gu Ming" jumped onto the screen:

[Fifth feature:

[The strange domain owner, or the person in charge of external communications,

[has the ability to fabricate an identity that does not exist. And through this identity, seriously affect the memory of the deceived. ]