“Hmph… playing tricks…” Li Zhiyuan’s hand trembled incessantly, and cold sweat ran down his temples. “You think you can just take off the handcuffs and play some illusions to fool me?”

“What? Haven’t realized you’re already dead?” Feng Bujue strolled about, hands in his pockets, head lowered as he muttered, “Looks like you were a very rational person in life. ‘Common sense’ is deeply rooted in your consciousness. Even now that you’re a wandering ghost, you still…”

“Enough!” Li Zhiyuan interrupted Feng Bujue. “I’m warning you, don’t play tricks. This is a police station. You think you can fool me… and get away with it?”

“Police station?” Feng Bujue turned his head and glanced at the other man. “Are you sure?”

Upon hearing these words, Li Zhiyuan’s mind buzzed.

In the next second, the surrounding scenery changed. The original bright, ten-square-meter space suddenly transformed into a vast, pitch-black environment.

“This is no longer a police station,” Feng Bujue continued. “It was converted into a warehouse for discarded appliances more than a decade ago.” He paused. “Because this building was built in the last century, it has many original design flaws, so many new devices cannot be connected. Therefore… seventeen years ago, the fifth year after your death… this Public Security Bureau branch relocated to a place two kilometers away.”

“You…” Li Zhiyuan still didn’t believe Jue-ge. “This… this is impossible…”

Just as he was muttering to himself, Feng Bujue walked back to the table. At this time, the “table” had turned into a refrigerator lying on its side, and the “chairs” they had been sitting on were actually an air conditioner and a microwave oven.

“By the way…” Next, Jue-ge pointed to a stack of old newspapers on the refrigerator, which was what Chief Li had taken as a “document,” and said, “The police now no longer use paper documents to take statements. They just need to take a tablet, scan the suspect’s fingerprints, iris, and voiceprint, and they have all the information. After doing this, they still use this tablet to conduct inquiries in the form of ‘video’ and record everything for filing.”

“Heh… hehe…” Suddenly, Li Zhiyuan laughed, a strange kind of laugh. “I understand… you hypnotized me… all these things I’m seeing are illusions you’re making me see through hypnosis… yes… that must be it… you were subtly hypnotizing me when you were telling me ghost stories earlier…”

“Stop deceiving yourself,” Feng Bujue interrupted. “I don’t have that kind of convenient ability. If I did… I would have been the main character in a two-dimensional anime ten years ago.”

His lines were too disjointed and had no integrity. Saying them at this moment prevented the other party from answering.

“Your doubts about the strange things before your eyes… are actually easy to answer.” Feng Bujue cast a sharp glance at Li Zhiyuan. “Instead of looking for answers in me, why don’t you try looking within yourself…” He raised a hand, holding up a finger. “First, please recall the specific date today.”

“To… today is December 5th, 2033…” Li Zhiyuan murmured.

“Don’t you find it strange?” Feng Bujue didn’t let the other party finish speaking again. “It’s December evening, and I went out in short sleeves?”

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Zhiyuan was stunned…

This was indeed unreasonable, but Li Zhiyuan didn’t understand… why had he ignored such an obvious anomaly before the other party mentioned it?

“The date in your mind is forever stuck on December 5th, 2033,” Jue-ge continued. “Because that was the day Liu Xiaoya was murdered.”

The three words “Liu Xiaoya” were like a steel nail, piercing straight into Li Zhiyuan’s consciousness. The moment he heard this name, he collapsed, clutching his head and kneeling on the ground… looking extremely pained.

“Hmph…” Feng Bujue looked down at Li Zhiyuan with a condescending gaze. “It seems this name has quite a strong effect on you… I wouldn’t have needed to beat around the bush so much if I had known.” As he spoke, he raised a second finger. “Then… next, please recall how you brought me to this ‘police station’? And where did you see the surveillance footage about me?”

“I… guh…” Li Zhiyuan’s mind was in chaos, and the severe headache prevented him from concentrating. A large number of disordered images flooded into his mind, flashing before his eyes.

“You can’t possibly remember, because there are no such details in your memory,” Feng Bujue said. “Police station, case, video, arrest… all of them were completed by your own brain filling in the blanks after you saw me and during your conversation with me.” He licked his lips. “Think back… from the beginning of the conversation, I was guiding you…”

…………

“You’re new here, right?”

“I’m the one who reported the case. I’m the one who called 110. You can check the call records…”

“If you don’t believe me, you can check the road surveillance…”

…………

“…You supplemented your memory based on the information I provided,” Feng Bujue continued. “So as to make a ‘reasonable’ deduction.”

“No… that’s not how it is…” Li Zhiyuan held his head in his hands, muttering with difficulty, “You… are talking nonsense!”

“The only information you know yourself is ‘time, place, and a dying antique shop owner who was attacked,’” Feng Bujue ignored the other party and continued in a cold tone. “And the conclusion you desperately want to reach is… ‘who is the murderer.’” He paused for two seconds, then said, “I might as well tell you clearly… the murderer is the ghost of Liu Xiaoya.”

“Ah–”

Chi– chi–

Screams, a woman in red, a pale face, a hideous face, a painful face, a distorted face, blood, lots of blood…

A large segment of sounds and fragments came like a tsunami, sweeping through Li Zhiyuan’s sea of consciousness, causing him to prostrate himself on the ground in pain once again.

“The case twenty-two years ago was not that complicated,” Feng Bujue did not stop narrating because of the other party’s reaction. “An antique shop owner took a fancy to the woman in the flower shop next door, but that woman didn’t take a fancy to him.

“So, one winter night, the owner killed the woman who rejected him.

“That night… the police officer who heard the screams and was the first to arrive at the scene was a police chief surnamed Li. He was an excellent detective who immediately saw that it was murder and not an accident, and arrested the antique shop owner.

“However… that owner immediately made threats. He claimed that he knew some big shots who could guarantee that he wouldn’t go to jail, and could also make Chief Li lose his job and even his ability to gain a foothold in society.

“After listening for a while, Chief Li realized that the owner was not bluffing. He realized that what the other party said was very likely to become a reality.

“He wavered…

“He realized that… even if he did the right thing, the other party might not be punished as he deserved, and his own future and even his life would be at stake in this case.

“Just as he was wavering, the owner started enticing him with benefits.

“At that time, Chief Li had just been married not long ago, and his wife’s income was more than his, which made him unable to hold his head up in front of his wife’s family…

“Under many inducements… he compromised.

“He helped that owner re-process the scene, did fake evidence collection, and even taught the other party what to say when taking notes.

“A murder case became a traffic accident like this.”

Feng Bujue narrated this past event with an almost indifferent expression, but Li Zhiyuan, as the listener, was shaking with excitement, and his emotions had reached the point of being out of control and collapsing.

“Seven days later…” Jue-ge paused for a few seconds before continuing, “Liu Xiaoya avenged herself…” He gave another eerie smile. “Heh… coincidentally, that day… happened to be the day you went to the antique shop owner’s place to get your ‘reward.’ That vengeful ghost tortured the murderer to death in front of you… the reason she didn’t kill you as well was because you had already gone crazy before that owner breathed his last.”

At this point, Li Zhiyuan suddenly stopped trembling.

“What? Remembered?” Feng Bujue looked at him and said.

“Yes…” Li Zhiyuan stood up from the ground. “Two days later… I committed suicide in the hospital…” At this moment, his face was ashen, and his entire figure became translucent. “And the memories after that… are a mess…”

“That’s normal,” Feng Bujue said. “Didn’t I already explain it to you? Most of the time, ghosts like you are in a state of ‘unconsciousness, formlessness.’ Without being able to maintain your own ‘existence,’ there won’t be any memories.”

“Have I hurt anyone over the years?” Li Zhiyuan’s tone had become relatively calm.

“It’s okay…” Jue-ge replied. “You’re not much of a vengeful ghost. You’re just a land-bound spirit, and you only have the ability to have a little interference with the living when you catch up with the four major ghost festivals.”

“Then today is…” Li Zhiyuan asked tentatively.

“The Zhongyuan Festival (Ghost Festival),” Feng Bujue replied.

“I see…” Li Zhiyuan nodded.

“There have always been similar rumors circulating in this area…” Feng Bujue continued. “It is said that… every Ghost Festival, some young thugs or drunkards walking alone at night will be taken by a ‘police officer’ who suddenly appears out of nowhere to a ‘non-existent police station’ for questioning. The next day, they will wake up in an abandoned warehouse, mostly scared half to death. Then they go around telling people… but the credibility of what these people say is relatively low. Even if they report it to the police, the police can’t possibly open a case for investigation.”

“I see…” Chief Li said thoughtfully. “Maybe it’s because I… still want to fulfill my duties as a police officer after death…”

“Hehe… don’t try to take credit for yourself,” Feng Bujue poured cold water on him. “Twenty-two years ago, you suffered a mental breakdown because you witnessed a vengeful ghost killing someone with your own eyes. Therefore, your sanity and memory… have all stayed at that point. Just as I said before, you only remember three pieces of information… the time, December 5th, 2033; the place, the antique shop in the df Road Flower and Bird Market; the event… the antique shop owner lying in a pool of blood, on the verge of death.” He shrugged. “Your spirit can’t accept and bear the fact that a vengeful ghost killed someone, so you blocked out this part of the content. This has led to… over the years, you have been trying to ‘solve the case’ in order to resolve your inner knot.” He pointed to his face. “Tonight, this conversation between you and me is the best evidence. If I were replaced by someone else… I guess there would be another passerby lying here in the morning, scared half to death.”

Li Zhiyuan couldn’t refute it. He was silent for a moment, and asked, “Then what do you want to do now?”

“What do I want to do?” Feng Bujue smiled. “Hehe… what can I do to you? I’m just bait.”

“What are you saying?” Li Zhiyuan looked puzzled.

“Xiao Dong~” Suddenly, Feng Bujue turned his head and shouted to his left.

His voice echoed in the empty warehouse, bringing out bursts of echoes.

“Xiao Dong?” Li Zhiyuan became more and more confused. He couldn’t help but realize another problem… since he was a ghost, then who exactly was the “Xiao Dong” who brought Feng Bujue’s wallet in just now? If that “Xiao Dong” was just his imagination, then why… would Feng Bujue be calling this name now?

“What Xiao Dong… don’t make so much noise.”

Seconds later, accompanied by the sound of speaking, a man in a police uniform walked over. He was clearly the "Xiao Dong" who had come in to deliver the wallet to Chief Li just now, but Li Zhiyuan looked closely at the man's face at this moment, and found that... he didn't know this person at all.

"Hello," the man walked up to Li Zhiyuan, took off his police cap, "I'm not Xiao Dong, my name is Bao Qing."

"You are..." Li Zhiyuan asked suspiciously.

"I'm a person who specializes in dealing with situations like yours, don't worry, I will be responsible for delivering you to the afterlife," Bao Qing replied, "As for him..." He rolled his eyes at Jue-ge, "...he's a friend of mine, he heard that I had a mission tonight, and he insisted on coming out to 'see things' and volunteered to be my 'bait'." He shook his head, and looked at Li Zhiyuan again, "Actually, your situation... is not complicated to deal with, and I don't need anyone to be 'bait'. Look... I even borrowed the costume, just to lure you out, but it turned out to be a waste."

Li Zhiyuan was stunned, he looked at Bao Qing, and then at Jue-ge: "Then how did he..."

"Oh, he read my investigation report and related information, so he mastered the information about you," Bao Qing replied, and spread his hands and sighed, "Alas... I put in a lot of effort to investigate... peeling back the layers, following the clues... and finally turned up the case from decades ago. This kid is good... 80% of the content was already cleared up by me in advance, and he only deduced about 20%, and he's still showing off..."

"What are you saying?" Feng Bujue stood there and tossed his hair, looking like he was asking for a beating, "I'm so enthusiastic about helping you catch ghosts, and I even broke the 'ghost realm' for you, and you're still whining and dismantling my stage, is that appropriate?"

Hearing this, Bao Qing put on a serious face and gave Feng Bujue the middle finger without saying a word.

Seeing this, Feng Bujue also offered the middle finger with both hands in retaliation.

That's how men's friendship is, the two people who frequently insult, ridicule, and even physically clash with each other... are either mortal enemies or best friends.

"Don't pay attention to him, your ghost realm, I can break it with spiritual power in minutes, it's not like him... who only relies on his mouth," seconds later, Bao Qing put away his middle finger, and said to Li Zhiyuan.

"Hey... why are you using a comforting tone to say this to me..." Li Zhiyuan's mouth twitched, "It's as if I would be very gratified if you said I was weak..."

"Bah!" On the other side, Feng Bujue refused to accept it again, "Your method of exorcising ghosts purely by relying on strength is obviously second-rate... no! Third-rate means." He said seriously, "First-class exorcists, try every possible means to resolve the knots in the hearts of wronged souls and vengeful ghosts... let them fulfill their wishes and naturally be saved."

"Okay, okay... stop trying to act tough with me..." Bao Qing squinted his eyes and said, "What do you think I was trying to do when I investigated so much information? Was I full and had nothing to do? If I wanted to use strength to deal with it, wouldn't it be enough to just blast him into scum with spiritual power? Why bother with those things?" He glanced at Jue-ge contemptuously, "What I said before... was about forcibly breaking the ghost realm with spiritual power, not about forcibly exorcising ghosts with spiritual power, don't change the concept for me by talking to yourself. Also..." He looked Feng Bujue up and down, "When did you become an exorcist master? Still first-class? There's a limit to how arrogant you can be, okay? You can't use any spiritual power at all now, except for being able to see and touch spirits, you're completely an ordinary person, at best you're just a natural yin-yang eye..." He raised his hand and gestured, "Not to mention an exorcist master, compared to even ordinary ghost hunters... you're still far behind."

"Tsk tsk tsk..." Feng Bujue shook his head and argued slyly, "It's really too much to evaluate me solely on my abilities..."

"If you put aside spiritual abilities... aren't you just left with the ability to bullshit..." Bao Qing interrupted, "What's so great about that? I can come up with the same nonsense you just used to fool old Li."

"He even called him 'old Li'..." Li Zhiyuan, who couldn't get a word in, said, "These two guys suddenly started talking nonsense on their own, and they even changed the way they addressed me... what's going on?"

"Okay, you come then," Feng Bujue said, "First, let's have a section of the Three Main Rules of Discipline and Eight Points for Attention, let me listen."

"Do you think that's reciting the names of dishes!" Bao Qing roared.

"I said..." Li Zhiyuan couldn't bear it anymore, he tried to stop the two of them, "You two..."

But those two guys still didn't seem to want to pay attention to him, and were still complaining to each other.

"Obey orders in all actions, unity of action leads to victory, don't take a needle and thread from the masses, the masses support and rejoice..."

"Steamed lamb, steamed bear paw, steamed deer tail, roasted duck, roasted chicks, roasted goose..."

"I said..."

"Don't harass the women, eliminate hooligan habits, don't abuse prisoners of war, don't beat and scold and search their bags..."

"Red meatballs, white meatballs, braised meatballs, fried meatballs, three-delicacy meatballs, four-happiness meatballs..."

"You two give me a break, you bastards!" Finally, Li Zhiyuan couldn't bear it anymore, and he roared loudly, "I'm in a hurry to reincarnate, you bastards! Whatever you want to do, kill, cut, save, destroy, do it quickly, you bastards!"