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Chapter 19 Gugu
Sure enough it was her.

Gu Mian had a headache.

I used to think that the performances of celebrities on screen were all personas, but now that I've met them in person, I realize that they're not like that at all.

This person is truly naive and clueless.

In the darkness, Gu Mian lowered her voice and asked, "Why don't you run?"

Xiao Qiao thought about it carefully for a while before answering, "I saw that you didn't run away, so I didn't run away either."

Gu Mian: "..."

Then she asked, "Why aren't you running?"

Gu Mian made up a lie: "I'm scared, my legs are weak, and I can't move my legs."

Upon hearing this, the person in front of him fell silent.

Gu Mian thought that she probably felt unsafe being with such a timid person, and was probably planning to turn around and leave.

Unexpectedly, a few seconds later, her resounding voice suddenly rang out from the darkness—

"Don't be afraid, I'll protect you."

Gu Mian's brain froze on the spot. What was with this bodyguard showing up out of nowhere?

But the crash didn't last long before Gu Mian restarted his brain. He remembered that he originally wanted to find a lighting tool.

Now that there's an extra bodyguard, it doesn't really matter.

Making the most of everything, he asked the people around him, "Have you seen any lighting tools in here? Like flashlights, lighters, candles, or the like?"

The feeling of being completely in the dark is really not good; Gu Mian always felt like she was blind.

Although Xiao Qiao can be a bit slow at times, she's surprisingly quick right now.

She stretched out her hand, holding what appeared to be a cylindrical object: "I put a flashlight in my inventory earlier. Didn't you put any light sources in your inventory?"

Can I say I don't have an inventory?

Gu Mian sighed and took the things from her hands in one breath, then turned on the button.

A beam of white light illuminated the entire mourning hall.

The angle at which he turned on the light wasn't good; the flashlight beam shone directly on the large face in the portrait, making the already pale face appear even whiter. Gu Mian even wanted to apply blush to her cheeks.

It was quiet outside, and no one knew where the players who had scattered earlier had gone.

At this moment, Gu Mian couldn't concern himself with other people's business. He held up his flashlight and shone it on the coffin in front of him.

They had already pushed the coffin open to a gap large enough to stick one's head in, and by getting close enough, they could see inside clearly.

The two men peered over the edge of the coffin to see the wide, open seam.

The flashlight illuminated the inside of the coffin, but there was no ghost that Gu Mian was so eager to see. There were only two sheets of paper, about the size of A4 paper, at the bottom of the coffin, with what looked like some words written on them.

Although the coffin was tall, Gu Mian didn't have to exert much effort to retrieve the paper.

Shining a flashlight on it, I saw that the first sheet of paper began with the words "Reward Notice".

On September 23, 2003, a violent murder occurred in XZ City.

A man was found dead in his car, suspected of being struck multiple times on the back of the head with a blunt object; his wallet and other belongings were also taken.

"Based on the investigation, Ma Gang (male, 31 years old, a local of Xuzhou, approximately 172 cm tall, slender build, wearing an orange shirt when he fled, with a buzz cut and a knife scar on his forehead) is a prime suspect."

"The Xuzhou Public Security Bureau is soliciting tips from the public regarding criminal suspects. A reward of 3 RMB will be given for information leading to the arrest of a suspect, and a reward of 6 RMB will be given for information directly leading to the arrest of a suspect. The Public Security Bureau will keep the identity of informants confidential."

"—Xuzhou Public Security Bureau, September 23, 2003"

Below is a close-up photo of Ma Gang.

His face was long and thin, making him look much older than his age. You could see his high cheekbones, his eyes with three-white irises, and his eyes slanted upwards at the corners, making him look like a hungry wolf when he looked at people.

With a hooked nose and thin lips, he looked like a sinister little old man.

Gu Mian remembered a question on her test: "Is this the vengeful ghost with the surname Ma?" The first multiple-choice question was about the gender of the vengeful ghost with the surname Ma, and it seems that the answer has already been given.

He then looked at the next sheet of paper.

It looks like a thank-you letter.

"Ms. Yang Shuang, we have received your report. After verification, Ma Gang is indeed hiding at the Longchang Hotel. We have taken action, but have not yet apprehended him. The suspect is still at large. Please be aware of your personal safety."

"Thank you for providing the tip. The Xuzhou Public Security Bureau thanks you again for your report. October 1, 2003."

He had now found clues to two vengeful ghosts.

The vengeful ghost surnamed Yang, named Yang Shuang, is female. She reported the hiding place of murder suspect Ma Gang to the Xuzhou Public Security Bureau, but it is unknown how she learned the suspect's hiding place.

The vengeful ghost surnamed Ma, named Ma Gang, is male. He killed someone in Xuzhou and fled, but was reported by Yang Shuang not long after.

It seems that Ma Gang ultimately didn't let go of the person who reported him, as can be seen from this funeral hall.

The Ministry of Public Security even sent a funeral couplet, clearly because their failure to catch the person led to Ma Gang's return and the killing of Yang Shuang.

Gu Mian's last question was a problem-solving question: find the time of death of the three ghosts.

Based on this, Yang Shuang must have died before Ma Gang, he calculated silently in his mind.

There was also a multiple-choice question asking how many people the only male vengeful ghost had killed in his lifetime.

Ma Gang is the only male vengeful ghost. It can be seen that he killed at least two people: a man who died in the car and Yang Shuang. But it is unknown whether he killed anyone else, including Gu Mian.

To understand the timeline, we must uncover the complete stories of the three ghosts before their deaths, but there is still no trace of the vengeful ghost surnamed Zhao.

Gu Mian, holding a flashlight, said to Xiao Qiao beside her, "We can't waste any more time. Let's go upstairs and continue searching."

Xiao Qiao nodded in agreement.

As the two left the mourning hall, Gu Mian made a point of looking back at the coffin.

The question said that there was a vengeful ghost on one floor. Logically, the vengeful ghost should be in a coffin, but there was nothing inside except for two pieces of paper.

Did that ghost follow someone?

At that moment, the fat man, pulling one person with each hand, panted as he slipped into a room and closed the door.

Because it was so dark around him, he almost fell several times, but fortunately Chu Changge was there to hold him up.

"That really scared me to death," the fat man said, catching his breath in the darkness. "But you two are pretty brave, not uttering a sound."

At this moment, Chu Changge finally spoke up: "I don't think something's right."

The fat man was slightly taken aback: "What's wrong?"

"Are you holding Gu Mian's hand over there?"

"Yes, it's a doctor..." the fat man said, turning his head towards Gu Mian's direction. But it was pitch black, and he couldn't see anything. He could only make out the outline of a figure no matter how hard he tried.

"Doctor?" the fat man asked in a low voice, "Why aren't you saying anything?"

Chu Changge remained silent for a moment before saying, "Get ready."

What? The fat man was a little taken aback.

However, he immediately understood what Chu Changge wanted him to prepare.

A white light suddenly shone in the mourning hall; it was Chu Changge who had taken out a flashlight.

The flashlight beam was pointed directly at Gu Mian's location. The fat man was already looking in that direction, and with the flashlight shining, he could clearly see what was happening there.

A face was facing me.

It was almost pressed against my face.

This is clearly not Gu Mian's face.

Thank you to the readers Cake Milk and 8949 for the generous donations! (づ￣3￣)づ╭～
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(End of this chapter)