36. There is a ghost in the police bureau.

The reason it all seemed reasonable was because this scene unfolding before him was entirely within Chen Sheng’s expectations. From the very beginning, his purpose in coming to this basement was to count exactly how many corpses were here.

After all, the “NPC Tool” in his hand had previously mentioned that not just ten people had died in this villa’s basement.

So, he was here to uncover the final mystery and see if he could claim any end-of-instance rewards.

Yet, the unreasonable part was also related to these corpses.

There shouldn’t be only corpses here!

Chen Sheng frowned slightly.

Where was the “new equipment” that had been promised?

If it didn’t exist, then the strange phenomena he’d witnessed earlier would be completely inexplicable.

He couldn’t help but glance around. The surroundings were pitch-black, the light dim, making everything look vague. At that moment, however, the “NPC Tool” in his hand suddenly emitted two intense green beams from her large eyes, bathing part of the basement in a ghostly light.

This allowed Chen Sheng to see clearly, for the first time, the appearance of one of the corpses on the floor.

“Huh?”

Chen Sheng couldn’t help but utter a surprised sound, because he noticed that this particular corpse wasn’t decomposed!

He spun the female ghost in his hand around, using the green light from her eyes to roughly examine all the corpses in the basement. He soon confirmed that none of the bodies here had decomposed.

However, they weren’t lifelike as if still alive, but had all turned into desiccated mummies, like cured meat.

And here was something even stranger.

Perhaps because the basement was sometimes damp, these corpses were all covered in various molds.

This was baffling.

The bodies had become mummified, yet still grew mold—something that seemed wholly incongruous.

After all, the conditions required for each are completely different. If the environment had allowed the first to occur, the second would have been impossible.

Consider, for example, the mummies found in deserts.

Chen Sheng fell into deep thought, for with the healing game’s usual attention to detail, this oddity surely hid some vital clue.

With this realization, Chen Sheng decided to take a closer look.

He lifted the little female ghost in his hand above one of the corpses, letting the ghastly green light from her eyes illuminate it from up close.

Now, he could see everything even more clearly.

At this moment, the female ghost felt even more aggrieved.

She thought: This is too much!

She had already worked so hard to gather malicious intent, and yet this guy was treating her like a flashlight!

How outrageous!

Couldn’t he have prepared his own torch before exploring a basement?

In her heart, she turned into a first-rate telegraph operator, cursing him in a string of barely restrained expletives.

But when it came to speaking aloud, what she said was, “Did you see anything?”

Her voice was cold and eerie, perfectly matching the atmosphere, though Chen Sheng didn’t feel a thing.

After all, he was still convinced this was just a game. That initial assumption was so powerful—just like when you subconsciously believe someone isn’t a good person, everything they do seems suspicious.

“No,” Chen Sheng shook his head. He wasn’t skilled in the arts of geomancy or corpse examination; he was just looking at the body for novelty’s sake.

After all, he’d never seen anything like this in real life.

“Then try blowing on it…” the little female ghost said in her chilling tone, her small face expressionless.

Chen Sheng did as she suggested.

He then saw the shriveled eyeballs of the corpse move slightly, and the mummy began to writhe slowly on the concrete floor, as if trying to get up but was held down by something, able only to rub against the ground.

“Is this a revenant?” Chen Sheng asked uncertainly after watching for a while.

“Yes!” the little female ghost replied, her lips twitching.

Her suggestion had been purely mischievous, hoping to scare this reckless human. But who could have predicted that the artifact he carried would be so obsequious? The moment this not-even-a-ghost creature tried to rise, that artifact instantly released its power to suppress it, making it impossible for the corpse even to stand.

Why couldn’t she ever find such a bootlicking artifact?

“So what’s it doing? Was he a celebrity before he died—good at singing and dancing, so devoted that he had to dance even in death?” Chen Sheng asked curiously.

The little female ghost was speechless.

Was this something a normal person would think of?

Wouldn’t a normal person realize this place was unsafe and leave immediately? Who would stand here discussing such nonsense!

“Maybe…” she replied uncertainly.

He spun around with the little female ghost in hand, and found that several of the corpses on the ground had begun to rub themselves against the floor as well. He exclaimed in awe, “So professional! The entertainment industry owes them an award for dedication! They’ve been lying here for years and still remember what they learned as trainees.”

The little female ghost was exasperated.

Could you try being a normal person? And do you have some kind of deep grudge against celebrities?

After searching all around and still failing to find the artifact, Chen Sheng had no choice but to retrace his steps. This time, as he walked up the stone steps, he no longer felt as though someone were behind him.

He must have missed some clue.

This left Chen Sheng a bit disappointed.

But it wasn’t a total loss—he had managed to count the corpses in the basement: there were nineteen in total.

Combining this with what the “NPC Tool” had said earlier, he reached a conclusion: nine vengeful ghosts had already found substitutes and escaped from here!

“Master, I think I’ve discovered a terrifying truth,” Chen Sheng suddenly announced.

The little female ghost, full of resentment, sneered inwardly: Hah! What truth could be more frightening than your bootlicking artifact?

“Master, the Police Bureau’s statistics on the disappearance rate here is one in ten, and there are nineteen corpses in the basement. I think their statistics are correct,” Chen Sheng said to himself.

“Huh?” The little female ghost blinked, her green eyes still glowing, confused. Was there a connection?

“The only mistake is that they counted the escaped ghosts as people!” Chen Sheng continued.

“Hmm?” The little female ghost paused, beginning to understand his meaning. “You mean… nine ghosts escaped and disguised themselves as the living.”

“Not just that—they even infiltrated the Police Bureau.”