INHA Chapter 64

After the situation with Tian Haomiao was resolved perfectly, the Anomaly Handling Bureau was very pleased. Because of this, the headquarters rewarded the branch with many resources, which made other branches envious. However, there was nothing they could do; the handlers at the branch handled the matter exceptionally well.

Even veteran agents at the headquarters might not have noticed the issue in time, given that this app was popular nationwide, not just in the local city.

However, only the handlers at the Fengnian Street branch detected the problem and quickly resolved a potentially highly dangerous and impactful evil ghost incident.

Moreover, the person who handled it was a rookie. This time, those who said that Xu Dongyou was unfit to be assigned the live broadcast task were all silenced.

What else could they say? Once or twice, it could have been luck, but this time, it was enough to prove that this rookie was indeed extraordinary. He might not know much about resentful spirits, but he was certainly one of the most perceptive handlers when it came to dealing with them.

The headquarters immediately issued extra rewards to Xu Dongyou and the others, even including Zhang Feng. For the past few days, Zhang Feng had been smiling frequently, as he not only received these points but also got some recognition from the headquarters.

This was a good thing.

Others might be envious, but there was nothing they could do about it. After all, Zhang Feng’s main job was as an entertainment industry agent. There was no one else in the bureau involved in the entertainment industry. Even if they were given the task, they wouldn’t be able to handle it.

Therefore, when Xu Dongyou received the task to handle the follow-up incident, no one raised any objections.

By now, many people knew that the newcomer named Li Dong seemed to be able to see resentful spirits.

Additionally, since this matter was originally under Xu Dongyou’s responsibility, not only Xu Wan but also Tian Ze, Kuang Zhannu, Yan Jingnan, and another person whom Xu Dongyou didn’t recognize would be going along.

Tian Ze mentioned that the unknown person was a researcher from a special department. The phone was handed over to them for research, and this time they were coming over to gather more useful information. However, since the researcher had no combat skills, and the higher-ups were very concerned about the possibility of an accident, more than a dozen special officers had been dispatched to wait in the neighborhood.

Xu Dongyou quietly asked Tian Ze, “Captain, are we going to live broadcast this time?”

After all, this time it wasn’t just their team involved; there was also someone from the research department. Plus, they were going to the neighborhood to record a live broadcast, which introduced too many uncontrollable factors.

Tian Ze put down what he was holding and said, “It’s mainly up to you. Since the Chief didn’t mention it to me, there’s probably nothing to worry about.”

Tian Ze understood Xu Dongyou’s concerns, so he looked in the rearview mirror at the researcher sitting in the back, who was deeply engrossed in his materials. “We’ll be live streaming when we get there. Old Zhang, if you mind, just stay back.”

He was quite familiar with Old Zhang.

The person Tian Ze called Old Zhang lifted his head, his cold eyes calm and indifferent, with a hint of a mocking smile. “I’ve told you three times, my surname is Wu, Wu Fang.”

Tian Ze waved his hand nonchalantly, “Ah, I know that but back when we were on that mission, didn’t you say you wanted to use a fake name? ‘Old Zhang’ sounds so friendly. It’s hard to change the habit.”

Xu Dongyou tried hard to minimize his presence.

The aloof researcher Wu Fang chuckled dryly and then said, “I don’t mind, but I do find this incident with the evil object very strange. I hope you all take it seriously.”

Xu Dongyou was startled and straightened up.

Wu Fang calmly pointed out, “Based on my research and analysis so far, although there are cases where resentful spirits interact with electronic devices, this incident is particularly strange. This is the most dangerous and widespread evil object we’ve encountered to date.”

Tian Ze thought for a moment and nodded in agreement, “Now that you mention it, Old Zhang, I do feel like something’s off.”

Xu Wan, who had been quietly sitting nearby, suddenly lifted her head and asked with a strange expression, “What do you mean?”

She had arranged for her parents to stay at the police station temporarily for their safety, so only she and the other handlers were heading to her neighborhood this time.

Under Xu Wan’s eerie gaze, Wu Fang remained unfazed and calmly continued, “I suspect that your death was not a coincidence.”

There have been special cases involving resentful spirits before. However, only two examples have been encountered, and neither had the terrifying influence that Xu Wan possesses.

Wu Fang ignored the sudden chill in the air after Xu Wan heard his words and continued to offer his hypothesis: “Your situation is highly unusual. Although you’re an evil ghost, you’re almost completely controlled by this evil object. Due to your appearance, you piqued Tian Haomiao’s curiosity and affection, which satisfied the first rule of the evil object. If it were merely a phone, it wouldn’t have inspired Tian Haomiao to compose a song based on it.”

After Tian Haomiao struck up a conversation with Xu Wan and added her as a friend, fulfilling the first killing trigger, the evil object would then control Xu Wan to continue enticing Tian Haomiao, leading to increasing affection, infatuation, and eventually fear and terror, forcing Tian Haomiao to write and release the title song within a limited time.

“But what if someone else had approached Xu Wan?” Tian Ze asked while driving, exploring another possibility.

Xu Wan, recalling her memories of being controlled by the evil object, replied in a gloomy tone, “Only if a male singer approached me would the follow-up response of adding as a friend be triggered.”

Tian Ze was taken aback.

This revealed a significant issue.

The evil object was purposefully selecting its victims, which is extremely rare or even unheard of in past evil object incidents.

It’s similar to the case of Hou Mingjun. When he passed by, he stepped on a piece of chewing gum and brought it home. Throughout the process, the chewing gum might have possessed a property that made it undetectable to anyone wearing shoes. However, if it hadn’t been Hou Mingjun, perhaps someone else could have stepped on it instead.

Unlike the previous incidents, this one seems to have maliciously chosen its target.

However, resentful spirits don’t possess intelligence, as seen from the one Xu Dongyou encountered last time.

They merely follow certain rules.

“Have you ever considered who created these rules? Do evil objects really appear out of nowhere? Xu Wan’s case gave me a terrifying theory. I’ve reported it to the higher-ups,” Wu Fang abruptly dropped a bombshell that nearly made Tian Ze slam on the accelerator, forcing him to pull over immediately.

“Old Zhang, do you realize what you’re saying?!” Tian Ze broke out in a cold sweat.

Wu Fang chuckled again. “Why else do you think the higher-ups sent me out here?”

For someone like Wu Fang, who was focused solely on research and never involved in handling resentful spirit cases, the fact that he was sent to work with Xu Dongyou on this matter indicated that… the higher-ups might believe Wu Fang was onto something.

Tian Ze felt goosebumps rising, still finding it hard to believe. “According to your theory, if these evil objects didn’t appear out of thin air, could it mean someone deliberately created them?”

“How could anyone have such power? These are evil objects that we can’t even eliminate,” Tian Ze reacted strongly.

Wu Fang responded, “Maybe it’s not a human. What if it’s another unknown existence? I even suspect that if it weren’t for the strong fortune of the human race, evil objects might already be everywhere.”

This was a conclusion he had reached after discussing with the old demons in the bureau.

It wasn’t just the evil objects; even the demons seemed to be affected, as there hadn’t been any newborns for a very long time.

But there was no need to share this particular detail with Tian Ze and the others.

Tian Ze fell silent, rubbing his forehead wearily. “If that’s true, then things are really bad.”

“Yes, it’s very bad,” Xu Wan said, her body emanating thick gray mist and ghostly energy. Her voice was icy as she continued, “If my death and everything I went through were manipulated by something in the shadows, I will make that damned thing pay.”

Kuang Zhannu, who had remained quiet, clenched her fists and, like Wu Fang, ignored Xu Wan’s chilling aura. “When the time comes, I’ll help you too.”

Just thinking about it made her fists tighten even more.

Tian Ze sighed and quickly added, “Don’t get too worked up, all of you. It’s not just you; the Bureau will make sure this thing pays. But for now, let’s hurry to our destination and find out the truth.”

Xu Wan said nothing, returning to silence, though the thick, swirling gray mist still enveloped her.

At this moment, Xu Dongyou spoke up softly, “Based on the information we have now, if Miss Xu’s neighbor sold her the phone, could they have sold similar phones to others as well?”

“Very likely. Let’s hope they didn’t sell too many, or else who knows how many more people might be affected,” Yan Jingnan said, tapping away at his keyboard. “I just checked the recent activities of Xu Wan’s neighbor across the hall and hacked into their banking records. I found a transaction where Xu Wan transferred over a thousand yuan to Lu Chao, which was probably payment for the phone. I also discovered that about six months ago, nearly 300,000 yuan of unexplained income was deposited into their bank account. This is very suspicious.”

Just as he finished speaking, Yan Jingnan received a message on his computer from an anomaly handling bureau expert, known for their calculation skills. The message contained the same information he had just uncovered but also included details about the person who made the payment. It turned out that this person had developed a mobile game and launched a promotion called “Play the Game, Win a Phone”. Nearly 300 phones had been distributed through this event.

Yan Jingnan barely had time to feel frustrated before the shock of those 300 phones sent him reeling.

What kind of terrifying consequences would there be once those 300 phones entered the market?

Fortunately, the Anomaly Handling Bureau had already started coordinating with police departments to retrieve the phones from those who received them as soon as they got the information.

Each police car was equipped with a handler, just in case any evil object incidents had already occurred.

However, despite the considerable number of handlers at the Fengnian Street branch, they were still not enough once they were all dispatched. Handlers from nearby cities had to be mobilized to assist in the operation.

This was because the mobile game company responsible for this situation was based in their city.

Only a small number of phones had been taken out of the city by tourists or visitors.

As a result, other cities didn’t face as much pressure. But in this city alone, just one phone had caused a terrifying evil object incident with a nationwide impact.

Every branch took these phones very seriously. The mere thought that there were hundreds of these phones in Fengnian City was enough to make them break out in a cold sweat.

It was just too many.

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Moonlit: I hope Dongyou’s little brother will be fine. I had a bad feeling about that game he played to earn money to buy a laptop. It doesn’t have a follow-up scene yet, but I hope he stopped playing it because Dongyou already bought him a laptop.