Surrounded by cheers, I smiled as Rachel pulled me out of the crowd. At that moment, I noticed the fat guy was there too, sneaking glances at us. I watched him out of the corner of my eye.
Back at the hotel, as soon as I entered my room, I instantly transformed into a ghost—a dark, shadowy mass.
"What's wrong? Aren't you happy about winning the lottery?"
"No, I just want to take a closer look at that fat guy and see what he's up to."
As I passed through the wall, I was startled to see a naked couple in Room 604, engaged in an intimate act. Shocked, I quickly slipped through another wall into the corridor, sighing at how awkward this was.
I immediately returned to the front desk, where a staff member was working at the computer, handling guest records. It was already past 10 PM, and a few people lingered in the lobby. I decided to possess the staff member.
In a flash, I entered the staff member's body, flooded with fragments of their memories, which I skipped over. I focused on the guest records—Room 616, the fat guy, lived right across from us. He checked in just after we did.
After checking, I left the staff member's body. Instantly, with a thud, the staff member fainted, and I silently apologized.
When I returned to the room, I was stunned—Rachel was changing clothes. She screamed, and I hurried out, my heart pounding with embarrassment. Why did she have to change just as I came back?
After a while, Rachel opened the door and I went in, returning to human form. She grinned mischievously and walked up to me.
"You saw everything just now, didn't you?"
I quickly shook my head, insisting I hadn't seen anything.
"You're so naughty, Ethan. You can turn into a ghost—doesn't that mean you could sneak into changing rooms and bathrooms to spy on girls anytime you want?"
I gasped, looking at Rachel, then realized she was right—I really could do that. But I immediately shot her a glare.
"Enough joking, okay? Rachel, do you have your police badge? Let's go question that fat guy and see what he's up to."
After preparing, we went to the door of Room 606. We knocked, and after a while, footsteps approached and the door opened.
"Officer, is there something you need?"
The fat guy grinned foolishly and asked, but suddenly my expression changed. In an instant, Rachel lunged, twisted his arm, and pinned him to the ground.
I closed the door, and the fat guy started crying and screaming in fear.
"Shut up, you fat idiot! If you keep screaming, I won't be so nice."
Rachel threatened him, twisting his arm even harder. William Wu screamed in pain, then fell silent. Rachel took out a pair of handcuffs and cuffed him in the bathroom, glaring at him.
The moment William Wu opened the door and called us officers, it was clear he knew something. I looked at him and asked.
"Tell me, why are you following us?"
I took the digital camera from William Wu's hand and checked the photos—sure enough, they were all of us, starting from when we entered Gourd Village. There were even photos from last night at the museum, though blurry, showing me and Rufina Howard.
William Wu grinned apologetically. I was surprised—his nickname is Fatty Wu. Six or seven years ago, he started paying attention to us because he lived in a wealthy villa district.
Five years ago, a murder occurred in that villa district—the wealthy owner killed his wife and child, then fled. The case seemed ordinary until the police who went to arrest him acted strangely, shooting each other in a bizarre incident.
That night, William Wu witnessed something strange—the owner hid in a basement, but instead of police, a black van arrived. Several people got out and performed rituals, seemingly fighting with the air.
That night, the man was arrested but insisted he hadn't killed his family—it was a ghost.
Since then, William Wu noticed the existence of the Ghost Burial Squad. He saw their black van at every strange incident.
Now I finally understood—William Wu was just a nosy busybody.
"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. This kind of thing is a secret, right?"
William Wu smiled foolishly. Rachel unlocked his handcuffs without saying a word, just glaring at him fiercely.
"Are you crazy? We're legitimate police officers investigating a case. William, don't overthink it. Also, we're confiscating your camera—leave your contact info and I'll call you when you can pick it up in the city."
"Officer, that's not it... Are you ghost police? I've seen you several times, and I heard about that time—five of you died."
Rachel's expression changed drastically and she glared fiercely at William Wu, making him shut up. We prepared to leave.
"Wait, officer! I've been to this town before—I saw a zombie."
I turned to glare at William Wu. Reluctantly, we released him and sat in the room. He told us that over two years ago, he visited here and saw, for just a moment, a flying, red-haired creature with sharp fangs. He even took a photo.
William Wu opened his laptop and showed us the photo. It didn't look fake—a red, human-like figure was moving on a rooftop. Zoomed in, though blurry, you could see its sharp fangs.
I asked William Wu how he took the photo. He said two years ago, he visited after seeing the dried corpse, which wasn't as strange as he expected. He liked taking random photos everywhere.
That night, William Wu remembered a reddish glow beside the moon. A few days later would be the Mid-Autumn Festival, so he took photos of the sky, hoping for a good shot, and accidentally captured the creature.
He showed the photo to others, but they all said it was fake. He wanted to contact the Ghost Burial Squad but couldn't find them. This time, he secretly put a tracking device on Rachel's car.
At this, Rachel shot up and pointed at William Wu.
"You idiot! You dared to track me?"
"No, officer, I'm just really curious about this stuff. My friends and I are all members of the city's paranormal enthusiasts club. When I saw your route, I figured you were heading to Zombie Village, so I followed."
I was frustrated—dealing with troublesome people like this always gets to me.
"Listen up—don't mention our business to anyone, got it?"
I threatened William Wu, who nodded seriously and didn't ask anything else. But Rachel looked upset—I knew it was because William Wu mentioned the incident where five Ghost Burial Squad members died.
Back in the room, Rachel still looked deep in thought, somewhat sad. I didn't ask—just told her to rest, then went out to bring Old Ren in.
As I closed the door, I saw Rachel lying on the bed, looking heartbroken.
Seeing Rachel like this, I was worried. But then I thought—what if something happened again? I called out as I left the room.
"Please, watch over her for me."
As soon as I finished speaking, my shadow suddenly separated from my body, cast onto the wall. Its golden eyes stared at me. I nodded, and it slipped into the wall.
My situation was strange—I had no shadow at all. Even under the light, I still looked human, but I had to avoid people. Outside the hotel, I carried a large bag, stuffed Old Ren inside, and took it upstairs.
I looked around, but Old Ren was nowhere to be seen. I decided to wait for him on the street—he'd said he wanted to check out the museum again.
"Dao Zhi Jian Inscription..."
As I passed by a pool, I heard a shout. Suddenly, everyone around vanished.
Suddenly, I saw the old Taoist standing on the water, holding a white horsetail whisk. His hair was wild, his gaze sharp. I clenched my fists.
"Was it you? Did you take Rufina Howard away?"
I asked, but the old Taoist didn't answer.
Suddenly, the old Taoist flicked his whisk, and droplets of water began to move, forming a watery bagua in front of him.