Chapter 40

He waited for a full two hours.

Yang Jian was certain that the ghost baby would not come again.

The matter with the Wang family was temporarily resolved, although it left behind a not-so-small隐患.

He looked at Wang Shanshan with some sympathy.

Becoming a ghost controller was inevitable for him; in that situation, if he hadn't become one, he would have died in the toilet. But she could have been taken out of the school with the others. Who knew she would be targeted by the ghost baby at the last moment.

"I have work to do, I just took a leave to come here. Since this matter is settled, I'll leave first. If anything happens, call me. Of course, if it's a supernatural event, I'll charge a fee." Yang Jian stood up, preparing to take a taxi and leave.

Wang Bin hurriedly said, "Thank you so much for today. I don't know how to thank you. How about this, when you have time, I'll treat you to a meal?"

"No need for a meal, don't go to the trouble," Yang Jian said. "Besides, nothing good happens when you're with me."

Wang Shanshan suddenly spoke up, "Can I go with you?"

"Daughter, what are you saying?" Wang Haiyan quickly grabbed her hand, afraid that her daughter would run off with Yang Jian.

She understood that Yang Jian was not as simple as she imagined, and following him would definitely lead to more danger.

Yang Jian smiled, "You should stay with your parents. They've been through a lot for your sake today... And you should be aware of your own condition. Even if the ghost baby hadn't targeted you, your life wouldn't be long."

"I know, but I want to be with you," Wang Shanshan said, without any hesitation or shyness, as if it were a natural thing to say.

"That's not possible. You should stay with your parents. That's it, I'm leaving."

How could he let Wang Shanshan follow him?

Another burden would just be a drag.

With his ghost domain, he could leave immediately if trouble arose, but with another person, he would have to save them too.

He slipped away.

Money in hand, he quickly took a taxi and returned to the mall to continue his hard-earned money-making.

"That young man is quite extraordinary," Wang Bin couldn't help but remark as he saw Yang Jian leave.

In the 21st century, what is most important?

Talent.

Yang Jian had this special talent and intelligence. Although he lacked social experience, it was due to his youth. Given a little time to grow, he would definitely become a prominent figure.

"If my daughter could date him, it would be a good choice," Wang Bin thought to himself.

But this young man doesn't seem interested in Shanshan... Our daughter isn't bad-looking.

Is Yang Jian into guys?

If Yang Jian knew his thoughts, he would definitely scold him for being prejudiced.

I'm almost dead, what mood do I have for dating or having children?

Back at the mall.

The mall was pitch black except for the security room, which was still lit.

When Yang Jian returned, another security guard, Liu Qiang, was playing a game on his phone out of boredom.

"Why are you just getting back? How long were you gone? You took leave right after you started? Luckily, I lied to Sister Li and said you went to the bathroom, or you would have been scolded," Liu Qiang said.

"Sorry, I caused you trouble. A classmate had an urgent matter, so I was delayed. It won't happen again," Yang Jian apologized.

"Good thing you're back. It's almost midnight, and we need to patrol. Come on, one last round, and if nothing happens, we can turn off the lights and go to sleep. We have to work at 8:30 tomorrow," Liu Qiang said, putting down his phone, stretching, and yawning.

Yang Jian admired Liu Qiang's bravery, patrolling alone in such a large mall.

He wouldn't have had the courage to do it before.

"Our dorm is upstairs. We'll patrol the underground parking lot, and when we're done, we'll turn off the lights and go straight to the dorm to sleep, so we don't have to come back," Liu Qiang said. "Remember to take your flashlight."

"Thanks for the reminder," Yang Jian nodded, picked up his flashlight, and went to patrol with Liu Qiang.

Although he only planned to observe for three days, he should still do his job well and not be half-hearted.

Because there was no business, the underground parking lot was almost empty.

"Whose cars are those?" Suddenly, Yang Jian pointed to a row of five or six luxury cars. "Are they left by the missing people?"

"No, those are the boss's cars. He changes them every day. Who knows how many he has at home. Well, nothing unusual in the underground parking lot. Let's patrol the next floor," Liu Qiang said.

Yang Jian glanced around again. The underground parking lot was clear, and there was nothing out of the ordinary.

If there was anything wrong, it would be obvious.

They continued patrolling the first floor.

After a round with the flashlight, nothing unusual happened. Everything was normal, except for the darkness.

They took the elevator to the second floor.

But just as he had patrolled less than a circle, he heard a faint rumbling sound from above the mall.

"What's that sound?"

Yang Jian shone his flashlight upward but saw nothing.

The sound seemed to come from the elevator between the fourth and fifth floors.

"It's the elevator running. Maybe Sister Li and the others forgot to turn it off. Each elevator has its own switch, so it's normal to forget. Anyway, we'll clean up after them," Liu Qiang said.

"Is that so? Let's go up and check," Yang Jian said.

Liu Qiang said, "Why rush? Take it slow. Let's patrol the third floor first, then the fourth. There are cameras here. If we're caught slacking off, we'll lose our pay, especially you as a new employee. If you're caught slacking off, you'll be fired."

"..." Yang Jian felt Liu Qiang was a bit rigid.

Fine, if slow is what it is, then slow it will be. Anyway, the mall is empty, and any issues are not his concern.

They slowly patrolled the third floor, then the fourth, and finally reached the elevator.

The mall's elevators were not vertical but escalators, which operated on a belt system.

"See, I told you it was nothing. The elevator power was left on. Let's go," Liu Qiang walked over and turned off the power at the elevator entrance.

Yang Jian didn't say much, hoping he was just being paranoid.

They took the escalator to the fifth floor.

This time, it wasn't an illusion.

The faint smell of decay was back, lingering in the air, impossible to ignore.

He hadn't smelled it on the third floor.

"Fifth floor, something's not right..." Yang Jian followed Liu Qiang, patrolling the fifth floor with his flashlight.

Apart from closed shops and some shelves, there was nothing.

Everything seemed calm.

But when Yang Jian passed a clothing store, he shone his flashlight inside.

There were plastic mannequins, incomplete and unchanged from the daytime.

"Everything's normal, let's go to sleep," Liu Qiang yawned.

"Okay."

Yang Jian retracted his gaze, shone his flashlight, and left the mall with Liu Qiang through the staff通道, heading back to the staff dormitory.

On the way, he suddenly remembered something and asked, "By the way, if the elevator on the fourth floor was left on, it should have been running all along. Why wasn't it running when we went there?"

"That's a sensor-operated elevator. It only moves when someone is near. It won't run if no one is there," Liu Qiang said.

"If it's sensor-operated, then the elevator suddenly running means someone used it. But there's no one else in the mall besides us. Who used the elevator?" Yang Jian asked.

Liu Qiang said, "Maybe it malfunctioned. If someone was patrolling, they would have noticed it."

Yang Jian frowned, wanting to go back and check, but decided it wasn't necessary. He would wait until the boss came the next day to check.

As Yang Jian and Liu Qiang went to sleep in the dormitory,

A faint rumbling sound came from the mall again.

The escalator started running.

The power light on the escalator from the fifth floor to the fourth floor lit up and began to operate.

After about a minute, the elevator stopped.

But the escalator from the fourth floor to the third floor started running.

Rumbling...

It stopped after a short while.

Then the escalator from the third floor to the second floor started running.

Finally,

When the escalator to the first floor ran for a short while, everything in the mall returned to peace.