Chapter 49

"The surveillance footage in the monitoring room can be saved for fifteen days. I'll now pull up the footage from the past seven days," Liu Qiang said as he operated the system, pulling up the old footage: "By the way, why are you looking through the old footage?"

Yang Jian replied, "I'm looking for a few people to see what they've been up to these past few days."

"Huh, that's strange. Who is this person? They don't seem to be from the company. The mall has been closed for a few days, so how did they get in?" Suddenly, Liu Qiang let out a light exclamation.

A middle-aged woman in a skirt appeared on the surveillance footage.

"Do you not recognize her?" Yang Jian asked Liu Qiang casually, keeping a watchful eye on him.

Liu Qiang replied, "I don't recognize her, but I feel like I've seen her somewhere before. I just can't remember where."

Yang Jian also didn't recognize the middle-aged woman on the screen. After all, he had only been there for two days and had only briefly met the previous employees.

"Focus on this person and see what she's up to in the mall."

He had a vague feeling that this middle-aged woman in the footage was a ghost. However, the evidence told him that the ghost was actually Liu Qiang.

If this ghost could change its identity, then everything would make sense. But speculation was useless; he needed the footage as evidence.

He continued to watch the surveillance footage.

The middle-aged woman's movements were a bit strange. She took the elevator to the second floor but paused for a long time at the stairs, standing there motionless like a puppet.

"Speed it up," Yang Jian said.

The footage sped up.

The middle-aged woman stood at the stairs for a full half-hour before finally moving.

She arrived at the second floor.

At this moment, a cashier, Wei Xiaohong, appeared at one of the cash registers.

She seemed to be on duty.

However, Wei Xiaohong was a bit tired from sitting at the register and was standing up to stretch.

The middle-aged woman slowly walked over, heading straight for Wei Xiaohong.

Wei Xiaohong was doing a waist-twisting exercise with her back to the middle-aged woman and didn't notice anyone approaching.

Until the middle-aged woman silently appeared behind her.

"Slow it down," Yang Jian said again.

The playback speed returned to normal.

At this moment, the unfamiliar middle-aged woman in the surveillance footage paused behind Wei Xiaohong for about two to three seconds before suddenly reaching out and grabbing Wei Xiaohong's head.

Wei Xiaohong didn't know what was happening, but her body trembled slightly.

An unbelievable scene unfolded... Wei Xiaohong's head was removed from her neck like a plastic doll's.

There were no screams, no blood, everything was eerily calm.

Wei Xiaohong's headless body stood there stiffly, motionless, as if lifeless.

"How, how is this possible?" Liu Qiang exclaimed in shock.

Jiang Yan, who had been secretly watching the footage, was also startled but kept her hand over her mouth to prevent herself from screaming.

Yang Jian's expression remained calm as he continued to watch the footage.

After removing Wei Xiaohong's head, the unfamiliar middle-aged woman then removed her own head and placed Wei Xiaohong's head on her own body.

At this moment, the unfamiliar middle-aged woman had transformed into Wei Xiaohong.

A short while later, Wei Xiaohong moved.

She carried the unfamiliar woman's head and her own body away from the second floor as if nothing had happened.

The way she effortlessly carried the body was not something a normal person could do.

"Five days ago, Wei Xiaohong became a ghost..." Yang Jian's expression tightened.

Now he understood why Wei Xiaohong's head was so badly decomposed. If she had been replaced by a ghost five days ago, the timing would indeed be about right.

"Continue, keep an eye on this Wei Xiaohong."

"Okay, okay," Liu Qiang said, a bit nervously.

The surveillance footage continued, and he quickly pulled up the footage of Wei Xiaohong.

In the footage from four days ago, Wei Xiaohong went to work as usual, greeted people, and ate... There was no sign that she was a ghost; she seemed completely normal, even chatting and laughing with her colleagues.

However, in the afternoon of four days ago.

Sister Li, feeling bored, invited a few female colleagues to try on clothes, including Wei Xiaohong.

The four of them went to a clothing store on the fifth floor.

Since the mall was closed, no one was in the store, and all the clothes were on the racks for them to try on.

Sister Li was holding a dress and comparing it in the mirror to see if it fit.

At this moment.

Wei Xiaohong's movements became strange. She slowly walked behind Sister Li and reached out toward her head.

However, at this moment, Sister Li suddenly turned around, holding the dress and talking to Wei Xiaohong.

There was no sound in the surveillance footage, but that didn't matter.

Yang Jian clearly saw Wei Xiaohong's movements pause.

Because Sister Li had turned around and was no longer facing away from Wei Xiaohong.

But this good fortune didn't last long. Sister Li had no idea that Wei Xiaohong was already a ghost and still treated her like a normal colleague.

Soon, Sister Li found another dress and continued to compare it in the mirror.

At this moment, Wei Xiaohong moved again.

Just as the unfamiliar woman had done to her, Wei Xiaohong reached out from behind and grabbed Sister Li's head, causing her body to stiffen slightly.

The eerie scene played out again.

Sister Li's head was removed.

"That's not right. If Sister Li's head was removed, she shouldn't be able to appear in front of me," Yang Jian frowned.

Because there was only one ghost.

It couldn't be both Wei Xiaohong and Sister Li.

However, the next scene left him even more puzzled.

In the surveillance footage, after removing Sister Li's head, Wei Xiaohong removed her own head and swapped them.

The two stood stiffly for a moment before returning to normal, trying on clothes as if nothing had happened.

Yang Jian's heart raced, realizing that the situation was more complicated than he had thought. His eyes quickly scanned the surveillance footage on the monitor.

He searched the mall quickly.

Finally, he saw someone standing at the entrance of a storage room on the fifth floor.

This person was facing away from the camera, making it impossible to see their face.

"Pull up the footage from this camera," Yang Jian said.

Liu Qiang opened the surveillance footage from that camera.

Ten minutes ago.

Boss Tang, Master Luo, Manager Li, and Sister Li, among others, were led by Yan Li to hide in the storage room.

At the same time, people with slow movements emerged from the elevator, the safety exit, and various stores, surrounding Yan Li and his group.

After they hid, the people who surrounded them blocked the entrance to the storage room. After a while, something happened, and they gradually dispersed, disappearing into the mall on the fifth floor.

Yang Jian's heart raced, and he took a deep breath.

The ghosts were not just one... but a group.

All those who had their heads swapped were ghosts, or were being controlled by ghosts.

At this moment, he noticed a thin red line around Liu Qiang's neck.

He was one of them...