Chapter 50

"Li Qiang, haven't you noticed anything strange about yourself?" Yang Jian asked seriously, staring at him.

Seeing everything in the surveillance video, Li Qiang was also stunned. He tried to recall, but some things were truly beyond his memory. It seemed as if he had experienced a period of memory loss. If he didn't pay close attention, it seemed nothing was wrong. He thought he was just working, and he hadn't done anything special.

"Yang Jian, do you mean that my head was also replaced, like those people in the surveillance video?"

Li Qiang looked at him in shock, his face filled with disbelief.

"It seems you don't know your own condition. Let me ask you, where were you before you came to the surveillance room?" Yang Jian said.

"I was..." Li Qiang was about to answer but then paused.

How did he get to the surveillance room?

Did he come right after the power went out? But which route did he take, who did he meet, and what did he see?

He couldn't remember. Li Qiang couldn't recall, or rather, he had no memory of that part.

"You can check the surveillance footage. The mall's cameras usually have night vision, so even if all the lights were off, it should still be clear," Yang Jian said.

"I'll check..." Li Qiang immediately looked for the surveillance footage.

Soon, he found it.

The time went back to when Master Luo was performing the ritual.

Everyone in the mall was in the first-floor hall watching Master Luo.

Then, Yang Jian, finding it amusing, interrupted Master Luo, leading to a few words of argument.

But in the surveillance footage, Li Qiang seemed to ignore this and left directly.

No one noticed a security guard leaving.

"I, why did I go to the electrical room at that time?" Li Qiang was shocked when he saw himself in the surveillance footage.

In the footage, after Li Qiang went to the electrical room, the mall's power went out.

The power was cut by Li Qiang himself.

"You not remembering doesn't mean you didn't do it. Keep watching," Yang Jian said.

After all the lights in the mall went out, Li Qiang stood still, like a wooden statue, motionless. But this didn't last long.

He soon moved again.

He turned and walked towards the first-floor restroom.

Yang Jian recognized this as the same ghost that had appeared in the restroom earlier.

"It's impossible, this can't be. Why can't I remember doing this at all?"

Li Qiang stood up abruptly, turning to look at Yang Jian, his face filled with fear.

Yang Jian took a step back and said seriously, "Because when you lost your memory, you were no longer human, but... a ghost, or replaced by a ghost. The reason you can still retain your memory is that your head is still there, not yet rotten. In a few days, when your head rots, your memory will completely disappear."

"So, in a strict sense, you have already died a few days ago. Touch your neck; the wound from the head replacement should still be there. If you weren't a ghost, you wouldn't have that wound."

Li Qiang subconsciously touched his neck.

His hand ran over the skin on his neck, and the small cut immediately opened, revealing the bloody flesh inside, and a foul smell spread.

He was already rotting...

"It's impossible, I don't believe it. I don't believe I'm dead. I'm clearly still alive."

Li Qiang became agitated, repeatedly touching the wound on his neck to confirm if what Yang Jian said was true.

However, it had been several days since his head was replaced, and the wound was not tight. The more he touched it, the bigger the wound became, and pieces of flesh fell off.

The stench of decay grew stronger.

"What should I do? I don't want to die, Yang Jian, can you help me?" Li Qiang was completely panicked, his hands covered in blood, emitting a foul smell, his head on his neck out of place, looking at Yang Jian in a very awkward way.

Yang Jian saw fear, pleading, and despair in his eyes...

"Sorry, I can't help you at all." He said seriously, "The only thing I can do is remind you to call your family and say a few words. That's the only thing you can do."

Li Qiang trembled, pulling out his phone from his pocket, tears streaming down his face as he prepared to call his family.

But as he lowered his head...

The head, already out of place, couldn't support itself on his neck...

"Thud!"

A dull sound of something hitting the ground.

Li Qiang's head fell off his neck, rolling on the floor for a few circles before finally stopping against the wall.

The headless body immediately stiffened, the phone in his hand just starting to light up, but the call was never made.

Glancing at the head on the floor, eyes closed, face pale and bloodless, Yang Jian sighed.

Another person killed by a vengeful ghost.

He turned his gaze to Jiang Yan, who was trembling against the wall in fear.

Yang Jian walked over, roughly grabbing her delicate face and pressing it against the wall, then ran his fingers over her neck.

"You're not a ghost?" Yang Jian said with surprise.

His fingers ran over her neck, finding no wound.

Jiang Yan was both scared and angry: "You actually suspected I was a ghost?"

"I had to suspect. You're also a mall employee; who knows if your head was replaced? Anyone whose head was replaced is a ghost, and they don't know it themselves." Yang Jian let go of Jiang Yan.

"What do we do now? Those things are outside; how can we leave here?"

Jiang Yan wasn't angry but was afraid Yang Jian would be, so she held his hand, looking pitiful.

Yang Jian said, "There are still people in the mall. I'll bring them out and leave. The key to the main door should be with Sister Li. Once we get the key from her, we can leave."

"But before we leave, you must stay here and watch the surveillance footage to figure out the true identity of this ghost, and ideally, find the source of the ghost."

"Ah, I don't want to stay here. I want to go with you."

Jiang Yan was scared and quickly hugged his arm, refusing to let go.

Yang Jian shook his head: "No, I need you to watch the surveillance. Otherwise, how will I know when a ghost is approaching? And how can I confirm the ghost's true identity? I don't have time to waste here; it's going to be dark soon, and the mall will be completely dark at night, which is even more disadvantageous for us."

"But, but there's Li Qiang here, and I'm scared."

Jiang Yan said with a quavering voice.

Yang Jian ignored her, taking a phone from Li Qiang's body and calling his satellite phone.

"Keep the call open, and notify me immediately if anything happens. Also, remember, never turn your back on anyone. The ghost can only replace heads from behind. As long as you face the ghost, it won't attack you."

He handed the phone to Jiang Yan.

"I'm still scared," Jiang Yan said.

"Didn't you promise me earlier? If you don't listen, you won't survive. You're smart; you know what to do. Just be a bit braver, and this won't be a problem. Enough talk, get to work."

Yang Jian left the surveillance room without another word.

"Wait..." Jiang Yan tried to stop him.

But the door had already slammed shut.

Jiang Yan wanted to follow, but she stopped.

Because it was more dangerous outside. Only this small security guard had the courage to wander around the ghost-infested mall.

After hesitating, she bit her lip, suppressing her fear, and walked to the surveillance console, tightly gripping Li Qiang's phone.

As for Li Qiang's headless body and the head on the wall, she didn't dare to look at them.

"Can you hear me?"

Yang Jian walked through the mall, speaking into his satellite phone.

"I can hear you, I can see you now," Jiang Yan's nervous voice came from the other end.

"Good, keep an eye on any movements around me and inform me immediately."

Yang Jian hung the phone on his chest and headed towards where Mr. Tang and the others were.

Among them was Sister Li... and she was a ghost.

"Will the million be lost?"

Yang Jian thought, "But if Jiang Yan cooperates well this time, I can earn this money without using the Ghost Eye's power."

As he started moving, the previously quiet and empty mall began to fill with figures emerging from hidden corners and closed shops.

They had different appearances, pale faces, closed eyes, and moved stiffly.

Jiang Yan, seeing this in the surveillance room, turned pale with fear.

And some were already close to Yang Jian.

"Those things are appearing..." Jiang Yan's voice trembled as she warned.

"I know. Just report the positions of the ghosts nearby, and don't forget my earlier advice," Yang Jian's calm tone immediately calmed Jiang Yan down.