Chapter 106: Nineteen Paths
"Oh? Does he know that the previous supervisor has already passed away?" Chu Jiang thought that this matter hadn't been widely known yet, considering that Wang Lei had recently died.
"He probably figured it out. Some of the local Ghost Masters are quite familiar with Mr. Wang. A few who have worked with him before even have his phone number."
"Now that Mr. Wang isn't appearing and his phone isn't reachable, and the mission postings on the paranormal forum aren't from his usual account, it's likely that someone has guessed that something has happened to him."
"Okay, let's connect via video now." Chu Jiang sat in front of the computer.
Luo Yifeng nodded and first contacted the Ghost Master before setting things up on the computer for Chu Jiang.
Soon, a slightly dim picture popped up on the screen. The background of the picture was a rented house, and in the center was a middle-aged man with a beard who looked a bit tired.
"Hello, are you the new person in charge of Luohe City?"
"Yes," replied Chu Jiang coolly, leaning back on the seat.
The middle-aged man smiled ingratiatingly, "May I ask where the previous person in charge went?"
"Dead."
"Alright," shrugged the middle-aged man, "Let's skip the small talk. How should I address you as the person in charge? As a token of goodwill, let me give you some information for free."
"My last name is Chu."
"Okay, Mr. Chu, here's what happened to me last night. I happened to encounter something strange."
Zhao Dahe, the middle-aged man, began to describe his experience.
Last night, he went to a nearby store to buy beer. On the way, he unintentionally heard cries for help coming from a nearby alley.
As the Ghost Master, his sensitivity made him immediately suspect that something unusual was happening.
After hesitating for a moment, Zhao Dahe decided to go and check the alley.
As he entered, he just happened to see a young man being dragged deeper into the alley by a humanoid black shadow.
The man looked terrified, kicking his legs frantically, but he was quickly pulled into the darkness by the shadow and completely disappeared, along with his voice.
Zhao Dahe didn't rush forward to save the person at that moment. Instead, he cautiously took out his phone and took a picture of the ghost, then turned around and escaped.
Afterwards, Zhao Dahe tried calling Wang Lei, but no one answered.
It wasn't until today, during the day, when he was browsing a forum about the supernatural, that he saw a related task and called Lin Yun to get in touch.
After explaining, Zhao Dahe defended himself saying, "It's not that I didn't want to save that young man, it's just that I wasn't sure. If I had rushed in, I might have ended up as a corpse by now."
Luo Yifeng, who was standing aside, had a frown on his face. It seemed like he was not satisfied with this person not reporting to the police.
Chu Jiang didn't say anything about it. His basic requirement for the ordinary Ghost Masters was: don't expect them to be good people, but at least they shouldn't be bad people, especially not causing trouble on his territory. Otherwise, don't blame Chu Jiang for not being polite.
"Where is the photo?"
Zhao Dahe nodded, "I will send it to you."
Soon, Chu Jiang received a photo on his computer. The resolution was low, and the image was not very clear.
However, you could still vaguely see a humanoid black shadow dragging an innocent person forward. It had clear lines on its body, resembling a Go game board, with 19 vertical lines and 19 horizontal lines.
No wonder Zhao Dahe thought that this matter was related to the Ghost Chess Game. This ghost looked like a chessboard at first glance.
"Is there any other intelligence?"
"No, if I ever encounter that ghost again, I will notify you immediately," Zhao Dahe promised confidently.
Chu Jiang nodded when he saw this, "Okay, I remember this incident."
Zhao Dahe breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this, at least this favor was sold, "Alright, alright, then I won't disturb Mr. Chu's work."
After saying this, he hung up the phone tactfully.
Chu Jiang looked at Luo Yifeng, "What do you think?"
Luo Yifeng nodded, "The young man in the photo should be the victim from the southern district, their clothing is exactly the same."
"Where was the victim found?"
"He should have been found at the end of this alley in the photo, it was discovered by a sanitation worker while they were cleaning up the garbage."
Chu Jiang stroked his chin with his left hand, thinking deeply.
Dragged into the darkness, the person and the sound disappeared together. Could it be another ghost from the Ghost Domain?
It's not impossible after all, since it has the ability to move around, Chu Jiang has already considered Ghost Chess Game as a B-level ghost. Even though it doesn't seem very efficient at killing, it only causes one death at a time.
After thinking for a moment, Chu Jiang took out his satellite phone and dialed a number.
Soon, there was a response from the other side, with a slightly hoarse voice, "Hello, who is this?"
"It's me, Chu Jiang. I am currently in charge of Luohe City."
The person on the other end paused for a moment, then realized, "Well, well, you little brat. You became in charge in just a few days. Why didn't you come to the research institute to find me?"
That person was Fang Tianci, the one in charge of Luozhou City.
To be honest, Chu Jiang didn't have a good impression of Fang Tianci. But objectively speaking, this guy really does his job, although it's unknown whether he does it to gain some credit for himself or to transplant a second ghost.
"I naturally found someone I know. Enough chit-chat, I have a question for you. How much do you know about Ghost Chess Game? It seems to have shown up over here."
As soon as Chu Jiang mentioned something important, Fang Tianci's tone became serious. "That's what I've been saying, but recently, it seems like there haven't been any victims of Ghost Chess Game."
"I don't know much about this thing, and I haven't had a direct encounter with it before."
"But from the sounds or written words left by some dying people, it seems that ghosts play chess with people, and every person who played chess with them died without exception."
"Currently, I only know that there is a connection between murder patterns and chess, but I'm not sure if it has anything to do with the deceased playing chess. As you know, there are very few people nowadays who play Go, and Connect Five is almost the same."
After communicating for a while, Chu Jiang didn't get many clues. Fang Tianci's understanding of the ghost was not much different from his.
Of course, besides the Ghost Chess Game, the two also talked about some other topics. Mainly because they were not too far apart and wanted to look out for each other.
Naturally, Chu Jiang agreed without underestimating Fang Tianci because of the accident.
Chu Jiang didn't forget that Fang Tianci's ghost seemed to have the ability to "devour" and grow stronger.
However, because of this, Fang Tianci may not live much longer. On one hand, it becomes more difficult for the Ghost Master to control the ghost as it grows stronger. On the other hand, if you don't feed the ghost, it will start eating from your body...
After discussing the matter of the Ghost Chess Game with Luo Yifeng for a while, Chu Jiang could only ask his subordinates to pay more attention to information in this aspect and inform him immediately if there are any problems.
