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墨書 Inktalez
Last night, I worked late and only got home around noon today. I'm quite exhausted, but ever since I switched to ironworking, my sense of responsibility has clearly strengthened. I can't afford to let down the subscribers who pay for my content, so I had planned to go to bed early tonight. However, after some thought, I decided against it. The events of last night are still fresh in my mind, so I figured I might as well strike while the iron is hot and share what happened.
The night before last, around ten o'clock, I was busy writing the story about the reservoir. As I contemplated treating myself to a little reward after finishing a chapter, my phone rang. I thought perhaps a kind soul was inviting me out for a late-night snack. Excitedly, I picked up the phone only to see it was an unfamiliar number. Feeling a bit disappointed, I answered it, and a timid girl's voice came through: "Hello, is this Mr. Liu?" Her voice was sweet and her Mandarin was quite standard—clearly someone who had received professional training.
I assumed it was yet another sales call or advertisement. "Yes, this is me," I replied. "I'm not interested in insurance or financial investments, and I don't want to top up my phone credit. If you don't have anything important or if you're not lending me money, I'll hang up now."
After I quickly finished speaking, there was silence on the other end. She seemed to be processing what I'd just said. A few seconds later, feeling a bit rash for my abruptness, I added, "Do you need something? If not, I'm about to go eat."
She responded, "Wait a moment; I think you misunderstood. I'm the receptionist at Shaoguan XX Company. We've encountered some issues at our company—it seems like we might have a ghost problem. My boss asked me to try and find someone experienced in this area. After some inquiries, I learned that you work in this field, so I took the liberty of calling you in hopes that you could help us."
Her tone was sincere and even carried a hint of desperation. It turned out that I had indeed misunderstood her intentions. Since she had reached out for help, she must be connected to my boss...
I quickly apologized: "I'm sorry for the misunderstanding. Yes, I can handle some of these situations, but you'll need to tell me more about what's happening on your end so that I can assess whether it's truly a ghost issue and if it's something I can resolve. If it is something I can handle, I'll give you a quote. If you can accept it, then I'll come over. Of course, Shaoguan is quite far away; travel expenses will be on your end."
Having worked in this field for so long, it's essential to clarify the reward aspect upfront to avoid any conflicts later on. Although victims usually pay after the fact if asked again, it's better to establish everything clearly from the start.
She acknowledged with an "mm" and then said, "I'll pass the phone to one of our department heads so he can speak with you; I'm not very clear on the details of this situation."
I replied, "Alright, please go ahead."
Then another voice came through the line calling out a name; they were evidently still at the office and hadn't left yet.
Although I've never held a formal job, I'm familiar with the concept of working nine-to-five. It was already ten o'clock at night and they were still at the office—either working overtime or anxiously waiting for news from someone.
A moment later, a deep male voice came through the phone: "Hello, is this Master Liu? My surname is Li, and I am the customer service manager of xx Company."
I replied, "Manager Li, you can just call me Xiao Liu. I don't deserve the title of 'Master.' Please go ahead and explain your company's situation; I'll assess it before we discuss a solution."
He acknowledged with a sound and began to explain the matter. As a customer service manager, his explanation was concise and to the point. In just two minutes, he covered everything that needed to be said. The situation seemed routine to me, not particularly challenging, so I agreed immediately. I said, "I'll come by tomorrow. This issue can be resolved; you can rest assured. The cost will be x. It can only be handled late at night, so you'll need to cover my transportation and accommodation. Since it's your territory, please book me a room at a budget hotel."
Mr. Li on the other end didn't hesitate and said, "As long as this matter can be resolved, everything else is negotiable. What time will you arrive tomorrow? I'll pick you up."
I replied, "Around 8 PM should be fine. There's no point in arriving too early; this issue can only be addressed at night..."
He responded with an "Okay," then added, "I won't disturb you any longer. You focus on your work; see you tomorrow..."
After hanging up, I lost all desire for a late-night snack. Since I had work to do, I figured I wouldn't be able to write anymore tonight, so I simply sat down to finish another chapter about the 'reservoir' issue.
The situation was as follows: they were an IT company, but I won't disclose specifics; otherwise, it would be easy to trace back. In any case, I found their operations quite advanced. However, behind any glamour lies hardship. Their employees often worked overtime, especially programmers who faced tight project deadlines. It had reached an obsessive level—working from 9 AM to 11 PM every day—with only one day off per month. Under such high-intensity conditions, an incident finally occurred: a diligent programmer collapsed at his desk while trying to take a brief rest before leaving for the day. Unfortunately, he never got back up. It wasn't until a colleague from the Customer Service Department passed by on their way to the restroom that they called out to him and received no response. He had slumped over and fallen to the ground, unconscious. An ambulance was called, but shortly after arriving at the hospital, the doctor pronounced him dead due to sudden cardiac arrest.
Sudden death: According to the World Health Organization (WHO), sudden death is defined as “the unexpected death of an apparently healthy individual within a short time due to natural causes.” In simpler terms, it refers to someone who seems normal suddenly dying. Although it appears sudden, there are always underlying reasons; it doesn't happen without cause. In this case, it was clearly due to excessive fatigue and overwhelming mental stress combined with irregular lifestyle habits. Recently, many news reports have highlighted sudden deaths primarily caused by overwork and neglecting one's health.
As the saying goes, "The King of Hell won't let you die at three o'clock if it's not your time." Those of us in this line of work value life highly. Most sudden deaths are fated events; however, I want to emphasize that even if one is destined for such an end, there must still be a reason behind it. Life isn't predetermined from birth as depicted on television; it's not entirely like that. There are many extraordinary individuals in this world who know that some souls can evade Yin Chai (the Soul Collector). While rare, they do exist; when Yin Chai cannot capture a soul easily for reporting purposes, they must seek out substitute souls instead. However, finding these substitutes cannot be arbitrary; there must be reasons involved. If a seemingly normal person dies without cause, it would inevitably cause panic among people.
Thus, they are quite clever in choosing those whose Birth Date and Time indicate weak fates and low Yang Qi (vital energy). Individuals with weak fates typically do not live long lives; those with low Yang Qi are even easier targets for soul collection. Office workers who work long hours without seeing sunlight clearly lack Yang Qi as well. If they also have weak fates according to their Birth Date and Time, they easily become candidates for Yin Chai's soul substitutes.
While not all sudden deaths are due to being taken by Yin Chai as substitutes—this is just a small probability event—this particular case happened to fit that description.
The programmer who died suddenly will be referred to as A for confidentiality purposes. A had recently joined the company after graduating and was filled with ambition and dreams for the future. Knowing the pressures of society firsthand, he worked tirelessly to impress his superiors. His Birth Date and Time indicated a weak fate combined with excessive fatigue leading to low Yang Qi; thus he met the criteria for becoming a soul substitute. Coincidentally encountering Yin Chai's need for a substitute soul led him to an untimely end.
Of course, before I arrived there, I had no knowledge of the events surrounding the soul replacement. The only information I had was that A had died suddenly, and the company had discreetly handled the aftermath. However, from the very first night after A's death, things became unsettling at the company. Due to the nature of the business, customer service staff were required to be on duty all night. After A's sudden passing, the once calm office experienced unexplained power outages twice after midnight; the circuit breaker would trip on its own. Moreover, during these outages, one of the female customer service representatives claimed to have seen A's figure appear beside her desk. But as soon as other colleagues reset the circuit breaker, that figure would vanish, and everything would return to normal. This strange occurrence happened every night for three consecutive nights without fail.
The colleagues who did not see the figure were somewhat relieved because they were all together; aside from feeling a bit scared, they did not have much resistance to the situation. However, for the customer service representative who saw it—let's call her H—she could no longer remain calm. Although she had not been directly harmed, encountering such an event was clearly beyond what an ordinary person could accept.
On the first night, H thought she was just seeing things and didn’t pay much attention. But when she witnessed the same thing at the same time on the second night, she began to feel uneasy and decided to report it to her superior in detail. Her superior dismissed her concerns as mere coincidence and suggested that what she saw was just a trick of her eyes, advising her not to worry about it. Seeing that her superior did not believe her but also feeling extremely frightened, H decided to submit her resignation.
Seeing her determination, her superior took it seriously. If this situation were true, how could the company maintain peace in the future? However, he was hesitant to report it to the boss and instead promised H that he would stay with her at the company that night to observe what was happening. He also rejected her resignation request. This superior was Mr. Li, their customer service manager and the person who shared this story with me.
That’s roughly how things unfolded. After listening to Manager Li’s account, I immediately agreed to help resolve this issue because solving it didn’t seem difficult; after all, A wasn’t a malevolent spirit. As long as it wasn’t a malevolent spirit, I knew I could handle it. Besides, there seemed to be little danger involved.
The high-speed train from Guangzhou South to Shaoguan takes two and a half hours, but the High-Speed Rail only takes fifty minutes. Fortunately, I managed to buy a ticket. Therefore, I didn’t arrive too early; I reached Shaoguan at nine o'clock in the evening. Upon my arrival, Manager Li was already waiting for me at the station in his car. Once we reached the company building, Manager Li asked if I had eaten and whether I wanted to grab a late-night snack. Since we were already at the company entrance when he asked this question, I replied, “No need to be polite; let’s go up and take a look first.”
After exiting the elevator, I immediately saw the reception area; in other words, the elevator opened directly into it—which posed a problem. However, this was merely a feng shui issue. To elaborate briefly: when an elevator faces directly towards a main entrance, its opening and closing resemble a pair of scissors that can create negative energy within a space; we refer to this as "elevator killing" or "sickle killing." Those affected by elevator killing may face dangers akin to being caught in a blade's glare. Yet this killing is peculiar; if an affected person's birth date does not clash with metal elements or if they work in related fields, it can turn from ominous to auspicious feng shui.
As I entered the office around ten o'clock, I took out my compass and began my observations. After moving around without any disturbances for a while, Manager Li led me to an office door marked "Customer Service Department." This office had only a door frame without an actual door and was separated by glass walls; thus, I could see inside without entering. The room wasn’t large—it contained three standard desks arranged in a grid pattern for four people each—capable of accommodating twelve individuals in total. Currently inside were only three people—all female—as is typical for customer service roles.
After smiling and greeting everyone with a nod, I began using my compass within the office while they curiously watched me as if I were some sort of oddity. Feeling awkward, I smiled at the customer service manager who understood my situation and said to everyone: “The handsome guy can look whenever he wants; right now is working hours—don’t get distracted.”
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