New Times, New Hell

Chapter 16 - Ghost Imaging Technology

People in the past would use dust to detect the tracks of ghosts when they came back. The supposed “coming back” referred to the day when the spirits of the deceased would return to visit. Some families who had deceased members would place fine dust on the counter during the day of return to see the tracks of the spirit.

According to legend, one could tell what the deceased what reincarnate into in the next life based on the tracks left in the dirt. If one saw chicken tracks, then they would reincarnate into a chicken; if one saw dog tracks, they would reincarnate into a dog. There was an even more bizarre saying, that if there were chain imprints in the dust, the deceased had committed too many sins when alive and had returned in chains.

Daoist priest Mu naturally knew of all this. Sometimes, more traditional families would even invite him to perform spirit send-offs, but he had never truly seen a ghost’s imprint before.

He never imagined that his first time witnessing it would be under these circumstances. Beyond that, he never imagined that the imprints he would see were those of handcuffs…… But he had to admit, it truly was on par with the times.

Daoist priest Mu’s eyes filled with a confusion that seemed to read, “Who am I, where am I.” He temporarily became speechless.

His apprentice simply became mute.

Everyone looked in the direction of the footprints, only to see a pair of handcuffs floating in the air, directly in line with the prints in the dust.

Father Chen was shaking in fear. He finally gathered the courage to ask, “Did you catch the g-ghost?”

“Yes.” Yu Zhengdu looked at the Chens who were now in a huddle together. He comforted, “You guys can relax, it’s fine now.”

How could they relax, the handcuffs were still in midair.

Probably because he thought huddling in a group wasn’t a pretty image, Father Chen stood up, though he was still terrified at heart. When he was a certain distance away from the handcuffs, he stopped and started peering, as if he wanted to get a closer look but was also very scared he would get hurt. He asked, “How did you catch it?”

As soon as he asked, Daoist priest Mu and his apprentice looked over too, intense curiosity burning in their eyes.

How would he know. Yu Zhengdu looked at Boss to seek help.

Shang Que said, “There are many magical instruments capable of holding ghosts. A chain is one of them. The old Daoist should know this.”

The method of using dust to detect trails did note that sometimes the deceased returned in chains. Those were, of course, instruments of the Underworld. But in the mortal realm, some Daoists also preferred to use chains as their magical instruments, refining them to be able to hold ghosts.

Thus, Daoist priest Mu nodded his head.

Shang Que looked at him in disdain, “So how come now that I’ve changed its form, you don’t recognize?”

Daoist priest Mu: “…………??”

Was your method as simple as switching a magical instrument? Your entire ghost catching process was too unscientific……oh wait, too scientific, okay!!! Is this how someone who works with superstitions should act?!

Daoist priest Mu wanted to argue, but Father Chen already seemed to understand. “So that’s what happened, I see. This is one of your new inventions too, right. Handcuffs are more convenient than chains.”

He gave them a thumbs up and kept praising, “Truly, the times are changing. Even the technology for removing evil and catching ghosts has become so top-notch. Kudos to the youth.”

Daoist priest Mu choked.

Little Daoist: “&#k2026;&#k2026;” He was a youth too!

Father Chen asked again, “So what are you going to do with this ghost?”

What to do with it&#k2026;&#k2026; Well, the company normally beat up ghosts that broke the law and then incarcerated them, but he probably couldn’t directly say that.

Upon seeing his hesitation, Daoist priest Mu cut in, “Naturally, we’ll help him move on.”

This was part of the normal execution process. Father Chen had never eaten pork, but he had seen pigs run before. He nodded his head too, “Oh, yes. We must help him move on.”

Then we’ll take him back and pretend we’re going to help him move on, Yu Zhengdu thought. He was about to say something in response, when the handcuffed ghost suddenly started crying, “Don’t, don’t make me move on. I still have things I haven’t accomplished……”

Nobody at the scene could hear the ghost crying except Yu Zhengdu and Shang Que. They only felt that the room had dropped a couple of degrees in temperature again. The Chen siblings were still holding onto each other, only for Chen Sijie to scream and ask, “Why is it so cold, did the ghost escape again?”

“No, he’s just a little agitated,” Yu Zhengdu explained, and then imitated how his coworkers questioned criminal ghosts. He put his hands on his hips and yelled, “Now you feel regret? Why didn’t you think of this when you started doing evil?”

The Chens were originally terrified, but upon seeing Yu Zhengdu scold the air, they went: “……”

Yu Zhengdu waved his fist in the air. “Ghosts like you who have done wrong are in no position to bargain. You should be grateful we haven’t beaten you up yet!”

Everyone: “……”

While everyone was still confused, Yu Zhengdu suddenly turned his head back and looked at Father Chen strangely. “Mr. Chen, this ghost says he wants to speak with you.”

Father Chen’s neck muscles tightened. “What do you mean speak? What does this ghost want to do to me?”

Yu Zhengdu: “He says he’s your friend.”

Father Chen immediately waved his hands. “Bullshit. Where would I find a ghost to be my friend?”

Yu Zhengdu crossed his arms in front of his chest. “He said his name is Hao Wentao.”

Father Chen was stunned. “What?”

After hearing this, Chen Siyu and Chen Sijie looked at each other and finally let go. The fear on their faces was replaced with confusion. Chen Siyu was quite disbelieving: “Uncle Wentao?”

Father Chen really did have a friend called Hao Wentao. He was an associate at a private law firm, and exceptionally good at his work. He was also often busy, always staying up late to work overtime. Eventually, he unfortunately passed away due to overworking himself, half a year ago.

Because it had been a while since the incident, Father Chen couldn’t react in time. He asked numbly a moment later, “Is it really Wentao?”

Yu Zhengdu thought about it and then said, “How would I know. I don’t recognize him……”

Father Chen briefly pondered, then declared sternly, “It can’t possibly be Wentao. Wentao was my good friend, he wouldn’t harm me. This ghost is lying!”

Yu Zhengdu looked at the ghost. The ghost had become frantic, waving its arms around. “I really am Hao Wentao, I’m not lying.”

Father Chen watched as the handcuffs moved up and down, clinking with the movements. He felt growing apprehension.

Yu Zhengdu thought about it, then took out his phone and said, “Let me try this.”

This phone was given to him by the company and contained Luofeng’s “patented technology.” Perhaps it really could image the ghost.

He opened the camera and pointed the lens in the direction of the male ghost, then laughed. “It really works. Mr. Chen, come see. Is it him?”

Father Chen was perplexed, and carefully shifted over to look at the screen of Yu Zhengdu’s phone. His eyes widened. “……Wentao, it really is you!”

Upon hearing this, the Chen siblings and two Daoist monks all rushed over to take a look at the phone.

And then everyone simultaneously: “………………”

They saw the blurry figure of a man on Yu Zhengdu’s phone. The man looked quite capable and wore a suit, along with the handcuffs around his wrists.

Everybody instinctively turned to look in the direction the camera was pointing. There was very obviously nothing there, only a pair of floating handcuffs.

After the initial shock, everyone’s reaction was different. The Chen siblings looked very perplexed. “It’s really Uncle Wentao?”

On the other hand, the two Daoist monks seemed to be questioning their existence, especially the little Daoist. He had originally been so shocked that he remained silent for a long time. Now, the expression on his face shattered and he looked at Daoist priest Mu not knowing whether he should laugh or cry. “Master, they really used the phone to take a picture of the ghost……”

Just this afternoon when they were arguing, he had used this to mock Yu Zhengdu. He never imagined that the other would actually have this kind of technology……

After confirming that this ghost was truly Hao Wentao, Father Chen immediately became excited. He pointed in the direction the camera was pointing and started yelling, “Hao Wentao, are you still human? I treated you like my own brother, but you turned around and came to haunt me!”

Yu Zhengdu reminded him, “He isn’t a human anymore!”

Father Chen: “……”

In the phone screen, Hao Wentao covered his face. His expression was both ashamed and regretful. “I didn’t want to harm you. I was forced to.”

Father Chen flung his hand. “Then tell me, how were you forced?”

Hao Wentao cried, “It’s all because of Yaochu’s stockholder Liu Ningan. He hired a demon priest who used magic to trap me and forced me to do some evil things for him.”

“Liu Ningan?” Father Chen was shocked at his words. Previously he had been competing with Liu Ningan for business, but for some reason, Liu Ningan seemed to always know his bottom line and plans. He always managed to be one step ahead, even setting up a trap to make him lose several deals and money.

Now it seemed like this was all because of Hao Wentao.

Hao Wentao said, “At first Liu Ningan wanted to directly take your life, so he could take over your company after. It was I who recommended him to let me stay by your side and spy on you. Then I could tell him all your business secrets so he could slowly take over your clients and business deals. Because murder decreases one’s Underworld merits, he followed my suggestion. Otherwise you would be dead by now.”

Father Chen didn’t think there was this layer in the middle, and temporarily became shocked. He didn’t know what to say anymore.

Yu Zhengdu asked with his scientist’s mind, “Then did you normally stand on Mr. Chen’s left side to watch him work?”

Hao Wentao paused, “How did you know?”

Yu Zhengdu slightly smiled. “Our Underworld Energy Detector detected that the Underworld energy on the left side of Mr. Chen’s body was very strong.”

Everyone: “……” What a truly scientific analysis!

After learning that Hao Wentao was forced and had also technically saved his life, Father Chen wasn’t angry anymore. He only felt a bit sympathetic.

Father Chen asked Yu Zhengdu to release Hao Wentao from the handcuffs. Then, the few humans and one ghost sat down to have a long discussion.

Father Chen asked Hao Wentao, “Didn’t you die half a year ago? How did you get caught by Liu Ningan?”

As soon as the topic was brought up, Hao Wentao immediately became depressed. He pounded at his chest, saying, “It was all my own fault……”

Father Chen watched as he hit his own chest, wanting to stop him but unable to. He hurriedly inquired, “How was it your own fault?”

Hao Wentao lifted his face as he sighed heavily. “You know me, in life I was a STEM major……”

“I know.” Father Chen was confused. “What does that have anything to do with you getting caught?”

Hao Wentao: “When I was alive, I was a resolute atheist. Not only did I not believe in ghosts or gods, I always warned my family to only believe in science and to stay far away from superstitions. Under my influence, my wife and daughter both became unwavering materialists……”

He wiped his face, tone depressed. “So after I died, they didn’t even come once to pay respects to me. After becoming a ghost I had nothing to eat. I went hungry for several months until I finally couldn’t stand it and picked up some food that people leave on the streets for wandering ghosts. I didn’t expect that food to be purposefully placed there by the demon priest as a trap for wandering ghosts……”

Everyone: “……”

What a tragic story.