"Liu Qiang, haven't you noticed anything wrong with yourself?" Yang Jian asked, staring at him seriously.
Seeing everything in the surveillance footage, Liu Qiang was also stunned. He tried to recall but some things he simply couldn't remember, as if at certain moments he experienced blank periods in his memory. If he didn't pay close attention, it seemed like everything was normal, as if he was just working his job and hadn't done anything out of the ordinary.
"Yang Jian, are you saying, like those people in the surveillance footage, my head has been replaced too?"
Liu Qiang looked at him in shock, his face full of incredulity.
"It seems you don't know your own situation. Let me ask you, where were you before coming to the security room?" Yang Jian said.
"I was at..." Liu Qiang started to reply, but then he paused again.
How did he come to the security room?
Did he come after the power outage? Which path did he take, who did he meet, what did he see?
He couldn't remember. Liu Qiang couldn't recall, or rather, he had no memory of that part.
Yang Jian said, "You can check your surveillance footage. The mall's surveillance usually has night vision capabilities, so even if all the lights outside are off, you should be able to see clearly."
"I'll have a look..." Liu Qiang immediately began searching for his surveillance footage.
The time went back to when Master Luo was conducting the ritual.
All the people in the mall watched Master Luo perform the ritual in the lobby on the first floor.
Yang Jian, feeling amused, couldn't help interrupting Master Luo's ritual, causing a few words to be exchanged.
However, Liu Qiang in the surveillance footage seemed to ignore this and left straight away.
No one paid attention to a security guard leaving.
"Why did I go to the power room at that time?" Liu Qiang was stunned upon seeing himself in the surveillance footage.
After Liu Qiang went to the power room, it wasn't long before the mall lost power.
The power had been cut by Liu Qiang himself.
Yang Jian said, "Just because you don't remember doesn't mean you didn't do it. Keep watching."
After all the lights in the mall were off, Liu Qiang stood still, like a wooden man paused in place, motionless. But this didn't last long.
He moved again soon afterwards.
He turned and headed towards the bathroom on the first floor of the mall.
Seeing this, Yang Jian realized it matched with everything that had happened previously. The ghost that had come into the bathroom just earlier was Liu Qiang.
"Impossible, this can't be possible. Why can't I remember doing this at all?"
Liu Qiang stood up abruptly, looking back at Yang Jian with a face filled with fear.
Yang Jian took a step back and said seriously, "Because during the time you lost your memory, you were no longer human, but... a ghost, or replaced by one. The only reason you have retained your memory is that your head is still there, it hasn't decayed completely. In a few days, when your head has rotted away, your memory will disappear completely."
"So strictly speaking, you've been dead for several days now. Touch your neck, the scar from the head swap should still be there. If you weren't a ghost, that scar would be impossible to have."
Instinctively, Liu Qiang touched his neck.
As his palm grazed the skin on his neck, the tiny cut was immediately pried open, revealing the crimson flesh within, and at the same time, a putrid smell wafted out.
He was already decomposing...
"Impossible, I refuse to believe it, I refuse to believe I'm already dead. I'm clearly still alive and well."
Liu Qiang's emotions started to flare up, he kept touching the wound on his neck, trying to verify the truth of Yang Jian's words.
However, as his head had been replaced by a ghost several days prior, the wound wasn't secure. As he touched it, the cut opened further, and his flesh began to fall off in flakes.
The stench of decay grew even stronger.
"What should I do? I don't want to die, Yang Jian, is there any way you can help me?" As Liu Qiang grasped the reality, he was completely panicked. His hands were covered in blood, reeking of foulness, with his head having shifted on his neck, looking at Yang Jian in a very disjointed manner.
In his eyes, Yang Jian saw fear, pleading, and despair...
"I'm sorry, there's nothing I can do to help you," he said earnestly. "The most I can do for you is to remind you to call your family. Say a few words; that's the only thing you can do."
Trembling, Liu Qiang took out his phone from his pocket, his eyes filled with tears, he bowed his head to call his family.
However, as he bowed his head.
The head that had been moved could no longer support itself on his neck...
A dull sound of impact rang out.
Liu Qiang's head became detached from his neck and fell to the ground, rolling several times on the tiles before finally coming to a stop against the wall.
The headless body immediately stiffened, and the phone in its hand had just lit up the screen, but in the end, the call was never made.
Glancing at Liu Qiang's head, eyes closed and face a deathly pale without a trace of blood, Yang Jian sighed in his heart.
Another person had been killed by a vicious ghost.
Looking away, he turned his attention to Jiang Yan, who was trembling in fear against the wall.
Yang Jian walked over, grabbed her delicate cheek a bit roughly, and pressed her head against the wall, then ran his finger forcefully across her neck.
"You're actually not a ghost?" Yang Jian said with a hint of surprise.
As his fingers slid across her neck, they did not touch the wound.
Jiang Yan, both afraid and angry, said, "You actually suspected I was a ghost?"
"I have to suspect, you are also an employee of the commercial center, who knows if your head has been swapped, anyone whose head has been changed is a ghost, and the person itself does not know about it," Yang Jian released Jiang Yan.
"What do we do now? Those things are outside, how do we leave?"
Jiang Yan wasn't angry about the situation, instead, she was afraid Yang Jian would be upset, and, with a bit of pitifulness, tugged at his hand.
Yang Jian said, "There are still people in the mall, I will lead them out and leave, and the keys to the main door should be with Elder Sister Li, we can leave once we get the keys from her."
"But before we leave, you must stay here and go through these surveillance videos to figure out the ghost's true identity, and it's best to find the source of the ghost."
"Ah, I don't want to stay here, I want to follow you."
Jiang Yan was startled, hurriedly hugged his arm, and refused to let go.
Yang Jian shook his head and said, "No, I need you to watch the surveillance, how else would I know when a ghost is approaching? How could I confirm the final identity of that ghost? I don't have time to waste here any longer, it is going to be dark soon, and visibility in the mall will be much worse at night, which is even more disadvantageous for us."
"But, but Liu Qiang is here, I'm scared being by myself," Jiang Yan said with a sob in her voice.
Yang Jian ignored her and simply took a phone from the hands of Liu Qiang's corpse, then dialed his own satellite-positioning mobile.
"Keep the phone line open at all times, immediately notify me if anything happens, and remember one thing, never turn your back on anyone, the ghost can only take a person's head from behind to swap it, as long as you face a ghost, and the direction of the head is wrong, the ghost won't attack you."
After speaking, he put the phone in Jiang Yan's hand.
"I, I'm still very scared," Jiang Yan said.
"Haven't you forgotten how you promised me on the first floor before? Don't disobey, you won't be able to leave alive otherwise, you are a smart person, you know when to do what, just be a little braver, and this won't be a problem for you, now, no more wasting time, let's get to work."
After saying that, Yang Jian left the surveillance room without another word.
"Hey..." Jiang Yan wanted to hold him back.
But the door slammed shut.
Jiang Yan wanted to follow, but she immediately stopped in her tracks.
Because outside was even more dangerous, only a security guard like him had the courage to roam around a mall filled with ghosts.
After hesitating for a moment, she bit her lip, braced herself against her fear, and walked to the surveillance console, holding tightly onto Liu Qiang's phone.
As for Liu Qiang's headless corpse and the head resting against the wall, she didn't dare to give them another glance.
"Hello, can you hear me?"
Yang Jian walked through the mall, speaking into his satellite phone.
"I can hear you, I can already see you from here," Jiang Yan's nervous voice came from the other end of the line.
"Good, keep an eye on any movement around me, and inform me promptly," Yang Jian said calmly, which somewhat reassured Jiang Yan.
Yang Jian clipped the walkie-talkie-style phone to his chest and headed to where Boss Tang and the group had encountered trouble.
Among that group was Elder Sister Li... and she was a ghost.
"One million won't just go down the drain, will it?"
Yang Jian thought to himself, "But this time, if Jiang Yan cooperates well, I might be able to make this money without having to use the power of the Ghost Eye."
Just as he started to act, shadows began to emerge one after another from various hidden corners and closed shops within the mall, which had been eerily quiet up until then.
They had various appearances, all pale-faced, with closed eyes, and their movements were somewhat stiff.
Seeing this scene from the surveillance room, Jiang Yan turned pale with fright.
Some were already alarmingly close to Yang Jian.
"Those things have appeared..." Jiang Yan's voice trembled as she warned.
"I know, just report the positions of the ghosts near me, don't worry about anything else, and don't forget my earlier reminder," said Yang Jian, his tone was very steady, which instantly calmed Jiang Yan down somewhat.