Cyber Ghosts

After dinner, they were arranged in luxury rooms for the night. Mr. Hu wanted to invite them to have a rest in a quadrangle dwelling. But Hao Ning and others could not get used to it. Mr. Hu did not force them, he just talked with Zhang Dalong instead.

“Brother Hao Ning,” Xiao Hong opened his mouth. He continued to say while he was changing the channel with the remote, “What’s your opinion about it?”

“Knock, knock, knock” Xiao Hong heard a quick knock on the door. Xiao Hong opened the door. It was Liu Shuai and Zhou Yuan.

The two threw a bag of food on the table. It contained peanuts, seeds, fried potatoes and drinks. Taking them out, Zhou Yuan asked, “So, you two did not start your conversation, right? We are not late, right?”

“What not start?” Xiao Hong replied, confusing about Zhou Yuan’s questions. “What are you talking about?” he added.

“Gossip!” Zhou Yuan replied with a smile. “Gossip about Xue Muhua, King of Glory that Zhang Dalong mentioned. You two are not going to talk about them?”

“…” Hao Ning looked at Zhou Yuan bitterly. “You two rushed into our room for gossip?” he questioned.

“Yes, you are so right,” Liu Shuai answered, tearing a bag of peanuts. “These things are so weird. I guess you two will talk about it.”

“We will talk about them,” Xiao Hong said, making fun of Liu Shuai, and adding, “But why should we tell you this?”

“Because I have the Spiritual Flying Bugs engrained in the young man!” Zhou Yuan said, shaking his phone. “We can exchange news. Sound good?”

“Leave me alone,” Hao Ning yawned. “No exchange,” he added.

“Oh, no. Brother Hao Ning,” Xiao Hong said, smiling. “We can talk about it together. The more the people, the more the ideas.”

You just wanted to gossip, Hao Ning thought. Yet he thought that it would be better to make it clear. Or he might have questions about it too. Thinking of this reminded him of the thing happened in the day. He asked, “What’s wrong in the day? Why did Xiao Hong lose his Clairvoyance?”

“Well, I almost forgot it. As you mentioned it…” Xiao Hong patted his head, adding, “Brother Hao Ning, how did you defeat them later? I don’t know what the young man did make me lose my Clairvoyance. I even have difficulty in using spiritual communication. I am wondering how you can defeat them?”

“One in my head talked to me. She told me she could help me find out the Dice cup containing the largest number,” Hao Ning said simply. “But the young man could use the Kung Fu skill like hitting a target from far away. He wanted to help Wang Jun to roll dices secretly. I saw it and I am angry. So, I used “wuxiang-zhi” to roll Wang Jun’s dices into a big mess. And then you saw what happened.”

“Oh, I see,” Liu Shuai smiled. “The more I saw Wang Jun’s dices, the more I believed that it was rolled by you. It proved that I am right,” he added.

“Nonsense,” Hao Ning turned red. “Let’s go to our points. Xiao Hong, who do you think she is in my head?” he asked.

“How should I know about it?” Xiao Hong was stunned. He wondered, “Why did you ask me about this?”

“Because you have the most powerful strength among us,” Hao Ning said, fearing nothing. “Or who I can depend on? Depend on moment god, a man who cannot make real money? Or this powerless baldhead?”

Hearing this, Liu Shuai and Zhou Yuan stood up, attempting to hit Hao Ning. But seeing Hao Ning stretched his finger, they sat back to their seats immediately, and listened to them quietly.

“At that time, my power was curbed,” Xiao Hong shook his head. “I even had difficulty in communicating with you. How can I feel that? As the young lady had powers, she must be more powerful than me. And as she risked her life helping you, did she ask for anything?”

“You really raise a key question,” Hao Ning nodded. He told them what he worried most. “She did not require me to help her with the gold body or her incense. She just told me she would contact me later. And, it seemed that she also did not know how large the Dice cup is inside,” Hao Ning continued, recalling, “But she had clues to help me choose the right Dice cup. Anyway, it was so weird.”

“Err?” Xiao Hong smiled after hearing what he said. “A weirdo? If so, I will stay with you all the time from now on. I can protect you and…”

“Ok, I know what you want,” Hao Ning regretted to raise this question. Hao Ning got nothing, instead, this man would stay with him all day. Hao Ning regretted deeply. So, he changed the topic, “So, how do you guys think about Xue Muhua, the man Mr. Hu told us?”

“I thought he came to life again after death,” Zhou Yuan expressed his idea. “How can two men look the same? One must kill Xue Muhua and get his soul. And then he used other’s souls to occupy Xue Muhua’s body, making a false impression that Xue Muhua is still alive. It was called ‘recover after death’,” he explained.

“Oh, my god. If you have limited knowledge, please don’t make new words,” Liu Shuai smiled after hearing Zhou Yuan’s theory. “It used to be ‘borrow body for coming to life again’. The phenomenon you said about the soul occupies the body. We call it Duoshe. So hilarious. It has a name but you made one. You made nonsense so seriously. Do you think you majored in Theology and Civil Science?”

“Theology and Civil Science?” Zhou Yuan felt embarrassed. Thinking that what he just said was related to Duoshe in bodies. However, he wanted to save his face, “I, at least, have powers. I am not a baldhead, right?”

“Hey, do you guys still want to talk about Doctor Xue?” Hao Ning smiled, seeing both making jokes. “If you have something special to do, go to your room.”

“I don’t think it is Duoshe,” Liu Shuai said, shaking his head. He said in confidence, “Doctor Xue’s body is obviously the body of a robot. After his body was cut in halves, we can see cables inside. His head is an AI speaker instead of a real one. Did you ever hear that Duohe can Duohe a robot?”

“I agree,” Hao Ning nodded. He also agreed with Liu Shuai. They only heard before that a man’s body was occupied by a ghost. They never heard a robot could be occupied. Thinking of this, Hao Ning smiled and said, “I am sure that the robot’s memory was replaced after Duoshe. But we did not call it Duoshe. We call it to replace a hard disc.”

“Ha, ha, ha, replacing hard disc for a robot is called Duohe by you guys,” Liu Shuai said, standing up. “You are so funny.”

Xiao Hong also giggled. He frowned subsequently and said, “The coincidence that Xue Muhua resembled Doctor Xue’s robot is low. We should put it aside. Is there a possibility that one, due to a reason we don’t know yet, made the robot resemble Xue Muhua? And at the same time, this man used the small blue man inside to control the robot through an approach we don’t know either?”

“You are right. But what’s his motive?” Hao Ning said. He thought that Xiao Hong’s guess might be right. “We do things with motives. What’s his motive? Why? Why did he do this?”

“Because… love?” Zhou Yuan chanted, “not being sad easily?”

“You…” Hao Ning was close to saying Zhou Yuan was naughty. He looked at Liu Shuai and Xiao Hong, and patted Zhou Yuan, “Maybe you are right. It can be love!”

“What’re you talking about?” Zhou Yuan said. He did not expect that his nonsense was taken seriously by Hao Ning. He replied, “What do you mean because of love?”

“If one has made a robot look like Xue Muhua,” Hao Ning said, streamlining his thoughts. “Please think, if you have a chance to make a robot, who do you think you want the robot look like?”

“Of course, Wen. So, I can…” Liu Shuai said promptly, thinking of Wen. He understood Hao Ning immediately, “Wow, you mean the maker of the robot is the lover of Xue Muhua’s? So interesting!”

“May not be his lover,” Hao Ning said. He thought that Liu Shuai might think it wrongly. “It is safe to say that this man knew Xue Muhua well. Or has relations to him. According to what Mr. Hu said, this man might not know him before he entered the University. Or Mr. Hu would mention him. So, based on my guess, this man might know Xue Muhua in a period when Mr. Hu did not know Xue Muhua.”

“His period in University!” Xiao Hong understood Hao Ning’s meaning, patting his thigh. “What you said is right! When he was in University, this man met him and knew him very well. And then, he made a robot look like Xue Muhua due to reasons we don’t know yet. This robot has a power, which can heal some strange diseases like playing games without sleep, just like Wang Shi Ming. Brother Hao Ning, you excel in things that have nothing to do with theology.”

“Hey, it’s just my guess…” Hao Ning said half of a sentence, realizing that something was wrong. He smiled bitterly to Xiao Hong, “What you said is not like to praise me?”

“Hey, hey,” Xiao Hong said, rubbing his head. “You guess makes sense,” added he.

“And then, do we take care of it or not?” Hao Ning said, changing the topic. He said to the three, “We have two options available now. One is to tell our results to Zhang Dalong and others. And guide them to look for clues in Qingbei University. They may have the power to find out some clues. The other one is to search for clues by ourselves. But we may find out nothing at last.”

The rest said nothing. They knew that a guess was a guess. Looking for truth was different from a guess.

“What’s your opinion?” Liu Shuai said. “I will follow your lead,” added he.

“Me too,” Zhou Yuan nodded.

“I will follow your lead too,” Xiao Hong nodded. “And you will help me get Pixiu too,” Xiao Hong said.

“You…” Hao Ning stopped. “Are you men or not? Why don’t you have opinions about this?”

“It’s not about opinions,” Zhou Yuan shook his head. “And you have the clearest mind about this. So, it is natural that your opinion is the most important. Now, tell us your opinion.”

“My opinion is that we should stop Zhang Dalong search for clues,” Hao Ning replied after thinking a while. “if we should go and search, it depends on conditions.”

“Why?” Liu Shuai asked, wondering. “Why can’t let Zhang Dalong search for it?”

“I guess Brother Hao Ning wanted to protect Zhang Dalong and Jienan.” Xiao Hong understood his intention. “We don’t know Doctor Xue is a good or bad person. But he has great powers. Jienan, as a mortal, will be in risks to investigate him.”

“You are right,” Hao Ning nodded. “We have met them several times. No matter what, we shouldn’t put them in trouble. About our action, I suggest we go to Qingbei University to meet teacher Ren. Long Fei once told me to talk with his teacher Ren.”

“Yes,” Liu Shuai understood. “I just wanted to use this chance to talk with Mr. Ren for some news about Xue Muhua?”

“Yes,” Hao Ning nodded. “If possible, we do what we can do; if it is not successful, we, at least,

have tried hardest.”

“I agree with you. After all, we are not heroes protecting the earth,” Liu Shuai nodded. He recalled one thing, and then looked at Hao Ning, “But why Long Fei wanted you to talk to Mr. Ren? I should be the one who knows Mr. Ren best,” added Liu Shuai. Hao Ning wanted to reply. He saw Liu Shuai’s sad expression. He understood his feeling and said, “Oh, he was afraid that I may have some troubles and can’t deliver Zhang Quan’s words. Long Fei…”

Hao Ning did not want to mention this. As Liu Shuai got it himself, he silenced and thought: Liu Shuai did not have powers. Zhang Quan wanted Long Fei to protect Liu Shuai from risks and conflicts. So, Long Fei couldn’t make Liu Shuai face risks. And Hao Ning, he had powers to protect himself. So, he was the best person available for delivering the words.

“But anyway, Long Fei is my good friend,” Liu Shuai raised his head, looking at Hao Ning. He added, “If you go to Qingbei University for Mr. Ren, I will go there with you. I will stand beside you listening to you while you two are talking.”

“Liu Shuai, no need to do this…” Hao Ning knew Liu Shuai wanted to compensate. He said half of a sentence and realized that it might be useless. So, he nodded, “Ok.”

Looking at the two flirting, Zhou Yuan got goosebumps. He yawned and said weirdly, “Hey, Hao Ning, you like wearing pure cotton blue-black underwear.”

“Err. It’s breathable and comfortable,” Hao Ning answered, realizing it was not a decent question. How did Zhou Yuan know my underwear so clearly? He even knew the color of my underwear, Hao Ning thought. He asked promptly, “How do you know this?”

“Your pocket,” Zhou Yuan pointed to Hao Ning’s trousers, containing his laugh. “From my standing angle, I can see it.”

“You bitch!” Hao Ning realized it. He tore it down in the day to wipe the stone in the stone speculation. He totally forgot about it. And then he took the car home, had his dinner and went back to his room. What Zhou Yuan said reminded him of his pocket. Zhou Yuan could see it clearly from his standing place. He grabbed a pillow to cover it and said sadly, “I have to buy a new one tomorrow.”

“Ha, ha. You do have strong reasoning ability. But your ability in theology and life is so low,” Liu Shuai laughed, falling on the ground. He continued to ask, “Logically, you are a giant. On life and theology, you are a dwarf.”

“What a shame on you,” Xiao Hong smiled. He reminded Liu Shuai, “Be polite when you speak.”

“Woo, you should be polite,” Liu Shuai smiled, adding, “I am an ordinary person. Nothing will scare me.”

“Oops!” Zhou Yuan screamed as his phone was vibrating. Zhou Yuan took out his phone, looking at it, and saying, “Spiritual Flying Bugs is doing its work now. You guys want to have a look?”

“Ok!” Hao Ning said. Liu Shuai and Xiao Hong answered too at the same time. Their heads got together. They both were trying to check Zhou Yuan’s phone.

“Too crowd. The phone is small. We cannot see it clearly as you are crowded,” Zhou Yuan couldn’t stand them. He waved his hand. One image appeared on the TV screen. It was about Hao Ning and Zhou Yuan who were leaving the stone speculation. The color of it was white and black and it was not clear at all.

“Oh? it’s not right. This was the thing that happened a few hours ago,” Hao Ning wondered. “Your Spiritual Flying Bugs can’t see what is happening now? And the quality is so poor, and the color is white and black?”

“About this question, you have to ask Liu Shuai,” Zhou Yuan pointed to Liu Shuai as he was watching the screen. “You know, this is a fake product and the time delay…” added Zhou Yuan.

Hao Ning understood immediately. Liu Shuai did not make his Spiritual Flying Bugs a perfect one. There were many limitations to use the fake Spiritual Flying Bugs. According to what was on the TV screen, the time had been delayed hours. That was the reason why they had to watch images that occurred hours ago. Hao Ning looked at Liu Shuai, saying nothing.

“Well… It’s better to have one!” Liu Shuai said with a red face. “One small step for me, one big step for gossiping about others…Zhou Yuan, You and I have to stay up later tonight to improve this product.”

“You…” Zhou Yuan was speechless. Watching a smiling Zhou Yuan on the TV, he said, “Wow, from other’s perspective, I am so handsome!”

“…” the three stayed away from this shameless moment god.

“This thing,” Wang Jun said, coldly, adding, “What’s your idea?”

“I know,” Yi Pingzhi, the man in the center of the screen, replied. “Good-bye,” he added.

“Heee!” Wang Jun replied in a cold face. He left with a cold smile on his face.

Seeing Wang Jun leaving, Yi Pingzhi whispered coldly, “How dare you are to talk with me like this. Ok, let you live for two more days. And then, I will teach you how to behave.”

He adjusted his dress, speaking to the people, “The outsiders have gone. Let’s do our business.”

“Ok. Thank you, Mr. Yi!” the people shouted happily, leaving the sad mood in the day behind. “We almost cannot stand any longer!” they screamed.

“The more you can stand, the more you know what you need,” Yi Pingzhi said with a smile. “So, you will be satisfied with your work. Super golden finger, let’s start our work.”

“Yes, sir,” the man named Super golden finger stood out. “I will call the roll, Super white finger!”

“Present!”

“Super green finger!”

“Yes!”

“Super tissue finger!”

“Yes!”

Super paper finger, Super draft finger, Super silver finger, Super brass finger

…

Listening to the names, Hao Ning and others were stunned. They knew what Super golden finger was. It was a book name about the stone speculation. But they had no ideas about the rest of the names.

Zhou Yuan murmured unintentionally, “What are Super white finger and Super tissue finger? They sound like the names of pirated books?”

Hao Ning wanted to say something. He saw the Shhh gesture made by Xiao Hong. He said nothing and continued to watch TV.

“Mr. Yi,” Super golden finger said after finishing calling the roll. “Everyone is here!” he continued.

“Very good!” Yi Pingzhi nodded. And then he lifted both hands. The ground started trembling. They seemed like they knew what would happen over there because they stood still calmly. “Bomb!” The place they were standing was separated, becoming a round platform. The platform started rotating with them on it. It fell. Yi Pingzhi was standing on it too. The platform stopped rotating after a short while. They arrived at a big warehouse under the ground of the stone speculation. All of them ran to different directions as soon as the platform stopped. Nobody was on the platform in a minute. And then, the platform started rotating in the opposite direction, lifting itself to the ground.

“Well… Xiao Hong,” Hao Ning was stunned seeing this. He did not care about the image quality any longer. He patted Xiao Hong’s shoulder and said, “You did not tell me about this!”

“I don’t know either!” Xiao Hong answered. “I have been there with my customers many times. I never saw it or heard it! Why did they build a mysterious place like this?”

“Shh…” Zhou Yuan said, pointing to the screen. “Look. What are they doing now?” added he.

The people on the screen ran to workbenches respectively. The workbench was used for cutting raw stones. There were many stones on the ground. Some of them appeared green. Some were common stones so far.

One of them picked up a stone and underlined on the stone. And then he cut the stone along the lines. After cutting, an intact green jadeite appeared.

“Oh, my God!” Liu Shuai said, looking at it straightly. He saw a super jadeite in the day. However, it was a fake one “made” by Hao Ning. The real one cut by an ordinary man shocked him very much. “It must be worth a city,” he said.

Xiao Hong nodded to agree with him, saying nothing.

Watching the TV, they found a strange thing. After the man got a jadeite, he threw it into a bucket rudely. And then he picked the second one, underlined it and cut it.

The others followed his suit. They threw jadeites into their buckets, underlined stones and cut them.

“Attention, everyone!” Yi Pingzhi said with a smile, “What are your feelings about the stone speculation?”

“Very good!” some of them laughed. “Thank you, Mr. Yi. If you haven’t told us, we should not know that the key part of the stone speculation is not how many jadeites you earn, but in the process of cutting it out. Now, I just want to underline and cut all day long. About these jadeites, I regard them as trash now!”

“I agree!” the other one nodded while he was underlining. “I am thinking that my pleasure of my life lies in underlining and cutting. And when I get the jadeite out of the stone, I don’t want to see them anymore!”

“Good speech,” Yi Pingzhi said, applauding. “You already attained the Way. Congrats. This is the source of pleasure in your deep heart. As long as you are willing to do it, we can provide as many stones as you need. But these jadeites will be our payback…”

“All of them belong to you!” they said, waving their hands. They even looked at the jadeites in disgust. “We don’t need those. They are not our needs!” they added.

“Good!” Yi Pingzhi nodded. “Now excuse me, I have to leave for a while. You continue your work.”

The video shook much. Obviously, Yi Pingzhi left the place. The light in the video became dimer. Yi Pingzhi must be in a dim place. And it might be caused by the poor quality of the Spiritual Flying Bugs too.

Hao Ning and others looked at each other. They said nothing for a long time. Hao Ning asked Xiao Hong suddenly, “Is this the legendary personality that regards gold as trash?”

“Hey, don’t say it,” Xiao Hong smiled bitterly. “They are not that kind of persons. They just enjoy the stone speculation. Or we can say that they enjoy the process of cutting stones. I have been a Sudhana for many years. This is the first time I saw people who don’t like money, and so many people at the same time.”

“Yes,” Zhou Yuan nodded. He also thought that it was incredible. “What they thought is just like sages. How is it possible? It may take 500 years to develop a sage. How is it possible that so many sages are in H City at the same time and willing to be workers cutting stones?”

“Stop your nonsense,” Liu Shuai said. “I don’t think it is a normal thing. I remember that I saw this before, but I can’t recall the details,” added he.