I'm the Only Living Person in This Chat Group?

Gao Tian’s words made Zhao Qiang’s expression change.

"Gao, don’t just spout nonsense. When did I ever..."

Gao Tian lazily cut him off.

"Yeah, right. You absolutely didn’t sneak up and knock her out with a shovel while she was on the phone with another man. You absolutely didn’t threaten to kill my whole family and force me to help you dig the pit when I happened to be passing by. You absolutely didn’t have to hit her with a few more shovels of dirt when her arms and legs suddenly started moving after she was halfway buried. You absolutely didn’t transfer five hundred thousand yuan to me as hush money. And you’ve slept peacefully all these years, absolutely never dreaming of her coming for you, her face covered in blood..."

Gao Tian gave Zhao Qiang no chance to think, rattling off several more details in rapid succession: what the sky looked like that day, the brand of the shovel Zhao Qiang had used, the luxury clothing he wore under his school uniform.

The Memory Ghost’s effect began to take hold. The more Zhao Qiang tried to refute Gao Tian, the more he found himself obsessing over the details, and the more entangled he became.

The more he tried to remember, the more he felt that Gao Tian was telling the truth. Eventually, his guilty conscience took over, and he began to invent even more details in his own mind, trapping himself completely in the fabricated memory.

The past events became vivid in his mind, thoroughly "recalled." Cold sweat beaded on Zhao Qiang’s forehead, and his narrow, triangular eyes fixed a deadly gaze on Gao Tian. He wished he could just find a shovel and bury Gao Tian—the only witness—right then and there.

"What the hell do you want?"

Zhao Qiang cut him off, flustered and enraged.

"Didn’t I already give you five hundred thousand back then? That’s not a small amount of money! What more could you want?

"Are you short on cash? If you owe someone, I can get the debt collectors off your back. If you just need money, I can get you a cushy, stable job.

"Gao, don’t think you can use this to control me for the rest of my life. If it comes down to it, we’ll both go down together. I’ll just find someone to get rid of you and skip the country."

From his ferocious expression, it was clear he wasn’t joking. Zhao Qiang wasn’t the type to be subtle or hide his intentions; if he planned to do something, he’d say it right to your face.

Gao Tian patted Zhao Qiang on the back, gesturing for him to relax.

"Don’t be so tense, Brother Qiang. I’m not the type to blackmail someone for life over a single incident. Besides, I don’t care about money.

"I made it clear from the start. You find someone for me, and once you do, we’re even. I’ll take what happened back then to the grave, and you can just pretend I never existed."

He stuffed the transparent bag containing the yellowed fingernail clipping back into Zhao Qiang’s hand.

"This person is already dead. This is some of his DNA. Help me find all the information you can on him from before he died.

"I know your family has run many debt collection agencies, and you’re known for having a good reputation. You’re very influential in those circles.

"The story goes that there was once an orphan in his fifties who owed money to a loan shark. He’d gone his whole life without ever meeting his parents. But to make him pay up, you guys actually managed to track down his seventy-something-year-old father in a nursing home.

"With that kind of talent for finding people, helping me find just one person isn’t too much to ask, is it?"

Zhao Qiang’s expression flickered between anger and uncertainty. He glared at Gao Tian for a long time with his narrow, triangular eyes before reluctantly reaching out and stuffing the small transparent bag into his jacket pocket.

"Who is he? How long has he been dead? Why are you looking for him?"

Gao Tian replied:

"He’s been dead for about seven years. Male. His name is Xu Yuan. He went to Honglong Primary School.

"As for why I’m looking for him... because after he died, he became a ghost and won’t stop haunting me."

’What a lame joke. Not funny at all.’

Zhao Qiang’s expression was incredibly dark, but he still gave a reluctant nod.

"Fine. If you don’t want to talk about your history with him, then don’t.

"Add my number. I’ll contact you in about a week."

Gao Tian nodded, knowing the matter was settled. He turned to leave.

’The Memory Ghost’s power is unbelievably useful, both on the living and on intelligent ghosts.’

He also knew that by "awakening" Zhao Qiang’s memories, he had made Zhao Qiang hate him to the bone. Given the chance, Zhao Qiang would surely try to send him to an early grave.

’For a ruthless man like him, what’s the difference between killing one person and killing two?’

But Gao Tian truly wasn’t worried. He was part of the Supernatural Community; why would he be afraid of some gangster? During their conversation, he and Zhao Qiang had unintentionally made eye contact four times. This meant Gao Tian had already activated the Shattered Face Ghost’s ability and stolen four "puzzle pieces" from Zhao Qiang’s face.

One more time, and with a single thought from Gao Tian, Zhao Qiang would drop dead on the spot. Xiaoqiangzi’s life was now entirely at Gao Tian’s whim, a fact of which he was completely unaware.

...

After returning to the Living Human Apartment, Gao Tian lay on his bed and began to think about his next move.

’Zhao Qiang is one lead. The forum post Xu Yuan left behind is another.’

’I have to dig up more information on Xu Yuan as soon as possible. Since joining this group, I’ve already been forced to reveal several weaknesses. The ghosts haven’t found me out yet, but that doesn’t mean they won’t.’

’I didn’t dare to investigate that post too deeply at first, because I was afraid Xu Yuan might have left some kind of trap in it.’

’But now, in the Living Human Apartment, the powers of all malevolent ghosts are suppressed. It should be relatively safe to use technical means to access the post here.’

’Time to find a programmer to help.’

Just as Gao Tian was lost in thought, a strange sound once again came from the floor above him—the fourth floor.