Chapter 1 When the Phone Exploded

By the time Ye Yang’s phone exploded, I was already standing outside the newspaper office's archives, watching Xiaowei crawl out of the secret room again.

This time, no one was controlling the corpse. Xiaowei wrapped her arms around the editor-in-chief from behind, opened her mouth, and bit down on his neck.

Before the female corpse’s teeth touched the editor-in-chief's neck, the dagger I threw pierced his shoulder, the tip stopping right in the female corpse’s mouth.

As the female corpse’s eyes flashed with ferocity, I stepped into the archives and said in a deep voice, “You better not move.”

I squatted down and looked at the editor-in-chief. “Mr. Editor-in-Chief, shouldn't we have a little chat?”

The editor-in-chief was pale with fright. “Mr. Li… Mr. Li, save me!”

I said slowly, “Right now, only I can save you, but it depends on whether you're worth saving. Tell me, what's the deal with Bai Xin?”

“Bai Xin has nothing to do with me…” The editor-in-chief had only said a few words when I pulled the dagger back a little.

The editor-in-chief immediately let out two screams. The first was because I cut his flesh when I pulled out the dagger, and the second was because Xiaowei seized the opportunity to bite down.

Xiaowei’s bite didn’t kill him, but it made his neck bleed profusely.

I looked at the editor-in-chief with a faint smile. “I’m not here to listen to your excuses. If you keep talking nonsense, I’ll send you down to the secret room so you can explain yourself to Xiaowei. Are you guilty or not?”

The editor-in-chief cried bitterly, “I’m guilty! I’m guilty!”

He said, “Five years ago, when I had just taken over the newspaper, the Evening City Daily was on the verge of bankruptcy. Back then, I was always worried about the newspaper's sales.”

“Later, Lao Dong gave me an idea. He said that people these days like novelty. No one reads ordinary newspapers. If we want to revive the newspaper, we have to do something unconventional.”

“I didn't understand what he meant by 'unconventional' at the time. I just let him do it with the thought of giving it a try.”

“The stories Bai Xin wrote attracted a lot of people as soon as they were published, and the newspaper's sales that month exceeded our target.”

“But I didn’t expect Bai Xin to start killing people!”

A trace of regret appeared in the editor-in-chief’s eyes. “I was also frightened by this incident at the time, and I directly called Lao Dong to my office and questioned him about why he had deceived me.”

“Lao Dong then took out a recording. I don’t know how he did it, but the recording sounded like I agreed to Bai Xin killing people.”

“Lao Dong threatened me, saying that if I listened to him obediently, he could guarantee that the newspaper's sales would be the highest in Evening City. If I didn't listen to him, he would ruin my reputation.”

“I… I was also forced to do it!”

My face darkened. “I told you not to make excuses for yourself! Keep telling me what you know.”

The editor-in-chief said, “From then on, Bai Xin would publish a story every once in a while, and someone would die in our newspaper office.”

“The two legends combined actually made the newspaper's sales lead the way. So I acquiesced to this approach and even helped them cover up some things.”

The editor-in-chief didn’t dare to look at me at all. His so-called “acquiescence” was just a nicer way of saying “accomplice.”

I asked in a deep voice, “Have you ever met Bai Xin?”

“Never!” The editor-in-chief shook his head. “Bai Xin has never appeared in front of me. Lao Dong should have met him… Go find Lao Dong; he definitely knows.”

I waved my hand to interrupt him. “Whose idea was it to hire sorcerers to hunt down Bai Xin?”

“That was Lao Dong too!” The editor-in-chief said quickly, “Lao Dong said that doing so would make Bai Xin more mysterious, so I did as he said.”

“Lao Dong relied on Bai Xin to support him and didn’t take me seriously at all. I had to do what he said, or the consequences would be unimaginable!”

“Those things were all done by Lao Dong. I was just… I was just forced to do it.”

I said to myself, “So many people have died in the newspaper office. Isn’t anyone afraid? Why do they still stay?”

The editor-in-chief thought I was asking him, so he quickly explained, “Some people are afraid, and some people have resigned, but it's only a small number. Most people stay because of the high salaries and good benefits.”

“Although they don’t say it, everyone has a talisman or something to ward off evil spirits, except for the interns who don’t know.”

“That’s right, Lao Dong also said to recruit more interns. Many college students can’t find jobs. In order to make money and stay here, they are willing to take risks. Especially those college students from rural areas; they are easier to fool.”

As the editor-in-chief said this, Xiaowei’s eyes flashed with coldness.

She was still conscious.

I asked again, “When I came in, I used ghost eyes to control you. How did you break free from my control?”

The editor-in-chief said, “Lao Dong knew you were coming, so he gave me a cup of talisman water the night before and told me to drink it when you came in.”

I then remembered that the editor-in-chief was putting down a cup when I first entered.

They knew everything about me!

I stood up and said, “Have you said everything you need to say?”

The editor-in-chief pleaded, “Mr. Li, I’ve told you everything I know. Please save me!”