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墨書 Inktalez
Zhong Kui's Diary
"That's great! I was just worried that no one would join me."
At that moment, holding a Beer Bottle, I clinked it with Chen Shan's and gulped it down in one go, letting out a long belch. "Brother Shan, isn't this quite refreshing?"
Chen Shan seemed to choke a bit, coughing forcefully twice, patting his chest, and taking a deep breath with tears in his eyes. He laughed and said, "Zheng Nan, you're not being honest. You shouldn't be drinking like this. With your skills at downing bottles, you could definitely be considered a veteran in the drinking world."
I chuckled, "Not really. It's just that at home we didn't have many formalities; we even drank water with ladles, so I got used to it."
Chen Shan paused for a moment before bursting into laughter. "Zheng Nan, you're really funny."
"What strange things happened at the company earlier?" I asked, changing the subject.
"Since you're already part of the company, you'll find out about these strange occurrences sooner or later. I thought I'd tell you early so you can be prepared," Chen Shan said, his eyes flickering as he looked at me.
"Strange occurrences?" I pretended to be surprised.
"Well, our company is haunted!" Chen Shan's expression began to look peculiar.
"Haunted?" At this point, I had to act shocked. After hesitating for a moment, I asked, "Brother Shan, you're not joking, are you?"
"Zheng Nan, I'm not joking," Chen Shan replied seriously.
"So, is there a ghost in Red Clothes floating around the company, randomly snatching people? The kind that guts them and tears their hearts out?"
"That's not so serious. It's just that many things can't be explained and can only be concluded as haunting."
"No one died, and you call that a haunting? You're overreacting!" I laughed.
"Uh, but the situation really is supernatural!" Chen Shan said, a bit embarrassed, scratching his head. "I just didn't expect Zheng Nan to be so thick-skinned!"
"What kind of supernatural events have happened? Tell me about them," I said with a smile.
This was a high-handed attitude I had decided to adopt on the spur of the moment. The more I acted unafraid of ghosts, the more my colleagues would come to me when they encountered any supernatural occurrences. This is known as the 'anchor principle'; in unfamiliar areas, as long as someone has experience, others will intentionally or unintentionally regard them as the anchor. A simple example would be a group traveling together; if someone says they've been to a particular attraction, others will immediately ask them questions like: "Hey, which restaurant has the most authentic food?" "Where's the restroom?" "Where's Health Treatment?" "Do they issue receipts?"
"The first supernatural incident happened in the finance department. Accountant Xu Shaohui was working overtime when the office photocopier suddenly turned on by itself and printed out more than ten copies of an ID card. When he lifted the scanning panel, it was completely empty. That’s not even the main issue; the ID card didn’t belong to anyone in our company." Chen Shan said with a bitter smile. "The name on the ID card was Ye Litong, a four-year-old girl."
"Could it be someone else's child or a relative using company resources for personal matters? That kind of thing happens quite often," I frowned.
"First of all, not everyone can enter the finance room; if you need to use the photocopier, there’s one in the lobby outside. Secondly, the Human Resources Department has asked all employees, and they all claimed not to know this Ye Litong." Chen Shan shook his head. "This was the first strange incident that occurred in our company."
I nodded. "What else?"
"The second supernatural event also happened at night; in the design department, Xiao Dingding..."
"Wait, wait." I quickly interrupted Chen Shan. "Is this Dingding a nickname?"
Dingding, in current internet slang, refers to a man's private part. Is there really someone with that nickname?
Chen Shan was taken aback for a moment before bursting into laughter. "His surname is Xiao, like in Zodiac; it's Xiao Dingding."
I let out an "oh" and smiled, saying, "Sorry, please continue."
"Xiao Dingding has a habit of going to the bathroom to smoke when he lacks inspiration."
"Doesn't the clothing design he creates look like a bunch of blobs?" I joked.
"Haha!" Chen Shan was momentarily taken aback, seemingly unsure how to respond, and could only chuckle awkwardly: "That night, just as he squatted down to light a cigarette, he realized he had forgotten his lighter. While he was feeling frustrated, suddenly he heard the sound of a lighter from next door. When Xiao Dingding came in, he didn't notice if anyone was in the next room; he thought it was just colleagues from another department working late and hurriedly went next door to borrow a lighter. To his surprise, no one paid him any attention; instead, they kept flicking the lighter on and off, making that click-click sound."
I fell silent. They were just colleagues; what was the big deal about borrowing a lighter? Even if you didn't want to lend it, there was no need to show off like that.
"Xiao Dingding felt even more frustrated. After resolving his issue, he stood up and walked out of the stall to see who would come out from next door. To his surprise, the door next door was ajar, and it seemed empty inside, yet the click-click sound of the lighter continued to echo from within. Now Xiao Dingding was somewhat puzzled; he pushed the door open completely and found that there was indeed no one inside. However, the sound of the lighter remained eerily persistent." Chen Shan chuckled: "Xiao Dingding is from Northeast China and is relatively bold; he thought someone was playing a prank by recording the sound of a lighter to scare him. So he walked in and kicked over a trash can, only to find it completely empty. At that moment, the sound of the lighter became more frequent, as if it were ringing right in his ear. That’s when Xiao Dingding screamed and ran back."
"Did anyone else hear that sound?" I asked.
"Xiao Dingding's department is the design department. Besides him, all the others are girls. When he returned, all the girls were pale with fear—who would dare go in?" Chen Shan pouted: "Later they called in a security guard to check it out. After going in with Xiao Dingding, the guard didn’t hear anything at all."
"Could it have been an illusion caused by Xiao Dingding working late?" I laughed. "Hallucinations like that are quite common; people under pressure experience such things."
"It shouldn't be that because several others heard that clicking sound while working late afterward. Almost every night there was this noise. Oh right, our department's Zhao Donghai also heard it while working late." Chen Shan gestured towards the Mahjong table: "Donghai was also quite scared."
"My goodness, some things really can't be explained!" I exclaimed.
"Although these two incidents are unexplainable, they're not particularly strange; what happened next is truly bizarre." Chen Shan cleared his throat.
"What happened?" I asked in surprise.
Chen Shan smiled slyly: "In the corner of the company lobby, there's a shrine. I don't know if you've seen it."
I shook my head, "I really didn't notice."
"Well, that shrine isn't particularly eye-catching, so it's normal not to see it," Chen Shan nodded. "Inside that shrine, there is a statue of Guanyu. You might find it strange; we're not part of the Mafia, so why do we have a Guanyu statue?"
Having been involved in supernatural matters for so many years, I certainly understood the reasoning but couldn't show it. I could only smile and ask, "So why is that?"
"Because Guanyu is also known as the Wealth God. There's a significance to placing Guanyu in the shrine. The way the knife is held matters; if the blade is pointed upwards, that's called a Straight Blade, used for protecting the home. The Mafia also uses this type of statue when they pay their respects. If the blade is pointed downwards, that's called a Cleaving Blade, used for attracting wealth; companies generally use this kind. For home safety, the blade should face inward, while for business and wealth, it should face outward. Our company's Guanyu naturally stands with the blade facing out." Chen Shan seemed to know quite a bit and went on at length.
I kept nodding, secretly wondering if this was meaningful to me.
Chen Shan cleared his throat, "As for other placements and angles, I won't go into detail. The reason I'm explaining this knife to you is that this supernatural incident is related to Guanyu's knife."
"Oh?"
"In the past, the first person to offer incense every morning was our former boss—Sha Zhiyuan, Sha Zong. After he sold the company, the new Tang Zong seemed uninterested in this incense ritual, so it became the responsibility of the business department's Director Ren Feiyu and Financial Director Tian Yong." When he mentioned Ren Feiyu, Chen Shan appeared somewhat uneasy. "That morning, when Director Ren was about to offer incense, he suddenly discovered that Guanyu's blade was facing inward. He is from Chaozhou and believes strongly in these practices; he immediately started cursing, thinking that the cleaning lady had accidentally turned Guanyu's knife while cleaning."
I nodded in agreement, "That's quite possible. But we can't rule out that those colleagues who don't believe in demons might have been bored and accidentally reversed the direction of the knife while studying Qinglong Yanyue Dao. That could also happen, right?"
Chen Shan remained silent for a moment before continuing, "Perhaps. Anyway, after they adjusted the blade correctly, both Director Ren and Director Tian bowed and then offered incense. When they raised their heads after bowing, they found that the blade was facing outward again. At that moment, there was no one else around them."
Hmm, that's a bit strange. I cleared my throat lightly and asked, "Could it be that Qinglong Yanyue Dao was already loose and just a gust of wind could have shifted it?"
Chen Shan shook his head. "Director Ren considered that possibility too and directly used strong glue to attach Qinglong Yanyue Dao to Guanyu's hand. Although it's somewhat disrespectful, according to Director Ren's words, Guanyu wouldn't hold it against him."
"And what happened next?"
"What's the result?" Chen Shan said with a bitter smile. "The result is second place, and the blade is facing inward again."
"Tsk tsk, this is really strange," I shook my head and took out a cigarette, offering one to Chen Shan, who waved his hand to refuse, as he doesn't smoke.
"Are there any other supernatural events?" I lit the cigarette and took a deep puff.
"There are some, but I can't be sure if they are supernatural events. For example, someone's pen always goes missing, or someone's computer keeps restarting on its own. In short, there are many things that can't be explained. I'm just sharing these things with you so that you have some background; in case you encounter similar situations, don't get scared." Chen Shan smiled lightly. "Well, it's finally over. I've completed the task Ms. Xiao assigned to me."
"Is this something Ms. Xiao wanted you to tell me?" I asked in surprise.
"Yeah, otherwise how would I dare to share this with you? I can't afford to scare you away," Chen Shan said with a smile and waved his hand as he walked back to the Mahjong table and whispered a few words to Ms. Xiao.
Xiao Lin simply smiled as she reached for the tiles, focused on identifying the ones in her hand, and then knocked them on the table: "Self-draw!"
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