(1) What is referred to as ghosts and monsters

  Yang Ming played with the black jade yin symbol in his hand, his heart heavy with worry.

  Gao Tian stood by the door, outside of which were hundreds of fully armed gang members, packing the entire corridor. Despite this, Gao Tian was still uneasy, as there were four or five trusted aides inside the house, each carrying a Black Dog Blood and Peachwood Sword.

  "Has anyone brought it?"

  Yang Ming was somewhat impatient, and immediately a person was pushed in from outside the door, the murderer who killed Gao Qin, Xue Peng.

  "Boss, I've done everything according to your wishes..."

  "Alright alright, look at you, I didn't say I was going to do anything to you."

  Xu Peng stood up with a trembling heart, after Gao Qing's death he was controlled by Yang Ming's people and had no idea what was happening outside. He thought he would surely die, but three days passed and nothing happened. Xu Peng suspected that something was wrong at the top, but did not expect that Qifeng Chuangye had changed owners.

  "I called you up today to tell you that you've done a great job, but there's still one loose end that hasn't been taken care of..."

  "Spare my life, Big Brother!"

  "Shut up! I hate it when people interrupt me!"

  Xu Peng suddenly fell to the ground and didn't dare move, Yang Ming shook his head, feeling quite helpless.

  "You see, you killed Gao Qin, but Wang Nian is still alive, that's your mistake. So, go and kill Wang Nian too, and I'll let you off. If Wang Nian is still alive, then you must die. Now, do you understand?"

  Xu Peng raised his head, with a look of confusion on his face, as if he didn't understand what Yang Ming was saying.

  "Throw it out! Throw it out! Pass on the message, six days later if Wang Nian is still alive, then slaughter this goods as well!"

  Yang Ming was really fed up and immediately someone dragged Xu Peng out.

  Just then, the phone rang. Yang Ming trembled and immediately calmed down, gesturing to Gao Tian to answer it.

  "Director Yang, Ya Gui has been taken away by the people from the Six Departments."

  Gao Tian held the microphone in a daze, he didn't expect the invincible Ya Gui to be subdued by someone.

  "Is there any other news?"

  Yang Ming seemed unsurprised that Liu Ke could subdue the Tooth Ghost and even relaxed, pouring himself a cup of red wine.

  Wang Nian escaped again. However, it seems like someone else is also after Wang Nian's life.

  "Hmm, haha, the more people chasing him to kill him, the better. By the way, have you found Lily? That day is not far away."

  Yang Ming took a light sip of red wine, waved his hand to signal everyone to back off, then fell into reminiscence, his expression gradually softening.

  At this moment, Wang Nianzheng and his elder brother Wang were hiding in a residential building not far from the community, which was one of Wang Nian's hideouts.

  Wang Niansheng was heavily injured, with multiple fractures, and there were also gunshot wounds on his arm and shoulder. After days of fleeing for his life, if he hadn't had a strong physical foundation, he wouldn't have been able to hold on any longer.

  "Are you sure the person who chased me on the mountain is the same one who hit you?"

  Wang Nian leaned against the bed and asked, Big Brother Wang confirmed again, Wang Nian seemed to be thinking.

  "He rushed over to me and took away that girl named Lily. What's his purpose? Do you know why Gao Tian attaches so much importance to Lily?"

  "I'll know then and won't eavesdrop on his conversations with others anymore, or else..."

  Big Brother Wang suddenly realized that some things were better left unsaid. But when he looked up, it seemed like Wang Nian didn't mind; his brow was furrowed as if something was puzzling him.

  Zhang Haiyang returned to the villa when it was already dark, and before entering the villa, he wandered around the Haitian Villa Flower Garden for a long time, repeatedly confirming that there were no ambushes before returning home.

  Lily made a sumptuous dinner, although the pain still lingered, but she was in a good mood, and this strange place had a homey feel to it. Lily couldn't help but fantasize that happiness had finally arrived, no longer living in terror and shame, and could stand up straight like a person. Maybe, she could even look forward to becoming that person's wife.

  Zhang Haiyang.

  Lily smiled sweetly, this tacky name unexpectedly broke into her chaotic life, cutting through everything like a sharp blade, unexpectedly bringing good luck, making her feel the long-forgotten dignity, and seemingly happiness.

  "We need to talk."

  Zhang Haiyang suddenly appeared beside the dinner table, interrupting Lily's thoughts.

  "What's wrong with you? Your eyes... how did they become like this?"

  Lily raised her head and saw Zhang Haiyang's red and swollen eyes, which were filled with bloodshot, but still showed a few unruly sparks. Lily couldn't help but reach out to touch him, but was dodged by Zhang Haiyang, whose gaze flickered as if he had something on his mind.

  "Can you tell me why Gao Tian attaches so much importance to you?"

  Lily was stunned, then sat back in her chair, her face deathly pale. Lily's mind was in a state of utter chaos, she thought that everything had been just an illusion, Zhang Haiyang and other normal men were all the same, they all cared about her past, and that past was not something she could change. Lily couldn't help but feel desperate, her eyes turned black, yet she couldn't faint.

  "I don't know."

  Zhang Haiyang was puzzled by Lily's reaction, but after a moment's thought, he understood. He let out a gentle sigh and sat down beside Lily.

  "I saw big brother Wang today, he was with someone. It's not good, I think, maybe there are secrets on you that even you don't know."

  "Was it you who hurt Big Brother Wang? How is that possible?"

  Lily's first reaction to Zhang Haiyang's words was that Big Brother Wang had found him, but after seeing Zhang Haiyang's eyes, she denied it and thought that Zhang Haiyang might have just accidentally discovered Big Brother Wang, and the key point was being with Big Brother Wang. Thinking of Zhang Haiyang's strange actions over the past few days, Lily somewhat understood and felt a hint of emotion in her heart.

  "I'm just an ordinary person, and not even pretty, but somehow I caught their attention, and they even took nude photos of me. Otherwise, how could a clean-living university graduate like me possibly do that kind of thing?"

  "Don't you have family?"

  Zhang Haiyang looked at the full table of dishes but still had no appetite, thinking about every detail that happened today.

  Dots and lines intertwined, conspiracies and conspiracies, chaotic relationships and identities, what is the truth after all?

  "I'm an orphan, grew up in a welfare institution, they said I was born with a solitary star, so no one adopted me."

  "Orphan? Lonely star enters life?"

  Zhang Haiyang grasped one end of the countless threads jumping in his mind, and gradually clarified it. A terrible hypothesis floated before him.

  Zhang Haiyang's face turned pale, his fists clenched tightly, and he was so frightened that he couldn't catch his breath.

  "I'm telling you two to keep up, don't blame me for not warning you, it's no joke if they catch you."

  Tang Hong walked in front, Li Kechang and Professor Yu followed behind. Both of them were visiting Liu Ke for the first time, everything was unfamiliar yet fascinating.

  The Sixth Bureau is no longer the small group of criminal psychology researchers it was over a decade ago. The number of members has increased tens of times, and the venue has expanded to occupy two floors of the Public Security Building. Entry and exit are strictly regulated, with comprehensive surveillance systems in place - even a fly entering or leaving requires registration of name and ethnicity. Through the glass door, one can see various precision instruments of unknown purpose in the laboratory, as well as several rooms displaying bottles of varying sizes containing shimmering objects floating up and down.

  "That's it..."

  Li Kezhang's words were cut off halfway, and Tang Hongming suddenly stopped in his tracks, ignoring him, and turned back to the door of an office he had just passed.

  "What are you doing, Sun Xiangshu?"

  A woman in a nightgown in the office turned around and looked at Tang Hongming with sleepy eyes.

  Boil noodles.

  Li Kezhang and Professor Yu only then saw that the woman named Sun Xiangshu was standing in front of the reactor, with the data indicators on the side already reaching the red zone.

  "What nonsense! I've told you how many times, don't use experimental equipment to cook, those are for corpses! How can you be so sloppy!"

  Li Kezhang and Professor Yu both instinctively took a step back at the same time. This place in Liu Ke was too dangerous.

  Sun Xiangshu was a forty-one or two-year-old woman, with fine crow's feet at the corners of her eyes, and skin that was no longer smooth, but the charm of her eyebrows remained. She wore a pale blue floral robe over her knees, holding a cup of coffee in her hand, and after hearing Tang Hongming's words, she only responded with a "hmm", then seeing two old men, she straightened her chest.

  "There's a leader coming for an inspection, why didn't you call me earlier? I haven't even brushed my teeth yet!"

  "If they're the leaders, then I'm the director. However... you take them two on a tour around, I'll deal with this new little thing that just arrived."

  "Oh? Got a new toy again!"

  Sun Xiangshu's eyes lit up immediately, and Li Kechang and Professor Yu took another step back, almost leaning against the wall of the corridor.

  The Sixth Department is known as the nunnery within the Public Security Bureau. Most of its members are unmarried, older women. It's not that they don't want to find boyfriends, nor is it because their educational background is too high. Rather, after entering the Sixth Department, all women undergo a qualitative transformation. Even the most timid and cowardly woman will become fierce and have an inhuman love for everything abnormal.

  This is related to the research curriculum of the six departments, uncertain events, and the study of ghosts and monsters.

  "Our department head has never brought a man who isn't a leader into the sixth department before, you guys aren't her boyfriend or something, are you? You have a feminine scent on you, so it shouldn't be that, your hair is too long, are you gay? Our department head wouldn't be so tactless, would she? Could it be... a human test subject?"

  Sun Xiangshu furrowed his brow and his eyes darted back and forth between the two men. Li Kechang and Professor Yu retreated again, this time really backing up against the wall.

  "Look at you guys, I was just joking."

  Sun Xiangshu burst out laughing, turned around and closed the reaction kettle, tightened his belt, and took two people to visit all over.

  "Do you know what the six of us are researching? Judging from your looks, I can tell that you don't know, so let me tell you. It's about ghosts, or as ordinary people call them, spirits. These things really exist, but not everyone who dies becomes a ghost; only those who had intense emotions before they died, or those with unfinished business become ghosts. According to our research, these ghostly entities usually disappear within a week of their appearance, which matches the folk saying about the seventh day after death. However, some ghosts can persist for much longer, even up to several decades. We're researching the reasons behind this phenomenon."

  Sun Xiangshu led Li Kechang and Professor Yu into the exhibition hall, where rows of bottles were placed, with clusters of living, glowing orbs floating inside.

  "This is a ghost, you see, it's just that simple. When all the unknowns are revealed, ghosts aren't so scary after all."

  Li Kezhang and Professor Yu approached to watch, those clusters of light in the bottle swam up and down, like glowing fish. When the two left the Sixth Department, ghost research had just begun, and there were no such specimens.

  "Six years ago, we, Tang Ke and I, stumbled upon an article in a psychology journal written by a genius named Shi Li. He proposed a theory that thinking is the soul. In his paper, Shi Li elaborated on the relationship between thinking and the soul, even suggesting that the soul is just electrons in the brain, and ghosts are souls that have lost their physical bodies. Ghosts are clusters of living electrons - what a genius! Based on this theory, we redefined our research direction, which led to today's achievements. Look at these, they're purified souls of executed prisoners, extremely pure spiritual energy. This is the first one, a corrupt official; this is the second one, a real estate businessman; and this one..."

  Li Kezhang and Professor Yu looked at each other in dismay, both thinking of the same question: what was the purpose of collecting so many ghosts by the Six Departments?