I have a ghost diary

Chapter 251 Bug?

The thin man nodded in agreement. "One of the ghosts inside me is a scapegoat."

"It gave me a special ability: when I am about to die, I can designate a target to die in my place."

"Of course, there is a price to pay for doing this, and I need to consider two points."

"One is a target I've designated, someone who has room to struggle and resist. Just like a water ghost drags someone into the water, a living person can at least struggle a little."

"So it's alright to designate an ordinary person, but it's much riskier to designate a ghost master. If I fail, I will surely die."

"Another one is that I can only do this once."

"The reason is simple: if someone else dies for me, then that person becomes the scapegoat."

"Wait a minute," Chu Jiang said, finding this somewhat unbelievable. "Could I have misunderstood?"

"You mean, after you succeed, the scapegoat inside you will disappear?"

“Yes,” the thin man said indifferently, “after the substitute dies, his soul will transform into a new substitute, while the one inside me will simply disappear.”

"Or rather, the scapegoat inside me was reborn in an alternative way."

Hearing this, Chu Jiang was truly amazed.

This is practically a purely altruistic ghost. Not only can it save your life, but it will also leave your body after saving you, preventing you from dying from the resurrection of a vengeful spirit.

The saleswoman also turned to look at the thin man, quite surprised.

As for the two foreigners, they couldn't understand, and only after the policewoman made a request did the saleswoman explain the key points with a blank expression.

“It’s not that simple,” the skinny man shook his head. He could roughly guess what Chu Jiang was thinking just by looking at Chu Jiang’s expression.

"Didn't you see how thin I've become? The pressure of carrying this ghost is immense. If it weren't for the other ghost inside me, which barely balances things out with the substitute, I would have died long ago."

"So what state are you in now?" Chu Jiang still didn't quite understand, because none of the people present had died because of the skinny man's "resurrection".

The skinny man gave an ugly smile. "Didn't I say? I'm dead. I'm a ghost now."

"Wait, could it be that you..." Based on the other party's description, Chu Jiang thought of an outrageous possibility.

"As expected of Captain Chu, you figured out the key point so quickly. That's right, just as you thought, I'll let a scapegoat die in my place."

"Anyway, it's about specifying a target, specifying an existence, it doesn't necessarily have to be a living person, right? So I was thinking, can we specify a ghost?"

"Especially the designated scapegoat, could you die in my place?"

"Because if I designate other ghosts, they definitely won't obediently submit. If I really dare to do that, I'll most likely face certain death."

“But designating a scapegoat is different. When I do this, it conforms to its killing pattern. If it struggles or refuses, it is equivalent to violating its own killing pattern.”

"So if I do this, I have a high chance of succeeding."

"To succeed, two conditions must be met simultaneously."

"First: I must survive; only if I survive can I be considered to have successfully taken someone else's place."

"Second: The scapegoat becomes the scapegoat."

"The first condition is easy to agree to. I want to come back to life and transfer the damage I suffered to the scapegoat. Anyway, these injuries are nothing to the ghost."

"But this second condition is self-contradictory. The substitute is itself a scapegoat; it cannot be reborn on the same spot, but can only be reborn in the soul of any third party."

"When the rules conflict and contradict each other, the scapegoat's instincts fall into a dead silence, entering a long period of dormancy. It will not awaken until it emerges from this bug-like conflict."

"Taking advantage of this opportunity, I completely took over its body and even merged with it, so it's not an exaggeration to say that I am a ghost now. Because I can completely detach myself from the physical body and continue to live."

Hearing the skinny man's words, Chu Jiang's eyes lit up. So that's it, that's the missing step...

Long ago, Chu Jiang had an idea: could he use the "ghost peeking out" technique to transfer his head into a ghost's body, thereby realizing human thinking and replacing the ghost's thinking?

However, a research paper suggests that such an approach is unsuccessful because human nature will be assimilated by demonic nature, and ultimately, the person will become a demon.

As for Old Master Lin Daosheng, he used the offerings of incense from the masses to maintain his humanity, which is equivalent to taking a different approach.

The skinny man's approach is a new path: he successfully exploited the ghost's patterns, causing the ghost to exploit a bug and get stuck, thus killing itself.

In this way, the demonic nature falls into dormancy, and humanity is temporarily spared the danger of being assimilated...

Of course, it's hard to say whether this will be a permanent solution. If the scapegoat emerges from this bug and its ghostly nature reawakens, then the skinny man will still face danger.

Finally, the Chu ghost within Chu Jiang should also have fallen into a state of dormant ghostly nature; it's just unknown how the ancestors of the Chu family managed to do so.

If Chu Zhan were active, Chu Jiang would definitely not be able to do this so easily, and he would be able to use Chu Zhan to suppress the other two ghosts inside him.

After learning what had happened to the skinny man, Chu Jiang took out a new set of clothes from his left hand and tossed them to him.

The thin man's words to Chu Jiang were likely intended as a form of intimidation, and his attitude had changed slightly compared to before he acquired this power.

The skinny man of today has become a rather unusual figure, far more special than the headless saleswoman; he can be described as a low-budget version of Chu Jiang.

He inherited at least some of the characteristics of demons, such as being unable to be killed...

Chu Jiang also decided that he would observe this guy carefully. After he fully tapped into his bloodline power, he would most likely become like the skinny man.

Although the thin man asked for a piece of clothing, he did not hide to change. He did not care about other people's gazes at all. He cleaned the charred remains off his body on the spot and casually put on the clothes.

Judging from this, wearing clothes seems more like a "habit" for him.

Moreover, from his eyes and tone of voice, Chu Jiang could tell that the thin man had indeed maintained his previous thoughts, memories, and rationality.

However, he seems to have become much more indifferent in matters of the heart. In other words, even if his ghostly nature has subsided, the influence of ghosts on people still exists and cannot be completely eliminated.

"Alright, what's next?" The skinny man looked at Chu Jiang calmly. "And can someone explain to me what exactly happened before?"

"Let's go check the underground of the temple. Also, Miss Li, please explain this to him."

After saying that, Chu Jiang led the way deeper into the temple...

Chapter 252 A Hymn to Humanity

Deep within the temple, there is a downward staircase that looks extremely dark.

Another noteworthy point is that when the group arrived here, the saleswoman's clothes had somehow transformed into a black robe.

However, she herself does not seem to have noticed this.

The policewoman and firefighters clearly noticed, but they didn't say anything. They simply moved closer to Chu Jiang, trying to stay away from the saleswoman and the skinny man who seemed a bit off.

This time, Chu Jiang led the way, and the group descended the steps, eventually arriving at a spacious hall.

The mysterious moss, emitting a dim, greenish glow, reappeared on the ceiling, but in very small quantities.

Apart from Chu Jiang and his group, the policewoman and firefighters could only barely make out what appeared to be a figure standing in the center of the hall, with a solitary doorway behind the figure.

"What is that?" the thin man asked, sounding puzzled.

"A statue?" Chu Jiang wasn't quite sure either. Although he had the ability to see in the dark, the human-shaped statue was shrouded in a mysterious shadow, making it impossible to see its true appearance.

The saleswoman said in a low voice, "That's a statue of a deity. I don't know much else about it, but it's very dangerous..."

Although it's unclear how the saleswoman found out, the real problem is that the separate door behind the statue is very likely the door to room number 5.

Chu Jiang tried to use his Ghost Eyes to bypass the statue, and then he saw from afar that there were indeed five bloody horizontal symbols on the door.

There's no escaping it now, and this is the first supernatural obstacle blocking their path since they entered the room. Its terror might even surpass the dangers of all the rooms before them...

At this moment, the skinny man suddenly brought up something, "Is there anyone else who hasn't gone up to open the door yet?"

While the others were still thinking, the saleswoman said directly, "Me, the firefighter, and the dead bald man."

"So, who's going to open this door next?" The thin man was eager to open the door because he had anticipated this situation.

"You're in too much of a hurry," Chu Jiang said calmly, "We haven't even reached the door yet."

The skinny man said with a forced smile, "It's better to discuss it first. The chance to get into the next room might only be a fleeting moment."

It seems this guy's personality hasn't changed. In fact, because of his increased strength, he dares to express his thoughts more clearly and is no longer so afraid of Chu Jiang.

"Me?" The saleswoman's voice was hoarse and low, a stark contrast to her initially clear tone.

"To be precise, I'll clear the way for you, and you can take this opportunity to enter the next room."

"Of course, I may not be able to hold off that idol and will soon be destroyed by the enemy. At that time, you will have to leave it to fate."

The saleswoman's answer stunned both Chu Jiang and the skinny man. The skinny man even thought he had misheard, and he said incredulously, "You're planning to sacrifice yourself? Why?"

"Because I am a human, not a ghost." The saleswoman's answer was low but resolute.

Clearly, when the skinny man said that "one of the ghosts in the line is already there," saleswoman Li Yuhan knew exactly who he was referring to...

The thin man remained silent, and Chu Jiang also fell silent.

Chu Jiang never expected that the other party would make such a choice in the end. Was this the last struggle made by her remaining human rationality?

Nowadays, saleswomen should have lost all emotions; they have no love, no hate, and no fear of death.

But she knew very well that she was becoming less and less like herself.

Even if the saleswoman hadn't died in room number 4, she would soon have lost even her last shred of sanity and become a complete ghost...

So she made her final choice: to die as a human, rather than as a ghost, and to be "reborn."

"I'll ask you one last thing. If you can return to the real world, please bury my head in my hometown." With that, the saleswoman handed the head, which she had been holding in her arms with great care, to Chu Jiang.

Clearly, she believed that Chu Jiang was the most likely to survive.

Chu Jiang nodded somewhat heavily, "Okay, I promise you."

The saleswoman also gave her phone to Chu Jiang, so that he could obtain most of the information about her.

Chu Jiang stuffed them all into his left hand and said, "You talk to those two foreigners and tell them to cooperate fully with my operation."

The saleswoman agreed and exchanged a few words with the policewoman and firefighter.

Both of them were incredulous when they realized what had happened, especially the policewoman Michiko, who even felt guilty for her previous deliberate avoidance.

Michiko stepped forward, wanting to say something to the saleswoman.

However, the saleswoman stepped back, not wanting any contact with him. She looked at Chu Jiang and asked, "Are you ready?"

Chu Jiang looked at the thin man, who nodded expressionlessly.