I have a ghost diary

Of course, it also included some of what Jing Ruoxue told him, as well as Chu Jiang's own personal thoughts and summaries.

After listening, Wang Lei seemed to understand something. "You mean, the power of incense and prayer can help me maintain my humanity and even resist the erosion of ghostly nature?"

"Correct."

"But that's not right. I've been a river god for almost half a year now. Even if we don't count the dead believers, I still have some living believers."

“A significant portion of them are quite devout in their faith, but I don’t feel that my situation has improved; on the contrary, it’s getting worse every day.”

Chu Jiang shook his head. "You're wrong. The believers aren't worshipping Wang Lei at all, but the River God. Do you understand what that means?"

Wang Lei was stunned for a moment before he realized that, indeed, what the believers had been worshipping all along was the historical figure of the River God, or even the water ghost inside him.

The thoughts generated by these believers ultimately all ended up with the ghosts, and had absolutely nothing to do with Wang Lei's consciousness or soul.

As a result, the ghosts naturally grow stronger, while Wang Lei gradually heads towards death.

“Then what should I do? What about the villagers and other believers? Should they switch to worshiping Wang Lei? No, no, no,” Wang Lei himself realized, “I can’t be so rough and rigid.”

"I should say that Wang Lei became the river god after his death..."

Chu Jiang nodded slightly. "Yes, that's the idea. You should fabricate a history of yourself as a god, and it would be best to attribute the river god from history to yourself."

"For specific instructions on how to compile it, you can refer to the local county annals, which should record many historical anecdotes and legends about river gods."

"Then you have to go from the historical Wang Lei to the modern Wang Lei, who is the previous person in charge of Luohe City."

"He is the reincarnation of the river god from hundreds of years ago. Now, in order to protect the people, he has died again and become the river god a second time, protecting the region."

"In short, you need to make all believers regard Wang Lei and the River God as one, so that the incense and prayers will naturally be focused on you."

"Even the beliefs of believers can anchor your thoughts and help you better control that water ghost."

Wang Lei became increasingly excited as he listened. "I understand! I understand! Through human cognition, it's even possible to reverse the conflict between me and the ghost..."

Chu Jiang looked at him with an expression of "you're a promising student," and said, "That's right. In a sense, gods are the embodiment of human imagination and are created by humankind."

In fact, Chu Zhan's existence also involves a portion of the power of incense offerings and prayers.

However, unlike figures like the old man and Wang Lei, Chu Zhan can exist independently of the people's worship, but the old man and Wang Lei cannot.

Once they lose their descendants or the worship of the people and believers, their humanity will gradually be overwhelmed and even devoured by their demonic nature, eventually turning them into complete and utter vengeful ghosts.

After learning about a theory about ghosts and gods from Chu Jiang, Wang Lei was very excited. He had a feeling that this method should be useful.

But after calming down, Wang Lei had another question.

After thinking for a moment, he asked directly, "Aren't you worried that after I take control of the River God's power, I might turn against you and the 21st Research Institute for my own selfish interests?"

Chu Jiang shook his head slightly, "If such a thing really happens, I will kill you with my own hands. I have the confidence and the ability to do so, so naturally I have nothing to worry about."

Chu Jiang's tone was calm, without any grand pronouncements, but Wang Lei nodded, sensing the confidence beneath that nonchalant demeanor.

"That's true. Since you can deal with an S-class vengeful ghost, you can naturally deal with me too. In fact, I'm not even an S-class vengeful ghost."

"Don't worry, I was just asking, I don't intend to do that."

"Oh, right," Wang Lei said, then remembered something, "Does the research institute know about this method?"

Chu Jiang shook his head. "I don't know, but I advise you not to underestimate the research institute's resources. Just assume they know. Especially Mr. Xu. When I met him, he was an incredible person, someone I found hard to understand."

"Well, what I'm really interested in is the research institute's attitude..."

Wang Lei's concerns were obvious: would Research Institute No. 21 really allow such a river god to exist?

Chu Jiang wasn't too worried. "After I get back, I'll report to headquarters. Of course, I won't say that I recommended you do this."

"I will describe the first half as it is, and in the second half I will say that you figured out this method on your own and achieved certain results."

"The research institute is currently overwhelmed with the frequent paranormal events across the country."

"If your presence is positive and encouraging, they should accept your existence; as long as you are content to stay in your little corner and do not try to be ambitious and expand outwards."

"Of course, a post-incident investigation is inevitable. They will definitely send someone to assess your mental stability; they may even impose some restrictions on you to prevent you from losing control."

"So I don't plan to make a report so soon. Let's see if this method works for you first. If it doesn't, then everything else is naturally unnecessary."

Wang Lei nodded, "I understand. Please ask Captain Chu to stay in Nangao Village for a few days. It would also be a way for him to supervise my progress and see if I can take the first step."

Chu Jiang readily agreed.

By the time the two reached this point in their conversation, Wang Lei was already quite tired.

He slowed his speech and said, "Captain Chu, please leave now. I am only lucid for a limited time each day. If we continue talking, I'm afraid the water ghost will take over my consciousness and might even attack you."

"As long as you don't cause any trouble after you go up there, don't attack the villagers, and don't try to destroy the temple, that ghost shouldn't do anything to you."

"Alright, our plan will begin tomorrow." Chu Jiang turned and left.

Chapter 301 Global Situation Deteriorates

Back on shore, Chu Jiang was surprised to find that this time, instead of actually fighting the river god, they reached an agreement in a relatively peaceful manner.

Of course, this is also related to the fact that Wang Lei still retains his rationality. If the other party has completely turned into a ghost, then there is naturally nothing to talk about. Only a fight can settle things.

For Chu Jiang, this is a relatively good outcome. In the current context of an increasingly deteriorating global situation, having a strong ally is always more useful than having a sealed-up ghost.

As for whether Chu Jiang really could kill the River God at will, as he claimed, it's probably not that exaggerated.

Taking action immediately at this stage would be a success, but it would also involve considerable risk.

After all, the true terror of the River God has not yet been revealed. To deal with such a powerful and vengeful ghost whose trump cards are unknown, we can only be extremely careful.

Of course, on the surface, Chu Jiang must have this confidence and assurance in order to intimidate the other party, regardless of whether Wang Lei actually had this idea in his heart.

Moreover, as long as time continues to drag on, Chu Jiang will become stronger and stronger, and then it will truly be a situation where "the power of life and death is entirely in my hands."

......

Standing in front of the River God Temple, Chu Jiang called Jing Ruoxue and told her she could come back.

Jing Ruoxue rushed back immediately, and only when she saw that Chu Jiang was perfectly fine did she breathe a sigh of relief.

As Chu Jiang recounted what had happened, he led his people toward the guesthouse.

They did book a room here, so they can just go over there and sleep now.

......

Over the next three days, Chu Jiang stayed in Nangao Village, witnessing firsthand the changes that were taking place there.

Following the instructions, Wang Lei first consulted the county annals, then discussed with Chu Jiang, and finally came up with a systematic theory of missionary work, mainly linking himself with the river god.

Furthermore, Wang Lei first got the villagers to accept this concept, and then the villagers "unconsciously" guided others.

It is worth mentioning that some tourists who come here to worship the statue will spontaneously begin to believe in the river god; this is not Wang Lei's original intention, but entirely due to the river god's instinct.

Once he has complete control over the river god's power, he should be able to eliminate this problem, allowing the living to decide whether to believe or not, rather than having it be a form of coercion.

Moreover, what Wang Lei is doing right now is not to gain new followers, but to first sort out his existing base, at least to make himself less miserable...

Three days later, the guidance showed initial results, and at least the villagers of Nangao Village were now completely convinced.

Inside the River God Temple, there are also printed booklets that introduce the life and origin of the River God, allowing those who don't know much about the River God to pick them up and form their first impression that "Wang Lei is the River God".

By the fourth night, Wang Lei felt much better, at least he was no longer in so much pain; the feeling of being schizophrenic had also lessened, and even the time he could be lucid each day had increased.

Before Wang Lei could even thank Chu Jiang, Chu Jiang brought Jing Ruoxue to the River God Temple.

"It seems something has happened. Headquarters has issued an emergency recall order, requiring all 21 team leaders across the country, except those who are completely unable to leave, to immediately travel to headquarters for a meeting."

Initially, Wang Lei was unable to communicate with outsiders through the statue inside the temple; he could only use the original statue at the bottom of the River God Lake.

However, since the results have been achieved in the past few days, Chu Jiang wanted to discuss things with Wang Lei, so there was no need to go down into the river again.

Upon hearing Chu Jiang's news, Wang Lei immediately became worried. "Could it be that the research institute discovered the situation here, strongly disapproves of it, and plans to gather high-end combat power to completely destroy the River God faith?"

Chu Jiang waved his hand, "You're overthinking it. I asked my operator what exactly happened."

"Although she wasn't quite sure, she said it was probably related to the recent rapid resurgence of paranormal activity."

"The worst-case scenario is that another S-level incident occurs in a city in the country."

"The slightly better situation is that there may be several Class A incidents breaking out in the country, and there are too many Class B and Class C incidents to count on two hands. Therefore, the headquarters hopes to send out high-end combat forces to get through this difficult situation."

During this period, Chu Jiang has been observing the changes in the global situation, and three more S-level paranormal events have been reported abroad.

These are: the "Black Pharaoh" that takes place in a small African country; the "Primitive Revenge" that takes place in Australia, Oceania; and the "Headless Emperor" that takes place in Samba, South America.

In addition to the existing ones, besides the island nation's "Ghost Abyss," the United States' "False God," and the European "Black Sun" which fled to China and was then dealt with, the Russian "Ghost Train" has now also been officially recognized as an S-class incident.

That train recently reappeared, causing numerous deaths and injuries. It is said that the remains of the deceased were used to construct new carriages for the train...

In this way, it can be said that of the seven continents, only the desolate Antarctica has not yet experienced an S-level paranormal event.

Domestically, according to Chu Jiang's observations, no new S-class ghosts have appeared yet. However, new paranormal events are breaking out in various cities almost every day, and the online discussion has become so heated that it's impossible to suppress it.

At the national level, there have been repeated assurances that the safety of the people will be guaranteed, so there is no need for panic.

Luohe City and its surrounding cities are relatively peaceful, as the black sun had previously ravaged the area, resulting in a significant reduction in the number of vengeful spirits.

Apart from the recent incident in Langchao City where a Class A "ghost bride" was created, most of the other incidents in other cities were Class C events, which the local officials could handle themselves without having to ask Chu Jiang for help.

So at this moment, Chu Jiang was surprisingly one of the more relaxed captains among all the team leaders in the country. The other captains were really busy and basically had no time to rest.

Oh, by the way, since Chu Jiang took over as captain, four of the original captains have died and one has gone missing, all of them involved in supernatural events, resulting in a casualty rate of one-quarter.

Moreover, the missing captain has already been archived as a dead person by headquarters.

This is the high risk of facing ghosts. It's not that you won't fail just because you're stronger than others. In fact, because you're often exposed to more dangerous paranormal events, you might die even faster than an ordinary ghost master.

Because many positions became vacant, Yan Wanli, the "Ghost Corpse" who gave up the captain position to Chu Jiang, has now become the captain again.

Incidentally, Li Buhuo, who introduced Chu Jiang to the research institute, is now also one of the team leaders. It just goes to show how fast and ruthless the team leader rotation is.

Chu Jiang wasn't entirely surprised to receive a call from Chen Yuting today, but he was unsure why she was calling so urgently. He wondered if it was another near-incurable S-class vengeful ghost...

Chapter 302 Emergency Meeting

"Captain Chu, are you leaving immediately?" Wang Lei asked.