I have a ghost diary

Even a ghost peeking out from behind a window is dangerous and not so easy to catch.

Based on current observations, this ghost possesses the ability to completely replicate the body and mind of a living person, and it will linger around the victim, living as the victim.

The ultimate goal, as Sun Xiaoman said, is likely to kill her and live as a human in her guise.

However, achieving this goal requires certain conditions and some time; that's why this ghost has been hesitant to act, allowing Sun Xiaoman to live until now.

As for more details, we need to continue to obtain more information from Sun Xiaoman.

While Chu Jiang was pondering, Sun Xiaoman continued to recount, "Having encountered such a terrible thing, I did think about calling the police, but I had no evidence."

"In order to find evidence, I tried to start with the surveillance footage, for example, if two people were recorded on the camera at the same time."

"Even if they are not in the same scene, it is enough if they are at the same time. At least it can prove that there are indeed two Sun Xiaomans."

"But strangely enough, I couldn't record any evidence no matter what I did."

"When the imposter is alone, the surveillance cameras can't capture her; it's as if she's invisible. But when the imposter is talking to someone, they can capture her image, but I disappear!"

At this point, Sun Xiaoman almost burst into tears. "Can you imagine that scene? At the same time, the imposter was talking to the guests on the third floor, while I was at the front desk on the first floor."

"The surveillance cameras on the first and third floors were working perfectly, but when they captured the imposter's figure, there was no one behind the front desk on the first floor? It was as if I didn't exist."

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Criminals

To be honest, even Chu Jiang felt a little terrified when he heard this, and he could somewhat understand Sun Xiaoman's sense of collapse.

A perfectly healthy person suddenly disappeared from the surveillance footage, while a non-existent person appeared on the footage, chatting and laughing with the tenant.

It's as if I'm the fake one, the imposter.

People with weak willpower may even doubt their own existence.

While comforting Sun Xiaoman, Chu Jiang calmly asked, "Weren't there any scenes where the two of you were talking to other people at the same time that were recorded?"

"This would lead to a bizarre situation: in scene A, Sun Xiaoman is chatting with a normal person; in scene B, an invisible person is chatting with a normal person."

"That way you'll have both physical evidence and witness testimony. Bring the surveillance footage and the witnesses with you, and people will believe you when you report the crime."

Sun Xiaoman shook her head repeatedly, "I tried, but that imposter is extremely cunning. It will never show itself when I'm with other people."

"Similarly, when the imposter is with other people, it is always when I am alone."

"I have thought about having someone by my side 24 hours a day, but I still need to shower and go to the bathroom, right?"

"Moreover, this won't cause any harm to the counterfeit. At worst, it can hide for a few days and not come out. Anyway, I always have time to be alone. It's impossible for someone to be by my side every moment."

Hearing this, even Chu Jiang felt it was quite troublesome. This was an existence that completely imitated the original owner, no wonder Sun Xiaoman didn't report it to the police.

Although Research Institute No. 21 cooperates with police forces in various regions, it's impossible for every trivial matter to be brought to the person in charge's desk; at least some basic evidence is required.

Sun Xiaoman looked somewhat dazed, but she continued to pour out her heart, "Although there may be unclean things around us, life still goes on."

"I had no choice but to reopen the hotel, otherwise I would have no source of income and starve to death."

"But not long after the hotel reopened, about a week ago, another incident occurred."

"This is what completely broke me down. I often couldn't sleep for nights on end and even cried my eyes out."

Chu Jiang immediately focused his attention and listened attentively.

"As you know, the area where the hotel is located is quite remote. A couple of years ago, they were going to build a development zone, but the plan was shelved, leaving behind a lot of unfinished buildings."

"That's why I don't lower the prices too much, so I rarely have customers coming to stay here, and even then, the rooms are often not full."

"I was the only employee in the hotel, so I fired everyone else."

"It was under these circumstances that a criminal targeted me."

Sun Xiaoman still felt a lingering fear when she spoke of this.

“One night a week ago, just before closing time, a middle-aged man with a beard came over and said he wanted to check in.”

"He paused for a moment when he saw me, and asked, 'Why is your hotel still closed at night? I was passing by yesterday intending to check in, but I found your doors were closed.'"

"I didn't think too much about it at the time. I just said that we were short of staff and couldn't operate 24 hours a day for the time being. We could only operate during the day."

"It was this sentence that made that man completely certain of his suspicions."

"While checking the man in, he made an excuse to lean his upper body into the front desk, saying he wanted to look at the computer."

"I immediately realized something was wrong, but before I could back away or grab my pepper spray, the man pulled out a knife and held it to my neck!"

"At that moment, I was terrified, and at the same time, I wondered if the imposter was going to attack me?"

"Since it can impersonate me, it shouldn't be a problem impersonating a grown man, right?"

"But what happened next was something I never expected."

"The man threatened me not to scream and climbed over the front desk. Then he skillfully took out a rope, tied me up, and sealed my mouth with duct tape."

"At this point, I became even more frightened. Do ghosts not need to kill people like this? Tying people up and stuff, it's all so realistic."

"I still remember how excited the man was, saying, 'You two sisters are really interesting, playing hide-and-seek, aren't you?'"

“I felt something was wrong as soon as I heard it, but after the man tied me up, he just ran outside very quickly.”

“I didn’t know what he was going to do. I thought he had accomplices. I struggled desperately, but I was tied to the table and couldn’t move.”

"What's even more tragic is that this is an old-fashioned hotel, and there's no one-button alarm system at all. Otherwise, I could have propped myself up and pressed it."

"Just when I was getting more and more scared, the bearded man ran back to the hotel."

"But this time he was also carrying a snakeskin bag on his back, and it looked like something was struggling inside the bag."

"Considering what the man had said earlier, I was completely stunned. Could it be that this robber had kidnapped the imposter as well??"

"At that moment, my feelings were truly indescribable; I didn't know whether to be happy or sad."

"In short, the man threw the snakeskin bag on the ground and then closed all the hotel doors."

"Then he found the key to a room on the first floor at the front desk, chuckling, carried the burlap sack into an empty room, and then carried me in as well."

"Throughout the process, he moved very quickly, afraid that a guest upstairs might suddenly come down."

"Furthermore, the man also destroyed the surveillance footage and, after confirming that there were no other residents on the first floor, entered the room where I was and locked the door from the inside."

"Actually, before the man arrived, I kicked the snakeskin bag twice, but the person inside just kept struggling and didn't show anything special."

“I even suspected at one point that what was inside wasn’t a fake at all, because how could a fake with such bizarre abilities be caught?”

"Then the man came in, and he pulled the person out of the snakeskin bag. It really was another me?? At that moment, I was devastated."

Upon hearing this, Chu Jiang was completely stunned. Was this really a ghost? Could there be such a useless ghost? It was actually kidnapped by an ordinary human?!

In short, Sun Xiaoman's account continues: "At that time, the man looked like he had won a complete victory, and even seemed a little smug."

“He didn’t rush to attack the two of us. Instead, he moved a chair in front of us and described how difficult it had been for him to stake out the area, gather intelligence, and make various preparations over the past few days.”

"At that time, I knew that this was a psychopath; a normal person would never do this."

Chapter Thirty-Nine: The True Form of the Ghost

"After rambling on for a while, the bearded man finally satisfied his desire to show off."

"I also learned from his description how the counterfeiters were caught."

"Speaking of which, this thing deserves it. It's impersonating me again. I'm working at the front desk of the hotel, but it runs out to the outside parcel locker to get a package."

"That's an exorcism talisman I bought online. I was planning to pick it up the next day."

"It was during this process that the man secretly followed the imposter, and when it was not paying attention, he held a knife to its neck and tied it up using the same method."

"The man originally thought there was no one at the front desk, or that there were one or two aunties helping me look after the front desk, but when he came in, he saw me again."

"But he didn't say anything, he just changed the subject and tested the waters; and he secretly thought we were twins."

As Sun Xiaoman spoke, she became thirsty and subconsciously took a sip of soy milk.

This made Chu Jiang secretly assess that the possibility of a survivor had increased by one percent.

"In short, after the man finished rambling, he stood up and looked at us with the eyes of someone selecting goods."

"I was terrified at that time, I didn't even have time to get angry."

"In the end, the man chose the imposter, who also appeared very afraid."

“I remember every word he said clearly. He said, ‘This one should be the younger sister who went to pick up the package. The older sister is more responsible and has been watching the store. Let’s start with the younger sister.’”

"As soon as I finished speaking, the man was about to attack. At that moment, I thought to myself, if it were me, I would rather die than let this man succeed!"

"As it turned out, the imposter made the same choice as me. She lay on the ground and kicked out, almost hitting the man in the groin."

Even if the kick missed, it still made the man stagger.

"I tried to help, but the man was already enraged. He pushed my leg aside with one hand, took out a knife with the other, and stabbed the imposter viciously!"

"The knife hit him right in the chest. The assailant stabbed him several times, and blood splattered all over him."

"At that time, I knew I was finished. He's a lunatic; when he goes crazy, he doesn't care about anything."

"Gasping for breath, the man stabbed the imposter to death, a twisted, morbid smile still on his face. He turned to me and asked, 'Are you still going to resist? Do you want to end up like this?'"

"Before I could even think about what to do next, I witnessed an extremely terrifying scene."

As she spoke, Sun Xiaoman's hands trembled. "I still dream about that scene."

"I saw that behind the bearded man, the imposter's corpse had disappeared, and in its place was a delicate doll standing up."

"This doll is not an ordinary toy doll, nor is it a mannequin in a clothing store. It is the same size as a real person, and has the same skin color, but it has no androgynous features and has ball joints."

"Its appearance is very close to that of a human. Although it has no hair and its gender is indistinguishable, its face is very detailed and looks exactly like a human."

"But if you look closely, you'll notice that there's a slight incongruity in its face, as if it were pieced together from countless human features."

"This subtle inconsistency is very jarring once it's noticed; to me, it was incredibly stiff and terrifying, like facing a corpse, or rather, a corpse that had been stitched up multiple times."

"At the time, the man hadn't noticed the accident yet; he only saw my pupils contract and my whole body uncontrollably backing away."

"This made him even more smug, but before he could stand up and walk toward me, the lifelike doll put a hand on the man's shoulder."