I have a ghost diary

Chapter 43 Elimination Method

“Yes,” Chu Jiang nodded heavily, “Let’s start with the first point: the criminals kidnapped A, then kidnapped B, and finally took A to see B.”

"If A is fake and it forcibly disappears, then the criminals can determine that B is the real Sun Xiaoman, because a living person cannot disappear into thin air."

"The reverse is also true. If B disappears, then A is real. So the fake can never disappear; it can only meet you."

"There is a key point here: if A and B are free, they can run away at will; only when they are bound and unable to move can they not simply disappear."

"The second point is the same. In principle, when you are with criminals, the imposter will not appear, but if it does not appear, it will be exposed, so it can only appear."

Sun Xiaoman was dumbfounded. "This imposter has OCD?? He absolutely refuses to reveal himself?"

"You can understand it that way, and then I'll ask you, how did the criminal die?" Chu Jiang was like a kind and patient teacher at this moment.

“The perpetrator, it was killed by a lifelike doll,” Sun Xiaoman answered instinctively.

Then she realized something was wrong: "If you're going to kill someone, why not just kill the criminal from the start? Why bother playing along?"

"No, the imposter is trying to imitate me. I am just a weak woman with almost no chance of fighting back against someone while being controlled by them."

"So the imposter played along with the criminal until the very end."

"As for why it killed the criminal, it's because the criminal killed it first, and it was exposed, so it had no scruples and could kill it whenever it wanted."

“Yes,” Chu Jiang clapped his hands repeatedly, as if encouraging his students. “In a sense, you have to thank this thug; he was able to tell which of you was real and which was fake.”

"As for the method, it's very simple and brutal: First, force the two of you together; second, use the process of elimination to take one out first."

"If the one who was killed turned into a doll, then it's fake; if the one who was killed was completely dead and motionless, then it's real."

After Chu Jiang explained this, Sun Xiaoman finally understood why the other party had resorted to such a brutal method as kidnapping.

Then the way she looked at Chu Jiang suddenly changed, and she struggled backward, almost falling to the ground.

This left Chu Jiang speechless. "Calm down, do I look like such a violent person?"

"Even though I suspect you now, I won't kill you. What if I kill the wrong person? I'm not a criminal."

Hearing him say that calmed Sun Xiaoman down a bit and she stopped struggling too much, but she was still very scared.

Because her life was now in the hands of this man she had only known for less than two days. If Chu Jiang misjudged the situation, her fate would be dire.

Chu Jiang ignored her, glanced at his phone, and said, "Since we still have some time, how about we talk about what happened during the day?"

"Actually, when you told me the truth this morning, I had no way of knowing whether you were telling the truth or not."

"Logically, a criminal suspect should not voluntarily reveal their secrets. But this suspect is a ghost, not a human, so it is entirely possible for it to tell the truth."

"I originally wanted to use some small actions, such as drinking soy milk when thirsty, to determine if you were alive."

"But such detailed evidence is too weak. If the ghost imitates well enough, it will still subconsciously drink soy milk."

"So after the conversation, I simply abandoned all of these small pieces of evidence and started to formulate a new plan."

As Chu Jiang spoke, he tapped his chin with his hand, "The idea of ​​kidnapping you two was formed immediately at that moment."

"Then I went out and, while refining the plan in my mind, I either rented or bought some things."

"Including the projector, screen, and teaching materials you see now, as well as ropes, tape, and so on."

“Wait a minute,” Sun Xiaoman couldn’t help but interrupt him, “Are those piled-up books really textbooks?? You’re not planning to teach ghosts, are you?”

Chu Jiang smiled. "Why not?"

"Putting that aside, I also bought a pinhole camera, the kind that can connect to the internet. These things are expensive, and you can't find them through normal channels. I went to several electronics markets before someone secretly sold them to me."

"After buying it, I secretly installed a camera on the sofa while moving things into the hotel so that I could observe your every move."

When Sun Xiaoman heard this, her eyes suddenly lit up!

Instead of getting angry, she said, "That should let you know that I am real."

"Because the real Sun Xiaoman was in business, she couldn't just run around everywhere. More than 80% of the day, the real Sun Xiaoman stayed at the front desk, and when she got tired of sitting, she would get up and stretch her muscles."

"Then you should watch the camera playback. It should clearly show that the real Sun Xiaoman called you at 8:30 and left the front desk at 9:00, coming up to you with a baton."

Unexpectedly, Chu Jiang shrugged and said, "You think you haven't seen it before?"

"Fine, I'll show you the replay."

Chu Jiang fiddled with his phone for a bit, then turned the screen back around.

Sun Xiaoman, lying on the bed, could see in the video that she did indeed make a phone call at 8:30, but no one answered.

Then, fast forward a bit, and at nine o'clock, he closed the door, hung up the sign, picked up a baton, and left the camera's field of view, seemingly heading towards the elevator.

Then things started to go wrong. He would leave the frame, and then, just a few seconds later, turn around and walk back with his baton.

The change was very natural; his expression showed doubt as he paced back and forth in the frame.

In the final scene, Sun Xiaoman puts the baton back, removes the sign from the glass door handle, and then opens the door.

Chu Jiang then withdrew his hand. "See? Based on the information I've seen, it's entirely possible that Sun Xiaoman, afraid of ruining my plan, ultimately gave up coming up to the fourth floor."

"You can also ask yourself honestly, if you could start over, are you sure you would still make the same choices?"

Sun Xiaoman opened her mouth slightly, but ultimately kept it closed...

Because the answer in her heart was: uncertain.

Before pressing the elevator button, Sun Xiaoman did have a final hesitation; ultimately, whether she got on or not was a 50/50 chance, as she was not a very decisive person to begin with.

Otherwise, when Chu Jiang asked her why she was crying, she wouldn't have hesitated for so long before answering.

Therefore, Chu Jiang's suspicions are justified; one cannot distinguish between truth and falsehood simply by watching the video.

Chapter 44 Teacher Chu's Lecture Time

What followed was a period of relative silence.

Chu Jiang closed his eyes to rest, while Sun Xiaoman also rested on the bed, her eyes filled with melancholy.

As eleven o'clock arrived, Chu Jiang turned on his phone and checked the camera feed.

The other Sun Xiaoman, as expected, couldn't wait to close the hotel; then, nervously and anxiously, she left the scene with a baton, seemingly heading up to the fourth floor.

Seeing this, Chu Jiang said to the woman on the bed, "Keep quiet, I'm going to tie her up."

Sun Xiaoman gave a wry smile. "I understand. Go ahead and do it."

"By the way, what if she doesn't come?"

Chu Jiang shook his head. "She will definitely come. If she doesn't, it proves she's a fake."

There was no real Sun Xiaoman, and it's unknown whether there was any possibility of this agreement between the two.

Because back then, Chu Jiang really couldn't tell whether the person who told the truth was really Sun Xiaoman.

However, after he spent the whole day making a fuss, Sun Xiaoman, who worked at the front desk, didn't show any sign of doubt, which proved that she was indeed the one who revealed the truth.

A moment later, there was a soft knock on the door. "Are you there?"

It has to be said that the force of the knock, the volume and tone of voice were exactly the same as Xiaoman's in bed.

Even she herself was a little confused after hearing it.

What followed was pretty much the same. Chu Jiang went out to open the door, and the two of them repeated their conversation, except for the part where the rich young woman went downstairs to ask questions.

Chu Jiang replied, "The imposter came to test me before, but I scared it away. It just so happened that its scream attracted the tenant of room 302."

"What do we do now? We don't know where it has run off to. Can you still take it with you?" The voice outside the door sounded worried.

"Okay, come in first and we'll talk."

In this way, through a series of questions and answers, Chu Jiang lured another Sun Xiaoman into the room.

But when Sun Xiaoman saw the man on the bed, she was completely stunned.

Taking advantage of this brief moment of distraction, Chu Jiang covered her mouth, removed her weapon, and forced her onto the bed and tied her up.

Chu Jiang's entire routine was extremely practiced, making the woman on the bed wonder if he had done this kind of thing many times before.

The newly arrived Sun Xiaoman, of course, also struggled frantically and was filled with fear.

But Chu Jiang was an old hand at it. He recounted everything that had happened before, including all the conversations with the first Sun Xiaoman, making sure nothing was missed. He also tore off the tape from the newcomer's mouth.

The result was that the two Sun Xiaomans exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with extremely complex emotions—hatred, grievance, anger, fear, and even a hint of pity in each other's eyes...

This left Chu Jiang speechless. "Hey, don't act like I'm some kind of villain."

"Then we need to start distinguishing between the real and the fake. To avoid confusion, I'll make a mark for you."

As he spoke, Chu Jiang pulled out two small buckets of paint from under the bed, one purple and one cyan.

With a quick stir of the brush, Chu Jiang, amidst the disapproving gazes of Sun Xiaoman and the others, smeared the paint on their new clothes.

"The one coming in front, painted purple, is codename number one."

"The one who came in after that, painted blue, codename number two."

"How about that, are you recognizable enough? From now on, when you speak, please refer to yourselves as Number One and Number Two."

As soon as Chu Jiang finished speaking, Number Two, who had just been kidnapped by him, said, "After listening to your conversation, I have a question."

Why didn't you come to see me during the day?

"You should know, right? The one who sits at the front desk most of the time should be the real Sun Xiaoman."

Chu Jiang waved his hand, "It's pointless. If I stay with the real one, the fake one won't come out. I can't eat and live with Sun Xiaoman 24 hours a day and keep her out of my sight."

"Alright!" Chu Jiang stood up and clapped, looking just as excited as the perverted bearded man in Sun Xiaoman's story.

"Now it's time to verify my hypothesis. Let's begin the lesson."

"what?"

"what?"

"Are you really having class?"