The Red Envelope was actually something Hu Jiu came up with on the spot; it wasn't really useful. The real purpose was the black talisman inside.
A gloomy atmosphere permeated the room, and suddenly a cold wind blew in from nowhere, making the perceived temperature seem to drop significantly.
"Zhang Yuwei, how's it going over there?" Fu Youhua's voice came from Zhang Yuwei's phone; she had been keeping in touch with Fu Youhua.
"No problem so far, what about outside?"
"There are no new deaths outside... I think the ghost may have been lured away, please be careful!"
"Received. I will report any issues promptly."
Swish--
Another chilly wind blew.
"They're here!" Hu Jiu reminded them.
As soon as he finished speaking, with a few soft popping sounds, the lights in the room went out.
The sound of the wind seemed to turn into sobbing all of a sudden, but it vanished in an instant, even though all the doors and windows in the room were tightly closed.
The Ghost Tamers standing in the room all perked up, and some quickly took out their phones to illuminate the surroundings.
Zhang Yuwei said into her phone, "We just heard a strange noise. Is the footage from the security camera still normal?"
Fu Youhua said, "The image is shaking a bit, which may be due to Supernatural influences."
Fu Youhua was unsure whether the act of "Observation" through a camera would pose any danger, but he kept his eyes glued to the screen.
"Oh no, there's one too many!" Bai Yang exclaimed suddenly, his eyes wide.
"What's extra?" someone asked urgently.
There's one more person in the room!
Upon hearing this, everyone looked around, but after a while, they didn't find anything extra.
"Are you sure you didn't see it wrong? Or did you remember it incorrectly?" someone asked.
Bai Yang frowned. His eyes seemed to see something, but his mind seemed to Neglect something, creating a strong sense of unease.
"How many Ghost Tamer are there on the Zhanying?" he asked.
"Thirteen people," someone answered.
"How many people are in the room now?" Bai Yang asked again.
After quickly counting, one of the Ghost Tamers said, "Exactly thirteen, no more, no less..."
"Really?" Bai Yang asked hesitantly.
Zhang Yuwei asked Fu Youhua, "Minister, how many Ghost Tamers were deployed in this operation?"
After a while, a hesitant voice came from the other end of the phone. "It should be thirteen?"
"Tell Fu Youhua to go and check the personnel list first," Hu Jiu reminded him.
Huang Jingxing looked at him. "... What do you mean?"
"Some Fierce Ghosts can alter perception."
As soon as Hu Jiu finished speaking, Zhang Yuwei gasped. Fu Youhua's voice came through her phone. "The list of personnel participating in this operation only includes the names of twelve Ghost Tamers..."
There really is one more!
Everyone understood immediately: a ghost had slipped into the crowd!
"Our thinking and cognition have been disrupted! To be honest, I feel like I know and have seen everyone here before, and I don't realize who is superfluous at all," Huang Jingxing said cautiously.
"I feel the same way," Zhang Yuwei said gravely. "How can we tell who the ghost is?"
"Fierce Ghosts have no intelligence, so they should be easy to spot," Yuan Hongfei confidently. "No matter how well they pretend to be human, there are some questions they definitely won't be able to answer. I'll write out a calculus equation from advanced mathematics later, and everyone can take turns solving it."
"You son of a bitch...!" Bai Yang said impatiently, "How many people do you think can solve that problem?"
"Don't rush to find the ghost. Let's first consider its killing patterns. The ghost is mixed among us. There haven't been any casualties yet, and the situation is relatively stable. What if we catch the ghost and make things worse?" Hu Jiu said calmly.
"Wait, I think I've got it!" Bai Yang exclaimed again.
All eyes were on him as he continued, "Do you remember the information the Shichuan provided about that demon?"
"At first, although the ghost's appearance was very similar to a human, a normal person would feel something was off just by looking at it. However, the ghost's resemblance to a human was gradually increasing, and it even began to mimic human speech and behavior."
Hu Jiu guessed that the ghost might blend into the crowd, making it difficult to distinguish the real one from the fake. We seem to be in that situation now; we can't tell who the ghost is, but it hasn't launched an attack yet.
"Why hasn't the ghost attacked us yet, even though it has already infiltrated our ranks?"
"I mean, is it possible that the ghost's killing pattern is 'recognizing itself in a crowd'?"
"He's slowly mimicking humans, blending into the crowd, becoming one of our companions. As long as we don't recognize him, nothing will happen for a while. But once we do, he'll kill us instantly!"
After a moment of silence, Huang Jingxing was the first to respond to Bai Yang, "What you said makes some sense. Perhaps recognizing the ghost in the crowd through indirect means such as videos or photos would also trigger his mechanism and make him his target."
Yuan Hongfei seemed somewhat agitated. "Recognizing it is the trigger for its pattern? Then what should we do with this ghost? After identifying the ghost in the crowd, don't point it out, just put it in Golden Corpse Bag?"
Bai Yang earnestly explained to Yuan Hongfei, "What I meant by 'recognizing the ghost' is not publicly exposing the ghost's identity, but rather your thought process. When your consciousness perceives who the ghost is, the pattern is triggered. Only in this way can we explain why the ghost can spread through photos or videos."
Yuan Hongfei's expression immediately changed. "You're not joking, are you?"
"He wasn't joking. This ghost can interfere with cognition. It's normal for it to detect changes in your perception and attack you," Hu Jiu, supporting Bai Yang's statement.
Yuan Hongfei to save face, saying, "Even so, catching this ghost shouldn't be too difficult, right?"
"Catching ghosts isn't difficult, but the problem is..." Hu Jiu paused for a moment, "That ghost imitated human speech and behavior, seamlessly blending into the crowd. Has it already acquired human intelligence?"
"Yes, that's what we're most worried about." A female Ghost Tamer standing next to Zhang Yuwei had a face full of worry.
Fierce Ghosts are already a huge threat to humanity; if they were to gain intelligence... the consequences would be unimaginable! Even if this ghost is just an exception, what if more and more such ghosts appear in the future...?
Zhang Yuwei relayed everything that had happened here to Fu Youhua without missing a single word.
What kind of impact Fierce Ghost possessing intelligence would have is something Headquarters should consider; their current duty is to capture that ghost!