Sudden Disturbance

The efficiency of splitting up was indeed fast. Around 7:30, all the mourning halls on the first floor with those three surnames were found.

There weren't many mourning halls with the surname Ma, only two in total.

There were seven with the surname Yang.

The surname Zhao had the most, a full ten.

In total, there were nineteen suspicious mourning halls.

Although the scope was still not small, a large portion had been eliminated.

Fatty was currently peeking in front of a mourning hall. "Doctor, are we going to push open the coffins in these nineteen mourning halls next, and then find clues about the ghost on the first floor from inside?"

Theoretically, that's what should be done.

However, Gu Mian's thinking was always different from others. He didn't like to follow theory.

He glanced at the nineteen open mourning hall doors. For easy marking, the suspicious mourning halls were left open, and the unsuspicious ones were closed.

"I'll go around and take a look first." Gu Mian put his hands into his white coat.

Pushing open nineteen coffin lids was also a big project. If they were unlucky, it could take an hour, and they still had the second and third floors to explore. There wasn't much time to waste now.

At this moment, Chu Changge was standing in front of an open mourning hall, seemingly contemplating something.

Gu Mian didn't wander around much and went straight to his side. "What are you looking at?"

Chu Changge looked up at Gu Mian. "Look at this mourning hall."

As he spoke, he pointed inside the door.

Gu Mian followed his gaze and looked inside.

This mourning hall seemed no different from the others, at least not on the surface.

There were bright incandescent chandeliers, and the huge coffins were surrounded by wreaths and black and white obituary photos.

The deceased here was a middle-aged woman.

She had short hair, but not proper short hair; it was a bit like the hairstyle of a landlady in a movie. Her head was not uniform, like a flattened potato, and even her facial features seemed to have been squashed.

Her eyes were not large but were slightly elongated, looking like a fox squinting with a smile at first glance. Because she was smiling, there were deep crow's feet at the corners of her eyes.

Her nose was not high, and the tip of her nose was slightly upturned, revealing more than half of her nostrils. Her lips were thin, pulling into a smile.

The overall impression was like a fox face with a flattened nose printed on a flattened potato.

There were also elegiac couplets on the wreaths.

"In mourning for Ms. Yang's passing, respectfully presented by the Xuzhou Public Security Department."

Chu Changge pointed to the elegiac couplets on the wreath. "The elegiac couplets from others are usually from juniors, colleagues, or their work units, but this one is different."

Upon hearing this, Gu Mian examined the five large characters "Xuzhou Public Security Department" again.

It was obvious that this Xuzhou Public Security Department could not have been Ms. Yang's workplace.

Although Gu Mian hadn't met many female colleagues in public security organs, he knew that a hairstyle like being struck by lightning wouldn't be in line with regulations.

In other words, it was unsightly.

Therefore, the Ms. Yang who died in this mourning hall was not someone who worked in public security, yet she had elegiac couplets from the Public Security Department.

Moreover, her age of death should not be very old, as the obituary photo showed she was only in her early forties.

"Died unexpectedly in her early forties, and with elegiac couplets from the public security department, don't you think her story might be quite bizarre?" Chu Changge pushed up his glasses.

"It is quite bizarre," Gu Mian agreed. "And according to your test questions, the three ghosts correspond to one car each, and that prison van is also related to the public security department."

By this time, others had gathered around, and some even boldly made guesses.

An uncle named Hao Laoshi spoke, "Could it be that a prisoner escaped from that prison van, and this Ms. Yang, who acted bravely, stopped them, but she also sacrificed herself?"

Possible.

"Any speculation without evidence is hooliganism," Gu Mian glanced at the coffin in the middle. "First, we need to collect evidence."

Fatty shivered. "Doctor, you seem unexpectedly enthusiastic about finding ghosts."

Gu Mian rolled up his sleeves. "Of course, I'm prioritizing the bigger picture. Come on, let's push the coffins."

The three players who had been standing by and watching from the beginning still didn't intend to do anything, and they huddled by the door, waiting for them to push the coffins.

But fate is unpredictable.

Gu Mian knew this mourning hall was abnormal, and he also knew that a ghost might emerge after the coffin was pushed open.

However, he didn't expect that an accident would happen when the coffin lid was only pushed halfway open.

"Creak—" The black-lacquered coffin lid was pushed open a small crack, and it was pitch black underneath.

Gu Mian was leaning in to see what was inside, but as soon as he poked his head in, his vision suddenly went black, as if he had gone blind.

But immediately after, the screams from the surroundings indicated that his eyes were fine.

The problem was the light overhead.

All the lights on the first floor went out simultaneously, with not a sliver of light in the darkness. Gu Mian reached out and touched the side, feeling something bulging.

Fatty's scream suddenly erupted in his ears: "It's out! It's grabbing my stomach, let's run!"

Immediately after, Gu Mian heard him scrambling away as if grabbing something, the plump, fleshy sensation in his hand gone.

The doorway was where the screams were most concentrated.

The gaunt man, the middle-aged uncle, and the freckled girl were not to be outdone, the three of them out-screaming each other, like mobile loudspeakers.

They shrieked in panic, even cracking their voices, and didn't forget to run while screaming.

In the darkness, only their three voices could be heard fading into the distance, with the occasional sound of someone falling.

Only when all the screams could no longer be heard did Gu Mian's eyes begin to adjust slightly to the darkness.

He was still standing in the Mourning Hall, not having moved an inch.

It wasn't to highlight his own bravery and contrast with others, but because he had experienced strange things so often, it was as commonplace as eating and drinking, so he had long lost the passionate excitement that ordinary people would have.

The repeated assassination attempts in his life had long taught him to remain calm in the face of danger and to think clearly amidst peril.

For example, just now, he was seriously contemplating a question—

"Why did everyone run?"

Finding ghosts seemed to be their objective, so why did they all slip away so quickly?

As he thought, he glanced around, trying to get a clear picture of his surroundings.

The door to the Mourning Hall was still open, with a faint light filtering in from outside.

Since there were no windows in the Mourning Hall, the only light came from the doorway; if the door closed, Gu Mian wouldn't be able to see anything.

The flower wreaths by the door had fallen over, likely knocked down by the others in their panicked escape.

A huge black and white Obituary Photo faced the doorway. The darkness made her face appear even paler, and her eyes were blurred, as if staring intently at him.

The heavy coffin had only been pushed open a crack. Gu Mian looked inside, but it was pitch black, and he couldn't see anything.

He had no tools to illuminate the area, nor could he directly stick his head in.

With no other options, Gu Mian decided to look for a lighting tool first.

But as he turned, he bumped into something.

Undoubtedly, it was a person.

Because when he bumped into this person, they lost their balance and fell, their head hitting the nearby coffin with a loud, crisp sound. It seemed like a hard impact.

But the person didn't utter a sound, only stubbornly clutching their head and stubbornly getting up to move back next to Gu Mian.

"Xiao Qiao?" Gu Mian asked with a fluctuating tone.

The figure finally reacted: "What?"