Chapter 16:
Surveillance video

Because Tang Song has been silent without saying a word, the people on Jing Qizhen’s side couldn’t help but look at each other.

Manman was leaning on Si Jiayang and casually guessed, “Is the phone signal not good?”

Jing Qizhen hesitated for a moment, then said to the phone, “Officer Tang? Hello? Are you still there? Can you hear me?”

Si Jiayang peeled a small orange for Manman beside him and fed it directly to Manman’s mouth. He lowered his voice and said in a very soft voice, “Actually, I suspect he has signal shielding there.”

Listening to Jing Qizhen’s clear voice on the phone, none of the big guys in the video conference said a word. In the end, the old man in the center smiled and waved to Tang Song, telling him to hurry over.

Tang Song nodded slightly towards the nine people on the screen wall, then released his hand covering the phone’s microphone, turned around and left with the phone in hand, and replied as he walked, “I’m here. Sorry, the signal in the building is a bit bad.”

Jing Qizhen smiled, “It’s okay. Is it convenient to have a group voice call now?”

Tang Song answered, “There is a special conference room on the second floor of the resort where you are staying. If you don’t mind staying up late today, just wait a moment. I can go there directly now.”

Jing Qizhen’s mobile phone was also put on speakerphone. After hearing what Tang Song said, Grandma Fang was the first to say in surprise, “Aren’t we still in quarantine?”

The optimistic Wilcox guessed, “It seems that the physical examination results have come out. The result is fine, then?”

However, before Wilcox finished speaking, Tang Song said with a serious but matter-of-fact smile, “I can join you in the quarantine.”

Jing Qizhen: … This person is so cruel to himself.

The others looked at each other and fell silent.

Tang Song said, “We still have a lot to discuss, after all. It’s not convenient to keep making video calls. It would be more appropriate for me to come directly, what do you think?”

Jing Qizhen looked at his companions and nodded silently. He immediately replied sincerely and seriously, “We think that’s great! It’s not too late, either, so just come over. We’ll wait for you in the conference room.”

“Okay,” Tang Song agreed directly, “I’ll drive there now. It’s about half an hour away. See you later!”

After saying that, Tang Song hung up the phone.

Jing Qizhen also put down his mobile phone.

Si Jiayang frowned slightly and said, “It seems that things are more troublesome than we thought.”

Yan Hong, who had been silent all this time, frowned slightly and said in a deep voice, “Tang Song is not an ordinary person.”

Suddenly, everyone looked at Yan Hong.

Jing Qizhen hesitated for a moment and blinked. Everyone could see that Yan Hong was obviously not an ordinary person…

Yan Hong still looked serious and just said, “I know the police. Even if he is wearing a police uniform, he doesn’t have the same bearing as the police.”

Hearing this, Jing Qizhen was slightly startled, and chose to be honest, “Actually, I thought you were from the military.”

Yan Hong gave a rare smile but his expression quickly became serious again, and he shook his head, “I’m not. I do think Tang Song is from the military.”

Jing Qizhen touched his chin, “It seems that things are far more complicated than we imagined.”

It was still a while before Tang Song came over, and everyone present was not in a hurry to go directly to the conference room. They started discussing.

Because of the Earth, Jing Qizhen actually knew a little more than his other companions, although he always had doubts about the Earth’s claims.

After all, all the descriptions of erosion areas only come from the Earth itself. How exactly they were pulled into the erosion area and how they finally came back, Jing Qizhen actually knew nothing about the more detailed matters.

Based on the Earth’s words, there is something like a core in the erosion area, which will exert a strong attraction to the planets from two different parallel universes. As long as this core is broken, the gravitational force of the two approaching planets will disappear, and the erosion area will also disappear.

However, Jing Qizhen and his group did not even finish exploring the entire Yunhai Wancheng Department Store before they left the erosion area inexplicably.

To put it bluntly, even after experiencing the unexpected incident, Jing Qizhen was still confused about the so-called erosion core, let alone destroying it.

While Jing Qizhen was thinking wildly, he took his tablet and started searching for parallel universes. The bubble universe hypothesis was naturally his top priority.

Si Jiayang happened to catch a glimpse of the simple science popularization pictures about the bubble universe hypothesis.

He originally thought that Jing Qizhen was an astronomy enthusiast, but when he saw the serious expression on his face, it was obviously something else.

“Xiao Jing, are you more inclined to think that it is a parallel universe?” Si Jiayang thought for a while. They had already mentioned this possibility before when they were trapped in the supermarket, but the manpower was limited and there was no way to verify it.

Jing Qizhen shook his head and then took out the black shopping card given to them by the female ghost Ms. Li.

Manman complained, “Every time I see the details on this shopping card, I start to suspect that we are actually trapped in an overly realistic virtual game instead of a high-end parallel universe or parallel space!”

Si Jiayang and others: …

Who hasn’t played one or two mobile games these days? Even the oldest Grandma Fang has played Landlords, Mahjong or Xiaoxiao Le on her mobile phone.

Whether it’s the black shopping card or the blood-stained giant axe, they did give an unrealistic feeling like a game prop.

Jing Qizhen muttered in his mind, “Babyball, are you still here?”

The Earth: “Yes, I’ve always been here!”

The Earth suddenly spoke up, voice a little excited, “Hey, why did you speak so nicely today?”

Jing Qizhen: “…the name Babyball makes you happy?”

The Earth’s words faltered for a moment, and then it began to shout confidently, “Who doesn’t want to be a baby these days? You humans don’t care when you call me Mother Earth all day long. You really don’t care!”

Jing Qizhen said calmly, “They just want to praise you.”

The Earth: “Ah, I also understand it’s just words, but I also like people to call me baby.”

Jing Qizhen turned his head silently and glanced at Si Jiayang who kept calling Manman ‘baby’. The Earth might have been stimulated after being forced to eat dog food, so he calmly said, “…Okay Babyball, no problem Babyball.”

The Earth, who was happy, spoke in a lively tone, “What did you want to ask me?”

Jing Qizhen stated, “It’s about the erosion area.”

The Earth asked, “Didn’t I tell you everything?”

Jing Qizhen continued, “What is the core inside the erosion area that changed the department store? We haven’t found any core at all, let alone destroyed it.”

The Earth wondered, “Isn’t it the female ghost Ms. Li?”

Jing Qizhen was startled, “Is it?!”

The Earth answered, “Yes. When the female ghost Ms. Li dissipated, the gravitational force that pulled the two parallel universes together disappeared! Didn’t you all see the scene when she dissipated? She’s gone, I drove the other ball away, the erosion area disappears, and you return to the real world directly!”

Jing Qizhen asked, dumbfounded, “…Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

The Earth asked back, “How could I know that she was the erosion core if she didn’t dissipate?”

Jing Qizhen: …

He finally understood. The Earth was actually in a closed loop.

The Earth explained for a long time, and couldn’t help complaining to Jing Qizhen, “Why are you humans so stupid? When the female ghost dissipated, I collected all the spilled energy, so I could judge that she was the reason another parallel universe bubble approached.”

Jing Qizhen asked calmly, “…If you don’t tell me, how will I know?”

The Earth was stunned for a moment. When it finally realized, it apologized very perfunctorily, “Oh, I’m sorry. You can talk to me, so I always forget that you are not a ball but a human. Hey, what a big problem!”

Jing Qizhen reminded the Earth, “You’re just making personal attacks against humans. Didn’t you say that you’ll know when you were there?”

The Earth: “Hey, do you have to be so serious with me? I’m just a weak, pitiful and helpless ball. How can I know so many thoughts of you humans…?”

Jing Qizhen: …

What else can he say? Faced with the Earth acting strange, he was really influenced!

After taking a deep breath and calming down, Jing Qizhen asked, “Do you mind if I reveal your existence to others?”

The Earth: “Huh?”

After being stunned, the Earth was still a little moved and whispered, “Don’t bother. I used to shout, but except for you, other humans basically couldn’t hear me. Occasionally, when humans are dreaming, they seem to be able to hear my voice, but when they wake up, they forget about me and the dream again…”

Jing Qizhen explained, “No. I just want to tell them what you said about the erosion area. After all, I am not specialized in physics. I need more professional people to analyze and evaluate it.”

Earth was stunned, ” You don’t believe me? You think I can’t explain it clearly?”

Jing Qizhen continued, “That’s not true, but you didn’t explain it in detail. I want to make things more clear. Otherwise, the erosion area will appear from time to time and its effect will be too big.”

The Earth was already caught up in its own emotions, and it didn’t care what Jing Qizhen’s original intention was. It kept saying, “You humans are so disgusting!”

Seeing that the Earth began to refuse friendly communication, Jing Qizhen simply started talking to himself, “It seems you don’t mind. Then I’ll just say it later if necessary!”

The Earth: “You go away!”

Seeing this, Jing Qizhen quietly stopped paying attention to the ball.

Jin Guijuan was still a little uneasy and couldn’t help but ask, “Will Officer Tang help inform my manager?”

Jing Qizhen nodded with a very determined tone, “Yes.”

Jin Guijuan immediately looked at him expectantly.

Jing Qizhen reassured her, “We are just guessing about the identity of the monsters, but Ms. Li’s appearance is real. As the only person in the two worlds whose name, appearance and memory are all the same, Officer Tang and the others will definitely protect Ms. Li closely.”

This was the reason why Jing Qizhen was not in a rush to discuss with the police about the female ghost after he realized that something unexpected had happened in the real world. As long as the police see the image data of the female ghost, they will definitely pay special attention to Ms. Li Jiangli who had the same identity in reality.

In comparison, Jing Qizhen even felt that Ms. Li’s importance in the sudden disappearance may be higher than their group.

It was almost time now and Old Xiao became nervous again as he suggested, “Shall we go to the conference room upstairs to talk?”

Jing Qizhen agreed, “Let’s go!”

“Actually, I think it’s okay to wait here. We can go upstairs together. After all, Officer Tang is ready to be quarantined with us.” Si Jiayang muttered in a low voice, “He’s working hard enough.”

Manman glanced at him and Si Jiayang immediately fell silent.

The conference room was on the second floor. They were chatting and laughing as they took an elevator to go up.

The door of the conference room was not open, and there was a fingerprint lock different from the usual household fingerprint locks, with a large screen and a high-tech style.

Jing Qizhen hesitated for a moment, then directly pressed the thumb that he used when entering the fingerprints on his ID card.

There was a soft beep, the verification was passed, and the door opened.

Everyone: …???

Jing Qizhen speculated, “Tang Song probably entered our fingerprints temporarily when he called us just now.”

The conference room was empty, but there was no dust at all. The air was also very fresh. Someone must have cleaned it every day.

There was also a huge screen wall in the room to facilitate video conferencing, but at that moment, all the screens were still turned off.

Everyone found a seat and sat down, kept the door of the conference room open and continued the topic.

Within a few minutes, there was a clear sound of footsteps in the corridor outside the conference room.

Tang Song came directly in a neat military uniform, and his hands were not empty. He was carrying a laptop bag in one hand and a whole bag of snacks in the other hand. After walking to the conference table, he gently placed the laptop bag on top and let the various small packages and drinks inside spread directly on the conference table.

Everyone: …

Tang Song casually pulled up a chair and sat down. He smiled at everyone, showing a cute little tiger tooth, and said casually, “Let’s chat while we eat.”

Jing Qizhen carefully looked at Tang Song’s military uniform. He had seen his parents’ uniforms at home. Tang Song’s uniform was definitely genuine, but all the epaulets on his shoulders that indicated military rank had been deliberately removed.

Jin Guijuan was stunned for a while. Even though she didn’t understand much about this matter, she could still tell the difference between police uniforms and military uniforms. She couldn’t help but hesitate and said, “…Officer Tang?”

Tang Song waved his hand and said with a smile, “I’m not a police officer, just call me Tang Song.”

Manman and Si Jiayang, who were sitting next to each other, glanced over and said with surprise, “We didn’t expect that you would stop pretending to be a policeman so soon?”

Tang Song laughed. Casually, he joked, “I’ll be quarantined with you. Of course, I have to be more honest with you.”

As he said this, he took out his laptop from his computer bag and simply explained, “After all, this is a downtown area. Anything happening caused too much movement. Please understand.”

After Tang Song opened his laptop, he directly connected it to the large screen in the conference room, and then said, “Our technical staff had already done simple processing on the image data you brought back and filtered out some invalid and redundant pictures. I wonder if you want to take a look?”

Jing Qizhen and the others exchanged glances, and everyone nodded, “Okay.”

The video recording that Tang Song showed was not long. After removing all the still images, the remaining time was only a few minutes.

Jing Qizhen paid attention to the date and time of the video. The first scene showed that on the night of March 19th, the ‘security guard’ of Store B ran from the outside into the duty room in a panic, and there were small traces of blood stains on the floor.

Tang Song paused the video, and used a red laser pointer to circle the ‘security guard’s’ hands and the ground, reminding them, “These are the blood stains.”

At this time, the ‘security guard’ still retained a roughly human form. It quickly wiped away the blood stains left on the door of the duty room.

Then, the time on the video changed rapidly. When the ‘security guard’ went out of the duty room to patrol, it had already turned into its weird and exaggerated appearance with excessively twisted muscles.

As for what came after, regarding the female ghost Ms. Li, the first monster, and even themselves, Jing Qizhen and the others have experienced it personally, so they naturally understood the whole process.

By the time the video finished playing, the conference room was completely silent.

Tang Song glanced at his watch, “It’s now 11:17 on February 23rd. The blood stains on March 19th in the video should be a key point, but from the video alone, we can’t get more details. We can speculate that the ‘security guard’, the blood stains, and the time point must mean something–”

Jing Qizhen continued, “The time is March 19th next month, 26 days later.”

Tang Song looked towards Jing Qizhen. He smiled and made an ‘I’d like to hear more about it’ gesture.

Jing Qizhen directly pushed the Black Card in his hand across the conference table to Tang Song.

Tang Song curiously reached out and touched it. After reading its description, his pupils changed for a moment.

Jing Qizhen then said, “This shopping cart was given by Ms. Li, the female ghost in the video. Ms. Li was killed in her office by someone she knew on March 19th. Ms. Li hopes that we can warn the current her so she can avoid the murder. This was what we told you before and we hope to seek help from the police.”

Tang Song responded quickly, “The murderer is the ‘security guard’?

Jing Qizhen shook his head, “No, we suspect it is Ms. Li’s husband.”

Tang Song asked, “This person did not appear in the video?”

Jing Qizhen nodded, “Probably not.”

Tang Song simply picked up the phone, “I will ask someone to contact Ms. Li now and invite her to come over.”

After hearing this, Old Xiao suddenly thought of something else. At that time, his blood pressure was about to rise but he couldn’t even care about being nervous or wiping off his cold sweats. He was so busy opening his mouth and blaming the soldier, “Hey, wait. Don’t disturb her child taking the college entrance examination!”

Tang Song: …???

Old Xiao hated iron for not becoming steel and said, “The ghost Ms. Li has a child in her senior year of high school. If you suddenly send the police to her home and invite the mother over, the child may be overthinking things! Don’t you have children yet?”

Tang Song felt a little embarrassed being forced to answer this kind of question. After a long while, he said, “…I don’t even have a partner right now.”