This Taoist priest is so unprofessional!

After hanging up the phone, the office fell into a brief silence.

Wang Xiaoer looked at Zhang Chen with suspicion and worry on his face.

"Brother Chen, you actually dared to take this on? It sounds incredibly risky, what if it really is..."

"What if it really is haunted?"

Zhang Chen finished the second half of his sentence for him.

"I'm not trying to be mean, but what does our firm do? You don't actually think you're some kind of con artist, do you?"

For once, he abandoned his usual carefree and playful demeanor, took a cigarette from the pack, lit it, but didn't smoke it. He simply held it between his fingers, watching the smoke rise.

Zhang Chen's expression was somewhat solemn, his eyes deep, completely different from the internet-addicted youth who was usually obsessed with playing games.

This was the first time Wang Xiaoer had ever seen him like this.

Zhang Chen turned his head and looked at the sky outside the window, which was gradually darkening.

"Judging from his description, this matter may not be so simple."

"Keyboard sounds and shadowy figures could be illusions, but that old game interface that automatically lights up..."

He paused, brought the cigarette to his lips, took a light drag, and then slowly exhaled.

"That's a key point."

The smoke blurred his face.

"We might run into a tough opponent tonight."

At 11 p.m., the taxi turned into a back alley deep in the university town.

The alley was narrow and deep, with old residential buildings on both sides. The streetlights were dim, barely illuminating a small patch of wet ground.

At the end of the alley, a neon sign flickered with its last stubborn light.

Fengchi Internet Cafe.

Wang Xiaoer paid the fare and got off the bus one after the other with Zhang Chen.

A stench of dampness and the sour smell of garbage hit him, making him wrinkle his nose involuntarily.

The glass door of the internet cafe was ajar, and the light coming through was dim, not much different from the gloomy night outside.

Zhang Chen pushed open the door, and an even stronger smell wafted out.

It's the kind of smell unique to enclosed spaces, a mixture of cigarette smoke, instant noodles, sweat, and cheap air fresheners that has fermented.

A young man was sitting anxiously in front of the bar. When he saw them, he looked at them as if they were his saviors and immediately came over.

He is Li Hao, the person who made the request on the phone.

"Master! You've finally arrived!"

Li Hao's face was pale, and his dark circles were so heavy they looked like they were drawn on.

Standing next to him was a slightly chubby guy with his arms crossed, scrutinizing Zhang Chen and Wang Xiaoer with a critical look.

"Haozi, is this the master you found?"

The fat man curled his lip, his voice filled with undisguised suspicion.

"Looks even younger than us, right? Could he be one of those online scammers?"

Li Hao quickly pulled him aside and gave Zhang Chen an awkward smile.

"Please don't mind him, Master. He's my brother Zhao Qiang; he's just a chatterbox."

Zhang Chen ignored the fat man named Zhao Qiang. His usually lazy eyes were now slowly scanning the entire internet cafe.

The internet cafe was empty, with dozens of computer screens completely black, except for the monitor at the counter which was still dimly lit.

The entire space was eerily quiet, with only the low hum of a few old servers remaining.

"Show us around."

Zhang Chen's voice was very calm.

"Oh, okay, okay!"

Li Hao nodded quickly and led the two inside.

"It's this area. Several network administrators who worked the night shift have said that they could hear keyboard sounds in the middle of the night."

He pointed to a row of machines in the far corner, where the air seemed colder than elsewhere.

"The sound was very clear, 'clattering' like someone typing at lightning speed."

"But when we came over, there wasn't a single person, not even a mouse."

Zhao Qiang snorted from the side.

"It might just be aging wiring, causing electrical noise."

Zhang Chen didn't say anything, but walked to the row of computers, stretched out his hand, and hovered over one of the keyboards for a moment.

As Wang Xiaoer followed behind him, he felt his heart beating faster.

This place is really eerie; I felt a chill down my neck as soon as I entered.

Li Hao then pointed to the bar.

"Oh, and also over at the bar, the security cameras have caught the drinks on the shelf falling down by themselves several times."

"We thought it was because it wasn't placed securely, so we deliberately pushed all the drinks inwards, but they still kept falling."

After saying that, he led the two through the first-floor lobby and toward the stairs leading to the second floor.

The stairs were made of iron, and stepping on them made a clanging sound that was particularly jarring in the quiet internet cafe.

"And upstairs, I mentioned it on the phone."

Li Hao's voice was even lower, trembling slightly.

The second floor is smaller than the first floor and is divided into more than ten private rooms.

The further you go in, the more pronounced the chilling feeling becomes.

Wang Xiaoer couldn't help but rub his arms.

Finally, Li Hao stopped at the door of the innermost private room, which had a sign that read "VIP8" on the door.

"This is it."

He pointed to the closed door, his eyes filled with fear.

The door to the private room wasn't locked; it opened with a gentle push.

A draft of air, colder than the air outside, rushed out from the crack in the door.

There was no one inside.

The power cord of the computer case was completely unplugged, hanging on the ground like a dead snake, with the plug lying there all alone.

But that monitor, although the screen was very dark, was clearly lit.

It didn't display any images, only radiating an indescribable, dark light, like a solidified, bottomless pool of dark green water.

The scene was extremely bizarre.

Zhao Qiang's mocking expression froze, and he subconsciously took a half step back.

"This... I guess this is just the peripheral vision from the monitor!"

His voice sounded a little weak.

"The power's been out for almost a week, how could there be any peripheral vision?"

Li Hao's voice was choked with sobs.

Zhang Chen's expression turned completely somber. He didn't go in immediately, but stood at the door, staring at the screen for a long time.

Then, he put down his cheap canvas bag, squatted down, and started rummaging through it.

Wang Xiaoer thought he was going to pull out that stack of printed talismans again.

But not this time.

Zhang Chen fumbled around for a while and took out a red rope that was wrapped together and three copper coins.

The copper coin, of unknown age, had its edges worn smooth and its surface had a dull black luster.

He untied the red string and skillfully threaded the three copper coins through it one by one, then tied a knot.

Then, quickly holding one end of the red rope, he hung the strung copper coins at the entrance of the private room.

Almost the instant the coin was lowered, an incredible scene unfolded.

In the still, windless room, the three copper coins seemed to be stirred by an invisible hand, and suddenly began to shake.

It wasn't a regular left-right swaying, but a chaotic, sometimes fast, sometimes slow, violent and irregular trembling!

The coins clanged against each other, producing not a crisp metallic sound, but a dull, teeth-grinding "clatter, clatter."

"The yin energy is very strong."

Zhang Chen stared at the string of wildly shaking copper coins and spoke slowly and deliberately.

"And it's not the scattered aura of a wandering ghost."

He raised his head, his gaze sharp as lightning, and looked at the strange computer.

"There is a root cause."

Looking at the string of copper coins that were shaking so hard they seemed about to fly, Wang Xiaoer felt a chill run from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head.

For the first time, he felt that things had truly strayed from the realm of his usual banter.