Daxiong and I exchanged a look, and then I asked, "That's it? Could it be that some staff member hadn't left the tunnel and happened to move the camera at that time?"

Officer Mumu shook his head and said, "That's impossible, because I can guarantee that all of us were standing guard outside at the time. Our entire team consists of only five people; I couldn't possibly be mistaken. If anyone was missing, I would notice immediately."

I was about to ask him more questions when Officer Mumu suddenly continued, "And don't rush, I haven't finished. Not only was the camera's direction altered, but the tunnel, which was completely dark, suddenly began to make a gurgling sound, as if it were being flooded with water. Countless bubbles appeared in front of the camera, and in the video, half of a face, bleached white by the water, flashed across the right side of the screen—the sight was utterly terrifying."

Seeing that his hands were still trembling as he recounted this, I took a sharp intake of breath, lending more credibility to his words.

However, after thinking it over, there are countless unexplainable things in this world. Even in a place where no tragedy occurred, if you place an infrared camera somewhere deserted in the dead of night, you are bound to capture something unusual.

What truly lurks in the darkness is something you can never fully surmise.

I recall that back in the '90s, advanced equipment like infrared cameras was not yet commonplace. A research team in the United States, dedicated to studying nocturnal animal behavior, utilized automated night-shooting cameras to record animal activities.

Those cameras were triggered by infrared sensors; they would automatically snap photos whenever a moving object passed in front of the lens.

Initially, the team's research was highly successful, capturing photographs of small creatures previously thought to be extinct, which caused a sensation throughout the biological community.

But during a shoot in a remote area of the American West, they captured photos of humanoid creatures that defied explanation.

This humanoid creature was completely **, devoid of any hair, with hind legs longer than those of a normal human, a mouth full of sharp fangs, and eyes that glowed intensely, reflecting artificial light in the darkness like two electric lamps.

After that, the research team mysteriously vanished.

Some say that one of the members was once seen in a mental asylum in Pennsylvania.

The outside world speculated that some of these individuals had gone insane from studying that humanoid creature, or had perhaps been frightened to death.

There are countless other examples of unexplained footage captured by night cameras or surveillance systems.

In short, curiosity killed the cat; prying into the world of darkness is not something ordinary people can touch.

Thinking of this, Officer Mumu spoke again, "My master has been in this line of work for decades. He has many true stories, all of which actually happened. I won't recount them all to you now; I’m afraid I’ll frighten you. Alright, let's start taking down your statements now."

I was taken aback and asked, "Statements? What statements?"

Officer Mumu smiled and said, "Don't joke around. Since I am here to investigate the case, of course, I need to take statements. I heard from Meizi that this vengeful spirit seems to be specifically looking for you. The two wards in the video footage are exactly the ones you occupied. Moreover, the medical reports for two of the patients indicate they suffered from strange illnesses that medicine cannot explain. Is that correct?"

I had a bad feeling and nodded, saying grimly, "That is indeed the case."

Officer Mumu nodded, "Perhaps you feel that matters between people and ghosts shouldn't involve the police, but since this vengeful spirit has latched onto you, it implies that his death is linked to you. It's possible you all caused his death, and that's why he's come knocking. If that's the case, this is a homicide, which falls under our jurisdiction as law enforcement. So, please be honest about how you killed him, and preferably tell me the identity of the deceased."

I thought to myself, this kid is definitely here to cause trouble. All that talk earlier, all that evidence he showed us, it was all just to set a trap for us.

First, make us believe ghosts exist, and then use that as leverage to coerce a confession—that was his real objective.

Seeing Officer Mumu’s expression turn serious, adopting an air of impartial justice, my own expression hardened. I said, "Who among us looks like a murderer? Even if ghosts exist in this world, the reason we attracted his attention isn't necessarily because we killed him. What if we accidentally desecrated his remains, or disturbed his grave, causing him to haunt us?"

Officer Mumu put down his pen and smiled, saying, "If guilt could be determined by appearance, I imagine police investigations wouldn't require such elaborate efforts. Furthermore, what you just said exposes your ignorance. It’s scientifically unsound for a deceased person's soul to linger near a grave or skeleton. After death, a soul can only exist for less than fifteen days. Do you know why? Because the soul is a form of electrical energy, which dissipates over time. However, it's a rather special kind of electricity; not only can it maintain a fixed form for a few days, but just as it is about to dissipate completely, its energy reaches an unprecedented peak."

His theory wasn't entirely baseless, because when a person is alive, all their nervous and memory systems operate via electrical signals. In essence, stripped of the body, the human consciousness is actually a form of electrical energy.

This is why many people propose that the human soul is electrical energy, and the reason some people can see spirits is that this energy, similar to human brainwaves, can form an image in your visual system—this is the reason ghosts appear.

Most ghosts possess thought, but many are consumed by sorrow over their own demise during their existence and have no intention of harming people. This is why in many places, people only hear ghosts weeping and never see them.

However, a ghost killed by someone else carries a heavy resentment and understands how to utilize this ability, similar to human brainwaves, to create illusions in a person's mind.

These illusions are not limited to vision, because human touch, smell, and all other senses are transmitted via electrical signals. Therefore, they can launch an all-around attack on a person.

But this kind of attack cannot cause substantial physical harm; it can only drive a person insane or scare them to death.

The ghost's ability to use electrical impulses to generate illusions is quite similar to the imaging principles of most cameras and photographic equipment. This is why images invisible to the human eye sometimes coincidentally appear in your recording devices.

Although I understood this principle, no one had ever confirmed it for me, nor had anyone ever told me that a ghost only exists for fifteen days.

Faced with Officer Mumu's questioning now, I was momentarily speechless.

But Daxiong was different from me; he was a master of playing the rogue. At this moment, he patted Officer Mumu's shoulder and said, "Officer Mumu, you are too amusing. Trying to convict us based on something as ephemeral as a ghost? Even if what you say is logical, I doubt your Japanese law has a clause for that, does it? Let me tell you frankly: we killed the person. And he was a wicked man who deserved to die. But you can't use this to convict us. I suggest you leave, unless you find concrete evidence."

Officer Mumu put down his pen again and looked at Daxiong and me.

Seeing Daxiong maintaining his defiant, rogueish posture, I couldn't undermine him, so I also put on a stern face.

Officer Mumu suddenly laughed, closed his notebook, and said, "Haha, that’s exactly what I wanted to hear from you. Fine, I won't press further. But since you have confessed, I will officially log a case. I reserve the right to summon you whenever I find evidence."

With that, he stood up, hands shoved into his trouser pockets, and walked toward the door.

Daxiong and I watched him reach the doorway, but he turned back and said, "Oh, right. Thank you for saving Meizi. I assume you are good people. I hope you don't encounter anything like this again."

I let out a breath, intending to say something, but he had already closed the door and left.

I looked at Daxiong, at a loss for words.

At that moment, Xie Yuting quietly muttered, "Putting on a show of the supernatural..."

Since waking up, Xie Yuting seemed to speak very little, perhaps feeling cautious around us.

Although I didn't know what his issue was with us, since he had finally spoken, I turned and asked, "What's wrong, Boss Xie? What are your thoughts?"

Xie Yuting looked at me and said, "That man is full of nonsense; he might not even be a police officer."

I frowned and asked, "What do you mean?"

Xie Yuting said, "You might see yourselves in the sensational tabloids in a couple of days, featured in a ghost encounter story."

I immediately caught on and asked, "You think he’s a reporter?"

Xie Yuting snorted, "More than a reporter; he’s an actor..."

Even Daxiong became interested now and asked, "What do you mean..."

Xie Yuting shook his head. "You guys are too naive. The fellow hasn't even changed his clothes, and you didn't notice? That dark shadow in the hallway on the video—that's Officer Mumu. His height of 1.9 meters is already rare in Japan, and combined with that long trench coat, who else could it be?"

I said dumbly, "Then the inexplicable black handprint on the seat... and the unseen person..."

Xie Yuting said, "You studied video editing, didn't you? Faking surveillance footage with such low pixel quality is entry-level skill, isn't it?"

Cold sweat broke out on my forehead. "No way. Then what was his real goal? Were all those bizarre phenomena last night fake too?"

Xie Yuting lay back on the bed, eyes closed, and said, "Japanese horror magazines sell very well. These guys are professionals. The more realistic the news they manufacture, the better they sell, especially if they can keep the involved parties in the dark—then the interview becomes a true account. Just watch; the reporters will be back soon."