185: Chapter 185 A man who died three years ago comes to an ATM in the middle of the night to withdraw money for a funeral?

Bureau of Anomalous Affairs.

The door to the director's office was pushed open by Chen Xiaobei.

He was clutching a thermal paper report he had just ripped from the printer.

"Director Gu, something has happened."

Chen Xiaobei slammed the report onto the desk.

"An anomaly warning just came in from the Big Data Center."

"A dead person is withdrawing money."

Gu Changan's hand, holding a thermos, paused slightly.

He set down the cup and took the report.

The image on the big screen had already been synchronized and switched over by Chen Xiaobei.

The lights in the entire surveillance hall dimmed, and glaring red text scrolled across the main screen.

[Warning! Non-registered life form activity detected]

[Location: ICBC ATM, Jianguo Road, Donghai City]

[Current time: 2:17 AM]

Gu Changan leaned back in his chair, his gaze fixed on the screen.

In the surveillance footage, a middle-aged man wearing an old jacket was standing in front of the ATM.

His movements were very slow, withdrawing banknotes one by one.

His expression was very calm, even somewhat dull.

Chen Xiaobei tapped on the Keyboard a few times, and the screen instantly switched to thermal imaging mode.

On the red and green thermal map, the figure of the middle-aged man appeared in a deep, ghostly blue.

The body surface temperature was displayed as minus three degrees Celsius.

Every time he breathed, it formed a cold vortex under the infrared lens.

Yet, no white mist condensed in the air.

"This is a walking freezer."

Chen Xiaobei swallowed hard.

"Director Gu, look at his household registration information."

Chen Xiaobei pulled up the side screen, and a file with a steel seal popped out.

Chen Guoliang.

Forty-two years old.

Passed away three years ago due to a traffic accident.

On the last page of the file, a cremation certificate and a death deregistration receipt were prominently attached.

The family had even already collected the pension.

A person who had been burned to ashes at a crematorium was running to an ATM to withdraw money in the middle of the night three years later.

Gu Changan stared at the file for two seconds.

He picked up the red walkie-talkie on the table.

"Old Wei, take your people and come with me."

The voice of Old Wei, the team leader of the Yin and Yang Coordination Group, came through the walkie-talkie, accompanied by the click of a lighter lighting a cigarette.

"Director Gu, which blind runaway soul is it this time?"

"We'll know when we go see."

Gu Changan stood up and picked up the black jacket hanging on the back of his chair.

"Put away the capture net, just bring the Yin detector."

Half an hour later.

In the southern part of Donghai City, there was an old residential compound.

The streetlights were in disrepair, flickering and emitting a sizzling sound of electricity.

Several black unplated off-road vehicles were parked quietly under the tenement building.

Stepping on the fallen leaves covering the ground, Gu Changan walked to the security door on the left side of the third floor.

This was Chen Guoliang's former residence.

Faded spring couplets were still pasted on the door panel, and cobwebs were in the corners.

Gu Changan raised his hand and knocked on the door three times.

"Dong, dong, dong."

The hallway was so quiet that one could hear the sound of water dripping from the pipes.

A few seconds later, dull footsteps came from inside the door.

Without any precaution, the security door made a harsh friction sound and slowly pushed inward.

Standing behind the door was the very man in the old jacket from the surveillance footage.

Chen Guoliang.

Up close, his face was white without any color.

His eyes revealed an indescribable weariness and vicissitudes.

Gu Changan stood outside the door without rushing in directly.

With a thought, his [Yin and Yang Eyes] silently activated.

His vision changed instantly.

In Gu Changan's eyes, the edges of Chen Guoliang's body glowed with a faint, blue-gray transparent halo.

His heels were not touching the ground at all, suspended half an inch in the air.

Behind Chen Guoliang, a wisp of scattered obsession Qi was tightly wrapped around his spine like smoke.

A red note from the System appeared before Gu Changan's eyes.

[Target Status: Escaped Soul]

[Time to enter Reincarnation: Three years ago]

[Current Energy: Continuously decaying]

[Estimated time of natural dissipation: Eleven days later]

This obsession was too deep; it had forcefully dragged him to endure in the living world for three years.

If he continued to endure, he wouldn't even have the chance to be reincarnated, and would simply suffer Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering.

Chen Guoliang looked at Gu Changan outside the door, then at the several fully armed team members behind him.

He was not panicked; instead, he gave a bitter smile.

"Come in."

Chen Guoliang moved aside, making way.

"I knew that sooner or later, people like you would come knocking."

Gu Changan stepped inside.

Old Wei and his men stood guard outside the door and did not follow.

The furnishings in the room remained as they were three years ago.

A thin layer of dust had settled on the coffee table, and the TV was covered with a white cloth.

Gu Changan's gaze fell on the sofa in the center of the living room.

There was a single photo of a girl placed there.

Next to the photo, a pure white wedding dress, covered in a dust bag, was hanging.

It was very new, the tag hadn't been cut yet, and even the creases were ironed perfectly flat.

Chen Guoliang followed Gu Changan's gaze.

He walked to the photo, reached out to touch the frame, but his fingers passed directly through the glass.

He was stunned for a moment and slowly withdrew his hand.

"My daughter is getting married next month."

Chen Guoliang's voice was hollow, with a deep echo.

"I left in such a hurry back then, I didn't make it to see her graduate from college."

"Since she was little, she wanted a custom wedding dress from that old tailor shop in the east of the city."

"When I was alive, I promised her that on the day she got married, Dad would buy it for her."

Chen Guoliang turned around and looked at Gu Changan.

"That shop doesn't accept online transfers, only cash."

"I didn't mean to harm anyone, nor did I want to cause trouble."

"I just wanted to buy a wedding dress, and when she gets married next month, I'll hide in the corner and take a look."

"Just one look, and then I'll leave."

Chen Guoliang's tone was nearly pleading.

He knew that the identity of the man in front of him was extraordinary.

Anyone who could see through his Yin body directly was definitely a law enforcement officer at the national level.

The room fell into a deathly silence.

Only the night wind outside the window blew against the glass, making a dull sound.

Gu Changan slowly put back the special handcuffs he had already taken out into his jacket pocket.

He walked to the opposite side of the sofa, pulled over an old chair, and sat down.

"Mr. Chen, you have stayed in the living world without authorization, violating Article 7, Paragraph 1 of the 'Provisional Regulations on Yin and Yang Order'."

Gu Changan's tone was very business-like, but he did not immediately take coercive measures.

"According to the regulations, you must now be forcibly sent back to the Yin Administration to report."

Chen Guoliang's body trembled violently, and his already thin soul body became even more transparent.

"However."

Gu Changan's tone shifted.

"Your situation belongs to the 'Obsession Retention Type' and has not yet caused social harm."

"You qualify to apply for a 'temporary extension'."

Chen Guoliang suddenly raised his head, and a burst of intense longing erupted in his previously gray and defeated eyes.

"But, I need to confirm one thing."

Gu Changan leaned forward, crossing his hands on his knees.

His gaze, like a knife, pierced directly into Chen Guoliang's eyes.

"Before your obsession dissipates, you have been guarding this apartment because of your guilt towards your daughter."

"But the resentment on you has always pointed towards the direction of the city center."

Gu Changan stared at him.

"Was that car accident you had back then really an accident caused by fatigue driving?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Guoliang's entire soul body suddenly stiffened.

The surrounding temperature dropped by more than ten degrees instantly, and a thin layer of white frost even formed on the walls.

His eyes suddenly sank, swirling with thick black Qi.

Those black Qi were the grievances that had not dissipated for three years.