Xu Yuan was killed by a Fierce Ghost right here in the Sapphire Mall back in the day. After his death, he had used his supernatural powers to preserve his own corpse.
With both events occurring in the Sapphire Mall, they were bound to leave behind some kind of paranormal anomaly.
The old security guard narrowed his eyes, staring at the bustling mall for a long time before answering:
"A ghost story?
"I've been a security guard here since they broke ground on this site. I worked hard, so I stayed on even after the contracting company pulled out. Forget about after the mall opened—not a single worker died back when they were laying the foundation. How could there be any ghost stories?
"Now, if you're talking about something that happened here before construction even started, that would be over twenty years ago. I wouldn't have a clue about that.
"Old classmate, it's been a long time. Why ask such morbid questions? Let's go up ahead and grab a drink."
The Supernatural Walkie-Talkie at Gao Tian's waist remained completely silent.
This meant that whether down in the basement or on the upper floors of the mall, neither Xia Ta's nor Jiang Yang's group had found a single clue.
Gao Tian grabbed the old guard's arm, staring right into his eyes:"Think carefully. What exactly is special about this place?
"You can definitely remember it, because it's something very important."
Prompted by this psychological suggestion, the old guard's eyes grew hazy once more. The Memory Ghost's power was taking effect again:
"Something very important...
"There is one thing, but I don't know if it counts as very important."
Gao Tian prompted:
"Tell me."
The old guard pointed to the Third Floor above them:
"At the very end of Zone B, there's an Arcade that's been abandoned for years.
"The owner of that Arcade won the bid and opened up shop right when the Sapphire Mall was first built. At first, business was booming. He was swamped every month.
"But later on, for some unknown reason, the owner's child died, and his wife divorced him. Soon after, the owner went crazy and committed suicide.
"His shops in other malls were quickly bundled up and sold off. But for some reason, no one ever took over this Arcade in the Sapphire Mall. Even though business was good before, all the equipment and decorations were just left to rot inside. It's been three years, and no one has dealt with it.
"I don't know if this fits the kind of story you're looking for.
"Come to think of it, when the owner went crazy and killed himself, the Arcade had been open for less than a year."
Gao Tian let go of his arm and nodded:
"Got it."
His method of searching for the corpse differed from Xia Ta and the others; he wasn't doing a floor-by-floor sweep. The Sapphire Mall had a massive flow of foot traffic, swallowing up countless shoppers every day. Every nook and cranny of this place had to have been trampled over countless times.
A normal hiding spot wouldn't have remained hidden for two years. Since so many people hadn't discovered the corpse's location after all this time, Xia Ta and the others would definitely fail to find it in just a single day.
So Gao Tian had changed his strategy right from the start. A Green Text Mission would definitely leave behind some kind of clue. He needed to start with local rumors or urban legends.
First, he would follow the clue provided by the old guard and check out the Arcade. If there were no problems there, it would only be a fifteen-minute waste of time. After that, he could just go down the line, questioning cleaners, mall managers, elevator repairmen—anyone who knew the mall well.
"Sigh, I've always wanted to thank you for that incident with Brother Dao all those years ago. You really won't come get a drink?"
Seeing Gao Tian turn to leave, the old guard looked a bit regretful. It wasn't easy running into an old classmate at his age, and he wanted him to stay a little longer.
Gao Tian turned his head and looked at him:
"Uncle, there's a forty-year age gap between us. How could I possibly be your old classmate?
"I've got the wrong person, and you're remembering it wrong."
The old guard looked completely bewildered:
"Huh?"
Before leaving, Gao Tian made sure to minimize the Memory Ghost's influence on the ordinary man as much as possible.
The Arcade's location in Zone B on the Third Floor turned out to be harder to find than expected. The place was originally at the very end of a corridor, and all the directional signs had been removed. As Gao Tian walked further, the surroundings grew increasingly desolate and passersby dwindled. He almost thought he had left the Sapphire Mall entirely.
No wonder this plot hadn't been rented out for so long after the Arcade owner's death. Gao Tian reasonably suspected that the mall managers themselves had forgotten about this vacant shop.
At the very end, deep against the wall, two large iron doors were firmly locked shut. The wrist-thick iron chain securing the doors had rusted to a dark red. Even if Gao Tian had the original key, he wouldn't be able to open it; the keyhole had long since been blocked by rust.
Through the grime-smeared glass on the doors, he could barely see various arcade machines caked in thick dust inside. If they had been sold off in a clearance sale right when the Arcade shut down, they could have fetched some money. Now, of course, they were worthless.
This world really was run by amateurs.
However, this lock couldn't stump Gao Tian. He had brought his crucial item, the Ghost Transformation Spear, with him. Although its supernatural effect was absurdly overpowered, its sharpness and durability were also no joke.
He began smashing the spearhead against the most heavily rusted part of the iron chain. The sound of clashing metal echoed. With every forceful strike from Gao Tian, the lock loop began to visibly deform. A few more hits, and it probably wouldn't hold.
Just as the iron chain was on the verge of breaking, hurried footsteps suddenly rang out from the opposite corner. A staff member in a Sapphire Mall uniform happened to be walking past. Hearing the faint sounds, he immediately strode over and bumped right into Gao Tian, who was smashing away in full swing.
The staff member's face instantly changed. Activating the radio at his collar, he walked briskly toward Gao Tian:
"Hey, what are you doing here? Who told you to smash that lock?
"This is all private property. If you can't give a good reason for doing this, I'm calling the police."
At the same time, the connected radio at his collar broadcasted a colleague's voice:
"Old Ban, Old Ban, I'm on patrol on the 5th Floor.
"What's the situation over there? Did a water pipe leak again, or did a rat get in?"
Seeing that he wouldn't be able to explain this away, Gao Tian didn't panic in the slightest. Feigning surprise, he pointed toward the ceiling and looked at the staff member innocently:
"I don't know either. I just heard a loud noise as soon as I walked over.
"It might be some construction work upstairs. Did you get a notice about renovations on the fourth floor today?"
The Memory Ghost's ability activated once again. Gao Tian's gestures and words were all feeding false memories into the man's mind.
"What fourth floor? What does this have to do with the fourth floor? It's clearly you—"
The staff member's expression shifted from initial anger to gradual confusion and bewilderment, before suddenly clearing up again.
He raised his head, looked toward the fourth floor, and started jogging away in the opposite direction:
"Go check if a renovation crew came to the fourth floor today. When I was on the Third Floor, I kept hearing clanging noises..."
Gao Tian watched the end of the corridor as the staff member's figure ran around the corner and disappeared. It seemed the Memory Ghost's ability had successfully tricked him into leaving.
He turned back and brought the Ghost Transformation Spear down with force one last time. The iron chain snapped with a sharp crack. With a slight push of his hand, the dust-sealed doors of the Arcade creaked open.
Gao Tian slowly walked inside.
Having been sealed away for several years, the air inside was thick with the smell of dust. The Arcade itself wasn't large—less than two hundred square meters. With dozens of arcade cabinets placed around, it felt a bit cramped even when empty.
Coming here to search for clues, he didn't immediately know where to start looking.
Why not check the Arcade's front desk first?
The Arcade owner's sudden suicide was likely due to more than just his son dying and his wife going crazy. Could it be that the Arcade's own profits had also run into problems?
Gao Tian gripped the Ghost Transformation Spear tightly in his hands. Although it was utterly useless against a real ghost, it was at least very sharp, giving him a good sense of security when wielded as a weapon.
Just as Gao Tian continued forward, suddenly, from a corner of the empty Arcade, he heard the rapid clatter of buttons being mashed, the sound of a joystick being yanked back and forth, and the sound effects of a video game character taking damage.
No... way...
Gao Tian felt his body instantly stiffen.
Even simply turning his neck to find the source of the sound became an incredibly difficult movement to make.
Inside an unmanned Arcade that had been abandoned for over two years, someone was actually playing a game right now. A machine was hosting a customer?
Anyone with half a brain would know it was impossible. Setting aside whether these machines could even run anymore, how could an ordinary person get past those locked iron doors? Booting up a machine required electricity, right? The owner was dead—who would still be paying the Arcade's electricity bill after all this time?
In that case, there was only one possibility for what could be playing a game here right now.
A ghost.
Gao Tian's muscles tensed to their absolute limit as he prepared for combat. He slowly turned his head, looking toward the only arcade machine in the entire room that was still lit up.
Sitting in front of the arcade cabinet was a boy of about twelve or thirteen. With pale skin and red lips, he looked exceptionally pretty. He was wearing a black-and-red school uniform and carrying a backpack. He was focused intensely on the glowing screen, manipulating his character. He hadn't realized in the slightest that someone had entered the Arcade, and he didn't even glance up in Gao Tian's direction.
Who was this little boy? He remembered that the Arcade owner once had a son who had died inexplicably, which had indirectly caused the owner's suicide and the Arcade's closure.
Could it be the owner's son, his soul trapped here for some reason, his lingering spirit still playing games on his late father's turf?
The situation between the two of them remained at a stalemate for a moment. Gao Tian could have just walked straight out of the Arcade, but his instincts told him that this little boy was a key figure. If he got scared and left now, he might not necessarily run into him the next time he came inside.
Gao Tian decided to take a risk. He would make the first move and try using the Memory Ghost's ability to see if he could control the little boy and dig some useful information out of him:
"Kid.
"Do you still remember me? I'm your favorite Big Brother Gao. That Transformer you really loved—the one still sitting in your house—I bought that for you.
"Where's your dad? He's around here, right?"