Great, I'm surrounded by villains.

One of them was a sanitation worker near the community. Duan Mingyuan recognized the words on the cover of the folder. The other was the drummer of an underground rock band, a band he had never heard of.

"I took them over from the hospital through the company and transferred them to the company's medical center. The medical report mentioned that their body functions were normal, but they had completely lost consciousness. The surveillance video and witnesses proved that they suddenly fell into a coma."

"Were they attacked, too?"

Duan Mingyuan carefully read the report about the sanitation workers. He felt that the whole thing was a little unusual. The strangest thing was not the incident itself, but the fact that the director of the life science department of Huanyu would personally care about the evil attack and use company resources to transfer the two people to the medical department.

Anyone knows these two jobs are not even comparable.

“You could think so.”

She paused for a moment and said, "But the attackers might not have been evil spirits. After the company's investigation, the time they lost consciousness was exactly the same as the time you exorcised the two evil spirits."

Total number of days on the shelf: 20

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 13 Wild Dreams

How did evil come into being?

Duan Mingyuan had thought about this question more than once, but unfortunately he did not find the answer to this question until he gave up this industry.

There were many objective factors involved. For example, he only had about two hours of activity time every day, and school was over at 5:30 p.m., and he had to make sure he got home before 8 p.m., buy some food on the way, and then complete the homework assigned by the teacher.

As he said, there are many things in this world that are much more terrifying than the existence of evil spirits, and not being able to hand in homework is one of them.

The strict class teacher restricted his performance.

And now, Fuling's arrival provides him with another perspective.

Assuming that the coma of the sanitation worker and the band drummer are directly related to the dissipation of the evil spirit, it means that the birth of the evil spirit is not an independent individual, but an abnormal creature bred by humans.

If I understand it in a simpler way...

“The sanitation workers and drummers are actually stand-ins.”

The death of the "stand-in" caused their original body to fall into a coma and become a vegetable.

As soon as these words were spoken, the living room fell into deathly silence. Everyone looked at Duan Mingyuan with shocked eyes, especially Jiu Yue. She really didn't expect that someone as serious as Mr. Mingyuan would suddenly tell a joke in such an occasion.

How do you describe it?

Deadpan comedian!

The type of person who appears serious on the surface but can suddenly tell a joke!

: Seeing this, Duan Mingyuan explained to them considerately, "This is a concept proposed in a comic book that I really liked in high school. It assumes that evil spirits are an extension of human spiritual energy, and their existence is closely related to humans themselves. So once one disappears, it will inevitably have a great impact on the other."

"An abnormal thing born from the negative energy of the human spirit..."

Fuling wrote down the important information she extracted from this cold joke, and decided to ask her assistant to send her the complete set of comic resources of the work mentioned by Duan Mingyuan after returning home tonight.

If we put aside the concept of a substitute, Duan Mingyuan's view on this matter is highly consistent with hers. The difference in their identities makes them use different names for the same thing.

She secretly thanked her lucky stars that she had made the right trip.

According to the company's information, the mourning bird is a monster that foretells death and brings disaster to people, but this time it brought her good luck.

"One of the research topics of the Life Science Department is the life energy of humans... no, it should be said that it is the life energy of living things."

Different from the imaginative settings in fictional works, the company's research has achieved phased results. So far, the research has proved the existence of life energy, of which Duan Mingyuan and monsters are the best proof. "According to the company's records, some individuals who are different from ordinary people have appeared in Yunlong City. They can see things that ordinary people cannot see with their naked eyes, and some can even perceive the abnormal world outside of reality. Mr. Duan Mingyuan, you are one of them.

“I noticed this phenomenon when I was transferred to this city. However, compared to illusory talents and bloodlines, the company believes more in tangible data. Therefore, I have conducted in-depth research on this group of people over the past few years and came to a conclusion - the reason why they can connect with the world outside of reality is because their genetic structure is different from that of ordinary people.

"However, we have not yet discovered the genetic pattern of this sequence. The company has always advocated pragmatism, and 'being able to see abnormal things' is not attractive enough."

With the technology currently mastered by the company, they can detect the existence of evil spirits and monsters without the help of this kind of special people.

The fact that one can see evil spirits has no substantial benefits other than bringing unnecessary burdens to life. Those individuals who have been recorded do not have the ability to fight against evil spirits. In the event of an evil spirit attack, the only difference between them and ordinary people is probably that they know how they died.

The company's research on evil spirits itself has not been going smoothly. The lack of attention for the project means that the company will not allocate more resources to them. Experiments have shown that the equipment currently equipped by the company has little effect on this kind of existence beyond the physical level.

However, the appearance of Duan Mingyuan brought a turning point to the entire research project.

Among these special groups of people, there will be individuals like him who can control this energy.

"Assuming this theory is true, and evil spirits are an extension of human spiritual energy, is it possible for us to help them control this energy through some means?"

There was a dazzling gleam in Fuling's eyes. She stared at Duan Mingyuan's eyes, eager to get constructive advice from this industry insider.

The sudden excitement made the bird of mourning in his arms shiver, making him realize that this meeting did not seem to be just a simple greeting as Fuling said.

The topic suddenly became extremely dangerous, and it quietly changed from what he imagined as "how to unite together to fight against evil spirits" to "how to create evil spirits."

"I do not know."

This undoubtedly touched upon Duan Mingyuan's blind spot in knowledge. He got this answer when he asked this question online in high school.

Perhaps sanitation workers or drummers need to be shot by an arrow marked with an insect in order to fully master this power. Otherwise, the evil spirit will be like an absurd dream full of blood and destruction to them, allowing them to indulge in their evil thoughts in their dreams.

The above is the conclusion he drew from the two reports that Fuling placed on the table.

In addition to personal information and interpersonal relationships, the two stacks of information also listed in detail everything the two had done in the past month. In front of the company, they seemed to have no privacy at all. Even their private hobbies and craftsmanship were under the company's surveillance.

The above also mentioned several disappearance cases that occurred in the past month, and the victims disappeared forever in their "dreams".

The sanitation worker had no idea what was happening to him, but the drummer was vaguely aware of the changes in himself.

He called it a "wild dream" in his diary. He became the master of these dreams and used cruel means to get rid of some people he disliked. At the end of the diary, he mentioned that he found a dirty partner in that cruel world.

In "Wild Dreams", the drummer draws inspiration from dreams and intends to incorporate these bloody and sinful elements into the creation of the band's next album.

"Is it?"

Fuling did not hide her disappointment. "I thought an expert like you would know."

She didn't ask any further questions, and she never hoped that one visit would solve all the problems.

For corporate people, a friendly meeting is the beginning of cooperation.

She took out the gift she had prepared from the inside pocket of her clothes - a pair of blue-framed monocular glasses with a metallic texture and the "Made in the World" mark engraved on the frame.

"This is an energy tester developed by the Life Science Department. It is used to detect normal energy fluctuations. It is a special gift I prepared for you."

After saying that, he took out a business card and put it under his glasses.

"The company needs people like you. If you are interested, feel free to call this number."

Half an hour passes in a flash, and punctuality is a basic quality for company employees.

Fuling stood up and walked to the door, glancing at Jiuyue's furry tail reluctantly, "I look forward to our next meeting, Mr. Duan Mingyuan."

She lowered her eyes, thoughtful.

The name may be wrong, but the nickname will never be wrong.

The common saying she heard in Yunlong City did make some sense.

Thanks to Zhishouduzhanbaqiandi for the reward of 1000 Qidian coins!

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 14 The Mystery of the Ogre

After Fuling and the company's security department left, the atmosphere in the living room did not return to a relaxed state. Jiu Yue and Duan Mingyuan sat at the dining table staring at each other.

The arrival of the company people brought some shocking information. For example, after the evil spirit was exorcised, the spirits of the sanitation worker and the drummer were also severely damaged and fell into a vegetative state. However, due to the atmosphere just now, Jiu Yue kept these questions in his heart and did not ask them out loud.

And now, the opportunity to ask questions has arrived.

"Mr. Mingyuan, if the price of exorcising evil spirits is to turn people into vegetables, then wouldn't that mean you have already... killed countless people?"

She thought about it for a long time, but couldn't find a more tactful way of saying it.

Duan Mingyuan's notebook was filled with densely packed descriptions of evil spirits. For a moment, she found it difficult to imagine how many vegetative people Duan Mingyuan had created.

Moreover, this is the record after he changed his career midway, gave up this profession and returned to reality to study and work!

Jiu Yue thought of some of the universe's most wanted criminals who were offered bounties by the company, but she doubted that those notorious wanted criminals had committed as many deaths as Duan Mingyuan.

The topic was very heavy, but for some unknown reason, Duan Mingyuan always felt that the corners of Jiu Yue's mouth were slightly raised, as if she might laugh out loud at any time.

Isn't this little fox a simple girl with a strong sense of justice? Why does she suddenly become so excited when talking about killing people?

"Don't make decisions about other people's life or death lightly. Medical journals have mentioned that a vegetative patient may wake up one day."

Having said that, it's an issue he has to face if he wants to keep the job.

He is not one of those office workers who is burdened with the instinct that he cannot survive without killing people.

Duan Mingyuan sighed. Before this, he had never talked about these topics with anyone, which was also related to the fact that he had never met like-minded people.

In fact, he had come up with the natural energy hypothesis of Poria cocos several years ago and put it into practice.

"I support you, Mr. Mingyuan. It was those people who first turned into evil spirits and committed evil. They deserved this fate."

Jiu Yue immediately stood on the same front with Duan Mingyuan, and also discovered Duan Mingyuan's kind side through this shocking and heavy performance, "But even so, you didn't kill them, giving them hope to wake up from their vegetative state!"

"No need to compliment me."

"Mr. Mingyuan is so difficult!"

Jiu Yue puffed up her cheeks and complained in dissatisfaction. She had finally found the humanistic perspective of Duan Mingyuan in this matter.

"My first encounter with the evil spirits made me have some questions. Why do the evil spirits feed on humans? Where did the missing people go?"

He had to bring the topic up a bit.

He has always had a clear definition of himself. He does not have the lofty ideal of caring about the world and saving people from dire straits. At best, he is just a person who can see more than others and has seriously thought about how to support himself with this. He shows some kindness within this limit, just like countless ordinary people living in Yunlong City.

Jiu Yue did not respond, but waited earnestly for Duan Mingyuan's answer. She knew that Mr. Mingyuan had once again entered a workaholic state.

"This is their way of absorbing energy. It is also the instinct of evil spirits. Once the energy absorbed reaches a certain level, the evil spirits will move towards the next step of evolution, giving birth to wisdom and some difficult abilities."

The arrival of Fuling helped him advance his past theory one step further. If evil spirits were a wild dream, then the weavers of dreams were gradually evolving to the point where they could control dreams through constant eating.

"So I thought, if evil spirits can feed on humans, why can't humans feed on them in return?"

When it comes to eating, no animal has ever been more omnivorous than humans.

Duan Mingyuan paused, as if he had returned to the time when he had just come into contact with the evil spirit, "Or in other words, what will happen to those who eat the evil spirit?"

"Mr. Mingyuan, you——"

Jiu Yue's eyes widened with disbelief, but then came the admiration from the bottom of her heart.

The powerful secret of Mr. Mingyuan finally surfaced, but in contrast... in her cognition, evil spirits are almost all hideous creatures, with rotten tumors, nauseating tentacles, and a foul odor all over their bodies. They don't look like they are edible at all.

"Don't look at me like I'm an ogre. I certainly can't eat them like that."

“You braised them!”

Jiu Yue blurted out, and her admiration for Mr. Mingyuan increased a little more.

Duan Mingyuan's eyelids twitched violently a few times. This little fox had a very strange way of thinking. How did she figure out from the conversation just now that he had braised the evil spirit?

Duan Mingyuan looked very dignified with a stern face. The little fox shrank his neck and timidly changed the topic, "...Is it boiled in clear soup?"

"Watch it, I'm only going to show you once."

Duan Mingyuan picked up the disposable paper cup on the table and threw the whole cup of brewed tea to Jiuyue who was sitting across the table.

The most important thing for an adult is excellent emotional management, but this little fox always makes his blood pressure tend to rise.

Faced with the sudden change, Jiu Yue screamed, closed her eyes tightly, and instinctively protected her forehead with both hands. However, the expected scalding heat did not come. The paper cup filled with tea flew in the air for a long time before lightly touching the back of her hand.

Jiu Yue subconsciously caught the falling object, and when she opened her eyes again, the paper cup was gone. What fell into her palm was a bulging packaging bag with the logo of charcoal grilled chicken flavor on it.

An unopened bag of charcoal-grilled chicken-flavored potato chips.

She tore open the bag in a daze, revealing the potato chips covered with seasoning powder inside and put them into her mouth. The taste was exactly the same as the ones she bought in the supermarket.

“I neither ate them nor erased their existence, but let them continue to exist in another form.”

Energy and ability themselves are neither good nor evil.

At least that's what he thought when he was in high school.

To some extent, the evil spirits are the students who secretly play with their mobile phones and disrupt classroom discipline. As a strict teacher, all he can do is to confiscate the mobile phones and keep them for safekeeping, and then return them to these "students" when they grow up.

But unfortunately, until now no "student" who has turned over a new leaf has ever returned to him.

He can only let them continue to exist in the form of energy, living forever in the heart of him, the "teacher".