Chapter 11 The Bottle's Tenant — When Glass Can't Contain Curiosity

"It's really hard to say. Let me take a look?" Yan Xu pondered. He knew that various video special effects nowadays were extremely exaggerated, and as he was getting older, he wasn't sure if he could distinguish the real from the fake. However, since Tan Yuxi had a video and asked him about it, he might as well take a look.

As he spoke, Tan Yuxi handed the live broadcast recording screen in her hand to Yan Xu. In the picture, Xie Yizhi was playing a game of rock-paper-scissors in front of the mirror, and the time was displayed in the upper left corner of the screen. Playing rock-paper-scissors with the mirror a little past midnight, this young man was really brave. Was the live broadcast industry really that competitive now?

Then, there was a scene where the person in the mirror made a wrong gesture and corrected it half a beat slower.

"Huh??" Yan Xu watched even more attentively.

Next, there was a clip where Xie Yizhi lost to the mirror more than a dozen times in a row and gradually became really angry. The camera image disappeared, and after a series of shrill screams, it resumed. But this time, the person in the mirror had been beaten black and blue, and there was even smoke coming out of his forehead. When playing rock-paper-scissors again, how could the person in the mirror dare to win?

Only then did Xie Yizhi look at the live broadcast camera with satisfaction: "I won, so there are no ghosts in my house."

The entire screen was filled with danmu saying [Who would believe you!]

This recorded video made Yan Xu a bit confused. He watched it carefully twice more before returning the phone to Tan Yuxi.

"So, Consultant Yan, are there really ghosts?" Tan Yuxi asked.

After a while, Yan Xu shook his head and said, "I can't tell. I'm sure I could distinguish it if I were at the scene."

"Just looking at this video through the screen, I really can't determine if it's real or fake."

"However, I'd say there's a 99% chance that it was prepared in advance and is fake."

"If it were really that easy to beat up a ghost like this, shouldn't we, these specially hired paranormal consultants, all be laid off?"

No matter which school of thought or method, when it comes to catching ghosts and exorcising demons, most of them emphasize using the opponent's strength against them. One needs to use magical tools, talismans, and other props to have an impact on the ghosts. Except for special circumstances, how could a person possibly beat up a ghost bare-handed and in a fit of rage?

"This is obviously not scientific!" Yan Xu emphasized.

Tan Yuxi: "Talking about sc... science with a ghost?"

Yan Xu: "What's wrong with that?"

"These are just different theories, but they all have their own basis and academic research."

Tan Yuxi nodded, not fully understanding. In short, what Yan Xu meant was that he couldn't tell, but based on his common sense and experience in his professional field, it was highly likely to be fake, just a performance.

"Why did you suddenly start watching live broadcasts on the Internet?"

"Or do you know this young guy?" Yan Xu noticed the slight change in Tan Yuxi's expression and became curious. He tilted his head and peeked at Tan Yuxi's phone sideways.

"He's the only one you're following. You must know him, right? Then why didn't he follow you back?"

"There's something going on. Hurry up and tell me about it." Yan Xu said with a mischievous smile.

Perhaps because he was getting older and started to miss his youth, he really liked to hear the little stories of young people. In this regard... he was probably similar to Xie Yizhi's father, Xie Ji.

Tan Yuxi ignored Yan Xu's gossiping. After thinking for a while, she opened another live broadcast clip. That was, the live broadcast clip of them in the doll store in the mall at noon today.

"What about this part? Can you tell anything from it?" Tan Yuxi asked again.

Sometimes, not answering was an answer. Yan Xu gave Tan Yuxi an understanding look.

This time, he watched the video even more carefully than before. After watching it several times carefully, his face became more and more solemn, and all the previous smile disappeared.

"Hiss..."

"This doesn't make sense. How could this be possible?" Yan Xu frowned. Finally, he watched the recorded screen one more time and then directly pulled up a stool and sat down beside it.

Seeing Yan Xu's change of expression, Tan Yuxi was confused and quietly waited for the other party to explain.

Yan Xu looked at the video and then glanced at Tan Yuxi, repeating this several times. Since Tan Yuxi appeared in the recorded screen, it meant that she must know the young guy who was live broadcasting.

"What's your relationship with this guy?" Yan Xu suddenly asked.

Tan Yuxi didn't expect Yan Xu to ask this suddenly. She was stunned for two seconds before barely answering, "Just a classmate, a high school classmate."

Yan Xu paused the screen at the moment when Xie Yizhi took out the shampoo bottle from his messenger bag.

"There's something in this bottle." Yan Xu continued.

"Ah??" Tan Yuxi was startled. Although it was daytime and they were in the police station, she was still startled by Yan Xu's serious expression and tone.

In fact, when she was at the scene, Tan Yuxi also felt it was strange why Xie Yizhi would suddenly take out a bottle of shampoo from his bag. At that time, she thought that Xie Yizhi was deliberately taking out a bottle of ginger hair growth shampoo to mock that bald store owner. Now, hearing what Yan Xu said, it might not be that simple.

"Weren't you right beside him? At such a close distance, didn't you feel anything when he opened the bottle?" Yan Xu asked insistently.

Tan Yuxi recalled the scene at that time and replied, "It seemed that I felt a bit colder."

Yan Xu let out a long sigh. In that case, he had misjudged when he watched the first video.

"There's something that ordinary people can't see hidden inside. You couldn't knock down the dolls on the shelf with the sandbag, right?"

"Those dolls must have been tampered with. It's really difficult to get them down under normal circumstances."

"But why could your classmate do it later?"

"Because he released something that ordinary people can't see. It seems that the sandbag knocked down the dolls, but actually, there was a ghost hand." Yan Xu explained.

Tan Yuxi swallowed hard. So at that time, she was in the same store as something that couldn't be seen, and the distance was so close?

After hearing Yan Xu's explanation, Tan Yuxi couldn't help but feel a sense of fear, and her heart started beating faster.

"In that case, the part of playing rock-paper-scissors with the mirror earlier might not be fake either?"

"How could that be..."

Yan Xu couldn't figure it out. Could there really be someone so fierce that they weren't afraid of encountering a ghost and instead beat up the ghost bare-handed?

After all, he was an experienced paranormal consultant. Combining the two videos before and after, Yan Xu had a rough guess in his mind.

"Is it possible that he encountered a ghost at home, stunned the ghost after beating it, and then casually picked up the shampoo bottle beside him and trapped the ghost inside?"

"Then, when he was trying to knock down the dolls and realized it was a shady store, he opened the shampoo bottle and released the ghost to gain an advantage?"

"Can't... be that terrifying, right?"

As the saying goes, it takes an expert to know. People on the Internet might analyze frame by frame, but they couldn't figure it out. Yan Xu only watched the recorded screen twice and had roughly analyzed about 70 to 80 percent of the whole process.

Tan Yuxi: "Are ghosts really that terrifying?"

Yan Xu: "No, it's your classmate who's terrifying."

Tan Yuxi: "..."