Chapter 38: Criminals
To tell the truth, when Chu Jiang heard this, even he felt a bit scared, and he could somewhat understand Sun Xiaoman's sense of collapse.
A living person disappears from the surveillance, and instead, a non-existent person appears in the footage, chatting happily with the guests.
It's as if I'm the fake one, I'm the impostor.
If someone's willpower is not strong, they might even start doubting their own existence.
While comforting Sun Xiaoman, Chu Jiang calmly asked, "Has there never been a scene where both of you are talking to someone else and it was recorded?"
"This would create a bizarre situation: In Scene A, Sun Xiaoman is chatting with a normal person; in Scene B, an invisible person is chatting with a normal person."
"This way, there would be both physical evidence and eyewitness testimony. Bring the surveillance footage, bring a witness, and when you report the case, people will believe you."
Sun Xiaoman shook her head repeatedly, "I tried, but that imposter is extremely cunning. It never shows up when I'm with other people."
"Similarly, when the imposter is with others, it must be when I'm alone."
"I have also considered having someone with me 24 hours a day, but I still have to take a shower, go to the bathroom, right?"
"Besides, the imposter cannot cause any harm. It can simply hide for a few days. After all, there are times when I'm alone. It's impossible to have someone with me every moment."
Hearing this, even Chu Jiang found it quite challenging. This is someone who perfectly imitates the original, so it's no wonder Sun Xiaoman doesn't report it.
While Research Institute No. 21 and local police have been cooperating, they can't bring every trivial matter to the person in charge. At the very least, there needs to be some basic evidence.
Sun Xiaoman looked a bit lost, but she continued to speak, "Even though there may be some unclean things around, life still has to go on."
"I had no choice but to reopen the hotel, otherwise I would have no source of income. Should I starve to death?"
"But not long after the hotel reopened, something happened about a week ago."
"It was this incident that made me completely break down. I often couldn't sleep all night, and even washed my face with tears."
Chu Jiang suddenly became focused and listened attentively.
"As you know, the location of the hotel is quite remote. They were supposed to build a development area here a few years ago, but the plan fell through and left behind a lot of abandoned buildings."
"Because of this, I don't lower the room rates much, so very few customers come to stay here. Even then, we often have empty rooms."
"I am the only employee left in the hotel, I had to let go of the others."
"It is this situation that caught the attention of a criminal."
When Sun Xiaoman mentioned this, she still felt a bit scared.
"One night, a week ago, when it was almost closing time, a middle-aged man with a beard came and said he wanted to check in."
"As soon as he saw me, he hesitated for a moment and asked me, 'Why is your hotel closing in the middle of the night? I passed by yesterday and was planning to stay, but I found your door closed.'"
"I didn't think much of it at the time and just said that we were short-staffed and couldn't stay open 24/7, only during the day."
"It was precisely this sentence that confirmed the man's suspicions completely."
"Just as I was processing the man's check-in, he used the excuse of leaning over the front desk, saying he wanted to look at the computer."
"I immediately realized that something was wrong, but before I could step back or grab the pepper spray, the man pulled out a knife and held it against my neck!"
"In that moment, I was terrified, and at the same time I had doubts in my mind, wondering if he was an impostor wanting to harm me?"
"Since it could disguise itself as me, then disguising itself as a big man shouldn't be a problem, right?"
"But what happened next, I never expected at all."
"The man threatened me not to scream, and then he sneaked into the front desk. After that, he skillfully took out a rope and tied me up, and even put a piece of tape over my mouth."
"At this point, I became even more scared. Do ghosts need to kill people like this? And why bind me up? It felt so real."
"Even now, I still remember that the man was very excited at the time, and he said with his mouth, 'You two sisters are really interesting, playing hide and seek, huh?'"
"As soon as I heard it, I felt that something was very wrong. But after the man tied me up, he quickly ran outside."
"I didn't know what he was going to do, and I thought he had accomplices. I struggled desperately, but I was tied to the table and couldn't move at all."
"What's even more unfortunate is that our hotel is an old-fashioned one, and we don't have a one-click alarm system. Otherwise, I could have used my foot to press it."
"Just when I was getting more and more scared, the man with a beard ran back to the hotel."
"But this time, he had a snake-skin bag on his back, and there seemed to be something struggling inside the bag."
"When I thought about what the man said earlier, I was confused. Did this robber bring the imposter along too??"
"At that moment, my feelings were indescribable. I didn't know whether to be happy or sad."
"In the end, the man threw the snake-skin bag on the ground and closed the doors of the inn."
"Then he found the key to a room on the first floor and, with a smirk, carried the snake-skin bag into an empty room. He also carried me inside."
"Throughout the whole process, he moved quickly, fearing that someone from upstairs might suddenly come down."
"And the man also conveniently destroyed the surveillance cameras. Once he made sure there were no other occupants on the first floor, he entered the room I was in and locked the door behind him."
"Before the man arrived, I had kicked the snake-skin bag twice, but the person inside just continued struggling without showing any strange abilities."
"I even started to doubt if the person inside was really an imposter. How could an imposter with such mysterious powers be caught?"
"But then the man came in, pulled the person out of the snake-skin bag, and it was another me?? At that moment, I felt completely overwhelmed."
When Chu Jiang heard this, his expression became completely blank. Is this really a ghost? Are there ghosts that useless? He was actually kidnapped by an ordinary human?
In any case, the narration from Sun Xiaoman's mouth continued, "At that time, the man had a look of complete victory, and he even seemed a bit pleased with himself."
"He didn't immediately attack the two of us, but instead brought a chair and sat in front of us. He described how difficult it had been for him to spy on us, gather information, and make all kinds of preparations."
"At that moment, I knew he was a psychopath. No normal person would behave like that."
