"Can you hear their voices? They are telling me about their pain. Even in death, that lingering spirit has been preserved. "
The man slowly opened his arms, and the changing half of his face finally settled into his own.
He looked at Chen Ge. "I once witnessed something like this with my own eyes. The girl stood at the edge of the building, and the fireman tried to stop her patiently, but the people downstairs cheered. They treated the girl's death as a kind of entertainment. I know that is not the right thing to say, but it is the truth. They took out their phones to snap pictures and urged the girl to jump. Then, after recording everything, they might post it on their social circle and add a few words of sympathy.
"People like that are not an exception. It is because of their existence that some people who should not have died are forced into a corner."
Chen Ge looked at the man on the other side of the tracks. He understood the man, but that did not mean that he fully agreed with what the man said. "Friend, I know that there are many dirty things and people in this world. They are all around us, but other than them, there are many more beautiful things in this world. Good and bad intertwined to form our lives. I think what your teacher said makes sense. You are a person who truly cares about the patients, and you are also a good person. However, you are not a qualified operator. "
"You have said yourself that you can change a person's ability to absorb and release love, but have you realized that you have been unknowingly influenced by the person asking for help? Your world has been taken over by those dirty things, and your eyes can only see those ugly and disgusting things. Actually, the world itself has not changed. It has always been like this, and the one who has changed is you."
The Red Specter on the other side of the tracks was a kind and good person. This was the first time that Chen Ge had seen such a kind person become a Red Specter after death.
He became a Red Specter not because of extreme hate or extreme love, not because of hatred or various negative emotions, but because of kindness. For a normal person to shoulder the burden of the painful past of all the suicide victims, that was something impossible from Chen Ge's perspective, but the man before him had done it.
From a certain perspective, this Red Specter had more potential than Zhang Ya, but she did not know how to make use of it.
The man did not expect Chen Ge to refute him. He stared at Chen Ge, and there was a special emotion in his eyes. His calmness was broken, and he seemed to be agitated. "Do you know why I'm telling you this?"
"Why?" Chen Ge did not think that he could convince the man with just a few words. He simply felt that the man had suffered a lot. Whether it was before or after death, perhaps he could try another way to live.
"The number saved in your phone is the number I used before. The people who called you were the ones who asked for help after my intervention failed." The man's tone and expression became weirder and weirder. His facial features slowly twisted. If he gave Chen Ge the feeling that he was no different from a living person at the beginning, then the last bit of humanity on him had disappeared.
"The first few people were a test for you. If you didn't help them, or if you laughed at their deaths, or if you didn't care about them, then you'll soon become a shadow behind me."
The man had gone from one extreme to the other, and this kind of thinking was very dangerous.
"Looks like I'm quite lucky. So, have I passed the test?" Chen Ge knew that a Red Specter was not that easy to obtain. Before this, Yan Danian and Xu Yin, these two normal Specters, had made him spend a lot of effort. To obtain the Red Specter Zhang Ya, he had even sacrificed the rest of his life's happiness.
To get something in return, one had to give something first. Everything inside the black phone was an equivalent exchange.
"Originally, you would run into seven helpers, but I didn't expect you to be able to determine the location of one of the helpers through some voices and find me. This is something that I did not manage to do before." The man's expression was still scary, but his eyes softened. "I also didn't expect you to risk your life to save a stranger that you did not know. In fact, when you did not even know whether the person was a ghost or a human, you dared to rush onto the train tracks before the truck arrived. Have you considered this? If you were a few seconds slower, you would have lost your life. "
"Whether it's real or fake, I had to save him. Because it involved a human life, I could not gamble. Even if I knew that this was a ninety-nine percent lie, I was willing to be tricked." Chen Ge's voice was calm, but it was filled with power. For some reason, it made the listener feel comfortable.
"Then you really are an idiot." The man paused, and there was a complicated look in his eyes.
"If I'm an idiot, then so be it. I've done many similar stupid things. Many people have told me that, and I've gotten used to it." The atmosphere lightened, and Chen Ge tried to ask, "Now that I've passed your test, what do you have to say to me next?"
He looked at the Red Specter across the tracks with anticipation. His eyes glowed as he scanned the crowd of black shadows behind the man.
Being stared at like that by Chen Ge, the man frowned. "This has indeed not happened before. This number is just a tool that I use to appease the hatred of those who have committed suicide. I will use it to filter out the b * stards who have mocked the dead and then take them away. You've passed the test, but that only means that you can continue to live. "
"You use this number to kill people?" Chen Ge's voice froze. He really did not expect that the number that had once been used to save people, the number that had been entrusted with their last hope, would now become a tool for murder.
When the man was alive and after his death, he used the same number in different ways, and that made Chen Ge feel a sense of regret.
"I know you'll find this strange, but isn't this exactly what certain people are hoping for?" A smile appeared on the man's twisted face. "After my accident, this number that has saved so many people was turned into a cursed number by those madmen. Anyone who called this number would end up in an accident and die on the street. They even made me into a horror story. And what I'm doing now is turning the horror story that they have made into reality. "
There was no joy in his voice, only coldness.
Chen Ge understood what the man was thinking. He did not want to harm anyone, but in the end, he was the one who was hurt. Even after his death, he could not rest in peace. If the man's personality had not changed, then that would not make sense.
After giving it some thought, Chen Ge slowly said, "Actually, I'm the same kind of person as you. We're both idiots who are willing to risk our lives. We're both the kind of people who think about others wholeheartedly but lose ourselves in the end."
When the man heard what Chen Ge said, the frown on his face relaxed. He was about to say something but was interrupted by Chen Ge.
"But we're not exactly the same. The path that I chose is different from yours. You carry everything silently in your heart until you can't take it anymore."
"Actually, you don't have to work so hard. You can't change everyone, but you can change yourself."
"I'm not trying to turn you into a bad person. I'm just trying to make you understand your own importance."
Chen Ge used his own personal experience to convince the man. "I've met many bad people, and they come in all shapes and sizes. Some of them take away other people's lives to cure their own mental illness. Some of them destroy everything around them for some kind of obsession. There are also those who are born rotten to the core. They build unrequited love on the wall. I've seen many of them."
His tone was even and calm. Chen Ge had indeed been through too much during this period of time.
The man studied Chen Ge and realized that he did not appear to be lying. "You've met so many bad people, so why would you risk your life to save a dead person? Did you realize this was a trap and figured out my intention beforehand? That's why you purposely did this? "
In the man's eyes, Chen Ge was a very smart person. He was able to deduce the location of the suicide victim from the static on the phone. Now he was suspicious of Chen Ge. He felt like this might be one of Chen Ge's tricks.
"I've met many bad people, but I'm not affected by them. I have my own way of living, and I have my own beliefs. No matter what those people say or do, I only need to do one thing well." Chen Ge stood across from the Red Specter. Their power was not on the same level, but their presence was about the same.
"What is it?" The man had once been confused like this, so he asked without thinking too much about it.
"I just need to be myself." Chen Ge had a normal appearance, but when he smiled, he was bright and sunny. No matter the situation, he could bring encouragement to others. "Society is cruel, but I will maintain my own warmth. I don't care about those messy things. I just want to live my life to the fullest. Kindness and sincerity are enough."
"Is that all?" The man opened his mouth to say something else, but at that moment, the train passed him, and it instantly separated him from Chen Ge.
The ground shook, and in the rumbling, Chen Ge did not hear the rest of the man's words.
The train flew away, and the light slowly disappeared from the horizon. Everything around them was swallowed by darkness again.
In the dark night, Chen Ge and the man stood on opposite sides of the train, just like when they first met.
Neither of them spoke again. Chen Ge did not know whether his persuasion would work or not. He really wanted to help the man, and at the same time, he wanted to prepare to save more people in Eastern Jiujiang in the future. He felt like his goal was the same as the man's, and the man and the ghost should work together.
"Don't be so sad. There are still many things in this world that you have yet to enjoy. There are so many people standing behind you, and they have placed their last hope on you. You should live a life that they have never had. You should carry their wish and desire and become the person that they want to be. I believe that is what they are willing to see. "With his hands in his pockets, and the night breeze ruffling his hair, Chen Ge said everything that he wanted to say.
Standing in the dark, no one could see the crowd of people behind the man. He stood where he was for a long time before walking over from the other side of the train.
With each step, the scent of blood on him would dissipate a little. When he stopped before Chen Ge, the red shirt had returned to its normal color, and he looked no different from a normal person.
If not for the fact that he knew this beforehand, Chen Ge would not have guessed that this was a special Red Specter who carried the lingering thoughts of many suicides.
"You shouldn't trap yourself in that small circle. You are not alone. You should let them experience happiness and sunshine. After all, that is what they desired the most when they were alive." Chen Ge saw the man nod slightly in agreement, and he revealed a kind smile. "An interesting life is the best entertainment. Why don't you follow me for now? I will introduce you to some new friends, and you will slowly find that happiness and warmth."
"Follow you?" The man's tone was strange. A normal person would run away from ghosts, but this young man before him was different. "I am already surprised that you are not scared by me. There is no need to force yourself."
"I won't force myself." Chen Ge did not expect the man to still be thinking about him at a time like this, but he could not act too friendly, afraid that he might scare the man away.
"You are too considerate of others. I have taken in many homeless' friends' before, and I believe they will welcome you." In a few days, Chen Ge planned to go to Eastern Jiujiang to do something big, so he had to convince the man to stay. Furthermore, the Red Specter could turn into a normal person, and that was a very powerful power from Chen Ge's perspective. Other people thought he was a normal person or a normal Specter, but after he turned on them, they realized that he was actually a very scary Red Specter.
No matter how hard Chen Ge tried to persuade him, the man did not reply. He was different from other Red Specters; he had retained all his memories from when he was alive. Unlike Zhang Ya and Xu Yin, he had his own thoughts.
"I will go to the place where you live to take a look, but not now." The man showed a rare smile. "After I complete the wishes that have been weighing on me, I will do as you say and return to being myself."
"The wishes of all the suicide victims?" Chen Ge was reminded of the sea of shadows behind the man. If every shadow had left behind a wish to be completed, the next time the man met Chen Ge would probably be several years later.
Chen Ge did not want the Red Specter that he had drawn out to be used several years later. He thought about it and asked, "Can you complete so many wishes alone?"
"This is something that I have promised them. No matter what, I will do it."
"You misunderstood me." Chen Ge waved his hand. "I mean, do you want me to help you complete their wishes? That will be faster. You don't want the souls of those suicide victims to be unable to rest for so long, right? "
"You will help me?" This time, the man was really moved. No one had ever acted like Chen Ge.
"Don't worry, I have no other request. I just want you to understand that even if the world has abandoned you, there will be people who are willing to stand by your side." Chen Ge extended his hand. "By the way, I haven't asked for your name. How should I address you?"
The man was silent for a long time before shaking Chen Ge's hand. "My name is Zhang Wenyu."
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