The camera nearly slipped from her hands. Her throat tightened. She grabbed the camera strap, wanting to yell for her parents. But a sense of dread came over her - if she yelled now, what if she disturbed something else before alerting her parents?

The whispers still lingered around her. Her feet felt as heavy as lead. Yu Zhenzhen closed her eyes for a moment, mustering her courage to charge forward. Her foot stepped on air--

A hand reached out from the side and steadied Yu Zhenzhen's arm. "Are you alright?"

"Ah!" Yu Zhenzhen was startled again by the sudden hand. Turning to look, it was actually Tan Xiao. Seeing a familiar face immediately put her at ease. She said with a long face, "You scared me to death, Tan Xiao."

"Oh?" Tan Xiao glanced at the camera the girl had on her back. "Class monitor?"

"You also came to release lanterns." Seeing Tan Xiao, Yu Zhenzhen felt the atmosphere was no longer so eerie, especially with the sound of firecrackers going off on the mountain again, dispelling the unease in the dark night. "Did...did you hear that sound?"

"You mean the sound of chanting sutras?" Tan Xiao used the stick for brushing off burnt paper to push aside the grass next to them, revealing an electronic eternal lamp that was still playing the Rebirth Sutra. "This is a solitary lamp someone placed..."

Yu Zhenzhen's heart skipped a beat as she clearly saw the electronic lamp printed with auspicious patterns. "..."

Speechless. The sound quality was quite good.

"What's a solitary lamp and why place it here? It really startles passersby." Yu Zhenzhen asked in puzzlement. Her family also used electronic lamps, but not so fancy, and only placed them at grave sites.

"In the past, besides placing lamps at graves and for road and water deities, people who were more particular would also place a lamp by the roadside for wandering spirits with no one to make offerings to them. That's a solitary lamp." Tan Xiao calmly explained.

Tan Chunying was still a bit behind, checking the lamps. He always felt something was off. Coming forward to take a look, he unexpectedly ran into Yu Zhenzhen.

"I see." Yu Zhenzhen still felt creeped out. Luckily Tan Xiao was beside her. She hurriedly headed down, escaping the range of the sutra chanting. "I only knew about the long-lasting birthday candles, didn't know they developed eternal lamp styles too."

"Mm...Class monitor, were you scared?" Tan Xiao secretly observed Yu Zhenzhen. The eternal lamp definitely wasn't an issue, but after investigating cases for so long, he trusted his sixth sense. There must have been something else going on just now.

But arriving at the scene, he didn't see any figures, human or ghostly. He found it a bit odd.

"Of course I was scared, it's a cemetery mountain after all." Yu Zhenzhen said awkwardly. "And earlier when I was taking photos, the camera's focusing had issues. It kept detecting faces in empty air, giving me a fright."

Adding on just now, that made two frights in a row. It took some mental fortitude.

Now that she had calmed down, she remembered a very important matter. "Tan Xiao, why didn't you tell me you were going to Yunmeng Marsh! Wuwu, my mom had originally asked if I wanted to travel there too. I said I don't go bird hunting. If I knew you were filming there, I would've gone no matter what!"

In Yu Zhenzhen's mind, bird hunting was an old man's hobby. As Yu Zhenzhen complained, she saw Tan Xiao staring at her camera.

"I also went there to play and took the job last minute." Tan Xiao trotted out this excuse again. "Class monitor, let me take a look at your camera. I've recently developed some interest in photography too."

As soon as Tan Xiao said that, Yu Zhenzhen immediately took off the camera strap. "Come, come, come, quickly fall into this pit."

Tan Xiao smiled and raised the camera.

Tan Xiao didn't see any ghostly figures here. Recalling what Yu Zhenzhen said about the camera's recognition being inaccurate, he wondered if what he sensed wasn't actually this thing.

Through the viewfinder, Tan Xiao looked at the tranquil surroundings and then gazed towards the distant horizon, speaking to himself, "Let me see if I can capture Kong Xuan's home..."

Yu Zhenzhen was stunned for a moment, then laughed, "Which direction does Kong Xuan live in? My lens can't see that far."

She thought to herself that Tan Xiao and Kong Xuan's relationship was really good now.

In the viewfinder, the focus point and parameters were jumping wildly, and the lens kept extending and retracting, making a loud motor sound. It was dying to help Tan Xiao capture the scene in the sky, but sorry, its focal length couldn't reach that far!!

"Huh?" Yu Zhenzhen thought this camera was going crazy.

"Don't be nervous." Tan Xiao said meaningfully, patting the lens.

"How can I not be nervous? I'm afraid it will break and they'll deduct my deposit." Yu Zhenzhen became more and more upset the more she looked at it, wondering why she borrowed such a camera.

Tan Xiao put down the camera, and under his gentle touch, the camera also calmed down. "Alright, alright."

At this time, Yu Zhenzhen's parents also noticed that she had fallen behind. It wasn't good to shout her name on the mountain, so they called to let her hurry down, lest she take the wrong path later.

"I know, I know. I ran into my classmate. I'll be right down." Yu Zhenzhen hung up the phone and took the camera from Tan Xiao's hand. "I'm off."

"Okay, class rep, let me give you a New Year's gift." Tan Xiao stopped Yu Zhenzhen.

Based on his half-year of work experience as a part-time clerk, this camera had obviously developed spirituality. It probably did not intend to scare people. It was normal for it to capture supernatural objects after developing spirituality.

But when Tan Xiao took it over, there were no ghostly figures nearby, and it didn't deliberately make any movements. It was only when Tan Xiao said he wanted to see the distance that it became agitated, as if trying to fulfill the user's wish but unable to do so.

Hmm, after confirming its behavior, it was an honest camera.

"Another gift?" Yu Zhenzhen said in surprise. She saw Tan Xiao take a talisman from the jingling accessories on his body. When unfolded, it read "Peacock Arrives Here".

"Class rep, there are still a few hours left. I wish you a happy New Year in advance, and may all evil stay away." Tan Xiao decided to message the Bureau 404 later to let them pay attention to the camera's movements. For now, giving Yu Zhenzhen a talisman to set the scene would suffice.

"Thank you!" Yu Zhenzhen carefully put away this accessory and said guiltily, "This is too sudden. I don't have anything to give in return... Wait, I'll go back and send you some materials on the network disk, real exam questions my sister got for me."

Tan Xiao was overjoyed, "Thank you!"

......

After saying goodbye to Yu Zhenzhen, Tan Xiao and Tan Chunying went home together. On the way, he also reported to the Bureau 404. Although it was the New Year, the Bureau 404 always had someone on duty 24/7.

Staying up until midnight, the TV counted down, "Three, two, one - Happy New Year!"

Tan Chunying and Tan Xiao also wished each other a happy New Year, and then the mother and son each went about their own business.

Tan Chunying brought out the three sacrificial animals for offering.

The proper three sacrificial animals are cattle, sheep, and pigs. Ordinary families use small sacrificial animals, namely pigs, chickens, and fish. The pig is even a simplified version, with only the pig's head and tail. Tan Chunying casually stuffed the pig's tail into the pig's mouth, pretending it was a whole pig with a head and a tail.

Tan Xiao had already set up his own altar, so of course, he also had his own offerings. On his desk, in front of the mask, he also placed small sacrificial animals, but an even more simplified version, which could be called mini sacrificial animals.

The fish was replaced by spicy fish tail, the chicken by boiled eggs, and the pig by braised pig ears.

Then he lit three incense sticks, the smoke curling up as if in prayer.

Today should be Kong Xuan's birthday. Tan Xiao didn't know if he had time to listen to him while he burned incense and spoke. And it seemed a bit strange to say too much when leaving a message like this. For some reason, facing the mask made Tan Xiao feel even more awkward than facing Kong Xuan in person.

"Happy birthday." Tan Xiao sat at the desk, resting his face in his hands. "...There's also good news, but I'll tell you when you come back."

The materials Yu Zhenzhen sent were really good. He copied a set to give to Kong Xuan, to make him happy when he returned.