Lin Guangning was so furious she nearly toppled over backward. She wanted to argue back, but never found the chance.
Hu Jiu was exceptionally good at taking the moral high ground and berating others. His tongue was as though dipped in arsenic, sharp and venomous, and he seemed ready to drag out eighteen generations of Lin Guangning's ancestors for public condemnation.
As the subject escalated to "operator Lin suspected of being a foreign spy" and "walking 500,000-yuan reward infiltrates Ghost Tamer Headquarters," an aggrieved Lin Guangning transferred the call to her immediate superior and hid off to the side, wiping away her tears.
"Hello, I'm Fu Youhua, the person in charge at headquarters. I offer you my sincere apologies for Lin Guangning's improper conduct just now. She will be disciplined afterward, and I hope you can forgive us. I also hope you will stand firm in your position and cooperate with our work, Mr. Hu."
Fu Youhua's voice was steady and calm. Hu Jiu immediately changed his attitude and, like a conscientious patriot concerned for his country and its people, solemnly suggested that headquarters conduct regular assessments of its operators and promptly weed out unqualified personnel to prevent a major incident.
"I'll give your suggestion serious consideration. Now, please return to the matter at hand and describe this supernatural incident in full, from beginning to end." Fu Youhua's voice remained entirely even.
Knowing when to stop, Hu Jiu recounted what had happened.
Fu Youhua signaled Lin Guangning to open a case file.
"Codename [Ghost Ear], provisionally rated B, with the potential to grow to A-rank. It looks like a shriveled corpse approximately 1.7 meters tall and is highly mobile. Its killing trigger is sound. Within a certain range, anyone who makes a sound will be attacked by the ghost. The minimum number of decibels required to trigger it remains unknown..."
"Several officers died heroically in this operation..."
Fu Youhua fell silent for a moment. "According to the rules, since you contained the vicious ghost, you have the right to decide what to do with it. But I still hope you'll turn it over. Headquarters has a professional research team and containment equipment. Any research findings could potentially alleviate the problems ghost tamers face."
Hu Jiu still refused, and Fu Youhua said nothing more.
Not long after the call ended, police cars arrived in quick succession, bringing fully armed officers to handle the aftermath. But... an uninvited guest had come along with them.
"Liu Mingguang?" Hu Jiu looked the tall, strongly perfumed man up and down with a teasing smile. "Are you here as backup? Too bad you're late. The ghost's already been contained."
Liu Mingguang's expression was ugly. He glanced at the golden body bag in Hu Jiu's hand and demanded, "Why did Old Liang and the others die?"
"Old Liang? Who's Old Liang?" Hu Jiu asked in return.
Liu Mingguang pointed at the officers' bodies on the ground.
Hu Jiu replied with a chuckle, "When has anyone ever handled a supernatural incident without people dying?"
"But they were police officers! They should have been securing the perimeter and providing support, not showing up at the scene of a supernatural incident!" Liu Mingguang roared in a low voice. Seeing this, the others nearby immediately backed away in silence. They didn't dare interfere in a conflict between two ghost tamers.
Hu Jiu put on a helpless expression. "There was nothing I could do about that. You're the one in charge of Linjiang City, after all. They wouldn't follow my orders and insisted on risking a rescue. I tried to talk them out of it, but they just wouldn't listen~"
"You're lying! Old Liang had taken part in handling several supernatural incidents. There's no way he would've made such a basic mistake!" Liu Mingguang glared at him. "I suspect you deliberately murdered public servants. Give me the ghost in your hand. I want to inspect it!"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk~" Hu Jiu looked at him as though he were some rare and exotic beast. "Have you ever heard the saying, 'Barely three parts human, but seven parts the very image of an overbearing official'? Lord Liu, what an impressive display of official authority!"
"You've got the nerve to use that kind of lie to fool a newcomer. Since the problem here has been resolved, I'll be going. If you have any questions, stay here and investigate to your heart's content."
Hu Jiu turned and sauntered away. Liu Mingguang stared fixedly at his retreating figure and stopped the recording on the phone in his pocket. He had looked into Hu Jiu's background: before becoming a ghost tamer, Hu Jiu had been an ordinary person. There were no powerful or influential people in his social circle, much less any ghost tamers.
He had assumed this pretentious newcomer would be inexperienced and know nothing but theory. He had never expected him to be so cunning.
Liu Mingguang had been in charge of Linjiang City for some time. He and the city's powerful figures and police forces had taken a long time to adjust to one another, and he had gradually assembled a team of his own. Old Liang had been one of his trusted aides.
He had found an excuse to refuse to handle the supernatural incident and sent Old Liang to test Hu Jiu, planning to record him and get something on him. In the end, he had failed to trap Hu Jiu and lost men of his own instead.
Liu Mingguang remembered that when he had first become a ghost tamer, he'd had a bad temper but still held the state and the police in awe. Hu Jiu's words and actions were nothing like those of a newcomer.
By now, Liu Mingguang had long regarded Linjiang City as his own territory. He had intended to bring Hu Jiu under his command, but now it seemed...
Old Liang couldn't have died for nothing!
He had been his dearest friend and confidant!
Liu Mingguang dialed a satellite phone directly. Once the call connected, he said coldly, "I want to report something. Hu Jiu, a ghost tamer in Linjiang City, is in an extremely unstable mental state. He is suspected of killing several police officers and innocent civilians during a supernatural incident..."
After taking the Looking-Up Ghost back home, Hu Jiu rested briefly and took out a new golden body bag. He casually tossed all the electronics on him aside, covered himself with an illusion to conceal his presence, and quietly slipped out the door.
Rather than passively wait for the unexpected to happen, he preferred to take the initiative and set the pace himself.
The streets were bustling with traffic and people, seemingly untouched by anything supernatural. Unfortunately, how could there be so much peace and quiet in this world? It was just that the content was suspected of violating regulations and had been blocked!
He visited the place where he had tamed the Ghost Finger in his previous life. At this point in time, the Ghost Finger had yet to appear, so he treated it as an advance scouting trip.
Afterward, Hu Jiu headed straight for the police station. The illusion covering his body quietly changed, making it look as though a living person had appeared out of thin air.
"Holy shit!" The sudden sight startled the officers present. Their faces filled with alarm. What was going on? Could it be a haunting?
One of the officers seemed to think of something. Forcing down his fear, he summoned his courage and spoke. "Ex-excuse me... can I help you?"
Hu Jiu made no effort to avoid the cameras, openly displaying his current appearance. It was someone else's face, conjured by an illusion, anyway, so naturally he made as much of a show of it as he could.
Liu Mingguang's little schemes were mere child's play. When it came to stirring up trouble, Hu Jiu was better at it.
"I'm a ghost tamer from the Beifeng Commune. Go get your superior. I need to look up someone's records!" Hu Jiu lowered his voice and unleashed his full presence, letting an eerie, chilling aura spread unchecked.
Perhaps some of the newcomers didn't know what a ghost tamer was, but those who did instantly turned pale. "Yes, please wait a moment."
Soon, a middle-aged man hurried over, a politely insincere smile on his face...