"I want to know Liu Mingguang's personal information," Hu Jiu ordered.
"Liu Mingguang?" The police chief looked hesitant. "Do you mean Liu Mingguang, the person in charge of this city?"
Hu Jiu nodded. "Headquarters' Ghost Tamer files are highly classified, so I won't make things difficult for you. I only need you to provide his address, family members, personal connections, and the places he frequents. You won't refuse me, will you?"
The police chief was startled. What kind of grudge could run so deep that it would extend to a man's family?
But he showed no sign of it. A Ghost Tamer who dared to force his way into the police station was not someone he could afford to provoke.
Wasn't it just a matter of selling Liu Mingguang out? There was no need to hesitate. Although Liu Mingguang might retaliate afterward, that was still better than being killed on the spot by the Ghost Tamer in front of him.
Besides, Liu Mingguang wasn't worth the risk of protecting.
Having obtained the information he wanted, Hu Jiu flashed a smile frightening enough to stop a child from crying at night...
A few minutes later, he turned and left. Presumably, what had happened here couldn't be kept hidden for long, so he needed to pick up the pace.
Liu Mingguang still had no idea that a plot was quietly closing in on him. He had resorted to the great art of reporting someone, but it hadn't worked very well. Headquarters didn't believe him at all.
Hu Jiu was a newly minted Ghost Tamer. In theory, his mental state wouldn't have been too badly eroded, and he had no prior record of misconduct. He had also just earned credit for resolving a supernatural incident. Liu Mingguang's report looked more like an attempt to slander and eliminate a rival.
Although there was also a little something hard to describe about Hu Jiu, he was far better than Liu Mingguang.
The operator, Xiao Mei, spoke gently to soothe Liu Mingguang, but he wasn't having it. He insisted that headquarters detain Hu Jiu for investigation, or transfer him to another city as soon as possible!
Of course, Liu Mingguang knew he was being unreasonable, but as the saying went, "To open a window, sometimes you have to demand that the roof be torn off."
Under Xiao Mei's persuasion, Liu Mingguang gradually softened his attitude and stopped making unreasonable demands at random, but he still insisted on reviewing Hu Jiu's file.
Xiao Mei looked troubled. The matter wasn't hers to decide, so she immediately contacted Fu Youhua. "Captain, should we give Hu Jiu's file to Liu Mingguang? If we don't, I'm afraid he'll keep making trouble for a while."
Xiao Mei was full of resentment. Liu Mingguang had been the one who found an excuse to refuse to take action, forcing headquarters to temporarily assign Hu Jiu, a rookie Ghost Tamer, to deal with a class B supernatural incident. Afterward, Liu Mingguang was fucking making trouble again. Xiao Mei had a choice piece of national profanity on her mind, but didn't know whether she should say it.
Fu Youhua silently glanced over the reports on Liu Mingguang's operations since joining headquarters, his expression unreadable. "Tell him everything in Hu Jiu's file and about his abilities. Remind him not to act rashly. After all, Hu Jiu is just an inexperienced newcomer. How could he possibly set up police officers he'd never met and held no grudge against?"
Hearing Fu Youhua's words, Xiao Mei nodded and relayed them to Liu Mingguang exactly as instructed.
When the call ended, Liu Mingguang wore a cold smile. If one report didn't work, he would make a few more. In any case, there were a few troublemakers in Linjiang City who refused to submit to him, and they would be perfect for framing.
He slowly examined Hu Jiu's information, paying particular attention to the ghost he controlled. Only by knowing oneself and one's enemy could one emerge unscathed from a hundred battles. The Suicide-Hanging White Silk had once belonged to a Ghost Tamer from Beifeng Commune, and there were multiple records of it being used. Headquarters kept its guard up against civilian organizations, so it knew a fair amount about this ghost.
After analyzing it carefully, Liu Mingguang felt that the advantage was his!
A newcomer who had only just entered the circle dared to jump around and provoke him, and even dared to kill one of his men. He had to be taught a lesson. Killing him outright wasn't out of the question either!
At headquarters, Fu Youhua thought the matter in Linjiang City could be put to rest for the time being. Only a few local police officers had died; he didn't care in the slightest.
Unfortunately, he had relaxed too soon. Shortly after he hung up on Liu Mingguang, headquarters received bad news: a Ghost Tamer had forced his way into the Linjiang City Public Security Bureau and killed a large number of public servants!
Fu Youhua's gaze instantly sharpened, and his rising anger contorted his face. He learned what had happened as quickly as he could, then couldn't help slapping the table. "Those bastards have gone too far! Have you identified the attacker?"
The investigation team immediately replied, "It was Wei Xiyuan, a Ghost Tamer from Beifeng Commune, code name [Zombie]."
"Beifeng Commune?" Fu Youhua remained furious on the surface, but inwardly he was already calming down. A high-ranking official in his position might as well make early preparations for his own funeral if he couldn't even control his emotions.
He pulled up the surveillance footage from the Linjiang City Public Security Bureau. The more he watched, the more he felt something was wrong. Civilian Ghost Tamer organizations were indeed arrogant, but they wouldn't go so far as to openly fall out with the state and attack a judicial agency in broad daylight. The attacker hadn't even tried to conceal himself, and had even "accidentally" shown his face to the camera. It all seemed a bit too deliberate.
Wei Xiyuan's code name was [Zombie], and headquarters had records of his actions and analyses of his abilities. Yet apart from his appearance, the terrorist in the footage had almost nothing in common with Wei Xiyuan.
"An attempt to frame him?" Fu Youhua hesitated. At this moment, his first thought was not to pursue the truth, but to seize the opportunity to gain leverage over Beifeng Commune and suppress it. Before he could think it through, however, more terrible news followed—
"Bad news! The mayor of Linjiang City and his entire family have been killed!"
"Captain Fu, Liu Mingguang, the person in charge of Linjiang City, was attacked, and we've lost contact with him..."
The composure Fu Youhua had barely regained shattered in an instant. His face turned green, and he could no longer spare a thought for those underhanded schemes. He immediately instructed the operators to notify the nearest Ghost Tamers and send them to the rescue!
Liu Mingguang had been subjected to a terrorist attack.
Earlier, he had spent quite a while communicating with headquarters by satellite phone. After hanging up, he returned home and took stock of the resources at his disposal, intending to strike first and eliminate Hu Jiu. Just then, a knock suddenly sounded at the door.
As a veteran Ghost Tamer, Liu Mingguang had become violent and bloodthirsty under the influence of his Fierce Ghost, but he hadn't lost his basic vigilance. He activated the supernatural power of the Fierce Ghost inside him, and a strange fragrance tinged with a chilly aura instantly spread.
The ghost he controlled was code-named [Ghost Perfume]. The perfume was poisonous, and ordinary people would die as soon as they smelled it. Besides that, it could effectively conceal supernatural traces and had a certain suppressive effect on Fierce Ghosts, delaying their revival. That ability was top secret; he didn't dare reveal it to anyone else for fear of attracting unnecessary trouble. Even so, it gave him plenty of confidence, and he didn't take ordinary Ghost Tamers seriously at all.
Having taken precautions in advance, he cautiously walked to the door. Through the peephole, he saw a rather short, stout man standing quietly outside, completely motionless and not even raising a hand, yet the knocking grew increasingly urgent.
Liu Mingguang frowned. Was this a ghost or a Ghost Tamer?
The scent of the Ghost Perfume wafted out through the cracks, but the person outside showed no reaction. The knocking gradually became pounding, and Liu Mingguang quickly retreated. But just then, a Ghost Hand burst through the door and came whistling toward his head...