I turned around abruptly, but there was nothing behind me. Yet, it seemed as if something had flashed past in the corner of my eye.
The short-haired woman's mindset gradually changed. She originally thought it was just about getting rid of a nobody, but it turned out to be quite troublesome!
Snap--
She fell again.
When she stood up again, it felt as if something had stepped hard on her little toe.
The intense pain shot from her toes straight to her brain, and the short-haired woman's rationality gradually disappeared, while her anger grew stronger and stronger.
"Damn it, get out here right now!" she roared.
"Hehe~" The man's soft chuckle echoed in the room.
"Who are you? Who sent you?" Hu Jiu asked directly, without showing himself.
The short-haired woman sneered, "You killed Gao Qiuhai, didn't you? You've offended the wrong person, and I'm here to take your life!"
Hu Jiu seemed not to hear the death threat, and only said, "You are not Ghost Tamer from Headquarters."
While he was dealing with the short-haired woman, he took a picture of her and sent it to Xiao Mei to check, but there was no such person in the Headquarters' files.
"What does it matter whether I'm Ghost Tamer from Headquarters or not? You're going to die anyway." The short-haired woman clenched her fists, her smile forced and unconvincing.
The next second, she launched an attack on Hu Jiu.
Her attack method was peculiar; she raised a finger, and wisps of green smoke, reeking of corpses, rose from the fingertip, surging towards Hu Jiu.
"You're not Ghost Tamer from Headquarters, so even if you die, Headquarters won't care. I can do whatever I want with you." Hu Jiu blurred, avoiding the entanglement of the green smoke.
"Your abilities..." The short-haired woman seemed shocked, but she only got halfway through her sentence before being instantly killed by Hu Jiu's simultaneous burst of multiple Supernatural attacks.
They skillfully stuffed the body into a body bag, drew a door, threw it in, and completely destroyed the evidence.
After finishing everything, Hu Jiu stroked his chin. "Gao Qiuhai, is that right? Murder really should be punished by executing nine generations of one's family. This is called settling the score to avoid future trouble."
2 PM, temporary meeting room.
Regarding the exploration summary of the Ghostly Ancient Tomb, explorers who participated in the mission need to submit a detailed report. Those Ghost Tamer obtained Supernatural Items or contained Fierce Ghost spirits can choose to trade with Headquarters.
Supernatural Items might have too many side effects, making them useless to keep. It's better to trade them for useful resources.
The same applies to Fierce Ghost; they are idle resources in the hands of Ghost Tamers, but extremely useful to Headquarters.
After covering these two main points and confirming there were no further questions, He Ming announced, "The meeting is adjourned. Everyone may leave now. See you all at another time!"
Everyone left the meeting room in an orderly manner.
He Ming had originally agreed to team up with Hu Jiu in the ancient tomb, but they separated from the start. Hu Jiu intentionally separated them. It's unknown what He Ming gained in the tomb on his own.
Fang Qingjiao originally wanted to catch up with Hu Jiu to get closer to him, but Hu Jiu walked too fast and he couldn't catch up.
Upon returning to Linjiang City, Hu Jiu immediately surveyed the entire city, confirming that no new Supernatural events had occurred and that everything was under control.
Next comes the most crucial part: he needs to start controlling that Bronze Ancient Tree!
The Bronze Tree and the Ghost Book Ghost Pen are like pieces of a puzzle, and Hu Jiu really couldn't figure out how to control them for the time being.
Hu Jiu boldly extended a finger and touched the Bronze Tree with his own body...
Only after touching it did he realize that he had acted impulsively, but this impulse seemed to be some kind of bodily instinct, an unconscious urge to touch.
The branches of the ancient tree intertwined and merged with Hu Jiu's flesh and blood, and intense pain swept through his entire body, causing him to suffer the erosion of the ancient tree from both body and mind.
Hu Jiu didn't try to hold on. He never believed he had a strong will. Human willpower was nothing in the face of the Supernatural. He might not even be able to withstand torture.
One rule and constraint after another was written on the Ghost Book. The erosion of the ancient tree slowed down significantly. Hu Jiu began to absorb the Supernatural of the Bronze Tree. At this moment, he clearly felt that his mind was unusually active, his imagination was bursting forth, and he was thinking wildly all the time.
As his thoughts progressed, the surrounding landscape gradually distorted into bizarre and grotesque shapes.
The Supernatural aura expanded outward uncontrollably, and at this moment, Hu Jiu seemed to have consumed a powerful tonic, causing his strength to surge by leaps and bounds.
In fact, Hu Jiu's body had long since transcended the human realm. The Bronze Ancient Tree was influencing his thoughts and consciousness, and under its influence, even his mind was becoming demonized. The last vestige of humanity he possessed gradually dimmed and eventually disappeared as he merged with the ancient tree.
His consciousness became somewhat blurred, and he suddenly felt like he wanted to fall asleep. Hu Jiu hurriedly hid himself in another dimension and sent several messages to Xiao Yu and the others, informing them that his paid leave had been extended.
Then Hu Jiu collapsed and fell into a deep sleep.
Xiao Yu received the notification from the Queen of Spades and couldn't help but beam with joy.
A holiday is always a wonderful thing, no matter when.
However, she has been troubled recently; the National Supernatural Control Bureau has come knocking on her door.
The name "Playing Cards" has gradually spread in the Supernatural community. Those in the know believe it to be a very high-end organization, capable of enabling Ghost Tamer to efficiently control multiple Fierce Ghost without harm and significantly reducing the side effects of Supernatural Items. These two points alone would completely outclass 90% of the Civilian Organizations in China.
The Playing Card Organization only recognizes Fierce Ghosts or Supernatural Items as their only form of currency. If you want the Playing Cards Organization to do something for you, you need to prepare a price in advance. However, it's not that easy, because the members of the Playing Cards Organization are elusive and have no fixed location, making them unpredictable and hard to find.
The limited information revealed about the Playing Cards is enough to make one imagine just how mysterious and vast this organization is.
Externally, Yin Wenxian and Xiao Yu are the most active members of the Playing Cards team, and it's only a matter of time before Headquarters comes looking for them.
The Headquarters' intentions were clear: they wanted to meet the person in charge of the Playing Cards organization. The "technology" that the Playing Card Organization had demonstrated to the outside world was simply too attractive.
Xiao Yu only said that she was a low-level member and had never seen any of the organization's senior officers.
Therefore, Headquarters wanted to win over Xiao Yu, and their purpose was self-evident.
Xiao Yu readily agreed. This had nothing to do with loyalty, because when she joined the organization, Queen of Spades had said that if she encountered attempts to recruit, kidnap, or torture her by other organizations, she should reveal what needed to be revealed, defect to the enemy if necessary, and never hesitate to take any benefits she could. Infiltration is mutual; spies can become double agents at any time, or even switch sides repeatedly.
The world is driven by profit. If the Headquarters thinks they can recruit someone in the Supernatural community as a downline by making empty promises or using moral blackmail, they are being incredibly naive.
Xiao Yu had previously made numerous deals with [Big Dipper] employees, granting them access to Supernatural Items without side effects. This allowed her to quickly build a network of downlines. Each of them had their own circle of contacts, thus creating a vast personal network.
As a member of the Playing Cards who possesses the "skills," Xiao Yu doesn't need to bother maintaining this network, because everyone will simply flock to her.
Supernatural Items modified from Playing Cards pose no risk of backlash. Their only weakness is probably that Hu Jiu left a backdoor, as everything was done using his Supernatural. When he withdraws his Supernatural, the scene will surely be quite beautiful.
Modifying Supernatural Items or controlling Fierce Ghost both require "payment," and the fee is determined by the Supernatural Item or Fierce Ghost. The price is set using Playing Cards, as this service is currently a monopolistic industry, hence the high price.
Despite the high price, countless people still scramble for them. Nobody's a fool. Supernatural Items with side effects and contained vengeful Fierce Ghost are mostly unusable idle resources. It's better to exchange several Supernatural Items with severe side effects for a stable one that can be used at any time.
The current development of this type of transaction is quite rapid. In addition to modifying Supernatural Items, the key point is that it is safe, painless, and almost 100% successful in controlling Fierce Ghosts, which completely breaks the previous ghost-controlling model of gambling with one's life.
The only problem is that the fees are too high. To control a second ghost, you need four Fierce Ghost or Supernatural Items; to control a third ghost, you need nine Fierce Ghost or Supernatural Items, and so on.
However, a large number of people still made reservations.
During this time, Hu Jiu fell into a deep sleep, and the Playing Cards business was temporarily suspended. However, the impact he caused continued to unfold. Within the Beidou Organization, Senior Employee were consciously acquiring more Supernatural Items, stealing Supernatural Items that others had paid to modify, and attempting to contain Fierce Ghost...
Countless Civilian Organizations are trying to uncover the true nature of the Playing Cards, but apart from their Headquarters, most Civilian Organizations don't dare to even consider it. In their minds, the Playing Cards the technology to control Fierce Ghost without causing damage, and their organizations must be full of experts. Who would dare to provoke them?
Those who dare to target Playing Cards and take action are all behemoths!
At this moment, Xiao Yu was unaware that she was being followed.
Two men in black trench coats were driving a car, following Xiao Yu, who was shopping, from a distance.
"I didn't expect that Big Dipper would still snatch that mask back..." The driver, Zhang Shucheng, wearing sunglasses, spoke with a slightly agitated tone.
"Those bastards, I'll kill them all sooner or later." The woman in the passenger seat Emily, touched her disfigured face under her mask, a hint of madness flashing in her eyes. She was a foreigner, but no one could tell, because she not only spoke fluent Chinese, but also wore a large mask that made her face unrecognizable.
"Calm down. If our infiltrators in Big Dipper don't run into any problems, the Ghost Gates of Hell in the Endless Corridor will likely open soon, and those guys will definitely flood in."
Zhang Shucheng's face was cold. They had been ordered by their superiors to seize a mask from an underground auction house. What should have been a simple task had been fraught with unexpected problems. The duck that was almost in their mouth had flown away, causing them to lose face. Emily was even disfigured, and they also faced punishment for mission failure. At this point, Zhang Shucheng's feelings were similar to Emily's; he wished he could devour Big Dipper alive immediately.
Their organization had dealt with Big Dipper before. Big Dipper is a peculiar organization; it welcomes all spies and is very adept at reverse infiltration.
Zhang Shucheng originally had many colleagues and teammates, but they all inexplicably turned against him, their will twisted by some Supernatural force.
Later, the two organizations clashed many times, with casualties on both sides. Big Dipper didn't care about the lives of its lower- and middle-level employees; in a head-on collision, it was always the other side that suffered.
However, Zhang Shucheng's organization was no pushover either. Their second-in-command was incredibly powerful; he managed to use some kind of remote curse to take down a key member of Big Dipper.
It's important to know that each of the seven core members of Big Dipper is incredibly strong, and most of them have already transformed into anomalies, making them virtually immortal. However, the second-in-command targets their consciousness, using curses to obliterate it. No matter how powerful their anomaly ghost bodies are, it's useless against them.
This resulted in the loss of one of the seven core members of the Big Dipper.
Emily and Zhang Shucheng's organization is at odds with Big Dipper, with irreconcilable conflicts. While not sworn enemies, they are certainly at odds. The mask at the underground auction is an extremely important Supernatural Item. Not only has Big Dipper coveted it, but Zhang Shucheng and Emily have also been tasked with stealing it, naturally leading to another conflict with Big Dipper.
Gently stroking the uneven skin on her face, Emily chuckled coldly, "Those guys from Big Dipper are getting more and more arrogant. The Ghost Gate have opened, and they actually dare to rush in? Aren't they afraid of being wiped out?"
"It's best they've become arrogant; the enemy has dug their own grave. We should be happy. Not long ago, Big Dipper tried to get involved in that ancient tomb incident, but they were completely thwarted by the Hua Country Headquarters, losing all face and substance. And yet they still have the nerve to call Big Dipper a long-established secret organization..." Zhang Shucheng said unhurriedly, "This time, after the Ghost Gate open, I heard that Big Dipper's Megrez and Alioth will both make their appearance, these two important figures will personally take action..."
Emily gasped. "Big Dipper has deployed two key members all at once? During the Ghostly Ancient Tomb a while ago, Big Dipper only assigned one key member to the task; they didn't send any core members personally..."
"That's normal," Zhang Shucheng said calmly. "The Ghost Gate are in Endless Corridor; their danger level is incomparable to that of Ghostly Ancient Tomb."
"I don't know what Big Dipper is trying to do, it has to meddle in everything." Emily complained.
"They're an organization that has transcended base desires; they aim to eliminate all Supernatural in the world. How could we ordinary people possibly understand?" Zhang Shucheng said sarcastically.
Will he eliminate all Fierce Ghost and restore peace to the world? Or does he simply want to embrace the Supernatural himself and not give others a chance to benefit? Only Big Dipper knows the answer.
"Alright, let's not talk about these troublesome things anymore. We need to hurry up and take down this Xiao Yu," Emily said. After coming into contact with the Supernatural Items made from Playing Cards, their organization's leader went almost mad, stopping all his original activities and insisting on investigating the true nature of the Playing Cards.
Hopefully, nothing will go wrong this time.
"Don't worry, that Xiao Yu isn't even Ghost Tamer, she can't escape."