Two consecutive B-class supernatural incidents had already occurred in Linjiang City. Lin Guangning immediately reported the situation to Fu Youhua.
Fu Youhua's tightly knitted brows had never relaxed. Liu Mingguang was still out of contact; the Ghost Tamer "Wei Xiyuan," who had attacked Linjiang City, was nowhere to be found; Beifeng Commune vehemently denied involvement, insisting it had been framed; and now there was another B-class Fierce Ghost with a Ghost Domain...
No, this ghost could already be classified as A-class. Fu Youhua didn't know why Hu Jiu had been so conservative.
Hu Jiu had made it clear that he wanted to become the new person in charge of Linjiang City. Lin Guangning couldn't make that decision, so he could only report his request.
After ending the call with headquarters, Hu Jiu went to see Qian Ying and gave him an order. "Liu Mingguang, the original person in charge of Linjiang City, has gone missing. Find him as soon as possible. He's a Ghost Tamer, after all. If he dies, a Fierce Ghost will definitely revive inside him, and it could cause tremendous harm."
Qian Ying nodded. "Don't worry, Mr. Hu. I'll send people to look for him immediately."
Hu Jiu continued, "Once you find any trace of him, don't approach him or speak to him. Just report the information directly to me. I'll handle it myself."
Qian Ying hesitated. "Well..."
A saintly smile appeared on Hu Jiu's face. "The ghost inside Liu Mingguang is on the verge of losing control. Approaching him recklessly might provoke him. I'm thinking of your safety too. Police officers' lives matter as well. Leave this sort of thing to me."
His words sounded good, and everyone liked hearing sweet talk. Qian Ying was a little touched and agreed at once.
Hu Jiu didn't linger. He turned and left.
Not long after he left, the aftermath had mostly been dealt with. The bodies and severed limbs had all been taken away. The decayed buildings and pockmarked ground needed repairs, and the survivors needed to sign confidentiality agreements forbidding them from spreading news of the haunting, so as not to cause public panic.
At that moment, in a secluded room somewhere in Linjiang City, a person lay quietly on the floor, his body swollen and covered in pustules and blisters.
If not for the slight rise and fall of his chest, he would have been almost indistinguishable from a rotting corpse, his features long since unrecognizable. But if Hu Jiu had been there, he would have recognized Liu Mingguang at once. The strange fragrance he gave off was too distinctive.
Liu Mingguang was in a miserable state. His entire body was black, as though stained with ink, and the pustules and blisters on his skin kept bursting, spattering thick, murky "perfume."
"Hah..."
After an unknown amount of time, heavy, rapid breathing suddenly rang out, clearly audible in the quiet.
Liu Mingguang's eyes snapped open. The next second, he grimaced as if in terrible pain, beads of fragrant sweat trickling down his forehead. After a long while, he slowly sat up, his muddled thoughts gradually clearing.
A golden glow met his eyes. The walls and floor of the entire room reflected golden light.
I'm still alive! Liu Mingguang rose unsteadily and walked over to a mirror. He looked at his reflection, neither human nor ghost, without joy or sorrow on his face.
His body couldn't hold out any longer. Even if he stopped using the Ghost Perfume's power, he didn't have long to live. Liu Mingguang had picked up a stone only to drop it on his own foot.
He should have hated the Ghost Tamer who had hunted him down. If not for that fucking idiot, he would never have taken such a desperate risk and drawn in such a terrifying ghost!
Yet he felt no emotional stirrings at all. He couldn't muster any hatred, and even the grief and anger over his mother's tragic death had disappeared.
Noticing the change in his state of mind, Liu Mingguang felt sad for an instant. He had actually abandoned even his mother. This was what it meant to be a Ghost Tamer: not only would a Fierce Ghost affect their body, but the supernatural would also erode their consciousness, gradually robbing them of their humanity and emotions.
But soon, his condition improved somewhat, and he was no longer as numb as when he had first regained consciousness.
A crafty rabbit had three burrows. Fortunately, he had prepared an escape route for himself long ago. As a precaution, he had used gold to build a small safe house, with enough for him and his mother to survive for a long time.
It had pained him terribly to spend such an enormous amount of gold on it, but it had finally come in handy. If he hadn't entered it in time, he would surely have died!
That old ghost woman's Ghost Domain had been pitch-black, and the darkness had gradually deepened. At first, he could still see the outlines of objects, but slowly it had grown so dark he couldn't see his hand in front of his face.
He couldn't even see, much less try to work out the ghost's killing pattern.
The Ghost Perfume could attract nearby ghosts, but Liu Mingguang couldn't understand why it had drawn in such a terrifying creature. If Linjiang City had a ghost that powerful, it should have caused a commotion long ago.
Still, it was just as well. Surely the Ghost Tamer who had attacked him must have suffered too. Even if he had controlled two ghosts, facing a terrifying Fierce Ghost with a Dark Ghost Domain, he would have been badly hurt even if he hadn't died!
The gold house blocked supernatural forces. The ghost outside had lost its target, but he didn't know whether it had left.
Liu Mingguang waited quietly. He couldn't stay there forever. After a long while, he slowly pushed the door open a crack. Light shone through the gap; the dense darkness was gone.
He cautiously opened the door. There was no cold, sinister supernatural aura. The ghost really had left.
Liu Mingguang pushed the door open and stepped out. The place outside was already a mess, with signs of decay and ruin everywhere. More frightening still, a deep human-shaped indentation marked the wall of the gold house, as though something had crashed into it. The sight made his scalp tingle.
Supernatural powers couldn't affect gold, but a ghost with a physical body could crash into it by physical means. As long as it knocked a hole in the gold, the safe house would be useless.
Clearly, using less gold would greatly diminish the value of the safe house. Fortunately, gold was extremely ductile. An ordinary ghost could deform it, but breaking through it was far more difficult. After all, ghosts had no intelligence and could only use brute force, not tools.
A jumble of thoughts flashed through Liu Mingguang's mind, only for him to cast them aside an instant later. Staying alive was what mattered most; everything else could wait. He urgently needed to contact headquarters. This ghost had caused quite a commotion, and even if he said nothing, the higher-ups would surely notice.
At that thought, Liu Mingguang frowned. Although headquarters usually seemed a little ineffectual and its attitude toward Ghost Tamers left much to be desired, if all it knew how to do was play political games and use moral blackmail, someone would have fucking overturned the table long ago.
The fact that headquarters had remained standing to this day showed that it did have some skill. One could even say that headquarters held the lifeline of every Ghost Tamer in its hands.
The greatest problem facing Ghost Tamers was their short lifespan, and headquarters' research department had developed a supernatural derivative item—the Longevity Potion.
As its name suggested, the Longevity Potion could effectively suppress Fierce Ghosts and extend a Ghost Tamer's life. Moreover, no side effects had been reported so far, making it a treasure sought after throughout the country's supernatural circles.
Liu Mingguang had once exchanged his merits for a vial, which he had used when he was attacked earlier.