Hu Jiu returned home and slumped on the sofa to rest.
In truth, he wasn't tired at all. He hadn't slept for days, yet felt no weariness. Resting was just a formality, something he did out of habit.
He had turned Linjiang City upside down, but his methods had been far too simple and brutal, and he hadn't gotten rid of Liu Mingguang in time. It was inevitable that he had left some loose ends.
But he didn't regret it one bit. He liked taking the initiative rather than being dragged into accidents and disputes. From the look on Liu Mingguang's face, he might as well have had "I'm going to teach you a lesson" carved on his forehead. How could Hu Jiu possibly give him the chance to strike first?
As for those loose ends, they weren't much of a problem. Killing people to silence them could take care of most troubles. Even if Headquarters grew suspicious of him, it didn't matter, because... there had never been any trust between him and Headquarters!
Those at the top would never stop fearing and guarding against Ghost Tamers unless they figured out the supernatural and brought it completely under their control.
Toward evening, Hu Jiu received a call from Qian Ying. Liu Mingguang had been found.
Hu Jiu narrowed his eyes slightly. Liu Mingguang really was hard to kill, as expected of a veteran Ghost Tamer.
He asked, "Where did you find him? Is he in good shape?"
"We didn't find him. Headquarters notified us," Qian Ying answered truthfully. Searching an entire city for one person took a great deal of time and effort. After Liu Mingguang contacted Headquarters, they immediately notified the officers in Linjiang City, and Qian Ying passed the news on to Hu Jiu at once.
After hanging up, Hu Jiu got to his feet. He took no electronic devices with him, grabbed a Golden Corpse Bag, disguised himself, and quietly left.
Soon, Hu Jiu arrived at a perfectly ordinary apartment building. This was where Liu Mingguang had lived before becoming a Ghost Tamer. Someone might come to deliver him a new Satellite Phone later, so... he had to kill him quickly!
Liu Mingguang's talks with Headquarters had gone badly, and he was trying to figure out how to make a deal with a Civilian Organization when suddenly, someone knocked on the door.
His heart jolted, and the hairs on his back stood on end.
Sure enough, it was the same familiar recipe, the same familiar taste. The knocking grew more urgent, gradually turning into pounding.
Liu Mingguang's face turned green. He spun around, ready to escape through the window.
Whoosh! The Ghost Hand, which had been lying in wait, blocked his path.
The door was smashed apart, and the same familiar figure stood outside. Liu Mingguang clenched his back teeth. Damn it! How did this guy find me so quickly?! Was he completely unaffected, and can he still use the power of his ghost?
Liu Mingguang had reached a dead end, but he still had a little room to fight back. The Golden Corpse Bag in his left hand contained a fierce ghost he had once confined, one that was extremely overpowering and troublesome. Besides that, he had a supernatural item with tremendous side effects. He usually didn't dare use it, but he couldn't worry about that now!
The Ghost Hand swooped down from above. Keeping his head lowered, Liu Mingguang quickly took an old-fashioned flashlight from the Golden Box beside him and flicked the switch, aiming it at the Ghost Hand.
A beam of dim purple light shot out, and an extraordinary sight appeared: the Ghost Hand was frozen in midair, unable to move!
Hu Jiu's eyes lit up. This item is fated for me!
The purple light covered a wide area, enveloping both the Ghost Hand and the phantom at the door. Hu Jiu's real body, however, had been standing in the corner the whole time and wasn't caught in the beam.
He tried controlling the phantom. It was unaffected.
"That's impossible!" Liu Mingguang's eyes widened in disbelief. Anyone caught in the flashlight's purple light would immediately freeze, so why wasn't it working on this bastard in front of him?!
For a moment, Liu Mingguang's expression grew increasingly vicious. The Ghost Perfume inside him was on the verge of reviving, and the backlash from using the flashlight had already begun. He had nowhere left to turn!
I can't give up until the very last moment. I still have a chance. I can still turn this around... Unwilling to surrender, Liu Mingguang screamed desperately in his heart. He was just about to open the Golden Corpse Bag in his left hand.
At that critical moment, a strip of Bloodstained White Sash suddenly dropped from above and looped directly around Liu Mingguang's neck. It jerked sharply upward, forcing his head back and triggering the Looking-Up Ghost's killing rule at the same time. The two forces acted on Liu Mingguang together, and the sound of his cervical vertebrae shattering rang out. His eyes were full of shock and bewilderment.
—The Suicide-Hanging White Silk!
Why had the ghost Hu Jiu controlled appeared here?!
There was no one to answer his question.
A thought flashed through his mind. He was unwilling to die in such confusion, without even knowing who his killer was. If only he had a little more time, he would surely figure it out!
Just a little more time...
Crack!
The flashlight fell to the floor.
Liu Mingguang was dead.
Hu Jiu withdrew his powers. He had been using the Mirage Ghost's power constantly of late, and although he felt no discomfort, the writing in the Ghost Book had surely grown dimmer.
Liu Mingguang stood rigidly upright, the fierce ghost inside him stirring restlessly. His whole body turned into a Fragrant Corpse, and waves of fragrant mist spread outward, drifting toward Hu Jiu as though trying to devour him.
Hu Jiu reacted quickly. Before the fierce ghost had fully revived, he slipped the corpse straight into the corpse bag in the blink of an eye.
He then picked up the eerie flashlight. It felt icy cold in his hand. An eyeball with a purple pupil was set where the bulb should have been, utterly lifeless. Hu Jiu didn't risk looking it in the eye.
He could simply use someone else to test the supernatural item's ability. There was no need to do it himself.
Judging from how Liu Mingguang had used it, the flashlight could forcibly immobilize a fierce ghost. It was a rare treasure, and if used properly, it would be an absolute killer weapon. In Hu Jiu's hands in particular, it would surely be even more valuable.
The Mirage Ghost could imitate and copy, but it needed time. When facing a weak ghost, Hu Jiu could suppress it with the Mirage Ghost's supernatural power, but that would undoubtedly greatly increase his consumption. If he encountered a powerful ghost, a single second was enough for him to die several times over. How would he dare make contact recklessly?
With this flashlight, things would be much easier. He just didn't know what price he would have to pay to use it.
Hu Jiu had made quite a haul this time: two fierce ghosts and a supernatural item. Before long, he would most likely become the person in charge of this city. Sure enough, a horse wouldn't grow fat without a midnight feed~
To be honest, Liu Mingguang's overall strength had far exceeded Hu Jiu's expectations. Although he had controlled only one ghost, when he fought, he was like a crafty old bastard pretending to be a pig to eat a tiger.
In Hu Jiu's previous life, however, someone else had been in charge of Linjiang City when he became a Ghost Tamer. Liu Mingguang had long since vanished without a trace.
Back then, Hu Jiu wouldn't have gone out of his way to ask about an insignificant dead man, but now he suddenly remembered something. Headquarters had a powerful Ghost Tamer codenamed [Beauty Goddess]. He had heard that the man made a flamboyant entrance every time he appeared, always surrounded by a rich fragrance...