Qian Ying called and briefly explained the situation in Linjiang City to Hu Jiu. Overall, it was much better than in Xihe City. The Ghost Grass and the Haunted House were still entangled, seemingly caught in a fragile balance, so the growth rate of the Ghost Grass was not fast, and it was currently able to remain stable.
Hu Jiu was taken aback. That unassuming Haunted House was actually so dangerous? It seemed he would have to find out more about it when he had the chance.
After hanging up, another call came quickly; it was from the Xihe City police. "Mr. Hu, something terrible has happened. A safe house here has been breached, and the people inside have... tragically perished."
Hu Jiu was even more surprised, "Something happened even while staying in a safe house? Have you found out the reason?"
The officer stammered, "The reason... it's a long story. You'd better come over as soon as possible."
Hu Jiu remained motionless. "Could it be a problem with the ventilation ducts, allowing Supernatural to infiltrate the safe house?"
"It's all my fault!" A woman's sobbing voice suddenly came from the other end of the phone; it was Zhao Ruying.
"Ms. Zhao, what does this have to do with you now?" Hu Jiu immediately imagined a whole series of scenarios.
Zhao Ruying just cried and didn't say anything else, only repeatedly muttering "It's all my fault." Hu Jiu couldn't help but hear the scolding voices from the side. Hearing this, Hu Jiu got impatient and hung up the phone.
"What happened?" He Ming asked casually.
"The person who stayed in the safe house is dead." Hu Jiu's attitude was indifferent, while He Ming looked on with a sigh. Safe houses aren't safe after all. When faced with a sudden Supernatural event, what should ordinary people do? Just rely on luck?
Not long after, Xiao Mei contacted Hu Jiu with good news. "Headquarters has come up with a solution and will try to break through the Ghost Domain from the outside. Several Ghost Tamers have arrived in Xihe City as reinforcements. You should meet up with them as soon as possible and keep an eye out for the Source Ghost's whereabouts."
In fact, given how things have developed, Hu Jiu no longer needs to do anything. This is a clear S-class incident. After Headquarters receives the information from Ghost Grass and comes up with a countermeasure, considering the issue of influence, they may introduce a star Ghost Tamer can independently solve S-class Supernatural incident, or they may attribute the credit to the collective. In short, Hu Jiu has nothing to do with it.
"Let's go." Hu Jiu's eyes narrowed like a fox's.
"Where are we going again?" He Ming asked.
"Reinforcements have arrived. Go find the main force."
Upon hearing this, He Ming finally showed a look of joy.
But when he followed Hu Jiu back to the special department, the joy on his face quickly disappeared, as the scene before him was not quite what he had imagined.
A middle-aged woman lay on the ground, beaten beyond recognition. Everyone stood far away, and one of the men, who appeared somewhat agitated, pointed at her and shouted, "Throw her out right now!"
"Aunt Zhao?" He Ming was shocked. Hu Jiu glared at him, and he swallowed back the words he wanted to say.
"What happened here?" Hu Jiu asked the question He Ming wanted to ask.
Hearing the familiar voice, Zhao Ruying looked up pleadingly.
"Who are you?" the man asked impatiently.
"This is Hu Jiu, the person in charge of Linjiang City." Fearing a conflict, the police officer quickly introduced, "This is Mr. Xu Bo, a special envoy from Headquarters, and also a powerful Ghost Tamer."
Xu Bo snorted coldly, ignoring Hu Jiu, and pointed at Zhao Ruying: "Throw her away, I'm not done living yet!"
Before Hu Jiu could speak, a police officer explained, "Ms. Zhao entered the safe house as Ghost Tamer. Six hours later, the safe house was invaded by Ghost Grass. The people inside thought she had brought the Supernatural in, and in despair, they couldn't help but beat her up. It wasn't until Commissioner Xu arrived and pointed out that her true identity was suspicious..."
"Who is she? Why are you kicking her out? Aren't you forcing her to her death?!" He Ming couldn't help but mutter under his breath. He thought he had gotten along well with Hu Jiu along the way, and his sense of awe for the Ghost Tamers had been decreasing.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished speaking, a chilling killing intent, seemingly materialized, suddenly descended upon him. Overwhelmed by a sense of crisis, He Ming was completely stunned and instinctively hid behind Hu Jiu.
"Don't go too far. He's the hero who solved this Supernatural incident. He's the one who discovered part of the killing mechanism of the Ghost Grass." Hu Jiu's deep voice echoed around.
Everyone looked surprised, seemingly incredulous. Xu Bo also withdrew the supernatural Supernatural emanating from his body. He Ming then came to his senses, pretending to be calm, and used the best acting skills he had ever had, even more convincing than when he made excuses to fool the teacher for not finishing his homework!
Perhaps his disappointment outweighed his fear; he had assumed Ghost Tamers at Headquarters should be like Hu Jiu. To be honest, he wasn't initially very satisfied with Hu Jiu —she was a bit too cold and aloof—but at least she provided a strong sense of security.
But reality was a bit too harsh.
"Lucky brat, don't talk nonsense next time." Xu Bo stopped targeting He Ming and started talking about Zhao Ruying.
Do you know what her code name is in the Headquarters files?
"Don't say it, don't say it!" Zhao Ruying suddenly became very agitated. "I'll just hide away myself." She struggled to get up and silently walked away, her lonely figure looking quite pitiful.
However, no one present, including the most naive He Ming, stopped them. He had already sensed something was wrong from Xu Bo's words and Zhao Ruying's behavior.
When Zhao Ruying walked away, Hu Jiucai asked in confusion, "Can she bring bad luck to others?"
"More or less." Xu Bo knew some inside information but was unwilling to talk about it, and Hu Jiu wouldn't be so tactless as to press him for details.
"Headquarters has found an external solution to this Supernatural event. What we need to do now is organize the people trapped in the Ghost Domain, keeping them in enclosed environments where they cannot be exposed to natural light. It's crucial that everyone is informed that no matter what happens, they must not look up at the sky! At the same time, we must cooperate with Headquarters to capture the true form of the Fierce Ghost..."
Xu Bo consciously took on the responsibility of team leader. Although his tone was harsh, his logic was clear.
Everyone sprang into action, He Ming quietly leaned close to Hu Jiu's ear and whispered "Thank you."
The person who made the great contribution to discovering the killing pattern of the Ghost Grass was not him at all. He thought that Hu Jiu gave up the credit in order to protect him.
Hu Jiu's lips curled up slightly. He had used human lives to test out the pattern while He Ming was asleep, which was indeed quite remarkable. However, he had already pinned the blame on He Ming.
This is a gift from fate...