Wearing sunglasses, Hu Jiu strolled leisurely to the front desk of the Hou Family Building.
"Hello sir, how can I help you?" the receptionist said sweetly.
"Hello," Hu Jiu replied politely. The moment he finished speaking, the receptionist's eyes lost their sparkle, and she answered all of Hu Jiu's questions without reservation.
Where is your boss, Hou Qingxu?
"Mr. Hou usually stays on the eighteenth floor, which is inaccessible to ordinary people and requires advance reservations. However, he's out now and not upstairs."
Hou Qingxu is not in this building. The eighteenth floor is his private area, where he only receives VIPs and has a tight security system. In addition, he employs many professional bodyguards to patrol the area, and it is difficult for outsiders to enter without his permission.
Just as Hu Jiu was about to turn and head to the eighteenth floor, a woman's voice suddenly reached his ears.
"Are you here to see Hou Qingxu?"
Hearing this, Hu Jiu turned around and saw a very beautiful woman with her arms crossed. Although she wasn't very tall, she inexplicably exuded a sense of superiority.
"Ah, hello Ms. Ning." The receptionist, regaining her composure, greeted her with a slightly nervous expression.
She knew that the woman in front of her was her boss's fiancée and the eldest daughter of the Ning Family, so her attitude was naturally extremely respectful, though her expression still showed a hint of stiffness.
Ning Yun nodded slightly, then shifted her gaze to Hu Jiu. "You're Liang Rong? Ha, Hou Qingxu really does have all sorts of friends..."
Her tone was laced with undisguised sarcasm, and her eyes were filled with disdain.
"Who are you?" Hu Jiu, disguised as Liang Rong, asked with a smile.
"I am Ning Yun. What, you don't recognize me?" Ning Yun frowned slightly.
"Oh, so it's Miss Ning~" Hu Jiu drawled out, speaking vaguely.
Ning Yun's face flashed with impatience, and she was about to say something when her expression suddenly froze. She then put on a standard smile and said to Hu Jiu, "Hou Qingxu isn't here. If you want to find him, I can take you there."
"Let's go," Hu Jiu casually ordered.
Ning Yun respectfully led him to the luxury car parked outside.
Clearly, the beautiful woman had been temporarily subdued by Hu Jiu, who stepped on the gas and drove towards the outskirts of the city.
"Where is Hou Qingxu?" Hu Jiu asked.
"An underground auction venue," Ning Yun explained. "It's a black market auction, mainly selling goods of dubious origin, antiques and artifacts obtained through illegal means, and some unusual collectibles."
"An auction?" Hu Jiu raised an eyebrow.
More than half an hour later, they arrived at a leisure club in the suburbs. The surrounding environment was very quiet and elegant. Who would have thought that a black market auction was being held here?
Just as she was about to get out of the car, Hu Jiu suddenly trembled all over, as if someone had gently brushed against a sensitive area, and she became alert.
A dangerous yet alluring aura seemed to emanate from the air, and Supernatural, restless energy stirred within me, as if I were being involuntarily drawn to some kind of force.
"It's a puzzle piece about Fierce Ghost!"
Hu Jiu quickly came to his senses. He had also had this strange feeling when he went to find the Ghost Pen last time, but it wasn't as strong as it was this time.
The puzzle piece for the Ghost Book is nearby!
What a coincidence!
No!
Perhaps this is not a coincidence, but an inevitability; the puzzle pieces of the same Fierce Ghost will attract each other and always gather together in various coincidental ways.
Hu Jiu was excited, but then quickly became alert. Fierce Ghost could be a puzzle piece for the Ghost Book would definitely be difficult to deal with. Last time he had taken advantage of the situation to steal the Ghost Pen, but he might not be so lucky this time. He couldn't put his hopes on such an illusory stroke of luck.
The connection between the puzzle pieces is bidirectional; if Hu Jiu can sense the other's presence, the other will definitely be able to sense him too!
Is the other party a ghost, or Ghost Tamer?
How strong are they?
This was a completely unprepared encounter; if a conflict were to break out now, what were the chances of victory?
Hu Jiu knew nothing about the enemy's intelligence. The perception between the Vengeful Ghost Puzzle was too vague, and even the exact location could not be determined. It was just an intuition, and the accuracy was quite poor. He could only know that the other party was nearby.
"Turn around and head to the nearest area where people are gathered," Hu Jiu said coldly.
Ning Yun turned the steering wheel without a word, leaving the scenery on both sides of the road behind in the blink of an eye. As they passed a gas station...
Thump--
A heavy thud came from the roof of the car, the whole car shook, and a dent appeared on the roof.
Ning Yun maintained a steady driving speed.
With another loud thud, an arm pierced through the roof of the car, easily slipping inside as if tearing paper; its target was naturally Hu Jiu.
Ning Yun slammed on the brakes, causing the tires to screech violently against the ground. The people inside the car were thrown forward due to inertia, and objects from the roof flew off.
Hu Jiu stared ahead and saw a "person" dressed in a suit and tie, seemingly an ordinary office worker. However, the person's head was highly decomposed, and the exposed hands were bluish-purple and oozing pus.
It's Ghost Slave.
Hu Jiu relaxed. The opponent was probably Fierce Ghost, not Ghost Tamer, making it easier to deal with.
The Ghost Slave relentlessly charged forward again.
Hu Jiu instructed Ning Yun to step on the gas and crash directly into them.
Bang--
The Ghost Slave was thrown into the air, and the car's tires swerved in a beautiful arc, scraping the ground before crashing into the green belt on the left side of the road. With a loud bang, the front of the car collided head-on with a large tree, instantly deforming the entire front. Ning Yun was crushed like a tomato and died instantly.
Hu Jiu stepped out of the dilapidated car unharmed and immediately grabbed the Ghost Slave.
After waiting for a while, and seeing that the traffic police were about to arrive, but with no other Ghost Slave in sight, and no sign of the Fierce Ghost itself, Hu Jiu had no choice but to temporarily take this Ghost Slave away and try to extract information from it.
He turned and glanced at the car accident scene. "Ugh, what a horrible death."
Ning Yun's head was completely mangled, with blood and brain matter splattered everywhere. Hu Jiu certainly didn't care about her life, but her identity could be used to his advantage.
At this moment, Hou Qingxu was unaware that his fiancée had become a corpse. The black market auction was scheduled to begin in less than half an hour, and most of the invited guests arrived a little early, as this kind of event also served as an opportunity for mutual exchange.
"Why haven't they arrived yet?" Hou Qingxu frowned. He had invited Ning Yun to attend the auction together, but Ning Yun had stood him up.
In the past, Hou Qingxu would have immediately sensed something was wrong, because Ning Yun wouldn't break a promise easily, and not being able to contact her meant something had happened.
But now...