Soul Control Art

"Report this to the Town Demon Suppression Division. There's a very good chance some sort of ghost is causing trouble," Lu Siye said seriously to Zheng Hai.

"Oh, and remember to include the type of ghost. It's one with curse-related abilities. Tell them to send someone who can deal with this kind of curse to assist me."

"Got it!" Zheng Hai immediately nodded. He didn't even clear away his tray before rushing off to organize the information for the report.

By the time Lu Siye came back to his senses, the food on the table had already gone cold.

"Who knows that every grain in the bowl comes from hard work?" Lu Siye stared at the food for a while and sighed.

With the thought that everyone was responsible for cherishing food, he picked up his chopsticks and dug in.

Hey! He had to admit, the food at the government office really was pretty good.

That night, Lu Siye rode a shared bicycle to a parking spot near Jucai District. After putting the bike away, he walked to the entrance of the complex.

Jucai District was the sort of old residential complex built in the 1970s and '80s. It had been around for quite a while, and most of its facilities had begun to wear out. The few streetlights inside no longer shone brightly, barely illuminating the small areas around them.

Young people these days were drawn to trendy, stylish places, so in recent years tenants had been moving out of old complexes like this. The only ones left were elderly people who were used to living here and workers looking for cheap rent.

Most of the elderly went to bed early, so at this hour only a handful of apartments in Jucai District still had their lights on. The rest had already disappeared into the night.

Looking at the old complex before him, shrouded in darkness, Lu Siye considered where he should hide to draw out the ghost and catch it in the act.

Chen Feiguang was no longer at the Public Security Bureau. He had been sent back to Jucai District that afternoon so they wouldn't alert the culprit and could lure out the mastermind behind the incident.

"Hey, brother, since you're here, why don't you come out? Aren't you afraid of getting bitten by mosquitoes, hiding under a tree in the middle of summer?" After standing there for a long while, Lu Siye suddenly turned to look at a tree in the darkness some distance away and called out.

As soon as he finished speaking, a sweet-faced girl about five-foot-four stepped out from under the tree.

So it wasn't a brother, but a girl!

"Hello, handsome! My name is Wang Wenjing. The Town Demon Suppression Division sent me to help with the jumping incident. You can call me Wenjing, or Jinger!"

The girl looked to be in her early twenties. She wore a blue-green floral dress, her hair tied back in a ponytail, and radiated youthful energy.

Holding a fan, she smiled sweetly and clasped her hands in greeting.

Lu Siye narrowed his eyes as he looked at the girl who called herself Wang Wenjing.

For some reason, from the moment she appeared, he'd felt an indescribable sense of affinity coming from her.

It was like someone who loved natural scenery suddenly finding themselves before a breathtaking landscape.

He'd felt the same thing from Shangguan Qingxue before.

It seemed this girl was a cultivator, not a martial artist.

"Lu Siye, the one who investigated the jumping incident," Lu Siye said, returning her greeting.

"So you're the legendary badass, Big Brother! No wonder your qi and blood feel so hot and powerful." Wang Wenjing's eyes lit up as she came closer.

With her bright eyes wide open, she looked at Lu Siye without the slightest reserve.

A faint, sweet fragrance wafted toward him. It smelled a little like fresh grass and a little like flowers.

Faced with the intensity in her gaze, Lu Siye rubbed his nose, at a bit of a loss.

Honestly, in both his lives combined, this was the first time a girl who could be called beautiful had stared at him like this.

"Um... why do you call me the legendary badass?" Lu Siye decided to find something to talk about before things got awkward.

"Pfft." Wang Wenjing covered her mouth as she laughed, her eyes curving into crescents as she looked at Lu Siye.

"Big Brother Lu, you haven't heard? Your name spread through the Town Demon Suppression Division after you beat two Bound Spirits—and a Porsche—into a pancake."

"They say there's this badass who, while still an ordinary person, killed an Evil Ghost all by himself with nothing but a magical fruit knife."

"And then, in less than three days after joining the Town Demon Suppression Division, he reached the Night Patrol Envoy level and killed a Town Guard... Ahem... a Bound Spirit with three punches."

As Wang Wenjing excitedly described it, she clenched her fist and threw a few punches at the air.

"Everyone says he's a once-in-a-century martial arts genius!"

"Who knows how many people in the Town Demon Suppression Division want to meet this legendary badass in person."

"If I hadn't been quick enough to snag this assignment, Big Brother Lu, your partner this time wouldn't have been a cute girl like me!" Wang Wenjing said playfully.

"Haha, is that so?" Lu Siye rubbed his nose and gave a dry laugh.

So he really was that famous in the Town Demon Suppression Division!?

He even had a little fangirl now!

"By the way, Jinger... I mean, Wenjing, did you look over the case files before coming? What do you think of this incident?"

"Based on the files Big Brother Lu uploaded and the Town Demon Suppression Division's past cases, this incident may well involve a powerful organization," Wang Wenjing said solemnly, dropping her playful expression.

"A powerful organization?" Lu Siye mused.

"But we can't reach a conclusion until we've met the person involved!" Wang Wenjing added, shifting her tone.

"Then let's go see him first." Lu Siye nodded and led the way.

Chen Feiguang lived in room 703 on the seventh floor of Building B. Since Lu Siye and Wang Wenjing were both cultivators, they could reach the seventh floor in ten seconds.

When they reached room 703, Lu Siye knocked. The person who opened the door was a security officer he'd seen at the Public Security Bureau.

Inside, another security officer sat beside Chen Feiguang, keeping watch over him.

"Thanks for your hard work. You can head back now; we'll take it from here," Lu Siye said to the two officers after walking in.

"Then we'll leave it to you!" The two officers saluted them and went out.

Lu Siye closed the door, then turned around and watched Wang Wenjing walk over to Chen Feiguang.

At noon, Lu Siye had relit the Yang Fire above Chen Feiguang's head.

But he had only been conscious for less than two hours. For the rest of the time, he'd been dazed and absent-minded.

Even when Wang Wenjing came right up to him, he didn't react at all.

After examining Chen Feiguang for a while, Wang Wenjing's gaze gradually moved from his body to the top of his head.

It seemed she could see the strange black lines on him too.

After staring at his head for a while, Wang Wenjing formed several hand seals Lu Siye didn't recognize. Her eyes then turned golden.

"How is he?" After a moment, Lu Siye asked as her eyes returned to normal.

"He's under a Soul Control Art, and his soul has been shaken. Fortunately, the Yang Fire of his Heavenly Soul hasn't gone out. Otherwise, even if he survived this, he'd spend the rest of his life either an idiot or insane."

Wang Wenjing steadied the True Qi in her Dantian, then turned to Lu Siye.

"Soul Control Art?" Lu Siye murmured.

He could understand having one's soul shaken; after all, he'd read plenty of novels in his previous life. But what was a Soul Control Art?