"I'm just helping you vet her so you don't get fooled again. It won't get in the way of your business." Seeing this, Lin Chen could only try to talk him around. Being this guy's godfather was exhausting!
"All right!"
The fatso finally nodded. Although he believed Xiao Rui wasn't the same kind of person as Jingjing, he knew what he was like. He wasn't rich, handsome, or tall, and ordinary girls weren't interested in him. Having someone help vet her couldn't hurt.
The fatso immediately took Lin Chen to the place he'd arranged to meet Xiao Rui. It was by the school's back gate, beside a secluded stretch of landscaped woods.
Seeing how deserted the place was, with no one around, Lin Chen gave him a speechless look. "You really have guts!"
What normal person would meet someone here? It wasn't like they were coming to have sex in the woods!
Only someone with the fatso's emotional intelligence would actually trust her and come here alone. If Lin Chen hadn't rushed back tonight, he might have been collecting the fatso's corpse tomorrow.
The fatso was about to say something when three figures suddenly appeared in the distance. The one in the middle was a pretty, delicate-looking young woman.
When the woman saw the fatso, she hurriedly shouted, "Run!"
"Smack!"
Before she'd even finished speaking, the man beside her slapped her across the face. Seeing this, the fatso flew into a rage and rushed straight toward her.
"What the hell... What's going on?"
Lin Chen was also a little dumbfounded. The woman had told the fatso to run? Wasn't she here for him?
While Lin Chen was still reeling in confusion, the two men beside the woman moved. In an instant, they were next to the fatso and reached for him.
"What?" The fatso stared at the two men who had appeared beside him, completely stunned. He was still seven or eight meters away from Xiao Rui, yet the men had reached him in the blink of an eye?
The fatso had witnessed supernatural events before. At that moment, how could he not realize that the two men before him probably weren't ordinary people?
"Godfather, help!"
"Good son, your father's coming!"
Lin Chen laughed heartily and appeared beside the fatso in an instant. His fist, wreathed in Blood Qi True Flame, came down, and the two men turned to flying ash in the blink of an eye.
Lin Chen looked at Xiao Rui in the distance, his voice cold. "Since you just told the fatso to run for his life, I'll give you a chance to explain yourself!"
If Xiao Rui hadn't just had a change of heart, she'd have turned to ash too!
The fatso looked at Xiao Rui in the distance, then turned to Lin Chen. "Old Lin, Xiao Rui, she..."
"A ghost!"
The fatso's expression shifted, but he didn't say anything more. At least Xiao Rui had told him to run just now. In that respect, she still had some affection for him.
"Brother Qi is the leader of the ghosts around here. He controls some of them and uses them to find prey. I'm one of the ghosts he controls." Xiao Rui glanced at the fatso, then continued, "Last night, someone bullied me. Before I could fight back, he stepped in to save me."
"I never planned to take his life, but one of Brother Qi's men found out and forced me to kill him." Xiao Rui paused briefly, then continued, "He's too innocent and doesn't know how cruel the world can be. I couldn't bring myself to do it, so I planned to let him go."
So that was what happened!
"Take me to Brother Qi!" Lin Chen looked at Xiao Rui.
"All right!"
Xiao Rui didn't hesitate.
"Fatso, go back and wait for me!" Lin Chen looked at the fatso.
The fatso quickly shook his head. "I'd rather come with you. I'm scared to go back alone!"
He'd encountered ghosts twice recently. For an ordinary person, that was a pretty high frequency. The main reason the fatso had survived was Lin Chen.
The fatso knew he'd be safer with Lin Chen, so he chose to stick with him.
Lin Chen's mouth twitched slightly at this, but he still nodded.
He immediately took Xiao Rui and the fatso to the parking lot. The moment the fatso saw the Big G, his eyes went wide. "What the hell, Old Lin, is this your car? When did you buy it?"
The fatso had heard of the Big G and knew it cost several million. Even Zhang Song and Xu Fei couldn't afford one. Yet Lin Chen had gone and bought it without saying a word?
"I bought it a couple of days ago. It's pretty good for getting around," Lin Chen said calmly.
The fatso stared at Lin Chen in disbelief. "Good grief, Old Lin, listen to yourself! That's a Big G, and you're saying it's just for getting around—and pretty good at that?"
"If I'm not using it to get around, what else would I use it for?" Lin Chen rolled his eyes at the fatso.
"Of course, you'd use it for... getting around!"
The fatso had wanted to say, "picking up girls," but Xiao Rui was right there. Though she was a female ghost, he'd once had feelings for her. He just couldn't bring himself to talk about picking up girls in front of someone he'd liked.
"Call me godfather!" Lin Chen looked at the fatso, then continued, "If you get the chance, I'll let you drive it for a couple of days!"
"Godfather, godfather, godfather!" the fatso hurriedly cried.
"What the hell? I told you to call me godfather, not to bark like a dog!"
Lin Chen's face darkened. That damn fatso really had no shame when it came to getting behind the wheel.
With Xiao Rui leading the way, Lin Chen soon arrived at an alley in the neighboring district and found a half-open gambling den.
"This is Brother Qi's lair." Xiao Rui looked at Lin Chen.
"Wait here. I'll be right back!"
Lin Chen glanced at the fatso and Xiao Rui, then suddenly moved and charged into the gambling den. He was back out in no more than three to five minutes. The ghosts inside had all been killed.
"That fast?"
When the fatso saw Lin Chen return, a look of astonishment crossed his face. It had only been a few minutes!
"You're the one who's fast! Your whole family's fast! I'm strong, all right?" Lin Chen rolled his eyes at the fatso.
Pfft—
Just then, a sudden laugh came from beside them. It was none other than Xiao Rui.
The fatso looked at Xiao Rui with a complicated expression, then turned to Lin Chen. "Old Lin, could you..."
She was a girl he'd once liked... a female ghost. On top of that, she hadn't meant to hurt him. The fatso truly couldn't bear to watch Lin Chen kill her.
"Wait a bit. I'll contact the Demon Suppression Division first!"
Lin Chen was also in a bit of a bind. Xiao Rui might have harmed people before, but at least she'd treated the fatso with some decency. Besides, she'd mostly been forced by Brother Qi to hurt people.
So Lin Chen wasn't sure what to do with Xiao Rui. If the fatso hadn't been there, Lin Chen could have killed her without feeling any burden.
But now that the fatso had spoken up, Lin Chen found it hard to bring himself to kill Xiao Rui. He could only call the Demon Suppression Division first, report what had happened, and ask how they handled cases like Xiao Rui's.
Lin Chen immediately called Xu Fei and told him about the ghosts and Xiao Rui.
"There are generally two ways we handle ghosts like this in the Demon Suppression Division. The first is to join us as an external operative and help the Division deal with supernatural creatures. In return, you'll receive resources that can help you grow stronger," Xu Fei's voice came through the phone.
"The second is simpler. You just report to the Demon Suppression Division every so often and accept our supervision."
Before you continue