Another Tree Demon?

As night fell, the entirety of Binhai City lit up.

Two electric scooters wove through the flow of traffic, traveling from the city center all the way toward a residential complex in the suburbs.

An hour later, the two finally reached their destination.

This was a new district developed in Binhai City over the past few years; the subway had only recently opened. One side already had a high occupancy rate, while the other was still under construction.

The white light of searchlights shone from behind the color-steel hoardings ahead. Inside the enclosure, machines roared; even at this hour, the construction site had not yet clocked off.

Shen Qing parked his scooter and looked up.

A towering tree immediately came into view. Its canopy was lush, but the trunk was pitch-black, with a large chunk missing from the middle.

Those were the charred remains left behind after being scorched by lightning.

Shen Qing frowned. Wasn't this the construction site where his older brother worked?

Although he didn't know the name of the site, he had sensed something on the way here, but since there was another construction site nearby belonging to a different company, he had subconsciously avoided thinking in that direction.

"This tree is still alive. It's a five-hundred-year-old ancient tree, a first-class protected plant."

Xie Chong parked his scooter and walked over, looking around as if he were very familiar with the place.

"It survived a direct hit from a heavenly thunderbolt a year ago. If it hadn't been so severely burned, it probably would have become a spirit by now."

"It might not be without spirit even now."

Shen Qing shook his head. He felt a bit triggered seeing ancient trees lately, especially one of this age.

"But there's no reaction."

Xie Chong waved the instrument in his hand—a palm-sized metal box—but the screen showed no response.

"We're standing right in front of it. If there really were a spirit or monster, logically speaking, there should be some kind of reaction."

He tapped the casing of the device, though unfortunately, it wasn't like an old television where a few smacks would do the trick.

"Let's go inside and take a look."

The construction site hadn't finished work yet, and since they hadn't spotted anything unusual, they secretly climbed over the hoardings to sneak in.

After circling the site, the two still hadn't found anything, until a sudden cry of alarm rang out not far away.

"Ghost!!"

Hearing the shout, the two hurried over to find several workers already gathered around.

Nothing serious had happened; a worker had fallen to the ground, pointing in one direction with a pale face.

"Old Zhou, what's wrong with you?"

"What ghost? What did you see?"

The scene was filled with noise and confusion.

Seeing this, the two didn't reveal themselves, retreating back into the shadows while Xie Chong scanned the area.

"Where's the ghost?"

Shen Qing suddenly turned his head; something seemed to have flashed by in the direction of the big tree. "Did you notice a phantom flash past?"

He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination.

Xie Chong looked in that direction, squinting his eyes hard, then shook his head. "No. How about we wait a bit longer? Yin energy is strongest at midnight; we might discover something then."

The two hid in a corner just like that, and by the time midnight arrived, the construction site still hadn't clocked off.

"Should we pull out?"

Xie Chong let out a yawn. They had been squatting for ages with nothing to show for it, and his legs had gone numb.

Shen Qing didn't respond; his expression suddenly turned serious.

"That boss knows a bit about our situation, right? Contact him directly and have him tell the workers to clock off."

"Clock off? Why?"

Seeing Shen Qing's grave expression, Xie Chong immediately shut his mouth and stopped asking, taking out his phone to look for the number.

"Is it trying to intimidate ghosts?"

Shen Qing muttered to himself. In his field of vision, a truly illusory figure had appeared, yet the instrument in their hands showed no reaction.

Without the slightest hesitation, he bit down on his middle finger, and a fragrant, bloody scent permeated his mouth.

Some viscous blood seeped from the wound, forming a single bead of blood.

"I... I mean no harm."

Just as Shen Qing was about to flick the blood bead out, the phantom spoke. The voice seemed to emerge directly from his mind, trembling slightly.

"No, what are you doing!"

Xie Chong, who had just finished the call, turned his head to see Shen Qing's index finger dripping with blood and was instantly startled.

Why did he suddenly start self-mutilating? Was he possessed by a ghost?

Meanwhile, under the same veil of night, Jiang Cheng, who was busy pouring concrete, frowned and glanced at Old Zhou, who was resting not far away.

"The frequency of seeing ghosts is increasing. What on earth is going on?"

Originally, these sightings occurred three times a week, but now it was once a day. Fatigue alone couldn't explain it, though fortunately, no further injuries had occurred.

But what was the root cause? If things continued like this, he really wouldn't be able to keep this job.

In his pocket, his phone suddenly vibrated. Jiang Cheng took it out and saw it was Skinflint Zhao.

"Hello?"

Before he could even speak, he heard the voice on the other end and froze. "What? Clock out?"

This Skinflint Zhao usually wished they worked twenty-four hours a day, preferably for free.

What was going on today?

"Take a break today. I'm tired of hearing you lot talk about seeing ghosts all the time. Just get off work already, I'll cover the losses."

Skinflint Zhao's voice on the other end of the line was stiff, carrying obvious irritation and annoyance, but Jiang Cheng didn't care.

Although he didn't know the situation, no one would turn down an early shift, so he quickly passed the word along.

The workers shut down the machines and dispersed one after another. Jiang Cheng walked out of the construction site and stretched his neck. "Finally, an early shift today."

Usually, they didn't finish until two in the morning, but today it was only eleven—three hours ahead of schedule.

It was just a shame there was no one at home.

Standing by the roadside, Jiang Cheng was just about to scan a shared electric scooter to head home when his peripheral vision caught two familiar-looking electric bikes parked nearby.

"Whoosh!"

Before he could think too much, a more familiar black car drove past and stopped at the construction site entrance, where a bald, middle-aged man appeared.

"Skinflint Zhao?!"

Jiang Cheng immediately changed direction. Since Skinflint Zhao had finally shown his face, collecting his wages was the priority!

At the same time, inside the construction site.

Xie Chong, having just finished installing the dispersion device, brushed the dust off his body and stood up. He looked at Shen Qing, who was chatting with thin air, and was instantly bewildered.

"Wait, are there really ghosts?"

But why couldn't he see anything? Xie Chong looked at the instrument in his hand, feeling even more confused.

"Alright, I understand."

Shen Qing nodded and took one last look at the emerald-green, illusory figure fading away before him.

He turned to look at Xie Chong.

"It's not exactly a ghost; it's the essence of this ancient tree. But due to a lightning strike and fire a year ago, it's too weak for normal people to see.

Unless one is exhausted to the extreme, their Yang energy is waning, or they possess a powerful soul, they wouldn't notice it."

"So, your soul is stronger than mine?"

Xie Chong's expression shifted from bewilderment to existential doubt. He could accept that he couldn't beat Shen Qing in a fight, but his elemental ability was less powerful in soul than a physical-type ability?

It didn't matter, though. He was too lazy to dwell on it and straightened his expression.

"Was it responsible for what happened before?"

As he spoke, Xie Chong pulled a talisman from the small pouch at his waist, ready to act. He didn't care if it was weak or not; harming people was wrong.

"Where is it?"

His elemental Mystic Ability could inflict some damage on spiritual bodies, but he couldn't find the target.

"It was," Shen Qing nodded, "but it didn't do it on purpose."

Xie Chong was stunned for a moment, his expression turning strange. "What, don't tell me you've gone soft?"

The kind of human-ghost romance seen on TV wouldn't happen in real life, would it?

But considering Shen Qing had hammered another Tree Demon to death last time, that didn't seem right.

"It's not here anymore. Let me finish."

Shen Qing looked toward the direction of the large tree. "Its previous behavior was all to attract attention. There are other demons buried beneath this ground."

He then proceeded to explain the information he had gathered.

"..."

"You're saying there's a demon buried under this tree that's been there for a year without being discovered? Damn, that sounds like it won't be easy to deal with!"

Xie Chong was dumbfounded. To be safe, he immediately made a call. "No, I have to call for backup. We need reinforcements."

"Reinforcements?"

Shen Qing shook his head. "I hope they make it in time. Don't forget to install the dispersion device; it will attract the demon's attention."

The dispersion tool was meant to keep people away, not to disperse the crowd directly, and using it would draw the demon's notice.