Savior, Ghost Hunter

"Savior?"

Huang Bai murmured under his breath, then smiled.

If he really could slaughter the Ghost King, the title would not be much of an exaggeration.

For the time being, he could feed ghosts to the Inner Elixir while honing the four major curses.

The Solar Curse was for killing, the Lunar Curse for healing, the Brightsight Curse for finding ghosts and discerning evil, while the Wall-Piercing Curse made infiltration and escape easier.

Each of the four techniques had its own purpose. Together, they already formed a complete set of methods.

Over the following days, Huang Bai and the Miscellaneous Affairs Bureau worked together more and more smoothly, dealing with one paranormal incident after another.

Most of them were harmless, unconscious ghosts.

Such ghosts could not possess people and had little intelligence. They merely wandered back and forth through the places where their obsessions in life had been strongest. Huang Bai simply called them "Earthbound Spirits."

As they kept at it, the three of them grew increasingly proficient.

Huang Yaozu handled the investigations, Li Guoqiang ran errands and cleaned up afterward, while Huang Bai was responsible for taking action.

As they dealt with more paranormal incidents, Huang Bai became increasingly skilled with his curses. The Solar Curse in particular was nearing the point where he could cast it with a mere thought.

At the Taoist temple, Huang Bai sat cross-legged beneath a lamp, the Inner Elixir cradled in his hand as he slowly breathed in and out.

Dark light flowed across the Inner Elixir's surface, occasionally glimmering with faint strands of dim gold. It looked strange, yet carried an indescribably profound mystery.

Nourished by killing ghosts over this period, the medicinal power of the Inner Elixir had clearly grown another layer stronger.

After swallowing the Inner Elixir, his physical abilities now steadily surpassed those of ordinary people by a wide margin.

His phone suddenly rang.

Huang Bai reached out and answered it.

Li Guoqiang's urgent voice came through the line:

"Number 30 East Point Road, Causeway Bay. Red Star Society. Causeway Bay's boss, Brother Nan, has been confirmed possessed by a Vicious Ghost. We're trapped here, hurry—"

Before he could finish, the call abruptly cut off.

Just before the line died, Huang Bai could vaguely hear the sounds of doors being smashed and furious shouts from the other end.

Inside the mansion, the lights blazed as figures ran about in chaos.

"Don't run!"

"Stop!"

Tables and chairs overturned, cups and plates flew everywhere, and screams rang out from time to time. The entire hall was in utter chaos.

In a corner, Huang Yaozu was still dressed in his trench coat, his expression extremely grim as he and Li Guoqiang were forced back against the wall.

Across from them, more than a dozen thugs wielded knives, guns, clubs, and sticks, blocking every possible path.

All the mansion's doors and windows had been shut. No one outside could get in, and no one inside could easily get out.

"Don't move! I'm a police officer!" Huang Yaozu roared, holding up his gun. "Assaulting a police officer is a serious crime. Drop your weapons!"

Li Guoqiang flashed his ID as well and gritted his teeth. "I'm here for Brother Nan. This has nothing to do with you. If you don't want to die, get lost!"

At the stairway stood a long-haired young man in a suit, smiling as he watched the scene unfold. His eyes were full of viciousness and smug delight.

"They're fake cops," he said unhurriedly. "And their guns are out of bullets. Drag them out and throw them into the sea to feed the fish."

This man was Brother Nan.

More accurately, he was Brother Nan whose body had been taken over by his mortal enemy, Black Crow.

But the underlings below had no idea that their boss had long since been replaced.

Huang Yaozu and Li Guoqiang exchanged a glance. Knowing they could not bluff their way through this, they grabbed nearby chairs and smashed them at the closest men.

The hall instantly descended into chaos once more.

The two charged and blocked left and right, but they were badly outnumbered. They were about to be completely pinned down and finished here.

"Brother Nan" stood on the stairs, reaching up to touch his own face with an expression of pure satisfaction.

"Being a man is impressive. Being a ghost is even more impressive."

He had already made up his mind to use this body to gradually swallow up both the underworld and the legitimate world.

Cold sweat covered Huang Yaozu's back, and his palms were soaked.

"Fuck, we're really done for this time..."

Just then, a sudden change occurred.

The wall beside them suddenly bulged, and then a figure drilled straight through it.

Buzz!

A flash of cold light streaked through the air.

Before the two thugs charging in front could react, their knife-wielding right hands flew off at the wrists, and their screams exploded through the room.

Beneath the resplendent golden lights, the robed figure moved so quickly that he was practically like a ghost.

Bang!

With a flick of his hand, Huang Bai sent a golden gleam flying into the electrical switchboard.

The entire mansion was instantly plunged into darkness.

"Daoist priest!"

Huang Yaozu and Li Guoqiang were instantly invigorated.

"Protect yourselves," Huang Bai said quietly.

His face was covered with cloth, and with a ritual sword in hand, he moved through the darkness at incredible speed.

With physical abilities three times those of an ordinary person, coupled with the Wall-Piercing Curse and Brightsight Curse, a place like this was practically no different from his own backyard.

Those thugs could not even touch his shadow.

Someone had just raised a knife when the weapon had already snapped.

Someone tried to pounce on him, only for the sword's edge to sever their hand and leg tendons first.

Huang Bai did not kill them.

They might have been thugs, but they were ultimately just being used by someone else. They had not reached the point where they absolutely had to die. Taking away their ability to resist was enough.

Before long, Huang Bai had fought his way to "Brother Nan."

"What exactly are you?" Brother Nan's expression finally changed.

He reacted quickly, turning to slam himself into the wall.

When a Vicious Ghost possessed someone, if the host was killed, the ghost would perish with them.

But if the host committed suicide voluntarily, the ghost could remain in the corpse and wait for the next unlucky person to approach.

Nice try.

Huang Bai raised his hand and cast the Solar Curse.

Golden light tore through the air and struck squarely between Brother Nan's brows.

Bang!

Brother Nan's head jerked backward, and his soul body was blasted apart on the spot.

Specks of fluorescent light drifted out from the corpse and swiftly surged toward Huang Bai, all of them entering his body before settling into the Inner Elixir in his abdomen.

Huang Bai's heart stirred.

As expected.

The medicinal power provided by a Vicious Ghost was far beyond what ordinary Earthbound Spirits could offer.

This one had been more useful than dealing with a dozen or so Earthbound Spirits.

Amid the chaos, Huang Bai casually brought Huang Yaozu and Li Guoqiang out with him.

Once outside, Huang Yaozu took two breaths before his face filled with apology.

"I'm really sorry to trouble you with another trip."

Li Guoqiang had yet to recover from what he had just witnessed. His face was pale, and his voice was tight.

"That was a Vicious Ghost? When they possess someone... are there really no restrictions at all?"

"There are restrictions." Huang Bai shook his head. "Vicious Ghosts are not as convenient as you think. Too many possessions will reduce their Yin Lifespan."

Over this period, he had looked through many old books and gradually learned some of the rules.

Vicious Ghosts generally could not survive beyond forty-nine years. Each possession shortened their Yin Lifespan. The more frequently they possessed others, the sooner they died, until their souls finally scattered.

That explained two things.

Why this was not a world where Vicious Ghosts ran rampant through the streets.

And why Vicious Ghosts, despite being able to possess people, had not simply appeared and taken over the world.

The older a ghost was, the more it cherished its life. They would not casually switch bodies, especially those that had lived long and hidden deeply. They would never lightly gamble with their own Yin Lifespan.

A Ghost King at that level likely had a Yin Lifespan of over a hundred years, making it far more difficult to deal with than an ordinary Vicious Ghost.

Afterward, Huang Yaozu returned to the police station to report in and entered his superior's office.

The room was brightly lit.

His superior, dressed in a spotless white uniform, sat with his head lowered, continuously stuffing food into his mouth as though he could never get full.

"Sir Liu, the ghost possessing Brother Nan in Causeway Bay has been dealt with. Aside from Brother Nan, three others assaulted police officers and were shot dead by me."

"Mm."

Liu did not even raise his head and continued eating.

"Well done. I'll have someone suppress the aftermath. Take a few days off first."

"Yes, sir."

Huang Yaozu was about to leave when Liu suddenly spoke again.

"Oh, right, Azu. That resignation application you submitted before..."

Huang Yaozu turned around and shook his head.

"I'm not resigning."

Whoever held the position of chief of the Miscellaneous Affairs Bureau was doomed to misfortune.

The previous bureau chiefs had either died under mysterious circumstances or ended up impoverished and destitute. Few had met a good end.

Huang Yaozu had long since lost heart. He had submitted his resignation and wanted to get as far away from this mess as possible.

But things were different now.

Now, he had finally seen a glimmer of hope.

Only then did Liu raise his head and glance at Huang Yaozu.

Today, Huang Yaozu had shaved his beard clean and carried no smell of alcohol. He looked much more spirited overall.

"That's fine too." Liu nodded. "I don't trust newcomers. Old hands like you are still easier to use."

Huang Yaozu acknowledged him and turned to leave.

After the office door closed, Liu finally finished the food on his desk. He leisurely wiped his mouth, then picked up the phone.

"Come in."

Soon, a capable-looking man pushed the door open.

"Sir Liu."

"Yaozu has been earning too much merit lately." Liu's tone was calm. "It's about time for him to retire. Arrange a Vicious Ghost for him and give him a respectable ending."

"Yes, sir."

The man turned and withdrew.

Liu tapped the computer on his desk, and the fax machine soon spat out two documents.

<Compensation Arrangements for the Death in the Line of Duty of Miscellaneous Affairs Bureau Chief Huang Yaozu>

<Transfer and Appointment Document for the New Miscellaneous Affairs Bureau Chief>

He glanced over them, then picked up the phone again to order takeout. Afterward, he lowered his head and continued eating in huge mouthfuls.

"Hong Kong doesn't need ghost hunters this capable."

At the same time, undercurrents began to stir elsewhere.

Chen Fulai, the serial killer whom Li Guoqiang had shot dead, had become a Vicious Ghost after death and specialized in possessing young girls.

After two young girls committed suicide under mysterious circumstances, the Miscellaneous Affairs Bureau finally took notice.