Strongest Ghost-Catching System

The hot, damp air hit Chen Feng's face again. A new loop had begun.

"Handsome, you don't look well. You'd better find somewhere to shelter before it rains."

You keep chasing me down and killing me. How the hell am I supposed to look well?

Chen Feng was seething, but he forced a smile and waved. "Next time. Definitely next time."

After sending the landlady away, Chen Feng calmed himself and reviewed what had happened in the previous loops.

"I died again."

"Without the Save-Load System, I'd be three lives in debt by now. No wonder so many transmigrators before me died here. This place is no joke."

"Judging by the first and fourth loops, it doesn't matter where I am—in the Happiness Internet Cafe or in a car miles away. The moment I fall asleep, the landlady drags me into a dream and drains me dry."

"So if I want to see tomorrow's sun, I have to strike first. I need to kill the landlady before I go to sleep."

With his goal set, Chen Feng called up the system.

[User: Chen Feng]

[Save-Load Count: 5]

[System Points: 4]

[Mission: Eliminate the Happiness Internet Cafe (Incomplete)]

[Mission: Eliminate the Water Ghost (Complete)]

"Completed missions can't be repeated. So much for farming points from the suicidal girl and the Water Ghost."

Chen Feng looked at the four System Points he had earned last time, but didn't rush to exchange them all for Save-Load Counts. He still had a new system to choose. What if he found one with something good to exchange for, only to have no points left?

Once again, he had three boxes to choose from.

This time, the new box replacing the Great Villain System bore the identifier LY-03-ZQZG. It said, "The goal is to become a master of ghosts!"

Wait. This is—!

The LY identifier marked it as supernatural. Chen Feng was overjoyed. Images of classic supernatural figures raced through his mind: a Maoshan Taoist wielding the Five Thunders Righteous Art, an Exorcist armed with a silver crossbow, an onmyoji commanding shikigami, a Medium who could commune with gods and ghosts...

I finally hit the jackpot!

Without a moment's hesitation, Chen Feng grabbed the supernatural box and refined it in an instant:

[Ding! Congratulations! You have successfully activated the Strongest Ghost-Catching System!]

A passage of text appeared before Chen Feng's eyes.

[1: Defeat a ghost in battle.

2: Fulfill the ghost's obsession and wish.

Once the user meets both conditions, they can subdue the ghost and make it their subordinate.]

"So I have to beat them and grant their wishes? Those conditions are harsh."

Harsh as they were, Chen Feng already had a promising candidate: the Water Ghost.

For one thing, Chen Feng knew the Water Ghost was weak to fire. He had also successfully killed it in the last loop, so meeting the first condition shouldn't be a problem.

For another, Chen Feng had seen the Water Ghost break into the Happiness Internet Cafe during the second loop, then heard its story from Old Li during the third. He was certain of its wish: revenge on the landlady!

With his target settled, Chen Feng once again stopped Old Li and Zhang Ruobing as they came out of the Internet Cafe. His message boiled down to six words: "Officers, I'm hungry. Feed me, please."

Then they headed for Cihang Bridge.

On the way, Old Li told his story again. "The reason so many people have died at Cihang Bridge is—the Water Ghost."

"Oh," Chen Feng said.

Old Li looked surprised. "You're not shocked? It's a Water Ghost!"

"Tell me something I don't know," Chen Feng said flatly.

"Superstitious nonsense. I'd rather listen to the news."

Zhang Ruobing turned on the radio. After a stretch of soothing music, a man's polished announcer voice came on:

"The annual Youth Mental Health Work Briefing will be held at nine in the morning at the Municipal Administrative Center's conference hall later this month... Professors renowned for their work in mental health have been invited to help guide minors toward engaging with the online world in a safe, healthy, and civilized manner."

As the dull news played, the car reached Cihang Bridge.

Then came the same familiar sequence: the girl jumped into the river, the Water Ghost appeared, and it began climbing the rope.

This time, however, Chen Feng didn't let Old Li and Zhang Ruobing cut the rope. Instead, he asked to borrow a light.

"Uncle Li, let me use your lighter."

"Sure, but I don't have any cigarettes."

"Why waste it on a cigarette? Watch me light up a Water Ghost. That'll pack a punch."

Chen Feng waited for the Water Ghost to climb the rescue rope, then set it alight.

Flames spread across it at a terrifying speed. In the last loop, the Water Ghost had been hit by a car and shot more than fifty times before the fire finally destroyed it. This time, merely being set ablaze didn't kill it. It collapsed to the ground, temporarily unable to fight.

The charred, human-shaped figure writhed on the ground. Chen Feng stopped Old Li and Zhang Ruobing as they drew their guns, then stepped forward alone. "I know your story. I know that wicked woman killed you, and you want revenge."

"She's after me too. If I don't kill her, I won't survive the night. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, right? How about we team up?"

After Chen Feng finished speaking, a system notification sounded in his ear.

[Ding! Congratulations, host! You have temporarily subdued the Water Ghost!]

[Water Ghost (Temporarily Subdued)]

[Resentment Level: ★★★ (Three Stars)]

[Trait: Loves Water. The Water Ghost has immense strength in water and can teleport short distances through bodies of water.]

[Trait: Loves Rain. When it rains, the Water Ghost can leave the shore, and its blurred form is difficult to make out.]

[Weakness: Fire. Though born of water, the Water Ghost's body is coated in corpse oil and ignites on contact with flame.]

Detailed information about the Water Ghost surfaced in Chen Feng's mind.

"So the Water Ghost can teleport short distances through water. No wonder it suddenly appeared in the second-floor bathroom when it had been on the Internet Cafe's first floor during the second loop. And in the fourth, it caught up with us even after we'd driven so far."

The resentment level was the system's measure of a ghost's combat strength. The more people a ghost harmed and the stronger its resentment, the higher its star rating and the greater its power.

With the Water Ghost dealt with, Chen Feng told the still-shaken Old Li and Zhang Ruobing, "I've subdued the Water Ghost beneath Cihang Bridge. It won't hurt anyone again."

Old Li couldn't help asking, "Thank you for saving me, but who exactly are you?"

"Who I am doesn't matter," Chen Feng said. "What matters is that I came here specifically for the homeless people's disappearance case."

Surprise flashed in Old Li's eyes. "You know about that case too?"

Chen Feng nodded. He hadn't wanted to draw suspicion, but anyone with half a brain could tell which was stronger: the landlady, with a nine-point bounty, or the Water Ghost, with a three-point bounty.

To deal with the landlady, Chen Feng needed more fighting strength. That meant convincing Old Li to help. "Officers, what I'm about to tell you may be frightening. The truth is, the disappearance case wasn't the work of one person!"

"How many people were involved?" Zhang Ruobing asked.

"You misunderstand," Chen Feng said. "I don't mean it was a group. I mean whoever did it wasn't human."

Under normal circumstances, Zhang Ruobing would have scoffed and taken him for a lunatic.

But after what she had just seen of the Water Ghost, even she was wavering. "You're saying the disappearances are connected to supernatural forces too?"

"Exactly."

Chen Feng told them everything: how the Demoness landlady used her looks to lure homeless people in, hired them as Internet Cafe attendants, killed them one by one, and hung their skins in the attic.

"That doesn't make sense." Old Li had received plenty of tips and had long suspected the Happiness Internet Cafe, but after their investigation today, "We went up to the third floor. There was nothing unusual there besides some wood and sand."

Chen Feng narrowed his eyes. Sand absorbed water, and wood burned easily. The landlady had known the Water Ghost would come for her. But if they hadn't found the human skins, had she hidden them?

"Why don't we go back and investigate together?" Old Li suggested.

"No, no, no!"

Chen Feng waved both hands. The landlady had killed nearly a hundred transmigrators with systems. If just the three of them went in, they'd be walking to their deaths.

"Uncle Li, call in as many people as you can."

Old Li looked troubled. "We need evidence before we can call for backup."

"Uncle Li, if we don't shut down the Happiness Internet Cafe tonight, we might never get another chance. Who knows how many more people will be hurt?"

At those words,

Old Li's gaze grew resolute. "All right. I believe you."

Zhang Ruobing whipped around to look at her mentor. "Sir, what if he's wrong..."

Old Li cut his apprentice off. "Even if he is, we still have to go. That's what being police officers means."

And so, an hour later,

Three police cars pulled up outside the Happiness Internet Cafe. Amid wailing sirens and pounding rain, eight officers carrying heavy batons and stun guns got out, rushed into the Internet Cafe, and shouted:

"Don't move! Hands on your heads and crouch down!"

"We have crucial evidence linking this Internet Cafe to the recent disappearances. Cooperate with our investigation."

"Anyone not involved, leave the premises immediately."

Chen Feng stood among the officers, in excellent spirits. Landlady, I'm fucking here!