A faint curve formed at the corner of Lu Ding's mouth.
This guy really was a stubborn mule. Even now, he still wouldn't use it.
"Fine, I'll respect his wishes."
With things settled here, Lu Ding stood to leave. He still had to return to the bureau to turn in his mission.
Just then, Ji Hong called out to stop him.
"Investigator Lu, could you please wait a little? I don't need compensation. I just hope you could stay a little longer before leaving, all right?"
"Sure, I'll wait a while."
Not having to pay compensation was naturally best. Every investigator had a compensation allowance. For trainee investigators, it was five million a month. Once that was used up, a different set of standards applied.
This was also to prevent investigators from relying on state compensation and cutting loose whenever they fought, turning into mobile artillery batteries and bombarding everything indiscriminately.
So every little bit saved counted.
Seeing Lu Ding agree, Ji Hong turned back to Bai Xiaoxiao. "Miss Bai, can you treat my daughter now?"
"C-can I?"
As Bai Xiaoxiao spoke, she looked toward Lu Ding.
"What are you looking at me for? They invited you here to treat someone, so do it."
"Oh, oh, right. Yes, of course. I'll treat her right now. Where's the second young lady?"
Ji Hong led the way. "Over here."
Once the two left, only Lu Ding and the other two remained in the living room.
Ji Feiyu leaned weakly against the sofa, turning to look at Lu Ding as he pulled over a chair and sat down.
Beside him, Yan Feifan stood respectfully.
Who knew where she found the courage, but she stared straight at Lu Ding, gradually becoming lost in thought.
Yan Feifan bent down and whispered into his ear, "Brother Lu, she's probably developed a little Stockholm syndrome. Plus, you're handsome, and what you did just now was really too brutal. She might have a bit of a thing for certain things, too, so she might be interested in you."
Her gaze was far too unrestrained. Lu Ding asked, "Like what you see?"
Ji Feiyu nodded instinctively, then hurriedly shook her head.
Suddenly, waves of chill swept over them, accompanied by harsh shouts.
"Junior of the Bai family, you're nowhere near worthy of breaking my spell!!!!"
Lu Ding shot to his feet. There was another monster!?
He couldn't stand anyone acting arrogant in front of him. He had to see what was going on.
Inside Ji Yanshuang's room.
Black mist rose, and a white-clad female ghost with half her body illusory floated within it.
Bai Xiaoxiao trembled. She had never imagined that the Ji family's second young lady had provoked such a vicious ghost.
She really couldn't exorcise this "evil."
Bang!!!
The same sound, the same entrance.
The door was smashed apart, and several fierce slashes cut into the black mist, drawing screams.
"Come on!!! Let's see whether you can break my spell!!!"
Within the black mist, the female ghost stared at Lu Ding as he burst through the door, her face twisted and blood streaming from her eyes.
Seeing the badge on his chest, the ghost snarled, "Bureau 749!!!!"
Hundreds of slashes cut toward her, skipping straight past whatever Lu Ding would have said next. The black mist scattered instantly.
"I've memorized your aura. I'll come looking for you."
The female ghost dispersed along with the black mist.
Lu Ding's expression instantly darkened.
A ghost had set its sights on him?
That was no good.
A thief could spend a thousand days stealing, but who could spend a thousand days guarding against thieves?
On the bed, with the vicious ghost haunting Ji Yanshuang gone, her eyelids stirred, showing signs of opening.
Lu Ding stepped forward.
The moment Ji Yanshuang opened her eyes, Lu Ding's face filled her vision.
As a sense of safety enveloped her, their eyes met, and a savage, invasive intensity followed, bearing down on her.
"Where did you run into that ghost just now?"
Although Ji Yanshuang's mind was still somewhat muddled after just waking up, she understood what Lu Ding was asking.
That female ghost had tormented her in her dreams for so long.
It had felt as though an entire lifetime had passed like that.
After a good while, Ji Yanshuang said, "Baiyao Ancient Town. Yes, Baiyao Ancient Town. I went there to look at Baiyao porcelain, and then I started dreaming about her after I came back."
Baiyao Ancient Town!
Lu Ding committed the name to memory.
"Yan Feifan, check whether there are any missions for Baiyao Ancient Town."
Rather than wait for someone to come knocking, he might as well go straight to her door, catch her unprepared, and tear her soul to shreds.
Of course, even without a mission, Lu Ding would go. He had no desire to have someone watching him from the shadows all the time.
Having a mission would make things more convenient. He could complete it along the way and treat it as a publicly funded trip. If he smashed anything, the authorities would pay for it, too.
Yan Feifan immediately understood what Lu Ding meant.
He picked up his phone and started checking.
After searching for quite a while, Yan Feifan shook his head. "Brother Lu, I couldn't find anything."
Lu Ding frowned. It looked like he would have to make this trip on his own.
"Forget it, then. Let's head back to the bureau first."
Lu Ding turned to leave, and Ji Hong called out, "Investigator Lu? Why not stay for a simple meal before you go? It won't take much of your time."
Lu Ding declined. "No need."
He had to hurry back to turn in his mission, then head to Baiyao Ancient Town.
She dared threaten him!!
His cheat had been bottled up for almost twenty years and had finally awakened, and she dared threaten him!
He wasn't going to indulge anyone.
Ji Hong escorted Lu Ding and Yan Feifan to the door and watched their vehicle drive away.
At some point, Ji Yanshuang had made her way into the living room.
Seeing the bloodstains and dismembered corpse filling the room, she felt somewhat uncomfortable, but she had seen even more horrifying scenes in her dreams.
So she didn't think it was that big a deal.
On the sofa, the sisters, Ji Feiyu and Ji Yanshuang, held each other and had a thorough cry.
Then the younger sister, Ji Yanshuang, asked, "Sis, where did you and Dad find that Investigator Lu?"
"Find them? Your family couldn't possibly find people like them."
It was Bai Xiaoxiao, who had yet to leave, who said this from beside them.
Ji Yanshuang cast her a curious look. She was cute, with innocent eyes, and having just recovered from a serious illness, she carried an air of frailty.
Her voice was soft and gentle. "Big sister, do you know Investigator Lu?"
Though Bai Xiaoxiao was a woman herself, how could she withstand being addressed like that? The girl was so cute she could explode.
She was practically seeing stars.
She cleared her throat. "Ahem. You can't go spreading what I'm about to tell you. I'm in the business, and you're not, so just listen."
"Investigator Lu belongs to Bureau 749, the National Security Investigation and Containment Bureau. It's different from ordinary State Security. Bureau 749 is primarily responsible for investigating and containing all supernatural incidents that occur in our Great Han."
"As well as cases of spirits, monsters, and demons committing evil."
"Their duties are to arrest, imprison, and contain those spirits, monsters, and demons that cause harm. But this Investigator Lu seems a little too bloodthirsty to me. It's not against the rules, but he's too brutal. Just watching him is frightening. Who tears someone apart alive?"
The sisters took her words to heart. Ji Yanshuang looked at the pools of blood covering the floor.
"So the one who died was a demon?"
"No. Like me, he should have been a spirit medium. Except mine is an orthodox immortal lineage, with someone to vouch for it. He was an unorthodox one and probably committed some crime, too. Then, somehow, your sister invited him over to treat you, and that's what brought Bureau 749 here."
Ji Feiyu hurriedly said, "I only met him by chance at the mountain goods market. He said something unclean had attached itself to me. Later, he called me and asked me to bail him out. He also said he could save your life, and said you... so I invited him over."