"It seems she's already realized her situation is critical and knows to be wary of us." Fan Bisi said with furrowed brows.
"How is that possible?"
Hearing his brother say this, Fan Wujiu couldn't help but be somewhat surprised:
"This country girl has no knowledge—you know that too, brother. She's timid and weak. If you tell her to go east, she wouldn't dare go west. She stays in the Demon-Suppressing Bureau all day, cautious and restrained. How would she dare lie to our faces?"
"After experiencing life and death, why couldn't someone get smarter?"
Fan Bisi, hearing his brother's words, first hesitated, then shook his head, unsure whether he was trying to convince his brother or himself:
"She was attacked and killed by a malevolent ghost. It's normal for her to realize something was wrong before death."
"So what?" Fan Wujiu didn't know why his brother was so concerned about Zhao Fusheng's change. He said unconcernedly:
"Even if she got smarter, it's useless. She's just a country girl without the strength to truss a chicken. Now with both parents dead, fallen into our hands—what trouble could she possibly stir up—"
"Fool!"
Fan Bisi rebuked in a low voice.
Scolded by his brother, Fan Wujiu was stunned, then said unhappily:
"Brother, you're just too cautious."
"What was our original plan?" Fan Bisi could hear his brother's dissatisfaction, but he took a deep breath, then calmed his emotions and asked his brother.
Fan Wujiu said:
"We originally planned to leave Wan'an County and go to the neighboring county to seek refuge with Vice Magistrate Zheng of Baozhi County."
"Correct." Fan Bisi forcibly suppressed his anxiety and nodded:
"But when we magistrate assistants entered the bureau, we already lit up our names in Wan'an County Demon-Suppressing Bureau's Life-Soul Register."
When the court established the Demon-Suppressing Bureaus, they generally gave their subordinate magistrate assistants generous compensation, but conversely, to prevent these chief magistrates and magistrate assistants from becoming too powerful and uncontrollable later, they also imposed constraints on them.
The method of constraint was this so-called Life-Soul Register.
Once entering the Demon-Suppressing Bureau, one's personal Life-Soul Register must be lit.
After the Life-Soul Register was lit, that person was bound to that Demon-Suppressing Bureau for life, with no escape except through death.
The chief magistrates and magistrate assistants could only move freely within their assigned territories and couldn't leave their posts without authorization for long periods. Generally, the limit was three days. Once violating this order, they would trigger the Life-Soul Register's constraint.
After being constrained, the light punishment was serious injury; the severe punishment was the soul being devoured by backlash, soul scattered and spirit dispersed, reduced to a walking corpse.
But naturally, the court wouldn't be so inflexible in employing people. Though the Life-Soul Register couldn't be released, other methods could be used to transfer or temporarily reassign it.
According to court laws, if a chief magistrate had merit in expelling ghosts during their term, or possessed extraordinary abilities, they might be summoned by the court for further promotion.
And higher-ranking individuals held constraint laws over lower-ranking ones, able to transfer or reassign the Life-Soul Register through temporary assignment or transfer methods.
Wan'an County's Demon-Suppressing Bureau was already finished.
The Fan brothers' original plan was to find another puppet chief, then through that person's hands, have their Life-Soul Registers temporarily reassigned.
This way, the two could naturally leave Wan'an County openly and legitimately.
But with Zhao Fusheng's resurrection from the dead, the situation suddenly became dire.
"This girl died at a malevolent ghost's hands. Our previous actions were full of loopholes. Having died once, she can naturally guess that our buying her into the Demon-Suppressing Bureau was highly suspicious."
Fan Bisi's gaze was gloomy:
"If she also heard what we said earlier—"
With this explanation, Fan Wujiu immediately realized the seriousness:
"She's currently the chief magistrate of the Demon-Suppressing Bureau. You mean she might make things difficult for us on the Life-Soul Register reassignment matter and not let us leave?"
"Not might—definitely!"
Fan Bisi said with certainty.
Because putting himself in her position, he absolutely wouldn't swallow this grievance either. He would definitely seek revenge.
Fan Wujiu turned and peeked toward Zhao Fusheng's direction. He saw Zhao Fusheng currently standing in front of the main hall, her back to the two brothers.
A flash passed through his gaze, his face showing a cruel expression. He pressed his fingers together and forcefully slashed downward:
"Then we'll go all in and..." His words carried killing intent, clearly preparing to strike first.
"..." Fan Bisi didn't speak, but his eyes showed no approval.
The two were twin brothers who'd grown up together and understood each other's hearts. His reaction made Fan Wujiu realize something was wrong, and he said urgently:
"Brother, you're not going soft, are you—"
"Nonsense!" Fan Bisi shouted, then hesitated for a moment before saying uncertainly:
"I suspect there's something strange about this girl's resurrection from the dead..."
"What's strange?" Fan Wujiu was impatient by nature and didn't like thinking. Hearing his brother talk in riddles for so long, he was already impatient. He urged:
"Stop being mysterious. Speak quickly."
"You also know the reason why Wan'an County's Demon-Suppressing Bureau declined." Fan Bisi glanced at his brother. Fan Wujiu nodded without thinking:
"It's because a malevolent ghost went out of control."
"Yes." Fan Bisi nodded and asked again:
"Then where did this malevolent ghost come from?"
"Wasn't it because Brother Qiming back then couldn't control the ghost he was commanding—" Fan Wujiu said this much, then suddenly understood his brother's intent, his eyes widening:
"Brother, you mean Fusheng's resurrection is because she controlled this ghost and became a ghost controller?"
Fan Bisi, having talked for so long and seeing his brother finally understand, could only let out a long sigh and nod.
"This—how is this possible?" Fan Wujiu's expression immediately changed.
The so-called controlling ghosts meant borrowing the ghost's power, allowing an originally ordinary person to instantly possess the extraordinary abilities of a malevolent ghost. Borrowing the malevolent ghost's power could similarly counter a malevolent ghost's attack and protect the common people of a region.
This was also an open secret within the Demon-Suppressing Bureau.
The chief magistrates of various Demon-Suppressing Bureaus generally excelled at ghost-controlling arts, but dealing with ghosts was extremely dangerous and difficult to control.
The longer one spent with ghosts, the weaker one's humanity became. Many people, the longer they controlled ghosts, the harder it was to maintain rationality and restraint. Most became cruel and violent in temperament, refusing to submit to control.
Initially, the court suffered many losses, and these people couldn't be easily killed. Because while they controlled ghosts, their souls and rationality were gradually replaced by the ghost's nature. Once killed, it was very likely the magistrate themselves would evolve into an even more terrifying ghost, subsequently bringing disaster to the region, with the situation spiraling out of control.
Later, the court established the Life-Soul Register, which somewhat constrained these extraordinary ghost-controlling magistrates. When their rationality and souls were completely devoured by ghosts, someone one rank higher could hold the Life-Soul Register and kill them in advance, thus nipping the crisis in the bud.
Of course, this method wasn't without hidden dangers.
Because though the ghost-controlling magistrate died, the ghost attached to them didn't die and would still cause certain disasters. But this disaster would be cleaned up by higher-ranked generals with stronger abilities.
These out-of-control ghosts would either be expelled or subdued by new commanders using various methods. In any case, the court would worry about it.
If they encountered situations they couldn't handle, perhaps the court would simply abandon that place and let the local people fend for themselves.
"..."
Fan Wujiu was momentarily speechless, still somewhat incredulous:
"How is this possible? How is this possible!"
Fan Bisi was much calmer:
"Anything is possible. Otherwise, I can't think of any reason for her to resurrect from the dead. Besides the ghost's power, no power can make a person come back to life."
"Then what should we do now?" Thinking that Zhao Fusheng's body might be hiding a malevolent ghost, Fan Wujiu's scalp immediately went numb.
"If she can truly command a malevolent ghost, we have no way to fight her."
His face fell:
"Using force won't work. If she heard what we said and knows what we did, she might strike at us instead—"
At this moment, he finally understood what Fan Bisi was worried about. Agitated and uneasy, he paced back and forth several steps:
"Brother, do you think she actually heard what we said at the beginning or not?"
Fan Bisi had initially been anxious about this matter, but seeing his brother panic, he became much calmer and said with a smile:
"No need to worry excessively."
A cold glint passed through his gaze: "Although ghost controllers initially see their power surge, what good ending is there from dealing with ghosts? If she thinks having a ghost attached to her means she can do whatever she wants, she's wrong."
The more one used a ghost's power, the faster one died.
"The ghost she's controlling is a monster—it gives first, then takes. Once she 'consumes' herself completely, she'll become the ghost's nourishment."
Speaking of this, Fan Bisi smiled: "I actually hope she's smart. At this point, she shouldn't dwell on past grievances but should work together to figure out how to break this situation."
Fan Wujiu couldn't understand his brother's thinking. He peeked toward Zhao Fusheng's direction again and saw she'd been staring at the main hall.
At first, he hadn't paid attention to Zhao Fusheng's behavior, but now seeing her continuously staring at the hall, with two corpses still laid out inside...
His scalp went numb, and he said again:
"Brother, she's staring at the residence's great hall, and her parents' corpses are still laid out inside..."
"It's fine." Fan Bisi's expression alternated between dark and light. He hesitated for a long while, then gritted his teeth and said ruthlessly:
"Come on, let's have a good talk with her and see what she wants."
"If she's smart, that's fine. If she's really not smart, we're not to be trifled with either..."
The two brothers had stayed in the Demon-Suppressing Bureau for a long time and had some means of self-protection. Though Zhao Fusheng might have temporarily subdued that ghost, she had no experience before this. A ghost's power couldn't be borrowed casually.
"If it really comes to fighting..." Fan Bisi said this much, his cheek twitching slightly:
"If we can't win, can't we run? As long as we don't run outside Wan'an County's boundaries."
Hearing his brother say this, Fan Wujiu's anxious heart finally settled back in place. He nodded:
"I'll listen to you."