"I... forget it. I don't want it anymore..."
After hesitating for a long while, Old Zhang still shook his head.
He'd understood he was too anxious and fell into Zhao Fusheng's verbal trap, having information extracted. At this moment, his heart filled with regret. He kept retreating:
"Forget it, forget it. I temporarily won't collect the debt—"
"That won't do."
At this point, though he wanted to leave, Zhao Fusheng wouldn't allow it:
"Debts must be repaid—this is heaven's justice."
She feigned kindness:
"How about this. I've controlled a ghost. As left and right neighbors, you must know this."
Hearing this, cold sweat immediately broke out on Old Zhang's forehead.
An ominous premonition arose from his heart. His right eye twitched violently. Just as he was about to speak, Zhao Fusheng added:
"After all, we're neighbors of many years. I should understand the ghost I control best, right? Give first, then take, right?"
She smiled:
"In my view, what kind of ghost is this? It's simply a reincarnated wealth god! A good ghost that gives help in times of need!"
"..."
The Fan Bisi and Fan Wujiu brothers had indescribable expressions, looking at her with complicated gazes.
"I've tried this ghost's 'abilities,' including giving money and rice."
Old Zhang's forehead sweated even more densely. Zhao Fusheng took a step forward, and he trembled while desperately retreating:
"No, no, no..."
"How about I ask the ghost for 102 taels of silver for you..." Before Zhao Fusheng finished speaking, Old Zhang screamed loudly: "That absolutely won't do!"
"What won't do?" Zhao Fusheng smiled:
"It's just money, isn't it? If it's not enough, I can ask for even more."
"No." Old Zhang shook his head.
Zhao Fusheng suddenly reached out to grab his clothes. He was caught off guard and she grabbed him squarely. The girl's hand was cold and thin. Combined with her ghost attachment, this immediately scared the old man into screaming continuously:
"Ah! Help, help—"
"Don't kill me, I don't want the money anymore..."
"How can you not want money? You must take it." Zhao Fusheng laughed coldly:
"Not only must you take it, you must take it all."
"No, no, no. I calculated wrong. It's not that much silver. I need to recalculate—" Old Zhang said loudly while calling for the Fan brothers to save him:
"Fan, Fan magistrate..."
"Fusheng." The development of events was beyond the Fan brothers' expectations. Zhao Fusheng had shed her former weakness, becoming shrewd and forceful.
Fan Bisi's heart jumped. He quickly spoke:
"Don't kill him. He, he's Boss Zhang's clan relative..."
"Right, right, right. Boss Zhang is my distant nephew." Old Zhang, as if grasping at life, quickly said loudly:
"Don't kill me."
"Just a distant nephew, not even a real nephew." Zhao Fusheng laughed coldly, not buying this:
"Moreover, this so-called Boss Zhang previously used tricks that nearly caused my death. Though I didn't die, my parents did. Even if he doesn't come looking for trouble with me, I need to settle this matter with him."
Her forceful performance was beyond Fan Bisi's expectations.
However, ghost controllers were like this. Dealing with ghosts for a long time, they'd inevitably be influenced by malevolent ghosts, becoming gloomy, cruel, eccentric, and extremely difficult to deal with.
At this moment, with a malevolent ghost attached, her mentality had temporarily inflated. Not knowing the immensity of heaven and earth—Fan Bisi had seen such people before. Most couldn't live long. In the later stages, influenced by malevolent ghosts, their actions became increasingly uncontrollable.
Within a year or two, if they didn't die at a ghost's hands, they'd die at the court's.
But that was a future matter. Right now, Zhao Fusheng was on the verge of 'losing control.'
If she continued and killed Old Zhang, it might very likely provoke Boss Zhang's anger.
She controlled a malevolent ghost and wasn't afraid of trouble. But the Fan brothers would have headaches because of this.
Most importantly, her words revealed a piece of information that made Fan Bisi uneasy: she was holding a grudge about her parents' deaths, she was just temporarily enduring.
"Don't kill me, don't kill me—"
Seeing that even bringing up Boss Zhang couldn't make her wary, Old Zhang suddenly thought of past ghost controllers and became even more terrified.
"What do you want to take from the Demon-Suppressing Bureau?"
Zhao Fusheng asked again.
"I..." Hearing this, Old Zhang paused. After a long while, despair showed in his eyes:
"I, I misspoke. I only wanted money..."
He was clearly extremely fearful, terrified of the malevolent ghost on Zhao Fusheng's body. But something seemed more terrifying than the malevolent ghost. The words were on his lips, yet he'd rather die at the malevolent ghost's hands than reveal half a sentence more.
"Fusheng, Boss Zhang he—"
Seeing the situation turning bad, Fan Bisi quickly tried to smooth things over:
"He's not easy to deal with. In the past when Zhao Qiming was alive, they also maintained a policy of non-interference. If you want to control the Demon-Suppressing Bureau, why make an enemy of him? Moreover, a malevolent ghost's power can't be used recklessly. Unless absolutely necessary..."
"What's there to fear?" Zhao Fusheng deliberately said:
"You know too—I'm certainly going to die. The difference is just dying sooner or later. If he wants to find trouble with me, I have both parents dead anyway. I'm all alone and won't live much longer. I'll just fight him to mutual destruction."
Her attitude was tough, as if there was no room for negotiation at all.
Fan Bisi was immediately at a loss for words.
Though shrewd as he was, at this moment he was also at a loss, looking toward his brother. Fan Wujiu dared not speak even more.
Old Zhang's face was full of despair. The boss from the incense, candles, and spirit money shop leading two doll-like strange 'children' had at some point quietly retreated from the Demon-Suppressing Bureau, slipping back to his shop and even tightly closing the door.
Just when everyone thought there was no room for recovery, Zhao Fusheng suddenly changed tack, her cold expression disappeared, and she smiled with curved eyes:
"However, Brother Fan is right."
She released her hand. Old Zhang's legs couldn't stand steady and he fell to the ground with a 'thud.'
"We're all left and right neighbors. We shouldn't do things too ruthlessly, right?" She asked with a smile.
"Right, right, right—" Old Zhang, having narrowly escaped death, nodded desperately.
"Then I calculated the coffin money wrong. How could one coffin cost three taels of silver?" He was so scared his cold sweat dripped. He didn't dare raise his hand to wipe it:
"Besides, as a Wan'an County person, now that the Demon-Suppressing Bureau is in trouble, I should naturally help. It's my duty. How could I press for old debts? Why not just write it all off..."
He truly feared the ghost on Zhao Fusheng's body. He also feared receiving things that shouldn't belong to him, losing his life as a result.
"I'll even give Magistrate Zhao two more coffins..."
"No! How can I let you give them?" Zhao Fusheng spoke righteously:
"How about this—the coffin money will still be calculated. We can't let you take a loss. But we truly have no money right now..."
"I don't want money..." Old Zhang said tremblingly.
Before he could finish, Zhao Fusheng changed her tone:
"We have no money, but I have a position. Right now in the Demon-Suppressing Bureau, I'm the magistrate and I make all the decisions. I'm deciding right now to bring you into the residence."
"No, no, no—" Hearing this, Old Zhang was shocked and quickly refused. Zhao Fusheng grabbed his hand and said seriously:
"Once you enter the Demon-Suppressing Bureau, from now on you'll be the court's person in life and the court's ghost in death. Once Wan'an County's crisis passes, the court will pay the money owed to you."
"I..." Old Zhang's small eyes widened.
"Don't worry." Zhao Fusheng interrupted his words:
"There's no job more stable than a government job. This is a rule that won't change for thousands of years!"
She said decisively: "Work for a few more years, and in the future, the court will take care of your retirement—" She made irresponsible promises. Finally, she turned to look at Fan Wujiu:
"Bring out that Life-Soul Register. Old Zhang isn't one of our people. I feel uneasy accepting his coffins. I'll have to first borrow ghost money to use."
One sentence completely blocked Old Zhang's retreat.
After speaking, she added another sentence:
"Record the money owed to him in the accounts. The court will repay it in the future."
"..."
"..."
Fan Wujiu and Fan Bisi looked at each other, speechless.
This development was something no one had anticipated. After Zhao Fusheng finished speaking, seeing the Fan brothers standing without moving, she couldn't help raising an eyebrow and urging:
"Hurry up!"
Fan Bisi brought over the emerald jade register. Before the ghost book, Old Zhang resisted with all his might.
He turned his head several times to look behind him. That pot-bellied assistant had a blank expression, as if having lost human compassion, not saying a word about the farce before him.
Zhao Fusheng looked at him with a smile, her eyes carrying threat.
In this world, human lives weren't worth money. Though ghost controllers nominally were still human, the moment they associated with ghosts, their hearts had already twisted. When they lost control, they were already half-human, half-ghost.
Old Zhang knew deeply that such people had perverse temperaments. Wan'an County's Demon-Suppressing Bureau now existed in name only. Zhao Fusheng's parents had both died. She'd successfully controlled a ghost and acted crazily without regard for consequences. He simply had no choice.
He finally had no choice but to bite his index finger. Blood dripped onto the blood book.
Instantly, blood light wrapped around a black shadow appearing on the jade book, transforming into a palm-sized half-bald little person.
That human figure emitted venomous hatred. Finally, it transformed into a bloody human name: Zhang Chuanshi.
Seeing this scene, Zhao Fusheng finally showed a smile:
"Very good."
"Aren't you afraid my nephew..."
Zhang Chuanshi was forced into the Demon-Suppressing Bureau, extremely unwilling in his heart.
Right now, Wan'an County Demon-Suppressing Bureau's situation was crystal clear to him. Once blood dripped into the soul book, he was bound to this place.
Once the malevolent ghost on Zhao Fusheng's body lost control, as someone in the Demon-Suppressing Bureau, he'd also fall into crisis.
"I don't even know how long I'll live. How could I have time to worry about other things?"
Zhao Fusheng, having achieved her goal, laughed:
"Now we're all on the same side. Bring two coffins over. My parents' bodies need to be buried as soon as possible."
"Hmph!"
...
Zhang Chuanshi left with an ugly expression, bringing that pot-bellied assistant. As he left, he didn't even take the account book lying on the ground.
Zhao Fusheng didn't pay attention to him either. Since he was leaving, he'd always come back anyway.
The Life-Soul Register was in her hands. He couldn't leave Wan'an County. As for what exactly he wanted to take from the Demon-Suppressing Bureau, there would be opportunities to investigate in the future.
If this person didn't bring coffins over, she'd go to his shop and move them herself.
She looked at the Life-Soul Register. After hesitating for a long while, she didn't put this item back in the box but placed it inside her clothes.
This action made Fan Bisi pause.
"I want to keep this item close to my body." After putting it away, she said this.
Fan Bisi didn't say anything.
Normally, this item should indeed be kept by the magistrate. But keeping it this way meant binding another 'ghost's' avatar to oneself. Every movement might fall into Jia Yi's 'eyes' through the Life-Soul Register. Therefore, ordinary magistrates would store this item elsewhere.
But he thought of Zhao Fusheng being a ghost controller. She probably worried the malevolent ghost on her body would gradually lose control, so she wanted to use this item to suppress the ghost on her.
He nodded without speaking.
But Zhao Fusheng asked:
"How are ghost cases in the Demon-Suppressing Bureau usually handled?"
"..." Fan Bisi looked at her strangely.
When she threatened Old Zhang earlier, she'd smiled sweetly, making people shiver. Now mentioning ghost cases, her expression was serious again, not seeming like she was joking.
"Fusheng, dealing with ghosts isn't fun." He frowned to remind her:
"The terrifying nature of ghosts is beyond words. Right now in Wan'an County, you're the only powerful one. The emperor is far away. Why not enjoy yourself? Why think of touching these ghost cases?"
"I said I want to retake control of the Demon-Suppressing Bureau. Handling ghost cases is what I need to do."
Zhao Fusheng furrowed her brow.
She was completely different from the former Zhao Fusheng. She also hadn't considered hiding her personality.
Perhaps because she harbored a ghost, when Fan Bisi spoke with her again, he vaguely felt pressure.
Fan Bisi remained silent for a long while. Finally, he gave up on persuading her and could only helplessly say:
"Generally speaking, when ghosts appear locally, someone must first report it. Only then will the Demon-Suppressing Bureau take action."
But dealing with ghosts wasn't easy.
Various local Demon-Suppressing Bureaus, facing tricky situations, would hide if they could, delay if they could.
As long as the situation wasn't bad enough, they'd mainly suppress public opinion first, deceive the court. Later, if things got out of hand and couldn't be cleaned up, they'd report then.
Generally speaking, as long as it didn't cause major chaos locally, the court also lacked the power to fully control these ghost controllers. Most of the time, they'd turn a blind eye. On the surface, as long as everyone got by, it was fine.
For ordinary commoners, though ghosts were terrifying, sometimes malevolent ghosts weren't as evil as human hearts.
Ghost controllers dealt with ghosts. In many people's eyes, they were no different from ghosts.
Most terrifying was that they might have greed, desire, and malice—even crueler than ghosts.
Sometimes some families would rather have relatives harmed by ghosts than dare report to the Demon-Suppressing Bureau, fearing even worse consequences that might affect the entire family.
Under such circumstances, ghost incident frequency in various county jurisdictions actually wasn't high.
Even in Wan'an County, this kind of place gradually covered by ghost fog, the number of people reporting cases was actually very few.
"These past six months, there have indeed been sporadic case reports."
But at that time, the Demon-Suppressing Bureau was also in crisis. The Fan brothers could barely protect themselves. How could they have time to handle these matters?