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An unknown amount of time passed before Fan Bisi's shout suddenly came from outside, breaking Zhao Fusheng's contemplation:
"Fusheng, Fusheng?"
"Coming."
Zhao Fusheng paused for a moment, then responded and walked out from the side room on the left.
When Fan Bisi heard her respond from the side and saw her emerge from the room where the archives and case files were stored, he was first stunned, then his mouth twitched, his eyes showing astonishment:
"You're certainly bold, not afraid at all."
Someone had died in that room. Although several months had passed, traces of the person being killed by a ghost still remained; the bloodstains and scratch marks had not been cleaned up.
Most people would find a place where someone had died to be unlucky, but she was bold enough to actually venture inside.
When Fan Bisi had shown her the way, he originally thought she would be deterred as soon as she pushed the door open. Who knew she wasn't timid at all and seemed to have spent quite some time in that room.
"Right now, isn't the most frightening thing me?"
Zhao Fusheng smiled and retorted.
The malevolent ghost that caused the Demon Suppression Division's ghost calamity was on her. The place where she was, was the most dangerous. Compared to her, what was so terrifying about other places?
Her demeanor left Fan Bisi momentarily speechless. Finally, he exchanged a look with Fan Wujiu and said:
"Old Zhang has the coffins ready. When do you want to bury your parents?"
Zhao Fusheng collected herself and replied:
"The sooner, the better. I'm always worried that delays will lead to new problems, and another ghost case will occur."
"How easy is it to nurture a reawakened ghost? In this world, human lives are like grass. Countless people die wrongful deaths or violent deaths, and even more die at the hands of malevolent ghosts. If everyone turned into a ghost, this world would have long become a hell on earth. Where would there be a chance for the living to survive?"
Fan Bisi disagreed:
"Furthermore, although humans have spirits, after death, they become chaotic soul forms, not even qualifying as spiritual souls, let alone ghosts."
"In any case, I still want to bury my parents as soon as possible and then consider the next step. This burial place…" Zhao Fusheng shook her head, still insisting on burying her parents early.
The Fan brothers couldn't dissuade her, so Fan Wujiu said:
"Wan'an County is vast and sparsely populated now. As long as you're not seeking a geomantically auspicious site, won't it be easy to find an unclaimed empty plot?"
"That's good." Zhao Fusheng sighed in relief upon hearing this, then added:
"I'm not seeking a geomantically auspicious site, but the necessary items for a funeral cannot be lacking. Incense, candles, paper money, paper effigies of people and houses, two sets of everything…"
"But…" Fan Bisi was about to speak when Zhao Fusheng interrupted him:
"We'll buy on credit for now. If the owner of the incense and paper money shop is unwilling, I'll talk to him."
"…"
Fan Bisi was speechless.
With the precedent set by Old Zhang from the coffin shop, the owner of the incense and paper money shop probably wouldn't dare to refuse 'credit'.
Zhao Fusheng's personality had changed significantly after her revival. Fan Bisi vaguely felt a pressure.
At this moment, he finally realized that the girl before him was entirely different from the Zhao Fusheng he used to manipulate. While their schemes had brought her misfortune, they might have also brought her an opportunity to change her life.
"He should be very willing—" Fan Bisi said.
After speaking, he suddenly lowered his voice:
"Fusheng, we brothers were indeed unkind before, but we had no choice. After your parents' funeral is over, consider what I said earlier."
Zhao Fusheng didn't speak. Fan Bisi gave Fan Wujiu a look, and Fan Wujiu left the Demon Suppression Division yamen¹ and headed to the incense and paper money shop.
Worried about the revival of Mr. and Mrs. Zhao's ghosts, Zhao Fusheng didn't dare to keep the bodies in the yamen for an extra moment.
By afternoon, the Fan brothers had handled all the miscellaneous tasks and had somehow hired several emaciated men to return to the yamen.
These men carried shoulder poles and ropes, their eyes filled with awe and apprehension, staring uneasily at Zhao Fusheng. As soon as their gazes met hers, they trembled incessantly, as if they had seen a ghost, and hurriedly looked away.
"Place the bodies in the coffins. Be careful. Carry them out of the city first."
Fan Bisi instructed, and the others quickly agreed.
Mr. and Mrs. Zhao had died in a ghost calamity, so their state of death must have been extremely gruesome. These corpse bearers regularly dealt with bodies, so they weren't particularly afraid of this.
Several men positioned themselves at the head, feet, and sides of the bodies. Some lifted the legs, some grabbed the hands, and they all shouted in unison:
"Lift—"
As soon as the words fell, Fan Wujiu, standing aside, frowned and Rebuke:
"Just lift the bodies, don't take the door planks along."
The door planks were only for temporarily laying out the corpses. How could they be lifted together and then placed into the coffins?
His shout immediately sent the others into a panic.
"Huh?"
"What's going on?"
"Who grabbed the door plank?"
"Not me."
The men chattered amongst themselves and placed the bodies back in their original positions.
The door plank carrying the bodies landed back on the long bench used for laying out corpses with a heavy 'thud'.
"Perhaps it's because the blood dried after death, causing them to stick to the door planks they were laid on." Fan Bisi's cheek muscles twitched as he ordered, "Try again."
The others hurriedly and meekly agreed, and once again went to grab and lift the bodies.
To be safe, two others even specifically held down the door planks to prevent the bodies from sticking to them.
"Lift again—"
Everyone exerted force simultaneously, but something strange happened.
Even with two people holding down the door planks, the other four, no matter how hard they pulled and lifted the bodies, couldn't raise them.
"This—this—is so, so sinister."
Overnight, the bodies seemed to have firmly adhered to the door planks. Even with the combined strength of six men, they couldn't separate the planks from the bodies.
"I, I this…"
Someone started to have second thoughts about continuing, but with the Fan brothers' grave expressions and Zhao Fusheng's somber look, the person who wanted to retreat didn't dare to voice their thoughts.
"Try one more time." Zhao Fusheng felt extremely uneasy and said again.
She felt her heart begin to pound wildly. Due to nervousness, she couldn't help but clench her cold hands tightly, forcing herself to calm down.
"Okay…"
The men's voices sounded as if they were about to cry. They timidly stepped forward, but this time, even with all six exerting their utmost strength, they still couldn't separate the door planks from the bodies.
"Trouble Big Brother Fan and Second Brother Fan to help as well."
Zhao Fusheng's voice was a little hoarse as she gave the order.
"I—" Fan Wujiu also started to tremble and was about to shake his head in refusal when Zhao Fusheng said:
"Big Brother Fan said that malevolent ghosts don't revive so easily. Moreover, ghosts have their own special 'domains'; it's impossible for two ghosts to coexist in the same place. If two ghosts do appear, they will inevitably 'clash,' which might lead to a unique restraint between the two ghosts. Don't you think so?"
"…"
Fan Bisi was rendered speechless, unable to utter a word.
He had said these words himself; he couldn't deny them.
"Logically speaking, that is indeed the case, but…"
"No buts. Try again."
Zhao Fusheng interrupted him, gesturing for him and his brother to help.
"There can be no buts." After saying that, she added:
"Don't worry, I'm here."
She wasn't very reliable either, but as a ghost wielder, the malevolent ghost on her was a long-revived entity, not comparable to a newly formed spirit.
Thinking of this, Fan Bisi felt slightly relieved.
Logically, it was indeed impossible for two ghosts to form in one domain; this was an unheard-of strange occurrence in the Great Han Dynasty.
But the eerie way Mr. and Mrs. Zhao's bodies were connected to the door planks, inseparable, was indeed very bizarre.
Fan Bisi was terrified, but Zhao Fusheng stared at him coldly. Perhaps because she wielded a ghost, her gaze sent a wave of horror through Fan Bisi.
"Perhaps it's just a coincidence—" he cheered himself on, and finally, with a ruthless resolve in his heart:
"Fine, I'll try."
He called his brother to come forward. The two brothers awkwardly stood on either side of the bodies and each reached out to grab a leg.
Perhaps the previous strange occurrences had left Fan Bisi with psychological trauma. When his hand, through the shroud, touched the corpse's ankle, the first sensation was an icy coldness and heaviness.
A chill climbed up his spine, raising goosebumps all over his body.
A sinister malice transmitted from the corpse into his body, seemingly sucking away most of his body heat in an instant.
"Ah!"
Even though Fan Bisi was more composed than his younger brother, he was still badly frightened by this sensation.
He released his hand, gasping sharply. Before he could speak, the others suddenly let out strange cries:
"Ah!!!"
"There's a ghost! There's a ghost!"
One person screamed in terror and staggered back.
The others followed his gaze and also let out terrified screams.
Zhao Fusheng's heart sank. She forcefully pushed the man, who was scared out of his wits, to the ground:
"I want to see, where is the ghost!"
She stepped forward, her gaze fixed on the place where the bodies lay.
The door plank with the bodies had fallen back onto the bench. The others around had already retreated a great distance from the corpses.
On the shroud, stained with dark brownish blood, fresh blood was now seeping out from the areas of the head, face, and chest, overlapping and re-staining the places where the blood on the shroud had already dried.
Under Zhao Fusheng's gaze, the blood seeped along the bloodstains on the shroud, bit by bit, as if trying to refill and recolor these marks.
Mr. and Mrs. Zhao were long dead; their bodies had been lying there for an entire night. Such a situation was indeed bizarre.
Relying on the enhanced senses from wielding a ghost, the hairs on Zhao Fusheng's body stood on end.
She was born in a peaceful era and had never truly seen a ghost in her life. Seeing such a scene now, her mind went completely blank, and she stood rooted to the spot.
The few people around trembled in terror, screaming.
A moment later, Zhao Fusheng bit her tongue hard. The pain pulled her back to her senses, allowing her to find her voice.
"I am here—"
Her scalp was still tingling as she spoke. The terrifying impact of witnessing such strangeness for the first time made her body somewhat unresponsive.
But her reason returned, gradually suppressing her fear.
A malevolent ghost was about to revive before her. If she didn't deal with it promptly, the Demon Suppression Division would very likely face another ghost calamity.
"The most powerful malevolent ghost is on me. I don't believe there are any other ghosts in the Demon Suppression Division more terrifying than mine!"
As her words fell, she mustered her courage and strode forward, pushing aside the terrified Fan Wujiu, and grabbed one of the corpse's legs.
The moment Zhao Fusheng touched the corpse, the already dead body twitched.
"Ah!!!"
This change did not escape the others' eyes. They retreated further in terror.
Unbeknownst to them, the sky outside had become densely covered with dark clouds, and a faint, almost imperceptible grey mist enveloped the Demon Suppression Division.
This grey mist obscured the light, limiting visibility. The Fan brothers looked at each other with mournful faces, a word surfacing in their minds: ghost domain.
A newly deceased body, forming a ghost domain so soon after reviving.
Mr. and Mrs. Zhao were extremely malevolent!
Zhao Fusheng didn't notice the changes in her surroundings. The moment she grabbed the body, a strong sense of resistance came from it.
Icy coldness, malice, venomous resentment—these lingering thoughts transmitted through the corpse into her palm and were perceived by her body.
Under the shroud, the deceased opened their eyes, staring coldly at her.
The reviving malevolent ghost had not yet made a move when, in the next instant, the dormant ghost was awakened.
A black shadow shot up from beneath her feet, transforming into an icy, cold ghost.
The already Sha-grade ghost shadow stood up, climbed up her calves, clung to her waist and back, and perched on her shoulder.
The malevolent ghost pressed tightly against her.
"Sha-grade ghost activated. Blessing of life-reaping, transaction complete."
In her sea of consciousness, the prompt from the Investiture of the Gods sounded:
"Borrowing the power of the malevolent ghost, one-third of life force will be consumed."
At the same time, the power of the malevolent ghost infused Zhao Fusheng's entire body. Her body felt as if it had plunged into an ice cellar, but simultaneously, she gained the ability to contend with the malevolent ghost.