Da’an City, Yongsheng Club—a building that, on the surface, looked like nothing more than an upscale leisure club.
In reality, however, this place was the territory of a civilian organization of ghost wielders in Da’an City.
And now, not long after Wang Liang had landed in Da’an City and moved into Shuangqi Garden, while the city was at the peak of its nightlife,
on the top floor of the building where Yongsheng Club was located, inside a magnificently decorated room, four people were not asleep. They were seated together around a spacious conference table.
“Brother Chao, I heard from Gao Yan that another new person in charge is taking office in Da’an City. He went to pick him up. By now, the guy’s probably already settled into Sun Su’s old place at Shuangqi Homes. After all, there’s a ready-made safe house there. Who wouldn’t want a free safe house?
But if he isn’t stupid, maybe he’s already noticed something wrong with that safe house. Do you think he’ll trace it back to us?” a man named Sun Qiang asked worriedly, looking toward the person seated at the head of the conference table.
At the head of the table sat a young man with an utterly unconcerned expression, playing a game on his phone.
Hearing Sun Qiang’s words, the young man did not even raise his head as he said,
“What’s done is done. Why act so timid? So what if he notices? Da’an City is my territory. That new person in charge—uh, Old Feng, what was his name again?”
“According to Gao Yan, his name is Wang Liang. He only just became an Interpol officer. Before this, he was a teacher,” said another man beside the conference table, a steady-looking man with glasses named Feng Bo.
The young man seated at the head of the conference table was named Wu Chao. Hearing this, he gave a derisive snort, lifted his gaze from the phone where his game was still running, and swept his eyes over the others around the table.
“A schoolteacher suddenly became a ghost wielder? He really is a ‘new’ person in charge. New enough. In that case, Old Feng, take a few people over and test him. See what kind of attitude he has. If he’s another stubborn bastard like that Sun Su…”
At this point, a ruthless glint flashed through Wu Chao’s eyes.
“Then during some supernatural incident he handles, just make sure he stays inside forever too. We’ve got experience, after all. Heh.”
The others around the conference table also revealed faintly amused expressions at that moment. Only the steady bespectacled man named Feng Bo pushed up the glasses on the bridge of his nose and replied,
“Understood.”
After catching up on sleep until the sky had completely brightened, Wang Liang got off the large bed in the master bedroom on the third floor of the villa.
He went to the living room on the first floor and calmly swapped a long-prepared SIM card into his phone. Then he dialed the only number recorded on it.
Beep—
The call was connected almost as soon as it went through. Wang Liang put his feet up on the coffee table and, with a natural expression, raised the phone to his ear.
“You picked up fast, Zhao Kaiming. Did you like the gift I gave you?”
“Wang. Liang! Fuck, what do you want?”
“Zhao Kaiming, you fucking—you fucking! You still dare talk to me like that? What do I want? Get this straight, Zhao Kaiming. All of this happened because you attacked me first.”
Zhao Kaiming on the other end choked for a moment, but then said in a low voice,
“…But you also attacked me once. Just say it. What exactly do you want?”
“It’s very simple. I know what you want to do, so I’d like to give you a little advice.”
“Oh? Advice? Heh. Though I don’t know what you think you’ve figured out, I’m afraid you’re overthinking things,” Zhao Kaiming said with a cold laugh.
“Wishes. Family. Resurrection. Ghost infant. Is that enough? If it isn’t, should I say a bit more?”
Wang Liang did not mind revealing to Zhao Kaiming that he actually knew some information. There was no need to explain where it came from. This would only increase his sense of mystery in Zhao Kaiming’s eyes.
On the other end of the line, Zhao Kaiming—who had gone out the previous night, retrieved the ghost infant again from the home of a dead couple, and then sat on the sofa waiting all night—heard Wang Liang’s words and abruptly stood up, his eyes filled with disbelief.
“You…”
Wang Liang said mockingly,
“I’m telling you, Zhao Kaiming, don’t underestimate other people too much. Did you really think it would be over after you attacked me and I attacked you back? Do you think supernatural confrontations are children fighting? You hit me once, I hit you once, we’re even, and then we make up after school? Don’t be ridiculous. How could it end that simply?”
“Then what do you want?”
“I know what you’re trying to do. You want to raise that ghost infant and resurrect your family? Fine. Get the hell to Japan. I don’t care if everyone there dies. Stop causing some major incident right under my nose in the country, creating trouble for no reason and dragging me into it.”
“…Heh. You really do know quite a bit. But since things between us aren’t over anyway, why should I listen to you?”
Wang Liang shifted the position of his feet on the coffee table, one over the other, and replied with a face full of disdain,
“You don’t have a choice. If you’ve got the guts, then go ahead and ruin another family member right now. Let that old ghost come attack me and silence me. But I’ll attack you too.
You’ve already seen my methods. Go ahead and try. See how many relatives and friends you’ll need to use before that old ghost can completely kill me. Or see how long you can survive under my supernatural attack, and whether that old ghost can fully protect you.
Don’t forget, in the end, you’re only an ordinary person. And that ghost thing doesn’t have to choose you. Do you really trust that thing?
I simply feel that the price of crushing you to death might be a bit high, perhaps even causing that old ghost to go out of control. But that doesn’t mean it absolutely can’t be done.”
In truth, Wang Liang had no confidence at all, and he absolutely did not want to face the wishing ghost right now.
A wish-granting ability that was almost like words becoming law—who knew what tricks the wishing ghost could pull if it set its mind on killing one person?
But that did not stop him from acting forcefully in front of Zhao Kaiming and driving him to follow his own intentions. In any case, Zhao Kaiming could not figure out Wang Liang’s true situation either.
On the other end of the phone, Zhao Kaiming’s face was ashen. Sure enough, a deep wariness had arisen in him.
Thinking back to what had happened last night, he truly could not gauge where the upper limit of Wang Liang’s abilities lay.
Half his face had already been ruined. That old ghost was not protecting him at every moment.
If he made that old ghost attack Wang Liang, but it could do nothing to him—or could not kill him in a short time—then he would indeed fall into a terrible situation. He might even really die.
However, Zhao Kaiming did not want to yield just like that, so he still answered stubbornly,
“…Hmph. Who says I don’t have a choice? Your abilities are indeed somewhat bizarre, but why should I fight you to the death? At worst, I’ll stop being the person in charge. I’ll just hide, then secretly go to some other city and raise that ghost infant. With this ghost by my side, if I really want to hide, you won’t find me! Telling headquarters won’t help either!”
Hearing Zhao Kaiming’s words, Wang Liang, seated on the sofa, lowered his eyes slightly. Not a trace of warmth could be heard in his tone anymore.
“Zhao, to be honest, there are some things I don’t want to say too harshly, because that doesn’t quite fit my style. But if you insist on causing trouble within the country, then even if you succeed in resurrecting your family in the end, so what? They’re just a group of ordinary people. There are plenty of ways to find them.
If the ghost infant incident worsens within the country one day, or even affects me, and if I’m not dead by then—heh, if I set my mind on finding a few ordinary people, it shouldn’t be difficult. Zhao Xiaoya is a nice name. Pity, though. Her fate probably won’t be very good.”
“Wang Liang, you wouldn’t dare!” Zhao Kaiming roared from the other end of the phone.
“Are you joking, Zhao Kaiming? I’m giving you a chance, but you seem to have a deep love for Japan. You’d rather attack your own countrymen than go cause trouble for them. In that case, for scum like you, and for the people who walk alongside scum, I feel that even if I go a little too far, it doesn’t seem to matter much.”
Zhao Kaiming’s expression shifted uncertainly. In the end, he let out a long breath.
“…Fine, Wang Liang. You’re ruthless. I’ll go to Japan. It won’t affect you. But the matter between you and me ends here!”
“One week. I want to hear news that you’ve disappeared.”
“Hmph. Got it. You don’t need to say any more.”