“It’s been a while, Ye Zhen.”
Shen Lin greeted him, then continued, “I’d been tracking that afro-headed guy for several days. Didn’t expect you to deal with him first.”
Ye Zhen put away his longsword and said, “Something up?”
Shen Lin tossed Ye Zhen a satellite phone.
“Wang Xiaoming is looking for you.”
Ye Zhen picked up the phone, and Wang Xiaoming’s voice immediately came through. “I’ve found a way to suppress your memories.”
Ye Zhen froze when he heard that. He stood there in silence. Ever since A’wu died, the memories sealed away by the supernatural had been released along with it.
All this time, Ye Zhen had wanted to escape those memories. He could not accept that so many people had died because of him—even the fall of the entire Dahai City had been caused by his own hand.
But he had no way to change the past. All he could do was roam the world resolving supernatural incidents and imprisoning malicious ghosts, as if only by doing so could he feel even slightly better.
Seeing that Ye Zhen did not speak, Wang Xiaoming continued, “But before that, I need you to protect someone.”
“Who?”
“I’ll tell you when the day comes. Before then, I can’t disclose the details of the operation. If you come when the time arrives, I’ll take it as your agreement to this deal.”
With that, Wang Xiaoming hung up directly.
Ye Zhen lowered the phone and stood there in silence.
Shen Lin looked at Ye Zhen and said, “I’ll leave the phone with you. I have other matters to handle. Goodbye.”
Ye Zhen gripped the phone and stood there for a long time. In the end, dragging the body bag behind him, he slowly walked into the distance.
At the edge of a hurricane zone stood several figures.
One of them, an old man holding a fleshy sphere, spoke.
“The center of the hurricane has been sealed off by Elder Qin. We can’t force our way in, otherwise that bus may appear at any moment and ram us to death.”
A young man stepped forward, reached out, and touched the edge of the hurricane. “Then are you planning to agree to that Wang Xiaoming’s deal? That man is too insane. I’ve lived this long, and this is the first time I’ve ever met a madman like him.”
“What else?” the old woman said.
“If you want to be run over, don’t drag us down with you. Although this hurricane seems out of control, it’s not completely without a solution. As long as we can reach the innermost area, our plan can still proceed.”
The old man carrying a dried corpse on his back said, “The situation overseas is completely different from here. Back then, some foreign devils weren’t killed cleanly enough, and they managed to escape back. Some supernatural legacies were passed down because of that. To be honest, that so-called King Organization is, at this stage, a bit stronger than some of headquarters’ captains. If we make a move, we can also weaken their strength. What I’m afraid of is that those people who escaped back then will come out and stir up trouble again.”
The old woman suddenly said viciously, “Back then, they slaughtered our compatriots. Now we kill our way back—what could be more justified than that? Consider it a good deed! If you don’t dare do it, I will!”
For a moment, there was silence. The few of them stood where they were, seemingly waiting for the old man holding the fleshy sphere to speak.
“Sigh.” The old man let out a sigh.
“Let’s make the trip. We must open the passage to Taiping Ancient Town. Otherwise, with just the few of us, what right do we have to call ourselves the Reform Society? We’re nothing more than a handful of dying people clinging to our last breaths.”
“President Fang, a call from headquarters.”
Li Yao jogged into Fang Shiming’s office, holding a heavy satellite phone in her hand.
Ever since the out-of-control incident in Dajing City, this woman had been promoted by Fang Shiming.
When it came to appointing people, Fang Shiming had always let the capable rise to the top. Although there were many voices of opposition, they were all whispered in private. If those people were really standing in front of Fang Shiming, they wouldn’t dare let out so much as a fart.
“Mm.” Fang Shiming took the phone but did not hurry to call back. He asked Li Yao,
“How is the investigation into the Reform Society going?”
Li Yao hurriedly opened the file in her hand and said, “According to the intelligence analysis sent back by the moles we planted in headquarters, Wang Xiaoming seems to have reached some sort of deal with the Reform Society, but we still don’t know the specific contents of the deal.”
Li Yao continued, “There’s also news from Ye Zhen of the Supernatural Forum. He is currently in Daxia City and has just dealt with an out-of-control ghost controller.”
She was not finished. Li Yao flipped to another page.
“Yang Jian returned to Dachang City yesterday and has stayed inside his home without going out. However, Lin Bei, who was with him in DQ City, has disappeared. Also, at that time, Yang Jian’s ghost domain covered the entire city for an instant. Our think tank’s analysis is that Yang Jian and Lin Bei may have encountered a supernatural incident in DQ City.”
Fang Shiming nodded. He was quite satisfied with this woman Li Yao’s work ability.
He dialed the phone in his hand and said,
“Cao Yanhua, I was just about to look for you. I didn’t expect you to call me first.”
Headquarters and the Circle of Friends had always had dealings with each other. In the face of the supernatural, blindly sealing off information could not solve the problem. Only by sharing intelligence could they maximize their exploration of the source of the supernatural. Neither side was stupid; openly and secretly, both had their own needs.
But Wang Xiaoming’s voice came from the other end of the line. “It’s me. I’m here to discuss a business deal with you.”
Fang Shiming’s eyes changed slightly, but he quickly concealed it. Before becoming a ghost controller, he had already been a business tycoon who founded the enterprise that preceded the Circle of Friends. Although he was surprised by Wang Xiaoming’s call, his voice remained completely steady as he said,
“Of course. It depends on whether you can offer the right price.”
Wang Xiaoming’s way of doing things was, as always, direct and goal-oriented. He said bluntly,
“The Reform Society. You fought them inside the hurricane. I know you’ve always wanted to explore new methods of controlling malicious ghosts. You no longer have a chance with Tong Qian; she has become one of Yang Jian’s team members. But I can help you build a bridge to the Reform Society. There are no eternal enemies under heaven. I think you should be very interested in the state between them and their malicious ghosts.”
After listening, Fang Shiming fell silent for a long while. Wang Xiaoming’s words had indeed moved him. After leaving the hurricane, Fang Shiming had been investigating the Reform Society all along. Unfortunately, that group’s movements were too secretive, and Fang Shiming had never found any leads. Now that Wang Xiaoming had come knocking on his own, this was undoubtedly an opportunity.
“A very tempting bargaining chip.”
Fang Shiming’s gloved hand touched the pair of scissors beside him, and he continued,
“Then what price do I need to pay? Don’t tell me you want me to go overseas and help you kill people. That Zhang fellow is indeed ferocious, but if those people overseas join hands, it would be very hard for both him and me to survive.”
“No need.” Wang Xiaoming’s voice came through the phone.
“You don’t need to worry about Zhang Sun. I’ll arrange people to handle that. I need you to protect someone.”
Fang Shiming was stunned. Headquarters still needed to find him as a bodyguard? Puzzled, he said, “Protect someone?”
“That’s right. You only need to protect them for ten minutes. Once ten minutes are up, our deal will be considered complete, and you can leave at any time.”
Wang Xiaoming continued, “This is all I can tell you. I’ll inform you of the specific time. If you come, I’ll take it as your acceptance of the deal.”
“Also, you’d best not interfere in Zhang Sun’s matter. Otherwise, I will clean out every mole you planted in headquarters.”
With that, Wang Xiaoming hung up directly.
Fang Shiming stood up and walked to the huge floor-to-ceiling window, a faint, meaningful smile on his face.
“Li Yao!”
Li Yao immediately stepped forward and stood beside Fang Shiming.
“President Fang, what do you need me to do?”
Fang Shiming turned back and said, “Tell the security room to prepare the coffin.”
Li Yao’s face changed in shock. Using the coffin meant that Fang Shiming had already prepared himself for the possibility of not waking up for at least three months.
She immediately said, “President Fang, can’t you refuse headquarters? If you return to the coffin again, no one will be able to keep those people on the board of directors in check.”
Fang Shiming shook his head.
“It’s not up to me whether I go or not. His last sentence was telling me that if I refuse, all dealings between the Circle of Friends and headquarters will be cut off from now on. The Circle of Friends absolutely cannot suffer that kind of loss. I need to maximize our interests.”
“And even if I refuse Wang Xiaoming, he will find someone else. Better to go with the flow. This is the perfect chance to connect with the Reform Society. I know what I’m doing. You may leave.”
“Understood, President Fang.”
Li Yao could only nod and withdraw.
Fang Shiming looked out at Dajing City beyond the window. After the Circle of Friends and headquarters had cleaned it up day and night, it had now recovered its former prosperity.
He murmured in a low voice, “Headquarters has gone through three major S-class malicious ghosts losing control. The coastal region was stirred up by the Reform Society, and now Dahai City has fallen completely. Headquarters is severely short on manpower. Wang Xiaoming doesn’t have many options. He had no choice but to come to me.”
“We must seek a new method of controlling ghosts and carve out a path completely different from the old era...”