After the Shouyi Ghost matter was resolved, everyone naturally went back to their own homes and mothers.
He Zhan dragged Lei Zhangming to the Paranormal Handling Department to sign a confidentiality agreement, while Wu Liang retrieved the Puppet Ghost and then took a leisurely car ride home.
As soon as he entered the house, he sensed something was off.
"Strange, why is no one cursing at me today?"
Walking into the living room, he happened to see Chen Yi and Chen Wang, the father and son duo, sitting on the sofa, while his aunt was anxiously pacing around the table.
The three of them looked somewhat fearful and uneasy.
Seeing Wu Liang coming over, his aunt quickly assumed an ingratiating expression and said, "Wu Liang's back, it must have been a hard day at work. Come, come, have some water."
Saying this, she quickly handed him a freshly poured cup of water.
Offering favors for no reason, it's either deceit or robbery!
Wu Liang understood this principle well. This family was usually very arrogant towards him, so their sudden restraint felt a bit off.
"No need, I can't handle your kindness. If it's about that money, there's no need to discuss it, I have my own plans." Wu Liang said coldly.
Upon entering, he noticed the black bag of money still on the table, indicating his aunt didn't dare just accept Lei Zhangming's "goodwill."
Some money is... scorching hot to hold!
However, hearing this, his aunt only awkwardly laughed and quickly denied, shaking her head: "Oh, what are you saying? Talking about money hurts relationships."
Then, her tone changed, cautiously asking, "Big aunt just wants to ask, did you know Captain He before? What's your relationship like?"
Ha, so this is where they're waiting for me!
Wu Liang wasn't stupid; his aunt's questions clearly indicated she hadn't given up on the idea of letting Chen Wang join the official sector. Since the interview didn't pan out, she was considering alternative routes.
But he innocently shrugged and said, "Not familiar, I only met him when he came to the house the day before yesterday."
Naturally, his aunt didn't believe him.
She was about to say something else when Wu Liang lifted the black bag containing one hundred thousand yuan, thoughtfully continuing, "Today, I've come back to handle one matter."
"Ah?"
"That is to completely sever ties with you! Goodbye!"
After speaking, his aunt's family hadn't yet reacted, when Wu Liang took out a wad of cash from the black bag and said, "I've lived here for five years, looked down upon by you for five years; don't think I truly have no temper."
"Most of the time, I was just too lazy to pay attention to your clown-like performances, but now I'm very busy, and don't want to watch clowns prancing around anymore."
With a year to prepare for the great calamity, Wu Liang needed to frequently deal with Fierce Ghosts.
He truly didn't have the time to waste on this family anymore.
He stayed until graduation just because the government had decreed his aunt had guardianship until then, but now it's no longer necessary.
"Over the past two years, Lei Zhangming collected seventy thousand from you. I'm returning this money unchanged, as if paying for not staying in Harry Potter's cupboard under the stairs."
Wu Liang only took the extra thirty thousand yuan from the bag as interest.
From now on, he would never have any dealings with this family again.
"Hey! What are you saying? We're family…" his aunt wanted to explain, as Chen Wang's only hope for joining the official sector now lay with Wu Liang.
But Wu Liang immediately interrupted, saying: "Do you say that without feeling hypocritical?"
He always knew his aunt only fostered him for the hefty government subsidies.
Family? To her, it was worthless.
Before his aunt's family could say anything else, Wu Liang turned back to his room.
Bang—click—
Locking the door, he began packing his things.
He didn't have much to take from here, so he casually grabbed a large bag and packed some clothes.
While packing clothes, Wu Liang also summoned the Oil Paper Umbrella, and from his pocket, retrieved the strip of funeral clothes fabric the Puppet Ghost had secretly hidden away for it.
The Oil Paper Umbrella, upon receiving the fabric, seemed extremely excited.
It had never experienced the sensation of becoming stronger by consuming other Fierce Ghosts, a trait unique to the Fierce Ghosts within Wu Liang's Ghost Compendium.
With a click, the umbrella opened, held the fabric beneath it, and closed again.
The entire umbrella opened and closed like a mouth chewing food, enjoying it immensely.
"Hmm? What's with the Ghost Compendium?"
Just as the Oil Paper Umbrella was about to swallow the last of the fabric, Wu Liang suddenly sensed an inexplicable message emanating from the Ghost Compendium.
This sensation felt like an epiphany, suddenly making him understand the changes within the Ghost Compendium.
"Automatic search feature?" he pondered.
The Ghost Compendium recorded information about all Fierce Ghosts worldwide from their first discovery, but ghosts often dissipate or get eliminated, while new ones are born.
Thus, the thickness of the Compendium was constantly changing.
Despite these changes, it remained encyclopedic—a large, hefty book.
Previously, whenever Wu Liang sought information on Fierce Ghosts, he had to carefully search from the beginning to avoid missing any alterations in the page numbers.
But just now, it seemed the Ghost Compendium had upgraded?
It could automatically search for information on Fierce Ghosts within any desired range.
"Extract information on Fierce Ghosts within the Chengyang City of Huaxia?" Wu Liang cautiously held the Ghost Compendium and focused.
A moment later, the Ghost Compendium in his hand began flipping pages frantically, the papers rustling.
In a mere ten seconds, a multitude of pages, flashing with markers in Wu Liang's eyes, appeared before him.
He read the automatically retrieved Fierce Ghost information with some incredulity—
"Pot Ghost: Disaster Calendar Year 5, April 2, first discovered by Zhang Xx, on the pedestrian street in Chengyang City's new district at dawn."
"Basketball Ghost: Disaster Calendar Year 5, June 7, first discovered by Li X, on East Trust Avenue in Chengyang City's Huiming District in the morning."
"Hanged Ghost: Disaster Calendar Year 5, July 3, first discovered by Wang Xx in the Chuanhui District Xingfu District of Chengyang City at midnight…"
It contained information of over a dozen Fierce Ghosts currently not eliminated, all first discovered within the Chengyang City.
Wu Liang was overjoyed!
This was too timely!
He had been troubled by not knowing where to find Fierce Ghosts, but now with the automatically retrieved first discovery locations and times, plus official channels for thorough investigation—
Those Fierce Ghosts could soon be tracked down!
"Hmm? Wait, this information about the Hanged Ghost… Chuanhui District Xingfu District… Isn't it next to the TV station?"
Wu Liang suddenly noticed one of the Fierce Ghosts' information seemed familiar; as he recalled, there's a high-quality residential area often renting out apartments beside the TV station.
That Xingfu District was among them.
Now, since he was leaving his aunt's house, and just happened to be looking for a place to rent, that area was conveniently close to his workplace at the TV station.
It couldn't be more perfect!
Furthermore, the most perfect part was—it's currently haunted!