The door was pulled open. In the 'wuuu' of the strange wind, the flame inside the lantern was a ghastly white color. When it shone on the surroundings, not only did it fail to make people feel comfortable, but instead gave an indescribably cold sensation.
Yet at this moment, this cold feeling brought the two brothers an incomparable sense of security.
Seeing the lamplight hadn't gone out, the two brothers' hearts relaxed at first. By this ghastly white light, the two smiled with relief, but before they could speak, they heard a fierce wind rise.
In the 'wuuu' sound, the lantern that Boss Zhang had claimed would absolutely never go out swayed violently twice, and then a strange black human face suddenly appeared on the lantern's surface.
That human face displayed expressions of agony and venomous hatred. As its gaze turned, it glanced at the two brothers inside the room, then the shadow exploded with a 'bang.'
As this black ghost face shattered, the originally extraordinarily sturdy human skin lantern immediately broke apart.
How could the peanut-sized flame inside the human skin lantern withstand the fierce wind? With a 'poof,' it was extinguished.
Inside and outside the room instantly plunged into darkness.
"..."
The smiles on the two brothers' faces immediately froze, their entire bodies as if thrown into an ice cellar.
"AHHH!!!"
"AHH—"
Two unusually shrill screams rang out one after another.
Once the lamplight was extinguished, they lost protection. The ghostly entity would discover the two men hiding here and drain them one after another until their fortune was completely drained.
The two men waited desperately for death. The braver brother, in such desperate straits, lost all will to resist and collapsed where he sat.
But they didn't know that the instant the human skin lantern shattered, the God-Sealing List on Zhao Fusheng's body was also being restarted.
The moment the God-Sealing List successfully restarted, the plaque hanging under the eaves outside the residence, originally wrapped in black qi, was suddenly wiped clean of some grime as if by an invisible hand, revealing three large characters on the plaque:
Demon-Suppressing Bureau.
'BOOM!'
Throughout the night of lightning and thunder, the two brothers inside the Demon-Suppressing Bureau thought they were certainly doomed and were desperately waiting for death, but that night nothing strange happened—they passed through it safely.
By the time dawn approached, the thunder ceased and the rain stopped. Even red clouds gathered around the sunlight appearing at the horizon—clearly today would be a rare fine day.
The two brothers' eyes were bloodshot, sitting back-to-back.
"Brother—"
Wujiu called out.
Perhaps because he'd screamed too loudly during the night, his voice was somewhat hoarse:
"Do you think this calamity has passed?"
As he spoke, he turned his head to look at his brother.
At this moment, Wujiu's face was deathly pale, with puffy purple bags bulging under his eyelids and bloodshot eyes.
His brother wasn't much better off. His entire body was soaked through, his hair disheveled, his lips cracked and peeling. Due to fear and despair, in just one night, several red sores had appeared on his lips.
"Per-perhaps it has..." The man nodded, trying to move his feet.
He'd been crouching all night, and his legs had long gone numb. Moving them now felt like needle pricks, but thinking that the disaster had passed, light couldn't help but appear in his eyes:
"We can't stay at the Demon-Suppressing Bureau in Wan'an County anymore. The ghost domain nearby is growing larger and larger. The imperial court has probably long since abandoned this place. We need to find another way out—"
Just as the two brothers were discussing where to go in the future, on the wooden plank in the middle of the room, a deathly pale hand emerged from the filthy white cloth. The cloth was pushed aside, revealing Zhao Fusheng's somewhat weary, pale face.
Her complexion was ghastly white, and her head throbbed with intense pain.
Having just awakened, her eyes held some confusion. Her gaze stared blankly at the large hole broken open in the ceiling above, and her mind subconsciously recalled the chaotic dream content from last night.
Zhao Fusheng felt that this sleep had been extraordinarily long.
She'd been working overtime constantly lately. Her mind had been pulled like a taut string, and it had been a long time since she'd had a good, relaxing sleep.
Perhaps it was because she was under too much stress, although she'd slept long last night, her sleep quality was extremely poor.
She'd had bizarre and strange dreams.
She dreamed that an accident occurred in her rental apartment. On the verge of death, her soul transmigrated to a place called the Great Han Dynasty, possessing a girl with the same name as her. Her parents had sold her at a low price to a place called the Demon-Suppressing Bureau.
When she first joined the Demon-Suppressing Bureau, this Zhao Fusheng was overjoyed. She thought she'd have food to eat and clothes to wear, finally escaping her bitter life.
For some reason, in her first days at the Demon-Suppressing Bureau, her fortunes reversed—her luck was extraordinarily good. So good that when she went out, she could find silver coins, and when she was hungry, someone would unexpectedly deliver food.
But the good times didn't last. As the days passed, she discovered her good fortune was usually accompanied by disaster.
From initially being able to pick up silver coins to later occasionally finding food—correspondingly, she would inevitably get injured.
At first it was just minor injuries from falls and stumbles, but later it developed into broken arms and legs.
Moreover, her body inexplicably began to grow cold, and she always felt a terrifying presence seemed to be lurking around her body.
The two brothers who'd bought her for the Demon-Suppressing Bureau looked at her strangely. The two often huddled together whispering, as if discussing something. When their gazes fell on her, it was like looking at a dead person.
Zhao Fusheng was both shocked and frightened. Her bodily ailments increased, her injuries gradually worsened. Every day she was too scared to sleep, feeling that cold sensation drawing closer and closer to her back.
She often felt her shoulders and back were heavy, as if carrying some invisible presence.
In this state of fear and alarm, calamitous news arrived—her parents had encountered a ghost disaster and died accidentally.
For some reason, her first thought was of her own recent bizarre streak of bad luck. The more she thought about it, the more frightened she became.
The day her parents' bodies were transported to Wan'an County, Zhao Fusheng was terrified, but in the end still couldn't escape her doom.
That day, she had a premonition of great disaster. She hadn't slept for many days. Just as she was trembling with fear, she felt an unusual cold current approaching from behind. Instinctively turning her head to look—she saw a black shadow standing behind her at some point.
Zhao Fusheng's pupils shook. Before she could scream, the ghost shadow reached out its hand toward her.
A pitch-black ghostly claw pierced through from her back, tearing through her chest and abdomen, puncturing her throat and chest cavity.
In that instant, Zhao Fusheng was disemboweled and died.
The last image remaining in her memory was a grayish-white ghost hand tearing open her throat, appearing before her face with spraying blood.
Zhao Fusheng's pupils constricted. She'd been killed by a ghost.
The suffocation and pain before death still lingered in Zhao Fusheng's impression. Belatedly, she covered her own neck, and after a long while, that breath held in her chest finally exhaled.
"It was just a nightmare."
She thought with relief, though felt something awkward—this nightmare was too realistic.
As her thoughts returned, her eyes gradually cleared. The first thing she noticed was something strange.
Above her head wasn't the simply whitewashed ceiling of her rental apartment. Several pitch-black wooden beams held up the roof. The beams hadn't been cleaned in ages and were covered with dusty cobwebs.
Most eye-catching was the large hole broken open directly above her, about a meter in diameter.
Light shone down through the hole, and she could see dust floating in the light.
An ominous premonition arose in her heart. Her fingers touched what was beneath her.
Under her wasn't that cheap bed, but a simple yet hard wooden plank.
Zhao Fusheng sat up, and what met her eyes was a blood-stained white cloth.
On her left and right sides, two identical door planks were also laid out, covered with the same white cloth. Beneath the white cloth, two human-shaped outlines showed through.
A strange thought instantly surfaced in her mind: Father, Mother!
No! These were Zhao Fusheng's original parents. The day before yesterday, after hearing news of their deaths, the Fan brothers of the Demon-Suppressing Bureau had arranged for their bodies to be sent over.
Memory naturally surfaced in her mind:
Because she'd been contaminated by something sinister, all her blood relatives had been harmed by the ghostly entity and died.
"..." Zhao Fusheng's hand trembled, her face even paler.
Just then, voices speaking came from outside.
Perhaps thinking there was no one else left in the residence, those two didn't lower their voices.
A man said:
"Brother." He called out, then a rustling sound arose. He seemed to shift his body and said uneasily:
"According to Boss Zhang, this ghost exchanges 'fortune' for life. Once 'it' latches on, all the family's fortune is drained. Before the entire clan dies violently, 'it' absolutely cannot leave."
"The Demon-Suppressing Bureau is the best example—harmed by this ghost, nearly everyone died."
After redirecting the disaster, the Zhao Fusheng family also quickly met violent deaths. "And we passed last night safely. Does this mean the calamity has been completely resolved? From now on we're no longer bound?"
Fan Wujiu!
Such a name suddenly surfaced in Zhao Fusheng's mind. A young man's face flashed through her thoughts. She was shocked to discover she wasn't unfamiliar with this face—as if they'd already known each other before.
Just as she was alarmed and unsettled, another male voice also rang out:
"Logically speaking, after the ghost kills, if no one else triggers 'its' rules, we can be considered completely free of this disaster."
"After all, the lantern went out last night and nothing happened to us—"
The two brothers' constitutions were different from ordinary people, and being in the Demon-Suppressing Bureau, they had their own way of judging whether they were possessed by ghosts.
At this moment, the man was certain he wasn't possessed by a ghost. Clearly Boss Zhang's method had proven effective.
As the man spoke, another name surfaced in Zhao Fusheng's mind: Fan Bisi.
This was a pair of twin brothers, magistrates within the Demon-Suppressing Bureau. They'd originally bought Zhao Fusheng from the Zhao family for five copper coins and brought her into the Demon-Suppressing Bureau.
The Great Han Dynasty, the Demon-Suppressing Bureau, the Fan brothers, and the Zhao couple's corpses currently laid out...
"..." Zhao Fusheng's vision went black. Instinctively, she turned her head left and right.
Where her gaze reached was the dilapidated great hall of the Demon-Suppressing Bureau. That terrifying black shadow from her dream didn't appear in her field of vision.
But relying on keen intuition, she always felt that in the shadows, a pair of cold eyes seemed to be watching her every move.
That malice rushed toward her face, making her back go numb. Instantly her heart constricted.
The Fan brothers outside still didn't know she'd awakened and were still discussing:
"If the evil ghost has left and the curse on the Demon-Suppressing Bureau has been lifted, we must immediately leave this place and seek another way out."
"The ghost domain here is growing larger and larger, its coverage gradually increasing. Even in broad daylight, ghosts and monsters frequently appear."
"Our Demon-Suppressing Bureau here has already been harmed by that ghost. Everyone's long dead. Staying here is just a dead end. I heard the Demon-Suppressing Bureau in Baozhi County is doing well. There's a Bronze General who's controlled a Fierce-class malevolent ghost stationed there. His strength is very high. We'll go seek refuge with him—" Fan Bisi's mind was nimble. Compared to his impulsive brother, his temperament was much more composed.
"But we already made a blood contract with our life-souls that day. If the contract isn't released, how can we leave Wan'an County's range..." Fan Wujiu said uneasily.
"Fool." Fan Bisi shouted in rebuke. "We'll find another person, make them take the nominal position of chief magistrate of the Demon-Suppressing Bureau, then find a way to have them remove our names from the Life-Soul Register. Won't this matter be settled..."
While the two brothers were discussing, Zhao Fusheng, who'd been resurrected from the dead inside the hall, couldn't believe her situation.
"It's impossible! It's impossible!"
How could such an absurd thing exist in the world? After sleeping, she'd borrowed a corpse to return to life. The nightmare had come true—she'd actually become a nominal chief magistrate of the Demon-Suppressing Bureau in Wan'an County under the Great Han Dynasty.
Without a word, she threw off the burial cloth, jumped down from the wooden plank, and rushed out of the hall.
"When we get there..."
Fan Bisi was still speaking when his brother seemed to hear a sound and turned his head.
In an instant, Fan Wujiu's expression changed.
His expression rapidly transformed from relief to terror, as if he'd seen the most horrifying thing in the world. He was so shocked his pupils trembled.
"Gah—gah—"
In extreme shock, his speech became somewhat incoherent. His arms hung limply, unable to lift. Goosebumps crawled up his spine toward his neck, rushing to his scalp, stimulating his hair to stand on end.
"You—" Fan Bisi frowned, about to speak, when Fan Wujiu said with a sobbing tone:
"Brother, a corpse—a corpse came back to life—"
"What corpse coming back to life? What nonsense are you spouting..." He shouted loudly, then a familiar voice rang out:
"It's impossible, impossible... how can this be..."
Zhao Fusheng, barefoot, swiftly rushed out of the courtyard toward the main gate outside.
"...I..."
Fan Bisi watched her rush out, his mind completely blank, unable to speak.
Zhao Fusheng paid them no mind. She rushed through the long courtyard and appeared outside the residence gate.
What met her eyes was a dirty, dilapidated long street. Along both sides of the street were low grass huts. Many shops were already closed, presenting a scene of decay.
Among the shops that were open, most were coffin and spirit money shops. Folded paper effigies were displayed outside the shops. Looking around, she saw no living people on the street.
Perhaps due to the lack of human vitality, the entire street presented an eerie silence.
This scene felt both strange and familiar to Zhao Fusheng.
Her head was buzzing. She pinned her last hope on another place—
The girl mustered her courage, mentally prepared herself, then raised her head to look above the residence.
She saw a lantern hanging on each side of the roof beam. After last night's violent storm, the lanterns had already shattered, revealing the oil lamps inside.
The oil inside had collapsed, and yellow grease was dripping down through the torn lantern paper with a 'drip drip drop.' A foul stench emanated from within.
Under the eaves in the center of the lanterns hung a pitch-black plaque. The black qi on the plaque had faded somewhat, vaguely revealing the outline of three characters.
The previous Zhao Fusheng was illiterate, but she could see through the black qi and recognize the characters on the plaque.
The plaque read: Demon-Suppressing Bureau.