Fan Bisi's words left Zhao Fusheng standing stunned.
Could this death trap not be broken? Had she been reborn just to wait clearly for death?
Could ghosts truly not be killed?
Was the only way to escape being entangled by a ghost to passively wait until after death for it to leave on its own?
Countless questions surged into her mind one after another.
She might not be able to find answers to these questions. Perhaps the upper echelons of the court's Demon-Suppressing Bureau already had some clues, but Fan Bisi had made it very clear—once she entered the Life-Soul Register, she was controlled by the court and couldn't leave Wan'an County without court summons.
Ghost fog had appeared in Wan'an County, and the court had already abandoned this place. She could only be trapped here—this was an unsolvable death trap.
Could she only wait for death?
Zhao Fusheng's heart was in chaos. Just as she was desperate and uneasy, such a thought suddenly appeared in her sea of consciousness: Ghosts cannot be killed, but can be sent into the cycle of reincarnation; or activate the God-Sealing List to seal them in divine positions.
[Hell God-Sealing List activated.
Sensing host is entangled by a ghost that has reached Sha-class, currently unqualified for god-sealing.
Should Hell be opened to temporarily receive the malevolent ghost into Hell?]
What is this? Zhao Fusheng was shocked. With a thought, that consciousness spoke again:
[Sensing host's will to survive, opening Hell—
Opening Hell failed, host lacks sufficient merit.]
"..."
Zhao Fusheng gripped the emerald jade book tightly, turning her head left and right warily.
What God-Sealing List? What divine positions?
Just as she felt both shocked and terrified by this consciousness that suddenly appeared in her mind, that thought appeared again:
[Host is a regional magistrate of the Demon-Suppressing Bureau, responsible for the safety of an entire county.
You should fulfill your duties diligently and protect the people's peace.
Uphold justice, rebuild Hell.
Activate the God-Sealing List, seal great ghosts as gods, send a hundred ghosts into reincarnation!]
Zhao Fusheng was extremely shocked and couldn't speak for a long time.
She suddenly remembered that yesterday when possessing the body and being reborn, when her consciousness was blurry, she did indeed seem to hear a voice prompting:
[Restarting the God-Sealing List.]
And it prompted her to open the Eighteen Layers of Hell.
But at that time, she was at the critical moment of resurrection from the dead. The subsequent dream and various events after waking diluted this small memory, making her cast this matter to the back of her mind.
If not for her conversation with Fan Bisi mentioning that she was entangled by a malevolent ghost, she didn't know when she would have discovered that besides hiding a malevolent ghost, her body also contained such a special existence.
What was the God-Sealing List?
Just as Zhao Fusheng was puzzled, another scene suddenly emerged in her sea of consciousness.
A list surrounded by black qi slowly unfolded in her sea of consciousness. Whether because the Great Han Dynasty had rampant malevolent ghosts or not, this God-Sealing List didn't look full of immortal qi. Instead, it carried an eerie, ominous feeling.
Blood flowed horizontally around the list, with residual blood staining the entire list. In the middle, one could see rows of divine position records, but at this time those records were all sealed by mysterious power, without any display.
She tried to touch those blank divine positions with her thoughts, then her sea of consciousness returned prompt information:
[Need to consume 100 merit points to unlock divine position. Consume 100 merit points to unlock divine position?]
Yes!
Zhao Fusheng still didn't understand this so-called 'God-Sealing List.' She knew nothing about what 'merit' was or what 'divine positions' were, but she still wanted to try to figure out what this was all about.
The instant she chose 'yes,' her consciousness seemed to be guided by a thought, marking the lower left side of the God-Sealing List on a divine position record—but ultimately the marking failed.
A piece of information fed back:
[Insufficient merit—less than 100 points, unlocking divine position failed.
Prompt: Complete the first Demon-Suppressing Bureau commission to obtain merit.
Note: The Demon-Suppressing Bureau's responsibilities are to expel ghosts, handle cases, safeguard Wan'an County's people, and prevent them from being harmed by malevolent ghosts.
Reminder again: Uphold justice, rebuild Hell.
Activate the God-Sealing List, seal great ghosts as gods, send a hundred ghosts into reincarnation!]
Zhao Fusheng was so shocked she couldn't speak, unable to regain her senses for a long time.
Just then, the Fan Bisi brothers had waited for a long time but saw her holding the emerald jade book yet not speaking.
"Fusheng, Fusheng!"
Fan Bisi finally couldn't hold back and loudly called Zhao Fusheng's name twice.
"Ah..." Zhao Fusheng suddenly came to her senses and turned to look at Fan Bisi:
"You, what did you just say..."
Her heart was in chaos. First learning that her life-soul was controlled by a malevolent ghost and she'd become a ghost minion, then learning she was also entangled by a malevolent ghost, and then activating the God-Sealing List—her whole person was in a trance, completely different from her earlier shrewd and calm demeanor when talking with Fan Bisi.
Seeing her unusual expression and hearing her absent-minded question, Fan Bisi couldn't help frowning.
"I said, the court has certain methods to control ghosts—forget it." He suddenly wiped his face and said: "Everything that should be said has been said. Fusheng, give us brothers a chance. Remove our life-souls, and we're preparing to seek refuge at Baozhi County's Demon-Suppressing Bureau..."
"I..." He wanted to give a long speech, but Zhao Fusheng's spirit once again returned to view her sea of consciousness. Inside the sea of consciousness, that God-Sealing List covered in blood pollution and looking eerie and ominous slowly unfolded, with sealed divine positions written one after another.
Her chaotic thoughts gradually became clear. Her extraordinary willpower made her gradually accept this reality.
Seeing her not speaking, Fan Bisi subconsciously reached out to pull her wrist. Her wrist was very thin, skin deathly pale. Because of previous poverty, the girl's body was thin and weak. From Fan Bisi's angle, he could see the girl's wrist veins bulging, appearing especially prominent under that thin skin.
The Great Han Dynasty's common people were almost all this skinny. He probed: "Fusheng, remove our life-souls. If you need help in the future, we brothers will definitely contribute."
She seemed to have lost her backbone, allowing him to pull her hand to touch that emerald jade book.
The instant Zhao Fusheng's fingers touched the jade book, a halo suddenly lit up on it, gradually revealing three small black human figures wrapped in red light.
The shadows finally disappeared, transforming into three names.
Those names were arranged in a triangle formation. Zhao Fusheng's name was in the center, with two names below: Fan Bisi, Fan Wujiu.
Strange blood light wrapped around the three names, looking extremely ominous.
When Fan Bisi saw his brother's two names, excitement showed in his eyes as he pulled Zhao Fusheng's hand toward those two names.
Just as they were about to touch those two names, the Fan Bisi brothers showed smiles in unison, thinking the matter would be accomplished—Fan Bisi exerted force in one push, about to forcefully pull Zhao Fusheng's hand to 'scoop out' the names, when the hand in his palm suddenly transmitted resistance.
Zhao Fusheng clenched her palm and forcefully withdrew her hand: "No."
The confusion faded from her eyes, becoming firm.
Fan Bisi and Fan Wujiu's faces turned from joy to shock. Fan Bisi was both shocked and angry: "You, you—"
"Listen to me. We're people of Wan'an County's Demon-Suppressing Bureau. We shouldn't think about running away when encountering trouble, right?" As if seeing a glimmer of hope in desperate straits, she swept away her listless state. Her eyes gradually became shrewd and sharp. Looking at the Fan brothers, a smile slowly appeared on her face.
For some reason, when she smiled, Fan Bisi felt a chill in his heart. Subconsciously releasing her wrist, just as he wanted to retreat, Zhao Fusheng grasped his palm instead: "There's a saying, how does it go?"
"How... how does it go?" An ominous premonition arose in his heart.
The girl before him had completely shed her former timidity and ignorance, instead seeming like a different person, smiling in a way that made his heart tremble.
"Accepting the ruler's salary, serving the ruler's affairs. As magistrate and magistrate assistants of Wan'an County's Demon-Suppressing Bureau, we should protect this county's people." Zhao Fusheng said seriously:
"The Demon-Suppressing Bureau's responsibilities are to expel ghosts, handle ghost cases, safeguard Wan'an County's people, and uphold justice!"
"..."
"..."
Responding to her were the Fan brothers' two identical speechless expressions, looking at her as if looking at a lunatic.