"In the south of Wan'an County city, there's an ancestral hall that was later renovated into a Confucius Temple."
Fan Bisi introduced:
"This ancestral hall originally belonged to the Liu family in the county. This Liu family was considered a prominent clan at the time—thriving lineage with many people. But for some reason, one day they suddenly encountered ghost disaster. In one night, more than half the Liu family died."
When bringing up the previous two cases, he'd glossed over them. But mentioning this third case, perhaps because it occurred in Wan'an County itself, he instead described the background in great detail, making Zhao Fusheng look at him twice more.
"The Liu family was terrified—afterward, the Liu family head at that time sought out the Demon-Suppressing Bureau, willing to offer half the Liu family's assets as payment to request the Demon-Suppressing Bureau magistrate intervene and rescue the Liu family from their predicament."
So this actually involved the Demon-Suppressing Bureau's past. No wonder Fan Bisi knew so much about this case.
"The Liu family spared no expense at that time, only seeking to preserve lives. But ghost disasters like this weren't easy to provoke. So though the Liu family was willing to spend lavishly, the magistrate at that time didn't rashly agree. Not until later when the Liu family somehow convinced Zhang Xiongwu—"
Speaking of this, seeing Zhao Fusheng's blank expression, knowing she didn't know who 'Zhang Xiongwu' was, he explained:
"This Zhang Xiongwu is Boss Zhang's grandfather, the one we mentioned."
"Boss Zhang's grandfather later somehow persuaded the magistrate at that time. Both parties cooperated. In the end, they discovered the Liu family ancestral hall was causing trouble. They renovated the ancestral hall into a Confucius Temple. From then on, the Liu family's ghost disaster disappeared. Liu descendants never died again."
"The incident now is at this Confucius Temple?" Zhao Fusheng asked.
But Fan Bisi shook his head:
"No."
Fan Wujiu interjected:
"After this incident, the Liu family's wealth and fortune were both damaged. Eventually, they moved out of Wan'an County, only leaving a temple keeper to manage miscellaneous matters."
Hearing him say this, Zhao Fusheng was somewhat surprised. Fan Bisi added:
"The incident occurred on Beggar's Alley, the street connected to the Confucius Temple."
"Beggar's Alley?"
Logically speaking, the Liu family's ancestral hall had incidents before. Though the disaster was later quelled, Fan Bisi himself mentioned ghosts couldn't be completely killed—they could only be driven away or handled through other methods.
Zhang Xiongwu and the Demon-Suppressing Bureau magistrate at that time jointly resolved this matter. Zhao Fusheng didn't know how capable they were. But given that the Confucius Temple remained peaceful for forty years without ghost disasters, clearly the handling back then was extraordinarily successful.
But the Confucius Temple's predecessor had ghost troubles. Now ghost disasters occurred again. Zhao Fusheng couldn't help speculating: Could it be the malevolent ghost jointly handled by Zhang Xiongwu and the Demon-Suppressing Bureau magistrate back then had resurrected?
But Fan Bisi said the ghost disaster didn't occur at the Confucius Temple but at Beggar's Alley beside it. This made Zhao Fusheng hesitant to make rash judgments.
"What's Beggar's Alley's background?" she asked.
"There's not much to say about that." Fan Bisi spoke until his mouth was dry. He immediately turned to look at his brother:
"Wujiu, you tell her."
Fan Wujiu said:
"Back when the Liu family was there, they had considerable assets. They were charitable, setting up soup kitchens every year to distribute porridge to nearby poor people."
"Many homeless people and beggars gathered in that place, constantly receiving the Liu family's charity. Over time, with many beggars there, it got an easy-to-remember common name: Beggar's Alley."
These detailed clues could all possibly be closely related to Zhao Fusheng's future survival. She firmly kept everything the two brothers said in her heart.
"It's said before the Liu family moved away, they left a large sum of silver with the temple keeper, instructing him to continue distributing porridge without stopping."
The information Fan Wujiu revealed surprised Zhao Fusheng again. She asked:
"You said the Liu family incident was forty years ago. Could it be that for forty years, this temple keeper still distributed porridge?"
"Correct." After resting a while, Fan Bisi spoke again:
"Until a month ago, this Confucius Temple still distributed food. So the area near the Confucius Temple in the south has always been lively. Beggar's Alley has even more people."
"The incident happened a month ago?" Hearing him say this, Zhao Fusheng couldn't help speculating.
"Right." Fan Bisi nodded:
"A month ago, a young man came to deliver a message. He said at the Confucius Temple keeper's request, he wanted to invite people from the Demon-Suppressing Bureau to make a trip to fulfill the agreement from back then—"
"What agreement?" Zhao Fusheng asked curiously.
"Don't know." Fan Bisi shook his head:
"This happened before we brothers were born. But according to this messenger, back then the Demon-Suppressing Bureau magistrate had an agreement with the Liu family. But now you understand the Demon-Suppressing Bureau's situation. At that time, we could barely protect ourselves. How could we manage such idle matters?"
"After we refused him, he was very anxious." Fan Bisi sighed:
"Later we heard Beggar's Alley had an incident."
"As you said, the Demon-Suppressing Bureau at that time could barely protect itself. Yet you still noticed Beggar's Alley's incident. Clearly, the problem there wasn't small." Zhao Fusheng said.
"Yes." Fan Bisi took a deep breath. After hesitating for a long while, he said in a low voice:
"A ghost domain appeared there."
He'd mentioned 'ghost domain' before, but this time when Fan Bisi brought it up, his expression was especially serious.
"What's different about this ghost domain?" Zhao Fusheng realized the situation was dire. Among three cases, two had almost no clues. Though the situation at the Confucius Temple's Beggar's Alley sounded complex, involving a forty-year-old ghost case, its clues were relatively complete—most importantly, this ghost case also involved Boss Zhang's grandfather.
As a past participant in the events, Zhao Fusheng pondered she might be able to extract some useful clues from Zhang Xiongwu's descendant—Boss Zhang—later.
"Fusheng, I advise you not to think about cases anymore." Hearing her ask this, Fan Bisi couldn't help shaking his head:
"You're young and ignorant, haven't dealt with ghosts, and don't know how terrifying they are."
"You speak first. I'll judge for myself." Zhao Fusheng didn't acknowledge his advice.
Fan Bisi laughed coldly and shook his head:
"You truly don't know the immensity of heaven and earth."
After speaking, he didn't try to persuade further but brought up the ghost domain:
"Generally speaking, all ghosts have the power to create illusions. Some ghosts are strong, some weak."
Weaker ghosts' created illusions were terrifying to ordinary people, but for Demon-Suppressing Bureau people with preparations, it wasn't entirely hopeless.
"But once ghosts break through Sui-class, they can create ghost domains within a certain range."
Usually, the larger the ghost domain, the larger the malevolent ghost's killing range. This also meant the ghost was harder to deal with, and naturally, victims would increase.
"Ghost domains can trap not only ordinary people but Demon-Suppressing Bureau people also can't easily escape. Once trapped in a ghost domain, if you don't find a way to escape the malevolent ghost's 'line of sight,' once it discovers you, you're certainly doomed."
"There are two methods to break ghost domains..." Fan Bisi said this much and shook his head: "Either way, both are too difficult for you."
He then turned the topic back to Beggar's Alley:
"After we heard the news, we rushed to the Confucius Temple. But I discovered the entire Beggar's Alley was already shrouded by a ghost domain. I didn't dare easily enter."
"Fusheng, that place is already the ghost's territory. Don't easily enter. Once you go in, you're delivering yourself into the malevolent ghost's hands. Easy to enter, hard to leave!" He reiterated:
"That ghost domain is extraordinary. Beggar's Alley isn't small. Being able to shroud most of the street in a ghost domain shows the malevolent ghost's power in Beggar's Alley is exceptional."
"Never mind you, a newcomer who just started controlling ghosts. Even when Zhao Qiming hadn't died yet, if he saw this ghost domain, he'd have to acknowledge defeat and retreat!"
Fan Wujiu added faintly:
"Maybe before leaving, he'd even kowtow, deeply afraid of alarming the malevolent ghost."