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"I... forget it, I don't want it anymore..."
Old Zhang hesitated for a long moment, but still shook his head.
He already understood that he had been too hasty and had fallen for Zhao Fusheng's verbal trap, having information tricked out of him. Now, filled with regret, he repeatedly backed away:
"Forget it, forget it, I won't collect the debt for now—"
"That won't do."
Now that he wanted to leave, Zhao Fusheng wouldn't allow it:
"Debts must be repaid; it's perfectly justified and unalterable."
She feigned kindness:
"How about this? I've controlled a ghost. As my immediate neighbors, you must know about it."
Hearing these words, cold sweat instantly beaded on Old Zhang's forehead.
A bad premonition arose in his heart. His right eye twitched violently, and just as he was about to speak, Zhao Fusheng continued:
"After all, we've been neighbors for many years. You should understand this ghost I control the best. It gives first and takes later, right?"
She giggled:
"In my opinion, what kind of ghost is this? It's practically a God of Wealth reincarnated! A good ghost that delivers charcoal in snowy weather!"
"..."
The Fan Bisi and Fan Wujiu brothers looked utterly bewildered, their expressions towards her hard to describe.
"I've tried this ghost's 'abilities' before, including delivering money and rice."
The sweat on Old Zhang's forehead became denser. Zhao Fusheng took a step forward, and he trembled, desperately backing away:
"No, no, no..."
"How about I ask the ghost for 102 taels of silver for you..." Zhao Fusheng hadn't finished speaking when Old Zhang let out a loud, miserable scream: "That won't do!"
"What's wrong with it?" Zhao Fusheng smiled with narrowed eyes:
"Isn't it just money? If it's not enough, I can ask for more."
"No," Old Zhang shook his head.
Zhao Fusheng suddenly reached out and grabbed his clothes. Caught off guard, he was seized by her. The young girl's hand was cold and slender. Combined with the thought of the vengeful ghost clinging to her, this old man was instantly so scared that he kept screaming miserably:
"Ah! Help, help—"
"Don't kill me, I don't want the money anymore..."
"How can you not want the money? You must."
Zhao Fusheng sneered:
"Not only can you want it, you must want all of it."
"No, no, no, I miscalculated. It's not that much silver. I need to calculate again—" Old Zhang said loudly, simultaneously calling out to the Fan brothers for help:
"Fan... Fan Division Commander..."
"Fusheng." The development of events was beyond the Fan brothers' expectations. Zhao Fusheng had shed her former weakness and become shrewd and assertive.
Fan Bisi's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly spoke up:
"Don't kill him. He, he and Paper Figure Zhang are from the same clan..."
"Yes, yes, yes, Paper Figure Zhang is my distant nephew," Old Zhang, as if grasping a lifeline, quickly said loudly:
"Don't kill me."
"Just a distant nephew, not even a direct one." Zhao Fusheng sneered, not falling for it:
"What's more, this so-called Paper Figure Zhang used a trick before and nearly got me killed. Although I didn't die, my parents did. If he doesn't come looking for trouble with me, I'll find him to settle this matter."
Her tough stance was beyond Fan Bisi's expectations.
However, ghost controllers were like this. Dealing with ghosts, after a long time, one would inevitably be influenced by vengeful ghosts, their temperament becoming gloomy, cruel, and eccentric, making them extremely difficult to deal with.
At this moment, with a vengeful ghost on her, her mentality was inflated, and she was ignorant of the immensity of heaven and earth. Fan Bisi had seen such people before; most didn't live long. In the later stages, influenced by vengeful ghosts, their actions became increasingly difficult to control.
Within a year and a half, if they didn't die at the hands of ghosts, they would die at the hands of the imperial court.
But that was for later. Right now, Zhao Fusheng was on the verge of 'losing control.'
If she were allowed to continue and kill Old Zhang, it was highly likely to anger Paper Figure Zhang.
She controlled a vengeful ghost and wasn't afraid of trouble, but the Fan brothers would have a headache because of this.
Most importantly, her words revealed a piece of information that unsettled Fan Bisi: she was holding a grudge for her parents' deaths and was only temporarily enduring it.
"Don't kill me, don't kill me—"
Seeing that even mentioning Paper Figure Zhang couldn't make her wary, Old Zhang instantly thought of the past ghost controllers of the Demon Suppression Division, and his fear intensified.
"What do you want to take from the Demon Suppression Division?"
Zhao Fusheng asked again.
"I..." Hearing this, Old Zhang paused. After a long moment, a look of despair flashed in his eyes:
"I, I misspoke. I just wanted money..."
He was clearly terrified, extremely afraid of the vengeful ghost on Zhao Fusheng. But it seemed there was something even more terrifying than vengeful ghosts. The words were on the tip of his tongue, yet he would rather die at the hands of a vengeful ghost than reveal half a sentence more.
"Fusheng, Paper Figure Zhang, he—"
Seeing the situation was not good, Fan Bisi quickly tried to smooth things over again:
"He's not easy to deal with. When Zhao Qiming was alive, he also maintained a respectful distance from him. If you want to control the Demon Suppression Division, why make an enemy of him? What's more, the power of a vengeful ghost cannot be used rashly, not unless absolutely necessary..."
"What's there to be afraid of?" Zhao Fusheng said deliberately:
"You also know, I'm bound to die. The only difference is whether I die sooner or later. If he wants to cause trouble for me, well, my parents are dead, I'm all alone, and I won't live long anyway. I'll just fight him to the bitter end."
Her attitude was unyielding, as if there was no room for negotiation.
Fan Bisi was instantly speechless.
Even someone as shrewd as him was at a loss and looked at his younger brother. Fan Wujiu dared not even make a sound.
Old Zhang's face was full of despair. The owner of the incense, candles, and paper money shop, leading two attendants who looked like dummies, seeing this scene, had at some point quietly withdrawn from the Demon Suppression Division, slipped back to his shop, and even tightly shut the door.
Just when everyone thought there was no room for maneuver in this matter, Zhao Fusheng's tone suddenly changed. The coldness on her face vanished, and she smiled until her eyes curved:
"But Brother Fan is right."
She loosened her hand, and Old Zhang from the coffin shop, his legs unsteady, fell to the ground with a 'thump.'
"We are all immediate neighbors. Let's not take things too far, right?" she asked with a gentle smile.
"Right, right, right—" Old Zhang, having escaped death, nodded desperately.
"Then I miscalculated the price of the coffins. How could one coffin cost three taels of silver?" He was so scared that cold sweat poured down, but he dared not reach out to wipe it:
"Besides, as a resident of Wan'an County, now that the Demon Suppression Division is in trouble, I should naturally help. It's my bounden duty. How can I press for old debts? Why not just write them off..."
He was genuinely afraid of the ghost on Zhao Fusheng and also afraid of receiving something that didn't belong to him, thereby losing his life.
"I'll gift Division Commander Zhao two more coffins..."
"No! How can I let you gift them?" Zhao Fusheng said with great righteousness:
"How about this, the price of the coffins will still be calculated as is, I can't let you suffer a loss. However, we indeed have no money right now..."
"I don't want money..." Old Zhang hurriedly stated, trembling.
Before he could finish, Zhao Fusheng's tone changed:
"No money, but I have a position. Now, in the Demon Suppression Division, I am the Division Commander. I call the shots. I will now make the decision to pull you into the government office."
"No, no, no—" Old Zhang was startled upon hearing this and immediately refused. Zhao Fusheng grabbed his hand and said seriously:
"Once you enter the Demon Suppression Division, from now on, in life you are a person of the imperial court, in death you are a ghost of the imperial court. In the future, once the crisis in Wan'an County passes, the imperial court will give you the money owed."
"I..." Old Zhang's small eyes widened considerably.
"Rest assured," Zhao Fusheng interrupted him:
"There's no job more stable than a government job. This is a rule that hasn't changed for thousands of years!"
She said decisively, "You work for a few more years, and in the future, the imperial court will provide for your old age—" She made irresponsible promises. Finally, she turned to look at Fan Wujiu:
"Take out that Life-Soul Register. Old Zhang isn't one of us. I don't even feel safe keeping his coffins. In that case, I'll have to borrow some ghost money to use first."
With one sentence, she blocked Old Zhang's retreat.
After speaking, she added another sentence:
"Record the money owed to him in the accounts. The imperial court will repay it in the future."
"..."
"..."
Fan Wujiu and Fan Bisi looked at each other.
No one had anticipated such a development. After Zhao Fusheng finished speaking, seeing that the Fan brothers hadn't moved, she couldn't help but raise an eyebrow and urged:
"Aren't you going quickly!"
Fan Bisi brought the jadeite register. Before the ghost book, Old Zhang resisted with all his might.
He repeatedly turned his head to look behind him. That assistant with a belly as large as a basket looked indifferent, as if he had lost all human compassion, not uttering a word about the farce before him.
Zhao Fusheng looked at him with a smile, her eyes carrying a threat.
In this world, human life was not valuable. Ghost controllers, though nominally still human, had their minds twisted from the moment they associated with ghosts. When they lost control, they were already half-human, half-ghost.
Old Zhang knew well that such people had perverse temperaments. The Demon Suppression Division in Wan'an County now existed in name only. Zhao Fusheng's parents were both dead, she had successfully controlled a ghost, and her actions were wild and reckless, without regard for consequences. There was simply no room for him to choose.
He was ultimately helpless. He bit his index finger, and blood dripped onto the blood book.
Instantly, a bloody light enveloped a dark shadow that appeared on the jade book, transforming into a half-bald little figure about the height of a palm.
That figure exuded a venomous resentment, finally transforming into a blood-red name: Zhang Chuanshi.
Only upon seeing this did Zhao Fusheng reveal a smile:
"Very good."
"Aren't you afraid my nephew..."
Zhang Chuanshi, forced into the Demon Suppression Division, felt extremely unwilling.
He was well aware of the current situation in Wan'an County's Demon Suppression Division. Once his blood dripped into the soul book, he was, in a way, bound to this place.
If the vengeful ghost on Zhao Fusheng lost control, as a member of the Demon Suppression Division, he would also be in danger.
"I'm not even sure how long I'll live. How would I have the time to worry about other things?"
Zhao Fusheng, having achieved her goal, laughed:
"Now we are all on the same side. Send two coffins over. My parents' bodies need to be buried peacefully as soon as possible."
"Hmph!"
...
Zhang Chuanshi left with an ugly expression, taking that large-bellied assistant with him. When he left, he didn't even take the ledger that had been placed on the ground.
Zhao Fusheng paid him no mind. Anyway, even if he left now, he would eventually return.
The Life-Soul Register was in her hands; he couldn't leave Wan'an County. As for what he really wanted to take from the Demon Suppression Division, there would be a chance to find out in the future.
If this person didn't send the coffins over, she would just go to his shop and move them herself.
She looked at the Life-Soul Register, hesitated for a long moment, but did not put it back into the box. Instead, she placed it inside her lapel.
This action made Fan Bisi pause for a moment.
"I need to keep this item on my person," she said after putting it away.
Fan Bisi didn't say anything.
This item, by convention, was indeed supposed to be kept by the Division Commander. But this item was entangled with a ghost language curse. Doing this was, in a way, like binding another 'ghost's' split consciousness to oneself. Every move was highly likely to be 'seen' by Jia Yi through the Life-Soul Register. Therefore, Division Commanders generally placed this item elsewhere.
But he thought about Zhao Fusheng being a ghost controller and presumed she was worried about the vengeful ghost on her gradually losing control, so she wanted to use this item to suppress the ghost on her.
He nodded and said nothing.
Zhao Fusheng then asked:
"In the Demon Suppression Division, how are ghost cases generally handled?"
"..." Fan Bisi looked at her with a strange expression.
When she threatened Old Zhang earlier, she was smiling gently, which was chilling. Now, when mentioning ghost cases, her expression was serious again, not looking like she was joking.
"Fusheng, dealing with ghosts is no fun," he frowned and reminded:
"The terror of ghosts is hard to describe. Now, in Wan'an County, you are the sole authority, and the emperor is far away. Why not enjoy yourself properly? Why bother touching these ghost cases?"
"I said, I want to retake control of the Demon Suppression Division. Handling ghost cases is what I need to do."
Zhao Fusheng frowned.
She was completely different from the previous Zhao Fusheng and had no intention of hiding her personality.
Perhaps because she carried a ghost, when Fan Bisi spoke to her again, he vaguely felt a pressure.
Fan Bisi was silent for a long moment and finally gave up trying to persuade her. He could only say helplessly:
"Generally speaking, when a ghost appears locally, someone must first report it, and then the Demon Suppression Division will take action."
But dealing with ghosts was no easy matter.
Demon Suppression Divisions in various places, when faced with tricky situations, would avoid them if they could, and push them away if they could.
As long as the situation wasn't too dire, they would almost always prioritize suppressing public opinion, first deceiving the imperial court, and then if things escalated and couldn't be controlled, they would report it.
Generally speaking, as long as it didn't cause major chaos locally, the imperial court also lacked the ability to fully control these ghost controllers. Most of the time, they would turn a blind eye, as long as things looked alright on the surface.
And for ordinary commoners, although ghosts were also very terrifying, sometimes vengeful ghosts were not as evil as human hearts.
Ghost controllers dealt with ghosts. In many people's eyes, they were no different from ghosts.
The most terrifying thing was that they might have greed, desires, and malice, even more cruel than ghosts.
Sometimes, some families would rather their relatives suffer from ghost disasters than report it to the Demon Suppression Division, fearing it would lead to worse consequences and bring disaster upon the entire family.
Under such circumstances, the frequency of ghost incidents in various county jurisdictions was actually not high.
Even in a place like Wan'an County, which was gradually being enveloped by ghost fog, there were actually very few people reporting cases.
"In the past six months, there have indeed been sporadic reports of cases."
But the Demon Suppression Division was also in crisis at that time. The Fan brothers could barely protect themselves, so how could they have the time to deal with these matters?