Ghosts typically rest during the day. At least ninety percent of them refrain from appearing in the daylight. Even someone like Li Xue, a ghost officer, takes the daytime off and only acts at night.
But the fact that Yun Ling encountered danger during the day is highly unusual.
"Mr. Mo, are you going in person?" Li Bingyan asked cautiously, her eyes fixed on Mo Lin.
"Yes," Mo Lin answered readily, eager to confront whatever awaited him. After all, he had a strong desire to capture a few more ghosts.
He had only taken a few steps when a thought struck him. He paused and turned toward Li Bingyan.
"Help me look into the whereabouts of a ghost officer."
"A ghost officer?"
"Yes, a ghost officer named Zishang Qingrou." Mo Lin knew the Ghost Control Society had an extensive network, which is why he had asked Li Bingyan to investigate Zishang Qingrou's whereabouts.
"Zishang Qingrou? Isn't she already gone?"
Li Bingyan's words struck Mo Lin like a bolt of lightning.
"What? Gone?"
"How did she disappear?"
Mo Lin rushed forward, his tone frantic as he pressed Li Bingyan for answers.
Li Bingyan was startled by Mo Lin's sudden urgency.
"This ghost officer came to us about a year ago. She was seeking our help, but the higher-ups in the society could not come to a consensus, so we turned her away."
"After that, we never heard from her again. I suspect she's dead."
"How did she end up seeking help from the society? What kind of trouble did she get into?" Mo Lin inquired further.
"This is a more complicated matter," Li Bingyan replied. "All I know is that she was driven to desperation by the ghosts from the Ghost Domain. She sought refuge with the Ghost Control Society."
"Do you know about the Ghost Domain?" Li Bingyan was about to explain when Mo Lin abruptly cut her off.
"I don't need an explanation. I know about the Ghost Domain."
Just hearing the mention of the Ghost Domain stirred a restless irritation in Mo Lin's chest.
It was as though their ghostly influence was a curse that wouldn't leave him in peace.
After all, his enemies in the underworld were the very same as those from the Ghost Domain. Even now, in the realm of the living, the ghosts from the domain remained a constant thorn in his side.
"Why can't they just mind their own business? Why must they always provoke the ghosts from Ye Bao's side?" Mo Lin fumed inwardly, his frustration building.
He had hoped the ghosts from the Ghost Domain would leave him be, but with Zishang Qingrou and Li Xue's past encounters, he knew they wouldn't let him go easily. The ghosts from the domain had a special hatred for Ye Bao's officers, and Mo Lin had no illusions—they would surely target him as well.
"Is it possible that Zishang Qingrou is truly gone?" Mo Lin asked Li Bingyan again, a note of uncertainty in his voice.
"I can't be sure. I only speculate that she's gone. However, I'll check into it for you. Is that alright?"
"That works," Mo Lin replied with a nod.
Zishang Qingrou had been a senior officer in the underworld. She was resourceful and far from an ordinary ghost. Mo Lin couldn't believe she would be forced to disappear by the ghosts of the Ghost Domain.
"Once you have any information about Zishang Qingrou, just give me a call," Mo Lin said before turning to leave.
He had other business to attend to—he needed to investigate what kind of trouble Yun Ling had found herself in.
Zishang Qingrou's case was classified as top-secret, and retrieving her information wouldn't be easy. But while Li Bingyan investigated, she took a quick look into Mo Lin's own background as well.
After leaving the Ghost Control Society headquarters, Mo Lin drove his Rolls-Royce to the western suburbs to find Yun Ling.
She had sent a location in the group chat.
Following her instructions, Mo Lin arrived at a school. It was summer break, and the school was empty of students.
Using his Ghost Vision ability, Mo Lin scanned the surroundings.
The area was unnervingly calm, with no trace of ghostly energy. This indicated that the school was ghost-free.
Why had Yun Ling encountered danger in a place like this?
Mo Lin parked at the school entrance and entered. Upon stepping onto the school grounds, he found himself on a basketball court. A group of people was in the middle of a heated argument.
Yun Ling stood rigidly in place, holding a black umbrella in her right hand. She was shouting angrily at a young man in front of her, her cheeks flushed with emotion.
Being a young woman, she wasn't particularly skilled in confrontations.
"My ghosts, why should I give them to you?" Yun Ling snapped, her voice full of defiance.
"We've had our eyes on this ghost for a long time. You just happened to get to it before we did. The ghost you captured belongs to us!" A young, overweight man shamelessly insisted, stepping forward, followed by six or seven others closing in around Yun Ling.
Behind her stood two young women of similar age. One of them had disheveled hair and red, swollen wrists, a clear sign that there had already been physical altercations before Mo Lin arrived.
Yun Ling furrowed her brow. If she didn't give up the ghost she had captured today, these people—led by the man known as Fat Tiger—would never let her go.
Her eyes darted around, clearly waiting for someone.
She had already sent out a distress message in the group chat, so help should be on the way soon.
"What's going on here?" Mo Lin asked as he approached.
Upon seeing Mo Lin, Yun Ling's face, which had been filled with despair, suddenly lit up with a glimmer of hope.
Her savior had arrived.
Yun Ling quickly walked toward Mo Lin, followed by the two young women behind her.
"These people are from the Purple Dragon Society. I captured a ghost yesterday, and they want to steal it from me," Yun Ling explained to Mo Lin.
"Purple Dragon Society?" Mo Lin had never heard of it.
"They are similar to us—part of the state-run organizations. However, the Purple Dragon Society deals primarily with capturing ghosts, while our Ghost Control Society handles both ghost hunting and maintaining public safety," Yun Ling clarified.
Both the Ghost Control Society and the Purple Dragon Society were state-sanctioned, but their roles differed. There was ongoing tension between the two, and often, they found themselves at odds due to competing interests.
"How many people are there?" Mo Lin asked.
"Just these few," Yun Ling replied, her voice betraying a hint of uncertainty.
"I came alone," Mo Lin responded calmly.
"Alone?" Yun Ling's disbelief was evident as her gaze scanned Mo Lin's back, only to find that there was indeed no one else following him.
In an instant, her hope crumbled, and her expression turned icy.
Mo Lin's arrival felt as ineffective as if he hadn't come at all.
Fat Tiger, seeing that Mo Lin was alone, let out a cruel laugh.
"Yun Ling, is this your backup? Did you call him here just to get beaten?"
It wasn't just Mo Lin's slight build that made him seem out of place—if he were even a giant, he would still be no match for Fat Tiger and his crew.
Yun Ling clenched her teeth and coldly snorted, signaling Mo Lin to run.
Mo Lin, however, seemed oblivious to her silent plea, standing firm without moving.
Yun Ling glanced around at the group, noting that three of them were level-two Ghost Controllers, while four were level-one.
She couldn't understand why, as a level-three Ghost Controller, she was afraid of them.