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Fan Bi Si could tell Zhao Fu Sheng didn't take his words seriously. At first, he was somewhat surprised, then seemed to recall something, and smiled.
"This is indeed the only way."
He had been in the Demonic Suppression Division for many years and had once worked alongside the division chief to deal with malevolent spirits. He knew well how terrifying ghostly creatures could be.
Zhao Fu Sheng was still thinking like an ordinary person.
She was born in the common folk. Perhaps she thought she had mastered controlling ghosts and thus became overly confident—put simply, she didn't know her limits. She lacked accurate self-awareness and still harbored useless pity.
Fan Bi Si thought: Once she encounters ghosts, she will realize their power, and she might reverse her thinking.
But he didn't voice his thoughts. Instead, he said:
"However, there is another method that can temporarily suppress the ghostly calamity, though the risks are much greater."
Zhao Fu Sheng felt that Fan Bi Si's gaze was somewhat cryptic when he said this.
She turned around, and their eyes met. Fan Bi Si smiled meaningfully, making her feel he was implying something.
"What risk?" she asked.
"As I said, our Demonic Suppression Division encountered a ghostly calamity, resulting in the deaths of nearly everyone except for us two brothers... " Fan Bi Si paused here and continued,
"Do you know what caused this calamity?"
Zhao Fu Sheng had just arrived and knew little about this world. Her initial scare tactics were based on guesses. At this moment, she naturally didn't know the source of the calamity in the Demonic Suppression Division.
But she was cautious by nature and didn't become discouraged just because she was questioned. Instead, she furrowed her brows and mulled over Fan Bi Si's words. She indeed extracted some key useful information.
'Ghostly calamity' and 'controlling ghosts.'
"So the calamity in the Demonic Suppression Division was related to the ghost controlled by the previous division chief, Zhao Qi Ming?" she asked tentatively.
Fan Bi Si had originally thought she wouldn't be able to answer such a question, but he was surprised when she immediately pinpointed the core of the issue.
"You..."
His expression changed slightly. He had wanted to intimidate her but instead found she had guessed the truth. He involuntarily asked,
"How did you know?"
Their verbal sparring was also a form of mutual testing. Seeing her reaction, Zhao Fu Sheng knew she had guessed correctly and laughed,
"I guessed."
Fan Bi Si's expression turned somewhat sour. After a moment of silence, he sighed deeply,
"You guessed right."
"As I said, ghosts can't be completely eradicated but can be controlled. Our predecessor, the division chief, was such a controller. Those who control malevolent spirits gain some of their powers but also risk being devoured by them."
Zhao Fu Sheng had been reborn, and she felt her mindset had completely transformed. Fan Bi Si, who had initially been troubled, lost his composure. Realizing his attitude was problematic, he didn't play coy anymore and directly said,
"Nineteen years ago, the Demonic Suppression Division in Wan'an County was weak. Then a man named Zhao Duan appeared. He was a controller of malevolent spirits. The spirit he controlled was cunning—once accepting the spirit's 'gift,' he was effectively in a deal with it."
Ordinary transactions were settled cleanly, but deals with ghosts were often fatal.
He talked about the Demonic Suppression Division but suddenly mentioned events from nineteen years ago.
But this person was crafty. Mentioning nineteen years ago had to have a reason. Zhao Fu Sheng realized the source of the problem when he mentioned it later.
"In other words, the malevolent spirit that killed me was the same one Zhao Duan controlled nineteen years ago?"
She felt somewhat awkward when mentioning "me."
Fan Bi Si didn't pay attention to such trivialities. Anyone who narrowly escaped death at the hands of ghostly creatures and showed anxiety when talking about them was normal.
He didn't ponder much and just said,
"Yes."
"Zhao Duan... Zhao Qi Ming, are these two related?"
"They're father and son." At this moment, Fan Wu Jiu was quite cooperative. She asked, and he answered honestly.
"Can ghostly creatures inherit?"
Fan Wu Sheng was somewhat surprised.
Fan Bi Si humorously said,
"In this world, anything can be property." After saying that, he added,
"As long as you have the ability, ghosts can be your possessions, and naturally they can be inherited."
He explained,
"After Zhao Duan controlled this malevolent spirit, he became extraordinarily powerful. The spirit's abilities were extraordinary, capable of restraining many other spirits. Thus, during his tenure, the Demonic Suppression Division in Wan'an County gained fame, even attracting people to move there due to its good security."
Zhao Qi Ming was a rare upright controller of spirits and had received commendation from the court. Soon after, he was promoted from division chief to a lower-level general.
Besides overseeing Wan'an County, he also managed the Demonic Suppression Divisions in the neighboring counties.
"However, good times didn't last long. Dealing with spirits always carried the risk of being devoured. Within a year, Zhao Duan showed signs of losing control."
Though Zhao Fu Sheng had already guessed that spirit controllers didn't have good outcomes from Fan Bi Si's words, she was still shocked to learn it happened so quickly.
"Before Zhao Duan lost control, the court sent someone to restrain the spirit he controlled and handed it over to others to manage. This was the division chief who took over after Zhao Duan."
Fan Bi Si said,
"By the time of Zhao Qi Ming, the spirit had been transferred to many handlers."
Judging by the timeline of Zhao Duan's spirit control and eventual loss of control, there were frequent turnovers in the Demonic Suppression Division of Wan'an County over eighteen years.
After Zhao Qi Ming's death, it was Zhao Fu Sheng's turn. Not long after, Zhao Fu Sheng also died.
Zhao Fu Sheng felt a chill, realizing the Demonic Suppression Division's position was indeed dangerous.
"I told you, dealing with spirits is perilous. During the process of being controlled, spirits may also evolve, becoming even more dangerous and uncontrollable." After saying this, he sighed deeply,
"As expected, Zhao Qi Ming quickly fell victim to the spirit's backlash after gaining control. Eventually, the spirit rebelled and began massacring the Demonic Suppression Division."
"Malevolent spirits kill by creating ghost domains. Once within its domain, everyone becomes prey."
Fortunately, the Demonic Suppression Division was within the spirit's domain when Zhao Qi Ming's incident occurred. Besides the Fan brothers, everyone else was brutally killed.
When the nearby residents learned of the Demonic Suppression Division's troubles, they panicked and fled overnight, fearing involvement.
The once-renowned Demonic Suppression Division in Wan'an County fell into disarray overnight. Many wealthy households fled Wan'an County.
"Our brothers sought out the current generation of the Zhang family and devised a disaster-diversion strategy with their guidance."
The situation was now clear.
Fan Wu Jiu said,
"You need not blame us. Life is cheap in this world. Everyone wants to survive, and this is the only way."
According to the principles of malevolent spirits killing, Zhao Fu Sheng triggered its killing mechanism, which affected her relatives. Once her relatives were eliminated, others who avoided its attention would be spared.
When it wandered elsewhere, the local Demonic Suppression Division would have to deal with it.
The Fan brothers' plan was meticulous, and everything had been proceeding smoothly. Unfortunately, a flaw arose last night. Zhao Fu Sheng's resurrection disrupted their plan, leaving Fan Bi Si unsettled.
Understanding the cause and effect, Zhao Fu Sheng sighed deeply.
Originally, Zhao Fu Sheng had been unlucky. Clearly, the Fan brothers had used her as a scapegoat, which had been tragic. Her parents had also died tragically.
But precisely because of the death of the original owner, she had the chance to be reborn. If she ever had the opportunity, she wouldn't mind avenging the original Zhao Fu Sheng.
However, she clearly wasn't a match for the Fan brothers. Taking revenge seemed impossible. She had to find a way to leave and break free from their control.
"I know your parents died tragically, and you have grievances—" After Fan Bi Si said this, seeing Zhao Fu Sheng remained silent for a long time, he added,
"However, forgive me for speaking frankly. This world is like this. Even if your parents hadn't died in this ghostly calamity, they probably wouldn't have escaped death later."
Those with wealth and power had long left Wan'an County, seeking refuge under powerful spirit controllers. Wan'an County was doomed to be a dead zone, leaving only those with nowhere else to go behind.
"Then why didn't the court send anyone after Zhao Qi Ming lost control?"
Zhao Fu Sheng suddenly thought of a question and asked.
Fan Bi Si didn't know why she was still curious about the Demonic Suppression Division at this point. He had a request and forcibly suppressed his unease, sighing deeply,
"This place is abandoned by the court."
Seeing her surprise, he remembered that since he and his brother had brought her from Jiumen Village to this place, they had treated her only as a scapegoat and hadn't explained much about the Demonic Suppression Division's history. It was normal for her not to know.
"As I said, once a place loses control, the court can't handle such crises and will seal it off, leaving it to its own fate."
Zhao Fu Sheng felt a foreboding sense of dread and nodded,
"Yes. Does this mean Wan'an County..."
"Our Wan'an County has already been enveloped by ghostly mist!" He quickly added, "Not only Wan'an County, but the neighboring counties have also experienced ghostly mist. Only Wan'an County is the worst."
"What is ghostly mist?" she asked.
He said seriously,
"There are rumors that the emergence of ghostly mist may herald a blood moon. When the blood moon appears, countless ghosts may roam..." When he mentioned the keywords 'blood moon' and 'ghostly roaming,' his eyes showed fear,
"Ghostly roaming is bad enough, but worse still, it might spawn a great ghost—Level Huo... " He quickly shook his head,
"No, even Level Zai ghostly creatures are possible."
"..."
Zhao Fu Sheng didn't understand any of this, but she could feel Fan Bi Si's panic.
Such panic was contagious, especially since she had just been resurrected and was unfamiliar with the Great Han Dynasty. Hearing about ghostly calamities, ghostly mists, and blood moons only added to her confusion.
The concept of ghosts killing people challenged her previous understanding, but she still forced herself to remain calm and not be influenced by Fan Bi Si's emotions. Instead, she asked,
"Has the Great Han Dynasty ever experienced a blood moon before?"
Fan Bi Si looked at her incredulously,
"How could that be? Just the ghostly mist alone is enough to cause headaches. Ninety years ago, a ghostly mist outbreak led to countless ghosts roaming, wiping out several towns and counties. The court had to expend great efforts to quell the disaster."
"One hundred years ago, General Xu Yu of the Demonic Suppression Division controlled a particularly powerful spirit. Her spirit had predictive abilities, hence her nickname, 'Divine Pen.'"
"She could foresee the future and uncover many unknown things, including the prediction that the Great Han Dynasty would one day be engulfed by a blood moon and humans would perish."
"..."
Zhao Fu Sheng finally understood the severity of 'ghostly mist' and 'blood moon.' She hadn't expected that after her resurrection, she would face such a crisis.
"The court has been preparing for this over the years. So after the ghostly mist appeared in Wan'an County, it became alarmed. After discovering anomalies, it even sent people to investigate. But there was no way to resolve the ghostly mist crisis. The court sent people here, one after another, and within a year, six or seven replacements were made. To be honest, Zhao Qi Ming was the last person sent by the court to take over this mess."
Unfortunately, he met an unlucky end and died soon after.
Discovering no salvation here and fearing more casualties, the court had evidently decided to abandon this place.
After all, compared to ordinary people, rare and controllable spirit controllers were far more valuable to the court.
"..."
Zhao Fu Sheng remained silent.
Ever since Fan Bi Si decided to communicate honestly with her, he had been quite cooperative, eager to share everything. But she didn't dare to fully believe what he said.
His tone and demeanor when mentioning 'ghostly mist' and 'blood moon' made her feel human life was disposable—not just individuals, but entire counties might be abandoned by the court.
She darkly suspected: Fan Bi Si was saying this, naturally without excluding the possibility of its truth, but it might also be a subtle hint that the death of the original Zhao Fu Sheng wasn't the Fan brothers' fault...
But it was also possible she was overthinking.
Just as she thought this, she heard Fan Bi Si say,
"So you needn't blame my brothers..."
"..."
Zhao Fu Sheng looked speechless.
"I'm telling the truth!" Seeing her expression, Fan Bi Si knew she didn't believe him and emphasized,
"All of this is true. We're also helpless. We just want to survive."
While they spoke, Fan Wu Jiu brought out a heavy purple sandalwood box and placed it with a loud 'bang' beside Zhao Fu Sheng.
The box shook off a lot of dust when it landed. After pondering for a while, Zhao Fu Sheng said,
"You're telling me all this to get something from me?"
The Fan brothers weren't good people, and Fan Bi Si was particularly scheming. He wouldn't do something nice without a motive.
"Our brothers are division commanders of the Demonic Suppression Division. But as you can see, this place isn't safe. My brother and I want to leave here and seek new opportunities."
"If you want to go, just go—" Zhao Fu Sheng responded.
Fan Bi Si shook his head,
"We can't leave. We're bound by the Soul Fate Book. We can't leave. We hope you'll kindly release us from the book."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Fu Sheng couldn't help but laugh.
These two brothers had caused the death of the original owner. Now Fan Bi Si dared to make such a request.
She smirked but didn't reveal her thoughts.
Fan Bi Si wasn't foolish. Since he said this, he must have had something that would make her agree. She waited for his next move.
"As repayment, we'll tell you some information about malevolent spirits we've gathered over the years—and leave you some items. We're also willing to introduce you to the Paper Zhang family."
"...