Investiture of the Gods List had previously warned that the ghost hand severed from the Beggar Ghost possessed a special ability: when it demanded something, neither human nor ghost could refuse. Now that she had given it the human-skin paper, it was as if she had satisfied its rule, so it temporarily entered a state of peaceful slumber.
Once the human-skin paper was removed, it would awaken. Once the ghost hand revived, it would likely repeat its rule of demanding one item upon each awakening. If its wish could not be satisfied, it might backfire on her.
Zhao Fusheng was not a ghost body, so it was unclear what the consequences would be if she suffered a backlash from the Fierce Ghost's severed hand. However, her situation was already not optimistic, and the ghost hand's special rule should prove very useful to her in the future. The Fierce Ghost she controlled was getting closer and closer to her. Until a method to resolve this hidden danger was found, she temporarily could not use the power of the Fierce Ghost she controlled.
Given this, the timing of this ghost hand's appearance was simply perfect.
Thinking this, Zhao Fusheng felt happy again.
She measured the size of the shrunken ghost hand, carefully tucked it into her sleeve to hide it, then breathed a sigh of relief and began to observe her surroundings. Previously, when she controlled the Fierce Ghost and fought the ghost, she hadn't felt how perilous it was. Now, looking around, she saw that the house she was hiding in had almost completely collapsed. The power of two Fierce Ghosts fighting was terrifyingly immense. The surrounding walls had crumbled, the roof beams had fallen diagonally, and the ground was splattered with un-dried blood—evidence of her narrow escape from death.
This night had truly been harrowing.
Zhao Fusheng thought of the scene when the Fierce Ghost appeared, still lingering with fear, and touched her chest. Due to the Fierce Ghost's possession, all her fatal injuries had disappeared, but the shadow of almost dying at the Fierce Ghost's hands still lingered in her mind, making her shiver and acutely feel the gap between humans and ghosts.
She walked out of the house. As the Fierce Ghost's body was disintegrated and the ghost's rule was altered, the ghost calamity in Beggar's Alley had dissipated. The ghost domain enveloping the area gradually dispersed. At this moment, the sky was faintly dawning. In the thick fog, a ray of morning light shone into the sky, casting a dim, greenish glow over the entire Beggar's Alley. As the black mist diffused, she could faintly see the other end of the alley, where the passage previously hidden within Wan'an County slowly reappeared.
The gentle morning breeze blew into the ghost domain, dispelling the silence and deathly aura of the place, bringing a faint trace of vitality.
A subtle, almost imperceptible familiar scent of soup drifted in with the breeze, causing Zhao Fusheng's stomach to rumble. She stood at the doorway, her nose lingering with the intertwined scents of soup and blood.
The shadow brought by the Fierce Ghost was gradually fading. Zhao Fusheng slowly closed her eyes, savoring the relief of surviving a calamity. After a long while, she took a deep breath, opened her eyes, walked onto the street, and loudly shouted:
"Demon Suppression Division on official business! The ghost calamity here has been resolved, the Fierce Ghost has left, and the ghost domain has disappeared. Everyone can come out and decide whether to stay or leave on their own!"
The street was empty. Her echo reverberated back and forth, spreading throughout Beggar's Alley. After a long time, no one opened their doors.
Zhao Fusheng let out a laugh. She knew well that the ghost calamity in Beggar's Alley had existed for a long time. The people who had survived there until now, under the influence of the Fierce Ghost's mischief, had developed extremely cautious personalities and would absolutely not believe her words. Perhaps after her shouting, others would simply think she was spouting nonsense, deliberately trying to trick them out to their deaths.
She didn't take these people's actions to heart. Anyway, once the ghost domain was lifted, given enough time, someone would eventually notice that something was amiss and would eventually leave their rooms. When these people came out and saw the sights outside Beggar's Alley, they would naturally know that the disaster was over and flee the place.
The most pressing matter for her was to find Liu Yizhen. This person held the One-Life Register in his hand, and her name was recorded in the One-Life Register. This register was a Yin object, extremely sinister. Although the Beggar Ghost had been disintegrated by her, breaking its rule, Zhao Fusheng still felt uneasy about such a thing, containing her name, falling into someone else's hands.
Liu Yizhen had promised to join the Demon Suppression Division. Zhao Fusheng had initially been certain that he couldn't escape since the area was covered by the ghost domain, so she temporarily ignored him and focused entirely on handling the ghost case. This person claimed he would stay at the Confucian Temple to guard the two Fierce Ghosts in their sealed state, but she didn't trust human nature and worried this was just an excuse for Liu Yizhen to gain her trust. Now that the ghost calamity was resolved, she couldn't let this Liu Yizhen leave!
Thinking of this, Zhao Fusheng immediately quickened her pace and headed towards the Confucian Temple. She ran swiftly. Before she even reached the Confucian Temple, she heard movement from the temple gate. Zhao Fusheng slowed her steps, regulated her breathing, and slowly turned out from the side of the street to look at the Confucian Temple—
She saw a figure using a ladder to climb to one side of the Confucian Temple's main gate, taking down the "Benevolence" character cloth banner hanging above. After taking down the banner, he seemed to have heard her approaching footsteps earlier. He calmly turned around, and it was indeed Liu Yizhen. He held the sign, jumped down from the ladder, and when he saw Zhao Fusheng, a faint smile appeared on his face:
"You actually solved the ghost calamity of Beggar's Alley."
"Yes." Zhao Fusheng had originally worried he would run, but she hadn't expected this person to act with such principle. After the ghost domain was lifted, he didn't take the opportunity to flee; instead, he seemed to have made up his mind to remain at the Confucian Temple. Her thoughts shifted, and she immediately guessed:
"Are you perhaps planning to guard this place forever?"
Liu Yizhen nodded: "I cannot leave this place."
To this day, the Beggar Ghost had been disintegrated. From the scattered clues, Zhao Fusheng had pieced together the complete truth of the haunting incident in Beggar's Alley:
Years ago, Liu Huacheng brought a ghost back to his hometown, and then the Fierce Ghost revived. To resolve the ghost calamity, Liu Huacheng squandered his family fortune, requesting Su Long and Zhang Xiongwu to work together to artificially create a ghost calamity, restraining the revived Headless Fierce Ghost. This artificially "invited" ghost was the Beggar Ghost.
The Beggar Ghost killed people according to a roster, and the Liu family used human lives to feed the ghost and maintain balance. The forty years of peace that Zhao Fusheng had previously believed in were actually built upon the lives of countless unknown people.
This was Beggar's Alley, where most of the people gathered were poor beggars. These homeless individuals, perhaps living solitary lives, survived solely on the alms given by the Confucian Temple. Little did they know that in Liu Huacheng's eyes, they were merely walking offerings he raised to feed the Fierce Ghost.
According to Su Long's method, suppressing ghosts with ghosts, everything should have been peaceful. But Liu Huacheng, for some unknown reason, suddenly died after living for a hundred years. After Liu Huacheng's death, the Fierce Ghost revived, and the balance of ghost-controlling-ghost in Beggar's Alley was immediately broken. Three Fierce Ghosts appeared simultaneously; two equally powerful Fierce Ghosts restrained each other, while the third Fierce Ghost, of slightly lower rank and strength, lost its restraint and then revived.
Thinking this, Zhao Fusheng naturally had many questions. At the same time, she remembered a key figure in the case: Paper Man Zhang. He had once mentioned that Liu Huacheng was the central figure in the Imperial Capital's Headless Ghost Corpse case back then. The Ghost Corpse's awakening was already of the Malevolent rank. After the Fierce Ghost's corpse was disintegrated and sealed, his words implied that after the Headless Ghost Corpse was disintegrated, its strength and realm both decreased.
What was this person's purpose in doing this? Zhao Fusheng initially suspected that Paper Man Zhang wanted to use her to kill someone else, after all, there was enmity between herself and Paper Man Zhang. Zhao's parents had died at the hands of a Fierce Ghost due to Paper Man Zhang and the Fan brothers' misdirection. It was reasonable for Paper Man Zhang to be uneasy and want to stifle her in danger once she successfully controlled a ghost.
The two sides only maintained superficial peace, each looking for an opportunity to strike. So, after meeting Paper Man Zhang and obtaining the information she wanted, Zhao Fusheng immediately made a move against him first. Her intention at the time was: if she could kill Paper Man Zhang, she would eliminate future troubles forever; if she couldn't kill him and was instead controlled by him, she would immediately concede and seek peace. Who knew that Paper Man Zhang would ultimately display a bizarre appearance, eventually transforming into an incredibly large human-shaped strange lantern and flying away...
After the first round of conflict between the two sides ended inconclusively, Zhao Fusheng now recalled it and always felt that Paper Man Zhang's anger when she burned him into his bizarre form had a sense of disguise, as if he was using killing intent to conceal his true purpose. What benefit did this person want to gain by using her?
Zhao Fusheng rubbed her temples, then refocused her thoughts on the Headless Ghost. The ghost calamity in Beggar's Alley seemed to be temporarily resolved, but the Beggar Ghost, which arose from the alms, was merely the lowest-ranked ghost among the three temples of the Confucian Temple. It was like the tip of an iceberg, with greater dangers hidden beneath the surface. And the origin of this ghost case lay with the Headless Ghost Corpse.
"..." Zhao Fusheng couldn't help but frown.
With her keen intuition and careful analysis, she believed that Paper Man Zhang's identity played a subtle role in this matter. But this person said too much, mixing truth with lies, and sometimes too many clues instead confused her understanding. Zhao Fusheng simply discarded all currently known clues and focused all her attention on the Headless Ghost Corpse.
The ghost case of the Confucian Temple seemed complex, but in reality, it ultimately revolved around the Headless Ghost Corpse.
Liu Huacheng handling the case—the Fierce Ghost reviving—the corpse being disintegrated—Liu Huacheng bringing the Fierce Ghost back to Wan'an County—the Fierce Ghost being sealed—the Fierce Ghost reviving.
After filtering all the clues in her mind, Zhao Fusheng suddenly realized an important question. The Fierce Ghost was sealed and brought back to the Liu family for suppression. What was the item that sealed the Headless Ghost Corpse? Could it be a peerless malevolent object related to ghosts? Since the court dared to use this item to seal the Headless Ghost at the time, it proved that this item had a special restraining effect on Fierce Ghosts. So why did this item suddenly fail, causing the Fierce Ghost to revive? Were there any problems during the sealing process?
The Headless Ghost's second sealing was related to Zhang Xiongwu, and there was also Paper Man Zhang's shadow when she entered Beggar's Alley after the Fierce Ghost revived this time. What role did these grandfather and grandson play in this ghost case of the Liu family ancestral temple? She vaguely felt she was touching upon a bit of the truth of the matter, but there still seemed to be a subtle mist separating her from the complete truth.
Zhao Fusheng let out a long breath, and again recalled the Headless Ghost itself. The Headless Ghost's corpse was incomplete, but this ghost's rank was definitely above Malevolent. This could be verified from the Beggar Ghost. After all, although the Headless Ghost had a natural ability to restrain ghosts, its body was incomplete and its realm had greatly decreased. The Beggar Ghost still had to be driven by it after death, working for it – and the Beggar Ghost's strength had reached the Malevolent rank even before it was disintegrated by Zhao Fusheng. And such a malevolent entity could be restrained by Liu Huacheng, who had only recently died and revived, which shows that Liu Huacheng, who lived for a hundred years and died, was also no ordinary person.
Liu Yizhen staying here was probably also to watch these two Fierce Ghosts and prevent them from reviving.
Thinking of this, Zhao Fusheng's heart suddenly stirred, as if she faintly guessed a hint of the truth. As she thought of this, her eyes brightened. Although she tried her best to conceal her expression and not reveal any clues, Liu Yizhen's eyes were exceptionally sharp. He noticed the subtle changes in her expression, as if he had guessed her thoughts.
Zhao Fusheng keenly perceived the momentary change in Liu Yizhen's gaze. She raised her head, their eyes met, and both fell silent for a moment.
"Hehe." Zhao Fusheng was the first to chuckle twice, masking her inner thoughts, then opened her mouth and asked:
"You won't be giving alms anymore, will you?" This was not a question but a firm statement.
"No." Liu Yizhen shook his head: "The Confucian Temple originally existed for these Fierce Ghosts. Now that the ghost calamity has been temporarily resolved by you, I have no need to continue giving alms." After speaking, he paused, then added:
"Perhaps there will be no need to give alms in the future." Then he proactively offered:
"Bring out the Soul-Bound Destiny Register."
His demeanor was exactly what Zhao Fusheng had hoped for. She immediately smiled and cheerfully took out the Soul-Bound Destiny Register, handing it over:
"You are indeed a man of your word."
"It's also because you have good strength, disintegrated the Fierce Ghost, and resolved the ghost calamity of Beggar's Alley." He said calmly, "If you had died here, I wouldn't have had the chance to keep my word."
As he spoke, he raised his right index finger to his lips, bit it hard until blood welled up, and Zhao Fusheng quickly brought the Soul-Bound Destiny Register closer. As a drop of blood fell onto the jade book, a small, black-red figure quickly condensed on it. The figure's face and blood-red eyes flashed with malice, finally transforming into a name that appeared on the Soul-Bound Destiny Register:
Liu Yizhen!
Seeing that the matter was settled, Liu Yizhen put his still-bleeding finger back into his mouth, watching Zhao Fusheng carefully tuck the Soul-Bound Destiny Register back into her embrace as if it were a rare treasure.
"Just good luck." Zhao Fusheng finally let go of the worry in her heart and replied with a smile.
Liu Yizhen merely smiled upon hearing this. After a long moment, he said:
"I cannot leave the Confucian Temple, so I probably won't be able to participate in regular cases for the Demon Suppression Division." He paused in his speech, then continued:
"However, if you are in a critical situation and need assistance, you can come find me. As long as the time isn't too long, I should be able to help somewhat."
His behavior was more straightforward than the Fan brothers. Although their exchanges had been full of hidden intentions, and Zhao Fusheng had once been recorded in the One-Life Register because he offered her porridge, this person had been true to his word since then and was willing to enter the Soul-Bound Destiny Register to be counter-controlled by her. The two sides were mutually restrained, and only now were they finally willing to put down some of their guard and try to coexist peacefully for the time being. Now that he proactively offered help, it showed that he believed in Zhao Fusheng's potential and was willing to form a friendship.
"I Am A God In Another World" Fusheng's first ghost exorcism temporarily comes to an end.
I believe readers who have followed along this far can see that the ghost calamity in Beggar's Alley, with the Beggar Ghost, was just a beginning, not an end. This ghost calamity is a small appetizer for later ghost cases. The main event of the Confucian Temple are the Headless Ghost and Liu Huacheng, two major ghosts that have not yet revived.
So, for this early story, I needed to spend a lot of ink on foreshadowing and setting up plot holes, which involved repeated revisions that tormented me to no end. Actually, before it went on sale, I had accumulated seventy to eighty thousand words, but later, as I revised and deleted, I practically started over every day, making major revisions and rewriting. This process consumed a lot of my energy, leaving me in a very bad state. I felt very low every day, developed resistance to writing, and even a bit of aversion, woo woo woo.
After the revision, I overturned many of my original settings. For example, Liu Yizhen's character was originally set to be simple and kind. The setting of the three ghosts of the Confucian Temple was originally intended to be subtly revealed through plot threads, with the horrifying realization coming later when Liu Huacheng turned into a ghost.
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