Chapter Four: The Arrival of the Spirit Tamer

Not long after, a car slowly stopped in front of Chief Wang. Two people stepped out of the vehicle. Both were dressed in black trench coats, radiating a disquieting aura that instinctively made people keep their distance.

“You must be the special agents. The burial ground I mentioned is up on the mountain—” Chief Wang began, but was immediately interrupted, “Show us the spirit energy detector first.”

Without another word, Chief Wang nodded and handed over the round device he had brought out earlier. This was the spirit energy detector, designed to sense the fluctuations of spirit energy from anomalous entities, and it could even roughly estimate their strength.

These two agents were combatants from the Bureau of Anomalous Entity Investigation, commonly referred to as Ghost Controllers.

Ghosts—anomalous entities—had existed in this world for a long time. Humanity, in response, developed the profession of Ghost Controllers. They used special means to seal anomalous entities within their bodies, then fought by channeling the power of these entities.

“Brother Li, it’s definitely an anomalous entity, and it’s an F-Class one that has become established,” said Sun Shihe, the subordinate of the other Ghost Controller, Li Juetian.

“F-Class?” Confirming the presence of an anomalous entity, Li Juetian spoke, “Let’s go up and take a look. Perhaps it hasn’t gone far. If we spot its tracks, we’ll take it out right away!”

Indeed, eliminating an F-Class anomalous entity was trivial to him, for within his body was sealed a D-Class entity.

The three arrived at the burial ground. Li Juetian began to examine the three corpses.

“One died from a bite to the neck; another had its abdomen hollowed out, death due to excessive blood loss; the third had its heart removed.

Judging by the wounds, this is a humanoid anomalous entity—one with a strong thirst for blood,” Li Juetian narrated as Sun Shihe took notes, but suddenly Li Juetian’s voice fell silent.

“Brother Li, what’s wrong?”

“There’s a problem—a big problem!” Li Juetian’s eyes narrowed, his expression grave.

“What is it?”

“These people didn’t die from the wounds. The real cause of death was that their souls were forcibly extracted!”

“What!? Their souls were extracted?”

“Yes, they were violently torn from their bodies!”

“Why would it want the souls of ordinary people?” Sun Shihe was puzzled. He knew anomalous entities coveted the souls of Ghost Controllers, since their souls, tempered by the entity within, were easier for anomalous entities to absorb, thereby increasing their power. But what purpose could extracting ordinary souls serve?

“Do you know what a Forbidden Domain is?” Li Juetian turned and asked quietly.

Sun Shihe nodded, “I’ve heard of it. Exceptionally powerful anomalous entities possess Forbidden Domains. Legend says that within their domain, an anomalous entity is like a god.”

“Exactly. But Forbidden Domains have a flaw—they constantly require nourishment from human souls.

Powerful entities lay traps in various places, waiting for ordinary people to stumble in, harvesting souls without having to kill directly.

But this is an F-Class entity, clearly lacking such ability, so it has to reap souls personally to maintain its Forbidden Domain!”

Hearing Li Juetian’s analysis, Sun Shihe was in awe. Truly worthy of being his leader.

After finishing his explanation, Li Juetian closed his eyes for a long moment, then slowly opened them.

“This is indeed an anomalous entity with a Forbidden Domain! Its energy vanished abruptly nearby—it must have entered its domain!”

“What do we do then?”

“Entrances and exits to the Forbidden Domain constantly shift, so searching blindly is futile. We must report this at once.

An entity with a Forbidden Domain must be eliminated before it grows stronger! Otherwise, the consequences will be unimaginable!”

Li Juetian was especially grave, instructing Sun Shihe to set up the portable fax machine and prepare a report.

“Codename: 01189
Classification: F-Class
Type: Humanoid Anomalous Entity
Note: Highly likely possesses a Forbidden Domain. Must not be underestimated!”

Along with these succinct statements, they included their deductions, such as the entity’s aura vanishing without trace.

Today, the Bureau of Anomalous Entity Investigation in Tianjing City was unusually silent. Everyone gathered around, and at the center of the crowd lay a cold corpse.

“Confirmed. The Immaculate One did it. There are traces of mysterious smoke from its Forbidden Domain, but it’s clear more than one anomalous entity was involved.”

Among the group, a man in a white lab coat held a report, delivering his findings.

His brief statement revealed two horrifying truths: the entity was exceptionally strong and possessed a Forbidden Domain, and these entities were acting in concert.

The deputy director’s face was ashen. He had no understanding of Forbidden Domains or the implications of cooperation; all he felt was that his career had reached its end, for the corpse before him belonged to the director of Tianjing City’s Bureau.

If it had been an ordinary director, perhaps he could have taken his place after death. But this director was no ordinary person—he was a citizen of Xia.

His country was called Mao, a vassal state of Xia, much like most surrounding countries. Xia, acting as the suzerain, stationed powerful Ghost Controllers in each vassal state, usually as directors.

But now, a Xia director had died on his own ground...

As the deputy director debated whether to flee, the fax machine suddenly sounded, immediately drawing everyone’s attention.

The deputy director, most agitated, rushed over and snatched the freshly printed report.

“Let me see! Is it an order from above?”

He glanced at the report—seeing only the F-Class designation, his mood soured.

“Reporting an insignificant F-Class entity? You combatants are utterly useless!”

He didn’t bother reading further, tearing the report to shreds and glaring fiercely at the other combatants, exuding menace.

The combatants were furious, but dared not speak out. In this world, power was everything.

Usually, only combatants were Ghost Controllers in the Bureau; the rest were ordinary people. Yet these ordinary people often held authority over the Ghost Controllers, breeding resentment.

And so, the carefully written report by Li Juetian and Sun Shihe was torn apart, likely never to be seen.

Meanwhile, the two unlucky souls still waited at the burial ground for a reply.