Chapter Forty-Six: Liu Anran's Family

Xiao Zi’s plan was unfolding even more smoothly than he had expected.

The fierce battle with the Unsullied the night before had left its traces all over the school. Before Xiao Zi even had the chance to intervene, the students had already begun connecting these marks to the monsters that Li Dongxu and the others had described. The students in this grade were blessed with vivid imaginations, and with Li Dongxu exaggerating the tale at every turn, in less than a day, Xiao Zi’s story had exploded throughout the school.

Every break between classes, a swarm of students would rush to Wang Hui, Yuan Zhikong, and Li Dongxu, eager to get the details straight from the source. At such times, Yuan Zhikong would always lift his head slowly, face grave, and say, “It’s best not to spread this around. If that thing finds out, who knows what kind of revenge it might seek.”

But the more secretive he acted, the more convinced the students became, and the faster the story spread. Xiao Zi could only watch as the influence of his presence in this world skyrocketed in his system interface.

Sure enough, by afternoon, the system chimed in:

[Congratulations, Host, on completing Task 2. Reward: Random Forbidden Domain]
[Congratulations, Host, you have obtained the Forbidden Domain: Eerie Realm]
[Eerie Realm: This domain operates by housing eerie creatures, drawing power from those within. Inside, you can control the energy of all eerie beings and manipulate spatial rules at will. The domain can be deployed freely.]
[Note: The domain can be upgraded directly by spending Terror Points. Each increment of 10,000 Terror Points expands the domain by 2 square meters and adds one storage slot for an eerie creature. It can also be strengthened through specific system tasks or by increasing your own power.]

With that, the system issued new missions:

[Task 1: Raise your influence in this world to 10,000. Reward: Domain expanded by 20 square meters, 5 more eerie creature slots.]
[Task 2: Find the Ghostly Abyss as prompted by the system and release its energy to trigger the Red Moon. Reward: Upgrade to B-rank.]

Faced with these tasks, Xiao Zi’s first thought was of Task 1. To have influence over ten thousand people meant instilling fear in ten thousand hearts. It sounded challenging, but Xiao Zi already had a plan.

Having lived in Qianyou Town for so long, he knew there were ghost tamers here, and that they had been investigating him. After his previous moves, he’d observed that the highest-ranked among them was only D-rank, and there were merely three of them. Within his own forbidden domain, he was confident he could eliminate all three.

Once they were gone, no one would be left to restrain him. He could run rampant throughout the town, harvesting Terror Points and expanding his influence with abandon.

As for Task 2...

At first, he’d been excited—after all, skipping straight to B-rank without passing through C was exhilarating. But he waited and waited, and there was no sign of the promised prompt.

“Damn it! Isn’t this just a trap? No hint at all, and I’m supposed to find some Ghostly Abyss and release its energy? Trigger the so-called Red Moon? How is this even possible?”

Lost in thought, Wang Hui was suddenly summoned to the office—not by a teacher, but by a young man about his own age.

The young man smiled as soon as he saw Wang Hui and extended his hand. “Hello, I’m Liu Anfeng.”

The moment Wang Hui heard the name, he understood: Liu Anran’s family had finally come knocking. But he remained unruffled; he knew he’d already transcended ordinary rules and had nothing to fear.

He reached out and shook Liu Anfeng’s hand. “You’re a relative of Liu Anran, right? He hasn’t been to school in ages—did something happen to him?”

Liu Anfeng nodded. “Yes, there was an incident.” Then he shook his head. “But I’m not here about him. I’m here for you.”

“For me? And why is that?”

“If my information is correct, you were framed by my useless brother and now owe millions to the bank, which then sold the debt to a loan shark company, right?”

“That’s about the size of it.”

“I also discovered something important—the loan sharks are about to make a move on you.”

“So what?” Wang Hui feigned indifference.

As Xiao Zi’s right-hand man, Wang Hui wasn’t worried about a mere loan shark company. Even if he had to face a small armed force head-on, he could simply escape at will.

“I know you’re not afraid. Otherwise, you wouldn’t still be attending school. But even with your abilities, it’s a hassle to deal with. I can help you.”

“You’ll help me?” Wang Hui laughed. “Do windfalls like that really exist?”

Liu Anfeng beckoned. “Come with me. Let’s have a meal.”

Wang Hui didn’t move immediately; he waited, knowing his boss could hear everything being said.

Sure enough, a moment later, Xiao Zi’s voice sounded in his mind. “This one’s interesting. Go with him.”

In Xiao Zi’s eyes, Liu Anfeng seemed like an ordinary person, but there was a faint aura of an eerie creature about him. This could only mean one thing: the man had been in frequent contact with eerie beings, and their presence had seeped into him. Though the aura was extremely faint, Xiao Zi’s Blood Demon Eyes caught it instantly—something ordinary eerie creatures or ghost tamers would never notice.

Wang Hui followed Liu Anfeng to a bar, but they didn’t stop there; instead, they slipped through a side door and continued downward.

To his surprise, beneath the unremarkable bar, there was a hidden basement. Compared to the lively bar above, the basement was far rowdier—sounds of gambling, laughter, lovers’ quarrels, and even screams filled the air. Just from the noise, it was obvious this was no ordinary place.

They descended three floors. Here, the noise faded, replaced by an inexplicable, unsettling atmosphere. At the entrance, a group of people knelt with their heads in their hands, guarded by black-clad men with guns.

Liu Anfeng offered no explanation and simply took a seat at the central table, gesturing for Wang Hui to join him. “Come, Wang Hui, sit down. Let’s eat.”

Wang Hui was still dazed, glancing around at the crowd. Among those kneeling, he recognized the man who had come to his home that day.

As he walked forward, someone suddenly lunged at him, clutching his leg. “We’re sorry, we’re really sorry, please forgive—”

Before the man could finish, a gunshot rang out. Blood sprayed across Wang Hui’s face as the man’s head was blown apart.

Wang Hui calmly wiped the blood from his face. His eyes slowly turned red, his expression cold. He walked straight to Liu Anfeng and sat down.

“So, where’s the food?”