Chapter Sixty-One: A New Pursuit

Wang Xinnian brought Xiao Zi’s aura directly to the headquarters of the Bureau of Investigation into Eerie Entities.

He knew that this time, he was utterly finished—his life had more or less come to an end, and the punishment the organization would mete out was sure to be more than he could ever bear.

But there was nothing he could do; he had only himself to blame for not believing Yilong’s warning in the first place.

And even if he had believed, what then? Judging from the aura, this was a Class C Eerie Entity. Even if he had gone himself, he would simply have been throwing his life away.

As the Bureau’s personnel finished analyzing the aura sample, every face in the room changed.

“It’s now confirmed: the Eerie Entity responsible for the major terror incident in Qianyou Town, the Malevolent Wraith, has already arrived in Tianjing City, and its strength has reached Class C.”

No one had considered this possibility—that the Malevolent Wraith would really dare to come to Tianjing City.

Tianjing was, after all, a city guarded by powerful figures from the Grand Xia. Even some of the most formidable Eerie Entities dared not cause trouble here.

Yet this entity, with only Class C strength, had stirred up such a great commotion.

“We’re issuing a Class B mission immediately: eliminate the Malevolent Wraith!”

A Class B mission—this was a high-level task. Class D missions usually involved eliminating a few wraiths at most; Class C meant a small-scale outbreak of Eerie Entities, like the last Terror Carnival. Even the operation to purge the Immaculates had only been a Class B mission. Clearly, in the eyes of the Bureau, Xiao Zi was now viewed as being on par with the Immaculates.

“Director Fan is still in Qianyou Town. Who will carry out this mission?” The deputy director lowered his head, thinking hard.

Truth be told, he had little grasp of what these classifications really meant; he simply assumed higher meant more dangerous. If this was a Class C Eerie Entity, sending several Class C operatives plus a Class D for support should get the job done, right?

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to send more people—he simply didn’t have any to spare, as most had been dispatched to Qianyou Town.

With that, he turned directly to Wang Xinnian. “You and the other Class C operatives in the Bureau will go. I’ll inform Director Fan as soon as possible.”

Wang Xinnian said nothing; to him, this mission was little more than a death sentence. Still, to die at the hands of an Eerie Entity seemed better than wasting away in misery.

He remained silent, but the other Class C operatives were far from pleased.

“Director Fan assigned us to investigate the Ghost Domain. Until it appears, how can we abandon our posts without permission?”

“Which is more important, your so-called Ghost Domain investigation, or the lives of the people of Tianjing City? Don’t forget your duty as Spirit Tamers! I’ll speak with Director Fan about the Ghost Domain—you just focus on completing the mission.”

His words were righteous enough, but in truth, he was only concerned with avoiding heavy casualties in Tianjing City on his watch—it would hurt his prospects for promotion and wealth.

“But…” one of the Class C operatives began, but trailed off.

“There’s no ‘but’ about it. Just finish the mission quickly; the Ghost Domain won’t be delayed!”

With the matter settled, the Class C operatives had no choice but to comply.

And so, a temporary team was formed, led by a man with only one eye.

This man was known as One-Eye. It was said that during a past incident, his own Eerie Entity had gone out of control, its energy spreading to his eye—he’d gouged it out himself, a testament to his ruthlessness.

One-Eye glanced over the report on the Malevolent Wraith, his remaining eye filled with wariness.

If it were an ordinary Eerie Entity, he would have taken his men and charged in without hesitation. But this was different. This entity had wiped out an entire team of Spirit Tamers in Tianjing City, including a Class C, several Class Ds, and over a dozen Class Es.

And then, after slaughtering them, it had staged that scene—which spoke volumes of its power.

Had One-Eye known that Xiao Zi had accomplished that massacre while still only Class D, only later advancing to Class C, he would have abandoned the mission at once. But he did not know.

“This mission needs to be resolved swiftly, and some sacrifices may be necessary.”

As One-Eye said this, everyone looked toward Wang Xinnian, whose face was clouded with gloom.

Everyone knew all too well what part Wang Xinnian had played.

They truly looked down on him.

Wang Xinnian hung his head in silence the entire time. Only as the discussion was ending did he speak, his voice slow, “Understood. I’ll attract its attention—as bait.”

…

In an underground garage in Tianjing City, a car rocked violently, though no one could say why.

Suddenly, a red figure appeared atop the car, and it abruptly stilled.

“What the hell is that!” came a man’s scream from inside.

The next moment, the red figure slowly merged into the car.

Soon after, blood began to seep from the car door—it wasn’t hard to imagine what had transpired inside.

“He Yang, a minor internet celebrity. Thanks to me, your fame skyrocketed, you even hooked up with a rich heir. Now you die without regrets, don’t you?”

Now that the most famous had been killed, and with Wang Hui guiding public opinion online—claiming that everyone who’d visited the Haunted House was cursed and doomed to die—surely an unprecedented panic would soon erupt.

But just as he was about to leave, Xiao Zi sensed something.

“Well, well. I only leaked a trace of aura, and already these people have come knocking.”

Not far off, a Class D aura was approaching, with three Class C auras further behind.

“What are these Spirit Tamers up to?” Xiao Zi found the maneuver puzzling.

Were they really sending a Class D to throw his life away first?

Before he could think further, the Class D Spirit Tamer came into view.

Before Xiao Zi could make a move, the Spirit Tamer fired a blast of energy straight at him.

Xiao Zi deflected it with ease—only to see the man fleeing without a second glance.

Now Xiao Zi understood.

So, the man was trying to lure him toward those three Class C Spirit Tamers, setting up an ambush!

The realization brought a twisted smile to his face.

“How amusing. Fine, let’s play your little game.”

Muttering to himself, he vanished.

Meanwhile, Yilong was pouring all his energy into making his escape, glancing back from time to time to see if the Eerie Entity was in pursuit.

After running for a while and seeing no sign of the entity behind him, he stopped.

“What’s going on?”

No help for it—an Eerie Entity of such intelligence simply wouldn’t fall for the bait.

When he caught up with the three Class C Spirit Tamers, he could only shrug helplessly. “That Eerie Entity’s got brains—no way it’s taking the bait.”

But the three Tamers acted as if they hadn’t heard him, slowly drawing away from him.

“What’s wrong? What are you doing?”

“Have you looked in a mirror?” One-Eye asked, not without kindness.

Prompted by One-Eye, Wang Xinnian hesitantly opened his phone’s selfie camera—and was confronted by a terrifying sight.

The veins on his face had all turned black, standing out starkly, and his eyes were almost completely filled with red.

Only then did he sense something amiss within—an unmistakable sign that the Eerie Entity inside him was about to go out of control.

In other words, his consciousness was on the verge of being overtaken.