Chapter 11: Ghost Mist Feng Quan
Zhang Qian felt it wasn’t satisfying enough, so he struck left and right while cursing, “Refusing the letter to put on airs, charging consultation fee like a shady merchant, and daring to refuse the money I gave…”
“Stop… stop hitting, bro.” The front desk had been beaten black and blue, unable to hold back from begging for mercy, “I really didn’t mean to. Taking money is a rule set by the boss, and he doesn’t accept human world currency, only so-called ghost money.”
The front desk was on the verge of tears. He was just a wage worker; bullying people with his position was one thing, but now with his life on the line, he couldn’t care less about the boss’s orders.
“Hm?” Zhang Qian paused his actions in surprise, “You’re human? I thought you were one of those puppet-like things.”
“My name is Su Qing. I used to be an ordinary person too, but that boss turned me into this ghostly appearance.” Su Qing began tearfully complaining to Zhang Qian, “He forced me to work for him, or he’d kill me.”
Zhang Qian made no comment, just asked curiously, “What does ghost money look like? Take it out and show me.”
“This…” Su Qing hesitated a bit, but seeing Zhang Qian raise his hand to hit him again, he obediently retrieved a piece of paper money from the darkness, “It’s like this.”
Zhang Qian didn’t take the thing from his hand, making him place it on the counter before picking it up, “Doesn’t feel particularly special.”
This ghost money was printed in garish colors, with a distorted font writing a “1” on it, probably the smallest 1 yuan denomination.
Su Qing smiled ingratiatingly, “I really can’t accept this letter. Why don’t you go inside to find the boss?”
“Easy to say. But before that…” Zhang Qian used his hand like a blade across Su Qing’s neck, “This is a robbery. I gave you a hundred in paper currency, so you owe me two hundred in ghost money.”
Su Qing was dumbfounded, never expecting this kind of calculation. He instinctively wanted to play pitiful, “I…”
“Don’t call.” Zhang Qian applied slight pressure with his hand, true qi cutting a bloody mark on Su Qing’s neck, “If you don’t give it, I’ll kill you and take it myself.”
“I’ll give, I’ll give.” Su Qing tremblingly hugged out a handful of paper money from the darkness, “This is all there is. If you want more, go rob the boss’s…”
“Smack—”
“What do you mean rob? This is your guilty conscience compensating me.” Zhang Qian corrected Su Qing’s wording, stuffed the ghost money into his backpack in one go, and headed toward the depths of the tattoo parlor, “Next time you see me, remember to keep your head down and act like a person!”
“Yes, yes, yes…” Su Qing watched Zhang Qian’s figure recede, his fawning expression gradually turning sinister.
Heh heh heh, he really went to find the boss. Probably won’t even know how he dies in a bit. Su Qing had been scamming here for so long and this was the first time he’d been beaten. Just thinking of Zhang Qian’s impending miserable state made him unable to hold back his laughter.
“What, happy to see me?” Zhang Qian suddenly walked back from the darkness.
Su Qing’s expression froze on his face, the corners of his mouth slowly turning down, “You… why are you back?”
“Forgot to do something.” Zhang Qian stood at the counter and reached in to take out the notebook, “Didn’t expect you to be an artist.”
The opened notebook clearly showed his portrait drawn on it. Flipping further back revealed sketches of another dozen or so people, though many had crosses marked on them.
“Scammed quite a few people, huh…”
“No, I… heh heh—”
Zhang Qian gave him no chance to explain, slashing his neck with one knife.
This guy had actually long been transformed into a special kind of puppet. He harmed others without any psychological burden and couldn’t betray the boss either—probably only he himself still thought he was human.
Sure enough, Su Qing’s head thudded onto the counter, but his body stood rigidly in place. No fresh blood came from his neck; instead, some pitch black liquid flowed out, looking a bit like black ink.
His head gradually turned toward Zhang Qian, a ferocious ghost face emerging on his face, as if ready to devour someone.
Zhang Qian’s gaze sharpened. True qi surged in his right hand like a scalpel, peeling off the ghost face, then he opened the box and locked it inside.
Looking at that pitch black counter, he didn’t rashly proceed. After searching nearby and confirming nothing was missed, he headed into the tattoo parlor interior.
Unbeknownst at some point.
Thick smoke filled the tattoo parlor interior, dispersing some darkness but with visibility even worse than in the dark.
Zhang Qian inexplicably felt this mist’s aura somewhat resembled Feng Quan’s—or rather, Feng Quan’s aura resembled this mist. Both were equally chilling and unsettling.
“Can summon clouds and mist, huh…” Zhang Qian was a bit envious of this ability. After all, he was still at the qi training stage and couldn’t learn various divine abilities yet, whereas these ghost controllers gained abilities just by controlling fierce ghosts.
The mist was a hazy gray, entwining and pervasive. Occasionally, figure-like things appeared, but approaching revealed they were just phantoms formed by the mist.
Zhang Qian groped around in it for a long time without finding an exit, “The tattoo parlor’s area shouldn’t be that big. Is this mist affecting the space?”
So Zhang Qian simply followed that figure, to see what trick it was up to.
After walking a long time, the figure finally stopped appearing. Zhang Qian looked around nearby and finally found Feng Quan lying on the ground.
He turned his head to see Zhang Qian, seeming somewhat surprised, “You actually found your way here. Not bad luck.”
Zhang Qian was somewhat speechless, “Wasn’t it you who led me here?”
“What?” Feng Quan’s already numb face grew even darker, “Did you see a black figure?”
“What else?”
“Damn… that ghostly thing is acting up again.” Feng Quan’s gaze flickered, unwillingly looking at his nearly misted arm, “I’m about to undergo fierce ghost revival.”
“Oh, what’s that?” Zhang Qian asked curiously.
“Are you an idiot? You’re a ghost controller and don’t even know about fierce ghost revival.” Feng Quan’s mentality was collapsing. Why did headquarters send him to support a clueless newcomer.
He extended his hand in front of Zhang Qian, “Controlling fierce ghosts will eventually lead to backlash. The more you use the fierce ghost’s strength, the faster the backlash. See? The fierce ghost is corroding my body. Once I’m fully misted, I’ll die completely and turn into new ghost mist!”
“I see, so you have such a flaw.” Zhang Qian looked around, “What danger outside forced you to risk fierce ghost revival to activate your ability?”
“Not totally stupid.” Feng Quan’s voice was feeble, “A ghost targeted me. I couldn’t suppress it, so I could only release ghost mist for self-preservation. In this mist, everyone gets lost—even ghosts aren’t exempt.”
“Any way for me to find that ghost?”
“No need to find it. Once I dispel the ghost mist, it’ll come for me.” Feng Quan continued from the ground, “That ghost possessed a youth. Its ability is collision—get knocked down and you’re dead.”
He couldn’t hold on anymore now. Maintaining the ghost mist any longer was just a dead end of fierce ghost revival. Might as well gamble, hoping Zhang Qian could carry him through.
“Counting on you, newcomer.” After Feng Quan spoke, the surrounding mist rapidly dissipated, revealing a eerie figure not far away.
It was just an ordinary youth, but on his back was a blood-drenched person whose skin had been torn off. That “person” clung to the youth’s back, its chilling gaze fixed straight on Feng Quan.
Ghost controller? Or should it be called human-controlling ghost?
