Chapter 66: Heaven And Earth Society’s Probing
Nightfall arrived as scheduled.
The city lit up with neon lights, and the streetlights turned on at the fixed time.
Street-side smoke and fireworks wafted and rose.
The aroma of barbecue whetted the appetite.
“Ha~ Hoo~!”
“Thrilling!”
Wang Xiaoqiang put down his beer.
“Lin Qian, to be honest, I’ve never come to eat at a roadside stall like this.”
Lin Qian slurped down the grilled grasshopper on the iron skewer in one bite:
“That shouldn’t be the case, were you rich as a kid?”
Wang Xiaoqiang waved his hand and picked up a skewer of chicken hearts, “Not rich, but not short of money either.”
“No wonder then.” Lin Qian leaned back in the chair and chugged a mouthful of beer.
“Ever since Big Brother showed off his genius brain, the family has been even less short of money.”
“That’s not right either. If you’re not short of money, how could you never even have the opportunity to eat this stuff?” Lin Qian was a bit puzzled.
How could someone have never eaten barbecue?
“You wouldn’t know about this.”
“When I was little, I was the one who ate the blandest food at home. Heavy, spicy flavors were never allowed for me.”
“Later, after our parents passed away, Big Brother joined the research institute and turned me into a ghost controller, I haven’t eaten this stuff even more.”
“After becoming a ghost controller, I had money and didn’t want to lose face, so I didn’t eat this stuff, afraid of being laughed at. Of course, a bigger part was not wanting to embarrass my brother.”
At this point, Wang Xiaoqiang showed a bitter smile:
“To be honest, from childhood to now, my brother has always looked down on me. Before I became a ghost controller, he looked down on me, and after I became one, he still looks down on me.”
“Sometimes, I even feel like becoming a ghost controller was for nothing.”
“I don’t understand. I was actually quite happy as an ordinary person, so why turn me into a ghost controller?”
“I really don’t get it.”
“I asked him, but he never says.”
Wang Xiaoqiang shook his head and downed half a bottle of beer in one go.
Lin Qian propped his chin and tossed the iron skewer into the bucket beside him.
“If he doesn’t say, he must have his reasons.”
“Your brain isn’t great, a bit stupid. It’s normal for your brother not to tell you.”
“Besides, what are you agonizing over?”
“Look at you now: you’ve controlled the second ghost, no need to worry about fierce ghost revival, your body has recovered to normal, even if you can’t have offspring, eating, drinking, and having fun is no problem.”
“Your life is already beyond the reach of many people.”
Lin Qian raised a finger, “You have money, but money isn’t important to us anymore.”
“You have connections and background, your Big Brother is headquarters’ national treasure.”
“You’re the Desolate Club vice president. As long as I’m alive, Lin Qian, your vice president position has extremely high value.”
“You don’t have to worry about fierce ghost revival now. Look at those ghost controllers at headquarters, in the circle of friends, and in those folk clubs—they’re racking their brains to figure out how to suppress their own fierce ghosts and delay fierce ghost revival.”
“But you? You don’t have to at all. Later, you can even control a third, fourth ghost anytime without worrying about fierce ghost revival.”
“With conditions like that, what are you still agonizing over?”
Hearing this, Wang Xiaoqiang pondered, “You put it that way, it seems I really have nothing to agonize over.”
“That’s right, isn’t it?” Lin Qian chuckled:
“The life a ghost controller needs is simple: control one or two ghosts, no worry about fierce ghost revival, hole up in a city, have some power, others don’t mess with you, and you don’t mess with others.”
“That’s the perfect life.”
“Eat, drink, play, enjoy life.”
“People’s efforts are essentially to live better, happier.”
“So they pursue financial freedom, life freedom.”
“And us? We’ve already achieved financial freedom. Mm, life isn’t fully free yet, but close enough.”
As Lin Qian spoke, he pointed at the sky, “Right now, I’m in Da Jiang City—who would dare suicidally mess with me?”
“Mm, Taiping Ancient Town people don’t count.”
Wang Xiaoqiang shook his head.
No one.
Headquarters, circle of friends’ fate, tangled interests—anyone with brains wouldn’t dare mess with their Lin president.
“Xiaoqiang, read more books usually, calm your inner heart.”
“In a high position, you must treat the heavy as light, and the light as heavy.”
Lin Qian shook his beer, “People strive to live better, for themselves, for family and friends nearby, or for ideals—all the same.”
“They work hard, strive for it, they have their life plans.”
“I think you should have some too. You can’t always hide behind your Big Brother.”
“You must strive, be self-reliant. I hope people know you not because you’re Wang Xiao Ming’s little brother, but because of yourself, you yourself, Wang Xiaoqiang.”
“What I want to hear is: look, that’s Wang Xiaoqiang, Wang Xiao Ming is his brother, two dragons in one family.”
“Big Brother is a national treasure level figure, and you, Wang Xiaoqiang, are a top ghost controller, one who can easily change the situation.”
Lin Qian propped his knees, looking at Wang Xiaoqiang whose breathing was getting heavier;
“Let the dogged struggles for daily life extinguish the spirit in your heart?”
“You want to be Wang Xiao Ming’s little brother your whole life?”
“Your whole life, others know you only because you’re Wang Xiao Ming’s little brother, or the Desolate Club vice president?”
Wang Xiaoqiang swallowed, shaking his head hurriedly, “No, I don’t want that!”
Lin Qian nodded, showing a smile, “Then strive. The world should have your name, Wang Xiaoqiang.”
Wang Xiaoqiang nodded heavily.
Lin Qian’s eyes were narrow and long, his pair of bright black eyes slightly squinting.
Wang Xiaoqiang wasn’t smart, but he wasn’t dumb either.
The other had been spoiled; from becoming a ghost controller, he’d been trying to go against his Big Brother Wang Xiao Ming every day.
All the way until now.
The purpose of doing so was simply to prove he wasn’t trash.
That’s all.
Initial brainwashing complete; need to reinforce it slowly a few more times later.
Otherwise, he might snap out of it.
Of course, all this relied on his strength being greater than the other’s.
He’s strong, so his words make sense.
This world’s essence is survival of the fittest.
If you’re strong, you’re right.
The two ate and drank as the moonlight gradually slanted.
“This is the Lin Qian who made Li Yong and the others fall here, the Desolate Club president?”
“Looks like just a young kid.”
On the top of a building on the street, a man in a windbreaker with disheveled hair watched the two below drinking, eating meat, and chatting.
“One president, one vice president.”
The blonde woman beside him narrowed her eyes slightly, “The higher-ups want us to probe the other’s strength.”
“How do you plan to act?”
“With this thing?”
The blonde woman looked at the sniper rifle leaning against the wall by the man.
The bullets were undoubtedly gold.
“Use a gun?”
The man glanced sideways at the woman, “Is your brain broken?”
“Don’t you see where this is?”
“Using a gun, as if afraid others won’t know what happened?”
The woman frowned, “Then why’d you bring this thing?”
The man pointed at the two below, “They’ll go back eventually.”
The woman’s brows gradually relaxed, “Still be careful, it’s just a probe.”
“No need to tell me, I know what to do.”
The man picked up the sniper rifle and gently stroked the barrel;
“Barrett XM109-Paylaud, fires 25×59mm OCSW high-explosive burst grenades.”
The man looked at the woman, “Gold bullets—one shot and the other will lose half his body. Mm, that’s still because the other’s a ghost controller.”
“This thing is for taking out armored vehicles.”
“Large caliber weapon, two-kilometer range.”
“This thing is ridiculously expensive, not mass produced yet. I got it through connections.”
“Paired with special bullets, perfect for assassinating ghost controllers.”
Listening to the man’s boastful explanation, the woman remained calm.
Men are like that—either like women or guns and blades.
“I’m not interested in your explanations.”
The blonde woman looked at the two below.
Suddenly, the two below stood up, paid, and left.
Soon, the roar of a sports car echoed on the street.
“Time to move.”
The man stowed the sniper rifle and hurried after them.
The woman said nothing and quickly followed.
On the street, the sports car steadily drove toward the club.
Lin Qian propped his chin, watching the roadside greenery and streetlights receding.
“Do we have anyone in Da Jiang City we’ve offended?”
Lin Qian suddenly asked.
Driving Wang Xiaoqiang was stunned, “Do we?”
“No, right? Da Jiang City currently has only our one ghost controller organization.”
“Why ask that?”
Wang Xiaoqiang asked puzzledly.
Lin Qian’s eyes narrowed slightly, “None?”
“Looks like our control over Da Jiang City isn’t good enough.”
“What?” Wang Xiaoqiang was baffled.
“We’re being tailed, two ghost controllers.”
Lin Qian didn’t plan to keep it mysterious.
He said it directly.
Wang Xiaoqiang’s brows furrowed instantly, “Who?”
But soon he was puzzled again—who in Da Jiang City could tail them?
“Who knows?”
“We’ll just interrogate them later.”
Wang Xiaoqiang thought about it and nodded—fair enough.
And right then.
Bang~!
A deafening sound rang out.
The noise was so loud it spread across half the city.
Rumble~!
The sports car driving on the street exploded directly.
Flames instantly engulfed the entire sports car.
The sports car rolled on the street, and when it finally stopped, it was already wreckage.
“Are they dead?”
On the top of an old building, the blonde woman gazed at the burning sports car.
The sports car had been blasted to pieces by one shot.
Towering flames shot into the sky, billowing thick black smoke.
“Remember, in this era, no thermal weapon can kill a ghost controller.”
“Even…”
The man patted the gun in his hand, “Even this thing, which can fire gold bullets.”
“So… what’s the point of you shooting?”
“To alert them?”
The blonde woman looked at the man discontentedly.
“Of course not.”
The man stowed the gun and looked at the burning sports car.
“Can’t kill, but can stimulate the other’s fierce ghost revival.”
“Thermal weapons can’t kill ghosts, but can kill people.”
“Body damage requires supernatural to repair.”
“But gold can suppress the fierce ghost’s supernatural, making the repair very slow.”
“If the body can’t repair quickly, it’ll use much more supernatural.”
“So, in that case, what do you think the other’s state will be?”
Ghosts can’t be killed—even if you mince a ghost or freeze it to powder, it’ll recover in some eerie way.
Ghost controllers are the same.
But ghost controllers pay a price to recover.
And that price is fierce ghost revival.
“Let’s go down and check. They should be trapped in the car—attack while vulnerable, go for the kill.”
“Mm, though we might not kill them, our purpose this time is just to probe anyway.”
The blonde woman watched the man sling the gun over his shoulder and go downstairs; she was silent.
She’d realized that since controlling the fierce ghost, her brain had gradually become less inclined to think.
More precisely, less willing to think.
She exhaled and followed the man downstairs.
“What do you say?” On the street side under the streetlight, within the ghost domain, the two gazed at the man and woman who had disappeared from the top floor.
Wang Xiaoqiang glanced at the mangled sports car, his gaze dark, “They came to kill us.”
If he hadn’t controlled the second ghost, he’d be 100% dead from this attack.
That impact alone would have blasted his flesh to bits.
At most leaving half his body.
Combined with the exploding sports car, this attack could take him out.
“Pick one, perfect to test your strength.”
Lin Qian leaned against the streetlight, watching the man and woman emerge from the old building.
The woman had blonde hair and long legs, the man shouldered an exaggerated sniper rifle.
No surprise, the one who attacked them was that gun-toting man.
“I want that man.”
Wang Xiaoqiang glared darkly at the man.
“No way, you take the woman.”
Joke—him fighting a woman? That’d just be asking for disgust.
He didn’t want to be grossed out.
Wang Xiaoqiang was silent a moment, then nodded.
“Fine.”
The woman would do; he wasn’t one to pity the fairer sex anyway.
“Looks like Da Jiang City’s Desolate Club two presidents aren’t that strong.”
The gun-toting man looked at the still-burning sports car with no other movement.
Normally, even the weakest ghost controller would have crawled out struggling by now.
But they were still inside.
“Oh?”
“Not that strong?”
A mocking voice suddenly rang out.
The man’s expression changed slightly as he whipped toward a streetlight.
The blonde woman’s pupils shrank, her heart filled with shock and confusion.
Under the streetlight on the street, two people were standing—who knew when.
One in a suit, gazing darkly at them.
A young person leaning against the streetlight, lazily watching them.
“How is this possible!”
The man could hardly believe his eyes.
They dodged his bullets?
What a joke!
Something humans could dodge!
Even ghost controllers, no matter how fast their reactions, couldn’t dodge that.
Though shocked they were unscathed.
But he hadn’t expected one shot to kill them anyway.
“Tough customers.” The man said gravely.
“Wind’s tight, but we gotta stay a bit.” The blonde woman knew these two weren’t pushovers.
“Do it.” The man nodded heavily, reaching to set the gun aside.
But at that moment.
A figure instantly appeared before him.
He felt a massive force, then his hands were empty—the gun was gone.
“Yo, nice stuff. XM109—this thing isn’t mass produced in this era, right.”
Lin Qian toyed with the foreign-made heavy sniper rifle in his hands.
The man’s expression changed drastically, staring deathly at the young person in front of him playing with his beloved gun.
When!
How!
The blonde woman felt a chill surge, terrifying supernatural rising from her, lunging at Lin Qian.
“You’re mine!”
A patch of eerie mist instantly swallowed the blonde woman.
The blonde woman’s face changed sharply, “Ghost Domain!”
The man was horrified—intelligence wrong, Desolate Club vice president has ghost domain!
The fierce ghost stirred instantly, supernatural mobilized, attacking the young young person.
An eerie sight: supernatural appeared from above, striking at Lin Qian.
The young person looked up slightly at the sky.
A swollen, rotting ghost face with green corpse water appeared.
A pair of yellowish ghost eyes grew on this ghost face, staring deathly at him.
Lin Qian frowned, “So disgusting.”
The man’s expression turned terrified.
“How is this possible!”
“How did my ghost appear!”
The ghost had manifested.
What a joke!
But now wasn’t time to think.
The fierce ghost hanging upside down in midair lunged with both hands at Lin Qian.
Lin Qian disgustedly glanced at the ghost.
An uncanny sight occurred.
Thud~!
The fierce ghost fell from the air to the ground, its supernatural instantly suppressed.
Unable to move.
The man was scared out of his wits.
“Big shot! I was wrong! I surrender!”
Without hesitation, his knees buckled bonelessly, and he knelt with a thud.
Lin Qian paused his impulse to snap the other’s neck.
“So spineless?”
“Big shot, backbone… backbone ain’t worth shit!”
The man forced a smile uglier than crying.
Suppressed his fierce ghost right off the bat, then called him spineless.
Who’d have backbone in that case?
Lin Qian narrowed his eyes, “Fair point.”
He hadn’t expected the other to kneel without him even going all out.
Kinda boring.
“Spill it—who sent you to kill me.” Lin Qian asked the man.
He was curious who had the guts to mess with him.
Didn’t they know he was headquarters and circle of friends’ honored guest, the apple of their eye?
“Uh, big shot, if I tell, can it buy my life?” The man swallowed, asking fawningly.
Lin Qian’s eyes chilled.
“Heaven and Earth Society. Heaven and Earth Society sent us to probe you.” The man spilled without hesitation.
“Heaven and Earth Society?” Lin Qian frowned, “What’s that organization, why probe me?”
“Big shot, does telling buy my life?” The man asked hopefully.
“…”
