Chapter 34: Preparation

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Xiong Wenwen, codename Spirit Child, was originally part of Interpol’s Asia Division. Due to the unique nature of his ability to control malevolent spirits, he was treated like a treasured star by headquarters.

Xiong Wenwen’s power was precognition—he could foresee everything that would happen within the next hour.

For paranormal incidents, this was undoubtedly a godsend. When death might come in the next second, having someone forewarn you greatly reduced all the dangers involved.

To headquarters, Xiong Wenwen was a strategic asset, never to be let go unless absolutely necessary.

In the end, Zhao Jianguo relented. Cao Yanhua had spoken first, and with the disaster in Dongchuan City looming, there was no room for second thoughts.

More importantly, this time the team was led by Shen Lin, tasked with handling a complex situation on the verge of eruption.

Just like Wang Xiaoming’s value assessment model: no matter how precious an item might be, it must have its worth. If sacrificing someone like Xiong Wenwen could bring peace to Dongchuan City and prevent a terrifying malevolent spirit from emerging, Wang Xiaoming would act without hesitation.

Those of value should fulfill their worth at the appropriate moment—it was only reasonable.

After Xiong Wenwen’s deployment, Zhao Jianguo generously provided all necessary resources for other matters—money when needed, personnel when required.

The basic incident files from Dongchuan City were sent electronically to Shen Lin’s phone. He glanced through them but found little of significance.

The detectives inside the incident zone had lost contact entirely. Headquarters was virtually clueless about the situation in Dongchuan City, forced to piece together scattered fragments of information, which held little value for him.

What caught Shen Lin’s attention were the profiles of two individuals: Zhou Bin and Xu Fang.

From the photos, Zhou Bin appeared close in age to Shen Lin. Both his style and attire leaned toward that of a petty rogue—slick and somewhat disreputable.

Records showed he was one of the earlier spirit controllers but had rarely taken action. His codename at headquarters was “Drunkard.”

The moniker “Drunkard” derived from the effects caused when Zhou Bin activated his ability. The data revealed that he emitted an imperceptible scent, causing those who smelled it to unconsciously ignore his presence. The scent was also confusing, often inducing a drunken-like, almost delirious state in those affected. This ability could even influence malevolent spirits to some extent.

“I see,” Shen Lin’s eyes showed surprise. A powerful survival ability—no wonder Zhou Bin, as an early spirit controller, had managed to survive until now.

Though the Drunkard’s power had no offensive capability, its defensive utility was considerable.

Shen Lin was still unsure how this ability might affect malevolent spirits. If the power to be overlooked remained active even after the spirit’s usual patterns triggered, this spirit’s survival abilities would rank among the top five even within the original accounts.

When Shen Lin’s gaze shifted to Xu Fang, it flickered with interest. This spirit’s ability was the key to their success—information gathering was always crucial in complex incidents.

Xu Fang, male, 32 years old, Interpol detective from Linhai City, codename Gossip.

Records showed Xu Fang’s ability was quite unusual: he could communicate with corpses and obtain information from them for a certain period.

Shen Lin was taken aback. The precise information he needed was present, but Xu Fang’s ability was too simple and offered little self-protection. This forced him to reconsider the plan.

Support-type malevolent spirits always lacked offensive power—there was a trade-off.

The last file was an urgent fax containing several photos showing numerous death scenes.

Most victims were young men and women, with similar postures in death. Limbs intact, bodies whole, but bleeding from all seven orifices.

A few lines of notes below indicated it was an emergency incident, and only partial information had been collected in time.

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“Every night in Dongchuan City, 36 people die from a strange curse. All exhibit bleeding from their seven orifices. The cause of the trigger and death remain unknown.”

Another spirit never seen before? The Ghost Staircase itself was already a complex event; it was understandable for unrecorded spirits to appear.

“Thirty-six deaths each night means this spirit isn’t highly dangerous—perhaps quite low risk. This incident is classified as C-level. Headquarters has yet to determine if it’s related to the Ghost Staircase case.”

This spirit appeared shortly after the Ghost Staircase event erupted. Such a coincidence was nearly impossible.

Shen Lin was absolutely convinced this malevolent spirit was influenced by the Ghost Staircase.

His first encounter with the Staircase Spirit had been a major setback, and he was determined to prepare thoroughly this time.

One of the ghost candles had mostly burned away, leaving only a few flickering remnants—enough to barely last ten minutes. Shen Lin had no choice but to make do. Even the smallest scrap of ghost candle was precious; it was an extremely rare resource to be treasured.

He left behind a notebook and a timed phone recording. The notebook contained detailed notes on his own understanding of malevolent spirits, inspired by the original accounts, and even revealed some peculiarities of spirit controllers from the Republic era.

Headquarters possessed far more stored data than Shen Lin did. With veterans like Old Qin alive, headquarters was always the pinnacle among spirit controllers worldwide.

There was simply no comparison.

The phone recording was set to send a month later to Wang Xiaoming, the only one capable of maximizing its value.

If Shen Lin did not show up after a month, the chances of the city’s fall would increase, but it would also avoid suspicion from headquarters. Proper use of this data could help the Asia Division achieve breakthroughs that would surpass other spirit controller organizations worldwide by nearly half a generation.

Headquarters acted swiftly as always. After preparing everything, they assigned Chen Zuo to lead Shen Lin there.

Dongchuan City was not far from Daxia City; a three to four-hour drive via highway was negligible for a large-scale incident. Dongchuan City could afford to wait.

If it couldn’t afford to wait, it still had to wait.

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Hotel in Dongchuan City

This was one of the few state-run hotels in Dongchuan City, mainly used to accommodate important guests and provide for their own staff on business trips.

Zhou Bin and Xu Fang were assigned here.

Both understood clearly: although nominally spirit controllers, their actual combat abilities were among the weakest. They might bully ordinary people, but against other spirit controllers, their survival chances were slim to none.

Most of the time, they acted as support for other controllers, lacking the ability to carry out missions independently.

They had encountered many dangers before and had resolved several C-level incidents.

Strictly speaking, the Dongchuan incident was just one of many they faced, yet it had become their Waterloo.

Xu Fang was packing, planning to leave overnight. He felt suffocated just staying another minute in this haunted place.

Headquarters had called several times, but he deliberately ignored them.

A young man in his twenties was currently sitting in Xu Fang’s room—dressed in a slick, unruly fashion, standing and sitting without any proper posture.

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This was Zhou Bin, Xu Fang’s partner. Strictly speaking, they were distant cousins—two scared individuals in the spirit controller community seeking comfort in each other, a form of self-protection.

Zhou Bin remained calm despite Xu Fang’s fussiness; he thought Xu Fang was overly sensitive.

“Cousin, enough already. One more day won’t hurt. Why not enjoy it before we go back?”

Hard-earned public funds for food and drink, why leave so early?

Xu Fang slapped the brat irritably.

“You don’t know a thing. You weren’t there. Do you know what kind of ghostly things are here? How powerful is Xiang Jie? How famous is Qian Zhongzheng? Both have some reputation at headquarters, but they’re down! And nobody even knows how!”

Xu Fang trembled recalling the incident. The Dongchuan team had three members: himself, Xiang Jie, and Qian Zhongzheng.

One strange event after another—they were attacked immediately upon entry. Xiang Jie didn’t last an hour, and Qian Zhongzheng died on the spot.

Xu Fang, using his Gossip ability, obtained some early information, hid in a safe place without moving, and only fled after the entity left.

That was far beyond their current ability to handle; Xu Fang even doubted any spirit controller could deal with that thing now.

The image of those withered old hands had become a lifelong nightmare.

“But how do we explain it to headquarters? Dongchuan City has fallen. We were called up in name only and just walked away. Even if we make enemies, trouble is inevitable.” Zhou Bin honestly hit the core issue.

There were spirit controllers who dared to defy headquarters, but they were not among them. As the weakest, banding together was the best they could do.

They dared not provoke headquarters.

“What’s the point of grudges if you’re dead? You’ve seen Xiang Jie’s ghost bugs—they’re so vicious even your Drunkard ability might not save you. But he’s gone. Do you know how? Right before my eyes, turning to ash inch by inch.”

Xu Fang was recounting everything in fear.

“To this day, I still don’t know what that ghost did or how it attacked.”

“That ghost is absolutely beyond our capacity. Reckless action means death!”

“Cousin, I just think you’re too pessimistic. I took a call from headquarters when you weren’t looking. Do you know who’s in charge of this incident this time?” Zhou Bin smiled mysteriously. Compared to Xu Fang’s despair, he was in good spirits, enjoying keeping a secret.

“Whoever it is makes no difference,” Xu Fang replied flatly.

After a long pause, seeing his nephew’s teasing expression, Xu Fang’s curiosity got the better of him.

“Who is it?” he asked gruffly.

“Shen Lin.” Zhou Bin revealed the name mysteriously.

“Who?” Xu Fang was stunned, as if he hadn’t heard correctly.

“Shen Lin—the Ghost Appearance Shen Lin!”