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Wan'an County now has Ghost Mist appearing.
Fan Bisi himself also said that once Ghost Mist appears, the probability of Vicious Ghosts being nurtured greatly increases—the revival of both the Zhao couple proved this point.
And the Demon Suppression Division in Wan'an County is no longer as well-staffed as it was in the past.
The current Demon Suppression Division has declined. If you don't count Zhang Chuanshi, whom she forcibly pulled in today to make up the numbers, there are only three people.
Zhao Fusheng was ordered to take command in a crisis, the Fan brothers are just Order Emissaries, and most importantly, they are still intent on running away.
This place has also been abandoned by the imperial court. According to custom, the West City Cemetery should have had a brand placed by a General-level figure to restrain the revival of ghostly entities, but now it's gone.
"If the Vicious Ghosts in this West City Cemetery revive, what will we do then?" Zhao Fusheng's expression was a little grim.
Fan Bisi didn't answer, but thought to himself: If the situation wasn't critical, how could we brothers possibly want to run away?
He didn't say these words out loud, but Zhao Fusheng still saw his thoughts from his eyes.
Her gaze made Fan Bisi a little uneasy. He turned his head away, not daring to speak his thoughts, and after enduring for a while, he comforted her:
"Don't worry. When Zhao Qiming came last year, he was accompanied by Great General Zhou Cong. At that time, he reinforced the Ghost Seal. That was in mid-August*, so there's still over a month left until a year passes."
"..."
Hearing this, Zhao Fusheng felt even more uneasy in her heart.
"Then what should happen after a month?"
Fan Bisi didn't know how to answer, so he could only choose to remain silent.
"Have people who died many years ago shown signs of Vicious Ghost revival?" Zhao Fusheng asked again.
Fan Bisi then said:
"We brothers have been in the Demon Suppression Division for many years. Before this, we have never heard of such a thing..."
He thought Zhao Fusheng would ask about the West City Cemetery again, but unexpectedly, after he finished speaking, Zhao Fusheng changed the subject:
"Have you brothers been in the Demon Suppression Division for a long time?"
Her mind was active, her thoughts jumped around, and her questions were all over the place, completely beyond Fan Bisi's expectations. He had no preparation whatsoever, and unintentionally, many things were extracted from him.
This feeling of being out of control made him somewhat uneasy, but thankfully, the question Zhao Fusheng asked wasn't a secret.
If she were to inquire casually in the future, this question could easily be found out.
He also didn't intend to hide it, and replied:
"We brothers have been in the Demon Suppression Division for nearly nineteen years..."
After saying this, Fan Bisi keenly sensed that Zhao Fusheng's gaze had changed.
"No wonder you are so familiar with many things." Zhao Fusheng nodded slightly, and finally asked again:
"I looked at some of the dossiers in the side room, picked out some ghost cases, and found that, just as you said, investigating ghost cases is full of danger, and the probability of Order Emissaries dying is particularly high."
When she said this, Fan Bisi's whole body shook. He almost looked up at Zhao Fusheng in extreme surprise, his eyes showing disbelief.
Nine Gates Village is a village under the jurisdiction of Wan'an County. Most of the villagers are tenant farmers, living in poverty.
The Zhao family had accumulated poverty for generations, with no rice left to cook at home*. Otherwise, they wouldn't have sold their daughter at an extremely low price back then.
Living in such an environment, the original Zhao Fusheng had limited knowledge and should have been illiterate.
Today, when she mentioned the dossiers and files and asked about the case of the Liu family ancestral hall forty years ago, Fan Bisi pointed out the location of the side room where the dossiers were piled, originally intending to make things difficult for her. However, he didn't expect that she had not only actually gone to check them but also at this moment revealed that she seemed to have truly understood the text on these dossiers and files.
You should know that at this time, books were precious, and educated people were extremely few. Among the successive Order Commanders who wielded ghosts, there were many who couldn't read or write. Therefore, when the Wan'an County Demon Suppression Division was strong, the yamen* specially assigned a staff advisor** position to the Order Commanders to copy down the case details for them and then report them to the imperial court.
"Although I didn't see the list of Order Emissaries for recent years in Wan'an County, I flipped through some casually and found that the turnover rate for the Order Commander list was exceptionally high. In the records of past deaths, most served only for half a year or a year."
Zhao Fusheng detected Fan Bisi's suspicion, but she didn't hide her intentions.
For her, the most pressing matter currently is to seize the time to grasp more information and preserve her life.
As for Fan Bisi's suspicion, it was just an insignificant matter to her.
As she wielded ghosts, the attitude of these two brothers towards her greatly changed, showing that this world values the strong. As long as she is alive and has strength, what does it matter if these two brothers are suspicious?
"...Yes." Fan Bisi hesitated for a moment, finally suppressed the doubt in his heart, and nodded:
"Normally speaking, that's how it is, but our situation is special."
"Wait." Zhao Fusheng suddenly remembered something:
"Nineteen years ago? If I remember correctly, you said this morning that nineteen years ago, the Order Commander of the Demon Suppression Division was named Zhao Duan—"
Sweat appeared on Fan Bisi's forehead. In his heart, he became even more wary of Zhao Fusheng.
She was completely different from the previous Zhao Fusheng, with a cautious mind and sharp reactions, remembering every word he had said and comparing them repeatedly. It was truly terrifying.
"Yes, we were adopted by Zhao Duan back then and brought into the Demon Suppression Division." He reluctantly admitted.
"Mm." Zhao Fusheng nodded.
Nineteen years ago, Zhao Duan adopted this pair of twin brothers and brought them into the Demon Suppression Division. No wonder these two brothers had a strange expression when they mentioned Zhao Qiming earlier.
"Even with this connection, Zhao Duan died not long after taking charge of the Wan'an County Demon Suppression Division."
Logically speaking, the county magistrate is not as effective as the current administrator*.
After Zhao Duan died, the next person to replace him would naturally not care about his connections.
Even if the death rate for the Order Commanders and Order Emissaries of the Demon Suppression Division was high, and everyone felt the mutual dependence**, deeply fearing that after their own deaths, their wives, families, and descendants would end up with no one to care for them, and thus were willing to offer a little help—but children like the Fan brothers, adopted by Zhao Duan, why were they able to grow up safely and stay in the Demon Suppression Division for nineteen years?
After Zhao Duan, who knows how many Order Commanders were replaced? Even if he had left behind some goodwill, after so many years, it would have long since been worn away.
Moreover, Fan Bisi himself had said that most Order Commanders are people who wield ghostly entities. These people, living with ghosts, have their natures long since influenced by Vicious Ghosts, becoming gloomy, tyrannical, cruel, and extremely difficult to get along with.
In a situation where the Order Emissary death rate is extremely high, and the Demon Suppression Division is perennially short-handed, how could the Fan brothers successfully survive?
But in the Soul Fate Record, there are indeed the names of these two brothers. This cannot be faked.
Doubt appeared in Zhao Fusheng's eyes. Fan Bisi suppressed the growing sense of annoyance in his heart and replied:
"That's right. After we were adopted by Zhao Duan back then, we were just nominally registered with the Demon Suppression Division, but we didn't stay inside the Demon Suppression Division. Before he died, he made arrangements for us and sent us into the Zhao family. We were looked after by Brother Qiming and grew up from childhood."
"A year ago, Brother Qiming received an assignment from the imperial court and only then brought us together to Wan'an County." Fan Bisi said calmly.
In the end, Zhao Qiming died, the Vicious Ghost on his person went out of control, while these two brothers have survived until now.
After clarifying the cause of the matter, new doubts arose in Zhao Fusheng's heart.
Fan Bisi's eyes were already very wary. In his heart, he was guessing what Zhao Fusheng was going to ask next. As he was organizing his words and calculating how to deal with her questions, Zhao Fusheng suddenly changed the subject:
"Brother Fan—"
Fan Bisi's body stiffened. Just as he was about to speak, she said:
"The cemetery seal in Wan'an County is not very stable now. My parents' bodies have already shown signs of Vicious Ghost revival. If they are buried in the cemetery, will it cause unrest?"
"..." Fan Bisi wracked his brain thinking of many questions, but didn't expect that after asking about his brothers' background and origins for a long time, she would turn the topic back to the cemetery.
It was as if he had grandly put up his defenses, only for Zhao Fusheng to make a feint and then leave.
He took a deep breath, forcefully suppressing the feeling of stifled frustration in his heart, and after a while, forced out a smile:
"Perhaps for now, there won't be any problems—"
"After all, they are already revived Vicious Ghosts. Although temporarily suppressed by me, this is not stable." Zhao Fusheng waved her hand, interrupting him, and then asked:
"You want to go to Baozhi County. Given the characteristic of the Soul Fate Record that it cannot be separated from the ghost curse supervision for long, I presume this Baozhi County isn't far away, right?"
As soon as she asked this, alarm bells instantly rang loudly in Fan Bisi's heart, and he blurted out:
"What do you want to do?"
As soon as he finished asking, he saw Zhao Fusheng smiling with pursed lips, and instantly felt annoyed in his heart.
The two engaged in a verbal exchange. She was calm and composed, while he lost emotional control and was at a disadvantage.
"Why are you asking about Baozhi County?" Fan Bisi suppressed the unease in his heart, then adjusted his tone, and asked again.
"Oh, it's like this." Zhao Fusheng said with a radiant smile:
"You also said that Vicious Ghosts cannot be killed. There are only two methods: expulsion or temporary suppression, making them fall into a 'dormant' state."
Fan Bisi shifted his shoulders uneasily, swallowed a mouthful of saliva, and nodded with difficulty.
"So I was thinking, Baozhi County is worth you seeking refuge in, and you also mentioned that there is a Deputy Commander Zheng stationed there, a Lower General*** who wields a Fierce-tier Vicious Ghost..." After speaking, she turned her head and looked at Fan Bisi with a smile: "I didn't hear wrongly, did I?"
She had indeed heard!
No matter how smart and capable Fan Bisi was, with his superior reaction speed, at this moment, being questioned by her repeatedly, he was also thrown into disarray.
The two brothers had thought she was already dead at the time and were discussing their future path in the Demon Suppression Division. The words they spoke then had fallen into her ears.
"We were just talking casually..." he said with difficulty.
"Don't panic, Brother Fan." Zhao Fusheng reached out and patted his arm.
Fan Bisi flinched as if encountering a Vicious Ghost, his body trembling. He instinctively retreated several steps, increasing the distance between them.
"I don't mean to blame you either. People move towards higher places, water flows towards lower places****. Wan'an County wasn't working out before, and you wanted to leave. That's not your fault." Zhao Fusheng paid no mind to Fan Bisi's fear, smiling very gently:
"However, the situation is different now."
"..." The Fan brothers looked at each other blankly, their faces numb.
"Now that the Wan'an County Demon Suppression Division has me, you naturally cannot leave anymore. However, this Deputy Commander Zheng in Baozhi County is not very decent. He's in Baozhi County, receiving the imperial court's care, and still isn't satisfied, even trying to poach my corner*****." Zhao Fusheng let out a cold snort:
"I am a very petty person. This grudge must be repaid."
Fan Bisi always felt her words were directed at him. Just as he was trembling with fear, she continued:
"I'm thinking that since my parents' bodies have undergone ghost transformation, even if temporarily suppressed, burying them in the cemetery isn't very safe."
"Our Wan'an County is in a troubled time. We already have many backlog ghost cases, and we're short-handed, and the imperial court is temporarily not managing things..."
"What do you want to do?" The more Fan Bisi listened, the more something felt wrong. His eyelids kept twitching, and a bad premonition surged in his heart.
Zhao Fusheng said seriously:
"I think Baozhi County is a big place, and Deputy Commander Zheng is very capable. Why not temporarily carry my parents there and bury them in their cemetery? Even if the Vicious Ghosts revive again at that time, with a master like Deputy Commander Zheng stepping in, I believe it will be foolproof."
Fan Bisi was speechless. The rest of the corpse bearers were also filled with apprehension. Zhao Fusheng then said:
"Even if Deputy Commander Zheng can't handle it, isn't there still the imperial court behind him to clean up the mess?"
"..."