Chapter 46 Ghost Hunting Order! Ghost Worshipping Cult

Under the veil of night, within the cold urban forest built of reinforced concrete, ghosts and spirits were breeding in the dark corners.

"That old ghost from the Peach Blossom Ghost Territory has gone to Shangshi," said a voice in a dim room where not even the lights were turned on. Only a few even darker figures sat surrounding a table.

"Yes, it has already left. Although it alerted the righteous Qi Dao Alliance, it didn't cause too much of a commotion."

"I originally thought that the newly prominent ghost-enforcer kid from Shangshi would clash with that old ghost, but I never expected this outcome."

"Because of his existence, Shangshi is almost becoming a restricted zone for ghostly entities."

"Judging by this trend, that kid will cross paths with us sooner or later."

"Is there any word from above?" a cold, gloomy voice sounded in the dark.

A bounty order printed with Chu Tian's portrait was tossed onto the table by the person sitting at the head.

"Grade-A Ghost Assassination Order!"

The person at the head said, "The higher-ups are quite interested in him. A ghost hunter that powerful—if one day he also becomes a ghost, wouldn't that be rather interesting?"

"It seems someone up there has taken a fancy to him," someone chuckled.

"Good seedlings of the human race are loved by the ones above," the leading person said with a smile. "I just don't understand why they still stubbornly hold on and refuse to give up? Since humans must eventually die, ghosts can never be fully exterminated. So why still resist so bitterly? Birth, old age, sickness, and death are hard to avoid; why not simply join our sect and attain eternal life early?"

In the center of the round table, a wisp of deep blue flame suddenly flared up, illuminating the faces gathered around the table in the darkness. Every single face looked so eerie and fanatical.

Among that group, a young girl dressed in Lolita attire, styled like a Gothic vampire loli, tossed a small silver dagger that pierced straight into the Ghost Assassination Order, and said, "In that case, I'll take this person's life."

"May success attend you!"

"May success attend you!" the crowd echoed together.

The flame slowly extinguished. In the darkness, the instant the firelight died out, these people simultaneously vanished from the room.

The next day, at the shooting range in the suburbs of Shangshi.

Today was the execution day for a group of death row inmates.

This batch of death row inmates was about to be executed by firing squad.

As mortals faced their impending demise, a myriad of human attitudes naturally manifested.

Meanwhile, on a halfway up the mountain slope outside the shooting range, a car was parked by the roadside. Inside the car, Chu Tian leaned against the window; the window on one side of the vehicle offered an unobstructed panoramic view of the distant shooting range.

Beside Chu Tian, the housekeeping ghost Xiaohua stared fixedly at the shooting range. Even though viewed from here, the people inside the shooting range looked like tiny ants, completely indistinguishable.

Yet, Xiaohua still widened her eyes, straining to see everything in the distance.

"Bang—"

Along with a gunshot, Xiaohua's body shuddered violently, and tears instantly streamed down her face.

There was no underworld in this world, nor were there any ghost enforcers; otherwise, for such death row inmates, underworld enforcers would be waiting right beside them to escort their souls away the moment they died.

Now, however, their souls would only linger in a dazed and muddled state right where they died.

These souls wandered the place of death night after night. Given enough time, without other opportunities, they would degenerate into mindless wandering ghosts until their soul bodies completely dissipated. If they devoured one another, they would have a chance to give birth to wild ghosts, recovering the consciousness they had in life.

Of course, there were also those with powerful souls who could quickly recover their own consciousness and become new wild ghosts.

Therefore, while keeping the existence of ghosts hidden from ordinary mortals, whenever an execution took place, the local righteous Qi Dao Alliance would send people at night to "transcend" these new ghosts, preventing the birth of powerful ghostly entities.

And this time, the person who requested the task of transcending these new ghosts from Wang Dali was Chu Tian.

Because he wanted to bring Xiaohua here—for revenge.

It was not until dusk fell and no one remained in the shooting range that Chu Tian said to Xiaohua beside him, "All right, it's about time, Xiaohua. Go to work."

"Thank you, Lord Underworld Enforcer!" Xiaohua wiped the tears from her face, bowed deeply to Chu Tian, and with a flash of light, her attire transformed into that of a ghost soldier. Holding a soul-locking chain only as thick as a thumb, Xiaohua drifted directly toward the shooting range.

That's right, after becoming an Underworld Enforcer, Chu Tian had also recruited Xiaohua as his subordinate.

Not just Xiaohua, but also the ghost fox Feng Sanniang, Grandpa Li from the haunted house, the red-robed bathing ghost, and the little ghost playing football had all been taken in as subordinates by Chu Tian.

Watching Xiaohua go, Chu Tian leaned back in the car and pulled out a cigarette. In the darkness, the glow of the cigarette tip flickered on and off.

By the time Chu Tian leisurely finished smoking that cigarette, Xiaohua flew back pulling several wandering ghosts behind her.

Those wandering ghosts were baring their fangs, brandishing their claws, wearing ferocious expressions, and showing quite a bit of aggression.

"No wonder the wandering ghosts of execution grounds need to be dealt with promptly," Chu Tian remarked. "They weren't good things before they died, and they won't become good ghosts after death. If dealt with too late, once they slaughter and devour each other, there's really no guarantee an evil ghost won't be bred. Xiaohua, is your enemy among them?"

"Yes," Xiaohua nodded.

"Very well, lock them all into the Eighteen Soul-Detention Pagodas," Chu Tian said. "As for how to deal with them specifically afterward, do as you please."

"Thank you, my lord," Xiaohua said.

"If you want to thank me, go back and cook a good meal for me," Chu Tian said, getting back into the car. "Now you're also a ghost soldier. From now on, besides cooking, you'll have to work hard for me too."

"Yes, Xiaohua will work hard," upon hearing Chu Tian's words, Xiaohua nodded vigorously. Xiaohua knew she had encountered a good boss. If she didn't know she wasn't particularly pretty, and with the boss's wife possessing that breathtakingly alluring appearance sitting right in front of her, Xiaohua felt that the boss's immense kindness was so great that if she weren't already dead, offering herself to bear him seven or eight children still wouldn't be enough to repay such towering grace.

Had Chu Tian known Xiaohua's thoughts of repaying the kindness, he definitely would have refused.

Bearing seven or eight kids? Could that still be considered repaying a kindness?

Driving the car with Xiaohua along the winding mountain road, they descended the mountain and returned to the city.

Chu Tian brought Xiaohua back home.

Parking the car in the underground parking lot, just as Chu Tian stepped out of the vehicle and moved to close the door, his motion paused abruptly.

"My lord..." Xiaohua looked at Chu Tian in confusion.

"You go on up first; I have some matters to attend to," Chu Tian told Xiaohua. Xiaohua nodded and turned away.

As for Chu Tian, he closed the car door, leaned against the vehicle, and lit another cigarette for himself.

In the underground parking lot, the overhead lighting fixtures flickered on and off, as if there was a short circuit, casting light and shadow across Chu Tian's entire figure.

Chu Tian took a drag of his cigarette, exhaled a cloud of smoke, and looking at a figure that suddenly materialized under the distant flickering lights, said, "Friends from whichever faction you belong to, playing this kind of trick is hardly interesting."