IBGSW Chapter 101
Subduing Zheng He
Zheng He's expression was cold and gloomy, his gaze calm and still. But beneath the lake-green robe that hid his chest, something had begun to heave frantically.
A sinister, ghostly aura started to seep out, and the malignant ghost hidden within Zhao Fusheng began to stir restlessly.
He looked composed, but the fact that he had shouted "Let go!" twice told everyone he was starting to panic.
Zheng He swung his arm forcefully.
Ghost-controllers possessed immense strength, drawing upon the power of their ghosts. But Zhao Fusheng was no ordinary person either, and his strength did not budge her.
It was the first contest between the two, and neither was willing to concede.
Zhao Fusheng, holding the ghost's arm, smiled at him:
"Are you Zheng He?"
What a pointless question!
Who else in Baozhi County could swagger unchallenged through the Demon-Suppression Bureau but Zheng He?
Gu Jiansheng, whose whole face was wrapped in gauze, was terrified watching the two ghost-controllers come to blows over a few words.
Zheng He was a man with a sinister temper. Zhao Fusheng looked gentle, but she was no pushover either.
Now the two of them were trying to settle who was better, and clearly neither would yield to the other.
If they only fought among themselves, that would be fine. But if the fight escalated and the ghosts under their control were awakened all at once, it would turn into a serious problem.
Seeing Zheng He's chest heaving more and more violently, Gu Jiansheng was so agitated that the wound on his face, which had already stopped bleeding, burst open again. Blood broke through the medicinal powder and soaked the gauze. He hurried forward and cupped his hands to them.
"Your Excellencies, stop, please!"
Zhao Fusheng ignored him.
She had made up her mind to beat Zheng He into submission.
Ghost-controllers had no sense of proportion. She wanted to handle cases in Baozhi County, and in time to make it a branch county of Wan'an. That meant she would inevitably have to work with this Deputy Commander Zheng.
If he didn't comply, there would be more trouble to come!
"What business is it of yours!" Zheng He replied woodenly, his face blank.
They were inside the Demon-Suppression Bureau's grounds in Baozhi, surrounded by order envoys who revered him like a god. If he were cowed here by the commanding officer of Wan'an County, the reputation he had built up over the years would collapse in an instant.
At the thought, Zheng He felt a chill of fear, but he was just as determined not to back down.
"Let go!"
As he spoke, he tried again to pull his arm free.
But the severed ghost hand held him tightly. Once the Beggar Ghost's hand opened, it could not withdraw until it got something.
Caught in the ghost hand, and affected by the ghost's aura, the ghost he controlled also seemed on the verge of slipping out of control.
When he first heard that someone from Wan'an County had come, and that it was a commanding officer of the bureau, he hadn't believed it. His first thought was that a swindler had the nerve to cheat him.
He had decided then to kill the swindler and use it to awe the order envoys.
The recent ghost case in Baozhi had badly damaged his prestige, and the county was restless. This was the perfect chance to make an example.
But once they traded blows, and Zheng He saw her produce the ghost arm, he knew that even if she weren't the commanding officer of Wan'an, she was at the very least a special ghost-controller.
He had been controlling a ghost for some time. He had seen many ghost-controllers lose all sense of proportion once they drew on a malignant ghost's power. At first they grew arrogant, believing themselves omnipotent. As time went on, the ghost's influence made them lose control, and when they finally realized the ghost was about to revive, that death was near and there was nowhere to turn, they went mad.
When Zhao Fusheng struck at him the moment she arrived, Zheng He had been startled. But when he saw she was using only a ghost arm, he gradually relaxed.
"The severed arm of one ghost won't be enough to suppress me—"
Locked in the contest with the ghost arm, Zheng He glared at Zhao Fusheng.
"If you still won't let go, then I'll—"
"You think one ghost's severed arm can't handle you?"
Hearing this, Zhao Fusheng gave a snort.
"What about this, then?"
The moment she finished speaking, the ghostly aura surged through her.
Zhao Fusheng loosened her restraint on the ghost she controlled, and the aura of the ghost of "give first, take later" revived.
Shadow spread silently from beneath her feet. In her mind, the Investiture of the Gods sounded its warning:
A Baleful-tier Malignant Ghost is reviving. Use 10 points of merit to suppress?
Zhao Fusheng ignored it.
"..."
Zheng He, whose face had still been sallow and yellow, changed color at once when he sensed another, stronger, more complete ghostly aura emanating from her.
"You—you're controlling another malignant ghost—"
The shadow climbed up onto Zhao Fusheng's shoulder, and her aura was utterly different from before.
The upturned corners of her mouth drooped; the brightness in her eyes was replaced by a gloomy, sinister look.
Her skin turned deathly pale and lost its luster. The ghost hand she controlled seemed suppressed by something of its own kind and sank into a brief sluggishness.
At the same moment, the movement in Zheng He's chest stopped.
Zhao Fusheng asked again, "Are you Zheng He?"
Her voice was cold and dry.
Beside them, Gu Jiansheng was so frightened that he was about to lose his mind.
Ghost-controllers were all madmen. It had been bad enough in Baozhi with Zheng He alone being mad. Now a commanding officer from Wan'an had arrived who was even madder!
He had thought she had only a ghost arm. He never imagined that this Wan'an commanding officer controlled another ghost entity besides.
She controlled a ghost and a half. Why did she still seem so normal?
But this was no time for Gu Jiansheng to ponder it.
If these two fought and the ghosts lost control, they would die and be done with it, but the other order envoys would likely be dragged in as well.
When gods fight, mortals suffer!1
He nearly dropped to his knees and hurriedly answered for Zheng He:
"Lord Zhao, he is Deputy Commander Zheng, our Deputy Commander Zheng of Baozhi County."
Zhao Fusheng paid him no mind. She simply stared coldly at Zheng He:
"Are you Zheng He?"
"..."
Fear was already stirring in Zheng He.
Zhao Fusheng was far more terrifying than he had imagined. Continuing would only ruin them both.
But with his subordinates watching, answering would be tantamount to admitting defeat.
He forced out:
"You know very well who I am—"
"I'll give you one last chance." Zhao Fusheng cut him off. "Are you Zheng He? Just answer 'yes' or 'no.' No extra nonsense. I don't like hearing it."
Her tone was domineering and overbearing, leaving no room for negotiation.
Gu Jiansheng saw this was going badly and quickly turned to the Fan brothers:
"Brothers Fan, hurry, talk some sense into Lord Zhao—"
Hearing her, Zheng He felt cornered and flew into a rage:
"So what if I don't say? What can you do to me? Don't think that because you control a malignant ghost, I don't have one too—"
Before he could finish, Zhao Fusheng's expression went cold:
"Fine. Don't."
A flicker of killing intent crossed her eyes, and she let go of the ghost hand she had been holding.
Freed of restraint, the ghost hand clamped down hard on Zheng He.
At the same time, Zhao Fusheng reached out and grabbed his collar.
The ghost of "give first, take later" slowly revived, half its body taking shape, and stood behind her.
"Lord Zhao..."
Seeing this, Fan Bisi's heart pounded and his hands shook. He cried out.
The others wanted to bolt through the door, but fear had nailed them in place.
The moment Zhao Fusheng's fingers touched the green robe, it crumbled to dust and fell to the floor, exposing Zheng He's withered chest.
It was not a human chest at all.
The flesh there had rotted dry like half-decayed wood.
A bizarre ghost face was imprinted on Zheng He's chest, looking at Zhao Fusheng with a sinister smile and opening its pitch-black mouth.
So it was this ghost that had been stirring beneath his clothes.
This commanding officer of Baozhi County controlled his ghost by nurturing it inside his own body!
The ghost was now frantically turning its head. Its body scraped against Zheng He's bones with a grinding, grating squeal that made everyone's skin crawl, as if it were trying to break free of the chest cavity that confined it.
Every time it moved, faint pink blood seeped out where his innards met its head and dripped into its gaping mouth.
The sight was truly dreadful. Anyone could see that Zheng He was in terrible shape.
His body was the vessel suppressing the ghost. The moment it fully crawled out of him would be the moment he died.
"Aren't you afraid that if we fight, both our ghosts will revive and we'll die together?"
Zheng He, though outwardly fierce, was feeling weak inside, and let out a loud shout.
"To die together? Are you even worthy?"
Zhao Fusheng took a step forward.
The ghost in Zheng He's chest sensed her approach and struggled even harder.
She seized him by the neck and yanked hard!
Crack-crack.
Handled roughly, Zheng He's bones snapped one after another.
Zhao Fusheng pressed both hands down on his body:
"I have a way to kill you, and your ghost will be suppressed as well."
"What?"
Zheng He froze at her words.
Then Zhao Fusheng's first level of Hell opened without a sound.
The first level of Hell had no power to imprison or suppress the Baleful-tier ghost Zheng He controlled. But it now held the Shikong Golden Bell that Zhao Fusheng had snatched from the Ghost Carriage.
The instant Hell's aura unfurled, the Golden Bell's power washed over Zheng He, who stood within Hell's influence.
The Ghost Carriage far outranked Baleful-tier. Even a single Golden Bell was enough to suppress a Baleful-tier malignant ghost.
The moment the bell's aura leaked out, the ghost Zheng He controlled stopped trembling.
The ghost's cold and eerie face froze, and then large, strange brown spots the size of copper coins appeared on its face.
Then the ghost's head slowly flattened, its lips stretched and thickened, and its eyes bulged. In an instant it became a toad-like dead man's head.
The head opened its mouth and spat something out from its tongue.
It was a strange coin coated in black water, round on the outside with a square hole in the middle, bearing no inscription. At the sight of it, not only did the ghost reviving behind Zhao Fusheng forget its intention to take her life first, but even the ghost hand clutching Zheng He relaxed involuntarily and reached toward the ghost's mouth.
Before Zhao Fusheng could look closely at the coin, she saw the ghost arm move and hurriedly freed a hand to catch it.
Zheng He's resolve collapsed completely. He shouted:
"I'm Zheng He! I'm Zheng He!"
His shout was a tacit admission of defeat.
Having surrendered, he no longer cared about face or dignity:
"No more fighting. Spare me."
Zhao Fusheng gripped the ghost arm and looked at him coldly.
Forcing down his terror, Zheng He said:
"Don't kill me."
Fan Bisi, who had been watching in trembling dread, saw that the fighting had finally produced a winner. As Zheng He yielded, everyone let out a long breath. Seizing the moment, Fan Bisi stepped forward and pleaded:
"Lord Zhao, spare his life."
He spoke in a daze.
He had never imagined that Deputy Commander Zheng, once so formidable in his eyes, would one day beg for mercy before Zhao Fusheng.
"This is Baozhi County. There's just been a ghost calamity, and someone needs to take charge—"
Zhao Fusheng slowly turned to look at him.
The ghost within her had not yet been suppressed. Her face was deathly pale and her expression cold, nothing like her usual smiling self.
When their eyes met, Fan Bisi thought he was looking at a malignant ghost and staggered back several steps in fright.
"He's already conceded. If we keep fighting, it will only..."
Fan Bisi forced himself to go on, but his voice grew smaller and smaller, afraid Zhao Fusheng might lose control and kill him too.
Just as he was regretting it, the Investiture of the Gods in Zhao Fusheng's sea of consciousness sounded again:
Baleful-tier ghost about to fully revive. Use 20 points of merit to suppress?
Ghost arm reviving. Use 2 points of merit to suppress?
At the two prompts, Zhao Fusheng's reason returned.
Yes!
The instant the thought rose, the merit was deducted, and the reviving ghost was reluctantly suppressed by the Investiture of the Gods.
The chill receded. The ghost arm that had been thrashing wildly in her grip slowly curled up.
Zhao Fusheng coldly withdrew her gaze from Fan Bisi and turned to Zheng He. Her eyes settled on the ghost head in his chest. Then she reached out to take the coin from the ghost's mouth.
"Careful!"
Seeing the motion, Zheng He was startled. After a moment's hesitation, he cried out a warning.
Zhao Fusheng did not flinch.
To guard against a sneak attack from Zheng He, she had kept her Hell open, ready at any moment to summon the Golden Bell and call forth the deadly Ghost Carriage.
She paid his words no mind and reached into the ghost's mouth.
The malignant ghost, suppressed by the ghost bell, was strangely docile and let her take the strange coin.
Obtained the Life-Buying Ghost Coin!
The Investiture of the Gods announced:
Life-Buying Ghost Coin, a special coin given by the Fortune Ghost. No malignant ghost can resist its temptation!
As the saying goes, money makes even ghosts push the millstone2. This is a coin that can bribe malignant ghosts, to be used with care.
Note: Ghosts use money to buy lives. The moment you take the coin, beware of the malignant ghost eating your heart and liver!
Zheng He had felt a pang of regret as soon as he spoke.
The ghost he controlled was highly unusual. It had no real combat strength. It could only spit a special coin used to bribe malignant ghosts.
But the instant someone took the coin, the ghost would crawl out of his body, burrow into the taker's body, and eat out their organs.
After finishing, it would crawl back into him.
Yet each time it crawled out, Zheng He's life force shortened. Now that it had shown its head, one more use of its power would bring its whole body out of him, and Zheng He would die instantly, an empty human husk.
Zhao Fusheng had beaten him in public and humiliated him before the order envoys. He should have let her be killed by the Life-Buying Ghost. But he had also worried that if she died and her ghost revived, he might still die at the Life-Buying Ghost's hands.
That thought had made him cry out urgently, and then he'd regretted it.
While he was torn, Zhao Fusheng took the coin from the ghost's mouth. The once-fierce ghost, instead of being violent as it usually was after lending him power, docilely closed its mouth and sank into a brief quiet.
With the coin in hand, Zhao Fusheng spent 10 points of merit to withdraw her Hell.
Freed of the ghost's influence, the coldness gradually left her expression and the smile returned to her face.
Holding the coin, she glanced at Zheng He, whose clothes hung open, and ordered: "Fix your clothes and get up."
