IBGSW Chapter 7
Abandoned Land
Fan Bisi could tell that Zhao Fusheng thought little of his words. He was startled at first, then smiled as though something had occurred to him.
"It can't be helped."
He had been in the bureau for many years and had dealt with malignant ghosts alongside the chief commanding officer. He knew full well how terrifying ghost entities were.
Zhao Fusheng, after all, thought like an ordinary person.
She had been born among the common folk and perhaps imagined she'd succeeded at ghost control, becoming bold with it. Put plainly, she didn't know how high the sky was or how deep the earth, had no accurate sense of her own strength, and so still harbored pointless pity.
Once she had dealt with ghosts and learned how fearsome they were, she would probably reverse her thinking.
Fan Bisi thought.
But he did not say it aloud. Instead he said, "There is another way to temporarily halt a ghost calamity, though it's far riskier."
Zhao Fusheng had the feeling that Fan Bisi, saying this, glanced at her sideways.
She turned around. Their eyes met, and Fan Bisi's smile carried a deeper meaning, which made her more sure he was hinting at something.
"What risk?" she asked.
"Since you already know our bureau suffered a ghost calamity, which left only the two of us brothers alive..." Fan Bisi paused, then went on.
"Do you know the cause of that calamity?"
Zhao Fusheng had just arrived in this world and knew little. The words she'd used to scare the Fan brothers earlier were guesses cobbled from existing information. How could she know where the bureau's calamity came from?
But she was cautious by nature and wasn't discouraged just because someone asked. She frowned and turned Fan Bisi's words over in her mind again and again, and sure enough picked out some useful clues.
Ghost calamity. Ghost control.
"The previous commanding officer of the bureau was named Zhao Qiming, and he was a ghost-controller. Could the calamity have something to do with the ghost Zhao Qiming commanded?" she asked tentatively.
Fan Bisi had assumed she wouldn't be able to answer such a question, and never expected her to go straight to the heart of it.
"You..."
His expression changed slightly. He had meant to put her in her place, and instead not only had he failed to frighten her, she'd guessed the truth.
He asked involuntarily, "How did you know?"
Their verbal duel was also a probing of each other. Seeing his face, Zhao Fusheng knew she'd guessed right and smiled.
"I guessed."
Fan Bisi's expression turned ugly. After a while he let out a long sigh. "You guessed right."
"As I said, ghost entities can't be killed outright, but they can be commanded. Our previous chief commanding officer was a man who could command ghost entities. Someone who can command a malignant ghost gains part of its power, but may also be devoured by it."
Zhao Fusheng had been reborn and was now hard to handle. Fan Bisi was agitated and had lost his composure.
Realizing that his state of mind was off, he stopped playing riddles and said directly, "Nineteen years ago, the Wan'an County bureau was weak, until a man named Zhao Duan appeared. He was a man who commanded a malignant ghost, and his ghost operated on the principle of giving first, taking later. Once you accepted the ghost's 'gift,' it was as if you'd struck a deal with the ghost."
When ordinary people trade, both sides settle up and part. A trade with a ghost costs your life.
He was talking about the bureau's affairs yet had inexplicably brought up nineteen years ago. But the man was a schemer, and bringing it up out of nowhere must have a reason. Listening on, Zhao Fusheng soon saw the source of the problem.
"So the malignant ghost that killed 'me' earlier was the one Zhao Duan commanded nineteen years ago?"
She felt a little awkward saying 'me.'
Fan Bisi paid no attention to such a small thing. Anyone who had escaped death at a ghost's hands would show something odd in their expression when mentioning 'ghosts.'
He didn't think much of it and said, "Right."
"Zhao Duan... Zhao Qiming. Are these two related?" Zhao Fusheng asked again.
"They're father and son." Fan Wujiu was very cooperative now, answering honestly each time she asked.
"Ghost entities can be inherited?" Zhao Fusheng was surprised.
Fan Wujiu, for once, made a joke, "In this world, anything can be property."
Then he added, "If you have the ability, a ghost can be a possession you can dispose of, so naturally it can be inherited."
He said, "After Zhao Duan began commanding this malignant ghost, he became extremely formidable. The ghost's power was heaven-defying and could restrain many ghosts, so during his tenure the Wan'an County bureau was famous far and wide. Because order was so good, many people who heard Wan'an County was under Zhao Duan's protection moved here with their whole families."
Among ghost-controllers, Zhao Duan was a man of rare integrity at the time, and he received commendation from the court and was soon promoted from commanding officer to Lower General rank.
Besides governing Wan'an County, the bureaus of two neighboring counties also came under his authority.
"But good times don't last. Anyone who deals with ghosts will eventually be devoured by them. In just one year, Zhao Duan began to lose control."
Zhao Fusheng had already guessed from Fan Bisi's words that ghost-controllers came to no good end, but hearing that it took only a year until loss of control still shocked her.
"Before he lost control, someone sent by the court suppressed the ghost he commanded and handed it to another to command. That person was the next commanding officer to succeed him in Wan'an County."
Fan Bisi said, "By the time it got to Zhao Qiming, the ghost entity had already changed hands many times."
From the timeline of Zhao Duan's ghost control and loss of control, over eighteen years the Wan'an County bureau had changed leaders very often.
And after Zhao Qiming died, it was the original Zhao Fusheng's turn, and soon after, the original Zhao Fusheng died too.
Listening, Zhao Fusheng shivered. Being the bureau's chief commanding officer really was a high-risk job.
"As I said, dealing with ghosts is dangerous. While being commanded, a ghost may also advance in rank and become even more dangerous and harder to control." Fan Bisi let out a long sigh.
"Sure enough, not long after Zhao Qiming took hold of the ghost, he was devoured by it. The ghost went out of control and began to slaughter the bureau."
"A ghost's killing principle is first to create a ghost domain. Anyone who enters its domain is its prey." As it happened, when Zhao Qiming met his end, the bureau lay within the ghost's domain, and in the end everyone except the Fan brothers died horribly.
When the people in the surrounding streets learned that the bureau was in trouble, they were terrified and moved away overnight, afraid of being dragged in.
The once-renowned Wan'an County bureau fell into ruin overnight. Many wealthy families fled Wan'an County.
"And we brothers sought out this generation's heir of the Zhang family, and after his guidance, we came up with a plan to divert the disaster eastward."
By this point, things were clear.
Fan Wujiu said, "Don't blame us. In this world human life is cheap as grass. Nobody wants to die, and it was the only way we had."
By the ghost's killing principle, when Zhao Fusheng triggered its killing rule, her blood kin were implicated too. Once her blood kin were all dead, as long as everyone else avoided its gaze, the ghost would naturally leave.
Then it would drift off elsewhere and become the headache of the bureau there, which would have to find a way to drive it off.
The Fan brothers' plan had been carefully laid, and everything had gone smoothly, until last night, when this flaw appeared: Zhao Fusheng came back from the dead, upset their plan, and threw even Fan Bisi off balance.
With the whole story clear, Zhao Fusheng let out a long sigh.
The original Zhao Fusheng had truly been unlucky. She had clearly been taken by the Fan brothers as a scapegoat and died a wronged death, and her parents had died in confusion as well.
But it was because of the original host's death that she had a chance to live again, and if there was ever an opportunity, she wouldn't mind avenging the original Zhao Fusheng.
But right now she was clearly no match for the Fan brothers. Revenge and venting her anger were far off. She had to think of a way to leave here and escape the Fan brothers' control.
"I know your parents died horribly and you hold a grudge—"
Seeing Zhao Fusheng stay silent for a long time after he'd finished, Fan Bisi added, "But forgive my frankness. This is how the world is. Even if your parents hadn't died in this ghost calamity, they probably wouldn't have escaped death later—"
Those with wealth and power had long since left Wan'an County, to take shelter in places held by powerful ghost-controllers. Wan'an County would sooner or later be a dead land, and those left behind were nearly all wretches with nowhere to go.
"After Zhao Qiming lost control, why didn't the court send someone to take over?"
Zhao Fusheng suddenly thought of a question and asked.
Fan Bisi didn't know why she would still be curious about bureau affairs at this point, but since he needed something from her, he swallowed his unease and sighed again.
"This place has been abandoned by the court—"
Seeing her surprise, he remembered that since fetching her from Jiumen Village, the brothers had treated her only as a scapegoat and hadn't wasted words telling her about the bureau's past. It was normal that she didn't know any of this.
"As I said, whenever a place goes out of control and the court lacks the power to handle the crisis, it seals off the place and lets it fend for itself."
Zhao Fusheng had a bad feeling and nodded.
"Right. Don't tell me Wan'an County..."
"Ghost fog has already appeared in our Wan'an County!" he said, then hastily added, "Not just Wan'an County. Ghost fog has appeared in other nearby counties too, but Wan'an County is the worst."
"What's ghost fog?" Zhao Fusheng asked.
He said gravely, "The rumor is that the appearance of ghost fog may breed a blood moon, and once a blood moon rises, a parade of a hundred ghosts1 may follow..."
As he said the key words 'blood moon' and 'parade of a hundred ghosts,' fear showed in his eyes.
"The parade of a hundred ghosts is bad enough, but worse, it may raise a great ghost, Calamity-tier..." He stopped himself and shook his head hurriedly.
"No, even a Disaster-tier ghost entity is possible."
"..."
Zhao Fusheng knew nothing of what he'd said, only that she felt Fan Bisi's panic.
That panic was contagious, especially for someone who had just died and come back and was utterly unfamiliar with the Great Han. Hearing of ghost calamities, ghost fog, and blood moons for the first time left her bewildered.
The idea of ghosts killing people overturned everything she knew, but she forced herself to stay calm and not be swayed by Fan Bisi's emotions, and asked, "Has the Great Han ever seen a blood moon before?"
Fan Bisi looked at her in disbelief.
"How could it? Ghost fog alone is headache enough. Over thirty years ago, ghost fog set off a parade of a hundred ghosts that wiped out several counties and towns, and the court paid a heavy price to quell the disaster."
"Over fifty years ago, a yellow-grade general of the bureau, Xu Yu, commanded a malignant ghost of extraordinary power. Her ghost entity had the power of foresight, and so she had a nickname: the 'Qiankun Brush2'."
"That brush could predict the future and glimpse many unknown things, and among them it foretold that the Great Han would be shrouded by a blood moon and humanity would be wiped out."
"..." Hearing this, Zhao Fusheng was left speechless.
She finally understood how serious 'ghost fog' and 'blood moon' were. She just hadn't expected that, barely returned from death, she would face a crisis like this.
"The court has been preparing for this for years, so when ghost fog appeared in Wan'an County, it put the court on alert. They sent people after discovering the anomaly, but couldn't resolve the ghost fog crisis at all. Every person the court sent died in turn, and in less than a year they'd gone through six or seven! Truth be told, Zhao Qiming was the last person the court sent to take over this mess."
Unfortunately he'd been unlucky and had soon died here.
Having found that the place was beyond saving and that more people would likely be lost, the court had clearly decided to give it up.
After all, compared with poor ordinary people, the rare and controlled ghost-controllers were obviously far more precious to the court.
"..." Zhao Fusheng was silent.
Since Fan Bisi had decided to speak plainly, he had been cooperative and seemed willing to tell all, but Zhao Fusheng didn't dare believe everything he said.
His tone and expression when he mentioned 'ghost fog' and 'blood moon' made her feel that human life was worth nothing to the court, and that not only individuals but whole counties might be abandoned.
She suspected darkly that Fan Bisi's account might well be true, but could also be a hint that the original Zhao Fusheng's death couldn't be blamed on the brothers either...
But perhaps she was just overly suspicious.
Just as the thought crossed her mind, she heard Fan Bisi say, "So don't blame us brothers..."
"..." Zhao Fusheng looked at him, speechless.
"I'm telling the truth!" Seeing her expression, Fan Bisi knew she didn't believe him and stressed it again.
"Everything is true. We were just helpless, wanting to live."
While they talked, Fan Wujiu came out carrying a heavy rosewood chest and set it down beside Zhao Fusheng with a thump.
The chest stirred up a good deal of dust as it landed. Zhao Fusheng considered for a while, "Why are you telling me all this? What do you want from me?"
The Fan brothers were not good men, and Fan Bisi least of all, with his deep scheming. He wouldn't be so kind as to tell her this for nothing.
"We brothers are envoys of the bureau, but as you've seen, this isn't a place to linger. We want to leave here and make a living elsewhere."
"If you want to go, go—" Zhao Fusheng said.
Fan Bisi shook his head, "We can't."
Seeing her puzzlement, he said frankly, "We're bound by the Soul-Life Register. We can't go. We'd like you to do us a kindness and take our life souls out of the Soul-Life Register."
Hearing this, Zhao Fusheng didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
These two had gotten the original host killed, and now Fan Bisi dared to ask her for this.
She grinned but didn't voice her thoughts.
Fan Bisi was no fool. Since he'd asked, he must be confident of something that would make her agree, and she waited for the rest.
"In return, we'll tell you what we've collected over the years about malignant ghosts, leave you some things, and be willing to make an introduction and guide you to meet Paperman Zhang."
The rankings in this novel can get a bit confusing. I created a separate reading guide to help keep track of them. I'll continue updating that page as new rankings are introduced in future chapters
