Chapter Fifty-Nine: A Deeper Investigation

Yi Long did not head straight for the Haunted House; instead, he began to investigate its background. As a Ghost Handler, he had the necessary clearance to do so. Upon digging into the matter, he found that the Haunted House belonged to an old uncle, and just as the rumors claimed, it had been on the verge of bankruptcy only days ago.

Yet in the span of a few days, the Haunted House underwent such drastic changes that no matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t make sense of it. The old uncle was a bona fide resident of Tianjing City—there was little doubt about his identity.

Yi Long then found a photograph of Wang Hui and started a technical investigation into him. The deeper he delved, the more alarmed he became: Wang Hui was from Qianyou Town!

That was unnervingly bizarre. As a Ghost Handler, Yi Long knew all too well what had happened in Qianyou Town. It hadn’t been officially stated, but the rumors had spread far and wide. Everyone knew some notorious, strange creature had staged a massive horror event there. A whole contingent of high-level Ghost Handlers had been dispatched to the vicinity.

What did that mean? It suggested the situation in Qianyou Town might be even worse than anyone imagined. If it were any other time, encountering someone from Qianyou Town would be nothing special; perhaps they’d moved to Tianjing City long ago. But to run into someone right now, and in such a peculiar manner, was enough to make Yi Long suspicious.

Could it be that this person was harboring a strange creature? Perhaps the entity had been using this human to absorb horror emotions. Or maybe this person was himself a strange creature?

He shook his head—no matter how he considered it, it seemed impossible. First, collaboration between a strange creature and a human would require the creature to possess extremely high intelligence. And a creature of such level wouldn’t care about a mere trickle of horror emotions. Besides, Qianyou Town had been sealed tight; not even a mouse could escape, let alone a strange entity.

All that remained was to confirm when Wang Hui arrived in Tianjing City. Following the clues, Yi Long soon found himself bewildered. Wang Hui had records of transactions in Qianyou Town three days prior, yet on the same day, there were records of him spending money in Tianjing City—even though Qianyou Town had already been sealed off!

Was he teleporting?

Now it was almost certain: either Wang Hui had slipped into Tianjing City after the lockdown, or he’d entered during the horror incident. But everyone who came in at that time had been handled discreetly.

So the first possibility seemed likelier. If Wang Hui had survived the horror frenzy and managed to reach Tianjing City during the lockdown, no one would believe he was just an ordinary person.

What else was there in this world besides Ghost Handlers? Yi Long had never heard of anyone with such abilities except strange creatures.

And so, in his mind, a story began to take shape. This young man named Wang Hui had been attending school, when suddenly a horror event erupted nearby. Just when he thought it was all over for him, a strange creature appeared.

“Ha ha ha, insignificant human, become my servant and I will spare your life!”

Wang Hui, desperate to survive, became the creature’s slave, clinging to life in humility. The creature seized the opportunity before Qianyou Town was sealed, hurriedly dragging Wang Hui out. To grow stronger, it made Wang Hui work at the Haunted House, while it lurked inside, feeding off people’s fear.

Good heavens—Yi Long had, without any evidence, guessed the situation almost entirely right.

The more he thought, the more frightened he became. Knowing he could not handle the matter himself, he immediately called Wang Xinnian.

“Boss, this is bad. There really might be a strange creature in that Haunted House!”

On the other end, Wang Xinnian, picking his nose, asked in confusion, “Huh? Haunted House? What Haunted House?”

A woman’s voice drifted in: “Old Wang, who are you on the phone with?”

Yi Long sighed inwardly.

“It’s the Haunted House you asked me to investigate! Something’s off!” He asked, “By the way, where are you?”

“I’m at my neighbor’s place. Doesn’t matter. Just tell me what’s going on,” Wang Xinnian replied, seemingly recalling the matter.

If he didn’t need to work under Wang Xinnian, Yi Long would have cursed him out. The guy tossed him the assignment and promptly forgot, off having fun somewhere.

“The guy hosting customers at the Haunted House is named Wang Hui. He’s from Qianyou Town, and according to my investigation, he arrived in Tianjing City during the lockdown!”

“So what are you suggesting?”

“I mean, something is really wrong! Why would he come to Tianjing City during the lockdown, and why work at that problematic Haunted House?”

“You think this Wang Hui is a strange creature?” Wang Xinnian lowered his voice as he walked to the balcony, wary of ordinary people overhearing anything about strange entities.

“No, I mean he’s being coerced by one!”

“When was the last time you had your brain checked at the hospital?”

“Checked for what?”

“For your sanity!” Wang Xinnian said, then hung up, leaving Yi Long utterly bewildered.

It was no wonder—after all, their experience was limited, and they simply couldn’t imagine a strange creature possessing such intelligence. Even if it could, carrying out such a plan would be tricky. Concealing its aura was already a huge challenge, let alone staying in one place to feed on fear.

It was almost impossible.

Yi Long was now ashen-faced.

Two paths lay before him: one, he could tackle the matter himself. If the strange creature was stronger than him, he’d die in the line of duty, leaving Wang Xinnian guilty for life—but it would be all for nothing. The second, he could ignore the situation, mark the Haunted House as safe, and, when the creature matured, be punished from above, his life ruined and ending in misery.

Damn it! Were these even choices for a human?

But, thinking it over, he shook his head. There was no certainty that the Haunted House contained a strange creature. Why was he so scared?

Besides, how powerful could a highly intelligent strange creature really be? He could just take a look, and if he sensed anything, he’d flee at full speed!

With that, he took a deep breath, hailed a taxi, and suppressed his Ghost Handler aura as low as possible: “Driver, take me to the Haunted House.”

The driver perked up at the mention: “Kid, let me warn you—if you wet your pants in there, I won’t be responsible for getting you home.”

Yi Long was speechless.