Chapter 10: And You Still Say It’s Not a Ghost?

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Just past seven in the morning. Someone entered the apartment building where Tianqiong Xia lived and discovered a dead body, then immediately called the police.

The authorities quickly sealed off the scene. Soon after, five mysterious figures hurriedly arrived to replace the police and began investigating the site.

They were agents from the Bureau of Paranormal Affairs, an official organization that had existed for over a thousand years.

Among them was Moyuan Fang, the only woman on the team—young, beautiful, and highly skilled.

Wearing rubber gloves, she meticulously examined each mummified corpse before drawing her conclusion.

“Based on the cause of death and the lingering eerie aura, this is undoubtedly a case of the ‘Ghost Mother Searching for Her Infant,’ a phenomenon documented multiple times in history. From this, we can infer there are likely no survivors here.”

Standing nearby was a composed middle-aged man named Boyu Zhou, the leader of this ghost-hunting squad.

He shook his head. “There are survivors—at least two.”

Fang was surprised. “The Ghost Mother’s strike leaves no one alive. How could there be survivors? Captain, what did you see?”

A silver gleam shimmered in Zhou’s eyes—a special occult ability that allowed him to perceive what others could not.

“There’s residual contract energy here: the Contract of the Ghost Lord and the Contract of Equality. There’s also a third type, indiscernible, possibly older, with its aura nearly dissipated.”

As he finished speaking, Fang and the others were greatly shocked.

“So someone has broken the death rules of the ‘Ghost Mother Searching for Her Infant.’ Otherwise, signing the Contract of Equality wouldn’t be possible.”

“That’s the most likely explanation.”

Zhou nodded, excitement flashing across his face. “Immediately have the police verify all resident information and check nearby surveillance. We must find this person.”

Merely uncovering a method to break the ‘Ghost Mother Searching for Her Infant’ death rule was invaluable.

The authorities had to control this knowledge so that future encounters with this phenomenon would no longer end in total annihilation.

But most importantly, they had to find this individual.

According to records, both the Ghost Mother and the Ghost Infant possessed some form of teleportation-like occult power. Whoever held their contract would command this teleportation ability.

For the Bureau of Paranormal Affairs, this person was a highly valuable recruit.

“If this person belongs to one of those ancient families, it won’t be easy to recruit them,” Fang warned.

“That’s impossible. Those family heirs live lives of extreme luxury; they wouldn’t reside in such a dilapidated place,” Zhou dismissed the idea.

“True.”

Fang nodded in agreement, then her face turned worried. “Captain Zhou, overnight, a surge of paranormal events has appeared nationwide. This isn’t normal, is it?”

Zhou’s expression suddenly grew grave.

“History has never seen such a large-scale, widespread outbreak of the paranormal. I fear that ancient prophecy is coming true—the ghost realm is about to overlap with the human world.”

“Then won’t our world plunge into a paranormal apocalypse?”

“It will be the end of ordinary life—but the dawn of a new era for ghost hunters!”

…

A budget hotel.

Tianqiong Xia opened the door and stepped inside, but Yu Jiang stood at the entrance, looking at him oddly.

“Weren’t we supposed to catch ghosts? Why bring me here to book a room?”

Before Tianqiong could respond, Yu dragged her suitcase inside, feigning shyness. “Well, I didn’t sleep a wink last night. Maybe I should find a place to get some proper rest.”

She thought Tianqiong intended to sleep with her!

Instead, he retorted, “You’re overthinking it. I’m the one who needs to sleep. Put down your luggage and go buy supplies from the wholesale market.”

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Yu pouted, displeased. “But I didn’t sleep either. Can’t I rest a bit before going?”

Tianqiong, seemingly unmoved by her pitiful expression, inspected every corner of the room as he asked, “Have you read any apocalypse novels?”

“No.”

“After tomorrow night, paranormal phenomena will descend like an apocalypse. It won’t be like the chaos and moral decay in those stories, but it will cause a nationwide frenzy for supplies.”

Having finished inspecting the room, Tianqiong sat on the edge of the bed and spoke calmly, “So I want you to immediately buy all sorts of supplies: long-lasting food, daily medicines, household necessities, and so on.”

As he spoke, he transferred the few tens of thousands he had saved into Yu’s account.

Yu had been skeptical about the apocalypse claim, but Tianqiong’s solemn tone made her believe it a little.

“You want me to handle something so important on my own? Don’t you trust me? Aren’t you afraid I’ll run off and never return?”

Tianqiong chuckled. “Looks like you need to understand the power of the Ghost Lord’s contract.”

Suddenly, he raised his hand and grasped at empty air, pulling an invisible force from within her body.

Yu suddenly felt weak; wrinkles appeared visibly on her hands and face, and strands of white hair began to sprout from her once-smooth long hair.

She was aging rapidly!

“Are you still saying it’s not a ghost? Isn’t this the ability of that female ghost?”

Yu was terrified and begged, “Tianqiong, don’t kill me. I’ll do anything you want.”

“I don’t want to kill you. I’m just showing you the power of the Ghost Lord’s contract.”

The invisible force Tianqiong extracted from Yu was her lifespan.

This was not an occult spell but the power of the Ghost Lord’s contract.

With a casual wave, he returned the stolen lifespan to Yu’s body. In an instant, she regained her youthful beauty.

Yu looked at her palms and back of her hands, touched her cheeks, and was filled with dread. “What is going on?”

“Since you signed the Ghost Lord’s contract with the Ghost Infant, your lifespan, soul, and body no longer belong to you. The Ghost Infant can manipulate them at will. Even if you hide on the other side of the Earth, it won’t matter.”

Tianqiong spoke calmly, but Yu was stunned.

Only now did she truly understand the nature of the Ghost Lord’s contract.

…

After Yu left, Tianqiong closed the curtains, dimming the room.

He summoned a dish of braised pork ribs through "Netherworld Delivery" and placed it in the corner.

Coming here to book a room wasn’t really for sleep but to hunt ghosts.

This budget hotel was located on the eastern outskirts of Lin’an City. Over twenty years ago, it had been a chaotic graveyard. Later, as the city expanded, residential buildings were constructed.

Locals knew this was a former graveyard; few bought homes here, and those who did rarely lived in them, opting to rent out instead.

Thus, many guesthouses, short-term rentals, and budget hotels sprang up.

During the early days of the paranormal outbreak, various strange phenomena occurred here, causing numerous casualties. It nearly became a no-go zone for the living.

However, as more civilian ghost hunters appeared, they discovered these were mainly wild ghosts—not particularly powerful. Knowing their death rules made counterattacks easy.

Consequently, this area became a hunting ground for ghosts.

Eventually, the government cordoned it off as a training ground for novice ghost hunters.

Tianqiong came here to hunt or contract ghosts to bolster his strength, preparing for tomorrow night’s confrontation with vicious spirits.

Food formed from Netherworld energy not only attracts humans but is even more alluring to ghosts.

They can sense it through walls and from afar.

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Though it was daytime and ghosts seldom appeared, this was a gathering place for them, so occasional stragglers would still roam.

Tianqiong intended to lure ghosts with the braised pork ribs, but instead, the two ghosts inside him stirred first.

“Eeya eeya!”

In a flash, the Ghost Infant wearing a red bellyband sprang from his body, landed on the floor, and scrambled toward the ribs.

Tianqiong quickly scooped it up. “This is useful. After I’m done, I’ll give it to you, okay?”

This little creature was a glutton for ghosts—excited at the sight of food.

After soothing it with promises, the infant settled down and returned inside Tianqiong.

Next, the Netherworld Delivery ghost in his mind protested.

“Master, please take care of me! If this continues, I will dissipate!”

Because Tianqiong had used occult power before fully healing, it further drained the Delivery ghost’s Netherworld energy, worsening its injuries.

“I’ll restore you once I kill some ghosts and earn Netherworld coins.”

Tianqiong said casually, leaning against the headboard, waiting for ghosts to come while folding gold ingots.

On his way here, he had purchased a large bag of special gold paper from a funeral supply store—not the billion-denomination bills, not a single one.

Whether burning paper money or gold ingots, the amount of Netherworld coins obtained has no relation to the denomination.

The quantity of Netherworld coins depends solely on the mental state of the person burning the paper—their degree of remembrance or longing.

For instance, when burning money for ancestors, if the burner feels no real attachment—just going through the motions—no matter how much paper is burned, no Netherworld coins are generated.

This is because Netherworld coins originate from the living’s spirit, energy, and mind, as Taoism describes.

If you deeply miss someone, even burning a single sheet of paper money, regardless of its value, will produce a large amount of Netherworld coins.

Of course, there’s a cost.

The more coins produced, the greater the depletion of the burner’s spirit, energy, and mind.

That’s why some people look worn and spiritless after burning paper at graves and need days to recover.

Burning coins for the living is similar but requires specific rituals—like what Tianqiong performed last night—otherwise, no Netherworld coins can be generated.

Also, one cannot burn too much in a short time; otherwise, their spirit, energy, and mind won’t recover, leading to unconsciousness or accelerated aging.

The ingots Tianqiong folded now weren’t for burning but to convert Netherworld energy into Netherworld coins while hunting ghosts.

This method required drawing special runes on the back of the gold paper with a drop of his own blood per ingot—just a drop each, and as long as he didn’t make too many quickly, it was safe.

He folded ingots while waiting, but soon sleepiness overcame him.

“I’ll nap a bit. You two don’t bother me.”

Tianqiong told the two ghosts inside him with his mind, then lay down and fell asleep peacefully.

How long he slept, he didn’t know.

In a hazy moment, he felt a hand touching his cheek.

Suddenly opening his eyes, he saw a stunning scene.

Yu Jiang lay naked beside him, one hand propping up her head, the other gently stroking his face.

“Master, you’re awake?”

Her voice was soft and delicate, sweet to the point of cloying, filled with a strange seductive power that made Tianqiong’s whole body tingle.

Any normal man would surely react at such a moment.