Longhuai District, in an old residential area.
Lin Feng returned home, panting and exhausted, with Wang Qian's corpse on his back.
Lin Feng's home was small, less than 80 square meters. It was an old Soviet-style building, with cement floors worn smooth over time. The living room had a simple setup: a computer, a fridge, and a sofa. In front of the computer sat a shadowy figure.
At 2:30 a.m., Lin Feng dropped the corpse and collapsed onto the sofa. The shadowy figure in front of the computer noticed that Lin Feng had brought back a beautiful female corpse and remarked in a muffled voice, "Feng, this woman hasn't been dead long, right? Is Sister Liu from downstairs not enough for you anymore? Are you stealing corpses from your workplace now?"
"Steal your grandmother!" Lin Feng was furious. This guy usually seemed harmless, but in reality, he wasn't decent at all!
Lin Feng took off his jacket and stuffed Wang Qian's corpse into the fridge, saying, "It's all because of Mr. Qi. His family won't stop making a fuss—they insisted on burning a taxi for him in the afterlife. I saw him picking up passengers at the funeral home tonight and even taking them to a bar. I had to retrieve the corpse."
"Mr. Qi? The one we picked up at the overpass last time?" The shadowy figure sounded surprised.
Lin Feng nodded, "Yeah, that's the one."
The shadow gradually became solid, revealing a towering figure at least 1.9 meters tall, wearing a nose ring and wrapped in chains. It was none other than an underworld messenger, "Ox-Head!"
In the center of the living room stood a shrine, dedicated to the City God. Next to the City God were two underworld messengers, Ox-Head and Horse-Face.
After resting for a bit, Lin Feng brought out a bowl of white rice from the kitchen, placed it on the altar, and lit an incense stick. Ox-Head took a deep breath, and the incense burned rapidly. The rice grains shriveled before Lin Feng's eyes, turning into a bowl of ashes.
Ox-Head let out a satisfied burp and rubbed his now-round belly, grumbling, "These wandering ghosts are getting out of hand. They dare defy the afterlife and refuse to descend to the underworld. If my brother Horse-Face hadn't disappeared, I wouldn't let them roam so freely. By the way, Kun, didn't you promise to help me find Horse-Face? How long will it take?"
Lin Feng, distracted, was heating up a bowl of instant noodles. Hearing Ox-Head's words, he paused for a moment.
After a brief daze, Lin Feng closed his eyes, and a line of text appeared in his mind.
"Welcome to the Ghost Containment System."
…
Six months ago, a new cremation building was completed at the Nanyang Funeral Home. The old building was demolished to make way for an ice coffin hall, where bodies were temporarily stored.
However, when the old building was torn down, it revealed a large pit, two meters in diameter and three meters deep. Inside the pit was an ancient urn containing ashes. When the construction team unearthed the urn, a violent wind suddenly kicked up. A procession of ghostly figures appeared out of nowhere, playing mournful funeral music. Several paper effigies from the funeral home gathered around the urn, bowing and weeping.
The sight terrified the construction workers, and several of them ended up in mental hospitals, causing quite a stir.
The police dispatched officers to investigate, but even the young officers were frightened. Whenever anyone approached the urn, the wind would intensify, and the paper effigies would cry even louder.
The situation left the funeral home's director, Wang, at his wit's end. Desperate, he spent a large sum to invite Daoist Master Yu Jizi from Tianhu Mountain to perform a ritual.
After investigating, Yu Jizi informed the director that no ritual would work. The disturbance was likely caused by disturbing the spirits in the urn. To appease them, someone with a strong life force would need to offer incense at midnight and re-bury the urn.
After hearing this, Director Wang assigned the task to Lin Feng.
At the time, Lin Feng had already been working as a mortician for a year and a half, having stitched up close to a hundred bodies. He had seen his fair share of strange things, but dealing with supernatural occurrences at midnight? That was another story. Yet, under the director's pressure and the tempting promise of a raise, he reluctantly agreed.
That night, Lin Feng downed half a bottle of strong liquor before heading to the site. He offered incense to the urn and found that everything seemed normal. Just as he was about to bury it, however, a sudden gust of wind struck, and the urn exploded without warning. Lin Feng was knocked unconscious by the debris.
When he woke up, he found himself in a hospital bed, with a tattoo of the urn inexplicably etched into his palm. From that moment, the "Ghost Containment System" had been imprinted in his mind.
…
At first, Lin Feng thought the sudden appearance of the Ghost Containment System was a result of job stress or trauma-induced mental illness. He even visited a psychologist twice. But all evidence pointed to the fact that it was real.
When he opened the Ghost Containment System, five panels appeared in his mind:
[Personal Attributes], [Inventory], [Ghost Tasks], [Underworld Messengers], and [Ghost Shop].
[Personal Attributes]:
Lin Feng, Male, 22 years old
Level: 9
Experience: 970/1000
Health: 90/90
Spirit Power: 90/90
Virtue: 30
Active Skill:
Heaven's Eye Technique (Allows the user to observe any space within a 100-meter radius. Costs 100 Spirit Power to activate, and after 5 seconds, consumes 10 Spirit Power per second to maintain.)
Passive Skill:
Divine Vision (Can see through illusions and burns ghosts. Grows stronger with level progression.)
[Personal Inventory]:
Urn of Ashes
Description: Mysterious origin, bound to the host, capable of containing vengeful ghosts.
Level: 9
Number of Vengeful Ghosts Contained: 1/9
Function: Can refine the vengeful ghosts inside into "Underworld Candles." The higher the level and number of ghosts, the better the candle's quality and the higher the success rate of refinement. These candles, when burned as offerings to the City God, will reward 100 Virtue. Additional rewards vary based on candle quality. There is a chance of refinement failure.
(Overall Evaluation: Infinite potential)
Heaven's Eye Technique
Description: A skill passed down in Taoism, grants the user the ability to see through all illusions, revealing monsters, demons, and ghosts.
Function: Allows the user to peer into space and break illusions. The higher the level, the stronger the power. The divine vision can burn ghosts, activated through blood sacrifices.
Note: Already learned.
(Overall Evaluation: Basic Taoist skill, essential for finding ghosts)
[Ghost Tasks]:
Empty.
(Hint: Every week, the Ghost Containment System will issue three tasks. Once a task is completed or failed, it will disappear automatically. Successfully completing a task rewards experience points and Virtue.)
[Underworld Messengers]:
Niu Meng(Gifted by the system)
Description: From the Ox-Head clan of the underworld, endowed with immense strength. Born as an underworld messenger, with eyes that can see into both the mortal and spirit worlds.
Level: 9
Rank: Ghost Soldier
Skill: Flying Soul Kick
(Overall Evaluation: Underworld messenger with initial ghost power)
(Hint: Higher levels unlock more messengers. Additionally, there is a small chance of turning wild ghosts into underworld messengers upon capture.)
[Ghost Shop]:
Divided into four categories: "Equipment," "Items," "Skills," and "Spiritual Medicines." Virtue can be exchanged for any item in the shop. Items like the "Five Thunder Curse," "Bone Banner," "Mourning Stick," "Underworld Horse," and "Yellow Springs Fruit" are available. However, the cheapest item costs 200 Virtue. So far, Lin Feng has only redeemed one skill: the "Heaven's Eye Technique," which has both an active and passive component. Unfortunately, the active skill is currently unusable due to insufficient ghost power.
...
Inside the urn of ashes, Wang Qian's soul was trapped, but Lin Feng wasn't in a rush to refine her into an Underworld Candle. Ignoring her pleading from within the urn, Lin Feng's eyes shifted to a line of gray text in the [Ghost Tasks] section.
[Special Task] Find Horse-Face (Unlocks at Level 10):
Underworld messenger Horse-Face disappeared while pursuing wild ghosts. Head to Green Willow Manor to search for clues regarding Horse-Face's disappearance.
Task Reward: Gain the ability to hire Horse-Face as an underworld messenger. Reward: 100 Virtue. (Unlocks the combo skill "Divine Might of the Underworld" when both Ox-Head and Horse-Face are owned.)
Lin Feng snapped out of his thoughts and said, "I'm investigating Horse-Face's case. I've got some leads! Tonight, help me capture a few more ghosts. Afterward, I'll take you to find Horse-Face."
It was now Monday at 2:55 a.m., five minutes before the Ghost Tasks would refresh. Lin Feng only needed 30 more experience points to reach Level 10, where he could unlock the task to find Horse-Face. The fact that Ox-Head and Horse-Face had a combo skill made it even more crucial for Lin Feng to find Horse-Face.
Niu Meng muttered, "You said the same thing last month!"
Lin Feng: "Damn it, I was only Level 7 last month!"
Luckily, Niu Meng was straightforward and only grumbled a little without pushing the issue.
As the clock struck 3:00, a cold wind howled outside, and the temperature in the room plummeted. Lin Feng shivered as he quickly refreshed the task list.
Three white-colored tasks popped up in the task bar. Lin Feng's fingers moved swiftly as he refreshed the list again. He had five seconds to refresh for free after the tasks updated—this was a trick Lin Feng had discovered after many trials.
Another three white tasks appeared, but Lin Feng refreshed again. This time, two white tasks and one black task appeared. His expression tightened as he clicked refresh once more.
Tasks were ranked by difficulty and rewards, from lowest to highest: gray, white, green, blue, purple, red, orange, and gold. Lin Feng, currently at Level 9, knew from experience that the highest difficulty task he could handle was green. Anything beyond that risked encountering powerful ghosts, potentially leading to task failure—or worse, death.
As Lin Feng frantically refreshed, he prayed, "City God, please bless me with a green task! I offer new tributes every day—help me earn more Virtue so I can redeem something useful!"
In the final second, Lin Feng managed to refresh to two blue tasks and one purple task. His heart raced—this was the first time he'd ever seen a purple task. Blue tasks were already incredibly challenging, often involving things like tomb raiding or killing monks and Taoists. He didn't want to go crazy completing tasks, nor did he want to risk being caught or sent to a mental hospital.
Just as Lin Feng was about to click refresh again, a faint rustling came from the door. The lights in the room suddenly went out, leaving only the dim glow of the computer screen, accompanied by a crackling noise.
Lin Feng, momentarily distracted, missed the chance to refresh the tasks. He had accidentally accepted the current task.
Damn it!