The sinister man continued to ponder for a while longer before he moved into a basement. There was but a lone memorial tablet in the room, and the words written on it were illegible.
He lit a stick of incense from the altar table and stuck it into the incense burner in front of the memorial tablet.
The incense burned for a short while, before the smoke from it materialized to show the bust of a young man.
"Gui Qi, is there already progress so soon?"
Hearing the young man speak, Gui Qi immediately knelt to the floor to bow.
"Master, your servant has had quite the bad luck in Qi City. While I was recruiting people, my only spirit servant was attacked fatally. I'm afraid that would slow Master's plans to a standstill. I am willing to bare my punishment."
Hearing so, the young man showed no sign of anger and instead, interest took over his features.
"Oh, your spirit servant was highly-qualified. She even had a Life-Saving Double. Common awakened individuals wouldn't have been able to defeat her. Did you somehow anger people from the Truth Department?"
The sinister man shook his head immediately, "I wouldn't dare go against Master's wishes. My spirit servant had acted of her own will and had caused a conflict with the person that I wanted to recruit."
"Tell me more."
The sinister man then proceeded to relay the events in detail.
Once the sinister man had finished speaking, instead of reprimanding him, the young man spoke with glee, "Who would have thought that a place like Qi City, with its simple folk, would have been hiding such an awakened individual who possessed passion and skill. He should definitely be recruited so that he can be my heir."
"As expected of Master. Your humble servant had thought the same. Once I had found somewhere to stay, I had immediately started the recruitment process. Who would've known that my spirit servant would think otherwise. She had attacked that person to avenge her living brothers, which is causing a problem now."
"This can only be blamed on you. These spiritual beings have fickle personalities and have strong ties to their previous lives. They are beings that are hard to control as they tend to act as they please. Which is specifically why I want to rule the underworld so that I can bind them, so when the future shifts, they wouldn't go around attacking the common people and causing chaos for the living."
Hearing so, the sinister man once again bowed his head, "Master is still thinking of the common living. Master is a blessing, as if Buddha himself had walked among us."
"Haha, aren't you good at compliments, Gui Qi." As if satisfied right after saying so, the young man made a pill drop out of the smoke. Seeing the pill made the sinister man's heart pump with glee, but he remained still.
The young man seemed even more satisfied as he continued, "Give this Ghost Emperor Pill to your spirit servant. You must treat her with honesty and remember not to give in to the dark. As an exorcist, one must be just so that one will not walk towards the unjust."
"Your humble servant will remember Master's teachings," obeyed the sinister man.
"Alright, we have spoken too long. The Truth Department has already thrown its web, speaking too long would reveal us. You must be extra careful, and remember not to give in to greed that will satisfy only you!" With that, the young man disappeared and the smoke slowly dissipated.
Gui Qi waited until the smoke had entirely disappeared before picking up the Ghost Emperor Pill, standing up as he did so.
He smirked and whispered to himself, "Not to give in to greed? Hah, don't make me laugh. It's a world where each person only thinks of himself. Whatever, I'll only have to temporarily please you for the time being. Nobody knows what the future holds yet…"
"But this Buddha did hold quite a lot of advantages, and here I thought I had to help heal that spirit servant again. Whatever, since that Vigilante A isn't an easy feat, it would be better to find an investor first."
He looked around the small, damp basement and furrowed his eyebrows as he thought to himself, "Why do I have to spend my days cramped up in here when I have so much power?! Where is my mansion, my car, my women, and money?! Why can't I do as I please?! Hmph!"
...
In the System Space, Fang Ning looked at the metal hammer that was moving on its own on the blacksmith forge. It hammered away at the weird-looking Celestial Weapon. Fang Ning wasn't afraid of it, he knew it isn't the work of some ghost, but was instead the System working on the Celestial Weapon. The System couldn't exactly show itself since it probably didn't have a physical body, but it could use anything in the System Space as it pleased.
Fang Ning got bored after staring at it for a while. He couldn't exactly go back to reading his novels or playing his games in front of the System either. And so Fang Ning went online to look at recent news, both local and international.
These past two months seemed to have changed the outside world a lot.
"Sightings of a ghost in broad daylight? Was the light playing tricks or did it really happen?"
The title alone seemed to be akin to the ghost flicks Fang Ning used to watch. Once he clicked into the article, he found out that some place in the South had numerous reports of ghosts attacking humans incessantly. It was only until recently, that after someone heard an explosion in broad daylight, did the attacks finally slow down.
In regards to recent events, if it seemed like the locals weren't faring well, it seemed to be worse internationally.
"Japan has been covered by a fog for three days, the entire country has been affected. The ports have closed and flights have been grounded. Relevant authorities have released red alerts warning citizens not to visit Japan for the time being."
"A group of witches has surfaced in Northern Russia. The members of the cult seem to all suffer from speech disorders and have all been arrested by the country's Special Operations Department…"
Fang Ning felt immensely troubled by these developments. He hated situations of major chaos the most, as that meant his peaceful life as a homebody would be affected.
Thankfully, Qi City still seemed relatively peaceful. Nothing too serious has happened yet, and that of course had to do with the System that had seized his body. When war-loving awakened individuals cropped up, the System had taken care of them, and they were whisked away by the Special Affairs Department for rehabilitation.
Now that Fang Ning thought about it, being a homebody wasn't all that bad. He could live a carefree life without much worry, as well as not attract too much attention to himself. Nobody had popped up on his doorstep to look for him yet.
What Fang Ning didn't know was that not only had he received a lot of attention, he was already a role model amongst the other awakened individuals. There was barely any awakened individual that didn't know of him in Qi City…
...
Meanwhile, at the Rehabilitation Centre of the headquarters of Qi City's Special Affairs Department, Principal Zhang was speaking to a bunch of awakened individuals in class.
"You lot have a lot to learn from Fang Ning. Don't think that our Department is just pulling all awakened individuals in for rehabilitation. If you're thinking that, well think again."
Lu Er looked at Fang Ning's picture that was displayed, his lips pulled into a tight line. Fang Ning was but a lazy assh*le that stayed at home all day. He would've probably spent his entire life being a homebody even if he was brainwashed.
"Fang Ning has only used his ability to earn money. Who are we from the Special Affairs Department to stop him? He spends his days working from home, so who are we to bring him in for rehabilitation? All of you are here for a reason, so reflect on your actions that brought you here. Some of you were could while committing a crime, while some of you were caught while preparing to commit a crime; some of you have even committed multiple crimes and had resisted the law! Just because you can run fast, that doesn't mean you can be a thief."
Lu Er felt a sense of dread as Principal Zhang finished his speech. And that dread was right as Principal Zhang called on him to stand.
"Lu Er, stand up and share your ability and crimes with the rest…"
"I was wrong. Instead of using my super-speed to commit thievery, I should have used it for peace and to join the national team, so that I can develop our country's track and field prospects and lead us to the Olympics. After Principal Zhang's enlightenment, I have utterly regretted my actions and changed for the better. I promise to be a better person in the future and will work hard on improving myself. No, no, I meant I will work hard on protecting the world."
Lu Er rubbed at the corner of his eyes dramatically after finishing.
Although his face was one of seriousness, he thought to himself, who would want to be an athlete? Not only would I have to practice under a coach every day, it's not like I want to be famous. If it weren't because of Vigilante A, I could have sold that medicinal pill for thirty million through Feng Niao. I would have earned more in a day than someone would earn in a year.
"Hmm, it's good that you think that way. However, the International Sports Organization is recently undergoing some changes, so you've missed your chance. They are already coming up with a sports event that only awakened individuals can participate in, as they are preparing to separate the sports competitions between common people and awakened individuals. You better start training now so that you can compete in the sports event and bring glory to our country."
"Yes, yes. As expected of Principal Zhang. I will work hard in training so that I will not let our country down," agreed Lu Er half-heartedly. After spending several days here, Lu Er was quite aware of Principal Zhang's temper. The ultimate combination in their rehabilitation process was isolation, plus electrical therapy, plus forced brainwashing. Whoever went against Principal Zhang would have to endure all three; whoever listened and obeyed well would only have to endure half; and whoever proved themselves worthy would not have to endure anything at all.
That electrical therapy was quite terrible, thought Lu Er to himself as he rubbed his behind. He still got shivers every time it crossed his mind as he was almost burnt alive.