Chapter 19: A Secret Deal

“Brother, in your situation, you really need to pay extra. You never mentioned there would be two people, and in a place like that—aren’t you just making things difficult?” The childish voice of a little girl rang out across the desolate wilderness.

“Are you going to do it or not? Are you a man or not, dithering like this! I’m giving you three seconds to respond, or I’m walking away from this deal.” The fierce tone that erupted from a girl barely a meter and a half tall was jarringly out of place.

“I’ve been a bit short on cash lately. Could you cut me some slack this time? When I make it big, I promise I’ll pay you back with interest,” came a rather humble reply from the other side.

The adorable girl yanked the red tie around the young man’s neck with wild abandon, scolding him imperiously, “You want to run a tab on something like this? Do you have a conscience? And you still work for the Underworld?”

The young man bent down in defeat, his tone pleading, “I’m just an intern, not officially employed by the Underworld yet! Please, just this once, Granny, help me out. I swear I’ll repay you handsomely once this is over!”

“Pfft!” Lingling Liu sneered, letting go of the tie. “Let’s be clear—I’m taking on some risk here. The reward afterward better not be short.”

Yehui nodded vigorously. “Understood, understood. Once I finish this task, I’ll be officially hired, and my salary will take a big leap. Once I get paid, I’ll settle all my debts.”

Lingling didn’t press further. After all, everyone was just trying to make a living—it wasn’t easy for anyone. If it weren’t for Yehui’s advantageous position and the possibility that he might rise in the future—a real potential stock—she would never have agreed to such unreasonable terms.

“The mission is to help a girl who turned into a vengeful spirit for unknown reasons find peace. By rights, this is a simple task I could handle alone. However, the girl was influenced by someone and ended up at the villa in the northern suburbs, which has made things much more complicated.”

“There are just too many coincidences. The odds of her turning into a ghost are almost zero—this was just an ordinary murder, and the killer wasn’t especially cruel. Could it be the girl’s mental state was just too fragile?”

“Lingling, what’s your take?” Yehui propped his chin in his hand, outlining the mission. He had a nagging feeling that someone was pulling the strings behind the scenes.

Lingling’s response was to deliver a sharp jab to Yehui’s knee. He actually expected her to analyze the situation? That wasn’t her job! Her role was to complete the exorcism, plain and simple—not to play detective.

Unless Yehui offered more money, why waste the brainpower?

“By the way, do you know anything about the strength of the villa’s owner?” Lingling, ever the professional when it came to assignments, got straight to the point.

Yehui shook his head regretfully. He hadn’t been able to gather any concrete information about Chu Ning. “No idea. No one has ever seen him leave the villa, let alone collected details about his abilities.”

“A bound spirit?” Lingling guessed. Spirits confined to a specific place fit that profile perfectly.

“No, rumor has it Chu Ning is a mirror spirit,” Yehui corrected her. He did know a few things, after all—not that he was completely in the dark.

When Lingling shot him a “you’re kidding me” look, he explained, “Chu Ning is a total recluse, a graduate of Garridan University. That makes it extremely hard to gather intel on him.”

Mirror spirits are by nature unbound, able to move freely through the world in mirrors, shunning traditional constraints. Yehui had been surprised by Chu Ning’s nature himself; textbook theory and reality were clearly two different things, and perhaps Chu Ning was simply an exception.

A mirror spirit wasn’t especially troublesome, considering the length of time since Chu Ning’s death and his lack of nourishment from fear. His power shouldn’t be too great.

Lingling analyzed the situation inwardly and decided it was still within her capabilities. As for Tanya, the newly formed ghost, she didn’t consider her a threat at all.

“Let’s get going! The sooner we finish, the sooner I can get on with my other business.”

“Got it, got it! Let’s move out. Today marks the seventh day since Tanya died—it’s time to resolve this.” With that, Yehui invited Lingling to join him on the way to the villa in the northern suburbs.

Yehui really was anxious—he’d already waited six full days. This task was supposed to be a formality, but it had taken several unforeseen turns.

Usually, a soul lingers in the world for seven days after death before vanishing or entering the Underworld of its own accord. Yehui’s job was simply to help Tanya move on. Unexpectedly, Tanya was reluctant to leave and hadn’t yet passed on to the Underworld.

That’s why Yehui had hired Lingling’s help; his skills were more suited to desk work, and when it came to force, he was out of his depth.

As for rumors about the fearsome Underworld envoys or vengeful ghosts hunting souls, Yehui only learned the truth after joining the Underworld: the famous envoys, Black and White Impermanence, were just two people, and their job was to deal with the truly wicked spirits. Routine tasks like this were left to the lower ranks.

“How much farther?” Lingling asked, bored, fiddling with a red leather ball, cupping it in both hands and gazing blankly ahead.

Yehui, in the driver’s seat, checked the GPS on his phone. They were close to the funeral home in the northern suburbs, meaning the villa—unmarked on the map—must be nearby.

“Get ready, we’re almost there! Stay alert, keep your headset on, and stay in contact. If anything seems off, call me right away!” Yehui warned, a trace of tension in his voice. The thick fog ahead was a bad sign—it meant Chu Ning was much stronger than they’d assumed.

“Relax. Escaping is one of my best skills,” Lingling replied bravely, though she eyed the mist with caution, remaining on guard.

To conjure up fog this dense—their opponent clearly meant business.