Chapter 102: Chapter 98: My Own Ceiling
Early the next morning, the sky was just getting light.
A dilapidated white taxi slowly drove into the parking lot of Xingfu District. The moment the car stopped, it eerily vanished.
Wu Liang’s figure suddenly appeared on the spot, and he couldn’t help but stretch his neck and yawn.
Last night had kept him terribly busy.
After getting on the ghost taxi, some unexpected things happened, causing him to fail to kill it and let the Puppet Ghost devour it.
After all, the ability provided by the ghost taxi was somewhat unexpected for Wu Liang, so he decided to recruit it as a subordinate instead.
[Barrier-Free: Riding the ghost taxi allows you to reach any part of a city within half an hour, even if the path in between might not be reasonable]
This is a great thing!
Previously, many fierce ghosts listed in the Ghost Compendium appeared in Chengyang City, but they were mostly in remote corners. It was uncertain how long it would take to reach those places, not to mention finding the actual bodies of the fierce ghosts.
Now, with the ghost taxi’s ability, he could save a significant amount of time in searching for fierce ghosts!
So, last night, Wu Liang took the ghost taxi to two other extremely remote places in Chengyang City, killed two ghosts, and let the Puppet Ghost devour them, allowing it to upgrade.
[Soul Mimic: Allows the Puppet Ghost to transform into anyone through any body tissue and possess the other person’s behavioral habits]
As expected, this time the upgrade of the Puppet Ghost did not have the 24-hour limitation.
And it no longer needed to consume his blood to perform [Soul Mimic]. Under any condition of body tissue, he just needed to cut a small lock of hair before leaving and keep it at home.
"Waaah, Boss, please still leave a small bottle of blood at home!" the Puppet Ghost pleaded tearfully for Wu Liang’s opinion.
Wu Liang was somewhat puzzled: "Huh? Isn’t any body tissue enough?"
Upon hearing this doubt, the Puppet Ghost scratched its tattered puppet head awkwardly and said, "Oh, it’s just that your hair doesn’t taste as nice as blood..."
Bam—
The whole ghost was knocked to the ground by a punch from Wu Liang.
"Damn! I’ve wanted to punch you for a long time. I’ve been so busy with things I forgot, luckily you pissed me off again to remind me, thanks!"
Rubbing his own fist, Wu Liang paid no attention to the Puppet Ghost whose entire head was embedded in the ground, and he went upstairs to sleep by himself.
The ghost taxi hiding in the shadows of the parking lot shrank back, glad that it chose submission.
It had witnessed the horrible plight of two of its own kind last night, and even had the fortune to share a bite of the shattered body, increasing its fear even more.
This guy... is far more terrifying than any fierce ghost!
......
Wu Liang, who slept until the afternoon, was awakened by a call from Minister Long.
The other party had secured a training spot for him and also gave Wu Liang a phone number, saying that someone would pick him up from the Capital City to the headquarters if he dialed this number.
"Oh, by the way, there’s something I want to ask you, did you sleep well last night?" Minister Long suddenly came out with this cryptic question, but it didn’t surprise Wu Liang at all.
He just grinned and said: "Slept great! Just wonderful! I’ll sleep even better when I return from headquarters!"
"That’s good." Minister Long was very satisfied.
As the highest authority in Chengyang City’s Paranormal Handling Department, he was naturally aware that several state-registered stable fierce ghosts were exorcised last night as reported by investigators.
Linking it to the time shortly after Wu Ming left the base, Minister Long certainly didn’t think it was a coincidence.
Minister Long believed that this was Wu Ming demonstrating his power as a Symbiont to exorcise fierce ghosts independently, reassuring him to let him go to the Capital City.
"Oh well, even those old bastards at the Zodiac Department may be shocked a bit by that kid’s fists, even if in the Capital City."
He was confident in Wu Ming’s fists, the only regret now was for his brother, Wu Liang, as an ordinary investigator, Wu Liang wasn’t eligible for training at headquarters.
If it weren’t for this, Minister Long thought his brother, whose mind was more agile, would be more suitable for investigating files at the headquarters.
He didn’t know——
The person going to headquarters is both the fists and the brains!
"Oh, and about the Dongri Hotel incident this time, you’ve done a great service, any reward you want?" Minister Long, who was about to hang up, suddenly recalled this matter.
Giving Wu Ming a training spot was for investigating the Promised Land affair, and wasn’t related to any reward.
As a Symbiont, he couldn’t be helped to enhance his Spiritual Power like the Awakened.
And the Zodiac Department’s nomination quota had already been promised to the other party when he agreed to become 007.
As for his brother, an ordinary person, giving a reward in terms of power was completely out of the question, let alone granting authority or power.
His brother Wu Liang already had the highest access permission to Chengyang City’s files, couldn’t give him real power, could he?
Giving high actual power to an ordinary person might cause dissatisfaction and suspicion among other Awakened ones, rendering his 007 identity meaningless!
As for money though.
Come on, these two brothers have such good power and brains, why would they want something as vulgar as money?
"Oh, a reward huh, Boss Long, could you buy the apartment I’m renting in Chengyang City for me as a reward? If not, you could convert it to cash, this side accepts cash, Alipay, WeChat transfer, and even gold transactions." Wu Liang’s voice was extraordinarily firm.
Minister Long’s brain almost short-circuited.
He actually asked for money?!
Why?
Although somewhat puzzled, Minister Long only paused for a few seconds before seriously answering: "By eight tomorrow morning, the deed of the apartment in Xingfu District will be delivered to your doorstep, anything else you need?"
"Nothing else, just having a home is enough."
With that, Wu Liang hung up the phone.
Sitting on the sofa, looking up at the white ceiling, he fell into a trance, memories of the past flashed in front of his eyes.
Back then, he still had a family.
His parents often weren’t at home, and before supernatural resurgence began, that book Ghost Compendium in his mind was entirely a decoration and a joke.
No adult or peer was willing to believe what he said. At first, Wu Liang also doubted that the Ghost Compendium might really just be something he hallucinated due to mental illness.
During that time, he liked to lie on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.
Although life was a bit disgusting, Wu Liang wasn’t someone who would compromise with the mundane.
He continued to study the Ghost Compendium.
Living alone, handling food, clothing, accommodation, and transportation by himself, he navigated society like a monster.
Yet, Wu Liang still had inner anticipation. He was always happy when his parents returned home before and after New Year’s, pretending to mingle with those around him to put his parents’ minds at ease.
Until the incident happened to them.
Moved into his aunt’s house, staring at a strange, dirty ceiling, and having hopes that would never return again, Wu Liang’s character became even more solitary.
At this time, he had no home.
He also lost the habit of staring at the ceiling in a daze, because it wasn’t his ceiling, lacking a kind of ideal beauty.
So Wu Liang began to look down at life, focused on the reality beneath his feet.
Money was a good thing—government subsidies let his aunt take him in; wages kept his uncle paying protection fees to Wang; part-time jobs let him pay for his college tuition; and a fortune could let big names have Awakened protection while living near the official base.
Wu Liang didn’t like money, he just had an obsession.
He wanted his own white ceiling.
Now, he had his own house.
He had his own—new home and ceiling.
"Promised Land! I won’t let you take my family away again, during the month at headquarters, I will dig you out three feet under the ground!"
"Your nightmare is coming..."