Chapter Thirty-Five: The Phantom Woman

"Since you want to know, I'll tell you the story," Feng Tianlin said, closing his eyes as if lost in thought, though in reality, he was inventing it on the spot. After a long silence, he slowly opened his eyes and looked at the black Crimson Demon, whose face was filled with anticipation.

"Those days were truly wonderful. Humans were nothing more than insects—our food, to put it plainly." As soon as he said this, the black Crimson Demon’s face filled with longing.

Feng Tianlin paused only briefly before continuing, "At that time, I was the supreme aberrant entity of the Khaganate Empire—the ancient name for the White Banner Nation. All the aberrant beings there were under my command, and we rampaged without restraint."

"Humans couldn’t even dream of stopping us; escaping was out of the question. We would confine them in a single place and keep them in a constant state of terror, providing my followers and me with a never-ending source of fear to feast upon."

"If anyone dared to resist, I would execute them in public as a warning to the rest!"

Of course, these were the things Feng Tianlin hoped to accomplish in the future. The black Crimson Demon, unaware of this, took his words at face value, swallowing nervously and stammering, "A-a-amazing..."

After a short silence, he asked, "Is there more?"

Feng Tianlin was taken aback. More? What more could there be?

"That's all," he replied coolly.

A trace of very human resignation flashed in the black Crimson Demon's eyes, and he said, "Well, I suppose at my level, I’m not cut out to know too much. I understand."

Feng Tianlin nodded. "So, the secret you wanted to tell me?"

"In truth, our aberrant beings in Huaxia are far from as passive as we seem. Right now, we hide in darkness, while the Bureau of Aberrant Entity Investigation works in the light."

Feng Tianlin nodded again. "And?"

"Actually... ah, never mind, what harm is there in telling you? We have undercover agents in every bureau across Huaxia!"

"Undercover agents!" Feng Tianlin was truly stunned. Was this some kind of deep infiltration? Was that even possible?

"Exactly. The great Evil King’s Venomous Empress has a trusted subordinate, whose ability is to split himself into countless pieces. These smaller fragments lack the aura of aberrant entities but can control humans. To my knowledge, there are at least ten bureau chiefs under his sway!"

The black Crimson Demon deliberately lowered his voice as he finished, "Including the bureau chief in Ling City! That might be why you managed to take over Tianjing City so quickly—he may have helped you!"

Shock! Feng Tianlin could feel nothing but shock now. Who would have thought these aberrant beings were so cunning, even able to control bureau chiefs?

He nodded in acknowledgment. "Your Venomous Empress is truly formidable."

...

After their conversation, the black Crimson Demon stood and left. The restaurant immediately returned to normal, and Ruan Miao’s food was served. She finished quickly, and together with Feng Tianlin, returned to the inn.

As they approached the inn, Feng Tianlin sensed something was off. The aberrant entity he’d felt earlier in this very inn was now in their room, and its strength was at a D-rank.

Yet its presence was highly unstable, even weaker than before—likely just after a fight and barely holding on.

"There’s an aberrant presence—right in your room," Feng Tianlin said to Ruan Miao as soon as he detected it.

"So what?" Ruan Miao replied nonchalantly. "You’re so powerful—a fellow aberrant is no big deal, right?" From the earlier conversation between Feng Tianlin and the black Crimson Demon, she had concluded that Feng Tianlin was among the strongest of aberrant beings.

It seemed this girl truly believed he was an ancient aberrant entity. Feng Tianlin didn’t bother to correct her; instead, he let Long Mengting carry him upstairs.

When Ruan Miao opened the door, a cold wind rushed out to meet them. Feng Tianlin recognized it as a special energy unique to aberrant beings, so he immediately used his own power to suppress it, ensuring it couldn’t harm Ruan Miao.

With the cold wind blocked, Feng Tianlin disappeared from Long Mengting’s embrace in a flash and reappeared in the bathroom.

Inside, there was a semi-transparent figure—a woman, and a very beautiful young woman at that, looking to be seventeen or eighteen, dressed in white, with a delicate face and large eyes—hardly what one would expect from a terrifying aberrant.

Yet the moment she saw Feng Tianlin, the woman let out a piercing scream. Her hair rose as if caught by a gale, her face twisted into something truly horrifying, teeth sharpening, eyes turning blood-red, and her skin becoming deathly pale.

Yes, this was what an aberrant entity should look like.

"So... this is the legendary ghost?" Feng Tianlin was shocked. To think ghosts really existed—and looked so... pure? At least, she had a moment ago.

But before he could think further, the ghost lunged at him, trailing wisps of chilling energy—likely yin energy.

Though it was his first time encountering a spiritual-type aberrant, Feng Tianlin was undaunted. This was just a dying D-rank evil spirit—how dare she act up before him?

Yet before he could act, Long Mengting stepped forward and slapped the evil spirit, who was already on death’s door, making her even weaker. The evil spirit slumped against the wall, terror written all over her face.

"Don’t hurt her!" Feng Tianlin immediately ordered. He wanted to study this legendary ghost more closely.

Approaching, Feng Tianlin quickly realized the difference between ghosts and aberrant entities like himself. He and his kind had energy circulating within their bodies, controlling them, while ghosts were entirely composed of energy.

He released a small amount of his own energy experimentally, sending it into the ghost’s body.

As he expected, the ghost’s condition improved markedly after absorbing his energy—her form and aura became much more stable.

"Haha, just as I thought."

Though Feng Tianlin also evolved by absorbing human fear, his process was different from other aberrant beings: all the fear he absorbed was filtered through the system, making his energy exceptionally pure, almost identical to human fear itself. Thus, his energy could heal other aberrant beings.

After absorbing Feng Tianlin’s energy, the ghost no longer showed any hostility, and at that moment, the system’s notification sounded.

"Detected interaction with another aberrant entity: non-hostile. Would you like to form a team?"

Feng Tianlin stroked his chin. Having a ghost girl on the team didn’t sound bad—especially one this pretty and adorable. He immediately agreed.

"Yes!"

"The Malevolent Ghost has successfully joined the host’s team. Attributes are as follows:
Aberrant Entity: Malevolent Ghost
Level: D
Skill: Spirit Breath LV3."

The usual rule applies: follow me, level up first!

With the urban legends he’d spread and the paintings he’d completed, Feng Tianlin now had a total of 210,000 terror points. He didn’t hesitate, immediately spending 18,000 points to upgrade her Spirit Breath to LV6.

Then he suddenly realized that Long Mengting and the Berserk Bear’s skill levels could also use an upgrade, so he began another round of leveling up.