Chapter Forty: Spirit City

One of them stomped the floor in frustration. “Damn it, weren’t we told it was supposed to be a severe injury? Is this what they call ‘severe’?”

Another shook his head helplessly. “There must be something strange about this. Her strength is only at D-level, and she’s the only D-level presence here. Zhang Yang has some skill too. With the three of them working together, how could they not be a match for that female ghost?”

They then tried to use their controlled anomalous beings to track her, but found it was utterly useless.

“Forget it. There’s no point talking now. We should report this to the Bureau first.”

Arriving downstairs at the hotel, the leader approached the manager. “These three are criminal suspects. They’re just unconscious. Also, can you tell me who owns this room?”

The manager wiped the sweat from his forehead—so they were only unconscious after all; he had feared it was a murder scene. He searched the register for the room owner’s information.

“Oh, this person is called Ruan Miao...”

“Ruan Miao?” One of the group interrupted as soon as he heard the name.

“You know this person?” The leader was surprised.

“I’ve heard of her. She was pretty popular online recently. She painted a few pieces that were exceptionally terrifying—rumored to have shocked the entire horror community.”

The horror community was a new circle, mostly made up of young people who pursued terror.

There were horror art exhibitions, horror music festivals, horror parties...

“Oh? Let's go. You can tell me all about it in the car.”

Matters like this were best discussed somewhere private, so they left the hotel and got into their car outside.

“All right, tell me—what’s the story with Ruan Miao and the horror community?”

The man stroked his chin, seemingly deep in thought, then took out his phone and scrolled through it before speaking.

“There was a horror art exhibition held here in Ling City. The top four entries were all by the same person—Ruan Miao.

Her four paintings were extremely terrifying. Even then, I thought something wasn't right. Now, with this incident, I’m even more convinced she might really be problematic.”

“Oh? What did she paint? Do you have photos?”

“I do.”

He searched his phone for a while, then handed it to his team leader. “Here, these. Just looking at the photos gives you chills.”

---

Just looking at the photos gives you chills?

It should be noted that as Spirit Controllers, they had undergone professional training and were exceptionally courageous. After all, their own terror could benefit anomalous beings, so they were rarely ever truly frightened—unless something was truly horrifying.

Puzzled, the leader took the phone and glanced at it. His hand involuntarily trembled. “Damn, this is...”

These four paintings were the ones Ruan Miao had exhibited previously, and his eyes immediately fell upon the terrifying doll.

“Right? How could a normal person paint something so horrifying? Could she be connected to anomalous beings—or could she be one herself?”

“How could that be? Low-level anomalous beings wouldn’t be capable of such complex actions, let alone integrating into human society,” the leader said, clearly agitated.

“Ah... maybe I’m overthinking it...”

“Wait, isn’t this doll from Tianjing City? And that little girl—isn’t she the anomalous being that appeared alongside the doll?” The Spirit Controller who had been silent suddenly realized something was wrong.

“What?” The leader’s memory was jogged. That doll was notorious among the Ling City Anomalous Creature Investigation Bureau—it had destroyed the local bureau all by itself.

“This doll is supposed to have super intelligence, right? And Ruan Miao is from Tianjing City. Could it be...”

This time, the leader cut him off before he could finish. “Enough. This is a serious matter. Human cooperation with anomalous beings is outrageous. We must report immediately!”

With that, he drove away.

---

Inside the Ling City Anomalous Creature Investigation Bureau, the same office was filled with quarreling voices.

“I told you we needed to send a B-level agent, but you wouldn’t listen. Look what happened now!” This was Ji Ruyan’s voice as she stomped her foot and berated Ren Zhonghao.

“How could anyone have known Tianjing City would turn into such a mess? That doll was at most C-level back then. Wasn’t a C-level agent enough?” Ren Zhonghao defended himself.

“I’m telling you, don’t ever let your ignorance guide your decisions. It’s laughable.”

“You—! Even so, the final decision was made by the Director, not me! Go argue with him.”

At his words, everyone spontaneously looked at Fu Chang.

Fu Chang let out a long sigh. “I’ve already reported the Tianjing City incident to the higher-ups. We’re all responsible—just wait for punishment.”

His tone was unmistakably shirking responsibility.

---

While everyone inwardly cursed the Director, a rapid knock sounded at the door.

“Come in.” Though curious who would interrupt now, Fu Chang sensed urgency and allowed entry.

The newcomer looked nervous, hesitated, then spoke. “All three combat agents sent to deal with the demon were killed!”

The crowd was largely indifferent—three agents dead? Compared to the Tianjing City affair, that was trivial.

“Is there anything else?” Fu Chang seemed impatient.

“We... we found a clue about the doll!” The man finally got to the point.

“What!” The room was instantly shaken.

By now, they all assumed the doll had deliberately destroyed the Tianjing City Bureau to dominate the city, so everyone took it extremely seriously. Now that they had information about the doll, how could they not be shocked?

“Hurry, tell us!” Even the usually composed Fu Chang was agitated.

“We investigated the hotel where the demon was. All the agents sent against her died, and the room was occupied by someone unusual.

She painted four pictures at Ling City’s horror exhibition—all connected to that doll!”

He produced his phone and showed the four paintings.

Everyone stared at the images, transfixed. What kind of person could create such terrifying art?

“And that’s not all—we learned that at the exhibition, Ruan Miao brought out a doll identical to the one in the painting. That means the doll is here in Ling City!”

At these words, everyone was stunned, their eyes fixed on Director Fu Chang.

Fu Chang’s face turned grim. Under their gaze, he dialed a number. Soon, someone answered.

“Director, didn’t I tell you? Two B-level anomalous beings suddenly appeared, and you only sent one B-level Spirit Controller to support me. That’s not enough.”

Before Fu Chang could respond, the caller complained.

With the speaker on, everyone heard the voice—it was Su Chen.