Chapter Eighty-Five: Arrival at Origin City

After hanging up the call, Feng Tianlin prepared to return to Tianjing City to look for Cheng Lian, and then check out the altar. Without further ado, he immediately piloted the Ghost Train, bringing along his followers and half of his strange creatures to Tianjing City.

He parked the train directly at the former Investigation Bureau of Strange Creatures, where Cheng Lian was probably resting. Tianlin wasn’t sure how that guy was doing these days.

First, he found the Demon Puppet, who told him where to find Cheng Lian, so he went straight there.

Cheng Lian had been given a room that used to be an employee dormitory of the Strange Creature Investigation Bureau in Tianjing City. The accommodations were quite decent.

As soon as Feng Tianlin approached the door, he could hear two people talking inside.

“Brother Lian, how does it feel? Being human isn’t bad, is it?” The voice was dripping with innuendo.

“Heh heh, what kind of life have I been living for thousands of years? Aside from lacking power, being human is much more comfortable than being a strange creature.” That was Cheng Lian’s voice.

Though only two voices spoke, Feng Tianlin could sense the presence of three humans inside. Frowning, he kicked the door open and strode in. There he saw Cheng Lian lying on the bed with a woman beside him, and another human sitting on the sofa, a knowing grin on his face.

All three of them were distinctly underdressed—no need to guess what they’d just been doing.

The woman and the other man looked visibly panicked when Feng Tianlin entered, but Cheng Lian remained nonchalant and even waved at him. “Hey, Boss Doll, you’re here.”

Feng Tianlin’s lips twitched violently. These two really knew how to enjoy themselves. But now, as a doll, he chose to ignore the situation.

“Get dressed and come out,” he ordered.

To his surprise, Cheng Lian stepped down from the bed. “Is this about the altar? No need to get dressed, just tell me now.”

“Put your clothes on!” Feng Tianlin roared.

Startled, Cheng Lian hurriedly grabbed his clothes and dressed himself. It was his first time being human, and he was still getting used to it.

He had taken human form before—most high-level strange creatures did so when not fighting, since it was more convenient, and they always wore clothes. This time, he’d rushed out undressed because he was anxious about the altar, and didn’t mind being seen by Feng Tianlin, a doll. He hadn’t expected it to cause displeasure.

“Hmph, just a little puppet. Wait until I get my strength back—you’ll see!” Cheng Lian’s expression darkened for a moment as he made a silent vow.

Once dressed, he followed Feng Tianlin out the door, immediately putting on a friendly face.

“Boss Doll, I heard you went to attack a city? Can’t believe you’re back so soon—did you take it?”

“Back this fast? Not enough fun for you?” Feng Tianlin looked at Cheng Lian coldly.

“Not at all, just curious. When are we heading to the altar?” Cheng Lian scratched his head, a little embarrassed.

“Now.” Feng Tianlin didn’t want to delay; there was nothing else to do anyway.

“Alright.” Cheng Lian agreed readily.

Feng Tianlin teased, “What? Not enjoying your new human life a bit longer?”

Cheng Lian shook his head. “It’s fun being human, but I don’t have any power.”

Feng Tianlin snorted. “Follow me.”

He led Cheng Lian outside, where his followers were already waiting. Bailangen hadn’t come—he was guarding Spirit City.

Walking over to Long Mengting, the little girl was glued to her phone and didn’t notice his arrival. Feng Tianlin rubbed his forehead helplessly.

“Long Mengting, I told you to find out where Yuzhou is. Have you checked?”

Long Mengting looked up impatiently. “I did—it’s the current Hebei Province. You mentioned the south, so that should be Source City. There are two tall mountains there, and about seven villages. Not sure which one exactly.”

Feng Tianlin nodded. Hebei Province—it bordered Qin Province, not far at all.

Without further words, he summoned the Ghost Train and had everyone board. He left Qi Xuan behind to guard their base, brought along the fat orange cat, and selected a few dozen strong strange creatures.

As for the orange tabby, there was no need to explain—it was the perfect danger radar, invaluable to have around.

Bringing several dozen strange creatures was simple pragmatism. The villages were tiny, and Feng Tianlin’s control over the train’s coordinates was still imprecise. Targeting a specific village was a stretch; it was better to use a city as the destination. And he had some wild plans for this city.

“Those villages are all in Source City, right?” he asked Long Mengting to confirm.

She replied lazily, “Yeah.”

“Then let’s go straight to Source City!” A wild grin spread across Feng Tianlin’s face as he locked in the coordinates and chose to teleport.

Source City was a small city, about the same level as Tianjing City. Even at the height of the strange resurgence, its most powerful spirit tamers were only C-rank.

With that level of strength, Feng Tianlin—a doll—could single-handedly take the entire city.

Right now, snow was falling lightly over Source City. A C-rank and two D-rank spirit tamers were chasing down an E-rank strange creature.

This strange creature was a gourd, desperately fleeing for its life, but eventually cornered with nowhere left to run.

“Heh heh, same as always. I’ll try to tame it first, then we take turns,” said a burly, bearded man. He was the strongest of the trio and naturally took the lead.

They were the top private spirit tamers in Source City, unaffiliated with the authorities.

Since the resurgence of strange creatures, some people had become spirit tamers by accident. Some joined the Investigation Bureau, while others joined private organizations.

Among these private groups, only a handful of the best spirit tamers had awakened their powers naturally. Most became spirit tamers by trying to tame strange creatures that others had already tamed.

Once tamed, a strange creature was much easier to control than a wild one—as long as your mental strength wasn’t abysmal, you could succeed and become a spirit tamer.

But acquiring such creatures required buying them, and the prices were outrageous. As a result, many private spirit tamers hunted low-level strange creatures to tame and then resell them.

After speaking, the bearded man immediately severed his bond with his current strange creature—a harmonica spirit—and walked toward the gourd.

Without his mental support, the harmonica spirit dropped to the ground, indistinguishable from an ordinary harmonica.

A tamed strange creature could only function by relying on a human’s mental power. That was why Feng Tianlin never targeted spirit tamers’ strange creatures.

The bearded man stroked his beard and approached the gourd, preparing to communicate with it.

The other two sat down to wait, knowing this process could take a while.

Sure enough, after a long time, the bearded man stood up, his face twisted with anger. Clearly, he had failed.

“Doesn’t know what’s good for him!” he cursed helplessly, then went to reestablish his bond with his harmonica spirit.

The next was a middle-aged man, who rubbed his hands together and moved toward the gourd. The harder a strange creature was to tame, the more potential it had—a good thing, in his opinion.

Just then, a train appeared overhead. In the next second, a doll leaped down and landed opposite the three, his back to them.

The doll, dressed in an ornate European suit that fluttered in the wind and snow, glanced at the gourd—seeing it was only a low-level, unintelligent strange creature—then turned to the three spirit tamers and asked:

“Hey, is this Source City?”