Chapter 122: Trouble at the Ghost Mausoleum

On the other side, Fan Bisi suppressed his unease and said:

"It shouldn't be too big a deal." He steadied himself, recalling the guards he had seen at the city gate: "There are still survivors at the gate. Even if there are ghosts, the hauntings must have only just begun."

"Our Wan'an County is currently shrouded in ghost mist, so ghost cases naturally erupt more frequently here than in other counties—"

As he spoke, he snuck a glance at Zhao Fusheng and was surprised to find that her expression seemed almost excited upon hearing this.

Excited?

Fan Bisi rubbed his eyes. Had he misread it?

"My Lady—"

"Return to the office at once. Ask Magistrate Pang, and we will know exactly what has happened," Zhao Fusheng said, her spirits lifting.

"Yes!"

Before Fan Bisi could relay the order, the carriage driver heard Zhao Fusheng and responded. He cracked his whip, and the horses broke into a gallop. Since the streets were deserted, there was no fear of crashing into anyone. About half an hour later, the carriage pulled up before the gates of the Demon Suppression Office.

Just as it had been every time Zhao Fusheng returned from a case, Magistrate Pang and the other officials and gentry were already standing at the gates to welcome her.

This time, the officials of Wan'an County were gathered with unusual completeness. Aside from Magistrate Pang, every official and clerk with a rank in the county had come. They stood in a long, imposing line, completely blocking the entrance to the Demon Suppression Office.

Magistrate Pang was filled with anxiety. In truth, this was not his first time welcoming Zhao Fusheng back, yet he felt just as uneasy as ever.

"I wonder how the case in Baozhi County went for Lady Zhao?" he pondered. "I hope she did not encounter a fierce ghost and managed to preserve her strength."

Everyone had their own thoughts. Before long, they heard the sound of a carriage approaching the Demon Suppression Office. A moment later, a speeding carriage swerved around the street corner. Because the turn was too sharp, the two wheels on one side lifted off the ground, nearly causing the carriage to overturn. It jolted in the air before the wheels slammed back onto the ground with a loud clatter, and the carriage rushed toward the gates.

When the crowd saw the sign of the Demon Suppression Office on the carriage, they felt a sense of relief, yet their hearts remained tense.

The driver pulled the reins tight about thirty yards away, the horses gradually slowed, and the carriage finally came to a stop in front of the gate. Magistrate Pang felt panicked and fearful, and the crowd swarmed forward.

The Fan brothers stepped out, their faces sallow. Seeing them appear, the crowd first let out a sigh of relief, but then their hearts sank again when they didn't see Zhao Fusheng: "My Lady—"

Magistrate Pang, in his panic, was unsteady on his feet and had to be held up by the officials beside him.

"Ugh—"

Zhao Fusheng gave a dry retch before moving out of the carriage, her face pained. "...Aside from renovating the office, we must repair the roads first—"

Fan Bisi’s usually dark face had turned pale. Hearing her words, the anxiety he had felt since entering the city dissipated somewhat. He replied, feeling both speechless and relieved: "...Yes."

Zhao Fusheng had only eaten a little dry food on the return journey, and the constant jolting had left her feeling nauseated. Combined with a lack of sleep the night before, she looked quite unwell.

Seeing her return safely, the heavy stone that had been weighing on Magistrate Pang and the others finally dropped.

"Oh, my Lady—" The old man lost his composure and burst into tears. "Thank goodness you have returned—"

Zhang Chuanshi, who had been hiding somewhere, also popped out, shouting: "My Lady, you have finally returned! If you hadn't come back, our Wan'an County would have been turned upside down."

"Old Zhang, let the Lady catch her breath," Fan Wujiu scolded him.

Zhang Chuanshi glared. "Saving lives is like fighting a fire—"

"It cannot be rushed in this moment," Fan Wujiu countered.

"It is already an emergency," Zhang Chuanshi retorted, refusing to back down.

"Enough." Zhao Fusheng’s head ached from their bickering. She glanced around and saw that all the prominent figures of Wan'an County were present. She waved her hand. "We will discuss matters once we are inside the office."

As soon as she spoke, the two men, who had been like fighting cocks, fell silent.

As she spoke, Zhao Fusheng instinctively looked up at the top of the Demon Suppression Office. The sign hanging outside the gate seemed to be covered in a faint, hazy gray. The three characters for "Demon Suppression Office," which had been clearly visible before, now looked obscured by a layer of gray smog, making them difficult to discern.

She frowned and, pretending not to see it, turned her gaze away.

The crowd ushered her inside, while the two Fans stayed behind to direct the servants in unloading the other carriage filled with gold.

***

The group entered the main hall of the Demon Suppression Office. The hall was quite large, easily holding over a hundred people, a testament to the glory of Wan'an County in its prime. Unfortunately, it had decayed step by step since the time of Zhao Qiming. In less than half a year, the entire office had fallen into ruin; in many places, tiles had fallen, and the beams had rotted away, leaving the structure in a pathetic state.

As everyone squeezed into the hall, they packed the dilapidated space to the brim. Many of the lower-ranking officials, having no seats, simply stood wherever they could, trying to stay as close to Zhao Fusheng as possible—as if this alone could provide them with a sense of security.

Magistrate Pang noticed this and was startled. He had initially worried that Zhao Fusheng might have used the power of a fierce ghost in Baozhi County and would be on the verge of losing control. But upon her return, her demeanor was normal, and she carried no terrifying, chilling aura. From the way the people around her subconsciously leaned toward her, it was clear that she possessed a sense of security that made people feel grounded.

"My Lady, this trip to Baozhi County—"

After everyone was seated, Magistrate Pang wanted to speak about the situation in Wan'an County, but Fan Wujiu’s earlier words reminded him: no matter how urgent, he had to let Zhao Fusheng catch her breath. Thinking of this, he suppressed his anxiety and first expressed concern for her journey.

"Did you find nothing, my Lady?"

Zhang Chuanshi, counting on his horrific injuries to garner sympathy, squeezed up to Zhao Fusheng's side. He was still clutching the *Book of Souls*. The severe wounds he had sustained in Dog-Head Village were already beginning to scab over. Although the book restricted him, it also shared a portion of a fierce ghost’s power with him, allowing his recovery rate to far exceed that of an ordinary person. He smiled ingratiatingly at Zhao Fusheng after speaking.

Zhao Fusheng ignored him and said: "The problem in Baozhi County has been solved."

As soon as she said this, Magistrate Pang instinctively replied: "You didn't encounter any ghosts—" Halfway through, he realized what he had said, and his face filled with shock: "My Lady, are you saying the ghost disaster in Baozhi County has been resolved?"

"Yes." Zhao Fusheng nodded.

The hall fell silent. Everyone stared at one another, too stunned to speak. Zhang Chuanshi clutched the *Book of Souls* tightly, his eyelids gone, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets. He could hardly believe his ears. Zhao Fusheng had solved another ghost case! And the Fan brothers, who had accompanied her, returned completely unscathed; it was simply incredible.

"This—" Magistrate Pang did not know what to say, but Zhao Fusheng called out: "Yu Weide."

She called for the local gentleman, Yu Weide. The old man seemed lost in thought, ignoring her call. It was not until she called again and someone bumped into him hard, causing him to stumble, that he came to his senses and hurriedly replied: "I am here, I am here, Lady Zhao."

"You did very well previously. I met Xu Yachen. He said he received your letter and, following this ghost disaster, has agreed to slowly move the Xu family into Wan'an County over the coming period."

Having said this, Zhao Fusheng gave him an encouraging look.

The crowd was stunned again. Baozhi County was different from Wan'an County; it had the renowned Deputy Commander Zheng sitting in town! Yet now, Zhao Fusheng claimed that Xu Yachen was willing to abandon Zheng He’s protection and move his entire family into the perilous Wan'an County. What kind of ghost case had the three of them solved in Baozhi County? What kind of strength had this Commander, who had only been in charge of the Wan'an County Demon Suppression Office for a month, displayed to make Xu Yachen willing to relocate?

If Zhao Fusheng solving a ghost case had surprised them, the news that Xu Yachen was moving was even more shocking. Zhang Chuanshi remained stiff for a long time, his fingers trembling as he held the *Book of Souls*, before finally pressing them firmly against the jade-bound volume.

"In addition to that, several other wealthy families will also be moving in. This sets a very good example for our Wan'an County. I have decided to renovate the shops outside the Demon Suppression Office. Later, Yu Weide can choose a suitable shop first—" Zhao Fusheng paused for a moment before adding heartlessly: "—I will give you a discount on the rent."

"Thank you, my Lady!" An excited expression appeared on Yu Weide’s aged face.

Zhao Fusheng did not boast about her strength, nor did she vividly describe the details of the ghost case. But by mentioning that the gentry and wealthy merchants were willing to move to Wan'an County, she provided the best possible proof—showing that her trip to Baozhi County must have been a resounding success that had swayed many people. Nothing could put the crowd at ease more than these words. The panicked expressions of the people settled.

Zhao Fusheng’s gaze swept over the faces of Magistrate Pang, Yu Weide, and Zhang Chuanshi.

The sky outside the hall was dim. Since everyone had entered, the air outside seemed to be filled with dense, smog-like particles. It was neither quite rain nor thick fog, causing the daylight to turn abruptly dark. Even though it was only afternoon, there was a suffocating pressure as if night were falling, making people feel uneasy.

***

When Zhao Fusheng leaned out to look, Magistrate Pang and the others, who had been smiling, also turned to look outside. Seeing the fog appear, their faces instantly revealed expressions of terror.

"It seems that in the two days I was gone, Wan'an County has fallen into trouble again." Zhao Fusheng laughed, breaking the silence.

With her voice, the cold feeling in the room vanished instantly. Everyone couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief, all of them sharing a sense of stability. Zhao Fusheng was too calm! As the backbone of Wan'an County, if she had not panicked, it meant everything could still be salvaged.

"What is going on?" she asked.

Zhang Chuanshi spoke up impatiently: "My Lady—"

"My Lady, it is—" As Zhang Chuanshi spoke, Magistrate Pang also began, and even the gentleman Yu Weide called out. Everyone was eager to report to Zhao Fusheng, creating a noisy clamor that left her unsure whom to listen to.

"Enough." Zhao Fusheng raised her voice. The people who had been scrambling to speak fell silent at once.

"Magistrate Pang, speak." Zhao Fusheng pointed to him.

Zhang Chuanshi was unhappy and muttered, "I could have told you."

Zhao Fusheng ignored his grumbling and signaled for Magistrate Pang to speak.

Magistrate Pang steadied himself and said: "My Lady, it is the Western City Ghost Mausoleum. Something has gone wrong."

He lived up to his reputation as a scholar-official, being concise and knowing to state the important result first before adding the other details. Magistrate Pang had initially worried that Zhao Fusheng might not know about the "Western City Ghost Mausoleum." After he finished, he glanced at her, only to see Zhao Fusheng nod: "I know. Over a hundred years ago, the imperial court built a mausoleum west of Wan'an County specifically to bury those from the Demon Suppression Office who died in ghost disasters."

After Zhao Fusheng was reborn, the Fan brothers had been wary of her and had considered burying the bodies of the Zhao couple in the mausoleum. However, plans changed rapidly. The Zhao couple’s fierce ghosts had revived, and the Ghost Mausoleum itself was already an unstable factor for Wan'an County at the time.

"According to the rules, the imperial court must send someone every year to place a seal," Zhao Fusheng said.

But because Wan'an County had been effectively abandoned by the court, no one had come to place a seal since the last time in mid-August of the previous year—nearly a year ago. The reason the Western City Mausoleum was called the "Ghost Mausoleum" was that those buried within had died from ghost disasters—in other words, the possibility of the ghosts reviving was higher than with ordinary corpses.

It used to be fine when the court sent officials to place seals. By using the aura of a Commander-level ghost controller to suppress the yet-to-revive ghosts, the danger was kept in check. But once the seals stopped, the Ghost Mausoleum was prone to anomalies.

It was precisely for this reason that the two Fans had abandoned the idea of burying the Zhao couple there, fearing that if they were buried inside, the existing seals would not hold, and the resulting ghost disaster would kill everyone in Wan'an County.

"Phew—" Magistrate Pang let out a long sigh as he heard her speak: "It is good that you know about this, my Lady. That makes things easier."

The heavy burden on his shoulders seemed to have been lifted by more than half because of Zhao Fusheng’s words. His tense face trembled slightly from the sudden relief, and he was so shaky that he could hardly speak clearly.

Zhang Chuanshi looked at him with disdain and hurriedly stepped forward to claim credit: "My Lady, let me tell you."

"Then go ahead." Zhao Fusheng saw that Magistrate Pang had indeed let his guard down too quickly and couldn't pull himself together, so she had to let Zhang Chuanshi speak.

In truth, she already had an idea of what was happening. A month ago, Fan Bisi had mentioned that the Ghost Mausoleum seal was placed in mid-August last year. It was now early August; in terms of time, the seal expiring in these next few days was expected. Wan'an County was shrouded in ghost mist, making the probability of fierce ghost revival higher than in other regions.

If it were before her trip to Baozhi County, Zhao Fusheng might have been at a loss, but that trip had earned her a piece of "Life-Buying Money," and she had successfully deified the Zhao couple, gaining a portion of the Door Gods' abilities. She now had more confidence and foundation to deal with the Ghost Mausoleum losing control.

In fact, the moment she heard "something happened at the Ghost Mausoleum," a plan had already formed in her mind.

As soon as Zhang Chuanshi heard that Zhao Fusheng allowed him to speak, he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows, triumphantly glancing back at Magistrate Pang, who was slumped in his chair. The wounds on his face had just scabbed over, and half of his eyebrow was missing; his expression made his face look both horrifying and strange, yet it didn't stop the crowd from seeing his petty triumph.