"I need to go to Rear Hill! I need to go to Rear Hill!"
Huiqing's voice, usually clear and crisp, now screeched with an unnatural, piercing sharpness, as if it belonged to someone else entirely.
"Damn, is your cousin practicing dance? How can she twist her body into that kind of parasitic entity shape?" Lu Changxue couldn't help but snark.
Yun Jianyue was still reeling from witnessing her cousin's unnaturally swift crawl in the shadows, when Huiqing slithered out of the hut.
The next moment, her aunt's shrieks echoed from the courtyard.
Shit, Yun Jianyue cursed under her breath and leaped out.
Huiqing was now crawling frantically around the yard, an eldritch, distorted shriek escaping her like an alien invader crashing into Earth.
Yun Luhua, petrified beyond anything she'd ever seen, finally saw maternal instinct overpower fear. Trembling, she reached out to pull her daughter back. But Huiqing, mindless now, snapped her jaws at her own mother when she got close!
"Aunt! Look out!" Yun Jianyue's reflexes kicked in. She yanked Yun Luhua back just as Huiqing's vicious bite missed by a hair.
Before Yun Luhua could catch her breath, Yun Jianyue planted a forceful kick squarely into the chest of the shambling Huiqing.
Her strength was immense. Huiqing tumbled several times in the dirt, her clothes covered in soil.
"A bit dirty, but I don't mind. Cousin, big sister's here to save you!"
Not letting Huiqing get up, Yun Jianyue landed another heavy kick. Soon, fists and feet rained down relentlessly. Huiqing curled up defensively on the ground like a battered shrimp, and slowly, a single dark hand began to emerge from within her body.
The moment the hand peeked out, Yun Jianyue's boot stomped down precisely on it. Pain forced the shadowy hand back inside with a spasm.
"Dare to hide again? Roll out for your granny!" Yun Jianyue intensified the pummeling.
"Fuck your mother, stop hitting me!"
A pitch-black silhouette erupted from Huiqing's body, hovering mid-air, screeching with impotent rage.
Huiqing, still curled on the ground, slowly lifted her head. Her eyes, heavy and resentful, locked onto Yun Jianyue: "Cousin… what grudge do you hold against me?"
"She has no grudge against you, she's beating me!" the shadow raged.
Huiqing's eyes drifted towards the hovering shadow. Her lips parted soundlessly, then her eyes rolled back as she fainted dead away.
It wasn't just Huiqing. The middle-aged and elderly women present witnessed it too. In perfect, coordinated unison, they all passed out clean away. Thankfully, their respective husbands caught them. Only poor Huiqing lay pitifully on the ground, alone and unattended.
The shadow radiated malevolent energy. Its features were indistinct, just a vaguely humanoid shape. Clearly, it wasn't high-level.
"An undercard like you, less fierce than my stinky treasure, dares come out to harm people? You truly have no grasp of life's harsh realities," Yun Jianyue sneered. She whipped her chainsaw out from her bag. With practiced ease, she yanked the cord. The motor roared to life with angry ferocity. She rolled her tongue menacingly, bellowed a war cry, and charged the shadow.
The Shadow: Who looks more like the damned ghost here, asshole?!
Sensing mortal danger, the shadow immediately tried to dive back into Huiqing.
Yun Jianyue was faster. Her hand shot out and seized the shadow by its intangible throat.
Seized by its figurative scruff, the shadow had barely registered the world spinning before it found itself slammed onto the dirt. Chainsaw met shadow in a flurry of surgical destruction.
Yun Jianyue was an artist. Every stroke of the chainsaw peeled away a paper-thin layer of shadow essence. The agony it shrieked was music to her ears.
"You dare possess my cousin? Never seen a ghost so eager to meet its end!" Yun Jianyue cursed viciously while working the chainsaw with manic intensity.
Within ten minutes, the shadow was reduced to a single, disembodied head.
Yun Jianyue recalled Si Wuming's signature pose. One booted foot planted firmly on the shadowy cranium.
Poof. The head dissolved into dissipating smoke.
"Whoo-hoo! I'm awesome!" Yun Jianyue pumped her fist in self-congratulation.
This was the scene that greeted the agents from the Special Anomalies Bureau as they arrived on scene.
Their expressions turned complex as they glanced from the husk of a shadow to the spirit medium. "This is the malignant entity? Blown to smithereens?"
The spirit medium, who had desperately rushed off to fetch them, took in the sight of Yun Jianyue standing over the vanquished shadow. Her face twisted in sheer disbelief.
That… that was a malignant spirit! A malignant spirit! A C-grade! And this girl had… had wrecked it! Barehanded? Well, chainsaw and booted mostly!
Yun Jianyue spotted the SAB insignia on their clothes. She guessed their identity immediately. She beamed at them, chainsaw still held loosely, giving it a friendly wiggle. "Hi~ Need my help with the debriefing? I know the drill pretty well."
The county SAB branch captain, Xu Tiangang, reacted instantly. He surged forward and seized Yun Jianyue's free hand in both of his. "Hello! I'm Captain Xu Tiangang, head of our local branch. Would you be willing to join our unit? We offer an established position! Full social insurance and pension! All five funds!"
Their branch, assigned to this rural county, was admittedly… average. Recruiting this… this powerhouse who took down a C-grade with nothing but a chainsaw and her feet? Efficiency would skyrocket!
"Established position and five-fund insurance?!" Yun Jianyue flung the chainsaw aside without a second thought. She gripped Xu Tiangang's hands tightly with both of hers. "Could you elaborate a bit? Talk details?"
Xu Tiangang, thrilled, opened his mouth to expound on the benefits. Just then, Yun Jianyue's phone rang. She glanced down – Du Minghao. Speak of the devil.
She answered without hesitation. They spoke simultaneously.
"How's your self-study coming?"
"So the SAB does have official positions?"
Du Minghao froze. Alarm bells blared in his mind. "How do you know about the official positions?"
Yun Jianyue helpfully switched to speakerphone. "Xu Tiangang told me. He's recruiting me for his branch."
"Old Du?" Xu Tiangang beside her blinked, recognizing the voice. So she knew people at the City Bureau?
"Xu Tiangang! You bastard! Trying to poach talent from our City Bureau?!" Hearing Xu Tiangang, Du Minghao roared into the phone.
"Yeah, yeah! Their offer sounds really great!" Yun Jianyue happily fanned the flames.
Xu Tiangang: Had he actually gotten to the offer part before the call cut him off?
From the other end, Du Minghao bellowed: "Don't sign anything with Xu Tiangang! Come back to A City! Sign with us! The City Bureau's package is definitely better than anything some county branch can offer!"
Yun Jianyue: "Okay~! Deal then."
Du Minghao stared at the disconnected phone in his hand. Had he just… been played?
The bystander Xu Tiangang finally realized he'd been used as a mere bargaining chip. Rage and despair surged within him. He snapped at Yun Jianyue: "YOU! Back to the station for debriefing! NOW!"
Yun Jianyue pointed to her still-unconscious family members scattered around. "What about them?"
"EVERYONE! You ALL get debriefed! EVERYONE signs Non-Disclosure Agreements!" Xu Tiangang snarled through gritted teeth, his demeanor thoroughly sour.
Lu Changxue, ever helpful, floated half her head out of the jade pendant. "Does the ghost need to sign the NDA too?"
A surge of powerful, malevolent aura instantly saturated the entire courtyard. Xu Tiangang's eyes locked onto her. A blood-curdling shriek ripped from his throat.
"A-GRADE MALIGNANT SPIRIT! FULL ALERT! FULL ALERT!"