Chapter Fourteen: The Madman

“Arrogant.”

Jiang Shang’s face darkened. He had thought that this time, a few words would earn him some credit, but the scene before him was far from what he had imagined.

If it weren’t for unforeseen circumstances, he did not want to resort to the power of the fierce ghost.

In the next moment, Jiang Shang’s body rose from the ground as if gravity no longer bound him. A pair of feet, covered in corpse-like spots, emerged from the shadows, shrouded in eerie mist, as if stepping out from a morgue. These feet replaced Jiang Shang’s own legs, treading upon the earth.

The sight was chilling. Jiang Shang seemed to be on stilts, suspended midair, every movement on the ground carried out by those corpse-marked feet.

A ghost treading on a person! A terrifying specter, gifted to Jiang Shang by Fang Shiming, the leader of their circle of friends. This was the entire group’s investment in Jiang Shang, aiming to push him to the top tier of ghost tamers at headquarters and secure influence.

The moment those corpse-spotted feet appeared, the ghostly domain belonging to Shen Lin engulfed them both.

A sardonic smile curled on Jiang Shang’s lips as he wielded those ghostly feet, stamping fiercely on the ground.

The expanding ghost domain flickered like a black-and-white television struck suddenly, jerking to a halt. The force of the stomp sent ripples through the domain like a stone skipping across a lake’s surface.

The ghost’s eyes, blood-red veins spreading within, flickered unsteadily, as if struggling or disoriented.

“The ghost form is being suppressed!” Shen Lin, a ghost tamer, immediately sensed the anomaly with the ghost. This ghost’s terror was bone-chilling, and it possessed a rare ability to influence other ghosts, akin to brute forcing a highly sophisticated computer.

No matter how advanced the machine, it would break under sheer force.

Such a power was rare among fierce ghosts. The circle’s faith in Jiang Shang was not unfounded; he was worthy of their attention.

The corpse-spotted feet struck again. Shen Lin’s expression remained calm; as long as the ghost form didn’t collapse, he still had a chance.

The feet struck Shen Lin precisely, instantly subduing him, and with the trembling of the ghost domain, Shen Lin beneath Jiang Shang’s feet turned into nothing more than a garment.

A slicing force came from behind, pushing Jiang Shang several steps back. He wiped the blood from his mouth, coldly fixing his gaze on Shen Lin.

Shen Lin refused to yield.

Their eyes locked, flames of fury spreading between them.

“Still want to continue? My ghost domain might not hold much longer. How long can your ghost last?” Shen Lin sneered.

The ghost treading on a person works best in tandem with another ghost: while it intimidates the fierce ghost, others strike to capture or kill. This forms a perfect closed loop. Jiang Shang’s arrogance stemmed from his ability to wield more than one ghost.

As for now? Shen Lin’s laughter grew more reckless.

“Wanna gamble? Bet your life trying to kill me? Believe in yourself. I’m certainly no match for you now, but what about after? You’re in terrible shape; facing my resurrected fierce ghost and the ghost in the coffin—how confident are you then?”

Shen Lin’s face contorted into a grimace as he spoke, like a madman.

“Come on, I dare you to bet your life. Do you dare? Come on!”

Before Jiang Shang could respond, Shen Lin vanished again in a flash, using the brief moment to land a series of brutal punches on Jiang Shang’s face before returning to his original spot.

Damn madman! Jiang Shang burned with anger.

As the saying goes: the timid fear the tough, the tough fear the reckless, and the reckless fear those who risk everything.

Jiang Shang felt he was facing a madman who cared nothing for his life. With such slim odds, the other party still dared to provoke him. Surely, this was courting death.

Yet Jiang Shang suppressed his fury.

He saw no need to risk his life with a lunatic. It was not worth it. Soon, with the help of their team, he would control a second ghost, represent their circle at headquarters, and become a top ghost tamer.

He had time to deal with this bastard later.

Wiping the blood from his mouth, the eerie feet slipped back into the shadows. Jiang Shang’s eyes burned as if ready to spit fire.

“There will be time enough.”

Shen Lin withdrew his ghost domain, returning a serene, peaceful smile that sent chills down the spine.

“There will be time enough, Mr. Jiang. If you need, I can escort you. I believe once you experience teleportation through the ghost domain, you’ll come to love it.”

“No need!” Jiang Shang barked coldly, stepping away.

He swore to himself that one day he would take down this madman and make him regret everything he did today.

Shen Lin watched Jiang Shang walk away, sneering lightly.

“Waste.”

In the original story, Jiang Shang’s failure was not without reason. He was an ambitious but talentless fool, all bark and no bite, without the slightest self-awareness as a ghost tamer.

If it had been Yang Jian—who held absolute advantage—Shen Lin would have run for his life or even surrendered the ghost mother.

Little Yang was also a madman, but unlike you, this madman dared to gamble everything. You’d better not bet against him, because he always wins.

Not afraid of a rogue with skills, but afraid of a madman with reason.

“Let’s go!”

After confirming Jiang Shang had gone far, Shen Lin signaled. For safety, he declined Li Meng’s offer of a luxury car ride and chose to stay in the cargo container with the golden coffin.

The ghost mother was too important; he could afford no mistakes.

If the ghost mother escaped now, probably only the elder Qin at headquarters could capture her.

Settling in didn’t take long. Wealth had its advantages: just a word, and everything would be arranged, even the unspeakable.

Where there’s a great reward, there will be brave men.

Shen Lin requested a standalone villa in a quiet corner of the community for solitary residence. Li Meng agreed immediately. Having faced life and death, the obese man sensed something different about his close friend, especially with a life debt involved—he would agree to anything.

Li Meng trusted Shen Lin unconditionally.

Shen Lin’s first priority was sealing the ghost mother in the house. This was non-negotiable.

For extra security, he used the ghost domain to embed the golden coffin vertically within the wall, enhancing concealment.

He needed time to study gold’s suppressive effect on fierce ghosts and to test the ghost form’s transformative abilities.

In theory, his understanding of the ghost form was still shallow.

After settling everything, Shen Lin heard his phone ring during a break.

Li Meng had his family prepare the latest phone and SIM card, left in the villa.

Seeing the caller ID full of asterisks, Shen Lin swiped to answer.

“You’re much slower than I expected.”

Wu Qiu and Zhao Jianguo on the other end were stunned. The caller knew they were coming.

All their prepared words suddenly felt inadequate and were thrown off by this sentence. They momentarily lost what to say.

Wu Qiu, with exceptional professionalism, saved the moment with her gentle voice, specially refined to sound like heavenly music.

“Sorry, Mr. Shen, the report was delayed. It took us some time to verify your contact.”

“Get straight to the point. I don’t have much time,” Shen Lin replied.

“Mr. Shen, as far as we know, you resolved the incident at Anhe Community. If convenient, may we talk?” Wu Qiu probed cautiously. She understood these ghost tamers’ quirks well. Shen Lin’s straightforwardness was polite compared to others even more eccentric.

Once, a receptionist angered a ghost tamer and mistakenly answered a call, resulting in the entire reception team’s death.

That’s why headquarters’ receptionists were given strict orders:

Never confront what you cannot comprehend, or everyone dies.

“Sure. It was a woman-like ghost I call the ghost mother,” Shen Lin succinctly described the Anhe Community incident, disdainful of playing coy.

In a sense, Shen Lin and Yang Jian were alike—madmen with reason.

They were mad at their enemies and even madder with themselves.

But in dealing with fierce ghosts, they always acted to maximize their advantage.

Shen Lin pressed on the ghost mother’s unique trait of collecting puzzle pieces to nurture ghost embryos—his trump card, not to be revealed.

“Killing through memories!” Zhao Jianguo was stunned for a long time. Headquarters had handled many fierce ghosts, but this was the first time encountering one that could kill through memories. Imagine a ghost appearing in your recollections, leaving you powerless to resist—that was chilling.

“So, can you tell me how you resolved this incident?” Zhao Jianguo was eager to know. Just from the description, this ghost was a nearly unsolvable A-grade threat. No matter what Zhao Jianguo thought, he didn’t believe Shen Lin could survive that environment.

To be blunt, the risk of sending several elite ghost tamers from headquarters as a group only to be wiped out was over 80%. How did this newcomer manage it?

“Sorry, no comment,” Shen Lin curtly replied.

“I can only say that I cannot replicate this method. Don’t attempt a second time. No one understands the terror of the ghost mother better than me. For safety, she must remain suppressed by me alone.”

Zhao Jianguo detected the cold distrust beneath Shen Lin’s words. He trusted no one but himself.

Weighing pros and cons? There was no need. A pure newcomer handling an A-grade incident—even by luck—must be courted. If necessary, Zhao Jianguo wanted to bring him into headquarters’ fold.

He witnessed Shen Lin’s talent and terror. If not from headquarters, in time, he would become a formidable figure—perhaps the next Fang Shiming or even Ye Zhen.

“Very well. The ghost mother is suppressed by Mr. Shen, which reassures us. To facilitate your actions, we will coordinate with local authorities to ensure unconditional cooperation whenever you intervene in similar incidents.”

Zhao Jianguo knew the principle of slowly boiling a frog. He was an excellent leader, well aware that seemingly cooperative individuals were often madmen at heart.

It was best to proceed with caution, not to corner them too tightly. Otherwise, who knew what they might do—even they themselves might be unaware.