Chapter Nineteen: A Daring Foray into the Bureau of Anomalous Creature Investigation

In the car, Li Juetian could hardly contain his excitement as he recounted to Han Zhen just how delighted he was to have finally captured the Doll. "Han, this is truly an unexpected stroke of luck! Once we’ve dealt with this Doll for good, we’ll return to Ling City."

Han Zhen, seated in the front passenger seat, remained silent, but Li Juetian continued his monologue unabated.

"Yes, when we get back to Ling City, I must visit your sister Ruyan. She’s probably missing me terribly. I’ll confess my feelings to her when I see her."

And so, Li Juetian rambled on as if carrying on a conversation, oblivious to the fact that, from his perspective, his subordinate was responding to him quite naturally.

Before long, they arrived at the entrance of the Bureau of Anomalous Creature Investigation—a building with a small courtyard at its base.

Li Juetian strode inside, brimming with anticipation, the bound Doll in hand, ready to report his success. At that moment, Yuan Ren, wearing his usual sly expression, sauntered over.

"So, you finally took care of that Doll?"

As he glanced at the lifeless Doll in Li Juetian’s grasp, Yuan Ren’s face betrayed a hint of disdain.

Li Juetian ignored him and kept moving forward.

"Wait! You can’t just waltz anomalous creatures inside—there are protocols, you know?"

It was clear Yuan Ren was just stirring up trouble. By rule, anomalous creatures captured by operatives couldn’t be brought into the Bureau without inspection. However, Li Juetian’s controlled anomaly had the ability to seal the energies of other anomalous creatures, making inspection unnecessary—something Yuan Ren well knew.

Though Li Juetian realized Yuan Ren was deliberately finding fault, he decided not to argue, eager to return to Ling City. He tossed the Doll to Yuan Ren. "If you want to inspect it, be my guest. I don’t care."

"Hmph!" Yuan Ren snorted, then examined the Doll.

"This is the intelligent Doll you spoke of? It looks dead to me."

Seeing the Doll so inert in his hands, Yuan Ren let his guard down—forgetting, for a moment, the caution one should always maintain around anomalies.

Just as Li Juetian, growing impatient, reached to take back the Doll, disaster struck.

In an instant, the Doll—lifeless a moment before—contorted into a sinister grin and burst out laughing at Yuan Ren. Before he could react, a hole was bored straight through his skull.

And the rope that had bound the Doll? It had vanished long ago. Feng Tianlin kicked Yuan Ren’s corpse aside and surveyed the surroundings.

"So this is the headquarters of your Bureau of Anomalous Creature Investigation? Not much to look at."

Li Juetian frantically tried to reestablish a connection with his rope, but to no avail. The rope's fate was clear.

"Han Zhen, quick—" He turned to Han Zhen, but his words froze in his throat. Han Zhen had transformed into a little girl in a red silk dress, her hand grotesquely enlarged and plunged into his chest—straight through his heart.

As Long Mengting withdrew her hand, Li Juetian’s body crumpled, his chest left with nothing but a hollow, bloody cavity.

He died there, eyes wide with disbelief and unwillingness, never having imagined that an anomalous creature could possess such cunning.

In truth, the moment he had first seen Feng Tianlin, he’d fallen into a hallucination. Han Zhen had been slain by Long Mengting long before, and his rope—well, it had been frozen solid and smashed to pieces on the ground.

So this was how weak a Grade D Spirit Tamer was. Feng Tianlin hadn’t expected it. He’d thought crossing two whole ranks would be a challenge, but it turned out to be effortless.

This entire encounter was an accident—he’d sensed a surge of energy in Ruan Miao’s rented apartment, guessed that anomalous beings were fighting, and rushed over. Upon seeing Li Juetian locked in combat with the Teddy Bear, Feng Tianlin decided to rescue the bear, which set the preceding events in motion.

The Teddy Bear had been nearly depleted of energy by then, so Feng Tianlin hid it in a corner of the abandoned playground. Now, he was eager to see for himself the Bureau that opposed their kind—how could he let such an opportunity slip by?

By now, several people had burst out, each stunned by the scene before them. Their headquarters had been breached by an anomalous creature—one that had killed their own—and, most humiliating of all, it was merely an F-class anomaly. Their rage knew no bounds.

Three members of the combat teams stood before Feng Tianlin: one E-class and two F-class tamers. Peering from the office windows, others watched, waiting for these three to subdue the Doll.

But as they approached, they realized something was amiss. How could a mere F-class anomaly, with the help of an E-class, have slain D-class Li Juetian and E-class Yuan Ren?

There was no time for doubt. The lead E-class tamer, without hesitation, commanded his anomaly—a spinning hat—to attack Feng Tianlin.

Feng Tianlin smiled. Such feeble tricks dared to show off before him?

He raised his head slowly, a strange smile on his lips. "Frozen Frost."

Instantly, biting cold enveloped several meters around him. The other two fighters didn’t even have time to react before being frozen in place. The hat and its master were iced over as well, and, bereft of mental control, the hat shattered on the floor.

Long Mengting lunged forward, delivering a resounding slap to each of the three frozen tamers. In less than a minute, three living men had been reduced to nothing but shards of ice.

Gazing once more at the office building, Feng Tianlin saw that not a soul was left watching—all had fled.

Savoring the palpable terror in the air, Feng Tianlin became certain that tamers' fear tasted far more exquisite than that of ordinary people. Though it did little to increase his Terror Value, it was invaluable for improving his rank.

Sensing the presence within the building, he counted five tamers left: one E-class and four F-class.

He sent a command to Long Mengting. "Come. Let these five tamers experience true terror."

Xiao Buyu was stunned—he’d never imagined an anomalous creature would chase him to his very doorstep.

As a veteran E-class tamer, and the only one left in the Bureau, he knew exactly what he had to do.

Escape! He had to run! To stay meant certain death.

Yet fleeing required finesse—he needed to ensure his own escape while considering his future prospects.

He hurried to the director’s office, barging in without knocking.

Inside, he saw something he should not have.

Their esteemed Director Tian was frantically stuffing wads of cash into a burlap sack, sweat pouring down his face.

For a Bureau Director to amass such wealth on his salary was a fantasy; the source of the money was obvious.

"Director, I…" For a moment, Xiao Buyu was at a loss for words.

"Enough. You’ve seen it, so come help me," Director Tian said without pretense, calling him over to help pack the money.

When the last stack was safely stowed, several more people entered, led by the four F-class tamers on staff.

The Bureau was not just made up of fighters; there were plenty of administrative staff as well. Normally, the combat teams would be out on assignment, but now only eight fighters remained, including Xiao Buyu.