Chapter Seven: Fishing Continues

As for sparing the life of a child, that was even more absurd. Because children were weaker in combat and easily succumbed to fear, they had always been the prime targets of bizarre creatures' attacks.

Yuan Ren stood before him, secretly delighted. It was obvious that he was the one who delivered this report.

"Yuan Ren, tell them that if they don’t deal with this doll soon, they can forget about me saying a single good word for them to the higher-ups!"

Xiao Buyu slammed his fist on the table in anger, feeling thoroughly made a fool of, paying no mind to the authenticity of the report.

This was exactly the outcome Yuan Ren had hoped for. He nodded, “Alright, I’ll notify them right away.”

With that, he left, covering his mouth with his hand as if suppressing a laugh.

The Li brothers, Jue Tian and Zhen, waited for ages at the Bureau of Paranormal Investigation, only to be greeted by Yuan Ren's infuriating face, informing them that if they didn’t resolve the doll incident soon, Chief Xiao wouldn’t put in a good word for them. One could only imagine how that made them feel.

They were both prodigies—arrogant, as most geniuses are, and as a result, they had offended a provincial leader. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be stuck doing fieldwork in Tianjing City.

“This is outrageous! The anomalies of this paranormal entity are beyond our imagination! If we make even the slightest mistake…” Han Zhen trailed off, gauging his elder brother’s mood.

As expected, Li Juetian’s expression was as dark as thunder. “I just don’t understand—did these people not read the report, or can’t they comprehend it? Was your writing not clear enough? Isn’t this enough to make them take it seriously?”

Han Zhen dared not utter a word. He knew his brother’s temper well—if he interrupted now, he’d be scolded mercilessly.

After venting, Li Juetian took a deep breath and sighed heavily, “Forget it. In the end, it’s only a G-class case. If we investigate the clues and eliminate it quickly, there shouldn’t be any problems.”

Han Zhen could only nod in agreement.

However, neither of them realized how quickly Feng Tianlin was evolving. He was already on a killing spree, the surging terror points driving him to madness.

Lacking experience in dealing with intelligent paranormal entities like Feng Tianlin, the Li brothers were at a loss. It was only now they realized that while they excelled in combat, they had no investigative skills.

They saw the bloodied figure full of holes in the stairwell, the couple with severed limbs in a street corner, and the neatly arranged corpses at the community gate...

“Damn!” Li Juetian could no longer contain himself and cursed. He had thought being assigned the doll was a slight, but now it was clear—it was an impossible task.

“Brother, calm down. There’s no use getting agitated,” Han Zhen tried to soothe him in a low voice.

“Calm down? Damn it! Now everyone at the Bureau looks down on me—especially that Yuan Ren! He mocks me every chance he gets! All I want now is to find this so-called doll and smash him to pieces!”

Li Juetian waved his large hand in fury, his anger boiling over.

...

Meanwhile, Feng Tianlin was already considering how to spend his accumulated terror points. Absorbing all that fear had pushed his power close to surpassing F-class, and he’d amassed a total of 3,600 terror points.

Not all of these points came from his victims; police and bystanders contributed as well. Anyone he influenced, even slightly, added to his terror points.

The recent carnage had made him aware of his own weakness—he was too slow!

So he searched the system for a skill called “Eerie Movement Technique.”

The skill’s hallmark was its unpredictability—it propelled him forward in a direction following a completely erratic trajectory, and at great speed. At level one, its range was five meters.

It was an excellent skill, and seemingly without hidden pitfalls. Without hesitation, Feng Tianlin spent 1,000 terror points to learn it.

He gazed at a large tree not far away and guided the energy within his body.

In an instant, his figure vanished from where he stood, reappearing beside the tree in a flash, leaving no trace of his path.

Though the process was indiscernible, Feng Tianlin clearly sensed that he had shifted positions multiple times before arriving.

“Not bad! This skill is a goldmine!”

With 2,600 terror points remaining, he decided to level up the skill.

Upgrading generally required double the previous level’s cost; this skill was no exception, needing 2,000 terror points. But it was simply too useful not to upgrade.

With 600 points left, he spent 500 to raise his “Nightmare Physique” to level two.

Feeling his constitution strengthen, Feng Tianlin was thoroughly satisfied. His ambitions were no longer limited to the suburbs—he wanted to go into the city, to crowded places!

“But how should I get there? I can’t just walk, can I?”

While pondering, Feng Tianlin and Long Mengting had already reached the highway, drooling enviously at the sight of cars heading toward the city.

“If only I could drive…”

Wait, I could hitch a ride.

His eyes lit up—a plan formed immediately.

Step one: steal a map of Tianjing City from a nearby convenience store.

Step two: have Long Mengting hold him and play the pitiful child by the roadside.

With the first two steps complete, Feng Tianlin began his “fishing” tactic.

“What’s Daddy’s dad called? Daddy’s dad is called Grandpa. What’s Daddy’s mom called…?”

This song was sure to attract attention, and sure enough, a beautiful woman approached them.

When she drew near, she bent down and asked, “Little girl, what’s wrong? Are you lost?”

Having played this act many times, Long Mengting didn’t even need a cue—she nodded immediately.

Seeing her response, the beautiful woman continued gently, “Where do you live, sweetie?”

The moment Feng Tianlin heard her question, he commanded, “Do as I taught you—point to the center of the map.”

Obediently, Long Mengting pulled out the map and pointed to the city center, her face full of grievance.

“What? You ran all the way here from the city center?” the woman exclaimed in shock, amazed that a child of eleven or twelve could come so far.

“Nod quickly!” Feng Tianlin ordered.

Long Mengting nodded skillfully.

The woman smiled sweetly, her expression pure and innocent. “What a coincidence! I’m headed to the city center myself. My car will be here soon—let’s go together, shall we?”

Long Mengting nodded again.

Sure enough, a car soon pulled up. The woman was quickly invited inside, and Long Mengting, clutching Feng Tianlin, got in with her.

No one could have guessed that two terrifying creatures were making their way to the heart of the city in this manner.

...

The woman who brought Feng Tianlin and Long Mengting into the car was called Chu Yan—a third-rate celebrity who had won a legion of fans with her wholesome, kind, pure, and gentle persona.

But in truth, all this was a façade crafted by her agency. She had only helped Long Mengting because she spotted paparazzi tailing her; had she ignored the child, her image would have been shattered once the news broke.

Arriving backstage at a large plaza in the heart of Tianjing City, Chu Yan kicked over the table before her, sending food containers crashing to the ground, their contents spilling everywhere.

“Is this what you expect me to eat? Pig slop?”

She stomped on the scattered meals, shouting furiously at the staff nearby.