Chapter 114: Taking Stock of Gains and Losses

"The Ghost Domain has dissipated—"

Gu Jiansheng, who had been hiding among the crowd, murmured these words. At first, he found it hard to believe, but then he saw the surrounding fires blazing brighter, illuminating the faces of the people around him with stark clarity. Every face bore the terrified expression of those who had just survived a catastrophe, still dazed and not yet fully awakened from the brink of disaster.

As the evil spirit vanished, so too did the chilling sensation that had gripped their hearts. Gu Jiansheng rubbed his arms, where goosebumps had yet to subside. He realized belatedly: the Ghost Domain was gone! This meant the evil spirit had departed—which meant the case of the twin ghosts had been solved!

Fan Bisi’s previous shouts finally penetrated his consciousness. As the fog of terror lifted from his mind, his mood shifted to one of excitement. He couldn't help but grab the person next to him and ask, "The Ghost Domain has dissipated? The ghost case is solved?"

"The Ghost Domain has dissipated!"
"The ghost case is solved!"
"We survived!"

Late cheers erupted within the Ding'an Pavilion. Compared to the people in the garden below who were slower to react, Xu Yachen and the others, who had been arranged to hide inside the pavilion, were the first to recover. Although the ancient building could not truly block the evil spirit, they were undoubtedly luckier than those forced to remain in the garden, and their mental state was much better. The moment everyone heard the case was closed, they let out thunderous cries of relief.

"Lord Zhao’s merit is boundless!"
"Lord Zhao—"

Accompanying the shouts was the sound of frantic footsteps rushing down the stairs.

...

The people outside the garden soon followed suit, holding each other and weeping, shouting loudly to vent the fear held within. Fan Wujiu had just been shaken awake by his brother when he heard the outbursts of crying and cheering that now echoed both inside and outside the Ding'an Pavilion.

"Fusheng—" Fan Bisi reached out to steady his younger brother, but as he began to speak, Zhao Fusheng waved him off.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Zheng He striding toward her. The officer of Bao County was filled with questions, but before he could speak, she instructed him: "Gather the officials and yamen runners of Bao County. There are many people in the Ding'an Pavilion tonight; to avoid chaos, send them home in batches."

Zheng He, now completely awestruck by her, no longer dared to defy her. He willingly set off to handle the aftermath: "Rest assured, my Lord, I will handle it immediately."

"Keep those who previously promised to donate money. Let them leave only after they have signed and affixed their seals," Zhao Fusheng added.

Zheng He nodded with a look of total compliance: "I remember."

He then asked, "A few unruly people tried to fish in troubled waters earlier. Should we punish them?"

Zhao Fusheng recalled the public sentiment reported by the Investiture of the Gods after the god-sealing was completed. She replied dismissively, "A warning will suffice."

As they spoke, a large crowd surged out of the Ding'an Pavilion, led by Liu Rong and Xu Yachen, who was leaning on a cane. Though the old man was frail with age, he moved with remarkable agility, walking swiftly at the forefront.

Zhao Fusheng knew these people had many questions, but she was anxious to examine the Investiture of the Gods and the ghost deity she had just canonized. To avoid being entangled by them, she instructed Zheng He: "Leave these trivial matters to you. Have hot water prepared; I need to wash up."

Zheng He certainly had things he wanted to ask. Through their brief time together, he discovered that Zhao Fusheng was not like the ghost-controllers he had known before. Her temper was not affected by the evil spirit, nor did she show signs of losing control, which meant she was not a capricious person. Even setting aside the intimidating pressure of her identity as a ghost-controller, he found her quite easy to get along with; regarding the ghost case, she was even willing to share her experiences and observations.

He felt she could answer most of his questions about the twin ghost case. But that could wait.

Zheng He beckoned to Liu Rong, who was running over from the distance. The fat manager had shed his previous miserable expression and was beaming from ear to ear. He ignored Zheng He’s gesture and instead pressed his palms together, bowing repeatedly to Zhao Fusheng: "Lord, your divine might—"

"..."

Zheng He looked at the fat man with a grim expression and said coldly, "Speak later. Get someone to prepare hot water for the Lord to wash—"

"I will go at once!" Liu Rong’s smile tightened, and he immediately shouted for help.

Once the ghost case was settled, the strings of tension that had held Zhao Fusheng for two days finally slackened. Gu Jiansheng, who had been hiding for a long time, appeared from somewhere, pushed the crowd aside, and stood by Zhao Fusheng’s side.

...

With this group helping to clear the way, those who wanted to crowd around to thank Zhao Fusheng were kept at bay, ensuring she could ascend the stairs without hindrance. As they watched her go, Zheng He wiped the forced smile off his face and barked, "Do not be noisy, so as not to disturb the Lord’s peace."

"Gu Jiansheng, Song Tan—"

He called out several names, ordering them to disperse the commoners in the garden. After arranging the tasks Zhao Fusheng had set, Zheng He turned to look at the garden.

The ghost fog had dissipated, and the dark clouds in the sky had parted to reveal the bright moon. The elegant garden was in shambles, but the Shangjia River below shimmered, with the faint silhouettes of boats visible on the water.

"It doesn't seem that late yet—"

No sooner had Zheng He spoken than someone replied, "It is only the end of the You hour (around 7:00 PM)."

Usually, no one dared to interrupt Zheng He. He turned around with a sour expression, only to see the two Fan brothers standing behind him. These two were Zhao Fusheng’s people. Zheng He quickly suppressed his anger, even squeezing out a stiff, forced smile.

"We checked the time when we returned; it was just past the middle of the You hour," Fan Wujiu said, his face pale.

The brothers had once held the Deputy Commander in great awe, having hoped to join his service. But after the journey to Bao County, their perspective had shifted. Looking at this man they once treated like a god, they felt he was nothing special. Aside from his ability to control ghost objects, he was no different from anyone else when facing an evil spirit—full of fear. Conversely, Zhao Fusheng was brave and resourceful; she had faced the complete twin ghosts head-on and had thoroughly won their loyalty.

Zheng He did not know how the brothers' views had changed. Hearing Fan Wujiu, he grasped the point: "That is to say, from the moment the Lord lured the evil spirit here, to the spirit’s completion, and finally the resolution of the case, it took less than half an hour—"

Fan Bisi could not hide his pride as he nodded, "Yes."

"How did she do it—" Zheng He was momentarily lost in thought. "The completed evil spirit should have been even more ferocious. How did she drive it away?"

This was not just Zheng He’s question, but also the question in the minds of the two Fans. Except for Zhao Fusheng, no one could answer them.

Meanwhile, Zhao Fusheng, the center of everyone's attention, had returned to her room. Alone at last, she finally had the chance to take stock of her gains and losses.

She had originally possessed 433 merit points, but 50 were deducted for suppressing the ghost door panels to find her substitute, and another 100 were spent to activate the divine position in the Investiture of the Gods. This left her with 283 points. During the process of controlling the ghost, her forceful requisitioning of the Ding'an Pavilion caused Liu Rong’s dissatisfaction, and using people as bait to lure the ghost had made the risk-takers unhappy, leading to a drop in public sentiment and a further deduction of 1,200 points. Healing her wounds and calming the fluctuations of hell had cost another 700 points.

Not counting the fight with Zheng He after arriving in Bao County, in the short time spent resolving this ghost case, Zhao Fusheng had spent a total of 2,050 merit points!

When her life was on the line, she hadn't had the time to calculate. Now, realizing the massive consumption of her merit, she felt a heart-wrenching pain. Fortunately, she had the reward for her first-ever god-sealing, plus 2,000 points for successfully resolving a Disaster-level ghost case, bringing her total income to 5,000 points. After all deductions, she was left with 3,383 merit points.

Zhao Fusheng also realized that as she used the Investiture of the Gods for the first time, its rules seemed to have changed, even introducing the possibility of merit point deductions. The longer she lived after her rebirth and the more capital she accumulated, the more likely she was to gain points, but also the more she faced the risk of loss. In this case, if not for the first-sealing reward, she might have ended up in debt. This made her wary, suspecting it was a constraint placed upon her by the Investiture of the Gods, preventing her from acting too recklessly and ignoring public will.

She pondered for a moment, then sank her consciousness into her sea of consciousness.

Within the sea, the Investiture of the Gods was still filled with cold, ghostly winds. Many divine positions remained sealed, stained with blood and filled with ghostly shadows. However, the first divine position had been activated, showing two side-by-side dark red ghostly figures. As her will touched them, a pitch-black ghost tablet appeared and manifested in her palm.

"Door Gods."

She whispered. Through the ghost tablet, she could "see" a pair of man and woman carrying coffins, standing silently in a shroud of blood, motionless.

The Investiture of the Gods prompted: Door Gods.
(Host's blood relatives, summonable, requires nourishment from merit points.)
Note: Deities can also advance. As they gain more merit, their power will grow.
Note: Please use the divine tablet with caution. Know that it is easy to invite a god but hard to send one away. Without the offering of merit, the deities may leave you.
Note: They are the host's parents and are willing to guard your side.
Note: Due to their special care for you, they are willing to follow you.
Warning: Following does not allow borrowing their abilities, and it is highly likely that once they follow, they cannot be dismissed.
Door God's Wish: To carry their daughter on their backs.
Note: Be careful not to be carried by the Door Gods (to avoid reversing the master-servant order).

...

Zhao Fusheng sensed the series of warnings and looked at the divine tablet with interest. The hints confirmed her initial guess. The Zhao couple’s killing rules were based on their state before death: first, retrieve the door panels to complete themselves, then find their daughter, and finally, go on a killing spree. Now that they were canonized, even though they had lost their memories and sanity, acting only on instinct, they were still willing to stay by her side.

However, the Investiture of the Gods' warning meant this companionship was a double-edged sword. The benefit was that their blood connection might enhance her ability to control ghost deities. The downside was that once she invoked them, it might cause them to lose control and attempt to kill her, carry her off on the door panels, and make the family "complete."

However, with the Investiture of the Gods, as long as she had sufficient merit, such a crisis shouldn't happen for now.

She shifted her focus to the ghost deity laws. The Investiture of the Gods had mentioned that after successful canonization, she could not only use merit to control deities but also gained some of their abilities.

Copy the ghost door panel!

As this thought crossed her mind, her gaze fell upon her own bedroom door. The prompt from the Investiture of the Gods immediately sounded: Consume 500 merit points to imprint the ghost shadow?
Note: Once the imprinting is complete, it can block evil spirits.
Note: But please show respect to the ghost door panel; if you treat it with disrespect, you may suffer a backlash.

Consume 500 merit points to imprint the ghost shadow?

No!

Zhao Fusheng dismissed the idea. Not to mention that this was not her permanent residence, imprinting the ghost shadow would only benefit King Chu and Liu Rong, the manager of the pavilion. The fat man was smiling on the surface but held deep resentment toward her, costing her 200 merit points for no reason.

Once the door panel was imprinted, the room would gain an extra layer of protection against evil spirits. If a ghost tried to push the door open, it would become impossible under the power of the Door Gods—Zhao Fusheng instantly thought of the "Knocking Ghost." She decided that when she returned to Wan'an County, she would find a way to imprint a ghost door panel and let the Knocking Ghost try it out.

But that was for later. She did not want to use this ability now, not only because of the reasons above but also because the cost was too high. 500 merit points! She currently had only 3,383. Although it seemed like a lot, with her increasing power, her consumption was also rising. Plus, there were the unpredictable deductions; if her merit points were emptied, she would be in grave danger.

...

After reading all the hints about the Door Gods and understanding how to control them, Zhao Fusheng turned her attention to the second divine position. Her first success had whetted her appetite, and she even toyed with the idea of encountering another major case to seal another god.

But when her consciousness touched the second position, the Investiture of the Gods prompted: Consume 10,000 merit points to activate the divine position?

The prompt gave her a start. She hadn't expected the second position to require so many points. It seemed the first success was an extra reward, a lucky opportunity that only happened once. Afterward, she would have to honestly accumulate points according to the plan.

She sighed, regretfully shifting her focus to hell. After successfully inviting the gods, the Investiture of the Gods had hinted that the balance between hell and the Investiture had been disrupted.

Zhao Fusheng began to sort through the events of the ghost case in her mind.