Gacha games can't save this bizarre world.

Besides his own affairs, Zhao Hao also participated in several missions for the Mysterious Bureau. His main role was support, acting as a perception and barrier master to earn merit points and exchange them for rare materials.

His alias here is that of a support character who keeps superhuman creatures around; he resolutely refuses to participate in frontline combat.

Furthermore, he and Elena were registered in the Bureau of Mysteries' files as extraordinary individuals. This meant they were now people with status.

However, he could only enjoy the benefits; Colt could not recruit Elena because she was only 17 years old and still a minor.

In this country, if you dare to cross this red line, you'll be devoured alive!

In addition, the fat man also came to see Zhao Hao several times.

As time went on, the psychic activity in the surface world began to increase. As a result, the frequency of supernatural events increased, and the number of supernatural beings entering the surface world, as well as the number of wild supernatural beings who awakened their psychic powers, also increased.

Although the mainstream media keeps quiet about it, the tabloids are buzzing with it. All sorts of supernatural events and legends from all over the country could support ten thousand self-media outlets!

But you can't just ignore something that happened; someone has to fix it.

The Bureau of Mysteries is now stretched thin and can only prioritize dealing with those cases that have a significant impact and serious consequences.

Therefore, a group of people gradually emerged in the community to solve such problems, mostly private detectives, folk paranormal incident handling companies, and so on. They provide services similar to pest control companies.

However, some extraordinary individuals are also active among them, such as the fat man.

Actually, the requirements for this job are quite high; it's not about combat ability, but functionality.

Having clairvoyance is a strict requirement. You have to be able to see exactly what's going on.

Although extraordinary individuals generally possess high levels of spiritual insight, it is often insufficient. They can only temporarily enhance it through rituals and spells.

Sometimes, the fat man would ask Zhao Hao for help.

That day, Zhao Hao had just returned from the hospital, bringing back the compressed negative emotions he had collected through his psionic mechanical device.

Unlike the lunatics and psychopaths in the Shadow Organization, Zhao Hao didn't create negative emotions for himself.

He installed collection devices in hospitals, nursing homes, welfare homes, examination halls, and other places, and they can collect the data periodically.

Especially in certain slums, negative emotions accumulate, and even ordinary people can vaguely feel uncomfortable.

Why would anyone bother doing bad things? This world is already messed up enough.

He was riding his motorcycle back when he received a call from the fat man.

This mobile phone was made by Winston based on a mobile phone used within the Bureau of Mysteries. It can only be used within Liberty City and is essentially a large psionic walkie-talkie. But at least it makes communication easier.

"Hey, Fatty. What's up?" Zhao Hao was driving with the phone between his head and his ear.

The fat man said, "Ritian, if you're free, come over and take a look. Something seems off."

"Tell me the address!"

About twenty minutes later, Zhao Hao arrived. He was in a mid-to-high-end neighborhood in Brooklyn.

The people living here are what's called the middle class; they have money, but not all of it.

They could fall into a lower social class at any time due to some major change, the bills were huge, and they were constantly anxious.

This is a family that recently moved in, and strange things have been happening in their home for a while now. Through acquaintances, they found the fat man's place.

The fat man didn't take it seriously and just finished it off without asking for more money, since it was a simple task.

Unexpectedly, things went wrong. Two days later, another paranormal event occurred.

Zhao Hao looked at the fat man leaning against the fence, who seemed a little embarrassed, and asked, "What's going on?"

The fat man pointed to the little girl playing with a teddy bear in Xiaohuan Garden, "They had only moved in a short time ago. The lady of the house discovered that her youngest daughter, Anna, was communicating and playing with an invisible friend. It was later proven that this friend really existed, and even told them some stories about the house, which led them to discover things hidden by the previous owner. Then they came to me..."

"After I arrived, I noticed that the little girl Anna was always communicating with her unseen friend while holding an umbrella, which reminded me of that folk custom..."

Zhao Hao made an excuse: "Would you see ghosts if you opened an umbrella indoors?"

“Yes.” The fat man nodded. “Indeed, after I opened my umbrella, I also saw that little boy. Later, I thought about performing a ritual for him to pass on to the afterlife.”

"I thought that was the end of it. But then the male homeowner called me again, saying that the little boy had reappeared and seemed to have become resentful, starting to cause trouble."

The employer's family consisted of four people. The eldest daughter, Belle, was twelve or thirteen years old. She glanced at Zhao Hao and the fat man whispering by the fence and curled her lip in disdain.

She'll believe you if you tell her about Santa Claus, angels, My Little Pony, or aliens. But if you tell her about ghosts, she'll look at you like you're illiterate.

Ignoring the little girl's disgusted look, Zhao Hao asked the fat man, "So, you saw him again?"

"Yeah, I chased him up and down the stairs for ages with an umbrella. But that kid was incredibly fast, running through walls and leaping between apartments, and he seemed very familiar with this old house. He caused all sorts of chaos, overturning tables and chairs, but I still couldn't catch him. I should be able to come back since I've already sent him to the underworld, right?"

Zhao Hao was also puzzled.

The so-called "deliverance" is to send the souls of the deceased to the underworld through various methods, but the methods vary from place to place and from school to school.

When a person dies, their spirit goes to the psychic sea, and their soul is cleansed in the underworld.

However, different factions and regions handled the situation differently.

First of all, the scope of the underworld is different. The underworld of the Song Dynasty in the East, the Yellow Springs of Japan, the Tartarus of ancient Greece, the land of the dead in Northern Europe, the underworld of ancient Egypt, the hell of the Papacy... are all part of the underworld, but the way they deal with souls is completely different.

In the underworld of the Song Dynasty, the custom is to cleanse the soul (by drinking Meng Po soup) and then reincarnate it to generate a new spirituality.

In the West, there are very few examples of reincarnation. The vast majority are disposable materials; either they make great contributions and go to heaven, the Kingdom of God, Valhalla to enjoy blessings and continue their studies, or they become raw materials in hell.

However, spirituality must return to the ocean of spiritual energy.

A large amount of intercepted spirituality will attract a powerful backlash from the spiritual energy sea.

It's hard to say whether the period of psychic dormancy caused all the gods of all systems to fall silent. Perhaps it was because they plundered too much of the spirituality of living beings, leading to a massive backlash from the psychic sea...

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Chapter 214 The Uncrossable Soul

Those souls who manage to escape the pull of the underworld and remain in the world fall into two categories.

The first type is the soul that has no consciousness and only the instincts of a dead. These are usually wandering spirits or evil spirits.

The second type is the spirit that possesses self-awareness and can remember its life before death. These are usually spirits who died recently or had special experiences.

Because after a person dies, their spirit is involuntarily drawn to the ocean of spiritual energy. If it is not drawn in, it will be worn away over time.

Just like Jack the Pumpkin-Headed Ghost Rider, born from the bizarre realm of the Cloud Kingdom.

Don't be fooled by the last shred of conscience he retains now; as time goes by, decades or even centuries later, that mortal emotion and spirituality will be completely extinguished. What remains will be nothing more than pure Ghost Rider Jack.

The dead usually have an instinctive hatred for the living, so it's almost inevitable that they will wreak havoc on the human world.

Previously, due to the period of psychic dormancy, it was difficult for the surface world to retain the souls of the dead.

Because the dissipation of psychic energy causes the spirits of the dead to dissipate quickly, they are generally found only in certain special places in the inner world.

But times have changed, and slowly those ghosts and gods have reappeared.

Zhao Hao clicked his tongue. "Strictly speaking, you've already helped him pass on, Fatty. Even if he had incredible abilities, he couldn't possibly return from the underworld, right? What's wrong? Is this place in Amei so eerie that even the underworld is unreliable?"

It's like a stone thrown into the deep sea, practically impossible to retrieve. But now, that stone has floated back to the surface! Isn't that absurd?

"Could it be that Fatty, your method of delivering the soul to the afterlife is too trendy? Did you not actually send the soul to the underworld?" Zhao Hao questioned.

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible! This isn't the first time I, Bi Debiao, have done something like this. The souls I've performed for the dead could line up and circle Fengtian City three and a half times!"

However, although the fat man was stubborn, the facts were undeniable, and he was a little guilty: "Could it be that she is not used to the local environment, and that Amei's spirit cannot understand my 'Lingbao Jiuku Miaojing'?"

Zhao Hao waved his hand dismissively: "Come on, this is the first time I've heard of a dead soul being unable to be released from suffering because it doesn't understand a foreign language. Wouldn't that make African native demons invincible—unable to understand anything anyone says?! You step aside, I'm going to see what's going on!"

The family of four, who had pitched their tent in the garden, watched Zhao Hao walk into the house. Zhao Hao no longer needed to use an umbrella. If there was anything unclean, they could see it directly.

In fact, many behaviors like opening an umbrella indoors are simplified rituals in folk customs that can temporarily enhance one's ability to see ghosts. For example, the "Ten Methods of Seeing Ghosts".

Of course, during the period when psionic energy was dormant, these things were just ordinary games. But now that psionic energy is starting to revive, they might come in handy sometime.

When your spiritual vision improves, you will be able to come into contact with things that you couldn't access before.

It's easy to invite a god, but hard to send him away!

As Zhao Hao walked into the house, he casually scattered some scraps of paper. The scraps of paper fluttered in the air, turning into tiny white butterflies the size of fingernails, flying everywhere.

Because of the sheer quantity of paper scraps, the rooms were quickly filled with white butterflies. As the space shrank, Zhao Hao discovered the spirit of the dead.

A little boy wearing round-framed glasses was hiding in a closet under the stairs.

The little boy was about to run away when he tried to run straight through the wall. But Zhao Hao had already set up a barrier, and the boy almost bumped his head badly. So, it just goes to show, everyone has their own expertise in these kinds of things.

Zhao Hao bent down and stared at the little boy with a sinister look on his face. "Ha, if it weren't for the fact that you don't have a lightning bolt scar on your forehead, I would have thought your surname was Potter!"

Because they were looking at each other, the little boy's spirit also came into contact with Zhao Hao. He immediately raised his hands in a claw-like shape with a ferocious expression, and the temperature seemed to drop a few degrees.

Zhao Hao grabbed the kid's head and used his psionic energy to subdue him.

"Don't give me that crap! Tell me, what's really going on? If you don't tell me soon, I'll make you regret it!"

As he spoke, he drew out the activated dragon tendon, and with the infusion of spiritual energy, the dragon tendon coiled like a serpent.

If this were to hit a little devil, he'd be half-dead instantly!

Zhao Hao is incredibly skilled at dealing with unruly kids. By simply presenting the facts and reasoning with them, the kids are always incredibly grateful and obedient.

"No, don't hit me! I didn't mean to hurt anyone, I can't leave..."

Souls that are bound to a certain place for some reason are collectively called "bound spirits," usually located at their place of death or grave.

But what the little boy meant by not being able to leave is clearly not that.

He was saying that he went to the underworld, but was still pulled back.

"Underground, there's something underground, a man, terrifying! Very terrifying!" It was clear that the little boy's spirit had been waning due to the passage of time. Mentioning the underground creature, he shrank into a ball the size of a soccer ball, showing how terrified he truly was.

Zhao Hao understood a bit. "You know, this fat guy is so impulsive. He doesn't even know there's a problem underground, yet he's already performing a ritual for someone's soul!"

But what exactly is this thing that can pull back the souls of the dead who have been sent to the underworld?

That sounds pretty far-fetched!

This is already defying the fundamental rules of the world; it's no ordinary move.

Zhao Hao walked out of the house and quietly told the fat man the general situation.

“I think this is a big deal, we shouldn’t be careless. You get this couple out of here first, we’ll call more people, and if all else fails, we’ll just hand it over to the Bureau of Mysteries.” Zhao Hao was worried about getting into serious trouble.

The fat man walked over to the employer and started bluffing: "My brother, Mr. Zhao with the Eye of God, has already checked it out for you. Why didn't you explain things clearly? You almost got me into trouble! There's a big problem with the basement of this house. It wasn't a proper place after all, was it?"

How well did the fat man use his "turning the tables" tactic?