Someone specializes in handling this?

Chen Chuan was a little surprised to hear what Old Qi said. Ordinary people couldn’t fend off the encroachments of supernatural phenomena, and long-term exposure was especially dangerous. But then again, it was hard to say for sure. This was Central City, after all; they might have ways of dealing with it.

He asked, "Are they from the Administrative Affairs Department?"

Old Qi replied, "No, not them. These kinds of abnormal commissions always involve strange and bizarre things. We agents all know to avoid them, but there’s a group of people who specialize in taking on these jobs.

But it seems they don’t do a very good job. I know of one place they went to but failed to resolve the issue, yet the commission was marked as completed."

At this point, his tone was tinged with disgust and aversion. "And in some other places they’ve been to, the people there just disappeared entirely. But no one ever investigates. Yet they’re still able to keep taking on these commissions."

Chen Chuan considered this. ’From the sound of it, these people are very influential and probably don’t play by the rules. The abnormal commission I saw earlier suddenly vanished, which probably means they took it.’

Old Qi asked with a hint of hope, "Brother Chen, can you really handle these abnormal commissions?"

Chen Chuan said, "The origins of these supernatural phenomena are complex. I can’t handle all of them, but back in Yangzhi City, they would always come to me first to deal with this kind of incident."

"That’s good enough."

Old Qi thought for a moment and said, "There are a lot of abnormal commissions. We can find a way to pick up the ones they miss. Don’t you worry about all the tedious details, Brother Chen. I’ll take care of everything. You just focus on handling the anomalies."

Chen Chuan looked at him. Seeing how excited he seemed, he cautioned, "Old Qi, I didn’t know someone else was doing this. From what you’ve said, this group sounds powerful. You should think this through."

Old Qi knew full well what he was getting into. This group had undoubtedly cornered the market on abnormal commissions, turning it into their own business and not letting anyone else interfere. Doing a few jobs on the sly probably wouldn’t be a problem, but if they did too many, the group might come looking for him. Chen Chuan might be fine, but he would be the one they targeted.

But he was saddled with debt, his daughter’s tuition was overdue, and Chen Chuan had just fronted the money for his fine. Plus, because of this incident, there would be a record with his company. Potential clients would probably avoid him once they checked. He definitely wouldn’t be getting any work anytime soon. He might as well follow Chen Chuan and make some quick cash to get through this immediate crisis.

He put on a relaxed air and said, "Brother Chen, I’ve thought it over. If we only do a few jobs, they won’t find out."

Chen Chuan said, "Old Qi, you know Central City better than I do. Just be careful."

Old Qi chuckled. "I’ve been in this line of work for nearly twenty years. I know what I’m doing." He pressed a spot on his neck, and his eyes flashed with an orange glow. "Brother Chen, let me treat you to a meal while I’m at it. I’ll look up these kinds of commissions and get back to you soon."

Chen Chuan didn’t refuse and agreed.

Old Qi was short on cash and couldn’t afford anything fancy, so he just ordered a few snacks from a roadside food truck. Chen Chuan didn’t care about such things. He could stomach tasteless Nutrition Paste, so anything with even a hint of flavor was delicious to him.

Old Qi was a little embarrassed at first, afraid Chen Chuan would find the food subpar. But seeing Chen Chuan eat bite after bite made him hungry too, and he began to wolf down his own food. After finishing a bowl of fried noodles, he felt like he’d come back to life. He struck up a conversation, "How old are you, Brother Chen?" 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Chen Chuan said, "Seventeen." He was technically already eighteen, but he didn’t care about a year or two. The people he dealt with also tended to overlook his age.

"Seventeen, so young. I have a daughter. She’s thirteen and already in middle school. She gets great grades." When he spoke of his daughter, a smile appeared on the otherwise world-weary middle-aged man’s face, and a light shone in his eyes.

As he was speaking, he saw a contact flashing on his Realm Token. His spirits lifted. "Here it is." He immediately answered, and a voice sounded in his ear, "Old Qi, what are you looking for these abnormal commissions for?"

Old Qi said, "I’m looking for a client. He’s interested in this stuff, just wants to satisfy his curiosity. If you have any confirmed ones, send a bunch over."

"Is that so? Let me tell you, Old Qi, you’d better not get involved with these commissions. That Golden Shrimp crew is bad news. They’ve got the Moss Gang behind them, and they have connections with the higher-ups."

Old Qi said in a relaxed tone, "I know, I’m just satisfying a client’s curiosity."

The voice on the other end softened, speaking earnestly, "Old Qi, you’re not on your own anymore. Think about Xiaoqi before you do anything."

"Mm."

Old Qi ended the call and immediately received several abnormal commissions. After looking them over, he forwarded them to Chen Chuan’s Realm Token.

"Brother Chen, take a look. These are all abnormal commissions. I had someone check them out; they’re all confirmed."

Chen Chuan said, "Let me take a look."

Old Qi looked at him and chuckled. "Brother Chen, I know what you’re worried about. Don’t worry. Anomalies are anomalies, and Esoteric Buddhism is Esoteric Buddhism. I can tell the difference."

Chen Chuan was rather surprised. "You know about that, Old Qi?" Most people couldn’t distinguish between the two.

"Heh, everyone’s young once, right? I was trying to be trendy back then, dabbled in the Esoteric Buddhism scene, and even learned a few tricks. I got a bad feeling about it later and got out." As Old Qi spoke of this, his tone carried a hint of wistful regret.

Chen Chuan glanced through them. These commissions had specific incident locations and detailed descriptions of the events. They were far more detailed than what he had found in his own search earlier. Just from reading these, he could tell they were almost certainly related to supernatural phenomena. Now he had a clear target.

He said, "Thanks, Old Qi."

"There’s no need for that, Brother Chen," Old Qi said. "You helped me out in a big way and even showed me a new way to make money. I’m the one who should be thanking you."

Since he had decided to do it, he wasn’t going to have second thoughts. Besides, the fact that Chen Chuan was willing to front the money to get him out convinced him that Chen Chuan was reliable. And on top of that, he had seen Chen Chuan take out an Unlimited Defense Certificate that day, which was why he dared to take this gamble.

Chen Chuan said, "Let’s go check out one of these locations first. If it’s what we think it is, we’ll accept the commission and try to resolve it."

Old Qi was decisive. He stood up and said, "Alright. I’ve got a car. I’ll drive." He ran out and, a moment later, drove the car over from the sentry post’s parking lot. He picked up Chen Chuan and headed toward the location the latter had sent him.

Chen Chuan glanced at the map. They were currently in the Weiguang District, and the commission’s location was at the border between the Weiguang and Wuding Districts. If things went smoothly, he could head back to Wuyi on the way.

Forty-five minutes later, the vehicle approached the location. It was a shanty town in a low-lying area, filled with simple houses illegally constructed from boards. Looking through his Realm Token, Chen Chuan could see that most of the residents here did not have citizenship.

As they drove down a sloping road into the area, Chen Chuan glanced to the side and spotted a glaring Esoteric Buddhism symbol on a wall.

Old Qi noticed it too. He explained, "You see these things all over the city. It’s not so bad up top, but down below, they’re rampant..." He chuckled drily. "Can’t be helped. When you can’t see a way out, you have to find some kind of spiritual comfort like this just to get by."

Chen Chuan knew that "down below" referred to the massive underground slums. No one knew how many people actually lived there. The order of Central City didn’t extend there at all, so it was only natural that Esoteric Buddhism would be rampant.

After driving a little further, the car could go no farther. The two of them got out and started walking inward, following a path of assorted boards and gravel laid over the uneven, muddy ground.

Following the directions on the Realm Token, they walked for three or four hundred meters and arrived in front of a circle of simple shacks. Chen Chuan’s steps faltered for a moment, because he saw a faint distortion appear on his Second Self.

Esoteric Buddhism could also cause signs of distortion, but not like this. He tapped the side of his ear to shut off his Realm Token. What happened next couldn’t be recorded. After all, they were bypassing the platform to do this commission. It was best to avoid trouble if he could.

His previous conversation with Old Qi might have been recorded, but he knew the regulations. A chat was just a chat and couldn’t be used as evidence. Without proof of action, it wasn’t a violation.

Of course, this was just a precaution. In reality, no one would bother to investigate this kind of thing except for the interested parties. Even those organ traffickers he’d run into before hadn’t been arrested.

Just then, Old Qi identified one of the shacks and said, "This is it. The commission was posted by the person who lives here. Brother Chen, I’ll be the one to talk with them. I’m a pro at this sort of thing. You wait out here."

Chen Chuan said, "Alright, I’ll wait here then."

Old Qi gave him a reassuring gesture, straightened his clothes, and went inside. About ten minutes later, he came back out.

He returned to Chen Chuan’s side and said, "Brother Chen, I got the story. It’s just like the description in the commission."

Chen Chuan nodded. The commission, in short, was about two brothers. Their parents died young, so the older brother dropped out of school and joined a gang to support the younger brother’s education. The younger brother’s grades were pretty good, and it looked like he was about to make it, but then the older brother died in a gang fight.

This was undoubtedly a huge blow to the younger brother. But a few days later, he discovered that his dead brother had come back to life. The brother couldn’t speak or move; he just stood there every day, watching him.

He knew this was strange and tried to hide it at first, but his neighbors soon found out. They also noticed that large areas of plants had begun to wither, and their cats and dogs were dying. They came and persuaded him to bury his brother.

Although the younger brother was reluctant, he knew something was wrong, so he buried his brother with the neighbors. But that didn’t end it. The previous phenomena continued. Now, the people in the shanty town had had enough and demanded he burn the body.

However, the younger brother staunchly refused and took up his older brother’s gun to guard the grave. To resolve the situation, the neighbors had to find someone who used to live there but now had citizenship to post a commission on the public platform.

Chen Chuan had never encountered this type of supernatural phenomenon before, but he had read about similar cases in the archives. As long as he could find the root of the problem, he had a way to solve it.

Old Qi hesitated for a moment. "Brother Chen, that kid, Xiaoman, has it pretty rough. He’s only fourteen and has to deal with this... Will it really affect the people around him?"

Chen Chuan looked at him and said, "It won’t just affect them, it will affect them a great deal. It might be fine in the short term, but over a long period, problems will arise."

"What kind of problems?"

Old Qi asked subconsciously. Chen Chuan didn’t answer, but Old Qi actually already knew. He sighed softly. "Alright, then. I’ll go tell them we’ll take the job."

...

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