Chapter 172: Ghost Capture
by xennovel“You…”
Li Mengmeng was on the verge of a mental breakdown instinctively terrified of everyone. But this young man’s smile gave her a sliver of calm. At first glance he exuded a quiet presence unlike the cold indifference of the pedestrians staring at her like she was crazy and unlike the unsettling gloom of those whose faces had suddenly changed. He simply sat on his motorcycle watching her.
His smile seemed sincere and gave Li Mengmeng an indescribable sense of security in that moment.
Slowly Li Mengmeng carefully reached out took the tissue he offered and wiped her teary eyes.
“You… what can you do to help me?”
“…”
Hearing Li Mengmeng’s question the young man smiled but before he could answer he suddenly reached behind him.
His movement was abrupt without any warning.
Even his arm seemed to twist directly backward almost unnaturally.
This sudden action startled Li Mengmeng making her flinch violently. She almost bolted in panic.
Then she realized the young man’s action wasn’t directed at her.
He had grabbed a middle-aged man in a suit who seemed to be just passing by perhaps a little too close.
Caught suddenly by the wrist the man looked slightly bewildered then wary. “What are you doing?”
“Nothing.”
The young man studied him for a moment released his wrist and smiled. “Sorry about that.”
The middle-aged man walked away looking suspicious.
The young man turned back to Li Mengmeng and smiled. “He suddenly got close just now seemed like he wanted to touch me.”
Li Mengmeng looked confused her wariness growing.
Then she heard him add with a smile “Right when he was about to touch me I saw him change into someone else.”
Recalling the moment he described it seriously to Li Mengmeng “When his face changed into someone else’s he suddenly moved towards me like he wanted to grab my arm. I knew something was off so I tried to grab him too. But that smiling face was cautious. By the time I grabbed him that face had already vanished and he was back to looking like this uncle…”
His words sounded very strange.
But upon hearing them Li Mengmeng suddenly grew tense. “That face… what did it look like?”
“Describing its appearance is pointless.”
The young man said “It’s better to describe his smile. It was smug arrogant like he thought he was incredible…”
“…”
Li Mengmeng felt as if a light had pierced her heart. Trembling she scrambled up from the ground gripped the young man’s arm tightly tears streaming down her face. “It’s him! That’s him! He’s the ghost…”
“He’s driving me crazy! I’m begging you please save me…”
“…”
The young man looked a little uncomfortable with her tight grip on his arm but still smiled. “It’s okay don’t worry. I will.”
His voice reassured Li Mengmeng slightly. She held onto him tightly as if afraid he’d run off.
“But…”
The young man looked at the tense Li Mengmeng and also smiled. “You need to back up a bit first…”
Li Mengmeng froze looking at him in slight panic.
The young man glanced down at Li Mengmeng’s leg looking a bit embarrassed. “You’re rubbing against my bike…”
…
…
“If you want to solve this problem you need to listen to me right now!”
Glancing around Lu Xin scanned the crowd. Among the curious and indifferent faces he sensed a sinister presence lurking hidden. He knew it was there but couldn’t pinpoint it. So he turned back to the pretty girl whose eyes were swollen from crying.
“For now just come with me…”
He patted the back seat of his motorcycle looking at her gently.
He knew the girl must be terrified and worried that a harsh attitude might scare her off.
…After all she was the core target of his current job.
…
…
“Go… go where?”
Hearing his words the girl was indeed scared. Like a startled little bunny her voice trembled.
Lu Xin lowered his voice. “To find a suitable place to catch him.”
“Don’t worry I might look…”
“Okay.”
He was about to explain that while he might look intimidating he was actually a good person but surprisingly the girl agreed immediately.
Although Li Mengmeng still harbored some suspicion towards Lu Xin after days of torment she clung to him like a lifeline. Steeling herself she actually got onto the back seat of Lu Xin’s motorcycle wrapped her arms tightly around his waist and scanned their surroundings with a mixture of fear and vigilance murmuring “But… but who exactly are you?”
“I specialize in handling things like this.”
Lu Xin replied in a low voice “But I can’t show you my ID right now. We need to be careful he doesn’t see us and run off.”
Then he slowly started the motorcycle adding somewhat awkwardly “Don’t hold on so tight it’s making me uncomfortable…”
The girl finally realized her face flushing slightly as she quickly loosened her grip.
The motorcycle slowly pulled away heading into the distance.
The surrounding crowd bustled each person absorbed in their own affairs. No one paid attention to the girl who had been crying on the ground moments before or the man on the motorcycle who picked her up nor did they wonder what they were doing or what connection they had.
However amidst the busy crowd a young man carrying a briefcase abruptly stopped.
He turned his head watching the direction the motorcycle left clenching his jaw tightly.
The sight of the girl hugging the rider’s waist her body practically pressed against his stung his eyes.
…
…
“Special Pollution Incident 102 — Ghost Capture”
Taking the frightened girl with him Lu Xin drove towards the pre-selected location the mission details flashing through his mind.
To be precise this wasn’t a Pollution Source cleanup but a ghost hunting incident.
Or rather an Ability User capture.
“Pollution Source: Suspected Mental Alteration Ability User committing illegal acts”
Ability System: Ghost-type
Ability Level: B-level
Ability Description: Ghost-type Ability Users can separate their consciousness or mental entity from their body and parasitize others. The parasitized individual will temporarily possess the Ability User’s memories and thoughts essentially becoming another person for a short time. Parasitization methods include contact-based and remote parasitization depending on the psychic power magnitude.”
“After a Ghost-type Ability User detaches from the host the host will experience temporary amnesia.”
“Prolonged parasitization by a Ghost-type Ability User causes severe and irreversible mental damage to the host.”
“Parasitization Duration: Unknown”
“Ghost-type Ability User Weaknesses: Unknown”