These words were less of a question, “Will you come with me?” and more of a challenge: “Do you trust me more?”
Fox demons possess the power to bewitch. Shi Yu had clearly fallen under its influence, though not severely. She was merely confused about what had just happened, uncertain of who was truly worthy of trust.
Yet humans are guided by instinct.
To Shi Yu, Ji Yao had always left a negative impression, while Xie Bing had been her long-time partner and collaborator.
But now, the auras of the two had abruptly shifted.
Shi Yu needed to observe, to assess.
Struggling, she pulled her hand free from Xie Bing’s grasp. Before she could even stand up, several figures appeared at the door.
It was the police. Shi Yu had managed to call them during her unconscious state, and they had arrived swiftly.
The presence of uniformed officers visibly relaxed Shi Yu. Her earlier struggle to move toward Ji Yao came to a halt.
In truth, she hadn’t chosen to trust Ji Yao, it was just that Xie Bing seemed even more suspicious.
The leading police officer, a square-jawed male alpha, wore a stern expression. Recognizing Shi Yu, he waved for the two junior officers behind him to step back.
He proceeded to ask Shi Yu the reason for her call.
Compared to her decisiveness in calling the police, Shi Yu now hesitated, her expression unreadable as she glanced at Ji Yao. It was Xie Bing who interjected, “I’m Shi Yu’s manager. It’s her.”
Pointing at Ji Yao, Xie Bing accused, “She’s Shi Yu’s obsessive stalker, here to harass her!”
“Is that true?” The square-jawed officer ignored Xie Bing and directed his question to Shi Yu.
Shi Yu’s eyes flickered briefly before she shook her head slightly.
The officer didn’t press further. Instead, he turned to Xie Bing. “As an alpha, isn’t it inappropriate for you to be in an omega’s home so late at night?”
“Regardless of whether you’re her manager or not, you’re coming to the station with me.”
Xie Bing was stunned, clearly not expecting to be the one taken away.
She shot a furious glare at Ji Yao, who remained unperturbed, and snapped, “She’s the one who?!”
“Take her away!”
The square-jawed officer called out to the door. The two junior officers reentered and promptly dragged Xie Bing out.
He then approached Ji Yao, pulling her along as he headed out. Before leaving, he reminded Shi Yu, “If you feel unsafe, ask a family member to stay with you.”
Ji Yao was taken away, though she and Xie Bing were placed in separate police cars and driven to different locations.
The police car carrying Ji Yao traveled farther and farther from the city center, eventually leaving the urban area before coming to a stop.
The little fox demon on Ji Yao’s left had been restless the entire ride, but it quieted down as soon as the vehicle halted.
The driver in the front seat turned around, his features obscured by a baseball cap.
“Zi Xi, you owe me a favor now,” the square-jawed officer’s voice sounded beside her. Ji Yao frowned, trying to get a clearer look at the person in front.
Just then, a purple flame erupted from her hand. The little fox demon began to struggle again, emitting sharp, terrified squeaks.
Unlike when she had first captured it when its cries were of pain this time, it was pleading for mercy.
She had shrunk the fox demon to the size of a trinket, holding it in her hand. But now, it began to grow, gradually breaking free from Ji Yao’s grasp and moving toward Qiao Zixi.
It nestled obediently by her side. Qiao Zixi stroked it a few times before removing her cap.
Having heard the square-jawed officer’s words, Ji Yao wasn’t surprised to see her clearly now. She waited for an explanation.
Qiao Zixi smiled and said, “I’m a demon tamer. When I dropped you off at Shi Yu’s residential complex today, I sensed its presence.”
“But I was more curious about you.”
“How did you know that little creature would be there?”
Ji Yao clearly didn’t agree with the term “little creature.” If it were a domesticated pet, maybe, but this thing it wasn’t anything good.
Yet, the little fox demon in Qiao Zixi’s hands looked quiet and well-behaved, just like a pet.
A demon tamer, as the name implied, was someone who trained demons for their own use, usually through forming contracts.
But in Ji Yao’s heart, she couldn’t stand it.
There were similar beings in the otherworld specialized groups within the Taming Guild, though they were a minority and rarely showed themselves.
Rumors said they didn’t care what the demons did whether they ate people or drank blood as long as they could be used, they were considered good demons.
That was definitely not her way of doing things.
Ji Yao was responsible for capturing demons alive or even exterminating them.
Extermination was straightforward. For those captured alive, she would take them back and hand them over to specialized personnel for handling.
As for how they were handled, Ji Yao didn’t care, as long as they didn’t appear in front of her again.
The little fox demon she had just captured was no exception. Its abilities weren’t strong, so she didn’t need to go all out to exterminate it just a few tricks were enough to subdue it.
But she hadn’t thought about what to do with it next.
“What? Do you want it?” Qiao Zixi stretched out his hand and tossed the fox demon to Ji Yao, who dodged it without a second thought.
She actually had a strong ability to adapt.
Disapproval aside, she had started training according to the way of life in the otherworld not long after arriving. And within a few days of returning, she had settled back into her own life.
She did what she could. Some things were beyond her control, but what she could manage, she wouldn’t let slide.
For instance, what to do with this little fox demon was giving her a headache.
Qiao Zixi’s appearance happened to solve her problem.
“No, since you’re a demon tamer, you take it.”
“But you’re the one who caught it!”
Back in the otherworld, neither exorcists nor tamers were as specialized as demon tamers.
Ordinary demons could be handled by exorcists and tamers. Only when things got tricky would a bounty be issued, and the mysterious demon tamers would step in to resolve it.
They worked silently, and how they handled things was all hearsay. The only certainty was that the demon would never cause trouble again.
The Taming Guild had clear divisions of labor, but exorcist sects were different.
Exterminating demons was just a side task; catching ghosts was their real business.
“I’m not a demon tamer, so…” Ji Yao gave the fox demon a disdainful glance and continued, “So don’t hand it over to me.”
“Do whatever you want with it, just don’t let me see it again.”
“But, how can that be? I was hoping you’d join our unit.”
“Unit?”
“Mm-hmm! Look at the person next to you, he’s actually the external liaison for our unit. His uniform is just a cover.”
“He’s not a real police officer?”
“He is, but he also handles liaison work. His surname is Ren, and we all call him Uncle Ren.”
Uncle Ren? Surrender?
Ji Yao ignored the pun and processed Qiao Zixi’s words.
It was easy to understand: when handling external matters, someone always had to manage the aftermath.
And they needed a plausible identity to settle things, Uncle Ren was clearly that person.
Ji Yao nodded and asked curiously, “So, Uncle Ren, did you notice something off about Xie Bing?”
“How would I have that kind of skill? I was just following the Omega Protection Association’s regulations. That Xie Bing was taken back for questioning about the incident and then released.”
“Taking her away was just a formality.”
Ren Shu wore a simple, honest smile, a stark contrast to his stern demeanor earlier at Shi Yu’s home. Ji Yao instinctively smiled back but quickly caught herself.
She turned to Qiao Zixi and asked, “So, were you testing me?”
“Not exactly.”
“I just had to see what you’re capable of.”
“Capable of what?”
“You know that kind of capability.” Qiao Zixi gave an awkward chuckle, then turned to start the car and pulled Ji Yao along without offering any explanation.
Despite Ji Yao’s repeated questions, Qiao Zixi remained silent until they had left the western suburbs of Xijing and were on the road to Jiangning City. Only then did she speak up: “Jiangning is our headquarters. Our unit is located there.”
“Why are you dragging me to your unit?” Ji Yao called out from the backseat. Qiao Zixi smiled and began to explain.
This so-called “unit” was exactly that, a unit. It didn’t have a specific name. You could call it a unit, a department, or even a bureau none of it was wrong.
Essentially, they handled work related to what Ji Yao had done in the past, though unlike her previous experiences, this line of work was a bit more under the radar.
“We operate on a commission basis. There are official assignments and private jobs.”
“Of course, ‘private jobs’ aren’t just tasks individuals take on, they’re jobs that individuals bring to the unit for distribution. They’re also called external assignments.”
“And what about you now?” Resigned to her fate of not being able to get out of the car, Ji Yao went along with Qiao Zixi’s explanation.
Qiao Zixi hummed in response, turning onto a secluded path before answering, “Me? I’m on an official assignment.”
“Cleaning up the domestic entertainment industry.” Qiao Zixi finished with a smug lift of her brow.
The phrase “cleaning up the domestic entertainment industry” was all too familiar to Ji Yao. She’d heard it countless times during her years scrolling through Weibo, but she never imagined someone like Qiao Zixi would be the one doing the cleaning up and in this manner, no less.
Qiao Zixi went on to share a few cases she’d resolved, involving once-popular actors and influencers who had either fallen from grace or lost their status due to blind faith in certain practices. While these methods had yielded results, they also came with backlash.
Qiao Zixi handled everything. If she intervened before the backlash hit, she’d deal with the source of worship; if it was after, she’d help manage the fallout that counted as a private job.
But the more Ji Yao listened, the more dubious it all sounded.
Though Qiao Zixi called herself a “monster tamer,” her work wasn’t all that different from Ji Yao’s, it was just a matter of specialization. Ji Yao was more skilled at exorcising spirits, while Qiao Zixi, by her own examples, had made a fortune from artists who worshipped fox spirits.
As for those who kept “little ghosts,” the outcome was similar: their careers might be ruined, but they could still live relatively normal lives.
When Qiao Zixi pulled up in front of a dilapidated courtyard, Ji Yao asked the crucial question: “Is it really that profitable?”
“Very. Otherwise, how could I just buy out your dreams like that?”
“Come work with me, Ji Yao.”
“If you go back now, Zhou Feng will definitely find a way to fire you. There’s no point in returning.”
“Or, if you prefer, just go along with her and pretend I never said anything or brought you here today.”
Qiao Zixi parked the car, pulled the handbrake, and turned to look at Ji Yao, her expression surprisingly serious.
But Ji Yao had two questions: “How do you know about me and Shi Yu?”
“And Zhou Feng.”
“With the way you carry on in the industry, it’s hard not to know.”
Ji Yao and Shi Yu had a secret marriage, so Ji Yao remained skeptical.
Qiao Zixi didn’t elaborate, preferring to keep her in suspense.
“Let’s not talk about that for now. Let’s talk about our unit. A base salary of 50,000, high commissions, five social insurances and one housing fund, holiday benefits, and an annual bonus.”
“So, are you in or not?”