"The birds in the trees~ come in pairs~ Bang, a shot brings them down..."
Wu Liang hummed a strange tune with bizarre lyrics, brandishing the oil paper umbrella in his hand with impressive vigor, indicating he was in a good mood.
But it was also because he kept swinging the oil paper umbrella that no one noticed along the way that this bright red oil paper umbrella seemed to be trembling in an eerie manner, as if it had a consciousness of its own.
After leaving Chengyang University’s campus, he took the subway home, which took an hour.
As soon as he entered the community, Wu Liang noticed a familiar black car parked downstairs, and his brow furrowed.
He walked slowly up the stairs, and before he even opened the door, he heard an extremely arrogant voice coming from inside the house.
"Old Chen, the protection fee for this month is already overdue by three days. Are you going to pay it yourself... or should I come and get it myself?" The voice was rough and boisterous, sounding like someone with a bad temper.
Then a slightly timid voice replied, "I’m really sorry, work’s been so busy that I lost track of time. I’ll go get the money right away, please have a seat, Wang, I’ll be right back!"
With that said, the door clicked open.
A slightly thin man with a handlebar mustache came out, grinning obsequiously and nodding repeatedly towards the inside of the house.
As he turned, he bumped solidly into Wu Liang, who was about to unlock the door.
The man was about to apologize, but upon seeing it was Wu Liang, his face instantly darkened.
His expression immediately changed from obsequiousness to one of anger, and he scolded in a low voice:
"Why are you coming back so late, you little brat? Didn’t I tell you to come back early and clean? Ah, forget it, Wang is sitting inside, just go to your room and don’t come out talking nonsense! Got it!"
Faced with the barrage of words, Wu Liang gave no response, merely sidestepping the man and entering the house.
The man’s cursing and complaining faded into the distance. After all, he couldn’t afford to delay getting the money.
Entering the hallway, changing shoes, heading to the bedroom.
Wu Liang had no intention of dealing with the burly Wang sitting in the living room, as it wasn’t the first time he’d come to collect the protection fee.
But it seemed the other party wasn’t planning on letting him off. Seeing Wu Liang’s back as he turned into the room, Wang sneered, "Oh, isn’t this our college student? No mom or dad, but you still managed to graduate, huh?" ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ n̷o̷v̷e̷l̷f̷i̷r̷e̷.net
The only response was the sound of Wu Liang shutting the door, and this silent defiance made Wang laugh heartily.
He enjoyed the feel of mocking others from a lofty position.
However, Wu Liang in the bedroom showed no change in expression.
He had long since grown accustomed to the verbal abuse from others.
Ever since his parents were killed in a supernatural event, he had been assigned by the state to live with his aunt, and the man who had just left to get the money with the handlebar mustache was his uncle-in-law—Chen Yi.
He had been living under others’ roofs for five years now.
Indeed, it had been five years since Wu Liang’s parents died!
The world had only become aware of the global outbreak of supernatural events four years ago, but few knew that signs of such events had already started appearing worldwide five years ago.
What’s more, the supernatural event that killed his parents was the first of its kind in Huaxia, and without any precedent, it wasn’t given much attention or research at the time, and was even treated as a missing person’s case.
Even so, Wu Liang, who was orphaned because of this, was still seen by his aunt and uncle-in-law as unlucky, and they despised him greatly.
If not for the substantial government subsidy provided, they wouldn’t have considered raising him at all.
Moreover, they already had a biological son they cherished dearly, making Wu Liang’s existence all the more pitiful in comparison.
It was only due to Wu Liang securing a scholarship himself that he could attend university and graduate; otherwise, he would have been kicked out by his aunt’s family to find work long ago.
"Hah, now all I’m missing to become Harry Potter is living in a cupboard under the stairs." Wu Liang couldn’t help but laugh to himself.
In fact, his aunt’s family’s living conditions were even less appealing than Harry Potter’s aunt’s, considering they had to pay a regular protection fee.
The Wang sitting in the living room outside was just there to collect the money, while the one who actually received the protection fee was his boss—Lei Zhangming.
This person was an Awakened!
Under the guise of protecting everyone from supernatural events occurring in the vicinity, he had forcibly collected protection fees from several blocks of residents.
Lei Zhangming was not an Official Awakened, but had joined some local gang. If ordinary people reported him to the authorities, the retaliation might come faster than the results of the report.
The revenge of an Awakened is not something ordinary people can withstand.
So everyone dared only to be angry but not outspoken.
Having been bullied by an Awakened, Wu Liang’s aunt’s family naturally bore a belly full of resentment that could only be vented on those weaker than them. And who was weaker in their eyes?
That’s right, Wu Liang.
They had long made a habit of swearing and cursing Wu Liang day in, day out.
Unfortunately, Wu Liang couldn’t be bothered to argue with them anymore. His focus wasn’t on ordinary people anymore.
After all, nobody knew—
The so-called freeloader in his aunt’s family’s eyes had now become an expert in supernatural research unbeknownst to the world!
"My little minions! A VIP under the bed! Make sure they get the 998 package treatment!" Wu Liang babbled nonsensically, casually taking the bright red oil paper umbrella from his bosom and shoving it under the bed. He seemed unconcerned about the fact that this thing had almost killed everyone at the graduation ceremony venue just an hour ago.
Next, he reached toward the back of his head, pulling out of thin air a book with a cover that was tattered and even had yellowing pages.
The cover had only two twisted large characters—"Ghost Compendium."
Opening the book, every page inside was densely recorded with the physical appearance, initial sighting location, time, and even weaknesses of various fierce ghosts.
If an official researcher of the supernatural were present, they would likely be speechless upon seeing the records in the book.
Because the information on fierce ghosts carried in this "Ghost Compendium" was probably more comprehensive than the contents of any database worldwide.
True to its name, this was practically an entire atlas of fierce ghosts!
"Thud, thud... thud..."
Wu Liang casually flipped through a few pages marked with crosses, sensing his bed constantly shaking beneath him.
It was the oil paper umbrella struggling below.
Unfortunately, its struggle lasted only a few minutes before it quieted down.
At the same time, Wu Liang turned to the page with an illustration of a bright red oil paper umbrella, a large red X gradually appearing on it.
"Well, well, let’s see what kind of ability this VIP has gifted me?" Wu Liang muttered expectantly to himself.
A piece of drawing paper slowly slid out from under the bed, precisely the same one he had used to suppress the fierce ghost by attaching it to the oil paper umbrella at the graduation ceremony while skiving off.
Unlike before, a line of blood-red characters that only Wu Liang could see now appeared on the drawing paper.
[Shelter: An umbrella is something that shields from rain and sun. While under the umbrella, all negative effects will be minimized or even disappear.]
Once a fierce ghost was completely subdued by Wu Liang, one of its abilities could be extracted for his use!
Before Wu Liang could bend down to pick up the drawing paper, a flash of bright red extended out from under the bed, respectfully rolling up the paper and placing it in Wu Liang’s hand.
Upon closer inspection, wasn’t this the same bright red oil paper umbrella he had just shoved under the bed?
In just a few minutes, it had gone from unruly defiance to complete submission to Wu Liang, even offering up one of its abilities. The reason was simple.
"Haha, you must have taken quite a beating, huh?" Wu Liang burst out laughing.
At this point, the surface of the oil paper umbrella was covered with scars, as if it had endured violent crushing and sharp cuts, with some areas even exposing the ribs of the umbrella.
And at the handle position, it was gripped tightly by five fierce ghosts with different appearances, ready to tear it into shredded pieces at any moment.
They seemed to say, "Join the boss or keep getting beaten!"
Under Wu Liang’s bed, there were five fierce ghosts at his command!
And now, there were six...