She clutched her lower abdomen, crying out in grief and anger, “You, Li, I am irreconcilable with you. You’d better not fall into my hands!”

James Thompson stood in the courtyard, watching the towering rage from next door, drawing it all in without missing a trace.

In order to collect joy, he had racked his brains and only managed to gather a tiny bit. Yet the anger he obtained from Evelyn Harris was already more than twice the amount of joy.

Fuxi is born from anger, governs consciousness, and is the most important of the seven souls. To him, it is of great significance.

James Thompson drew in all of Evelyn Harris’s anger, and after calming his mind, he cupped his hands and bowed sincerely in the direction of the neighboring courtyard, saying, “Miss, I will surely repay your great kindness one day!”

Chapter 011 Night Encounter

Early the next morning, just as the sky was getting light, James Thompson got up early.

The first and second souls had already begun to condense, alertness and consciousness were gradually returning, and he was no longer as muddle-headed as he had been in the past two days.

After washing up, James Thompson went straight to the county office.

Although Officer Parker had allowed him to take paid leave, time was life for James Thompson. What he needed now was the opportunity to obtain the seven emotions and thus refine the seven souls. All kinds of incidents in Yangqiu County would be reported to the county office, and waiting here for opportunities was much more efficient than wandering around aimlessly outside.

The matter of the seven souls should not be delayed. People are born with seven souls, and it is precisely because of their protection that ordinary evil things cannot approach. Without the seven souls, James Thompson was defenseless against those demons and monsters.

If you walk the night roads too often, who knows if you’ll run into a ghost.

The sooner he condensed the seven souls, the sooner he would be out of danger.

Entering the county office, James Thompson knocked on the door of a room on the left. The middle-aged man working on documents at the desk looked up and, seeing him, asked in surprise, “James Thompson, what are you doing here?”

James Thompson smiled and said, “Officer Parker, I’m here to report in.”

Officer Parker stood up and asked, “How is your health?”

James Thompson replied, “Much better already. I have nothing to do at home, so I came to the office to see if there’s anything I can help with.”

Officer Parker looked at him in surprise and asked, “You really don’t want to rest a bit longer? Even if you don’t come to the county office, your salary for this month will still be paid as usual.”

“No need to rest.” James Thompson said a little embarrassedly, “I can’t accept a salary without doing anything. Sitting at home all day, I don’t feel right taking the money…”

Freeloading is nice, but life is more important.

Wasting time is wasting life—this was the true reflection of James Thompson’s current situation.

“You weren’t like this before—timid and afraid of trouble, always hiding when something happened…” Officer Parker looked at him strangely and said, “If the soul-testing artifact hadn’t shown no reaction, and you still had your old memories, I’d really suspect you’d been possessed by some monster…”

James Thompson was startled inside. It seemed his behavior was still a bit unusual, but he put on a smile and said, “Last time the trouble happened outside. Isn’t the county office safer than my home…”

Officer Parker was taken aback, then said, “You really are still James Thompson. If you want to come back, just come back. There’s nothing much going on in the office right now. Go back to your own duty room for now. If there’s any work, Miss Emily will call you.”

The county office is divided into the outer and inner offices. The inner office is the magistrate’s private residence and cannot be entered without permission. The outer office is where the officials work, with more than a dozen small duty rooms.

James Thompson walked to the door of his own duty room. Before he even entered, he heard a burst of “crackling” sounds from inside.

“Big, big, big—damn it, how is it small again…” This was the utterly dejected voice of Michael Bolton.

James Thompson walked in and saw Michael Bolton, David Thompson, and an Old Clerk gathered around the table. He glanced at Michael Bolton and said, “You’re gambling with Old Carter again? Aren’t you afraid the boss will find out?”

When Michael Bolton saw James Thompson, his expression relaxed and he said, “If you don’t tell, I don’t tell, and Old Carter doesn’t tell, how would the boss know?”

James Thompson looked at the Old Clerk and said, “Old Carter, you’d better get back soon. If the boss comes, none of you will get away…”

Old Carter was a clerk at the county office, having worked there for decades. He was mainly responsible for compiling household registers and organizing case files. Though he was old, his love for gambling was still young. He often came here to gamble with Michael Bolton and David Thompson, and nine times out of ten he lost and left cursing.

Old Carter picked up the dozen or so copper coins on the table and said with a smile, “It’s James Thompson, are you feeling better? I heard from Michael Bolton that you had your soul hooked by a demon…”

“Much better, much better.” James Thompson waved at him and added, “By the way, Old Carter, just stay in the duty room. I’ll need to talk to you later…”

Michael Bolton looked at Old Carter and tried to keep him, “Hey, Old Carter, don’t go, let’s play a couple more rounds…”

“Quit while you’re ahead.” James Thompson glanced at him and said, “Old Carter is getting old, his legs aren’t so good, and it’s not easy for him to make money. You guys shouldn’t always win from him.”

“What do you mean we always win from him…” Michael Bolton said with dissatisfaction, “I just lost fourteen coins. Old Carter’s luck is too good today…”

James Thompson didn’t continue the topic and instead asked, “Where’s the boss?”