Chapter 69: Recruit Li Leping

After Yang Jian left, Chen Shoushan got up and headed toward Li Leping's private room; Yang Jian currently has the highest value, Li Leping's is second, and Luo Su and the three others combined rank third.

This is also the order in which Chen Shoushan seeks people; those with value and ability naturally come first.

The three private rooms are not adjacent; each is separated by some distance, and the soundproofing inside each is fairly adequate.

After walking a few steps, he arrived at Li Leping's private room; standing at the door, Chen Shoushan paused briefly, then knocked and pushed the door open.

Inside, the seats were empty, yet Chen Shoushan's face showed no surprise; instead he smiled and said, "Stay too long in the shadows, and you'll truly be forgotten..."

Meanwhile, in a shadowy corner nearby, Li Leping's figure gradually emerged.

"Although it's not the first time you've found me, I can't help but wonder how you managed it?"

"But when Li Jun and I first descended from the helicopter, you clearly didn't notice me at all."

Chen Shoushan naturally sat down in his place and smiled without answering Li Leping's question.

"Is it because of this coin? No, even before you gave me the coin, you had already found me in the room at Caesar Hotel..."

At that moment, Li Leping was holding a coin, but no matter how he looked at it, he saw nothing special about it, nor any hint of the supernatural.

"Is that important? Do you dislike being remembered?"

Leaning back on the sofa, Chen Shoushan countered with a faint smile.

Li Leping glanced at Chen Shoushan seated on the sofa, sat opposite him, and said, "Not exactly; after all, being remembered isn't a bad thing."

"You deliberately had me stay—what do you want to tell me?"

Li Leping asked.

This time Chen Shoushan didn't dive straight into the main topic; instead he smiled and posed a new question: "What was your original reason for joining Headquarters?"

If other Ghost Masters join Headquarters to, with Wang Xiaoming's help, tame a second ghost and extend their lives, Li Leping has never had such demands; in the original story, whether he was taming ghost smoke, seeking person-ghosts, or dream-walking ghosts, he never relied on any Headquarters assistance, doing everything himself.

Yet when Headquarters found him, he stepped forward without hesitation, and unlike Yang Jian he didn't make extravagant demands; moreover, Li Leping is not like Li Jun, an appointed person-in-charge within the organization—he is merely a folk Ghost Master who joined Headquarters midway.

That's why Chen Shoushan wanted to ask Li Leping why he joined Headquarters—what Headquarters can offer, I, Chen Shoushan, could surely provide as well; once I know Li Leping's reason for joining, I dare to draw an even bigger pie.

Whether one can actually fulfill the pie one draws is one matter; whether one dares to draw it is another—no one can resist a pie sketched by a lawyer's path!

Li Leping fell silent after hearing the question, didn't speak right away, but after recalling, he said, "I don't remember; I guess it was so I wouldn't be forgotten by everyone?"

When he first began to command the Oblivion Ghost, Li Leping was naturally terrified; every day people around him—forgot him—friends, relatives, family—even though he desperately reminded them, they would still turn and fearfully ask him who he was...

Thus, Li Leping proactively sought Headquarters to become the person-in-charge; he didn't want to be forgotten by the world, he wanted to loudly proclaim his existence, but in the face of the Oblivion Ghost it was all futile—friends and family ultimately forgot him anyway.

He had nowhere to go; aside from Headquarters he had no other refuge, and eventually he grew accustomed to that lonely, solitary feeling—but habit doesn't mean liking—so when Headquarters sent him to support Caesar Hotel, Li Leping didn't refuse, because at least Headquarters still remembered him.

"Not wanting to be forgotten..."

"Then if I gave you a chance to achieve fame and fortune, would you accept?"

Chen Shoushan smiled and asked again.

"Fame and fortune? Me? That would require a lot of fame!"

Li Leping couldn't help but burst into laughter at Chen Shoushan's words; a Ghost Master who commands the Oblivion Ghost aspiring to fame and fortune is utterly ridiculous.

"Everyone in this era will remember you!"

Chen Shoushan stared at Li Leping and said solemnly, "The Oblivion Ghost that Li Leping commands differs from other ghosts, so trying to win him over by making the suppression of ferocious ghost resurrection a condition is clearly unlikely."

So Chen Shoushan could only try approaching from another angle.

"Join the Foundation! Let's end the supernatural era together, build a new age of our own—then our names will be forever spread and sung among mankind!"

It wasn't overly passionate or fervent; Chen Shoushan looked at Li Leping and spoke in a calm tone.

Yet in that calm tone, Li Leping believed, his heart stirred—no one can resist the allure of leaving a name in history, especially someone like Li Leping who severely lacks presence.

But Li Leping still found it hard to imagine and asked, "End the supernatural era? Just with us?"

The whole world cannot stop it, and there is even no way to mitigate the ferocious ghost's resurgence, yet Chen Shoushan dares to say he will end the supernatural era?

Chen Shoushan shook his head and said, "It's not us, it's me—since the Foundation has my leadership, it will certainly be able to end the supernatural era!"

The aura of a superior being from the Chaos Mentor washed over them, and the atmosphere fell instantly silent to an extreme degree.

Li Leping's head buzzed; he opened his mouth but could produce no sound.

If the Foundation truly ended the supernatural era, they would undoubtedly become the heroes of the age, and their names might indeed be spread among people as Chen Shoushan said...

Li Leping originally just wanted the world to acknowledge his existence, but Chen Shoushan seemed to offer him a better choice—he not only wanted the world to remember their existence, but even hoped the world would remember them forever...

"Do you want me to first withdraw from Headquarters?"

Li Leping moistened his slightly dry lips and spoke, having been convinced by Chen Shoushan.

"No need; for now you can hold a concurrent post as Headquarters' person-in-charge, and only later will be the time for us to briefly show our prowess."

Chen Shoushan smiled satisfactorily; frankly, he had only been trying his luck in recruiting Li Leping, and hadn't expected it to actually succeed.

"Good! By the way, what's the name of our Foundation?"

"The Shoushan Foundation!"

Li Leping hesitated slightly, then nodded.

"Then from now on I'll call you Chairman Chen?"

"If you like it, feel free!"

I've revised this chapter for a long time, trying to make Li Leping's reason for joining the Foundation more reasonable; if anyone finds anything unsatisfactory, feel free to point it out—I'll fix what I can. I'll get some sleep and update in the early hours.

(End of chapter)