Chapter 52

Upon hearing Ke Xingzhou's words, Qin Qin immediately became excited and looked at Qian Daochang with anticipation: "Really? It can be solved so easily?"

Qian Daochang: "..."

Qian Daochang felt a headache at the thought of the complex steps and couldn’t understand why Ke Xingzhou thought this was a small ritual.

For a moment, he even thought that Ke Xingzhou was intentionally trying to flatter him, but then he recalled the ghost infant he had previously dealt with, and the doubts that had just arisen in his heart were instantly dispelled.

Speaking of that ghost, Qian Daochang initially hoped that the little ghost, who had been tricked by Ke Xingzhou, wouldn't be too powerful, but out of caution, he still called back all the Taoist priests from Changsheng Temple, except for the temple master.

Who would have thought that when all the priests had gathered and were about to perform the ritual, the little ghost suddenly rebelled.

The ghost infant, who had been obediently staying in the box, suddenly erupted in fury, attacking the nearest Taoist priest.

The infant’s voice, with its unique penetrating power, sharply entered their eardrums: "You lied to me, you all lied to me! Everyone lied to me!! Daddy! Daddy, I want to find Daddy!"

Women and infant ghosts are inherently vicious, especially when they have been refined and nurtured by others.

In a fit of rage, the ghost infant's immense power crushed down on them. All the Taoist priests' faces changed dramatically as they hurriedly took up their ritual instruments to defend.

With the combined efforts of everyone, it took three days and nights to finally subdue the ghost infant.

—It’s shameful to admit, but they didn’t rely solely on their own strength to subdue the ghost infant.

Dozens of Taoist priests were injured in the battle with the little ghost, and in the end, only Qian Daochang was barely able to stand.

However, as the one with the highest level of Taoist skills, he had also reached the end of his strength.

With his ritual tools damaged and blood on his lips, Qian Daochang had no choice but to bring out all his cherished high-level talismans, yet he still struggled to fend off the ghost's attacks.

Qian Daochang’s face turned pale, but he couldn’t help but feel grateful that he had been cautious. Even though he had underestimated Ke Xingzhou and the little ghost's power, he had called back all the Taoist priests he could find.

If it had been just him, he might have already perished in the little ghost's fury.

But now, it seemed the difference between life and death was just a matter of how many people died.

Qian Daochang felt utterly hopeless. It was only by clinging to his last breath that he didn’t give up resisting, but his ritual instrument was being corrupted by the evil energy, with cracks appearing on it.

Just as he was on the brink of collapse, one of his disciples suddenly had an epiphany and shouted—

"One, two, three, wooden man! No talking, no moving!!"

As the words fell, the incredibly vicious ghost infant actually stopped all its actions right in front of them, its malevolent aura freezing in place. The disciple, who had not yet graduated, stepped forward and sealed the ghost back into the box.Qian Daochang: "..."

Other Daoist priests: "…???"

The disciple stood dumbfounded, with a "this works?" expression on his face. After a moment, facing the surprised and uncertain gazes of the Daoist priests, he hesitantly spoke: "This... this is the incantation that Master Xie gave me when he handed over the item... He said the Daoist priest who subdued it should chant it..."

At the time, he thought they were just joking. Who would have thought it actually worked!

The Daoist priests immediately fell into an even deeper silence.

...

Now, when he thought back to it, the ghost infant's piercing scream seemed to still echo in Qian Daochang's ears. But what was even more deafening was the disciple’s shout of "wooden man."

He had fought fiercely for three days and nights, only to be outdone by a playful command?!

The Daoist priests of Changsheng Temple had never suffered such a humiliating defeat in their lives. After escorting the ghost infant back to Changsheng Temple, they all shut themselves in to meditate and refused visitors.

Even after the new year, the other Daoist priests still looked at Qian Daochang with strange expressions.

After that incident, no one dared to take out the little ghost for purification again. Even now, the ghost Ke Xingzhou sent over is still sealed in the ritual array at their Changsheng Temple, under the direct watch of the ancestral master.

"..."

Thinking of this, Qian Daochang couldn't help but wipe away a tear of bitterness.

Aside from them, there probably wasn’t any other temple so disreputable, having to rely on the ancestral master to suppress a little ghost.

Recalling the horrific battle with the little ghost, he no longer dared to casually doubt Ke Xingzhou's abilities. Weakly, he spoke to Qin Qin's inquiry: "You can try. But I... may need a long time. If you want a quick solution, you should still... find Daoist Ke."

After saying this, he couldn't help but close his eyes, thinking to himself that he had to admit the truth—that he wasn't as capable as Ke Xingzhou.

However, according to Taoist "Nine Precepts," the fourth precept is to not lie. He had been a Taoist for many years, and of course, he would never deceive the followers for his own pride, going against his lifelong belief.

Qin Qin didn’t expect such an answer, and looked at Ke Xingzhou in surprise.

Perhaps thinking of how Ke Chenyi had described his non-blood-related younger brother, she hesitated: "...Is that so?"

Qian Daochang’s gaze followed to Ke Xingzhou, wondering what this young senior would say next.

Then, Ke Xingzhou slowly opened his mouth: "If you want me to perform the ritual, you'll need to pay."

Qian Daochang: "..."

Qin Qin: "..."

Qian Daochang couldn't guarantee that Ke Chenyi would recover in a short time, and since Ke's company was busy, Ke Zhengye alone wouldn't be able to manage.

So, even though Qin Qin felt more and more that Ke Xingzhou was unreliable, she could only anxiously hand over the offering money to him while looking at Qian Daochang's almost crying face.

She had been beside Qian Daochang when he calculated Ke Chenyi's direction and had seen him perform rituals. She had thought that since Qian Daochang had said it was so difficult, it must be a troublesome ritual. She even wondered if Ke Xingzhou should take a leave from the program team or something.

But instead, she saw Ke Xingzhou walk up to Ke Chenyi, and under his tearful, hopeful gaze, he punched him in the face!Qin Qin: "!!!"

Qian Daochang, who had planned to observe: "!???"

Wait, why is he hitting someone?!

Both were startled, quickly rushing forward to stop him, but Ke Xingzhou had already stepped back, his hand vaguely holding something.

Qian Daochang focused and noticed that Ke Chenyi's face was perfectly intact, looking confusedly at Ke Xingzhou in front of him. As for what Ke Xingzhou was holding, Qian Daochang took a closer look and realized it was a strange ghostly shadow with tentacles.

The ghostly figure looked different from the usual evil spirits he encountered, resembling a soft-bodied creature. When Ke Xingzhou pulled it, it revealed green patterns, and tentacles extended from its soft, sticky body—exactly seven tentacles.

The seven tentacles were connected to the seven openings of Ke Chenyi’s face!

Since the entity's body was being moved by Ke Xingzhou, these seven tentacles stretched and became more transparent, so much so that neither Qian Daochang nor Qin Qin noticed them before they rushed over.

The entity, being pulled this way, seemed to feel pain, letting out an inhuman wail that echoed eerily through the empty villa. Even Qian Daochang couldn't help but shiver, his hair standing on end.

This was the first time Qian Daochang had encountered such an evil entity. Taken by surprise, his face turned pale.

If Qian Daochang reacted this way, Qin Qin, standing beside him, was even worse—she froze in her tracks, quickly turning and running to the side, gagging.

Instinctively following her gaze, Qian Daochang finally realized that the butler, who had earlier said he was going to call the family doctor, still hadn't returned.

Moreover, despite it being the dry winter in northern Beijing, the humidity inside the villa had risen inexplicably. The walls and floors were covered in mist, forming a thin layer of water on various surfaces.

Qian Daochang found it hard to breathe.

He had practiced Taoist methods for many years and knew this was no coincidence. His expression changed, and he quickly took out a few talismans, pressing them onto himself and Qin Qin.

He was about to do the same for Ke Xingzhou and Ke Chenyi when he noticed that Ke Xingzhou's expression was calm, his dark eyes quietly watching the sticky spirit in his hands, showing no tension or caution in the face of such a terrifying entity.

The evil spirit seemed powerless in his hands, slowly and irresistibly being pulled apart.

The force of the struggle was completely absent in Ke Xingzhou, but Ke Chenyi, upon seeing the green creature pulled from his face, froze for a moment, forgetting to even shed a tear.

Anyone would lose their composure when faced with such a terrifying, bizarre entity suddenly appearing on their face, and Ke Chenyi, having just encountered a ghost, was at a point of reshaping his understanding of the world. Now this creature was enlarging right before him, almost driving him to madness.

Then, he felt the painful pulling sensation from his seven openings.

Ke Chenyi’s eyelids, nostrils, lips, and ears felt as if the skin inside was being pulled, as if his entire face was about to be ripped off!

The shock from earlier had not yet subsided, and now this happened. Ke Chenyi's mind buzzed, and he screamed uncontrollably: "Ahhh! What is this thing? Why is it on my face? My face! It hurts! My face!"

Ke Xingzhou ignored him.

His focus remained on his hand as the green creature was pulled to the brink of being torn apart, finally loosening its grip with angry, unwilling squeaks.

The evil spirit's tentacles finally started to detach.

Though Qian Daochang was older, his eyesight was sharp, and he noticed that on the tentacles, which had entered Ke Chenyi's seven openings, there were small, indistinct round particles.

Because of these particles, when the tentacles were pulled out from the seven openings, it felt as if his very soul was being pulled along, causing him to scream in terror: "Ahhh! How terrifying!!"Qian Daochang: "......"

Ke Xingzhou still ignored him. Not only did he not slow down, but he actually quickened his movements, suddenly yanking hard and completely pulling the thing out of Ke Chenyu’s seven orifices.

Only then did everyone see what the thing was.

Without the force pulling from both sides, the fleshy ball at the base of the tentacle returned to its original shape, appearing as an irregular, spindle-shaped mass, with all the tentacles extending from the bottom. It was still struggling madly, attacking Ke Xingzhou.

It resembled the root of a water lily.

Qian Daochang suddenly thought of the water lily in the vat at the entrance and was immediately alarmed. He originally wanted to help, but the reality didn’t require that—

He saw Ke Xingzhou raise his hand, swipe along the main body of the evil spirit, grab all the tentacles, and then tie them into a knot.

Evil Spirit: "..........."

Qian Daochang: "......"

It was clear that the evil spirit must have been enraged to half-death. The seven tentacles suddenly swirled up, preparing to attack Ke Xingzhou again.

However, the knotted tentacles couldn't harm Ke Xingzhou at all. Instead, their wriggling movement looked somewhat ridiculous, even resembling the balloon people at mall events when blown up by a fan.

It was terribly weak.

Qian Daochang stared at the dramatic scene, momentarily stunned.

Now that he had calmed down, he watched Ke Xingzhou’s actions and realized something was wrong—

Ke Xingzhou... he was directly grabbing the evil spirit with his bare hands?!

Qian Daochang froze as if struck by a heavy blow, his movements stopping, staring at the scene in front of him.

To be honest, although he acknowledged that Ke Xingzhou’s strength was greater than his own, he didn’t think the gap between them was that large. He thought that Ke Xingzhou’s master must have given him a powerful magic tool and that he had been thoroughly taught in metaphysical knowledge, which allowed him, at such a young age, to face the ghost infant alone.

He had refused Qin Qin’s request, partly because he knew he couldn’t restore Ke Chenyu to his normal state in such a short time, but also because he wanted to observe Ke Xingzhou’s techniques and understand the differences between them, with the intention of catching up.

But now, watching Ke Xingzhou’s hands—clean, slender, almost like a piece of art, without any protective tools—and the evil spirit in his hands, utterly unable to escape, he had to admit one fact—

Ke Xingzhou... seemed truly capable.

If it weren’t for him, even his master, the current president of the Daoist Association, the head of Changsheng Temple, couldn’t easily subdue an evil spirit that sucked people's luck.

As for catching ghosts with bare hands, even among the ancient texts Qian Daochang had seen, only a few people could achieve such a feat.

Anyone who could do it was already ranked among the immortals in the underworld.

At this point, Qian Daochang was completely stunned, staring blankly at Ke Xingzhou.

Ke Xingzhou performed this unfathomable feat as if it was perfectly normal, casually tossing the evil spirit to the ground, stepping on it, and then taking out a talisman to slap onto the evil spirit.

Then came a screeching, high-pitched sound, and what Qian Daochang had thought would take at least two or three months to remove was easily reduced to ashes.

Qian Daochang stared at the remaining faint firelight, slightly dazed, and felt like he was sinking into a mysterious, profound state, with some epiphany trying to break free in his mind—

Ke Xingzhou... could he be...At that moment, suddenly a long leg entered the line of sight, stepping onto the ashes and even grinding it a bit.

"......"

Qian Daochang's thoughts were immediately interrupted.

He silently raised his head and looked at the one who caused it.

Ke Xingzhou innocently blinked his eyes: "Playing with fire during the day, wetting the bed at night. Very dangerous."

Qian Daochang: "............"

When the butler and his people returned, they found that, except for Ke Xingzhou, everyone seemed a bit down.

Qian Daochang stared blankly at a dusty footprint on the floor, showing an expression of deep sorrow. Miss Qin, who had been crying like a tearful person when she entered earlier, was no longer sticking by the young master’s side. Her gaze kept dodging; several times, her eyes drifted past the young master without daring to look him in the eye.

Had they argued?

He looked at the others curiously, but didn’t think much about it. He cheerfully waved to Ke Xingzhou: "Young Master Xingzhou, your friend is here to pick you up!"

The butler was especially happy.

It had been so many years since Young Master Xingzhou left home, and he hadn’t had a chance to say something like this.

Although Ke Zhengye was very eager for success, Mrs. Ke never spoiled his bad habits. Whenever they entertained guests, it was always outside, and the house's cook would never cook for such occasions. As for Mrs. Ke, she had many friends and often went out for beauty treatments or the like, but never at home; they would only meet at shopping malls.

As for Ke Chenyu, that goes without saying.

The butler sighed deeply in his heart.

He pitied the young master. From a young age, he was well-behaved. Except for a few rebellious moments in front of Young Master Xingzhou, most of the time he was either studying or on the path of learning. After becoming an adult, he was immediately taken into the company by his teacher, starting from the bottom and gradually working his way up to his current position, without knowing how much sweat and effort he had put in.

But Ke Chenyu never took control of the family business. He was often ridiculed within the second-generation circle, and even the butler had heard bits of gossip from the other servants!

It was easy to imagine how difficult the young master's situation was.

Not to mention inviting friends to the house, the old butler even suspected that if it weren't for his teacher arranging his marriage, the young master might not even have managed to hold a girl’s hand.

Young Master Xingzhou was so much better!

Look at how many friends he had brought home to play in the past few days!

The old butler thought with satisfaction that, after so many years in the Ke family, he finally had the feeling of being a real butler again.

He slightly shifted to let the people behind him pass, wiping away the moisture from his eyes, and said with deep emotion: "Young Master hasn't smiled like this in such a long time...has he?"

The old butler's voice suddenly caught, feeling that the atmosphere was a bit off.

When those young men came to find him earlier, although Young Master Xingzhou didn’t show much outward emotion, his state was at least relaxed. Sometimes he would even unconsciously curve his eyebrows and eyes in a smile.

But why was it that this time, when these people came, Young Master Xingzhou not only didn’t look happy, but also seemed to be on high alert?The butler looked suspiciously at the people behind him, silently observing them.

It didn’t make sense.

Tall, with long legs, wide shoulders, and narrow hips—his body proportions were obviously great, and there was even a hint of mixed-blood, with deep and captivating eyes. When those gray-green eyes looked over, even this old man felt a strange urge to fall in love.

Wasn’t this exactly the type Young Master Xingzhou liked?

Last time, when his teacher disagreed with their relationship, they even held hands in front of everyone, causing his teacher to almost faint from anger.

The old butler, based solely on his decades of life experience and the bits and pieces he had glimpsed during his busy days, had already imagined the whole situation.

Could it be that he misunderstood?

“……” Ke Xingzhou didn’t notice the butler’s expression.

He looked at Nie Chen, who had walked out from behind the butler, and indeed, he couldn’t smile.

It was true that, a few days ago, when they had broken into the Ke family together, Nie Chen’s wound had reminded Ke Xingzhou of the scene from when they were together in the countryside, and he couldn’t help but waver over their past separation.

But after a few days of calm, Ke Xingzhou quickly noticed the unnatural aspects of the whole situation—

He had been in such a rush to kick down the door because he knew there was an incomplete evil spirit in the Ke family, but at the time, even he didn’t know what the situation inside was. So why did Nie Chen bite his finger so early?

Nie Chen had a special constitution. Besides being able to see ghosts, his blood and flesh had exorcising effects because of the abundance of merit he carried.

A long time ago, when they were still together, in urgent situations where they didn’t have time to make talismans, Nie Chen would bite his finger, using his own blood as a substitute for cinnabar, allowing Ke Xingzhou to use his finger to draw the talismans.

As time went on, Nie Chen learned most of the talismans, and Ke Xingzhou only needed to focus on fighting and casting spells, leaving the rest to Nie Chen.

—That’s how they performed ghost exorcism remotely at the Wang family.

But after all, that was a last resort.

Since Ke Xingzhou had learned enough to skillfully draw talismans and chant incantations at the same time, this situation had rarely occurred again.

But this time, Nie Chen had bitten his finger as soon as he arrived, and then, unusually, exposed the wound to everyone.

The more Ke Xingzhou thought about it, the more he felt it was deliberate, and the complex emotions that had initially surged within him suddenly felt wrong.

He had originally thought that Xie An and those foolish kids wouldn’t be able to outplay Nie Chen, so he chose to have Zhu Chu come pick him up, avoiding unnecessary meetings with Nie Chen and being influenced by his dramatic display.

But unexpectedly, Zhu Chu was even more useless.

At least Xie An knew to follow him, but Zhu Chu had outright sold him out!

Ke Xingzhou opened his phone, about to ask Zhu Chu, only to find that a few minutes ago, Zhu Chu had sent him a message saying he had been in a car accident. He then excitedly told him that the person who had come to pick him up today was a particularly powerful big shot, and he would be very surprised when he met him.

Ke Xingzhou: "......"

Surprised my foot!