Chapter 56

Ke Xingzhou really didn’t know how to explain Nie Chen’s talent issue to Zhu Chu.

Was he supposed to say that aside from being an excellent talisman-drawing toolman, Nie Chen had absolutely no talent in metaphysics, and that the only reason he was so good at drawing talismans was because Ke Xingzhou had previously focused all his energy on incantations and was slow in learning talisman drawing?

Nie Chen himself didn’t really care either way.

When he heard Zhu Chu’s proposal, his gaze deepened as he looked at Ke Xingzhou, with a thoughtful expression on his face.

Master and disciple, huh...

Ke Xingzhou felt a jolt in his heart under Nie Chen’s gaze and instinctively wanted to refuse—it felt like a bad omen.

But before he could speak, Zhu Chu pulled him aside.

Zhu Chu leaned in and whispered, “Shifu, don’t be so quick to say no. I’ve thought about it—our sect is short on both people and money. If it’s just the two of us, development is really going to be difficult.”

He quietly laid out the current struggles their sect was facing.

Not to mention that the sect’s land was still occupied by the Tourism Bureau—they didn’t even have a proper mountain. Just the recent meet-and-greet... no, the incense-offering event alone had huge expenses.

Building shelters for devotees lining up, handing out heat packs, staff wages, maintenance of incense burners and offering tables, the sect’s promotional costs... Although the chief director had kindly helped cover part of it for now, the show would only be filmed for a limited time.

“We really need to start making plans early,” Zhu Chu lowered his voice further, sneaking a glance at Nie Chen, who didn’t seem to be paying attention. “Also, I wasn’t even exaggerating—Mr. Nie isn’t just rich, he’s very rich! The whole production team belongs to him! If we take him in as a disciple, there’s only profit, no loss!”

Ke Xingzhou: “……”

As for Nie Chen’s wealth, Ke Xingzhou had known much earlier than Zhu Chu, and knew even more details.

However, Ke Xingzhou had truly never thought of taking Nie Chen as a disciple just to get him to spend money on their sect. Now that he considered the idea, his heart was pounding even faster than when Nie Chen had leaned close to him earlier.

Come to think of it, Nie Chen really was extremely rich. If that money could be used for their purposes...

Ke Xingzhou’s heart skipped a beat—he nearly lost his moral footing. Thankfully, the moment he felt Nie Chen’s intense gaze on him again, its overwhelming pressure snapped him back to his senses.

He hesitated, paused for a moment, then shook his head with difficulty. “No... better not. Having you as a disciple is already enough...”

Before he could finish, Nie Chen slowly interrupted: “Shifu. This disciple is willing to buy this base and register it under the name of the Xiaoyao Sect.”

Ke Xingzhou’s tone changed instantly: “More than enough. Bringing in a junior disciple to supervise your talisman practice doesn’t sound bad either. Zhu Chu, that was an excellent suggestion.”

Zhu Chu: “……”

Shifu’s love was truly like a landslide—sudden and utterly overwhelming.But who could refuse an entire filming base?

That was a massive commercial complex spanning dozens of acres! The construction cost alone was enough to make jaws drop, not to mention the future income from renting it out to production teams—truly a windfall from the heavens!

Zhu Chu felt a brief pang of sadness, then quickly remembered that even if he sold all the parts of his body, he’d only be worth a few million, not even close to a fraction of the value of the base. His mood immediately calmed.

What virtue or ability did he have to compare with Mr. Nie!

And so, the matter of taking a disciple was settled just like that.

Nie Chen, the future heir of a top-tier wealthy family, became the second disciple of the third generation of Xiaoyao Temple. Only then did Zhu Chu realize that as the senior disciple, he had effectively latched onto a ridiculously thick golden thigh, and immediately became flattering.

He trotted over eagerly: “Junior... ah no, Mr. Nie, we’ll be counting on you for the talismans!”

Such a mess of titles...

Nie Chen gave a slight nod, his gaze quickly passing over him and landing on Ke Xingzhou behind, the corners of his eyes gradually curling into a smile. He slowly savored this new title he had just received: “Shī... fù?”

Ke Xingzhou: “……”

The other party was so generous, Ke Xingzhou couldn’t really meet him with his usual cold scowl. Even though the tone Nie Chen used made his scalp tingle, he still forced himself to nod: “Mm.”

His ears turned red, and he awkwardly looked away. Using the excuse that he had to continue filming, he slipped away like he was escaping.

Nie Chen watched his retreating back, his gaze darkening even further.

Zhu Chu, however, remained completely unaware of the subtle tension between the two. He was still thrilled about the brilliant idea he had come up with, and now, feeling even more honored by Mr. Nie’s calm and approachable demeanor, he was beside himself with joy.

—Mr. Nie is actually so easygoing!

Those rumors were clearly untrustworthy. Mr. Nie was such a good person! Nothing like the unfathomable image others described!

Zhu Chu became even more convinced that his idea had been the right move. Clearly, the sect’s future depended on him!

He immersed himself in the joy of the sect’s imminent growth and didn’t even notice when his master had left. When he turned around, he saw Mr. Nie drawing talismans again.

Zhu Chu couldn’t help but reflect on how he always got distracted and lazy. Once more, he scooted over to express concern: “Junior brother...”

But just as he approached, Mr. Nie’s calm face suddenly shifted, and a single glance from him made Zhu Chu feel a chill run down his spine.

Zhu Chu: “……”

He instinctively stopped in his tracks, mind momentarily blank. He couldn’t help but wonder whether he’d just said something wrong that caused a misunderstanding.

Clearly, Mr. Nie hadn’t acted like this earlier when Master was present!

But it was only two words—he hadn’t even gotten to the part about expressing concern for his junior’s wrist. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t figure out what had gone wrong.

He stammered and changed his wording: “M-Mr. Nie. A hundred talismans should be more than enough. Y-you should rest a bit… your wrist…”

Nie Chen withdrew his gaze and looked at the nearly finished talisman papers before him, his expression softening.

He pulled out his phone and began taking photos of the talismans on the table, carefully selecting one that looked decent. As his fingertip tapped the screen, he gave Zhu Chu a faint glance.

“These aren’t for sale.”"Huh?"

“These are for Shifu.” He put extra weight on the word Shifu, and in his lowered gaze flashed an emotion others could hardly discern. “All of these are.”

Zhu Chu followed his gesture and looked around at the talisman papers drying nearby, nodding dumbly.

After a moment, sensing something off, he suddenly looked up and examined them again.

“Wait, junior brother—no, Mr. Nie.” He trembled under his junior’s gaze, eyes brimming with tears, even his tone when asking questions grew feeble. “Aren’t these the ones you drew for our online store?”

Nie Chen simply stared at him silently, making Zhu Chu’s scalp tingle.

“W-Well, yeah. Mr. Nie’s calligraphy is worth a fortune, using them for online sales might not be very appropriate.” Zhu Chu laughed awkwardly, trying to find a way out. But he still couldn’t help asking, “But our Xiaoyao Sect’s online store opens in a few days. About the inventory…”

Only then did Nie Chen slowly withdraw his gaze and calmly reply, “I’ll have Assistant Liu supervise your talisman training carefully. Try to deliver satisfactory results before the store opens.”

“...” Zhu Chu let out a long sniffle. “U-Understood. Thank you, Mr. Nie.”

Sob sob.

Why did it feel like taking in this junior didn’t lighten his burden at all—on the contrary, it seemed even heavier now?

Zhu Chu suddenly felt like he’d just lifted a rock to smash his own foot.

--

“Ge! Over here!”

Ke Xingzhou had barely walked a few steps when he heard Xie An’s energetic voice.

Looking up, he saw Xie An, An Heguang, and Ke Yuanbai getting off the shuttle and jogging toward him.

Xie An leaned in and rubbed his head against Ke Xingzhou’s hand twice. Noticing he’d just come from the break room, he asked curiously, “Ge, I heard you took Mr. Nie as your disciple?”

Ke Xingzhou: “Who told you that?”

This had just happened—how did Xie An find out so quickly?

Just as the question formed in his mind, Xie An pulled out his phone and held it up to him: “No one had to! Ge, didn’t you know? Mr. Nie just posted about it on his Moments!”

Nie Chen?

Ke Xingzhou was completely baffled.

He knew Xie An had Nie Chen’s contact, but given Nie Chen’s aloof personality, he rarely chatted with acquaintances, much less posted anything personal on social media.

Let alone within just a few minutes—was Nie Chen really that eager to share?

He leaned in for a look and immediately fell silent.

For a moment, he almost suspected Xie An was showing him a fake account. But in the post just uploaded, the table covered in yellow talismans was exactly the scene he’d seen just now.

Surely no one would dare sneak a photo of Nie Chen’s desk under his nose at this point?But the caption under the photo shook Ke Xingzhou deeply—

【Preparing for Shifu. First time I’ve felt like two hands aren’t enough.】

There were even earlier posts.

Just at a glance, he saw photos from two days ago: Nie Chen picking him up at the Ke residence, a shot of him standing at the car door talking to Daoist Qian, and another of the two of them tugging at each other beside the car when they arrived at the base.

He had no idea where those were taken from. Ke Yuanbai wasn’t visible at all in the shots—any outsider would think it was just the two of them alone the entire time.

Moreover, the image quality was absurdly high.

So clear that even a casual glance showed Ke Xingzhou’s flushed earlobes and the way he deliberately avoided Nie Chen’s gaze.

Nie Chen had even posted a picture of an apple afterward in his Moments, with a caption: 【Very tasty.】

Ke Xingzhou: “…………”

Something seemed to explode in his brain.

He hadn’t removed Nie Chen from his blocklist, so he had no idea Nie Chen had been posting all these ambiguous updates in private!

That bastard Nie Chen!

“What’s this about taking a disciple?” An Heguang heard Xie An’s words and curiously leaned in. “Xie Xiao’an, you added Mr. Nie on WeChat behind our backs? Spill it—what kind of stuff does he post privately?”

As he spoke, he craned his neck to look, and Ke Xingzhou panicked, quickly snatching the phone and turning off the screen.

“Nothing,” he said, trying to stay calm. “Just some trivial stuff.”

Xie An blinked in confusion, giving Ke Xingzhou a strange look: “It’s not trivial. I’ve seen it all. It’s all about you, Ge.”

The moment the words left his mouth, the atmosphere froze.

An Heguang looked suspiciously between Xie An and Ke Xingzhou: “Why is Mr. Nie’s Moments entirely filled with posts about Master?”

Ke Xingzhou: “……”

Even Ke Yuanbai, for some reason, quietly turned to look at him, a faint light in his eyes.

“……” Ke Xingzhou felt his scalp tingle. He had no idea how to explain any of this, and sweat began to bead on his forehead.

Luckily, Xie An looked at them with a baffled expression: “Why not? My Moments are full of photos of my Ge too!”

An Heguang and Ke Yuanbai whipped their heads toward him, horrified: “You??”

Xie An didn’t understand why they were so shocked. He nodded confidently: “Yeah, Mr. Nie and I have a lot in common. We’re both diehard fans of Ge. We even regularly exchange candid photos of him. What’s wrong with that?”

Candid photos…

Ke Xingzhou fell silent, glanced down at his now-dark phone screen, and suddenly became very curious about what kind of conversations these two usually had.

Wait… why were they exchanging photos of him in the first place?

An Heguang and Ke Yuanbai, hearing this explanation, actually looked like they accepted it without question.Fans, after all, love to use photos of their idols as wallpapers and such.

Let alone exchanging pictures—those with a bit more money have even gone as far as custom-ordering silicone figurines.

An Heguang looked closely at Ke Xingzhou and nodded in agreement: “True. If you two weren’t privately exchanging stuff, with Master Ke’s personality, he probably wouldn’t ever take photos for public use in his entire life. Right, little Ke?”

He looked toward Ke Yuanbai, trying to find some shared understanding, but for some reason, Ke Yuanbai’s expression became even more complicated.

He looked at Ke Xingzhou, then at the lounge behind him, fell silent for a moment, then raised a hand and patted Xie An on the shoulder.

Practically through gritted teeth, he squeezed out, “...You’ve done well.”

Then, face full of sorrow, he staggered away.

The three left behind: “???”

Xie An touched his shoulder in confusion, vaguely feeling like the look Ke Yuanbai gave him before leaving was full of envy and pity.

Was he envious of the many photos he had of Ke Xingzhou?

But what was the pity for?

He couldn’t figure it out no matter how he thought about it. Luckily, the live recording was about to begin, so he decisively tossed this trivial matter from his mind, dragging Ke Xingzhou and An Heguang along to the filming site.

“Hurry up, I heard a new guest is joining today—an amazing senior!”

—10 minutes later.

Ke Xingzhou looked at Ji Han, who was waving at him excitedly from the mentor’s seat, and Nie Chen, who sat next to him with no visible change in expression but still radiated a chilling aura—and sank into even deeper silence.

Is it still too late to quit the show?

—

The live broadcast of All-Round Idol’s second episode had only just begun when it once again broke through the competition and soared to trending status thanks to its unique rules.

It wasn’t until episode 2 began airing that the audience realized—episode 1 of All-Round Idol had actually aired with no celebrity mentors at all. The contestants had achieved stellar viewership numbers purely through coaching from dance and vocal teachers, along with their own efforts.

And right as the broadcast began, the production team dropped several more bombshell announcements—

【The “Rotating Mentor” initiative has officially begun! In every upcoming episode, we’ll invite different celebrity mentors based on online votes to join the show and provide unique guidance and training for the contestants. Stay tuned to see what sparks will fly between the players and their ever-changing mentors!】

In addition, the live broadcast rules had undergone major changes.

Unlike the group dorms in episode 1, the top-ranking contestants would now move into a private villa area prepared by the show. Not only would each contestant enjoy their own villa, but they would also have a dedicated livestream feed. Even during joint training sessions with other contestants, their individual livestreams would remain active.

It was essentially an extra channel for them to gain more fans.

But this advantage wasn’t exclusive to them.

During the entire livestream, any contestant could challenge a top-ranking contestant in popularity or skill. If successful, they could immediately swap ranks and inherit the exclusive livestream channel.

Failure didn’t mean elimination—it only triggered a cooldown period before the next challenge attempt.It’s worth mentioning that the challengers don’t even have to be current contestants in the show.

—In other words, the 50 contestants eliminated in the previous episode could return to the competition at any time and issue challenges to the remaining participants.

As soon as the new rule was announced, the audience following the show went wild.

【Oh my god! The production team’s got guts! Changing guests at will, letting contestants come and go—they’re really not afraid of offending anyone!】

【Now I finally understand why All-Round Idol dares to call itself the most fair and just talent show! As expected of the Wanli Group—money really does bring confidence!】

【As a long-disappointed fan of strong, capable contestants, I originally planned to take a quick look and leave, but now I’ve decided to follow the show regularly! I hope the production team can hold strong and maintain this system till the end—don’t let me down!!】

【My hopes are finally crushed. Ahhhhh my baby! Mommy loves you, but your fundamentals really aren’t up to par! While the challenge window hasn’t opened yet, hurry and train hard! Practicing 24 hours a day should be enough. Mommy believes in you!】

The contestant mentioned in the barrage of comments immediately blushed, surrounded by stares and teasing looks, nearly on the verge of tears.

Wuwuwu... Sure, they knew their fundamentals were weak, but did they really have to write it out on the screen like that?

And so many people copied it too!

How rude!

The production team also liked to stir the pot—before, they had the advancing contestants say farewell to those eliminated, with many people crying on the spot. Yet at the start of episode 2, the very same eliminated contestants who had appeared on the big screen in tearful goodbyes were suddenly sitting in the audience, smiling and waving.

The advancing contestants were instantly emotionally wrecked.

What kind of show waits until people have cried their hearts out to tell them that their old teammates are now their rivals?

For a while, some were thrilled, others were devastated—wails of anguish could be heard all over the set.

Even those already in the top seats, like Xie An and the others, couldn’t help but feel nervous for once.

After all, according to the rules, challengers could choose between a popularity challenge or a skill challenge. Even if someone had both popularity and skill, they might still lose their spot if they were in bad shape during one particular challenge.

Everyone was on edge. Any laziness built up over the holiday break vanished in an instant thanks to this twist from the production team.

All nerves were taut. As soon as the opening performance stage was recorded, everyone threw themselves into intense training—

—except for Ke Xingzhou.

He had assumed he’d be voted out after last episode and had unexpectedly been promoted by Xie An’s fans. He hadn’t planned on advancing and was now just hoping someone would challenge and replace him so he could rest.

Even if he couldn’t leave the production team just yet, anything was better than training in the practice room every day.

To that end, he deliberately avoided Xie An and An Heguang, found a little corner for himself, piled up some beanbags, and was preparing to sleep through another entire episode.

Who would’ve thought that just as he was about to lie down, he’d get a call from the director’s team.

The chief director’s tone was very complicated: “Master Ke... um, a few Daoists suddenly showed up at the gate, saying they’re here to catch ghosts...”

Ke Xingzhou frowned: “Didn’t you tell them those are all benevolent spirits?”

Speaking of the haunted house, Ke Xingzhou still hadn’t found a suitable place to relocate those spirits, so for now, the benevolent ghosts of the Xiaoyao Sect were still staying at the filming base.

Having so many spirits gathered in one place was bound to attract the attention of other Daoist temples. But hadn’t the Capital’s Daoist Association already been informed? Didn’t they notify the other temples so they wouldn’t overreact?Ke Xingzhou just thought the Daoist Association’s information was slow and planned to clarify things with them.

Who knew the chief director’s voice grew more tangled: “We told them, but... but something unfortunate happened.”

Ke Xingzhou: “?”

The chief director hesitated, then reluctantly said, “When they came, one of the staff in your haunted house just happened to scare a guest unconscious. They saw it. Ji Han is arguing with them right now...”

After he spoke, there was a pause, then Ke Xingzhou heard Ji Han’s confident voice—

“Oh, it’s just a scare, right? He’s not really involved. Our Xiaoyao Sect is a proper sect, we definitely wouldn’t do any cruel or unjust things... Ghosts? What ghosts? Once he wakes up, I’ll tell Master Ke to properly criticize those ghost staff!”

Ke Xingzhou: “...”

Where did this nonsense even come from!

—

When Ke Xingzhou arrived at the scene with Zhu Chu, the chief director had already gathered everyone into the lounge.

Ji Han was still in that same self-righteous mood from the call earlier, infuriating the two Daoists—a fat one and a thin one—across from him so much their eyes nearly popped out.

Zhu Chu was good with people and knew his sect’s staff had been at fault for scaring someone, so he apologized awkwardly: “Sorry, sorry, maybe the benevolent ghosts have been celebrating the New Year too much lately and weren’t careful. I reminded them specifically when work started, but they still scared someone. I’ll manage them strictly from now on and won’t let them off easily. Please, sirs, show mercy and forgive these benevolent ghosts...”

The fat and thin Daoists: “...”

Hearing this, they thought Zhu Chu was at least reasonable, but as he spoke on, it only got more ridiculous—he was even more unreasonable than the first guy, their eyes almost bulging.

“You scared someone unconscious, and you call that benevolent ghosts!” The fat Daoist burst with righteous anger. “You want us to show mercy? What about this victim!?”

Zhu Chu looked in the direction the Daoist pointed and saw the unconscious person, feeling a headache coming on.

He leaned closer to the director and asked, “Director, who is this? I don’t remember seeing them before.”

The chief director paused and pointed at the name tag on the person’s chest: “Peng Jingshan. Our big guest for episode two.”

Zhu Chu: “...???”

Peng Jingshan? Isn’t he the well-known actor who recently won three Best Actor awards?

Peng Jingshan used to be a top supporting actor, having won several Best Supporting Actor awards, and only in middle age started transitioning to lead roles. So although he’s a new Best Actor winner, he’s been a familiar face on screen for a long time.

He grew up watching Peng Jingshan’s dramas and movies—how could he not recognize him?

Zhu Chu, skeptical, leaned in to look carefully and indeed it was Peng Jingshan.

Those eyebrows, eyes, nose—weren’t they the ones he was most familiar with?

He gave Peng Jingshan a puzzled glance, not understanding why he hadn’t recognized him before, but given the current situation, he pushed the thought aside.

Zhu Chu looked around; a few mischievous benevolent ghosts were waiting nearby. He waved at them: “Didn’t I tell you all a few days ago when we started work? Be cautious, don’t scare the living people in the mortal world. Do you still want to keep your ‘Mortal Residence Permit’ or not?”

The old lady ghost immediately protested: “No, no! We were just honestly floating around, only looking at the contestants’ chest muscles, and when they weren’t paying attention, touching their abs a little to satisfy our cravings. That mountain guy is already over fifty, who’d want him anyway!”Fat and thin Daoists: “……”

Both of them were completely flustered now. What kind of sect is this Xiaoyao Sect anyway?

Having benevolent ghosts would be one thing, but how could they allow benevolent ghosts to touch the male contestants’ abs like that?!

Zhu Chu felt extremely embarrassed under their shocked gazes, but since it really was his staff who messed up, he had no solution and could only glare at the old lady ghost to shut her up.

He looked around, then pointed at a young female ghost: “You explain, what exactly happened?”

The female ghost trembled, clearly aware she was in the wrong, her voice timid: “We don’t really know... We were studying how long it takes for contestants’ chest and abdominal muscles to develop. We thought male ghosts might understand this better, so we casually pulled one ghost over. Who knew it ended up being him!”

“Yeah, yeah.” Another ghost chimed in, “At first, we thought it was a like-minded person coming to study together. We got so excited we floated up and spun around a couple times, and when we turned back, he had fainted. We’re really innocent! If you don’t believe us… check the surveillance!”

Checking the surveillance, it was exactly as the ghosts said.

At first, just a few ghostly figures were whispering here, and Peng Jingshan walked nearby. They beckoned him over, and they chatted happily for a while.

If those female ghosts hadn’t suddenly gotten so excited they were bleeding from their seven orifices, jumping and rolling on the roof, Peng Jingshan wouldn’t have suddenly fainted.

Zhu Chu, who had felt guilty before, straightened up instantly after seeing this footage.

“I told you! I specifically looked up the employee management handbook on Baidu and stayed up late revising it for our Xiaoyao Sect’s situation. Such a serious mistake can’t happen!”

Employee management handbook… Baidu…

The fat and thin Daoists were speechless, unsure where to start complaining.

Zhu Chu thought they didn’t believe him, so he waved at the old lady ghost: “Go, bring the ‘Employee Management Handbook’ I made for you!”

The old lady ghost shyly twisted the corner of her clothes, embarrassed: “That handbook… my pockets aren’t big enough, so I put it in my foot wrap. If you want to see it, that’s fine, but don’t say my feet stink!”

After the haunted house incident was rejected by a young handsome guy, this matter was deeply imprinted in the old lady ghost’s mind. She had to warn these two Daoists beforehand.

Otherwise, if they got disgusted and angrily took her away, it wouldn’t be good.

Foot wrap…

The two Daoists instinctively looked down at the old lady ghost’s feet, then quickly waved their hands: “No, no… no need, we believe you.”

After that, they fell silent again, exchanged glances, and wiped sweat from their foreheads.

The fat Daoist looked around at the clean bright room, then at Ke Xingzhou’s young, handsome face—who they called Dao Zhang—and suddenly didn’t know who was really the heretic here.

—That’s right, these two were the fat and thin Dao Zhangs of Jiulong Temple.

They came here originally to investigate Xiaoyao Sect’s secrets—to see what made Xiaoyao Sect stronger, since it had stolen most of their followers in just a few days.

But from the moment they entered, they were rendered speechless by the series of events.

Now they weren’t even sure if their own temple still qualified as a proper evil heretical sect.

…Failing at being evil heretics, what kind of nonsense is this?

A wave of sadness suddenly surged in the fat Daoist’s heart. He almost wanted to sob loudly but then suddenly heard the excessively handsome fake Daoist ask him, “Which temple are you two from?”After Ke Xingzhou entered, he looked at the two Daoists with suspicion.

He didn’t sense much Daoist energy on them, nor did he feel any karmic resentment.

Were these two really Daoists?

If the Daoist Association’s Dao Zhangs knew what he was thinking right now, they would probably cry out loud—they had doubted Xiaoyao Sect so many times, and now it was Xiaoyao Sect’s turn to doubt other sects!

The two Dao Zhangs opposite were obviously surprised by Ke Xingzhou’s question.

They thought: This sect is already in such a state, and they still have the nerve to question us?

Previously, the two Dao Zhangs, who had been too afraid to appear in public fearing they would be discovered as heretics, suddenly felt somewhat confident now, especially given the even more irregular situation at Xiaoyao Sect.

The tall thin one with a small mustache slightly raised his chin: “I am the Sect Master of Jiulong Temple. This is my junior brother; you may call him Daoist Pang.”

Ke Xingzhou had only asked casually since the other party didn’t show any resentment. He nodded slightly: “Oh.”

The two fake Daoists: “……”

No, dude. You just say that?

At least ask which deity their temple worships!

The Jiulong Sect Master’s well-prepared speech draft was wasted; he felt stuck, unable to speak up or back down, uncomfortable, but more convinced the sect was abnormal.

They didn’t even know how many Daoist temples there were in the capital. They had already introduced themselves and didn’t even check their Daoist certificates and conversion certificates. Really…

Really unorthodox!

A sudden feeling of frustration and helplessness surged in the Jiulong Sect Master’s heart.

--

After both sects confirmed the other was the same kind of existence, the previously tense atmosphere relaxed significantly.

After witnessing the irregularities of Xiaoyao Sect firsthand, the fat and thin Dao Zhangs suddenly gained great confidence in their own Jiulong Temple.

The tall thin one now assumed the posture of a reputable sect member and scolded the other with a stern face: “Even if it was accidental, it’s wrong! So many ghosts—how could you let them roam freely where living people gather? That’s just outrageous!”

Hearing the other party’s temple name sounded so prestigious, Zhu Chu thought they were a famous sect like Changsheng Temple and was quite impressed. He was not angry at all but instead looked humble and eager to learn, politely handing over his business card.

“Sorry for the trouble. Our temple indeed lacks experience managing benevolent ghosts. There is much we need to learn from you both. This time counts as meeting through conflict; I hope you will guide us in the future.”

He then took out his phone: “May I ask which ‘Jiu’ and which ‘Long’ your temple is? Why don’t we follow each other on social media? That way, we can learn more from your esteemed temple.”

Follow each other…

The tall thin one’s arrogance suddenly froze, and he glanced suspiciously at the young people before him.

What? Nowadays, heretics are so blatant? They directly register social media accounts and promote by following each other??

Since joining Jiulong Temple, he had always been hiding, afraid of being discovered by too many people. Now, he suddenly felt his former self was such a fool.Zhu Chu felt a bit strange that they didn’t respond and thought they looked down on him, feeling somewhat gloomy inside.

He thought to himself that newly established temples are indeed easy to be underestimated. Even though Xiaoyao Sect already had so many fans online, reputable temples still looked down on them...

Who knew that just a moment later, the Jiulong Sect Master’s eyes suddenly grew firm. He gave him a disdainful glance and arrogantly said, “Our reputable temple doesn’t do these kinds of things. But you’re right—in the information age, we do need to keep up with the times. I’ll have someone register a Weibo account when I get back, and then we can follow each other.”

The fat Daoist, just coming to his senses, was: “???????”