Chapter 74

Peng Jingshan, in a daze, bought a second talisman bundle. When he took out the talisman he had just placed in his inner pocket, he was shocked to find that the cinnabar characters on the talisman had faded.

Was the quality this poor?

This thought just entered his mind, but he quickly dismissed it.

How could something given to him by Master Ke have quality problems?

Then he noticed that the cinnabar writing on the talisman showed no signs of being scratched off. The surrounding yellow paper had some burnt marks, and the surface of the paper was charred and raised.

It looked as if it had been soaked in water and then dried.

But when he first received it, he had carefully examined the talisman, and it had been clean and neat, with no signs of dirt or aging.

It couldn't have become old by itself in the short few minutes it was in his pocket, right?

While he was puzzled, Zhu Chu reminded him, “Once you take the talisman back, make sure it doesn’t get wet or dirty. Also, I forgot to tell you last time, but if the talisman comes into contact with evil things, it will start to deteriorate. When the cinnabar characters start to fade and darken, you’ll need to replace it.”

Peng Jingshan looked at the newly received talisman bundle with bright, fresh cinnabar characters in his palm, and then at the badge on the table that he thought was a gift from a fan. At that moment, everything clicked.

So that’s it!

Peng Jingshan realized that his earlier suspicion had been correct—Master Ke's talisman had indeed been protecting him!

In an instant, his respect for Ke Xingzhou grew even more. He carefully stored the talisman, and when his palm covered the pocket holding it, he felt a sense of calm wash over him.

The Taoist priests nearby, however, couldn’t remain calm.

The old Taoist with the goat beard furrowed his brow. “Normally, if a talisman is well-kept, it can ensure safety for many years as long as it doesn’t get wet or dirty. I’ve been cultivating for years, yet I’ve never heard of talismans being damaged by evil spirits.”

This implied that Ke Xingzhou and his group were deceiving him.

Peng Jingshan, who had been polite to them before, thinking that since they were brought by Master Ke, he could ask them for help during rituals and even pay a little for their trouble, couldn’t hold back anymore. He glared at the old Taoist with a look that seemed to say, “How dare you insult my beliefs?” The old Taoist instinctively shut his mouth in fear.

Peng Jingshan sized him up, then, with a stern face, asked, “This Taoist, I don’t think we knew each other before, did we?”

The old Taoist, who was usually flattered and fawned over by others, had never been spoken to like this by a believer. He was momentarily caught off guard, frowning as he responded, “Naturally.”

If he had known this person, he wouldn’t have been fooled by such a flashy little Taoist temple.

The old Taoist thought he was offering some good advice, trying to make Peng Jingshan open his eyes and distinguish between the real and the fake. But hearing Peng Jingshan's question, he felt insulted and thought Peng Jingshan was about to argue with him.Peng Jingshan unexpectedly shifted his tone and glanced at the local Taoist priests: "After searching for so long, have you found what’s been harming me?"

The Taoists, who had been studying the badge he placed on the table, suddenly felt awkward at his words.

Earlier, when Peng Jingshan hadn't mentioned the fake fan who gave him the badge, they hadn't thought to focus on him. They had used their ritual tools to check around the room and found no signs of anything strange.

But honestly, it wasn’t their fault. After all, Peng Jingshan hadn’t made things clear.

Peng Jingshan snorted coldly: “When you first came to me, you swore you could help solve my problem. Now that Master Ke has solved it and found the evil object causing trouble, why does it seem like none of you are happy for me?”

His words nearly pointed directly at the Taoists, accusing them of jealousy toward Ke Xingzhou, yet they couldn’t argue with him.

With the advancement of technology and social development, people’s lives had improved, but many traditional Taoist temples had found it increasingly difficult to survive. They were indeed dismissive of the Xiaoyao Sect, a popular temple gaining fame from variety shows and online stores, and their sarcastic remarks were not entirely out of concern for Peng Jingshan.

But they didn’t think they were wrong.

The old Taoist with the goat beard sneered: “Evil objects aren’t that easy to deal with. Why don’t you ask them how they plan to handle this badge?”

He confidently stroked his beard and looked condescendingly at Ke Xingzhou and his group.

The young people, looking to be only in their twenties, were frequently referred to as “Master Ke” by Peng Jingshan. One of them, in particular, was so delicate and youthful, looking even younger than his disciples.

Different sects handled evil spirits in different ways, but they all had one thing in common: it required experienced Taoists to preside over the rituals.

First, they would dissolve the obsession in the evil object, and then proceed with the usual process, using cinnabar, copper mirrors, and other items to destroy the evil completely.

In his mind, he quickly ran through his sect's process for handling evil objects and estimated a time. Just as he was about to open his mouth to teach these inexperienced young people a lesson, he saw a delicate white hand reach out from the side and easily pick up the nine-headed dragon badge with two slender fingers.

The old Taoist’s expression changed slightly: “How could you touch an evil object directly? Quickly put it down! Be careful that the evil spirit doesn’t cause trouble and possess you…”

Before he finished speaking, Ke Xingzhou’s two fingers gently squeezed, and the evil object that had seemed like a great threat to the local Taoists instantly turned into a pile of scrap metal.

Ke Xingzhou casually tossed the destroyed badge into the trash can and dusted off the cinnabar powder on his hands. When he saw their stunned expressions, he remembered to thank them: “Thanks for the reminder. This thing was pretty scary to look at outside. Now, it’s gone, and I can sleep well tonight.”

The old Taoist with the goat beard: “?”

The Taoists: “???”

The group stood in stunned silence for a moment, and then all turned their eyes to the most authoritative old Taoist present.

Under their gaze, the old Taoist snapped out of his daze, but he still couldn’t understand how Ke Xingzhou had done it—wasn’t this supposed to be an evil object?!

Based on his years of experience, evil objects created by sinister sects always carried some dark energy, and they were different from regular items. According to the usual process, they couldn’t be destroyed or discarded until the evil within them had been neutralized.

But even if it were just an ordinary badge, it shouldn’t be crumpled into a lump with just two fingers, right?!

He looked at Ke Xingzhou, and his gaze, which had initially been filled with disdain and resentment, gradually turned into shock.

The other Taoists could tell from his expression that the old Taoist with the goat beard could never do this, and now, they looked at Ke Xingzhou with a mix of suspicion and complexity.

How could someone with such a small frame have this much strength?

Ke Xingzhou, however, remained unaffected by their shock. He simply looked disdainfully at the badge remains in the trash can.The nine-headed dragon badge really was ugly. Ke Xingzhou couldn’t understand how they had the courage to print those dragon heads, which looked like caterpillars, onto the merchandise.

Look at how scared his eldest disciple was, trembling.

He patted his eldest disciple’s head and felt that Zhu Chu seemed to shiver again. Ke Xingzhou felt even more heartache for this diligent and hardworking disciple.

“Don’t worry, it won’t scare you.” Ke Xingzhou awkwardly reassured him.

Zhu Chu only felt like his master’s gaze could freeze him to death, and a cold sweat broke out on his back. However, ever since his junior brother entered the sect, his master hadn’t paid this much attention to him for a long time.

Considering this rare moment of master-disciple bonding, he gritted his teeth and didn’t move.

Meeting his master’s concerned gaze, he felt deeply touched inside.

But then he heard Ke Xingzhou say, “You can’t fall ill. If the talismans don’t get delivered in a few days, I won’t be able to handle it.”

Zhu Chu: “……”

Nie Chen slowly withdrew his gaze.

--

To get back to the main topic.

The local Taoist priests from Jiangcheng quickly regained their composure.

Since they had lost face to the young people from the Xiaoyao Sect in dealing with the evil object, the local priests were eager to recover some dignity in another area. So, they took the initiative to suggest: “To untie the knot, one must be the one who tied it. The person you suspect is next door? How about you take us to see them?”

This was a common method of mediation. After all, dealing with evil spirits was quite dangerous, and they didn’t want to take unnecessary risks if the situation could be resolved through dialogue.

If it were other ordinary people, the local priests' approach wouldn’t be wrong. But the problem was that Peng Jingshan and his assistant were public figures, and just moments ago, they had exploded on the trending searches.

In this situation, it was obviously inappropriate for a group of Taoists to go knocking on doors and mediate.

The Taoists brought by Xiang Ting were all traditionalists, usually immersed in quiet cultivation and knew very little about the entertainment world. When Peng Jingshan looked at them with a helpless expression, they hadn’t realized something was off.

Until Peng Jingshan came over to Ke Xingzhou’s side and whispered, “Master Ke, where did you find these people? They’re so unprofessional. Maybe we should send them back. I’ll cover the travel expenses.”

Ke Xingzhou: “……”

The old Taoists, whose ears were still sharp despite their age: “…………”

The Taoists thought to themselves, "Hey, this middle-aged naive guy is already complaining about us!"

Just as they were about to react, they saw Ke Xingzhou furrow his brow and say, “What they said isn’t wrong. You still have an audition tonight. The priority is to find out exactly what methods he used.”

This was reasonable, making the Taoists feel awkward and unsure of how to respond.

But this young man was quite reasonable! When it came to serious matters, he wasn’t so driven by money that he lost his conscience.

However, Ke Xingzhou followed up with, “But this matter will require my second disciple. His appearance fee is a bit high. Are you willing to pay?”

The Taoists: “……”Peng Jingshan: "……"

Peng Jingshan was dazed for quite a while before realizing that Ke Xingzhou's mention of his second disciple must refer to Mr. Nie.

He had only learned after spending some time with the production team that Nie Chen had actually joined the Xiaoyao Sect, which made him trust the sect even more—after all, even the heir to a top-tier conglomerate would seek a master, how could it not be real?!

But now, Mr. Nie had already become a proper authority figure, and his worth was immeasurable.

Asking Mr. Nie to handle things for him? Wouldn’t that be too offensive?

But then he thought, the people in this room, including Ban Wen, should all know that only Mr. Nie never appears in public, and unlike the scarred man earlier, who looked fierce, Mr. Nie was indeed the most suitable person to handle it.

Peng Jingshan hesitated a bit: "How high is high?"

For his last movie, he had thrown himself into playing the lead role, almost paying to act, and had been using his savings recently. He really didn’t have much money left.

Then he saw that Ke Xingzhou had a completely natural expression and said, "Do you want to top up your membership card? If you get the SVIP, I’ll give you one for free."

Nie Chen: "……"

The air suddenly became silent.

Peng Jingshan subconsciously glanced at Nie Chen, thinking, wow, the head of a top-tier domestic conglomerate is actually a free gift?

He immediately felt a little tempted. "Then... then I’ll top up one..."

Ke Xingzhou’s expression brightened, and he skillfully turned around to shout at Zhu Chu to send him the transfer details.

Peng Jingshan immediately realized something was off. Why did it involve a transfer? Then he remembered to ask about the price. "Wait, Master Ke... how much does the SVIP cost?"

Then he heard a "ding-dong" sound, and Zhu Chu had already sent over the transfer number and username, along with a price list attached.

[VIP Membership Card 200,000, SVIP Membership Card 2 million, membership cards cannot be upgraded, please confirm the amount before transferring!]

"……"

Peng Jingshan’s hand, which was about to make the transfer, suddenly trembled.