Chapter 94

The ghost employees of the Xiaoyao Sect were engaged in a fierce battle with the ghost soldiers under the Nine-Headed Dragon.

However, the scene was far from the expected intense, sword-clashing, grand battle. Instead, the air was filled with the shrieks of the ghost soldiers and the shouting of the Xiaoyao Sect's ghost employees:

"Come on! If you're capable, hit me here! What's the big deal about ghost soldiers? We're all ghosts, what are you afraid of?"

"Is it you guys who are attacking at night, making the Daoists unable to sleep? Alright, alright, I’ve got a short temper! Today, I’m going to make you realize why the sky is so blue and why the ‘Living Permit’ is so hard to get!"

It was the first time the benevolent ghosts felt so proud in front of their own kind.

In the past, when encountering similar beings, not to mention the refined evil spirits, even ordinary evil ghosts were someone they dared not provoke, for fear of becoming nourishment for the other side to enhance their cultivation.

But today was different!

In the past, they had only themselves. Even if their souls were scattered, the Heavenly Dao would only pursue the matter afterward. As unprotected wandering souls, they had to be docile and cautious.

Now, with Taoist magic and golden light protecting their bodies, they felt incredibly powerful!

Thus, these benevolent ghosts, who would usually avoid evil ghosts, boldly charged in front of the ghost soldiers, glaring with eyes wide open, starting to act recklessly.

But when a ghost soldier dared to approach, they would start shouting, "Sect Master! They really dare to harm the employees of the Xiaoyao Sect!"

"This group of ghost soldiers is so ignorant! Do they not know that fighting in a group will get their 'Living Permits' revoked, and they won’t be able to reapply for three years?!"

Ghost soldiers: "……"

Some benevolent ghosts even casually approached the Daoists of Jiangcheng: "Daoist, look at them, they don't even regard you guys! Daoists, say something!"

Daoists: "……"

What more was there to say? Everything that needed to be said had already been addressed by the ghost employees of the Xiaoyao Sect.

The Daoists slowly turned their gaze away, looking blankly at the Xiaoyao Sect members, who were as calm as ever: "…Let's go."

Shancheng is a well-known tourist city in the country, and many people took advantage of the Spring Festival holiday to visit.

Tourists were lounging on deck chairs, enjoying the sun, when suddenly they felt the light around them dim. They opened their eyes in confusion and saw that the sky, which had been clear just moments ago, was now filled with dark clouds, and there were semi-transparent shadows floating slowly in the air.

Curious tourists took off their sunglasses and followed the indistinct shadow downward, only to see a group of old men dressed in Taoist robes, with a few handsome young men in front of them.

Recently, the program All-Round Idol had become a viral sensation online. Ke Xingzhou had attracted a large following with his mystic and lazy persona, and even people who hadn’t watched the show had seen his photo in hopes of sharing some good luck.Many people found Ke Xingzhou to be somewhat familiar and quickly took out their phones to take pictures and upload them to social media platforms.

Once the photos were posted, the first thing people noticed was Ke Xingzhou's striking beauty, followed by the presence of Nie Chen beside him, whose appearance was no less impressive than Ke Xingzhou’s, exuding a cold, refined aura.

Fans immediately rushed to the comment section to compete with cheeky remarks:

"Who is this handsome guy next to Ke Ke?! One minute, if I don't get this stud's contact info, I’ll blow up Shancheng!"

"Before I got online, I was an introverted, shy person, too scared to approach handsome guys. Thanks to the internet, I’ve become cheerful and confident, now I’m crazy! When I see a handsome guy, I just—hey, my wife!"

"I went to buy oysters and on the way home, an oyster jumped out of the bag and burrowed into the dirt. I asked the oyster why, and it said this is called 'oyster liking mud'!"

"First of all, I’m really not gay, I don't like men, but I have to say, these two are really handsome, so handsome it makes my legs weak and I want to see them kiss and sleep together. But just to clarify, I’m not gay, because I’m a little girl."

The comment section was flooded, and fans came pouring in. After seeing the photos, however, many were left confused.

"Wait, what are these Taoists behind my ex-wife and new husband doing?"

"I was wondering why after everyone else's show ended, they’re still working. Ke Ke doesn’t even have a photo up, and it turns out he brought his whole family to work! But I see the blogger's IP is in Shancheng, did Ke Ke actually take this long-distance job?"

"Ke Ke’s client range is so wide. I want to invite him over to help me exorcise evil spirits. If I don’t see him for a day, I’ll go crazy!"

"Stop with the nonsense! But didn’t you notice? There are so many blurry figures around them in the photo, could they be ghosts?"

In recent years, supernatural events had been occurring frequently, and people’s sensitivity to hauntings had increased. Some had even begun to accept this as a given.

However, just from a photo and video, claiming a haunting was still too absurd for many, so they didn’t take it seriously:

"There’s always some distortion at the edge of the camera. If it were a ghost, how could it be wandering around in broad daylight?"

"I actually think these black things look like cheap plastic bags, the kind you can buy dozens for a buck. I’ve bought them before, they couldn’t carry anything, and would break easily!"

Soon, the relevant local departments received countless complaints. The content of the complaints was all the same, accusing them of failing to manage the environment in Shancheng, allowing so many poor-quality garbage bags to fly around and even reach the tourist area!

The Cultural and Tourism Bureau staff were alarmed and quickly retrieved the surveillance footage for the reported area. When they opened the footage, they saw an old man crawling up to the camera and blocking it, shouting at someone they couldn’t identify:

"If you’re capable, kill me! Do it in front of the camera! Let’s see if the heavens take you down!"

The Cultural and Tourism Bureau: "?!"

When they rushed to the scene, they found that the camera was intact and had not been moved at all. The dust on it was smooth and fresh, showing no signs of anyone climbing up.

The Cultural and Tourism Bureau: "???"

As the photos and videos gained more attention, the comment section began to fill with new voices.

"Compared to this, don’t you think it’s even crazier that Ke Xingzhou really has Taoist connections?"

"He’s not there to film a drama, is he? Are these all actors from the same crew?"

Fans, sensing their beloved Xiaoyao Sect leader being slandered, quickly jumped into the fray, tearing into the netizens who still believed Ke Xingzhou had no real ability and was just hyping up his persona.

The blogger who posted the photos quickly became flustered and hurried to comment in explanation:

"These are famous Taoist priests from Jiangcheng, not actors! The B&B owner mentioned there’s a famous Taoist temple nearby called Jiulong Temple, they must be there to exchange Taoist practices!"

The skeptical voices in the comment section quieted down.

Although Jiangcheng and Shancheng were in opposite directions—one in the east and the other in the southwest—Ke Xingzhou was from Beijing, which seemed unrelated to them, the fact that he was traveling with such renowned Taoist priests made it seem unlikely that the Xiaoyao Sect was the kind of shady Taoist temple they had originally thought it to be.

"By the way, what kind of Taoist temple is Jiulong Temple? Is it famous? How come so many Taoists from Jiangcheng came all the way to the southwest to exchange practices?"Immediately, netizens from the southwestern region with local IPs began enthusiastically introducing the situation, saying that Jiulong Temple is a very famous Taoist temple in the southwest, and whenever they have a headache or fever, they go there to get treated.

[Also, my dog was stolen by dog traders last year, but thanks to the Taoist priest from Jiulong Temple, I was able to bring my dog's soul back and see my dog one last time. It's just a pity that the dog turned into a ghost and can't talk, otherwise, I could have found out who the thief was!]

There were even more netizens who shared similar experiences, including encounters with deceased relatives.

However, the netizens who had not been brainwashed by Jiulong Temple's marketing were immediately skeptical when they heard these examples: [This sounds weird. Shouldn't you go to a hospital when you're sick? And talking to dead pets, that seems like a scam.]

Netizens who had previously been proven wrong quickly rebutted them: [Come on! Didn't you all share those useless talismans from the Xiaoyao Sect?]

[Exactly, you all believe in the Xiaoyao Sect, so why are you judging others?!]

The online followers of the Xiaoyao Sect: "......"

Ke Xingzhou and the Taoists had no idea that netizens had begun comparing them to the Jiulong evil cult.

However, calling him an evil Taoist sect isn't unfair at all; just look at the ghosts being forced to retreat one by one in the sky, and you'll understand. The number of benevolent ghosts from the Xiaoyao Sect has grown from just a few dozen to hundreds, surpassing even the number of evil ghosts Jiulong has been cultivating for decades.

Thus, the benevolent ghosts went from being in a passive defense to completely reversing the situation, forming a massive net to surround the evil ghosts.

Ke Xingzhou and the Taoists only needed to constantly strengthen the protective spells on the benevolent ghosts, and they didn’t need to do anything else. They even took the time to stop by and buy some food on the roadside.

Looking at the retreating evil ghosts and the nearby Jiulong base, the Taoists chewed on their pancakes with a dazed expression.

For a moment, they even questioned whether they were the ones on the evil path, leading countless ghosts to attack Jiulong.

It wasn't until they stood at the base of Jiulong's headquarters, at the foot of Insect Mountain, and saw the devout followers kneeling in prayer that they finally felt like they were actually fighting the evil path.

Jiulong had been entrenched in the southwestern region for ten years. It wasn't a long time, but for the locals, the Jiulong Temple, also known as Jiulongguan, had already become a reputable and reliable Taoist temple.

Furthermore, Jiulongguan had always taken a down-to-earth approach, welcoming both big and small matters over the years. Many ignorant followers even refused to go to the hospital when they got sick, choosing to sit quietly at the temple or buy some talismans to burn and drink the ashes in hopes of curing their illnesses.

At the square at the foot of the mountain, many people were sitting in meditation. Long queues had already formed on the stairs nearby. When they saw Ke Xingzhou and the others walking up, they shouted at them: "Where are you outsiders from? Do you have any manners? If you want talismans, go line up! No cutting in front of the gods!"

Ke Xingzhou looked at the person speaking. The person had cloudy eyes, and their eye bags were so large they almost drooped, clearly showing signs of having been corrupted by evil spirits for a long time.

He was puzzled: "What happens if we cut in line?"

The person froze for a moment, seemingly not expecting someone to ask such a stupid question. They raised their chin arrogantly and looked at Ke Xingzhou: "What happens? Of course, you won't be protected anymore! The gods of Jiulong Temple are the fairest. People like you will be rejected by the gods!"

Ke Xingzhou nodded politely and declined: "Oh, I don't need it, thank you."

Then, without hesitation, he stepped up the stairs.

The follower: "?????"