Watching Zhou Dafa leave, Yu Daohan shrugged and walked to the rocking chair, lying down to rest his eyes. For him, the most comfortable time of the day was now, lying still in the rocking chair, quiet. Thus, a night passed.
In the morning, footsteps echoed in the shop. Yu Daohan squinted and saw a young man in a suit and tie walk in. Seeing Yu Daohan open his eyes, the man lifted the plastic bag containing soy milk and fried dough sticks, shook it, and chuckled. "Old Yu's vigilance is still so high."
Yu Daohan rubbed his eyes and sat up. "Why do you wear a suit every time you go on a job?"
"This is called business packaging," the man said, patting his clothes.
Yu Daohan gave him a disdainful glance. The man placed the soy milk and fried dough sticks on the table, dropped his backpack heavily, picked up a piece of fried dough stick, and put it in his mouth, chewing. "Want some?"
Yu Daohan got up, stretched, walked to the table, and sat down. "Did you bring everything?"
Zhang Xiaoqiang nodded towards his backpack. "Don't worry, nothing's missing."
Zhang Xiaoqiang, the youngest disciple of the second elder of the Heavenly Master Sect, had already reached thirty-seventh place on the Earthly Rankings at the young age of twenty.
While they were eating, an Audi drove towards the shop. Zhou Dafa got out of the car after it stopped. Yu Daohan glanced at Zhou Dafa and said, "That's him."
Zhang Xiaoqiang looked at Zhou Dafa as he walked in. Upon seeing his forehead, he exclaimed in surprise, "Holy crap, this guy is amazing!"
As Zhou Dafa entered the shop, Zhang Xiaoqiang stood up, patted his already clean suit, and introduced himself in standard Mandarin. "Hello, my name is Zhang Xiaoqiang, the youngest disciple of Daoist Lingze, the second elder of the Maoshan Heavenly Master Sect. People call me Zhang Xiaodao Ren."
Seeing Zhang Xiaoqiang's attire, Zhou Dafa asked, puzzled, "I didn't expect Taoist priests to wear suits nowadays."
"One has to keep up with the times," Zhang Xiaoqiang chuckled.
Zhou Dafa nodded and smiled. "My name is Zhou Dafa. You can call me Boss Zhou."
Yu Daohan grabbed a piece of fried dough stick and put it in his mouth. "It's getting late, time to go." He then picked up his backpack and the item wrapped in black cloth from the counter.
Zhang Xiaoqiang slung his backpack over his shoulder, Yu Daohan locked the door, and the two got into Zhou Dafa's car.
Zhou Dafa drove them to his villa. Along the way, Zhang Xiaoqiang spoke animatedly, and Zhou Dafa listened with great interest. It had to be said that they hit it off well; one loved to talk, and the other loved to listen.
The car soon stopped. Yu Daohan got out and saw a small villa with cherry trees planted beside it and a rock garden in the middle. While not as luxurious as Zhao Yiyi's house, it was still something not everyone could afford.
Zhang Xiaoqiang got out and glanced at the surroundings of the villa, murmuring, "Old Yu, the environment here is quite good."
Yu Daohan nodded. Zhou Dafa led them into the villa. As soon as they entered, a chill swept over them. Zhang Xiaoqiang scanned the place and finally fixed his gaze on a room on the second floor. "Old Yu, there's a ghost on the second floor."
Yu Daohan looked at the second floor and shook his head. "The one we need to catch isn't this one."
Zhou Dafa looked at Zhang Xiaoqiang. He had been a bit uncertain at first, but seeing that Zhang Xiaoqiang knew Xiao Man was on the second floor as soon as he entered, he felt much more at ease, realizing he truly had skills.
Zhou Dafa led them to the sofa. Zhang Xiaoqiang briefly explained the preparations for the day and told Zhou Dafa not to leave Yang Xiaoman's room tonight.
Zhang Xiaoqiang took out a bag of incense burner ash from his backpack and walked towards the door. Yu Daohan told Zhou Dafa to return to Yang Xiaoman's room, while he followed Zhang Xiaoqiang out.
Zhang Xiaoqiang reached the doorway, glanced around, and sprinkled the incense burner ash along the corners of the wall, leaving an opening at the door. Yu Daohan looked at the ash on the wall. "Why not just use yellow talismans?"
Zhang Xiaoqiang placed the remaining incense burner ash at the door. "Old Yu, you don't understand this. Ghosts will definitely run when they see yellow talismans, but this incense burner ash has the effect of blocking ghosts. If a ghost can't enter from other places, it can only come in through the main door."
Yu Daohan looked at Zhang Xiaoqiang. This guy indeed had some skill. After they finished, they waited. Zhou Dafa ordered takeout for lunch and dinner. Zhou Dafa was quite generous; even the takeout included lobsters and abalone.
Time passed quickly, and it was suddenly eleven o'clock at night. Zhang Xiaoqiang closed the main door and sat on the opposite sofa, holding a wooden sword more than two feet long in his left hand and a yellow talisman in his right. Combined with the suit, he looked rather awkward.
Yu Daohan sat at the foot of the stairs, staring at the closed main door. Time ticked by. When Yu Daohan took out his phone and glanced at it, it was eleven fifty-eight. The two exchanged a look, nodded, and fixed their gaze on the main door.
Just as it struck twelve, the bell Zhang Xiaoqiang had hung on the door rang three times. Yu Daohan's heart tightened, and his eyes were glued to the door. The two candles Zhang Xiaoqiang had lit on the table suddenly went out, plunging the room into darkness.
They heard the sound of the door being pushed open. Zhang Xiaoqiang struck first, waving the talisman in his hand, which ignited and flew towards the doorway. In the firelight, Yu Daohan could vaguely see a pale face, teeth stained red with blood, smiling eerily at Zhang Xiaoqiang.
Yu Daohan was startled. It was a male ghost! He was about to stop him: "Qiangzi, no."
Before he could finish, he saw Zhang Xiaoqiang chase out, taking out a flashlight and shining it towards the doorway. A child's laughter echoed from the entrance. Yu Daohan's expression shifted slightly as he stared at the doorway.
A figure floated in. Yu Daohan focused his gaze. The face was as white as paper, the eye sockets only contained eyeballs, devoid of any spirit. The belly was as large as if ten months pregnant, with the umbilical cord exposed. This was not a birth ghost at all, but a vengeful spirit.
The woman's belly moved, as if something was rolling inside. A child's voice came from within the belly: "He actually dared to invite someone to deal with me."
Yu Daohan's brow furrowed as he stared at the vengeful spirit. Seeing Yu Daohan staring at her, the spirit's stiff head slowly turned towards him, revealing a sinister smile. "Eat, eat, eat."
Yu Daohan took a step forward and struck the vengeful spirit with his palm: "Five Elements Technique, Heavenly Qian Palm."
The vengeful spirit stood still, not dodging. Just as Yu Daohan's palm was about to make contact, a figure the size of a child leaped out from the woman's belly and flew into the room on the second floor. Yu Daohan's expression changed. He retracted his hand that was about to strike the woman and simultaneously drew a dagger, throwing it. The dagger lodged in the door. The vengeful spirit, just as it entered, recoiled two steps as if hitting a wall.
Yu Daohan seized this opportunity, took out two small green flags from his waist, and stuck them into the ground: "Five Elements Technique, Wood Xun Formation."
As the green flags were stuck into the ground, green gaseous ropes grew from the floorboards, entangling the vengeful spirit. Since the floor was tiled, Yu Daohan had to use his hands to hold the green flags in place.