At this point, I lowered my guard!

Teacher Xia wasn't a true Jianghu (martial world) person. She followed the rules of the bandits, but didn't speak their coded language, indicating she didn't fully understand the Jianghu.

More importantly, she came as a Jianghu person, toasting the head of the household, which meant she was seeking help according to the rules.

Since she wasn't here to cause trouble, we could talk later.

I looked at her and said, "Teacher Xia, what brings you to Liangjie Tang (Two Realms Hall)? What can we do for you?"

Teacher Xia said, "First, let me clarify that before coming here, I didn't know Xiao Kui's father was the famous Liangjie Tang master of Liaodong. I simply wanted to do a home visit. Visiting Liangjie Tang as a术士 (shushi - Taoist adept/sorcerer) was a spur-of-the-moment decision."

She added, "Or maybe not entirely a spur-of-the-moment decision! Because I originally wanted to visit Liangjie Tang anyway. Even if I didn't come today, I would have come tomorrow."

What she said was believable. Old Liu had given the school false information. Her school record wouldn't show my or Ye Yang's names. Unless Teacher Xia had specifically investigated Xiao Kui, she wouldn't know her connection to Liangjie Tang.

I glanced at Ye Yang, who tapped my leg a few times with his finger, signaling: Xiao Kui's identity hadn't been exposed.

Xiao Kui had a talisman made by Ye Yang himself to conceal her aura. Actually, without the talisman, most shushi couldn't see Xiao Kui's true identity either. It seemed I was overthinking things.

Teacher Xia said, "I came to Liaodong to help a friend solve some problems. She's a Yang Jian Jie Ming Ren (life borrower), named Shi Qiu."

I looked at Feng Ruoxing, who nodded and said, "I've met Shi Qiu. She's quite well-known among life borrowers."

Feng Ruoxing was familiar with life borrowers. If she said Shi Qiu existed, then she existed.

It was also understandable that Teacher Xia wasn't a Liaodong shushi. The Confucian school's main area of activity was in the south. There were almost no Confucian shushi in the northeast.

Teacher Xia was so young, yet she dared to cross the river like a fierce dragon, handling business alone in the northeast. Her courage alone was enough to make most Earth-level experts who dared not leave their regions ashamed.

Teacher Xia continued, "She originally received a secret Yin Si (underworld) order to capture the Earth soul of a Taoist priest. However, she had something urgent to deal with and couldn't get to Liaodong. So, she asked me to stabilize the task for her."

"I originally wanted to temporarily hold the business and hand it over to her when she arrived. But she was seriously injured and could only pass the task on to me."

"During this time, I also realized that I couldn't complete this Yin Si secret order independently. So, I wanted to find someone to help. That's roughly the story."

Teacher Xia had told the story, but not the task itself, which was in accordance with Jianghu rules.

Because Teacher Xia was also entrusted by someone else, not completing her own task. Until I agreed to take on the business, she couldn't reveal the content of the Yin Si secret order.

I was silent for a moment before saying, "What level is this task?"

"Xuan level!" Teacher Xia said, "But I personally think the difficulty of this task is no less than Earth level."

"Earth-level task!" I couldn't help but hesitate.

Although the rewards for Earth-level tasks were generous, the rewards weren't much when divided among several people.

Moreover, this task also involved life borrowers. What if it was another secret order whose level had been deliberately lowered? Wouldn't I be getting involved in someone else's fight?

While I was still hesitating, Xiao Kui tugged at my sleeve and said, "Daddy, please help Teacher Xia! She's a very nice person."

Before I could speak, Old Liu also said, "Master, I think we can take this task. After all, Teacher Xia has taken good care of Xiao Kui during this time. We have to take this task to repay her kindness."

Old Liu definitely had no good intentions!

What kind of kindness was this? Even if it was, we didn't need to repay it with our lives. Old Liu was probably up to some trick again.

Teacher Xia also said, "Hall Master Li, Shi Qiu needs life force very much. So, I don't want to divide the lifespan among you, but I can give you a satisfactory price."

I waved my hand and said, "The price for an Earth-level business starts at least five million. Since Teacher Xia has asked, I'll give you a friendly price. One person from our side is one million. How many people do you need?"

Teacher Xia said almost without hesitation, "At least two, preferably three."

I nodded and said, "I, Ye Yang, and Feng Ruoxing will take action. Are you satisfied with that? If you agree, pay half the deposit first. Once the deposit is received, we'll talk about the business."

After Teacher Xia transferred the deposit to Old Liu, she took out her phone and said, "Look at this group!"

Teacher Xia tapped on a WeChat group called "Curse". There were one hundred and ninety-eight people in the group.

Teacher Xia said, "There are two curses in this group. One of them is that it can never reach two hundred people. Once the number exceeds two hundred, someone will leave the group, and the person who leaves will definitely die. I'm in this group. I need you to join."

I looked at the WeChat group and said, "Does joining this group have anything to do with finding the Earth soul?"