Arcane Sect

"Alright, I got it." Seeing that I stubbornly refused to agree, Zhao Qian was a little disappointed. But then, for some reason, she let out a soft chuckle and smiled again.

It seemed that because I was willing to go home with her, she felt there might be an opportunity, and her mood brightened.

Once the car started moving, Zhao Qian's phone rang. Up ahead, Zhao He thought we were driving too slowly and called to ask what was going on.

Zhao Qian said we had encountered a white-clad vicious ghost. Zhao He was greatly startled, but once he heard that I had stepped in and dealt with it, he relaxed. He had no intention of turning back, and everyone agreed to meet in the city.

There were still dozens of kilometers between here and the county town. As I drove, I saw several male and female vicious ghosts in white, even some in colorful clothes, far ahead on the road, trying to stop my car. Anger flared in my heart. With yin energy hanging heavy everywhere, there was simply nowhere to argue reason. Without Wife Sister holding down the fort, all those ghostly things had come looking for me.

Fortunately, I still had a little loli vicious ghost perched on my shoulder.

The moment she saw ghosts trying to stop the car, she bared her sharp teeth. The vicious ghosts were so frightened that none dared follow us.

I secretly let out a breath of relief, though I had no idea whether that was a blessing or a curse.

I somewhat missed the peace and quiet from when Wife Sister was around, though I didn't think she necessarily missed me. She had called me an "idiot" just now, after all. It seemed she was still here, only unwilling—or unable—to protect me.

Before long, we drove into the city. Captain Huo woke up. Though he looked sickly, he still recognized people. After learning what had happened, he thanked us again and again, saying that he regretted not listening to me.

After taking him to the hospital, we left together in the SUV. Zhao He knew the area like the back of his hand and found a hotel called the Great Auspiciousness Hotel for us to eat at.

Everyone was exhausted, so we ate hurriedly. Only Yu Xiaoxue was in high spirits. She had slept all the way back to the city and had not even noticed a ghost sitting beside her.

After we finished eating at the Great Auspiciousness Hotel, Zhao He asked where we would be staying. Zhao Qian said we would stay with her. Zhao He felt it was somewhat inappropriate for his younger sister to stay with a stranger, but Zhao Qian insisted, and since Yu Xiaoxue would be staying too, he said nothing more.

Old Hai had a house in the county town. He merely told us to visit him for tea next time, left his contact information, and departed.

We drove to the luxurious Dragon Abyss Residential Compound in the county town. The homes here were all detached small villas, each covering more than two hundred square meters and standing two stories tall.

Though the villas had not yet broken ten thousand per square meter, they still cost seven or eight thousand. In a county town where the average price was only two or three thousand, that was already exceptionally extravagant.

There was a small garden outside each villa, with potted plants that looked imposing and full of life. If it had not been night, the yang energy would probably have been especially strong.

Still, I had not yet seen anything strange about the surrounding feng shui layout. Since Zhao Qian said it was buried underground, I did not study it too closely.

"What a huge house!" Upon entering, Yu Xiaoxue secretly exclaimed to me. She had not seen much of the world, let alone a house this nice. Everything felt fresh and new to her.

Looking at the enormous LCD television in the living room and the genuine leather sofas surrounding it, she only dared look. She did not dare sit down.

Her family was poor. Every piece of clothing on her had been washed until it faded white, and after everything that had happened over the past two days, her clothes were already too dirty to look at.

"You two sit for a while. I'll go tidy up your rooms." Zhao Qian did not mind any of that. Seeing Yu Xiaoxue standing foolishly in the entryway, she pushed her onto the sofa and pressed her down.

Embarrassed, Yu Xiaoxue stood up again, patted the mud off her backside, and asked where the restroom was.

We were both children from the countryside. I felt quite sorry for Yu Xiaoxue.

"Xiaoxue, do you want to take a bath? You didn't bring any spare clothes this time. If you want to bathe, wear mine for now. I bought plenty of clothes online and haven't had time to wear them. We're about the same size, so they should fit." After saying that, Zhao Qian was about to take Yu Xiaoxue upstairs to the bedroom.

"Brother Tian..." Yu Xiaoxue looked at me as if seeking my approval. It was her first time visiting someone else's home, and she was all thumbs.

"It's fine, go ahead. Get some rest early after your bath. You're tired too, and it's getting late. We'll talk about your matter tomorrow. I'll watch some television first and wait for Sister Zhao's arrangements." I nodded encouragingly.

Only then did Zhao Qian remember that I, a grown man, was still here. Embarrassed, she said, "Brother Tian, please wait a moment. I'll be right back down."

Then she led Yu Xiaoxue upstairs.

I did not stand on ceremony. I turned on the television, took a drink from the fridge, and started drinking. After Yu Xiaoxue went upstairs, I also let out the little vicious ghost. I had promised her in the car that I would let her out when no one was around.

After coming out, the little vicious ghost still intended to cling to my neck and refuse to let go. But when she smelled the fizz that burst out as I opened an orange cola, she immediately shifted targets.

"You want some too?"

The little vicious ghost instantly nodded with interest and reached out to grab the cola.

I immediately let her hold the cola and gave her a few sips. She even showed a very happy expression.

I was quite surprised. But then I remembered how the chickens at home had often disappeared when I was little, while Grandma had paid it no mind at all, and I understood that she was different from other vicious ghosts.

"Once you finish that bottle, stop following me for now. Take whatever you like from the fridge. Go sit at the bar over there and wait for me. If there's something you want to eat, come get me." I pointed toward the bar counter not far from the living room, telling her to go there and eat while I took another can of cola for myself.

I did not feel awkward eating and drinking freely in someone else's home. I figured that if I moved in, Zhao Qian would sooner or later scheme against me anyway. While I had the chance, I should enjoy what I could.

The television was currently airing the hit drama The Empress of China. I was not especially interested in it, but beautiful women came one after another, their looks off the charts, and the key was that their outfits were quite revealing.

It made me change channels several times, only to switch back again.

After I watched for a while, Zhao Qian came downstairs and happened to see the female lead on the television wearing a chest-binding outfit. Her face flushed scarlet at once.

Seeing that something was off with her expression, I immediately coughed twice and turned off the television. "Ha, you have to admit, this TV really is huge and clear. The moment I turned it on, it was an HD blockbuster."

"Not really." Zhao Qian was a little embarrassed too and found a seat opposite me.

She was probably looking down on me in her heart. Before I turned it off, I seemed to have seen the words "HD Premium Channel" at the bottom of the screen. You really would not find that kind of paid channel unless you deliberately searched for it. The default channel when I turned on the TV had been an educational program. Zhao Qian was a good girl at home—how could she be like me and specifically hunt for something full of color, fragrance, and flavor...

"Brother Tian, what have you decided about my matter? Will you come with me tomorrow?" Zhao Qian stared at me, waiting for me to nod.

In the car, she had already given me a rough explanation of the Arcane Sect landscape in the county.

The Zhao Family, Li Family, Zhang Family, and Wang Family were the four great Arcane Sect lineages in the county.

The Arcane Sect had branched off from Daoist traditions. It inherited part of Daoism's essence, but it also had its own exclusive arts, so it could be considered a collection of minor sect lineages.

Zhao He and Zhao Qian, the brother and sister, were the children of Zhao Xi, the son of the Zhao Family patriarch.

Recently, something had happened to the Zhao Family patriarch. Someone had placed a curse on him. Even in broad daylight, he could see ghosts coming to drain his yang energy. No matter where he went or how well the feng shui was arranged, the ghosts could not be driven away.

The Zhao Family could be considered descendants of a famous house. They had been renowned even before the founding of the nation. Even now, they knew many strange and gifted people. The county town had many businesses and was also a mining district. As a great feng shui family, the Zhao Family held shares in all of them. When it came to money, they had the loudest voice among the four great Arcane Sect lineages. Since they could not solve the problem themselves, they had spent heavily several times to invite powerful Daoist masters to set up altars and perform rituals.

Yet the strange thing was that even if the vicious ghost was driven away or scattered, it would return after two quiet days. Sometimes it came at night, sometimes in dreams, as though it could never be eradicated.

No one knew whether the vicious ghost bore some deep, blood-soaked hatred toward the old man, but it had no intention of killing him. It simply tormented the Zhao Family patriarch until he could not bear it, leaving him either mad and muddled or blankly dazed all day.

The Zhao Family patriarch possessed vast wealth and assets. He had two sons and one daughter. Seeing that he was failing, they searched everywhere for capable people to save him.

The old man had become as thin as a monkey. Even if he were saved, he would no longer be able to manage the family's affairs. A few days earlier, the Zhao Family matriarch had declared that whichever son or daughter could find a master and save their father would be qualified to contend for the position of family head.

Thus, besides hiring a formidable mage himself, the eldest son Zhao Xi had his own son and daughter invite Granny Zhou, my grandmother, who had shared a good connection with them many years ago, to help ensure success.

The second son, Zhao Zhou, was not to be outdone. He sent his son to invite a powerful Daoist master from the Wu Family, his wife's maternal family.

As for the third daughter, Zhao Yuan, though she had not inherited the Zhao Family's feng shui arts, she was also pulling strings and seeking connections everywhere. I heard she had actually invited Monk Jishi, the abbot of Climbing Heaven Temple in the city, along with all manner of his lackeys.

The contest of arts and joint consultation among the three branches was growing increasingly fierce. They had even agreed to perform their rites together tomorrow, an auspicious day they had selected. Although the formidable mage invited by Zhao Qian's father was already in place, she did not have much confidence that her father could win.

Besides, there were far too many people nowadays claiming to be orthodox Arcane Sect practitioners. Someone read two or three cheap feng shui books from a street stall and a few suspense novels online, then claimed they could exorcise ghosts and understood feng shui. But who knew whether they were real or fake, whether they could actually do it?

Zhao Qian had personally seen me drive tigers and devour wolves, so she said she believed in me and insisted that I accompany her tomorrow.

"With so many experts from Daoist sects, Arcane Sects, and Buddhist sects there, if they all swarm in together, they'll scare the ghost away. I don't think I should go make up the numbers. I probably wouldn't be any help even if I went." I could not help finding it amusing. The affairs of great families really were too mysterious. Exorcising a ghost required such a grand formation.

"Brother Tian, if you're free tomorrow, come with me... Grandfather was truly very good to me when he was lucid. I can't let him be tormented like this. I heard from Father that it seems to have been done by another competitor." Zhao Qian pleaded.

In truth, Zhao Qian had a resounding reputation as a beautiful feng shui master. Though she was nothing remarkable in the eyes of the older generation, among the county's younger generation, her name was enormous, and she had long since gained a firm foothold. Money was the one thing she lacked least.

Countless young masters spent every day inventing all kinds of excuses to ask her to inspect their feng shui just to see her once. For instance, an office might clearly sit in prime golden territory, yet they would insist that its location attracted Baleful Intent and kept them from making money. The land for their ancestral graves might be so expensive it nearly exceeded the limit, yet just to see Zhao Qian, they would lie that they dreamed of their grandfather pinching their buttocks and ask whether the ancestral grave needed to be moved.

So whether her father became family head and inherited the family business truly had little effect on her. Judging from her expression, she simply pitied her grandfather.

Unable to withstand Zhao Qian's soft grinding and hard persuasion, I figured I was not going there to become her family's indentured laborer. Going to watch the excitement would not hurt. "Alright, then. I'll go take a look with you tomorrow. Consider it repayment for letting Yu Xiaoxue and me stay here tonight. Of course, I'm only going as a friend. Whether I act or not will be up to me."

"Wonderful!" Zhao Qian happily clapped her hands.

"Don't be happy too soon. As for what you said before about having me work for you and help you catch ghosts, I never agreed to that. I'll have plenty to do later. Once I get Yu Xiaoxue settled, I might even leave the county." I immediately poured cold water over her excitement.

"Alright, I know." Zhao Qian drew out the last word, looking completely unconcerned. She was probably already calculating her next move.

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