Brother Horse Face

That night, Chen Hao sat cross-legged alone beneath the window, cool moonlight spilling over him. Faint wisps of radiance streamed from the Crescent Pendant around his neck and circulated around his body as though alive.

These wisps of radiance were "qi"!

Now that he could sense qi, Chen Hao could clearly tell how extraordinary it was. If he could absorb all of it into his body, the benefits would be immense.

Unfortunately, he lacked the strength to do that. He could only let the qi flow quietly past him. Over several hours, he managed to absorb just a few exceedingly faint strands of energy.

There was not much, but Chen Hao could clearly feel the benefits it brought his body.

As Chen Hao quietly cultivated, a notification suddenly sounded in his mind. Then the following display appeared in his head:

Heavenly Eye Art, level 1, cultivation progress: 39%

Celestial Immortal Art, level 1, cultivation progress: 55%

Tiger-Subduing Arhat Fist, level 1, cultivation progress: 11%

Just as he had thought, all the external cultivation arts Chen Hao practiced could level up. Only the Yellow Emperor's Book of Changes, which focused on internal cultivation and had no clearly defined levels, did not appear.

His previous level-ups had come from swallowing Azure Ox's cow... ahem, from swallowing the Low-Quality Qi-Nourishing Pill. There had been no sign of another level-up for so long because Chen Hao had not absorbed any qi.

Now, with the Crescent Pendant's help, he could finally level up these arts.

Just as he was getting excited, Chen Hao's phone suddenly rang.

He opened his eyes and checked it. Princess Iron Fan had replied to him. "Fellow immortal Little Charlatan, thank you so much! This thing you gave us is incredible. Our Red Boy is having so much fun that he doesn't even want to go outside anymore. The world is finally peaceful! Otherwise, I'd have immortals of every stripe complaining to me every day. Thank you so much!"

Chen Hao immediately replied, "No need to thank me. It was no trouble at all."

Before Chen Hao could say anything else, Princess Iron Fan replied again. "You're too modest, fellow immortal. I don't know how to thank you, so let me give you something."

Ding-dong! You have received a Demon-Detecting Mirror from Princess Iron Fan!

"What?! A Demon-Detecting Mirror!"

Chen Hao was so excited he nearly jumped up. He hurriedly opened his inventory. "Demon-Detecting Mirror: a divine mirror that leaves demons, monsters, and ghosts nowhere to hide."

After reading the description, the first image that popped into Chen Hao's head was the scene where Stephen Chow held up the Demon-Detecting Mirror and revealed Jingjing's true form as a spider demon. He was absolutely thrilled.

He took out the Demon-Detecting Mirror. It felt cold and rather heavy in his hand, with an antique bronze finish. Its surface resembled the bronze mirrors used in ancient times, showing a hazy reflection far less clear than a modern mirror.

"A Demon-Detecting Mirror!" Chen Hao stared at his own reflection and gave it a couple of shakes. Just as he was muttering about whether it really could reveal monsters, a pale apparition suddenly flashed across the moving mirror, frightening him so badly he almost wet himself.

"Who's there?!"

But when he turned around, the dim room was empty.

His Adam's apple bobbed slightly. "Holy crap. Was that thing a ghost?"

Chen Hao glanced down at the Demon-Detecting Mirror in his hand and immediately began to lose his nerve.

But curiosity killed the cat. The less he wanted to look, the less his hands obeyed him. After wrestling with himself a few times, Chen Hao finally mustered the courage to raise the Demon-Detecting Mirror slowly.

The moment his face appeared in the mirror, Chen Hao's pupils contracted.

In the pitch-black space behind him stood a bizarre-looking figure dressed in white, dragging a chain that billowed with black mist. Another white apparition seemed to be bound to its other end.

The two pale apparitions stood plainly exposed behind Chen Hao, looking utterly strange.

As he stared at the two white figures in the mirror, Chen Hao swallowed involuntarily. A bead of cold sweat slid silently down his forehead.

He had thought the two apparitions were merely passing through and would soon leave.

But in the next instant, the figure in front suddenly turned to look toward Chen Hao.

That turn nearly scared Chen Hao's soul out of his body.

The apparition had a horse's head, but its eyes shone with a terrifying red light, like a messenger from hell coming to claim a life.

From the empty air, Chen Hao seemed to hear its voice. "You can actually see me!"

Then Chen Hao saw the demon drift toward him, chain in hand.

Chen Hao's backside clenched in terror, and he sprang into the air. "Aaah!"

He had jumped so hard that he crashed straight into the ceiling, sending plaster dust flying.

By the time he fell back to the floor, Chen Hao was utterly beside himself.

Though he had never believed in Buddha, he rattled off the names of every god and Buddha he could think of in an instant.

It did no good whatsoever. That hollow voice, seemingly from the Netherworld, echoed beside Chen Hao's ear again. "Who exactly are you? How can you see me?"

Terrified, Chen Hao hurriedly raised the Demon-Detecting Mirror. When he looked again, the demon was already right beside him.

The horse-headed demon brandished his black chain and roared, "Wretch! Since you refuse to answer, I'll drag you down to the Netherworld today!"

Just as Chen Hao was panicking beyond reason, inspiration suddenly flashed through his mind. He blurted out, "Are you Brother Horse Face?"

At those words, the other party immediately stopped. "You know me?"

Seeing his reaction, Chen Hao knew he had guessed correctly and hurried to act familiar. "Oh, Brother Horse Face, you're so forgetful! I'm Little Charlatan, the one who bought a piece of calligraphy from you a couple of days ago."

"Calligraphy!" At the mention of it, Horse Face immediately began nodding in recognition, his fierce expression softening considerably.

"I remember now. So you're Little Charlatan!"

"Haha, that's me!" Delighted to discover a familiar acquaintance, Chen Hao immediately started chatting with Horse Face. "Brother Horse Face, look at you! Business is so busy that you've come all the way here to catch ghosts."

As he spoke, Chen Hao kept glancing at the white figure behind Horse Face, firmly bound by the black chain.

"Ah, what can I do? That's a soul collector's job."

As they talked, Horse Face suddenly eyed the Demon-Detecting Mirror in Chen Hao's hand suspiciously. "By the way, this is the mortal world. How did you get a Demon-Detecting Mirror from the immortal realm?"

The reason Chen Hao could see Horse Face was undoubtedly that the Demon-Detecting Mirror acted as a medium, bridging the divide between the Three Realms.

"It's a long story!" Chen Hao had no intention of explaining it to Horse Face and casually brushed the question aside.

Seeing Chen Hao repeatedly staring at the ghost behind him, Horse Face smiled. "What's this? Are you interested in this ghost, fellow immortal Little Charlatan?"

"No, no, not at all. I'm just curious," Chen Hao hurriedly explained when he realized Horse Face had misunderstood him.

Horse Face was a thickheaded fellow too. He declared generously, "No problem! If you're interested, I'll just give it to you."

With that, Horse Face dragged the ghost over and pushed it right in front of Chen Hao.

Chen Hao started swearing inwardly. Who the hell would be interested in a ghost for no reason?

He was just about to speak when he noticed that the white ghost tightly bound in the black chain was actually a woman—and an exceptionally alluring one at that.

The female ghost had a voluptuous, shapely figure, with curves in all the right places. Simply standing there, she displayed an enviable silhouette that would make even other women jealous.

On top of that, the way the chains bound her was rather distinctive. At first glance, Chen Hao almost thought Brother Horse Face had to indulge in a little cosplay even when catching ghosts.

Seeing Chen Hao staring blankly at the female ghost before him, Horse Face immediately gave a lecherous chuckle. "Well? This female ghost is pretty good quality, isn't she? If you like her, take her."

Hearing that, Chen Hao immediately came to his senses. "Brother Horse Face, you're too kind. I was only curious. I'm not interested in her at all. Besides, if you give me a soul, even if I wanted to do something, I couldn't exactly get anywhere."

With that, the man and the ghost both broke into the sort of dirty grin any man would understand.

Once they finished laughing, Horse Face said, "Brother, that jade pendant around your neck is an immortal treasure too, isn't it? Just store this ghost inside it."

That reminded Chen Hao that the Crescent Pendant had apparently been described as capable of storing soul energy.

Horse Face continued with a grin. "Brother, you live in the mortal world. Keep this ghost to protect yourself, and you'll basically be immune to all the unclean things here."

Chen Hao asked doubtfully, "Really?"

Horse Face immediately thumped his chest in assurance. "What kind of ghost do you take me for? How could I possibly lie to my own brother? Trust me. You won't go wrong."

Chen Hao weighed it up before nodding. "In that case, I'll trust you this once, Brother Horse Face."

No sooner had he spoken than Horse Face waved his hand, sending the white apparition straight into the Crescent Pendant around Chen Hao's neck.

Chen Hao felt a gust of icy wind sweep toward him. When he checked the Crescent Pendant again, a soul-like apparition had indeed appeared inside, wandering about.

After taking a few looks, Chen Hao thought little more of it and immediately told Horse Face, "I can't accept a gift for nothing, Brother Horse Face. If you ever need anything, just say the word."

Hearing that, Horse Face immediately smiled slyly. "Hehe, brother, if I pick up any items over in the Underworld in the future, you'll have to help me find buyers."

At Horse Face's shifty, middleman-like expression, Chen Hao immediately laughed as well. He adopted the same cheeky look. "Of course, of course."

The two exchanged knowing, mischievous grins for quite some time before Horse Face finally left.

Before leaving, Horse Face tossed out one last remark. "That female ghost is a crafty one. Unless you absolutely have to, don't let her out."

After all that commotion, it was already broad daylight.

Chen Hao quickly washed up and headed out to get to work.

Over the next two days, Chen Hao, Liu Yan, and the others devoted almost all their energy to preparing for the new product launch.

By the end of those two days, the production line had turned out a little over two hundred bottles of Blue Light Potion, enough for the upcoming launch.

With a large army of paid commenters stirring things up online, Blue Light Pharmaceuticals had practically dominated the headlines across every sector over those two days. For a time, no one could rival its prominence.

The once-deserted Blue Light Pharmaceuticals was now bustling with traffic. Industry experts, government representatives, and businesses and manufacturers of all sizes arrived in droves, seeking partnerships.

Some even transferred money directly into the company's account to win Blue Light Pharmaceuticals' favor.

Over those two days alone, several million had mysteriously poured into the account, leaving Liu Yan unsure whether to laugh or cry.

Brother Tiger of the Black Tiger Society had also called Chen Hao repeatedly over those two days. He was clearly running out of options.

But Chen Hao never gave him a chance to speak. The moment he heard anything related to the Black Tiger Society, he hung up.

In the end, with no other options left, Brother Tiger actually sobbed and called Chen Hao "Dad."

It was hardly surprising. With so many of their establishments shut down, their losses alone amounted to several million a day.

Moreover, the person who had shut them down was the director of Zhonghai City's Municipal Public Security Bureau. No matter how powerful the Black Tiger Society's connections were, they could never budge the top man in the city's public security system.

If their establishments remained closed like this, the Black Tiger Society would probably disappear from Zhonghai City entirely within a few days.