By the time they headed downstairs, the seven celebrity guests had reached a tacit understanding to stick together. It looked as though they were ostracizing Qu Nanzhu, but in truth, they were too afraid of him to go near him.
Once their fear subsided, they began privately wondering whether this was a script the production team had arranged without telling them.
The livestream viewers were still discussing what had just happened with Little Eighteen. Some suspected scripted special effects or some new high-tech product, while others had already accepted that supernatural things existed in this world.
The group did not wait long before a small shuttle bus slowly pulled up in front of them. The FD enthusiastically ushered everyone aboard to head to the first filming location.
The ride was rather boring, so it was time for the celebrities with their various talents to take the stage.
Some danced, others sang, and the journey was filled with songs and laughter. Everyone briefly forgot what had just happened.
Qu Nanzhu sat alone at the back of the bus. Little Eighteen looked up innocently from his palm, not understanding why her master would not let someone as adorable as her perform a live swallowing of an evil ghost.
Qu Nanzhu sighed and soothed her quietly. "You'll scare them. Don't do that. I'll let you out to play tonight, all right?"
Little Eighteen slumped limply in his palm.
Qu Nanzhu looked expressionless, but inwardly, he thought Little Eighteen was adorable beyond words.
"Who are you talking to, Master Qu?" A cloying female voice sounded above him. Qu Nanzhu quickly closed his hand to hide Little Eighteen.
He looked up. It was Zhao Lin, who sat in front of him, that arrogant girl backed by money.
Qu Nanzhu tucked Little Eighteen into his clothes and replied flatly, "No one. Talking to myself."
His dismissiveness was obvious, but Zhao Lin did not mind. Resting her chin on the back of her hand, she said with a saccharine expression, "We all just performed something. We've still got twenty minutes before we arrive, Master Qu. Why don't you perform something too?"
At that, Qu Nanzhu glanced at the others on the bus. He could see varying degrees of anticipation for a spectacle in their eyes, and the camera was filming this side too.
Qu Nanzhu relaxed against his seat back and told the truth. "I don't know any performance routines." They might not want to see the things he did know.
With him having said that much, anyone with any tact would know he was refusing.
But Zhao Lin had no tact. She was convinced that what had happened earlier was a scare Qu Nanzhu and the production team had staged together. Now, she was determined to put him on the spot. Still smiling, she said, "That's fine. There must be something you're good at, right? Just show us whatever you're good at, Master."
Qu Nanzhu likewise kept his gaze raised toward her. "Do face reading, fortune-telling, catching ghosts, and subduing demons count?"
Zhao Lin said, "Those are your skills too, Master. Besides, that's what made you famous in the first place. So, are you going to tell my fortune? Hehe."
"No." Qu Nanzhu refused decisively, entirely unmoved by Zhao Lin's provocation.
So young, yet so full of schemes. I ought to send Little Eighteen to dance by her bedside tonight.
Zhao Lin was not discouraged at all by his refusal. Instead, she looked even more pleased with herself and pressed him. "Why? Do you really hate me, Master?"
"Is there anything about you worth liking?" Annoyed by her questions, Qu Nanzhu instinctively snapped back. He froze for a moment after saying it, then coughed lightly twice. Ignoring the slightly startled looks around him, he spoke again. "I mean, I only tell fortunes when there's a fated connection."
[Are you sure that's what you just said?]
[Not gonna lie, I don't like that Qu guy either, but that comeback felt pretty good.]
[Is this what his fans call "shy"? Did they mean "shady" and make a typo?]
[Some manners this master has. How embarrassing.]
[Damn, how did I not know Qu Bao had such a spicy side? That look just now-someone really enjoyed that, and I won't say who.]
Zhao Lin's face turned green with anger at his mocking remark. She simply stopped pretending and said bluntly, "Oh, fine. It's okay if I don't have a fated connection. We've got a whole bus full of people anyway. Just tell the fortune of whoever you have a connection with, Master!"
Her words instantly changed the expressions of the other six guests on the bus. If Zhao Lin wanted to embarrass Qu Nanzhu, that was her business. Why drag them into it?
If Qu Nanzhu said something unpleasant later, they would not even be able to talk back, or the money behind him would surely target them.
No one wanted to offend someone for no reason.
Fortunately, Qu Nanzhu merely glanced over them before saying indifferently, "No connection."
The FD pointed at himself in surprise. "God Qu, not even with me?!"
Qu Nanzhu glanced at him and nodded firmly. "No connection."
"All right." The heartbroken FD was crying on stream.
[LMAO, acting all mysterious when he just doesn't dare tell fortunes, right? He can't actually do it, and if he says something they don't want to hear, their fans will tear him apart.]
[Hey, person above, don't go so hard. It's okay if you've never looked into him, but since you haven't, why can't you wait until you have before commenting?]
[Some people's fans sure are a pain. Now they're policing the comments I post while watching a variety show.]
[I regret this now. God Qu joining this show is just asking to be mistreated.]
[Oh, well, who told your master to be a fraud~]
Zhao Lin was unwilling to let it go without achieving her goal, but the FD had already stepped in to ease the atmosphere. If she kept making trouble, she might anger the director.
She could only turn around and sit back down resentfully.
After that little incident, hardly anyone spoke on the bus. Before long, they arrived at their destination, and everyone disembarked in order.
Crew members were already setting up filming equipment at the location. Su Liyun habitually began surveying the surroundings and soon spotted two white-clad Celestial Masters standing in front of an abandoned villa.
She immediately adjusted her expression and asked the FD, "Are those two the genuine Celestial Masters the production team invited?"
The camera followed Su Liyun's gaze, and the livestream viewers also saw the two figures with their refined, Daoist bearing.
Qu Nanzhu looked over too. The two Celestial Masters he had met last time had worn dark blue-green Daoist robes, presumably the clothing of their sect.
Today, Daoqing and Daoming were participating as official representatives, so naturally, they wore the uniform prescribed by the Celestial Master Bureau. It resembled a Zhongshan suit, but was entirely white, embroidered with dragons in gold thread, with gold-patterned decorations at the collar and cuffs.
The FD waved enthusiastically at them. Hearing that everyone had arrived, the two turned around together, looking utterly upright and righteous.
[Whoa, these are genuine Celestial Masters? Why do I feel like I'm looking at my husband?]
[Nice, fantasizing again. You really will dream of anything.]
[Sure enough, all the handsome ones have been handed over to the state. Sob, sob.]
[Doesn't a certain master look even more like a fraud in comparison?]
[Exactly. Some kinds of bearing just can't be faked.]
As the two groups were about to meet, the viewers waiting for Qu Nanzhu to be face-slapped and crushed by genuine Celestial Masters could barely resist typing their mockery.
Daoqing and Daoming looked calm, but in truth, they were both nervous to death.
Before they came, their master had repeatedly instructed them to learn diligently from Master Qu. These two favored sons of heaven, praised for their exceptional talent ever since entering the Dao, were terrified that Master Qu would find them too stupid and reprimand them in front of the entire nation.
Once they drew close, the seven celebrities all took the initiative to greet them. After all, they were government representatives. Even nonbelievers had to show them respect.
Daoqing and Daoming responded with reserve, before both their gazes fell on Qu Nanzhu at the back.
[Here it comes, here it comes.]
[A little excited, hahahaha.]
[I can't watch. I'm so scared of the embarrassment.]
The celebrities present also noticed the unusual atmosphere and turned their attention to the three.
"Senior, I've long admired you."
"Senior, it's been a long time."
The face-slapping scene everyone had anticipated never came. Instead, the two genuine Celestial Masters respectfully cupped their hands in greeting to Qu Nanzhu.
[????]
[Wait, what the hell?]
[Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit, that felt so good! God Qu, I'm willing to follow you for the rest of my life!!]
[Could this Qu guy actually have some ability...]
[I'm so done with those stubborn people. Little Eighteen practically has to dance on your heads, and you're still going on about scripts.]
[There's no need to explain to them. If they wanted, they could even claim the leader was putting on an act with God Qu.]
[I give up.]
[Hahaha, the other guests don't look too happy.]
They really did not, because events had already developed beyond everyone's expectations.