The spark that ignited this war was a "little joke" Dean had played three days earlier.
That morning, Bai Haorui got up to wash and brush his teeth. He had just picked up the toothpaste and squeezed some onto his toothbrush when a pungent mustard smell shot up his nose. Looking at the bright yellow "toothpaste" on his brush, he instantly knew Dean was behind it-the guy had secretly replaced his mint toothpaste with mustard while he and Sam were fast asleep the night before.
"Dean Winchester!" Bai Haorui charged out, clutching his toothbrush, and found Dean sitting on the couch, waggling his eyebrows at him with a half-finished bottle of beer in his hand.
"Morning, Master Bai. How's the mustard toothpaste? Really wakes you up, huh?" Dean grinned smugly.
Bai Haorui said nothing. He simply took out an Itching Talisman and flicked his fingers, sending it silently onto Dean's back. Within ten seconds, Dean started itching all over, hopping around and scratching frantically. "Holy shit! What is this? I'm so itchy!"
"A specially made Daoist Itching Talisman. Lasts half an hour." Bai Haorui walked calmly into the bathroom. "By the way, that beer you sneaked last night? I added a triple dose of vinegar and a spoonful of salt. Tasted good, didn't it?"
Dean's face instantly turned green. He finally understood why that beer had tasted so sour and salty last night. He had thought Sam had bought expired beer.
Sam had just gotten up. Watching their antics, he shook his head helplessly and turned to pour himself some coffee, only to discover that his coffeepot had been stuffed with cotton. He couldn't pour anything out. There was no question whose handiwork that was: Dean's. Sam raised an eyebrow and, while the other two weren't looking, secretly added an entire spoonful of chili powder to Dean's breakfast sandwich and two spoonfuls of salt to Bai Haorui's soy milk-he might not start trouble, but he wouldn't hold back if they dragged him into it.
That afternoon, the three drove toward the next town, and Dean seized the chance for revenge. He secretly took Bai Haorui's exorcism notebook from the passenger seat and drew ridiculous little mustaches and funny faces on every page of talisman paper. He also secretly stuck an "I'm an idiot" sticker on Bai Haorui's back.
When Bai Haorui discovered it, he gave nothing away. Instead, he used an ink-line reel's cord to tie a "pig-binding knot" on Dean's car door-after Dean got out, the door refused to open no matter what he did. He struggled with it for ten minutes before realizing Bai Haorui had sabotaged it.
Sam put cushions that made fart noises when sat on in both their seats. The moment Dean sat down, a loud "fart" rang out, and a passerby caught the whole thing. Dean was so furious that he chased Sam around, trying to hit him.
After testing the waters on the first day, the three escalated their pranks completely, recreating almost every prank video they could find online.
Dean got up at five in the morning to cause trouble. He replaced all the toilet paper in Bai Haorui's room with sandpaper, then spread a layer of cooling balm on the toilet seat-the thought of that bone-deep chill alone was enough to make someone wince. Then he slipped into Sam's room and changed Sam's phone wallpaper to a picture he had edited of Bai Haorui wearing a lace dress. He also changed the lock-screen password to "Dean is the hottest."
After Bai Haorui got up, he had barely sat on the toilet before the cooling balm made him leap up. Without looking, he grabbed the sandpaper and wiped his butt, then absolutely exploded on the spot. He immediately took out some Insect-Attracting Powder-a specially prepared mixture of mugwort and atractylodes that attracted ants, cockroaches, and other small bugs-and sprinkled it under Dean's pillow and inside his socks.
Less than an hour later, Dean came screaming out of his room. A swarm of ants was crawling beneath his pillow, and a small cockroach had even gotten into his underwear. "Bai Haorui! That's brutal!"
"Right back at you." Bai Haorui calmly drank his soy milk. "By the way, I shook every bottle in that case of beer you left in the car a hundred times. Be careful when you open them."
Dean's phone prank left Sam unsure whether to laugh or cry, so he simply joined the battle. He covered Dean's entire back with sticky notes, each bearing messages such as "I'm a pervert," "Married-woman enthusiast," and "Please use a steel scourer on me." He also put a sound-making toy in Bai Haorui's backpack that let out a ghostly "Awooo!" whenever the bag was opened, making Bai Haorui shudder all over when he opened it.
At noon that day, the three ate at a roadside diner. Dean secretly swapped Bai Haorui's Coke for one he had deliberately shaken. As soon as Bai Haorui opened it, Coke sprayed all over his face. Bai Haorui immediately retaliated, secretly slipping a slice of extremely hot chili pepper and half a tube of mustard into Dean's burger. Dean took one bite, and tears streamed down his face from the heat.
While the two traded barbs, Sam added vinegar to both their water glasses. They each took a sip, then glared at Sam in unison. Sam spread his hands. "Who told you to insist on dragging me into this?"
That afternoon, Dean came up with something new: he tied a thin string to Bai Haorui's Five Emperor Coins. Whenever Bai Haorui moved the coins, the string tugged on a fake spider hidden under the table, making him jump straight up. Not to be outdone, Bai Haorui used a "lasso trap" to tie Dean into a strange pose-standing on one leg, both hands raised overhead, and his butt sticking high in the air. Then he had Sam take a picture and set it as Dean's phone lock screen.
On the third day, the prank war reached a fever pitch. The three resorted to almost every trick imaginable, bringing out all the "ultimate pranks" they had found online.
Early that morning, Dean stuck an enormous note on Bai Haorui's back that read, "I'm a huge idiot. I'm a three-second man." Bai Haorui also attached a large horn that sounded like a truck horn to the car's door handle, so opening the door set off a loud honk.
Bai Haorui used a Mosquito-Attracting Talisman against Dean-the talisman attracted mosquitoes within a ten-meter radius. As soon as Dean stepped outside, a swarm surrounded him and started biting. Within half an hour, several bumps had risen on his face, leaving him looking like a pig's head.
Sam put a piece of dog poop made of chocolate into Dean's backpack, then put a puppy in Bai Haorui's backpack. When the two opened their bags, they began exchanging insults.
That afternoon, the three met in the motel parking lot. Dean's face was covered in mosquito bites, and he held a toy gun. Bai Haorui still had Coke stains on his face, while Sam stood with his arms folded, looking ready to enjoy the show.
"Bai Haorui! That Mosquito-Attracting Talisman of yours was downright evil!" Dean roared.
Bai Haorui smiled smugly. "Sam, I think you're the worst of the lot."
Sam spread his hands. "Who told you two to drag me into this? I'm just giving you a taste of your own medicine."
Just as the three were about to resume trading barbs, a page from "Hell Hound's Lair" suddenly popped up on Sam's computer. Its headline read, "Ghost Haunts Texas Farmhouse; Girl Suspended in Air Mysteriously Disappears." He quickly skimmed the contents, and his expression instantly grew grave. "Something's wrong with this case. It's not an ordinary urban legend."
Bai Haorui's gaze suddenly sharpened as well. A line of pale blue text appeared on the system panel in his mind: [Special supernatural incident detected. Mission trigger conditions met. Accept mission?]
Accept, he said silently. The panel immediately refreshed: [Mission name: See through the true nature, seal the house's vengeful spirit; mission rewards: unlock the crafting recipe for the Breaking Illusion Talisman, physique +0.5].
"Pack up. Get ready to leave." Bai Haorui grabbed his backpack, and the peachwood sword, Five Emperor Coins, and "Expelling Evil" notebook inside knocked together with crisp sounds. He gave Dean a sidelong look. "By the way, I sprinkled a little Insect-Attracting Powder on that pair of socks under your bed. They should be crawling with all kinds of little cuties by now."
Dean's expression changed. He immediately rushed to the bed and lifted the mattress. Sure enough, a pile of bugs was crawling around inside his socks. "Bai Haorui! Just you wait!"
"After we solve the case." Bai Haorui walked out of the room first. Sam shook his head helplessly and pulled Dean along after him.
Dean's furious roars and Bai Haorui and Sam's laughter echoed through the motel corridor, sounding especially loud in the quiet afternoon.