Chapter 25: Fated to Offend Yuanchen¹

With Xiao Wu’s sudden interruption, Xie Sui finally noticed that there was someone else squatting next to Liu Wuyong.

He looked at the simple-looking young man, then at the dejected Liu Wuyong, and let out a soft sigh.

Herding one sheep was herding, and two sheep weren’t much different.

He wasn’t some cold-blooded murderer, and most importantly, he didn’t sense the blood-debt of a killer on either of them. Liu Wuyong hadn’t lied; he really was likely just an errand boy.

“Fine, you two can follow me for now.” These two had just witnessed his methods in dealing with Shiduo Hariti. While he wouldn’t kill them, he couldn’t just let them wander off as they pleased.

Hearing the affirmative reply, Liu Wuyong breathed a sigh of relief. He scrambled up from the ground and patted the dust off his clothes.

Xie Sui remembered something and said to Liu Wuyong, “By the way, there’s something I need to make clear upfront. I don’t have much money on hand right now, and my livestreaming career hasn’t really taken off yet. Don’t expect me to pay you a salary for the first month.”

Rather than hiring Liu Wuyong, it was more like the two of them were starting a business together. If Liu Wuyong was as capable as he claimed, they could be considered the prototype of a small new media studio.

Mentioning money made Xie Sui feel a bit bitter. In this society, it was truly difficult to move an inch without funds. The reward from the Lin Family and the money earned from the livestream a few days ago had all been used for the orphans’ surgery fees. His savings were currently down to four digits, barely enough to keep himself fed.

“It’s fine, you don’t need to worry about my salary. Once you’ve dealt with my former boss, that ‘Horror Old Liu’ account will belong to me,” Liu Wuyong said with a self-mocking smile. “My former boss didn’t pay me a salary anyway. Out of all the money I made on the short-video platform, he’d only leave me two thousand a month and take the rest.”

Xie Sui didn’t know what to say. Two thousand a month? One could earn more sweeping the streets. That guy had treated Liu Wuyong and the others entirely as tools; no wonder Liu Wuyong wanted to jump ship.

Just as Xie Sui was about to take Liu Wuyong and the other man to find Zhang Shengrui, something occurred to him, and he looked at the two of them again.

He looked at Liu Wuyong’s work jacket, which was covered in complex straps and buckles, then at Xiao Wu’s jacket. He said to Xiao Wu, “Take off your clothes.”

Xiao Wu: ???

He crossed his arms over his chest, looking weak and helpless. “Boss, I… I sell my skills, not my body.”

Xie Sui’s face went sour. “…Thanks, but I have absolutely no interest in you.” He pointed to his own chest. “My buttons were torn off, and I can’t leave this wound exposed. It’ll scare people. Lend me your jacket.”

While Xie Sui was talking to Xiao Wu, Liu Wuyong had already nimbly stripped off his own work jacket and respectfully draped it over his new boss’s shoulders.

Under Old Liu’s guidance, Xie Sui fastened the buttons of the work jacket.

Wearing the loose-fitting jacket, Xie Sui found Zhang Shengrui huddled not far away. The forty-some Little Ghosts were neatly stacked together, surrounding the boy in the center.

Seeing Xie Sui appear, Zhang Shengrui’s eyes instantly lit up. He stood up and rushed toward him.

The Little Ghosts no longer blocked him, rushing toward Xie Sui along with him.

However, as he ran closer, Zhang Shengrui noticed that Xie Sui’s face was paler than paper. He quickly braked and asked cautiously, “Big Brother, are you okay?”

“I’m fine, it’s all settled.” Xie Sui patted his head and reached out to pick him up.

But Zhang Shengrui dodged his hand. “I’ve rested for a bit and can walk on my own. Big Brother, take care of your health, don’t overwork yourself.”

Though he dodged Xie Sui, he couldn’t escape Liu Wuyong.

Liu Wuyong picked the child up directly. “Your short legs are too slow. Is it okay if I carry you?” Although it was phrased as a question, Liu Wuyong had no intention of accepting Zhang Shengrui’s opinion.

Seeing that Xie Sui didn’t react to Liu Wuyong’s actions, Zhang Shengrui knew this weathered-looking uncle must be one of their own.

Therefore, he didn’t resist too much, though he kept squirming in Old Liu’s arms, directing him on how to hold him… Liu Wuyong had little experience holding children and was making him quite uncomfortable.

Meanwhile, the forty-nine Little Ghosts returned to Xie Sui’s body one by one. They noticed the state of his physical condition.

‘Why has it worsened so much? Big Brother, are you going to die? We can go to reincarnation, please don’t die…’

Although absorbing the resentment from the Little Ghosts increased the deathly energy in Xie Sui’s body, the karmic merit from their reincarnation could repair his physical form.

Xie Sui comforted them softly, “No, your souls still carry karmic obstacles. If you reincarnated now, you would either enter the animal realm² or be born into a life of poverty and disability. These sins don’t belong to you; why should you be the ones to bear the cost?”

“Stay inside me quietly. Wait until the last traces of resentment and sin have dissipated before you reincarnate. Don’t worry, I’m not as fragile as you think.”

“And it won’t take long…” Xie Sui looked at Liu Wuyong, who was carrying Zhang Shengrui.

With Liu Wuyong around, finding the person who used the Life-Swapping Talisman was only a matter of time. Once the culprit was found, he could naturally return all that resentment and sin to its rightful owner.

Afterward, Xie Sui and his group successfully left the Yin-Yang Gap.

The physical statue of Shiduo Hariti was inconvenient to carry, so Xie Sui didn’t bring it out, leaving it inside the Yin-Yang Gap instead. In any case, this particular gap was now completely controlled by talismans, and it could be opened at any time using the one in Liu Wuyong’s possession.

However, once they returned to reality, Xie Sui discovered that three days had actually passed in the real world.

Xie Sui knew that the flow of time in the Yin-Yang Gap could be erratic, but something else surprised him more.

Watching the scenery of Bihu Park suddenly switch from night to day, and seeing the missing persons advertisements scrolling across the large street-side screens, Xie Sui fell into silence.

The missing person advertisement was searching for none other than Zhang Shengrui, who had been missing for three days. It featured a front-facing photo of the boy, a description of the clothes he was wearing when he disappeared, and a one million yuan reward.

The advertisement also included a voiceover narration, stating that Zhang Shengrui’s parents requested the kidnappers to contact them, promising that any amount of ransom could be paid.

Xie Sui didn’t dare hope for that one million yuan reward. Right now, the most important thing was to get Zhang Shengrui home as quickly as possible. Every second of delay increased the risk of being reported by a concerned citizen as the kidnapper himself.

Inside a riverside villa near Tianyi Elementary School, a fierce argument broke out.

“Always out filming, filming! Is the movie more important or is your family?! If Ruirui really doesn’t come back this time, we’re getting a divorce!” Zhou Yayun threw a throw pillow directly at the man’s face.

Zhou Yayun, who usually had very high standards for her appearance, was still wearing the same clothes from three days ago. Her hair was unkempt, she wore no makeup, and her eyes were bloodshot and swollen like walnuts.

The man sitting opposite her looked just as exhausted as she did, appearing as though he hadn’t closed his eyes in a very long time.

“Haven’t I come back now? I don’t want to fight with you. Arguing doesn’t solve anything.” The man frowned and massaged his temples.

Seeing him like this only made Zhou Yayun angrier: “Zhang Jinpeng! What’s the use of you coming back now that the child is gone?! Have you ever cared about this home?”

Zhang Jinpeng lost his temper as well, forcefully tossing the pillow aside. “You act like you care! Aren’t you also busy all day with your company’s trivial nonsense, dumping the child on those nannies and bodyguards?! And what happened? Those people deceived us. Not only did they neglect Ruirui and lose him, they even took money to leak information about him to the paparazzi! Look at the ‘good’ nannies you found! Is this how you take care of a child?!”

“At least I took care of him! That’s better than you, someone who isn’t home all year round! What do you think this house is? A hotel?!”

Zhang Shengrui had just reached the front door when he heard his parents’ shouting coming from inside. He was so frightened that he gripped Xie Sui’s sleeve, not daring to enter.

Xie Sui had originally intended to leave Zhang Shengrui at the doorstep and depart without going inside.

However, after seeing Zhang Shengrui walk into the courtyard, he abandoned that plan.

The moment Zhang Shengrui approached the house, a wisp of black Miasma³ coiled around him.

Something was wrong.

Xie Sui called out to Zhang Shengrui, “This is a new house your family bought, right? I recall you only recently transferred to Tianyi Elementary?”

“Yes, three… six days ago. My parents just bought this house,” Zhang Shengrui said obediently.

It wasn’t a problem with the house; it was a problem with the people.

Zhang Shengrui had been by his side the entire time they were in the Yin-Yang Gap. If there had been something wrong with the boy himself, Xie Sui would have noticed long ago.

“Do your parents fight like this often?”

“No…” Zhang Shengrui said hesitantly. “It only started being like this when I was in fourth grade, around September of last year.”

“I see.” Xie Sui let out a helpless sigh. “Come on, I’ll go in with you.”

Zhou Yayun and Zhang Jinpeng were still arguing, their conflict shifting from the child to mutual accusations and insults. Both were extremely emotional, acting less like a married couple and more like enemies with a blood feud.

Just then, a sudden knock at the door snapped them out of their rage.

Zhou Yayun gave Zhang Jinpeng a harsh glare, wiped her eyes forcefully, and walked toward the entryway.

When she opened the door, she found her son standing there with a strange man.

Zhou Yayun froze. A second later, she dropped to her knees and pulled Zhang Shengrui’s small body into a tight embrace. Ignoring the presence of a stranger, she wailed loudly, holding her lost child.

Seeing his mother like this, Zhang Shengrui’s tears began to fall as well.

Between wandering into an alternate world and having Yawu-po clinging to his back, he had endured a bizarre and terrifying night. His psychological endurance had long since reached its limit. Upon seeing his closest relative, his suppressed emotions finally burst through the dam.

As mother and son wept in each other’s arms at the door, Zhang Jinpeng heard the commotion and walked out from inside.

He was visibly stunned to see Zhang Shengrui suddenly appear. However, his emotions didn’t spiral out of control like Zhou Yayun’s. Instead, he looked at the strange man who had appeared with his child.

The man’s face was exceptionally handsome, with eyes as black as ink and skin so pale it was almost transparent. Even his lips lacked any trace of color. He looked incredibly frail, like a fragile porcelain doll that would shatter into pieces with a gentle push. This chaotic blend of life and death appearing on a human gave him a peculiar, eerie aura.

Zhang Jinpeng had been in the entertainment industry for many years and had directed over a dozen films. He had seen many actors with superior looks, but the person before him still made his eyes light up. Aside from his frighteningly pale skin, he had no flaws. In fact, to Zhang Jinpeng, that paleness was an advantage. The protagonist he had been searching for was right in front of him!

Thinking of his film that had yet to start shooting, Zhang Jinpeng grew excited. Ignoring his weeping wife and child, he approached with great enthusiasm. “Hello, I’m Zhang Jinpeng. I’m a director, you’ve probably heard of me. With your exceptional looks, I shouldn’t have missed you. Are you an acting student who hasn’t graduated yet? Are you interested in coming for an audition? I have a script that would suit you perfectly.”

Xie Sui frowned imperceptibly and took a step back, avoiding the overly enthusiastic man.

His son had been missing for three days and was right there, yet his concern was finding an actor for an audition? Was this man alright in the head?

“I’m sorry, I have no interest in acting, and I’m not an acting major,” Xie Sui refused without the slightest hesitation. “Professional matters should be left to professionals. There are so many good actors out there; there’s really no need to look for an amateur like me with no acting experience.”

As Xie Sui spoke, he observed the couple.

The black Miasma clinging to both of them was very heavy. For a moment, he couldn’t even distinguish which of them was the source.

“What a pity.” Zhang Jinpeng took out a business card and handed it to Xie Sui. “If you change your mind, you can call me.”

Xie Sui didn’t even take it. Instead, he asked, “Did something happen to you last September?”

It was only then that Zhou Yayun finally recovered. She stood up and looked at Xie Sui. “Please excuse my manners. May I ask how I should address you?”

“My surname is Xie.” Xie Sui paused. “The matter regarding your son is a bit complicated. I…”

“Ah, I’m so sorry. Mr. Xie, please come in. Let’s talk inside.” Zhou Yayun wiped the tears from her face and apologetically invited Xie Sui through the door.

Xie Sui remained silent for a moment before obediently following the couple inside.

He had left Old Liu and Xiao Wu outside the residential complex because neither of them were registered residents, and the security guards refused to let them in. Xie Sui had been allowed in because of Zhang Shengrui. The guards clearly knew about the boy’s disappearance, and seeing that Xie Sui was the one who found the child, they permitted him entry.

Xie Sui noticed that the couple’s emotions were both somewhat off. They were both extreme, focused entirely on their own immediate concerns.

Normally, if a stranger brought back a child who had been missing for three days, shouldn’t they be a little suspicious of how the person found him? What if this person was the kidnapper who took the child in the first place? Yet, they had invited him directly into their home without asking a single question.

Once they were settled, Xie Sui asked, “I’d like to know if you encountered something in September of last year.”

“Does this have something to do with the child?”

“Does this have something to do with your audition?”

The couple spoke simultaneously, then froze and looked at each other.

There was a clear spark of anger in Zhou Yayun’s eyes, which she seemed to be forcibly suppressing only because Xie Sui, a stranger, was still present.

“It has to do with your arguing. You are both currently shrouded in Miasma,” Xie Sui explained. “Your son was influenced by you, which led to him being haunted by a ghost. He even accidentally wandered into the Yin-Yang Gap and went missing for three days. The source of all this is the Miasma on your bodies.” He spoke bluntly on purpose, wanting to see their reactions.

Xie Sui was telling the truth; Zhang Shengrui’s bad luck was partially due to this Miasma.

However, if someone who didn’t believe in ghosts and gods heard him say this, they likely wouldn’t give him a warm reception.

“What?! My son’s disappearance was because of us?” Zhou Yayun looked panicked. She appeared exceptionally unstable whenever it came to matters concerning Zhang Shengrui.

Zhang Jinpeng, on the other hand, frowned with a hint of disgust. “What do you mean? You’re saying my son went missing because he was haunted? Let me guess, next you’re going to say you’re a Daoist or something and try to sell us Talisman Paper?”

It seemed Zhang Jinpeng still possessed some rationality and knew how to question him.

But hearing her husband say this made Zhou Yayun’s emotions unstable again. “There you go again! Can’t you have a better attitude when it comes to things involving our son?! It was the same last time. We were having a perfectly happy trip, visiting a temple fair. You just had to show off your ‘knowledge’ in front of the master, calling him a fraud right in front of his followers. It got us kicked out immediately. Haven’t you embarrassed us enough?”

Zhang Jinpeng’s expression shifted. He stiffened his neck and began to argue back defiantly.

The two of them actually ignored Xie Sui’s presence and started bickering again.

Xie Sui rubbed his temples, feeling a bit of a headache coming on. It was truly hard on Zhang Shengrui to grow up in such an environment.

Zhang Shengrui sat next to Xie Sui with a numb expression, looking as though he was completely used to this.

Seeing the couple still arguing, Xie Sui had no choice but to ask Zhang Shengrui, “Did the incident your mother just mentioned happen in September of last year?”

Zhang Shengrui nodded gloomily. “Yeah. Near the end of summer break, my parents took some time off to take me out to play. After we came back, they started fighting.”

“Do you remember what your parents did in that temple? Right before they were asked to leave?”

Zhang Shengrui scratched his head. “I think my dad saw a really ugly stone statue. He was curious why a temple would worship something like that, so he said a few things. He was being a bit mean about it. Then someone from the temple came out to stop them… and after that, they were kicked out.”

Xie Sui seemed to realize something. “A statue with a protruding forehead, a low bridge on its nose, a large mouth, and wide, angry eyes? Were there towers made of gold paper ingots on both sides of the statue?”

Zhang Shengrui’s eyes sparkled as he looked at Xie Sui. “Big brother, how did you know?”

Alright, case closed. This couple had offended a Yuanchen Statue enshrined in the temple.

A couple afflicted by Yuanchen will have a discordant household and no peace. If there are no internal troubles, there will surely be external disasters.

The fact that this family hadn’t fallen apart yet was likely because both parents were very busy with work and were rarely home. If they were an ordinary couple, they would have divorced long ago.

Xie Sui sighed. “They probably won’t listen to me right now. Once they calm down, tell them to go back to that temple to pray. Offer some incense and apologize. I don’t know if your father will listen to you, but your mother cares about you very much. You’ve just returned from being missing, so she’s most concerned about you right now. She will definitely listen to you.”

“As soon as they finish arguing, bring this up with them. Don’t forget,” Xie Sui said, ruffling Zhang Shengrui’s hair. “I have things to do, so I’m leaving now.”

Zhang Shengrui nodded vigorously. “Okay, I will.”

After leaving Zhang Shengrui’s home, Xie Sui bought three small bottles of mineral water from a vending machine by the street. He then went to sit on a nearby bench with Old Liu and Xiao Wu.

He unscrewed a cap, cut his fingertip, and let a drop of blood fall into the first bottle. After shaking it well, he opened the second bottle and added a single drop of the liquid from the first bottle into the second.

This level of dilution should be enough. Both Old Liu and Xiao Wu were mere mortals, extremely fragile. Planting a Blood Curse in their bodies could cause them to melt like Daoist Kunyang if he wasn’t careful. If it were a non-human creature like the Water Fiend or Yawu-po, he wouldn’t need to be so cautious.

Xie Sui handed the second bottle of water to Old Liu, then repeated the process to create a third bottle, which he gave to Xiao Wu.

“Just drink the water,” Xie Sui said. “Afterward, I will control the Blood Curse to devour the other curses in your bodies. This is devouring, not breaking the curse, so your former boss won’t sense anything.”

Liu Wuyong obediently took the small bottle.

There wasn’t much water, only about 330ml, which could be finished in a few gulps.

This method of neutralizing a Death Curse was unexpectedly simple.

Liu Wuyong had expected some grand spectacle, perhaps hundreds of talismans flying through the air, or at the very least, an altar ritual to make it more convincing…

But from beginning to end, Xie Sui’s only costs were three-yuan bottles of mineral water and a single drop of blood.

To be honest, if he hadn’t seen Xie Sui’s strength in the Yin-Yang Gap, Liu Wuyong would have definitely thought someone was joking if they handed him a bottle of water spiked with blood and told him it would solve a Death Curse.

Despite feeling it was a bit unreliable, Liu Wuyong didn’t let his thoughts show. He twisted off the cap and downed the bottle in a few large gulps.

Xiao Wu looked at the bottle in his hand blankly. He didn’t think too much of it; seeing Liu Wuyong drink, he followed suit and drained his bottle in one go.

Xie Sui was more nervous than either of them. This was his first time placing a Blood Curse on a living person.

Fortunately, everything went smoothly. Old Liu and Xiao Wu were perfectly fine, and Xie Sui could clearly sense the presence of the Blood Curse within them. He breathed a quiet sigh of relief and commanded the Blood Curse to devour the Death Curses inside their bodies.

With the final hidden danger resolved, it was time to deal with the evil cultivator who used the Life-Swapping Talisman.

Xie Sui pondered for a moment before asking Liu Wuyong, “Under normal circumstances, how many days does it usually take you to complete a mission?”

Liu Wuyong toyed with the empty water bottle. “A week. My former boss gave me a one-week deadline, and I usually drag it out until the very last day before going back.”

“He’s used to my ‘lack of ability’ causing delays, so he usually doesn’t rush me. Even if I don’t report my progress, he won’t find it strange. He knows I’m ‘incompetent,’ so he has no expectations of me finishing a task early.” Old Liu was quite open about his slacking habits.

Xie Sui nodded. “I see. That means we still have four days. What is your former boss’s full name? Does he have any evil cultivator accomplices? Do you know which sect of the Xuanmen he defected from?”

“I only know his surname is Zhang. Apparently, he came from the Way of the Celestial Masters of the Zhengyi School,” Liu Wuyong sighed. “He’s very protective of his full name and birth details. I was just a low-level errand boy. I don’t know if he has any evil cultivator helpers, I only know a few of his strongholds.”

Xie Sui frowned. “We don’t know how many helpers he has, we don’t know his background, and we don’t know what kind of sinister ghosts he’s refined or how many talismans and Xuanmen tools he’s stashed away…”

“This is a bit troublesome. I just had a fight with that Shiduo Hariti, and my current condition isn’t great. Besides, the techniques I used in the Yin-Yang Gap can’t be used in reality. If we just barge in, not only might we fail to catch him, but I might also expose myself… Let me think.”

The matter of the Life-Swapping Talisman had to be resolved as soon as possible, but if he got himself killed due to recklessness, it wouldn’t be worth it.

Thinking of the Shiduo Hariti, Xie Sui suddenly paused. “Wait, the Life-Swapping Talisman is a Xuanmen technique, but the method for refining a Shiduo Hariti belongs to the evil cultivators of Shijiao. Your former boss must be a double traitor of both the Xuanmen and Shijiao… Even if he isn’t, having a Shiduo Hariti means he’s in deep trouble.”

Xie Sui had no desire to deal with the Xuanmen at all, but Shijiao was a different story.

Xie Sui stood up. “Luckily, I kept the soul of the Shiduo Hariti. We need to pay a visit to Shikong Temple.”

Li Duanyuan had said he was a lay disciple of Shikong Temple. Xie Sui had experienced Li Duanyuan’s strength firsthand; even a small Mantra Wheel he empowered could block a strike from the Shiduo Hariti. The Shikong Temple that trained him must surely possess genuine skill.

“Those Shijiao monks won’t stand for someone insulting their guardian deity, especially a Flesh Bodhisattva created through such cruel means. We’ll give them the information on your former boss and let the people from Shijiao clean up that traitor. We can just follow behind those monks and pick up the pieces.”

He couldn’t call the police; this wasn’t like the situation with Daoist Kunyang. Back then, Xie Sui knew for a fact that Daoist Kunyang only had five accomplices and knew exactly what they were capable of. The cultivation of Kunyang’s five brothers was similar to Kunyang’s own, which could be suppressed with firearms, so he had reported them to the Law Enforcement Team.

But this time was different. Xie Sui didn’t know the depth of the man’s strength. Disciples of the Xuanmen or Shijiao all possessed cultivation and a high capacity for risk, whereas most people in the Inspectorate Bureau were ordinary citizens. If they encountered unknown Xuanmen spells while trying to arrest such an evil cultivator, it could result in heavy casualties for the Bureau.

Furthermore, Xie Sui wanted to do some things that were outside the law… The Inspectorate Bureau certainly wouldn’t let a civilian tag along during an arrest. If that evil cultivator was caught by the Bureau, Xie Sui wouldn’t be able to exact his revenge.

After harming so many innocent lives, simply going to prison was far too easy.

To deal with such a villain, one had to give them a taste of their own medicine.

“In any case, survival is the priority. We absolutely cannot just rush in. If the monks at Shikong Temple won’t help, we’ll look for other Buddhist temples. We still have four days, anyway.”

Liu Wuyong looked at him with admiration, clapping like a small seal. “Brilliant, brilliant. A classic move of driving the tiger to swallow the wolf. As expected of the boss, the boss is wise.” He was starting to appreciate his new boss more and more. This familiar feeling of prioritizing survival made him feel they would get along very well.

Translator’s Notes