Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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Holding the medical examination report, Wei Tianyi listened to the doctor’s constant exclamations of surprise and wondered why his health had improved. His expression became somewhat dazed, and he had no idea whether he should be happy or not.
Actually, he had sensed something was wrong before this. Lately, he had been living in a fit of rage, feeling utterly hopeless. He was increasingly finding it easy to entertain his best friend and the people he introduced to him, his wife drinking tea in the yard, his youngest son who, for some reason, was always idle, setting up a ladder to wipe that damn stone tablet at the gate, his eldest son whose words and actions seemed to have been provoked into a mental illness, and a group of strange neighbors who, for some reason, actually came to their doorstep to burn incense together.
Seeing these things every time he entered or left his house made him feel like he was about to explode. Logically, he should have developed neurasthenia by now, but no matter how intense his anger was, he never suffered from insomnia— he fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow, and sometimes even had sweet dreams, so that he could greet the terrible new day with renewed energy every day.
For some reason, he suddenly felt that the biggest benefit of his improved physical condition was that it allowed him to teeter on the brink of death from anger every day, yet still manage to stay alive…
But then again, having accumulated such a level of career and wealth, what he truly longed for in the past was a healthy body. His business partners, many in similar positions, had started focusing on health and wellness in middle age, but no matter how much they tried to improve their health, they all suffered from some degree of frailty. As a result, the most common saying among business owners in various industries and social circles was, “I have the life to make money, but not the life to enjoy it.” If he were to express his complex inner thoughts to these people, he would probably get a beating.
So… in the end, he should be happy, right?
Wei Tianyi tried to accept this objective reality with mixed feelings.
….
The tall, thin man not far away found it extremely troublesome. This was truly the first time he had encountered such a helpless situation. Was there really no way to infiltrate the Wei family?
But behind them, two gossipy junior brothers, the chubby one and the pockmarked one, were chattering amongst themselves—
“These two are about the same age as Master, yet they’re so lively and energetic. It’s true that different people have different fates.”
“It would be better not to fight at all, but to go back and tell Master so that he can also learn from their health preservation experience.”
“Sigh, we can’t compete with them in terms of religious practices, our missionary skills are just so-so, and now even our health maintenance is being outdone.”
The tall, thin man was so angry that the veins on his forehead throbbed. He was at his wit’s end and wanted nothing more than to beat them up on the spot. His hands were even trembling when he suddenly heard a tentative question from behind: “Mr. Qing?”
The tall, thin man subconsciously turned around and saw a young man with a cane standing behind him. After a moment’s thought, he remembered who the man was: “Mr. Xing?”
Xing Kai said in surprise, “It really is you?”
Long ago, the Xing family experienced a period of bad luck. Their company was severely affected, and their elders fell ill one after another. They consulted many Taoist temples and monasteries, but no one was willing to help. It was only after someone recommended that they go to Xinnan Temple to invite a highly skilled Taoist priest to relocate their ancestral graves that their fortunes improved. Xing Kai was accompanied by his family to participate in the ritual at the time. He remembered that the tall, thin man named Qing Lu was one of the disciples brought by that powerful Taoist priest.
Xing Kai recognized him and immediately greeted him: “Mr. Qing is here. Has Master Pang also come to the capital?”
The tall, thin man paused for a moment. He still remembered the magnificent sight of green water emanating from the family’s ancestral graves. Green water and green smoke from the graves were different; the latter was a good thing, while the former was a sign that the descendants hadn’t accumulated any good karma. Back then, his master had gone to great lengths and used some special methods to prevent the family’s misfortunes from continuing. Although the matter was temporarily resolved, he still warned his disciples afterwards not to associate with this family too much in the future, lest they be dragged down with bad luck.
So he didn’t want to say too much to the other person and just shook his head: “Master is not here.”
It seemed there was no opening left to approach Wei Tianyi and his wife. He couldn’t bring himself to continue losing face in front of his junior brother, so he had no choice but to leave. However, he couldn’t swallow his anger. He thought that if he really couldn’t succeed in summoning their souls, he could simply perform a ritual before leaving to curse this family with bad luck. But before he could even take a step, he heard Xing Kai across from him exclaim, “Uncle Wei? Aunt Shu? What are you doing here?”
The tall, thin man suddenly stopped, his eyes deepening – what a wonderful thing it is to search high and low only to find it effortlessly.
….
On the way back, Wei Tianyi had mixed feelings. He kept glancing at the car following behind him. On one hand, he felt that there was something wrong with him, and on the other hand, he thought— what if there really are things in this world that science cannot explain?
He had never believed in such supernatural tales before, but after seeing that strange medical report today, he suddenly felt a little uncertain.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have agreed to invite those self-proclaimed “masters” to his home after Xing Kai stopped him and introduced them. He remembered these same people inexplicably stopping him at the hospital entrance earlier, complaining of bad luck. Logically, with his test results showing he was perfectly healthy today, he should have assumed they were frauds. But now that his worldview was starting to waver, he couldn’t help but think more deeply— being constantly frustrated and angry, wasn’t that a kind of bad luck too?
Moreover, Xing Kai’s attitude in recommending the other party was very enthusiastic. To prove the other party’s reliability, he even revealed that his family had also cooperated with this group of masters. This was no stranger after all—the cousin of his eldest son’s fiancée, and a friend who often appeared by his eldest son’s side. They were both businessmen in Beijing, and he and Xing Kai’s father often met and cooperated in business. They could be described as family friends.
Wei Tianyi pondered these thoughts, and the more he thought about them, the deeper they became. At this moment, his biggest thought was—could those so-called ghosts and gods that he had never taken seriously in the past actually be real?
….
In the car behind, Xing Kai asked excitedly, “Master Qing, what do you want from me to help you get into the Wei family? Are you trying to cause trouble?”
The tall, thin man knew there was more to the story when he saw that the man was willing to help. Although he had buried most of the truth, he didn’t hide his purpose: “There are indeed some disputes that need to be resolved.”
Upon hearing this, Xing Kai was so excited that his hands were trembling: “Great! Great! Great! Master, you must seize this opportunity and at least make Wei Xi suffer for a while! I finally managed to persuade Uncle Wei and Aunt Shu!”
Ever since he got a beating from his own father after dining and dashing, he harbored a mixture of hatred and fear towards Wei Xi. He wanted revenge, but rationally, he knew better. Given Wei Xi’s unbelievable fighting prowess during the beating, confronting him directly would only result in a severe beating in return. To make matters worse, his family had cut off his credit card because of it, leaving him unable to think of a way to vent his anger for so long. The appearance of the three tall, thin fellow disciples was like scratching his most unbearable itch; how could he not be agitated?
The tall, thin man was also quite pleased: “Of course, we have to thank Mr. Xing for his help this time. I didn’t expect you to be so eloquent, managing to gain the trust of that couple in just a few words.”
Xing Kai felt incredibly proud of himself and straightened his back. Then he saw Master Qing’s chubby junior brother laugh and say, “Yeah, that’s really despicable. You even know the couple, yet you can lie to them without any hesitation. You’re amazing, just like a villain from a movie who gets killed without a burial.”
Xing Kai’s exhilarated mood plummeted irreversibly in an instant: “…”
Which side was this person on?
The tall, thin man turned around coldly: “…Shut up.”
….
When Xing Kai got off the car, he wasn’t as happy as he had been at the beginning. He looked at the chubby boy with fear, afraid that the boy would stab him in the back again if he opened his mouth.
Startled by the other party’s interference, he noticed that Wei Tianyi and his wife also felt a little guilty. He then thought of the several experts behind him and felt more confident, so he asked to encourage himself, “Master Qing, are you confident in a little while?”
The tall, thin man nodded coldly. As long as he could get into the Wei family, he would find a way to make his move.
He was quite confident in his abilities, and his gaze became invigorated as he looked at the Wei family’s gate, which was so close at hand. But at that moment, his junior brother cautiously pulled him over: “Senior brother, Master told us to have less contact with the Xing family. You know, we’re already weak enough, and with his unlucky face, what if he brings bad luck upon us too?”
The tall, thin man, who was pressing forward with all his might, looked at Xing Kai, who was limping ahead— a truly ominous sign: “…”
The tall, thin man couldn’t take it anymore and went down: “If you say another word, believe me, I’ll beat you to death right now.”
The chubby boy thought to himself, “Why can’t they hear the truth anymore?”
Wei Chengshu, who happened to be returning home, also saw his parents. When he saw Xing Kai, he couldn’t help but frown. His gaze then swept over the strangers in Taoist robes: “Who are these?”
Wei Tianyi was still in a Schrödinger’s cat-like superstitious state and was ashamed to admit that his worldview was wavering. He vaguely said, “The Taoist priests that your brother Xing introduced came to our house to look at the feng shui.”
Wei Chengshu: “???”
Wei Tianyi, seeing his youngest son’s expression that seemed to say, “Dad, are you acting weird like my older brother?”, couldn’t help but get angry and embarrassed: “What kind of expression is that?!”
Wei Chengshu: “…No.”
Wei Chengshu silently went back into the house to rummage through his tin bucket, becoming increasingly certain that he was the only normal person left in his family. The three skinny, tall apprentice brothers and Xing Kai watched in bewilderment as he set up an A-frame ladder outside the Wei family’s courtyard gate and then climbed up the ladder with his tin bucket.
Xing Kai was a little dazed: “…Hey, what are you doing?”
Wei Chengshu looked down at him arrogantly and gloomily, carrying a bucket, while wiping the top of the stone tablet heavily with a rag in his other hand: “Are you blind?”
Xing Kai: “……………………”
Wei Tianyi rubbed his face and turned away from what was happening: “Don’t ask anymore, let’s go inside.”
Steward Zhou said that Wei Xi and his apprentices had just gone out, apparently to pick up a high-ranking official from some department for a visit, but he couldn’t quite remember which department it was. The tall, thin man was overjoyed and immediately had his two junior brothers set up an incense table.
Wei Tianyi was actually a little resistant, but at this moment he was also somewhat skeptical, so he could only let them do as they pleased and stand aside and watch from a distance.
The tall, thin man looked around the room, growing angrier with each passing moment. Damn it, the entire room only had a tiny statue of a deity, no bigger than an arm!
His indignant gaze drifted casually from the two framed pictures hanging on the wall. One displayed a business license, the other something resembling a certificate. He didn’t bother to examine them closely, his anger only fueling his frustration. What kind of shoddy Taoist temple was this?! Even a half-baked practitioner wouldn’t be this incompetent. He found it hard to accept that such an opponent had kept him running around for days.
The chubby boy also noticed the unusual simplicity of the Taicang Sect, muttering to himself, “I told you it wasn’t some hidden sect. Senior brother, how weak are you really…”
The pockmarked man looked curiously at the sole deity enshrined there: “What kind of god is this? It doesn’t seem to be one of the Three Pure Ones. I’ve never seen one like it before. Could this Taoist temple be a cult?”
As soon as he finished speaking, his vision blurred, and somehow he slipped and hit his nose on the corner of the table.
Everyone: “…”
Wei Tianyi stared blankly as the pockmarked Taoist priest frantically covered his bleeding nose and scrambled to his feet, then began to feel a bit unreliable: “Taoist, are you alright?”
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