Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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The master and disciple of the Taicang Sect sighed for a long time, but the people around them couldn’t understand a word.
The Taoist priests of Xin’an hesitated for a long time before asking: “Everyone, may I ask what Master Wei is saying?”
The Taoist priests of the Beijing Taoist Association were also silent for a long time, feeling very uncomfortable, and really didn’t want to admit that these were their teammates: “…talking nonsense.”
The Taoist priests of Xin’an: “???”
Wei Xi glanced at them upon hearing this, shaking his head and sighing inwardly. These fellow Taoists had simple businesses, and most of the people in their temples were monks or nuns. They didn’t encounter marriage problems, so they didn’t understand his hardships.
As the leader of a sect with more than 700 employees, only he was most aware of the current social phenomena. The news always talked about the gender imbalance, but little did they know that the imbalance in the underworld was even more serious. Otherwise, how could it have forced a high-ranking official like Black Impermanence to come all the way from Fengdu to do work in the mortal world?
There were so few female ghosts in the underworld, not to mention the female ghosts lingering in the mortal world. Their numbers were like a single red flower among a sea of green. How scarce were they? Even visitors to the haunted house, while praising its undeniable terror, suggested adding more female ghosts to scare them. After all, the image of a vengeful female ghost in red holds an indispensable place in traditional Chinese culture.
Besides, there was the group of bachelors in the sect. Since getting jobs and solving their basic needs, they had started seeking spiritual fulfillment, constantly craving more. A while ago, Uncle Shen, the HR manager and also single for decades, subtly mentioned this issue, showing Wei Xi a news story about an electronics company hiring a large number of beautiful women to cheer on their single male programmers, implying that this method could indeed boost employee morale.
Wei Xi wanted to, but what could he do without female ghosts? Frankly, he now regretted eating Fengyang Xian in Fengyang Town. Although he’d forgotten what Fengyang Xian looked like, her thick, black hair must have been very popular with the male employees. It was such a waste to have eaten her.
This was truly one of the few regrettable experiences he had in his life; alas, too many tears to recount.
Therefore, the Xiusheng Sect followers hurrying up the mountainside, carrying urns of ashes, were seen as a monstrous flood by the Daoist friends in Beijing and Xin’an, but to him, it was nothing short of a heavenly joy.
So he immediately quickened his pace, rushing up the mountain: “Fellow Daoists, hurry up!”
The local Daoist masters in Xin’an were astonished— why was he suddenly so excited?
However, Wei Xi had already increased his pace, reaching a speed that was difficult for them to keep up with.
While hurrying, he didn’t forget to remind his disciple: “Quickly call the company and tell them to get ready!”
Such a good opportunity, time to prepare for a blind date! There was no time to lose!
….
The Xiusheng Sect’s temple was built halfway up the mountain, a very grand structure, and its incense was very prosperous. At this moment, a large number of followers had gathered, each carrying the ashes of their own deceased family members.
The scene was somewhat eerie, yet the followers, regardless of their expressions of joy or sorrow, were all discussing it with great interest—
“Who is this lady?”
“Alas, my daughter, what a tragedy, she went out to work and had an accident. And who is this lady…?”
“Oh, my brother-in-law, he passed away from a cerebral hemorrhage two years ago, he wasn’t even thirty when he died, he hadn’t had a chance to get married.”
Wei Xi and his apprentice stood casually to the side, eavesdropping. Hearing that someone had brought a girl, they paid closer attention.
He was handsome, and behind him was an even more handsome apprentice, plus the strong and handsome Tuan Tuanyi, immediately attracting the attention of countless uncles and aunties.
The older men and women were quite wary of the group of Taoist priests who hurriedly followed behind him. Being devout believers, they knew a great deal about the persecution their sect suffered at the hands of other religions. Initially, they looked at the Taicang sect members with hostility: “What are you doing here?”
Over the years, countless government-sent Taoist priests and monks had tried to brainwash them into leaving the sect. These young men, though good-looking, would never listen to their attempts to persuade them to end their involvement in ghost marriages! They would immediately report the matter to the sect’s administrators!
The tallest of the young men being questioned glanced at the yellow paper with the birth dates written on it in his hand and asked, “Auntie, could you take a look at your daughter’s birth date?”
The aunt was suspicious: “What do you want to do?”
Tuan Tuanyi smiled and said, “To match people up, to match people up.”
Oh, so they were also here for the ghost marriage event. The aunt’s wariness immediately relaxed. While handing it over, she said, “I didn’t know you young men would be willing to participate in this. Who are you looking for? Are the birth dates compatible?”
Tuan Tuanyi waved his hand and smiled: “Hey, company employees. Don’t worry, Auntie, there are hundreds of them. We’re bound to find someone suitable.”
The aunt: “…???”
The aunt said “oh” a few times, still a little confused: “So many… What kind of company do you work for?”
Tuan Tuanyi said: “A regular department-level company. They all have stable jobs and are very reliable.”
The aunt thought in confusion, “So this is a government company arranging ghost marriages for deceased employees? No wonder everyone says civil servants have good benefits.”
The gates of the Xiusheng Sect’s Taoist temple were finally opened from the inside, and a Taoist priest with a cold and stern face, dressed in a Taoist robe, stepped out.
Wei Xi looked closely and recognized him as the tall, thin man who had fled from the capital! Standing on his own turf, the tall, thin man seemed to feel confident, his gaze coldly fixed on Wei Xi. Then, noticing the two fellow Taoists from different places panting and struggling to climb the mountain behind him, a mocking smile slowly spread across his lips. His gaze swept over the group of followers who had flocked to him with trust upon seeing him. Then the tall, thin man thought to himself, “These clueless outsiders, do they really think they can attack undetected, do they? They don’t expect this, do they? Master already knew your whereabouts. Although I don’t know why the spies outside have suddenly disappeared, he instructed us to be prepared long ago. Not to mention anything else, these ordinary followers are the weapons that can wear you down!”
“Everyone, listen up! The ghost marriage ceremony requires an absolutely secure environment. Let’s first detain anyone here who might cause trouble!”
He fixed his gaze on the few people from Taicang Sect nearby. Logically, once those words were spoken, these unfamiliar faces should have become the target of public outrage. Unexpectedly, his own believers hurried to explain on their behalf:
“Master Qing, you’ve misunderstood! They’re here to participate in our event!”
The tall, skinny man: “??”
The auntie whom Tuan Tuanyi had spoken to earlier chimed in excitedly, “It’s true! And the ones they brought are all civil servants. Such great matches! When my daughter was alive, I always hoped she’d marry a civil servant. So stable!”
The tall, skinny man: “………………”
He seethed inwardly, thinking these idiots would believe anything. But there was nothing he could do. He knew full well that the kind of followers who could be brainwashed by their sect were roughly at this level to begin with. And for the sake of maintaining the image of their religious group, he couldn’t start a fight with Wei Xi on the spot— mainly because he might not even win. If he got beaten up, it would be utterly humiliating.
So reluctantly, he opened the temple gates: “Then come in.”
The other Taoist priests, who had expected a fierce battle before being stopped by the followers, were speechless.
A local Taoist priest from Xin’an even exclaimed, “So Master Wei led his disciples to the front lines? No wonder they told those followers they wanted a ghost marriage. That’s a clever method!”
The Taoist priests from the capital: “…Ah.”
You’re wrong, they probably really do have a need.
….
So everyone became wary, clutching their ritual implements. Except for a few fellow Taoists who accompanied the plainclothes police to a secluded spot to control the chubby boy, the rest of them surged into the Xiusheng Sect with the crowd.
It was a secluded Taoist temple, its incense burning brightly, yet every detail exuded an eerie atmosphere. Especially to the orthodox Taoist priests, even the gods and Buddhas enshrined within seemed somewhat unusual. The enormous statues were half-hidden behind curtains, their faces smiling, but the curve of their lips was extremely strange. It was as if they were mockingly staring at them as they entered.
As soon as Kuang Zhiming stepped in, he became very agitated: “I… I think I can sense Xiaofeng, but she’s not in this Taoist temple!”
Master Quan, standing nearby, used Xu Xiaofeng’s birth chart to calculate, then said intently, “I can’t figure it out. She’s probably hidden by them, most likely near this temple. Can you try summoning her?”
Kuang Zhiming tried, then shook his head in despair: “No! No! I’m so useless!”
The other Taoists comforted him: “Don’t worry, the fact that you can sense her at least proves she’s still alive. A soul drawn out of the body naturally becomes less clear-headed. It’s normal that you can’t summon her.”
The local Taoists from Xin’an knew more, and one whispered, “I suspect that Fellow Daoist Xu’s soul is in the hands of Zhang Pang, the leader of the Xiusheng Sect. This guy’s Taoist arts are extremely strange; you’ve probably heard about his past, right?”
Zhang Pang was infamous and feared in the industry; such that even mentioning his name in Xin’an gave the Taoists a sense of urgency. However, the group of Taoists from the capital fell silent upon hearing this.
After a moment, someone tentatively spoke up: “…Is it his past involvement in pyramid schemes?”
The Xin’an Daoist masters were speechless. These fellow Daoists were really well-informed; they even knew such confidential information… Thinking this, the Xin’an Daoist masters couldn’t help but break out in a cold sweat: “…No, it’s his past learning Daoist arts.”
The Beijing Daoist masters awkwardly turned their gaze away: “Oh, oh, oh! That!”
The Xin’an Daoist masters, for some reason, couldn’t muster any more tension at this point, and their mood became speechless: “…This Zhang Pang, he was a disciple of the previous leader of the Xiusheng Sect. I heard he was already over thirty when he was accepted into the sect, but his talent was astonishing…” In just a few years, he had mastered all of his master’s skills and also collected many other secret techniques from various Taoist sects. He had a wide range of abilities and could even command ghost soldiers and underworld messengers to collect souls. He must possess a magical artifact that could imprison souls and prevent Fellow Daoist Kuang from being summoned.
“I wonder if he will come here today…” Kuang Zhiming said with red eyes.
The local Taoists shook their heads without much hope. “Zhang Pang is very cautious. Knowing that we are here, I’m afraid he won’t come out to fight.”
Everyone stared intently at the tall, thin man standing on the platform. They wanted to strike first, but they were worried about hurting the ordinary people present and dared not act rashly.
The tall, thin man clearly knew their fear. So a strange smile slowly spread across his lips. The next second, he suddenly pulled an ancient wooden plaque from his pocket.
Upon seeing the wooden plaque, the Taoist priests exclaimed in alarm, “Oh no! A Ghost Soldier Plaque!”
The methods of maintaining ghost soldiers varied among different families. Generally, the owners of ghost soldiers could summon them directly with verbal commands, but they also often crafted tokens to summon their subordinates, entrusting them to less capable confidants. The Taoist priests, not seeing the old leader of the Xiusheng Sect and surrounded by so many ordinary believers, assumed this so-called ghost-related ritual was merely a delaying tactic by the Xiusheng Sect. They never imagined the sect would be so ruthless as to summon ghost soldiers in front of their unsuspecting followers!
Taoist magical duels were no joke, and ghost soldiers were no ordinary troops. What if the fighting escalated and ordinary people were injured?
The Taoist priests, disregarding everything else, rushed forward with their ritual implements, shouting, “Stop him!”
The ordinary people present, unaware of their intentions, assumed they were there to cause trouble and immediately protested. A group of elderly men and women yelled and stepped forward to stop them, “Hey, what are you doing? We’re about to have a ghost marriage! Don’t ruin human relationships! Ghost marriages shouldn’t be ruined either!”
The Taoist priests anxiously replied, “He’s not arranging a ghost marriage for you; he’s inviting the ghosts he’s raising!”
The tall, thin man, meeting the suspicious glances from the believers, smiled eerily, “I am indeed inviting the ghosts I’ve raised, but who said I’m not arranging a ghost marriage? Can’t the ghosts raised by our sect be arranged for ghost marriages?”
He then raised his hand and was about to shout.
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