Chapter 41

Chapter 41

Wei Xi suddenly stopped in his tracks and looked back.

He noticed that his second disciple had also halted, turning to ask, "What's the matter?"

The wind gently swirled the incense ashes around their feet. Beyond the lush greenery of the Wei family's residence stood the towering sect's stone tablet and the quaint incense burner, standing quietly in their original places.

Wei Xi stared for a moment before finally frowning and shaking his head. "Nothing."

**********

Liandu Temple was located in a small scenic area on the outskirts of the capital, rather remote. Due to its age, it had been designated as a protected cultural heritage site. From afar, one could see the informational plaques hanging on the walls.

The temple enjoyed thriving incense offerings, even on ordinary days that were neither holidays nor festivals. Ordinary believers could be seen carrying tributes to burn incense. Wei Xi had already been envious when he heard about it over the phone, and now, after seeing the scale of this fellow sect in person, he felt even more that his own sect's management needed improvement. When would Taicang Sect attract such crowds who would come willingly to burn incense and make offerings?

Unity Yi comforted him, "Master, we're just starting out. How can we compare with a family-run business like Liandu Temple? Didn't you read that it was established two hundred years ago? Look, they have a house in the scenic area, a huge estate. It's different; they're rich second-generation, with a father to rely on. Their starting point is much higher than our company's."

Wei Xi turned to his more reliable second disciple. "Is that so?"

Shuo Zong met his clear black-and-white eyes and fell silent for a moment. "…Mm."

Tuan Jieyi said, "Right? Junior Brother agrees with me too!"

Wei Xi realized the situation. According to this, the sect of Kuang Zhiming indeed had much deeper roots than Wei Dedao's boasts. No wonder he possessed a dual cultivation technique that even Wei Dedao had never taught him.

When Kuang Zhiming came out to receive them, he noticed Wei Xi secretly admiring him with envious eyes, causing him to break out in a sweat. He was speechless seeing how the Taicang Sect could turn a ghost-catching mission into a job fair. How could he imagine what there was to admire about himself?

But despite their odd behavior, the Taicang Sect's strength was undeniable. He remained polite, "Fellow Daoist Wei, thank you for taking the time to come."

Wei Xi acknowledged him and followed behind, suddenly remembering something. He reached into Tuan Jieyi's backpack and pulled out a notebook. "Fellow Daoist Kuang, this is the attendance book our sect's HR manager mentioned on the phone. Even though you're willing to trust us, it still concerns our sect's reputation. It would be best to explain it clearly to your believers. If they have any doubts, they can summon our HR manager here for a face-to-face confrontation."

Kuang Zhiming: "???"

Kuang Zhiming glanced at the eerie notebook in Wei Xi's hand. Though it had "First Taicang Sect Limited Company Employee Training Conference" printed on the cover, it was obvious that it wasn't meant for human use.

Recalling the HR manager's mention of crawling out of the phone to the Taoist temple, sweat trickled down his temples faster. He couldn't help but glance at the Celestial Lord enshrined beside him. Through the curling smoke, the Celestial Lord's furious expression seemed to be staring directly at him.

"No need, no need," he hastily declined, struggling to speak. "Please put away the attendance book. This is a Taoist temple, after all, and our ancestors are watching…"

Despite its usual lack of miraculous manifestations.

As this thought crossed his mind, he heard a startled exclamation beside him: "Oh my, why has the incense been snapped in half!"

Kuang Zhiming: "..."

Seeing Wei Xi's ashen face, Kuang Zhiming put away his logbook and couldn't help but comment, "Your Celestial Venerated One seems to have quite a temper. He's much more irascible than our Sect's Celestial Venerated One."

No sooner had he spoken when another cry of alarm rang out: "Oh no! The candle has gone out too!"

"..." Kuang Zhiming didn't dare respond. After hastily calming down the agitated believers, his back was drenched in sweat. Fortunately, the believers were rather simple-minded, and he easily brushed them off with an excuse about poor quality incense and candles.

*****

The believer who had requested the ritual still waited in the meditation room. Seeing Kuang Zhiming lead in a group of strangers with a pale face, he immediately stood up to greet them. "Venerable Daoist Kuang, who are these...?"

"These are from Taicang Sect—Venerable Daoist Wei, and his disciples. They're fellow Daoists I know locally. Upon hearing your situation, they came along to investigate," Kuang Zhiming said, exhausted after apologizing profusely to his Ancestor for the interrupted offering. He waved his hand. "They have some connection to the matter you've asked for help with."

At first, the believer found it hard to believe that such good-looking people had become Daoists. Did looks really matter so much now? Upon hearing that they had a connection to him, curiosity piqued, he probed for more information. Oddly, Kuang Zhiming refused to explain their relationship. Instead, the believer turned to the newcomers, and a tall, smiling man stepped forward to shake his hand, repeatedly asking for future favors without elaborating further.

As someone seeking assistance to exorcise evil spirits, he couldn't figure out how he could be of help to this group of experts. Thus, he set aside his confusion and began to recount his troubles.

The man's name was Bai Hao, the developer behind the unfinished Hong Kong Building, a shopping mall under construction.

The story behind the development of the Hong Kong Building was a long one. The project, which had started with land acquisition, had dragged on for nearly a decade, its slow progress astonishingly sluggish. In recent years, it had simply been abandoned. Located in the prime downtown area where land was incredibly valuable, such an expensive white elephant project was rare across the nation, drawing considerable attention from the public. The pressure on the developer could only be imagined.

"We've been losing money every day for so many years with such a prime location. We're anxious too. In June, the project department proposed restarting the mall's construction, and the company decided to allocate more funds. Our goal is to complete the Hong Kong Building as soon as possible and turn it into a new shopping paradise. Last month, I brought our new design team to Beijing for research, visiting malls all over the city to learn from their experiences. Just when we were wrapping up our investigation and almost had plans for the mall's layout and tenant recruitment, we celebrated with the team. On our way back, we passed by the site, and I suddenly thought about designing the night lighting to complement the exterior of the building. So, I decided to take another look at night. Little did I know that something would happen."

Bai Hao was still shaken as he recounted the incident, rubbing his face.

It was almost midnight, quite late, and the cold weather kept most people from strolling around the city center. Honestly, the abandoned building looked eerie in the darkness, and Xiao Ke, an architect on the project team, was terrified, refusing to enter.

However, everyone else was eager to explore, Bai Hao included. Educated in modern times and a young man full of vigor, he didn't believe in supernatural phenomena. Seeing Xiao Ke's fear, he found it amusing and teased him about being afraid of the dark.

With the majority insisting, Xiao Ke had no choice but to follow them, trembling with fear. As the temperature dropped at night, they measured the outer walls and decided to check the rooftop to see if they could enhance the signage lights up there.

The construction elevator in the abandoned building had long been out of service, so they had to climb the stairs to the top floor. Fortunately, the building wasn't too tall, and the climb wasn't strenuous. However, due to Xiao Ke's fear of the dark, they didn't split up, staying together as a group. While climbing the stairs, Xiao Ke suddenly startled everyone, claiming he heard a sound.

Everyone immediately stopped in their tracks, of course, hearing nothing. Winter had already set in the capital city, and the temperature had plummeted. In such bitter cold, not even insects dared to chirp outdoors.

Seeing this, they all started teasing Xiao Ke, claiming that his fear of the dark had driven him to hallucinate.

However, Xiao Ke insisted he hadn't heard wrong. There was indeed a voice floating around them, though no one else believed him. The group persisted in ascending to the rooftop and began snapping pictures of the surrounding commercial district's night view.

Bai Hao, busy framing shots, suddenly heard someone ask, "Where has everyone gone?"

Without thinking, he replied, "They're right here," only to realize afterward that the voice belonged to an extremely old stranger he had never heard before.

Startled, he spun around to search but found that the crowd on the rooftop had dispersed. There was no one else beside him. Terrified, he thought he too was experiencing auditory hallucinations. After scanning the group, he realized, to his shock, that Xiao Ke was missing!

He immediately called everyone together, but none of them seemed to have noticed when Xiao Ke disappeared. It was no fun at all to have such an incident occur late at night. Assuming Xiao Ke had hidden somewhere due to his fear of the dark, a few team members called him, albeit somewhat annoyed. The phone rang, but the sound didn't come from the rooftop. Instead, it echoed faintly, like a mournful ghost cry, rising from the bottom floor without anyone answering.

Confused, they rushed downstairs to investigate and were horrified to discover Xiao Ke lying in a pool of blood.

When they reached him, Xiao Ke was still slightly conscious. He lay amidst the disordered wooden planks on the ground, surrounded by a spreading red stain. His eyes were wide open, and as blood gurgled from his throat, he murmured, "Ghost... Ghost... I saw it..."

After saying that, he swayed with a terrified look on his face and passed out.

******

"Xiao Ke is still in the ICU at the city hospital. The doctors said it's fortunate they found him in time; if it had been half an hour later, there might not have been any hope of saving him. Although he has survived the critical phase, he remains unconscious, and no one knows when he'll wake up. They said he has multiple shattered bones and internal injuries, likely from falling from the rooftop." Bai Hao wiped his face again, his expression filled with fear and regret. "I was wrong. I shouldn't have suggested observing the construction site late at night, and that voice... that voice..."

That aged and unfamiliar voice lingered in his mind since the day of the accident. He had confirmed with all his colleagues that everyone was busy with their own tasks then, and no one had spoken those words.

This frightened Bai Hao greatly. He was torn between considering it an illusion and acknowledging the bizarre circumstances surrounding Xiao Ke's fall, especially since the words he spoke before losing consciousness were so pointed. He could no longer deceive himself.

But Xiao Ke hadn't woken up yet, leaving Bai Hao unable to ask directly about what had happened before the fall. Filled with anxiety, he couldn't even sleep. After much deliberation, he decided to seek help from supernatural forces. He searched online and chose Liandu Temple, a locally renowned site.

Upon hearing this, Kuang Zhiming's expression turned grave. A near-fatal fall was no trivial matter. He immediately stood up and said, "Mr. Bai, please wait. I'll fetch my wife, and we'll accompany you to the construction site with Master Wei to get to the bottom of this."

"B-But can we?" Bai Hao, now trembling with fear, had swung from a steadfast materialist to the other extreme. His face was ashen as he asked, "I... I investigated later. When the mall was being built, rumors circulated within the company that the Hong Kong Building site was once a mass graveyard centuries ago. Later, when it was outsourced to a construction firm, accidents kept happening, and the company even hired people to perform exorcisms and change the feng shui. But nothing seemed to solve the problem. That's why we had to halt construction for so many years, leaving it deserted. If it really was a mass graveyard, wouldn't there be thousands of dead buried there? Xiao Ke was driven to jump, and if these spirits were to manifest en masse, wouldn't that be like an army? How can just a few of us handle such a situation?"

Kuang Zhiming fell silent for a moment, then, under Bai Hao's fearful gaze, slowly turned his attention to the Taicang Sect members nearby.

Bai Hao: "?"

The leading disciple of Taicang Sect immediately understood and flashed a smile at the future landlord. "Mr. Bai, don't worry. My master is an expert in fights. If not, we can always seek external help. We have hundreds of sect members. When the time comes, all of us will join in; there's no way we'll be at a disadvantage."

Hundreds of employees? That was the standard for a medium-sized company. Bai Hao looked at Wei Xi, envisioning a scene of hundreds of Taoist priests forming ranks against ghosts and spirits. He felt reassured but also astonished. "Master Wei is truly...truly young and accomplished. At such a young age, you've managed to run such a large temple."

But he had never known that temples and monasteries nowadays recruited so many people. When he entered Liandu Temple just now, he didn't see that many Taoist priests. Pondering this, Bai Hao couldn't help asking Kuang Zhiming curiously, "Master Kuang, do you have that many Daoist priests here as well?"

Kuang Zhiming stared at him with a complicated expression, unsure how to explain. After a long while, he could only reply with difficulty, "Currently, Liandu Temple has seventeen lodgers, nine who have taken vows, and others in various roles. Not counting short-term secular guests, we have a total of forty-five people."

This number was indeed impressive among city temples, ranking among the best locally. However, Bai Hao, being non-religious, had no concept of it. Upon hearing this, he was disappointed. Only forty-five people, compared to the hundreds in Taicang Sect.

Despite this, it would be awkward to make a direct comparison. Bai Hao didn't show his thoughts, quickly nodding and smiling to ease the tension. "Ah, I see. That's fine, forty-five people is still quite a lot. Master Kuang, your temple seems prosperous, and the location is great too, with historical significance. It will surely develop further in the future."

If he had known earlier, he would have directly approached the larger Taicang Sect. The local forum users were unreliable. They claimed Liandu Temple was one of the best, misleading this outsider.

Kuang Zhiming heard the sincere comfort but felt anything but happy. He bit his lip and stepped out of the threshold, feeling deeply humiliated. Why did his Liandu Temple lose out in such an inexplicable comparison?

Before he could fully process his grievance, Bai Hao's voice echoed from inside again. "Oh, Master Wei, where is the exact address of your Taicang Sect? I couldn't find it online before. Anyway, I have free time recently, so I might drop by and light some incense."

As soon as he finished speaking, another believer's exclamation sounded from the quiet chamber. "Oh dear, Daoist priest, please come take a look. Why has the newly lit incense broken again? Is there something wrong with the quality of these sticks?"

Kuang Zhiming: "..."