Ding Hanbing ended up unable to cover his waist or legs, and could only watch helplessly as the car drove away.
"I still haven't figured out if this childhood friend of yours is alive or dead," his agent shook his head behind him.
Ding Hanbing told a small lie: "Didn't Mr. Jing already tell the media? He's alive."
The agent asked: "Then why did you always say he was dead before?"
Ding Hanbing lied again: "...His family probably doesn't want us to like him."
The agent thought that made sense: "If a family has a child like that, they'd definitely want to keep it under wraps, to prevent those with ill intentions from targeting them." He meant the "us" Ding Hanbing had mentioned.
The agent was momentarily bewildered, unable to imagine just how many people must have liked this young Master Jing back then, for his parents to come up with such a harmful scheme.
Ding Hanbing turned away, his face darkening.
Indeed.
Why did Jing Tinghua tell them that Jing Jiujiu was dead? And why did he take away all of Jing Jiujiu's belongings?
...
Of course, Jing Jiujiu's actions to reclaim his property with Bai Yuhuai's help didn't escape the Jing family's notice.
Jing Tinghua sat in his office, tapping the desk: "Someone must have wanted to get their hands on Jiujiu and Yu Ran's property, so they deliberately staged this whole thing... First destroying the formation at the castle to release the ghosts, then intentionally letting that TV crew capture footage?"
"It's not impossible," his secretary responded with a bow. "After all, aren't those feng shui masters all just in it for the money? If they could gain a fortune they could hardly spend in a lifetime with just one move like this, who wouldn't want to do it?"
Jing Tinghua: "Mm, this is the most convincing possibility. The fact that he could set up Master Qiu's death shows he's more capable than Master Qiu." Jing Tinghua rubbed the antique walnut in his palm and said calmly, "But since it's for money, that gives us a way in. The Jing family can use financial incentives to get him to work for us instead."
The secretary was taken aback and asked, "So should we go find this feng shui master who broke the formation now?"
Jing Tinghua opened his mouth: "No rush. Let's focus on finding the statue first. Then we'll try to invite a few more masters to come and help. Otherwise, even if we find this feng shui master, he might think the Jing family is easy to push around and try to squeeze us for all we're worth."
In this line of work, it was rare to find anyone who cared about morals or righteousness. Most would throw away all shame and principles for money.
The secretary nodded and made a note.
Jing Tinghua didn't say more. He glanced at the time - it was already 4 PM. He had to get back to the Jing residence safely before sunset. Otherwise... even Jing Tinghua himself didn't know what might happen.
It was said that at dusk, as the sun sets and the moon rises, it's when yin and yang intersect, making it easiest to encounter unclean things. Thus it was called the Hour of Evil.
There was some truth to it.
Jing Tinghua got up and left the CEO's office, with several bodyguards immediately accompanying him downstairs.
The floor of the lobby on the first floor was so polished you could see your reflection. Every inch of the building exuded the Jing Corporation's wealth and grandeur.
Jing Tinghua stepped on it without much thought.
But the young girl who had just entered through the revolving door walked on it very carefully.
In the blink of an eye, the girl had walked up close.
Jing Tinghua glanced at her, then suddenly realized something. But his reaction was still too slow—
The girl tripped without warning, and the dozens of cups of hot coffee she was carrying all flew towards Jing Tinghua's head.
"Ah!"
"Mr. Jing!"
"Mr. Jing, are you alright? Do we need to call an ambulance?"
The staff in the lobby immediately panicked, and the receptionist grabbed some tissues and rushed over.
Jing Tinghua only felt a burning sensation on his face, with an intense, dull pain.
He didn't know if he had blistered from the burn.
"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I didn't see Mr. Jing," the girl cried, frightened.
Jing Tinghua looked at her darkly: "In the future, don't let new employees buy coffee for the whole team. Don't they have hands of their own?" Then he had someone bring an ice pack and quickly got in the car to go to the hospital.
Jing Tinghua knew these were just minor incidents. Soon, there would be even bigger disasters.
But he had too many responsibilities on his shoulders and couldn't just hide away in the Jing residence, never going out. Besides, later on, even hiding at home would be meaningless.
If it weren't for this, he wouldn't have been willing to trade Jing Jiujiu for all of this in the first place.
Jing Jiujiu might have been the only truly outstanding son he'd have in this lifetime.
"Now, immediately, go find the statue! And find some more experts!" At the hospital, Jing Tinghua finally saw his own appearance. His skin was patchy red and white, and the wounds from the firecracker burns had swollen up after being doused with coffee.
He looked as ugly as some kind of alien.
Jing Tinghua could no longer contain the fury in his heart.
...
After hearing the staff's account, the theater director wasted no time in having someone find a Taoist priest.
This priest really did have his hair in a bun and was dressed in an otherworldly manner.
After performing some rituals, he said:
"It's done. I've captured the ghost. You won't have any more trouble here."
The director didn't doubt him and had his assistant pay the man 200,000 yuan before sending him off.
But before Ji Wen'an could even be discharged from the hospital, within a couple of days, Meng Hexin, who had come for a collaboration, was hit by a falling chandelier.
The director called Bai Yuhuai.
Actually, the director didn't know what to do either. He just vaguely remembered hearing that the reason White Emperor had such good relationships with the big shots in Beijing and Shanghai, and why no one dared to offend him easily, was because White Emperor had introduced them to some feng shui master.
Whether this was true or not, the director had no way to verify.
Remembering that Bai Yuhuai had suggested inviting a Taoist priest that day, the director decided to try his luck.
"The person you invited didn't work?" Bai Yuhuai asked.
"Yeah, and he took 200,000 yuan with him."
"How did you find this person?"
"Best Actress Tao recommended him. Said several female celebrities in the industry relied on him to adjust their feng shui and ward off evil."
"What's his name?"
"People call him Master Zhou."
Bai Yuhuai had never heard of such a person.
But considering how many low-profile experts there were in this field, Bai Yuhuai didn't jump to conclusions.
"Can... can you recommend someone reliable to try again?" The director sighed heavily. "Something happened again today. We really have no choice. The performance is in less than two weeks. We can't let it turn into a funeral..."
Bai Yuhuai looked up in Jing Jiujiu's direction.
Jing Jiujiu had gotten over his initial excitement about being able to see himself in the mirror. He had become fond of a new toy, manipulating the Switch controller to throw Mario's hat around. To others, it just looked like two controllers floating up and down.
"I can't get past this level!" Jing Jiujiu said.
"I'll give you a contact. Whether you can invite him or not depends on you," Bai Yuhuai hung up the phone, sent a contact card via WeChat, then closed his phone and walked over to Jing Jiujiu's side.
Jing Jiujiu watched as Bai Yuhuai took the controller, calm and composed, with a steady posture, his operations as fierce as a tiger.
Then he looked at the score: 0.5.
Mario fell.
He died.
Jing Jiujiu: "..."
Bai Yuhuai: "..."
The two stared at each other, both feeling a moment of awkwardness.
Jing Jiujiu broke the silence first.
People always want to save face, so it's better to change the subject.
Jing Jiujiu: "Who was on the phone with you just now?"
"The theater director," Bai Yuhuai answered while inconspicuously breathing a sigh of relief.
White Emperor had entered the industry at a young age and had been at the top for ten years. He was always the industry's shining star, with almost everyone giving him a thumbs up and praising his excellence. Yet he had just shown such clumsiness in front of this young man... If Jing Jiujiu had asked even one more question, White Emperor's icy facade would have cracked.
Jing Jiujiu asked: "Still not resolved?"
"No."
"Who was it this time?"
"Meng Hexin. They say a chandelier fell for no reason. Someone nearby pushed him away quickly, but he still got a gash on his forehead from the wire near the chandelier."
Jing Jiujiu thought of the handsome face he had seen on TV as a child.
Back then, Yu Ran also liked to watch wuxia dramas with him. Meng Hexin wasn't considered top-tier in terms of looks in the entertainment circle at that time. But his portrayal of the evil cult leader was very impressive. Jing Jiujiu thought so too.
Jing Jiujiu suddenly stood up: "Then let's go take a look. We'd better ask Lin Zhi how powerful this ghost really is. Even the Taoist priest couldn't catch it."
Bai Yuhuai: "Not playing Mario anymore?"
Jing Jiujiu: "Nope."
Bai Yuhuai picked up the controller, then put it down. Well, being this bad at the game, he couldn't bring himself to offer to help complete the level.
Bai Yuhuai stood up, suppressing a slight, subtle feeling of unhappiness: "Let's go."
The two quickly arrived at the theater.
By this time, the Director had just managed to contact the person on the business card.
The one who came was a young man, whose appearance alone was far less impressive than the previous one. Just look at that head, even dyed yellow.
Upon closer inspection, he looked somewhat familiar.
He seemed to be a contestant who had just debuted from a recent talent show.
The Director: ?
Before the Director could voice any tactful doubts or probing questions, the car door opened, and Bai Yuhuai and Jing Jiujiu got out.
Jing Jiujiu greeted them, then asked first: "Where is Mr. Meng Hexin?"
The Director sighed: "He's at the hospital getting stitches."
Jing Jiujiu nodded, taking out his phone to send a WeChat message.
Bai Yuhuai asked: "What are you doing?"
Jing Jiujiu: "Sending regards to Mr. Meng."
Bai Yuhuai glanced at it from the corner of his eye, secretly frowning.
How was this sending regards? He had typed such a long string of words...
Meanwhile, the Young Man, upon seeing Bai Yuhuai, was startled: "Oh, you've come personally, then I'll head back."
The Director listened, completely bewildered.
Bai Yuhuai: "Wait nearby."
The Young Man hurriedly responded: "Yes."
The Director was still confused, but honestly led the people inside first.
Jing Jiujiu walked beside Bai Yuhuai, whispering in his ear: "Is this... the new Taoist priest the Director invited?"
Bai Yuhuai: "Mm-hmm."
"Will he be able to tell that I'm a ghost?"
Bai Yuhuai: "No. If I say you're human, then you're human."
Jing Jiujiu nodded, but couldn't feel at ease.
The self-deceiving victory method wasn't very reliable after all.
The Young Man circled the theater once: "It's most likely an earth-bound spirit. It can't leave the theater, but within the theater, its power is the strongest. This kind of thing can be troublesome, but it's not that troublesome. Once we figure out how it died, we just need to make it die again."
Bai Yuhuai didn't respond to him, but turned to look at the Director: "That Master Zhou, what did he do after he arrived?"
The Director hurriedly gave a general account.
After listening, the Young Man couldn't help but chuckle: "Isn't he just a fraud?"
The Director's expression froze: "..."
Damn it! His 200,000 yuan!
Bai Yuhuai's expression remained unchanged as he calmly said: "Bring him back."
The Director said with a bitter face: "If he finds out something happened at the theater again, he'll surely realize he's been exposed, and who knows where he's run off to..."
Bai Yuhuai: "Didn't he burn a lot of charm papers and sprinkle charm water?"
The Young Man quickly chimed in: "Oh, right, we might be able to find him that way. Let me try first."
After speaking, the Young Man sat down cross-legged on the spot and started taking things out of the bag he carried.
The bag was printed with a cyberpunk-style pattern.
It looked cool and trendy.
Even Jing Jiujiu couldn't help but take a few extra glances.
Bai Yuhuai frowned imperceptibly and looked at the Young Man: "Don't make such a fuss."
The Young Man laughed awkwardly: "Yes, yes." Then he used his bottom to push the bag back a bit.
But Jing Jiujiu's gaze immediately fixed on the chain hanging from his butt, with a miniature Naruto Uzumaki figurine dangling from it.
This was quite interesting too.
Bai Yuhuai: "..."
Bai Yuhuai: "Are you done?"
The Young Man was sweating profusely, secretly grumbling that Mr. Bai's demands were getting higher and higher. How could he be done so quickly?
It took about half an hour before the Young Man wiped the sweat from his brow and stood up, his face pale: "It's done. Southeast direction, near water." As he spoke, he opened the map on his phone and showed the Director: "It's most likely this Huai'an Road."
Although the Director found it quite far-fetched, he immediately sent bodyguards to catch the man.
The Young Man was so nervous that his throat was almost smoking.
He turned his head, just about to ask the staff to have mercy and pour him a glass of water to save the poor boy. From the side, a hand suddenly extended.
Jing Jiujiu stood behind Bai Yuhuai, only exposing a section of snow-white wrist: "Want some?"
The Young Man took it and drank it all in one gulp: "Thanks, thanks!"
As he spoke, he couldn't help but crane his neck to look carefully at the young man behind Bai Yuhuai. ... Isn't this the castle youth from the recent hot search? He had followed that show too. Damn, that oil painting was too beautiful!
The real person was even more beautiful!
Standing next to Bai Yuhuai, the pressure was too great. He hadn't had the chance to look closely earlier!
Bai Yuhuai: "..."
Bai Yuhuai frowned again.
Drinking water given by a fierce ghost without a second thought. Everything he learned must have gone to the dogs!
"Who has worked here the longest? Let me ask about the situation first, to understand what kind of identity this ghost has." The Young Man twisted his neck a bit uncomfortably.
He felt a chill there.
The Director immediately took him to find someone.
Only then did Bai Yuhuai speak: "Weren't you afraid of Taoist priests? Why did you give him water to drink?"
Jing Jiujiu: "He actually didn't realize I was a ghost, which shows his level isn't very high."
He wasn't afraid of a half-baked Taoist priest.
Bai Yuhuai: "... Indeed, not very high."
Bai Yuhuai pressed his lips together, swallowing back the words "I'm better than him."
The bodyguards sent by the Director soon brought Master Zhou back.
Master Zhou was over fifty, dressed very much like Lam Ching-ying in a zombie movie, wearing a yellow robe painted with the Eight Trigrams on the outside, which had been torn to expose half of his buttocks. He also wore a square hat on his head with two silk ribbons hanging down, though one ribbon had come loose.
He didn't look ethereal or refined at all now.
"Alright, alright, stop pulling, I really didn't catch the ghost in your theater. But I'm not a fraud..." Master Zhou pushed at the bodyguards but couldn't push them away.
The Young Man had just walked back, and upon seeing him, said with a smile: "If you're not a fraud, then I'll have to pour all the charm water down your throat later."
Master Zhou's face turned pale, then blue, then dejected: "Fine, I'm a fraud. Are you... are you going to turn me over to the police station? Please don't. I'll give you back the money. I spent three months at the police station before, and my perfectly good legs turned into rheumatic legs..."
Bai Yuhuai: "You teach him how to kill the ghost in this theater."
The Young Man was shocked at these words.
Master Zhou was also stunned.
The Young Man opened his mouth, then closed it again. After a few seconds, he said: "Let him go first."
The bodyguards released Master Zhou at his word.
"Come on, let's go together," said the Young Man.
Jing Jiujiu clicked his tongue: "This Taoist priest really listens to you."
Bai Yuhuai didn't even blink: "Mm-hmm, he's paid to do the job, signed a long-term contract with our family."
Jing Jiujiu: "Oh."
"But just catching the ghost is useless," Jing Jiujiu said.
Bai Yuhuai: "Hmm?"
"You said chaos is a blank sheet of paper, so what kind of marks would an evil ghost leave on it?" Jing Jiujiu tilted his head to look at him.
The light in the theater fell on his eyes, as if a galaxy had sunk into them.
Bai Yuhuai unconsciously fixed his gaze on his face: "You're right." "So clever."
Bai Yuhuai said: "I'll catch chaos for you."
Jing Jiujiu: ?
What was the causal relationship between these two things???