After discussing the matter, Master Zhang, seeing that Gou Liang was still unwell, tactfully took his leave.
When it was time to pay the bill, the five hundred yuan bill handed by Gou Liang suddenly burned into ashes, frightening the cashier with a scream.
âSorry, can I pay with a card?â
âSureâŚâ
The cashier tried to maintain a professional calmness but looked at Gou Liang with curiosity and inexplicable fear.
In the elevator, Master Zhang asked, âWhat was that just now, nephew?â
Gou Liang nodded to him, âThat was the money handled by Sun Zhuozhuo. I just blocked the evil for him. Looks like tomorrow Master Zhang will have a good business.â
He thought that the Sun family would directly seek Gou Liangâs help after these two unsuccessful attempts. However, Sun Zhuozhuoâs father was a down-to-earth businessman. Although he knew Gou Liang was more powerful than Master Zhang, he did not bypass him and directly contact Gou Liang.
So, the next morning, Master Zhang was invited to the hospital by Father Sun, and out of gratitude, he took the initiative to ask for Gou Liangâs help.
*
When he received Master Zhangâs call, Gou Liang was negotiating with the boss of the Ruyi Tower, sitting on the floor to raise the price.
To heal Bi Xiaâs soul as quickly as possible, cover up the hostility, and speed up his own recovery, Gou Liang had been staying in Qizang Pavilion for the past few days as it had better Feng Shui.
It was still early before the business hours, and there were no people on the antique street. The boss of the Ruyi Tower, wearing a mask, came to seek Gou Liangâs help, asking to buy peace charms and exorcism talismans painted by Father Meng.
As the saying goes, those in the same trade are often at odds with each other. Ruyi Tower and Qizang Pavilion stood facing each other, and when Father Meng was still alive, Ruyi Tower could be described as having few customers. After finally enduring Father Mengâs passing, they managed to seize the business that originally belonged to Qizang Pavilion. Thatâs how they attained the present situation of thirty years on one side of the river, thirty years on the other.
Now, to seek help from their old rival, they naturally had to disguise their true intentions.
Bullying Gou Liang, the boss of Ruyi Tower offered a hundred yuan bill, and Gou Liang sneered, saying, âBoss Zhou, are you trying to dismiss a beggar? If youâre not sincerely looking to buy, you better find someone else.â
A hint of annoyance flashed in Boss Zhouâs eyes, but he maintained a smiling and amiable facade, saying, âHarmony brings wealth. Nephew, donât be so aggressive in your words. We can discuss the price.â
Gou Liang gestured, âLess than this amount, forget it.â
Boss Zhouâs smile froze, but he still said, holding back, âTen thousand for ten? Isnât that a bit expensiveââ
âBoss Zhou is joking,â Gou Liang interrupted him. âTen thousand each, no negotiations after the due date.â
âNephew, this shows that you donât understand the rules. The exorcism talismans outside are at most a thousand each. Iâve been in this business for over twenty years. Nephew, this is not righteous.â
âSo what? After more than twenty years, you still havenât achieved any legitimate cultivation. You can only deceive and rely on the customer base my father left behind. Now, I donât know what bad things youâve done, breaking even your signboard and causing a lawsuit involving a personâs life. I doubt your business will last much longer.â
âYou!â
Just then, Gou Liangâs phone rang.
âUncle Zhang is calling so early⌠Okay, Iâll come right away.â
He hung up, waved the talismans in his hand, and said, âDo you want them or not? If not, I wonât serve you. I have a lot to do today.â
Boss Zhou, with a stiff face, handed over one hundred thousand and took ten talismans. He left the shop, and his expression immediately turned dark, muttering, âBrat, everyone knows youâre a short-lived ghost with a bad fate! Daring to show off in front of me, sooner or later, Iâll make you go down and find your ghostly father!â
He walked back to Ruyi Tower just as the new signboard, newly installed, suddenly fell!
Boss Zhou quickly unlocked the door, narrowly escaping the danger by rolling inside.
Bi Xia sneered, âHe got off easy.â
Gou Liang raised his voice, âEnough playing. Go change your clothes; we need to go to Dong Street to have a bowl of wonton before leaving.â
When Gou Liang and Bi Xia arrived at the hospital, Sun Zhuozhuo had just woken up.
Upon seeing Gou Liang, he burst into tears, âQining, if it werenât for the protective talisman you gave me, I wouldnât be able to see you today.â
Gou Liang sneered, saying, âDidnât I tell you to go home early for the past three nights? How did you agree to that?â
The Sun couple asked for the details, after hearing the story, becoming annoyed. Mother Sun poked her sonâs head and said, âYou pig head, risking your life for a woman!â
Sun Zhuozhuo, seeing that his mother was blaming the girl with black straight hair, quickly explained, âMom, Su Su originally advised me to leave early yesterday. I stayed on my own, it has nothing to do with her.â
Mother Sun wanted to scold him more, but Gou Liang intervened, âTell me in detail about yesterdayâs situation.â
Sun Zhuozhuo dared not conceal anything.
It turned out that his cosplay group recently took on a new project. A wealthy book fan of âAncient Mansion Tales,â Zhi Susu, the girl with black straight hair whom Sun Zhuozhuo fell in love with at first sight, funded them to shoot scenes from the novel.
Originally, there was a male character in the scenes who required high facial attractiveness and had long flowing hair. Sun Zhuozhuo, unable to find a suitable person, showed Su Su a photo of Bi Xia. Su Su, usually reserved and goddess-like, covered her mouth and screamed, insisting on having Bi Xia help. Money was not an issue for her.
Sun Zhuozhuo sought Gou Liangâs help for this matter.
Seeing that Gou Liang was not feeling well, he knew it would not go well. So, tactfully, he didnât mention it. Later, given Gou Liangâs reminder, he intended to leave early, but they were shooting a night scene yesterday, which was the scene of the female protagonist from the novel, Su Su was involved. He couldnât bear to leave.
Who would have thoughtâŚ
âEverything was fine, but unexpectedly, at eight oâclock, the haunted house suddenly had an incident.â
Sun Zhuozhuo still shuddered when recalling the events.
The old house had an antique clock, and when eight oâclock arrived, the alarm clock set by Sun Zhuozhuo, along with the clanging of the pendulum clock, rang together. In the spacious old house, it seemed somewhat eerie, and a girl in the group jokingly said that the scene was like a copy-paste from a certain horror movie. Just as she finished speaking and the clockâs chime echoed, the lights they were connected to started flickering.
A chilly wind blew in, and the candle lit by the female lead went out.
Everyone was already nervous, but they didnât expect that as soon as the candle extinguished, the lights went out, and their equipment burned out, frying the circuits. The cameraman was heartbroken.
Since they couldnât continue shooting, they decided to leave, but when they counted the people, one person was missing.
âYou guys donât know how scary it was. When we started counting, I clearly saw Director Mao standing next to me. In the blink of an eye, she disappeared without a sound.â
When they shouted a few times and got no response, they dispersed to search.
Using their phones as flashlights, a strange and eerie horror movie soundtrack suddenly played from their phones, making someone scream on the spot. Afterward, a screensaver of a cheongsam beauty appeared on their phone screens. After smiling at them, she suddenly started bleeding from all seven orifices, incredibly eerie and terrifying.
Some of the girls were so scared that they threw their phones away, but the horrifying part was that the phones kept chasing them.
The braver cameraman suspected someone was playing a prank and angrily yelled at the person responsible to come out; otherwise, he wouldnât be polite. However, Sun Zhuozhuo immediately thought of Gou Liangâs instructions, knowing that things were definitely not that simple.
âI quickly told everyone to leave, but unexpectedly, after I finished speaking, all the doors and windows closed with a gust of cold wind. We couldnât push them open no matter whatâŚâ
Sun Zhuozhuo spoke, described the scene to them.
The frightened girl was already in tears, expressing her desire to go home. Some tried to make phone calls, but the cheongsam-clad female ghost in their phones began singing a mournful opera, making it impossible for them to either turn off their phones or call for help.
Sun Zhuozhuo was frightened to the core, clutching the protective talisman given by Gou Liang tightly in his hand. It was the only thing helping him keep a facade of composure.
He instructed everyone to gather around him, hoping to provide a bit more safety.
But the groupâs director was still nowhere to be found, and they were all on edge. Despite their attempts to search again, nobody dared to go, and they were even afraid to call out loud for her to come back.
Sun Zhuozhuo had collaborated with this director for several years, and their relationship was good. Although frightened, they discussed and decided to invite the more courageous atheist photographer to join them in the search.
âAzhuo, Iâll go with you.â
Su Su said.
âNo way!â
Sun Zhuozhuo naturally refused to let her take the risk, but Su Su insisted, stating that she had chosen the location, so if something happened, she couldnât just ignore it.
Unable to persuade her, Sun Zhuozhuo could only agree. The three of them instructed the others not to wander around, and as they were about to follow the direction of the restroom to find the director, a heart-wrenching scream suddenly came from upstairsâ