Lin Yuan, dressed in a filthy Taoist robe, lay across a crowded pedestrian bridge, propping his head up with one hand while chewing on a stalk of foxtail grass, looking exactly like a beggar who had just crawled out of a trash heap.
He lazily observed the colorful world around him, his entire being exuding a sense of disconnect that felt completely out of place with his surroundings.
Clearly, he did not consider himself a beggar; instead, he scrutinized the world from above with eyes that seemed to have seen through all worldly affairs.
"I finally managed to come down from the mountain, but this world is just as boring as Master said it would be."
Lin Yuan let out a mocking laugh and muttered to himself again, "I still long for the days of exorcising ghosts and slaying zombies."
"The yang energy in the big city is too thick; ordinary spirits can't even get close. It must be hard for you to stay here too, right, Aqing?"
He turned his head to look at the space beside him as if speaking to someone, yet there was clearly no one there.
"How pitiful, sigh."
Someone stopped in front of Lin Yuan, let out a sigh, and dropped a pile of paper bills.
"Hang in there!"
Lin Yuan stared at the person's solemn and sincere expression, momentarily stunned.
Then he snapped out of it, grabbing the bills with a look of fury and shouting at the retreating back of the person, "Hey, you bastard, this Taoist isn't a beggar..."
Before he could finish his sentence, he suddenly froze.
At the other end of the bustling crowd, a person had caught his full attention.
It was a young man who looked like a university student, mostly because his eyes held a certain kind of clear-eyed stupidity.
He looked perfectly ordinary, the type of person who would go unnoticed in a crowd, but in Lin Yuan's eyes, he was exceptionally special.
Because Lin Yuan was born with yin-yang eyes, he could naturally see things that ordinary people could not.
A black mist swirled around that young man as if he were being haunted by some supernatural entity. Lin Yuan performed a quick mental calculation and saw that a massive portion of this man's fortune was missing.
A slight smile played on Lin Yuan's face. "It seems the secular world isn't so boring after all. Finally, a chance for this master to show off his divine power."
"Aqing, let's follow him."
He hurried his pace to catch up with the man in front of him.
"Friend, it looks like you've run into some trouble."
Lu Xun stopped in his tracks and looked toward the source of the voice, only to see a beggar-looking Taoist... no, a Taoist-looking beggar... or was it...
Was this a beggar or a Taoist?
But what did he just say? That I've run into trouble?
"Are you a Taoist?" Lu Xun asked.
"Isn't it obvious?" Lin Yuan looked at himself with some doubt. "The Taoist robe, the topknot, and this handsome face of mine—isn't this the standard equipment for a Taoist?"
"Oh, I thought you were just doing some cosplay," Lu Xun smiled. "I was just thinking that the country must be doing well if even beggars can afford to cosplay."
"...I'm not going to argue with you about that. Do you know you're in trouble?"
"I know," Lu Xun said frankly.
Lin Yuan was somewhat surprised, but then he figured it made sense. After all, one wouldn't be haunted by a spirit without feeling anything; even a fool would realize something was wrong.
It was just the other's calmness that caught him off guard.
"I just came back from praying at Qingshan Temple. The old monk there told me that sincerity brings results. After I threw away two hundred yuan, they gave me this thing." Lu Xun pulled out a luck-turning talisman, his mouth twitching slightly.
Lin Yuan took one look and concluded it was just a piece of useless trash. He scoffed and shook his head repeatedly.
"Friend, you've been scammed. This talisman is useless; it's just for psychological comfort. The monks at Qingshan Temple are blind. They can't see your problem, but I can."
Lin Yuan stated with absolute confidence, "I studied under the Longhu Mountain sect. Exorcising ghosts and slaying zombies—I'm an expert at all of it. You clearly have a massive deficit in your fortune. Have you been exceptionally unlucky these past few days, the kind where you'd even choke on a sip of water?"
"Holy crap, you're a master," Lu Xun said, his admiration reaching new heights as the man correctly identified his symptoms at a glance.
Could this be a real Taoist?
"Master, please save me!"
"It's fine, your problem isn't that hard to solve," Lin Yuan chuckled. "You are surrounded by black energy, which means some evil entity is eyeing your body. From what I see, a malevolent spirit has targeted you. It is devouring your fortune, which is why your luck has turned so bad."
"A malevolent spirit?" Lu Xun's expression turned strange, and his voice dropped significantly. "Master, don't scare me. Where would ghosts come from in this world?"
"I knew it. You laypeople never believe in the supernatural," Lin Yuan shook his head. "But ghosts exist objectively. Objective laws don't change based on human will. If you don't take this seriously, your fortune will eventually be sucked dry, and you'll meet a violent end."
Lu Xun remained silent.
How strange. A Taoist was actually lecturing him on materialism. Was this a legitimate Taoist?
"Master, it's not that I don't believe you, it's just..." Lu Xun wanted to say something, but eventually, he just sighed. "So, what's the solution?"
"It's simple. Just find any shop and buy me a peach wood sword. I'll just stab the damn thing to death for you." Lin Yuan tilted his chin up.
"...That doesn't sound like a Taoist; it sounds like a swordsman."
"It's all the same, no difference."
"Wait, if you're a Taoist, why didn't you bring your own peach wood sword? Why do I have to buy one for you?" Lu Xun asked with a frown.
Upon hearing this, Lin Yuan lowered his head and fell silent for a moment before slowly speaking, "Because I'm a Taoist who came all the way from Longhu Mountain..."
"I know, but what does that have to do with you not having a peach wood sword?"
"Let me finish. This is my first time coming down the mountain. Before I came, I didn't know the cost of living in the big city was so high." He looked up at the sky at a forty-five-degree angle to keep the tears from falling. "I didn't have money for a taxi home and have been wandering the streets for days. I had no choice but to sell my peach wood sword along with my other talismans."
"How much did you sell them for?"
"Ten yuan."
"..."
Lu Xun was speechless. He had many things he wanted to complain about, but in the end, they all turned into one question: "Can't you guys just fly back on your swords?"
"Brother, it's over a thousand kilometers. How the hell am I supposed to fly? Do you think I'm Superman?"
Lin Yuan snapped back irritably.
He hated people who treated Taoists like immortal cultivators, constantly asking him how to refine qi or build a foundation. It was annoying as hell.
But then he realized something. His body froze as he stared at Lu Xun with a confused expression.
"Guys?"
"What's wrong? Is there a problem? Aren't there two of you?"
Lu Xun was confused by his reaction, so he pointed at the air next to Lin Yuan. "Isn't she with you? I thought it was strange that she hasn't said a word this whole time."
Lin Yuan felt like he had been struck by lightning. A second later, he asked with intense emotion, "You can see her?!"
"She's a living person, why wouldn't I be able to see her?" Lu Xun tilted his head, even more bewildered.
"Master, are you still going to help me exorcise the ghost?" he asked.
By now, Lin Yuan was stunned, his mind racing through a storm of thoughts.
The fact that this guy could see Aqing meant he could also see ghosts.
Did he have yin-yang eyes just like himself?
But this guy was already being haunted by a malevolent spirit to such a degree, yet he knew nothing about it. There was only one possibility... the thing haunting him was likely a ghost king!
Only an entity at the level of a ghost king could silently haunt someone with yin-yang eyes without being noticed!
A terrifying monster like that... even if his master were here, he might not be its match!
Asking him to get rid of such a terrifying monster—wasn't that just seeking death?
Lin Yuan shuddered, his face turning pale.
"I'm not taking this job anymore. I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I didn't mean any offense! Please, please don't haunt me!"
He finished speaking in a panic, then reached out to grab the girl's hand beside him and ran away without looking back.
"Hey, why are you running?" Lu Xun was completely baffled.
Then he saw the girl Lin Yuan was pulling pass right through the body of a pedestrian, while that pedestrian remained completely oblivious.
She... she passed right through...
Lu Xun's expression changed drastically as he froze on the spot.
Despite wearing a thick fleece jacket, he suddenly felt a lot colder.
Rate on N.U.
