He Yu still tried to struggle a bit, but the male lead was a stubborn little rookie who, once he’d made up his mind, wouldn’t let go.
His struggle proved futile, and He Yu gave Xiang Yang a kind smile. “You want to become my disciple? Come, follow me to the back first.”
Xiang Yang’s face was full of excitement. He was about to become the disciple of a senior expert living in seclusion amid the bustling city! Before this, the shop owner had never let him go to the back — it must have been his firm persistence and extraordinary insight that had moved this senior!
Seeing Xiang Yang get tricked by the boss into going to the empty back area, Chen Shi clicked his tongue and shook his head, gloating to the little plush doll. “He’s going to get beaten up!”
The little plush doll ignored him, lying on the counter staring at the pretty foreign dolls on the shelf.
Xiang Yang, dazzled by the senior expert, happily followed him into the guest room, and then heard a click behind him as the door was locked.
He turned around. “B-Boss?!”
He Yu rolled up his sleeves, his gaze fierce, and picked up the wrought-iron bookend on the table, crushing it with one hand. “I am just an or-di-nar-y person. Call me boss again and I’ll beat you to death!”
The cast-iron bookend crumpled into a ball in his hand with a series of crunching sounds.
Xiang Yang’s legs went weak, and he plopped down onto the ground.
“I told you not to expose my true identity and you insisted on doing it! I told you I’m an ordinary person and you refused to believe it!” He Yu put on a ferocious expression, baring a mouth of small white teeth.
“Say it! Am I an ordinary person or not?!”
Ten minutes later.
Xiang Yang, having been ferociously subdued, walked out of the room, forced to obediently admit that the shop owner was just an ordinary person.
He Yu cracked his fingers in satisfaction.
He’d said it wasn’t a big problem. As long as he could coerce everyone into admitting he was an ordinary person, that counted as a successfully concealed identity!
“B-… Shop owner,” Xiang Yang said dejectedly, quickly correcting himself under He Yu’s threatening gaze, “why do you live in seclusion?”
“What seclusion? This is just normal life for me. Retirement, understand? Stop with the ‘you, you, you’ — if someone else hears it and gets suspicious, I’ll beat you up!” He Yu said.
(tn: He Yu was scolding Xiang Yang for constantly addressing him with the overly formal “您” (the respectful form of “you”))
Xiang Yang obediently said “Oh.” He understood now. The boss had been a formidable figure in his youth, and now wanted to live a peaceful retired life. Although the boss still looked very young, who’s to say he didn’t have some technique for preserving his youthful appearance? Although he didn’t know exactly who the boss was, Xiang Yang could be certain that before retiring, the boss must have been an extremely powerful spirit exorcist! He had personally seen Chen Shi bask in the midday sun! An ordinary spirit servant could never have that ability!
Xiang Yang stayed dejected for a few minutes, then perked back up again. When a great master takes on a disciple, there’s always a test to pass! He had only just started, no rush! Sooner or later, the boss would see his sincerity!
Since his cover was already blown in front of Xiang Yang anyway, He Yu dug out the sachet from before and asked Xiang Yang, “Is there a young woman in your bureau who wears her hair in a high ponytail? Fairly tall, with quite thick eyebrows.”
Xiang Yang thought about it. “Do you mean Ji Shanyao? She’s the famous genius of our branch bureau — not very old, but very capable. Did you see the news about that gold shop robbery recently? Its being solved had something to do with her.”
That robber, killed over an unequal split of the loot, had been buried in the wilderness; his resentment never dispersed and he transformed into an earthbound spirit. Years passed, and a wild orchid grew on his corpse, becoming the vessel his spirit inhabited. When the wild orchid was illegally dug up and taken away, the earthbound spirit went along with it. The wild orchid’s pollen drifting away also became a route by which he could move.
Having confirmed that Ji Shanyao was from the Paranormal Affairs Bureau, He Yu breathed a sigh of relief. Someone from the Paranormal Affairs Bureau was always better than someone from some other organization. A legitimate organization that followed the rules wouldn’t cause trouble recklessly.
He hoped no one else would come along afterward to disturb his salted fish lifestyle.
…
Meanwhile, in the western suburbs of Jinnan City, inside a standalone villa.
Puppet Master Zhao, Ghost Shadow Xie, and several other people of varying appearances all stood respectfully in the living room, hands at their sides.
Ghost Shadow Xie really wanted to sneak a glance at Puppet Master Zhao to ask what was going on, but he didn’t dare. Because someone was sitting on the sofa.
Luo Jiuyin, Chairman of the Seven Parts Association, one of the most mysterious figures in the paranormal world, whose power was unfathomable and whose personality was hard to read, was at this moment sitting on the sofa, checking a map on his phone.
The guidance from the Sea of Spirit Reservoirs had been pointing toward Jinnan City all along. The Seven Parts Association had no chapter house in Jinnan City — but that was fine, because now it did.
He had bought this suburban villa as a temporary base for the Seven Parts Association. The reason he hadn’t chosen somewhere in the northern suburbs, closer to the plush toy shop, was mainly because of that resignation letter.
He Yu currently had far too great a misunderstanding about the Association, so approaching him directly in the Association’s name wasn’t a good choice. How to approach him still needed careful consideration. Still, Luo Jiuyin planned to go take a look at the plush toy shop first.
He needed to keep a low profile and not attract attention — it would be best not to drive that row of luxury cars in the garage. Ghost Shadow Xie still tended to overdo things when handling matters. But he was also very good at making money, and very loyal, and had gotten along well with Bronze Mask before, so Luo Jiuyin had brought him along.
Traveling the way an ordinary person would, from here to Beiquan Street where the plush toy shop was located, one could take a small train.
Jinnan City was a mountain city, developed early on, with a small train that ran through the mountains, with many short-distance stops; the locals used it just like a bus, and it was very convenient.
Going from the western suburbs to the northern suburbs was still quite far, and the small train was the only route that didn’t require a transfer, so Luo Jiuyin decided to take it.
He put away his phone and stood up. Several members of the Seven Parts Association lowered their heads even further.
Their chairman had a very good-looking face, and often wore a smile, and was quite easygoing about small matters — some fools mistook him for a soft persimmon easy to bully. Afterward, those fools all disappeared.
“Clear out all the Descent Cult forces in the vicinity.”
“Yes!”
After Luo Jiuyin left, the several Seven Parts Association staff members all breathed a sigh of relief.
“Xiao Liu, what’s the situation with the Descent Cult in Jinnan City?” Puppet Master Zhao asked.
Xiao Liu, who played the role of an office worker, wasn’t strong in power, but was very skilled at gathering intelligence — this was also why he was valued by Puppet Master Zhao.
“Yes. The Descent Cult has set its sights on a wealthy man in Jinnan City, and is running that old scheme of harming someone first and then ‘saving’ them. I estimate their foundation in Jinnan City isn’t deep, which is why they want to use this ordinary person to quickly establish a foothold.” Xiao Liu opened the file on the wealthy man and passed it to Puppet Master Zhao.
The wealthy man was named Tang Jing, and ran a fairly large company. Lately he’d been plagued by bad luck, encountering danger several times — fortunately, he ran into a “master,” and with the master’s help he made it through several calamities.
Ghost Shadow Xie flipped through the file, chuckling, and said disdainfully, “What do those brainless things in the Descent Cult know about economics? All they can do is play these old-fashioned scammer tricks.”
Their Seven Parts Association genuinely had its own real industries and holdings! The funds of that group of extremist, fanatical trash in the Descent Cult came either from scamming or from robbery — nowhere close in comparison.
Xiao Liu continued. “They’ve already reached the second step now. The Descent Cult’s ‘master’ told Tang Jing that fate holds a noble benefactor to help him — if he could find this benefactor, he could get through this calamity fated for him. They’ve already arranged the whole act of Tang Jing encountering his ‘benefactor’; that ‘benefactor’ is waiting to perform his part right now.”
This too was a standard tactic.
People like Tang Jing were all quite wary — a “master” who came knocking on his own would find it hard to gain their full trust, so it was better to let Tang Jing find a “benefactor” himself. Whether it’s information or a person, compared to something delivered right to their door, people are always more willing to trust what they find on their own.
But this so-called “benefactor” was, in fact, also arranged in advance by the Descent Cult. No matter who Tang Jing trusted more, in the end he could hardly escape falling into their trap.
Puppet Master Zhao brushed back her hair. “Alright. Even though the Descent Cult’s methods are underhanded, their ability to scheme against people is not small either. Everyone stay alert — don’t let it interfere with the Chairman’s business.”
….
Beiquan Street, the plush toy shop.
After seeing Xiang Yang off, He Yu took the plant shopping list he’d finalized and headed to the flower-bird-fish market. He had originally been planning to go buy flowers, but Xiang Yang’s unexpected interruption had delayed him until now, with the sky nearly dark.
He Yu still went to “Second Uncle’s” family flower shop. Old Hu’s flower greenhouse across the way had already closed — its owner had ended up in the hospital, affected by that ghost-possessed slipper orchid. Although the man had already been rescued by people from the Paranormal Affairs Bureau, he was still suspected of the crime of illegally trafficking rare plants, and there was no telling how many years he’d be locked up for.
Second Uncle was still hopping around lively in his cage, and upon seeing He Yu, called out coquettishly. “Old Sun, Old Sun, come out and greet the customer~”
The shop owner was tidying up the store — it was late now, and he’d be closing soon — and upon hearing Second Uncle’s call, first scolded him. “What are you shouting nonsense for!”
He tapped the birdcage, then saw He Yu and laughed. “This bird picks up all sorts of nonsense from watching TV all day. Here to buy flowers again?”
“He’s really clever,” He Yu said, smiling and praising him.
Second Uncle began humming a little tune, pleased with himself.
He Yu handed the list to the shop owner. “Do you have all of these?”
Boss Sun took it and looked it over. “I’ve got all of it, but not here in the shop — it’s over at my flower field.”
“Is it far? Can I go take a look?” He Yu asked.
“Not too far, right next to the botanical garden. It’s a 20-minute drive. Going today? Want to ride along in my car?” Boss Sun was very enthusiastic.
The flower-bird-fish market was about to close anyway, and there weren’t many customers around at this hour.
Once in the car, Boss Sun started gossiping with He Yu. “Do you remember Old Hu next door? He got locked up! You really called it right! Those orchids of his were all illegally dug up from the mountains!”
“I was just guessing casually,” He Yu said, laughing good-naturedly.
Boss Sun continued. “That big boss who bought a whole bunch of plants at Old Hu’s place before — he came again afterward…”
“Come, come, I am a spinach, veggie veggie veggie veggie~” Second Uncle started singing from the back seat.
“Second Uncle! Stop singing, I’m talking to someone!”
“Bring some sunflower seeds, bring some sunflower seeds!” Second Uncle called out.
While waiting at a red light, Boss Sun took out a bottle of roasted pumpkin seeds and poured a few out, tucking them into Second Uncle’s food dish.
Second Uncle gripped the perch steadily with one claw, lifted the other claw to grab a seed, and cracked it open deftly with his beak.
He Yu watched, fascinated. “He can even crack sunflower seeds!”
Birds that like eating nuts are generally curve-beaked birds like parrots; pointed-beak birds like mynas generally can’t crack them.
“That’s exactly why he’s Second Uncle.” After Boss Sun finished laughing, he pulled the topic back. “That big boss’s surname is Tang — I heard his driver call him Director Tang, seems like he runs some kind of high-tech company. He came again to buy a fresh batch of plants. I heard half of the previous batch died, and the rest weren’t looking too lively either. He specifically asked about you too, and left his contact info wanting to find you.”
“What does he want to find me for?” He Yu asked, puzzled.
Boss Sun chuckled a few times. “I overheard him on the phone — these big bosses are superstitious, you know. He’s looking for some kind of benefactor. Didn’t you spot something wrong with that orchid back then? Director Tang heard what you said and didn’t buy that slipper orchid, and later he saw the news and realized there really had been something wrong with it. He thinks you’re his benefactor and wants to thank you.”
Meanwhile, at the Descent Cult’s temporary base.
Several Descent Cult members had gathered here.
“The stage has already been set up for you, and the use of the talismans has been handed over to you as well. In today’s operation, you must absolutely make Tang Jing believe that you are his benefactor,” said the “master” whom Tang Jing had invited.
“Don’t worry.” A man with thick eyebrows, big eyes, and refined features clenched his fist secretly. “I’m all ready!”
Tang Jing was, after all, a big, fat, lucrative sponsor!