I could tell from the way President Li looked at me that he took me for a charlatan.
I didn’t mind. I poured two drops of Ghost Eye Paste into my palm and rubbed them in. Then I said to Boss Yang, “Boss Yang, close your eyes!”
Boss Yang closed his eyes and leaned his head toward me, his face alight with excitement about the unknown.
Dacheng was beside himself with worry. He wanted to talk me out of it but didn’t dare, so all he could do was quietly press his palms together and pray that nothing went wrong.
I gave a wry smile, covered Boss Yang’s eyes with my hand, and gently rubbed them twice. Then I moved my palm away and said, “Boss Yang, no matter what you see in a moment, don’t shout!”
“Mm!”
Boss Yang gave a perfunctory nod, then eagerly opened his eyes.
“Damn, what’s that?”
The instant he saw the Yin Spirit sitting on the model Xiaoran, Boss Yang pointed at her and swore. His face showed equal parts fear and excitement.
At Boss Yang’s gesture, the Yin Spirit on Xiaoran slowly turned its head to look at him.
“It’s looking at me! It’s looking at me!”
Boss Yang jumped in fright and took two steps back. The fear on his face had risen to seven-tenths.
“Brother Feng!”
Dacheng was so worried he nearly burst into tears.
“It’s fine!”
I waved a hand calmly and stepped forward. I straightened the index and middle fingers of my right hand, curled my ring and little fingers inward, and pressed my thumb against their nails. Pointing at the Yin Spirit, I took out a small, reddish-brown seal, one inch square, with my left hand and brought it down on the spirit’s forehead. At the same time, I chanted, “Beifeng Xuantian, all ghosts lie hidden. Where the seal’s light shines, ill omens are destroyed. By the urgent command of the Northern Emperor!”
The instant the word “Command!” left my mouth, the small seal struck the Yin Spirit’s head.
At the moment of impact, the Yin Spirit’s head burst apart like a watermelon dropped from the sky. Its body collapsed with it, turning into a wisp of black smoke that slipped into the clothing scattered nearby.
As the Yin Spirit dispersed, Xiaoran let out a muffled groan. Unable to hold herself up any longer, she collapsed to the floor and started crying.
“Holy shit!”
Seeing this, Boss Yang swore again. “Brother Feng, what was that?”
I ignored him and walked over to the clothes the black smoke had entered. I nudged them aside with my foot, revealing a Buddha Amulet with its casing cracked open.
“A red-eyed Baby-Patting Amulet!”
I blurted it out as I looked at the strange little figure inside the casing. It had a single curved horn on its head, blood-red eyes, and sat cross-legged.
When Xiaoran heard me name the amulet, she shuddered.
“What does that mean?” Boss Yang came over and asked.
“It’s simple!”
As I answered, I took out a Red Rope and wrapped it around the amulet. “This is a Yin Amulet brought back from Siam, one that’s been imbued with a spirit. Its purpose is…”
I paused, then glanced at Boss Yang. “To attract romance and improve your luck with the opposite sex. In other words, it’s specifically for luring sugar daddies!”
After hearing me out, Boss Yang glanced at Xiaoran and said to Dacheng, “Dacheng, call Boss Shi and tell him to come pick her up!”
“Sure!”
Dacheng nodded quickly and took out his phone to make the call.
“Brother Feng, when Dacheng told me about you, I thought you were a fraud. Come on, tell me what the hand sign you just made is called, what incantation you recited, what its theoretical basis is, and what you mean by ‘imbued with a spirit’?”
After giving Dacheng his instructions, Boss Yang turned into a curious child again.
I told Boss Yang that the hand sign I made was called the Ghost-Slaying Mudra, the incantation I recited was the Beifeng Ghost-Summoning Incantation, and the small seal was the Beifeng Ghost-Slaying Seal.
As for its theoretical basis, I had no idea.
The hand sign, incantation, and small seal had all been given to me by a Fire-Dwelling Daoist. As for why he gave them to me, it was because after he came to me to Condition the Body, he couldn’t pay his bill, so he settled it with this set of incantations and hand signs.
Before settling the bill, he had specially written a Mounted Document at the Altar passed down in his family and performed Ox-horn Divination Blocks to ask his ancestors for their opinion.
Only after his ancestors raised no objections did he pass those things on to me, allowing me to use the seal.
“Condition the Body? How exactly do you do that?”
After hearing my explanation, Boss Yang had latched onto the key point.
“Boss Yang, Brother Feng comes from a family of Daoist Physicians and is best at nourishing kidney essence!” Dacheng had finished his call and, having overheard Boss Yang’s question, hurried to answer. He even gave him a look that any man would understand.
“Dacheng, you’ve got it wrong. I’m best at Acupuncture, and I specialize in treating Mental Disorders,” I corrected him.
Those who worked in the Yin Trade were prone to mental instability, on top of their physical problems.
There was a saying in their line of work: “The body is easy to mend; the mind is hard to calm.”
It was thanks to my skill with Acupuncture that I’d managed to make a living in this line of work.
“Mental Disorders?”
President Li, who had barely said a word until then, looked thoughtful when he heard that and suddenly asked about it.
“It’s basically mental instability,” I said.
“You can treat mental instability?”
President Li looked me over twice after hearing that.
“I can.”
I smiled faintly.
President Li smiled too and said nothing more.
“Brother Feng, come on, tell me more about your line of work!”
Boss Yang said again.
“Boss Yang, what would you like to know?”
The world might be vast, but patrons came first. As long as it didn’t go against my principles, I’d tell him everything I knew.
As for Boss Yang calling me Brother Feng, I didn’t take it seriously. That was just what people called me; if you took it to heart, well… that’d be ridiculous.
“Boss Yang, Boss Shi has arrived. He’s downstairs!”
Dacheng came over and said quietly twenty minutes later.
“Tell him to wait.”
Boss Yang casually gave the instruction, then said, “Brother Feng, we didn’t get to finish our chat today. I’ll treat you another day, and we’ll find somewhere to talk. Oh, and leave me your number!”
After we exchanged phone numbers, Boss Yang said to Dacheng, “Dacheng, take Brother Feng downstairs, and ask Boss Shi to come up while you’re at it!”
After saying that, Boss Yang looked at the Baby-Patting Amulet wrapped in Red Rope and asked, “Brother Feng, there won’t be any more trouble, right?”
“No.”
I shook my head and said, “The spirit inside has been dispersed by me. Nothing will happen for sure!”
“Good.” Boss Yang breathed a sigh of relief and nodded to Dacheng, telling him to see me downstairs.
I didn’t bring up the money. Given Boss Yang’s personality, he wouldn’t shortchange me.
“Brother Feng, that worked out perfectly. If you make it big someday, don’t forget your little brother!”
After the elevator doors closed, Dacheng said in a somewhat ingratiating tone.
“I won’t forget you!” I said with a smile, patting Dacheng on the shoulder.
Early the next morning, Dacheng called and asked for my bank card number. Less than five minutes later, fifty thousand yuan had been deposited.
I’d seen money before, but I’d never taken on a job as big as fifty thousand yuan at once.
As for how Boss Yang negotiated with Boss Shi, or what happened to the model Xiaoran, I didn’t ask.
Before my excitement had even worn off, I got a phone call.
I glanced at the screen. It was a new number.
“This is Boss Li from last night!”
After I answered, a somewhat familiar voice sounded on the other end.
“President Li?” I said, surprised.
Judging by President Li’s attitude toward me the night before, he’d taken me for a fraud and a charlatan. I hadn’t expected him to call.
What I’d expected even less was that this phone call would change my fate and drag me completely into the Entertainment Circle, that great big cesspool.
That same call also changed his daughter’s fate: the fate of the female star Li Li, later known as the Entertainment Circle’s most mysterious woman—a human embodiment of wealth and splendor for whom everyone in the industry, from directors to actors, from veteran performers to major stars and all sorts of young hunks, willingly played second fiddle.