Ye Zhixing nodded with certainty. "It is him."
Heyan, the person in question, changed expression slightly. Instead of refuting immediately, a jolt of shock ran through him.
The things he had encountered recently were indeed utterly distressing.
So Heyan asked, "Does the master know how to fix this?"
Standing to the side, Shang Jingchen couldn't help glancing sideways, his brows furrowing slightly.
He knew this brother of his very well. In the past, Heyan had completely sneered at matters of metaphysics.
Just days apart, the change in him was substantial.
"I do."
"Buy a talisman first. Two hundred apiece, fair to young and old alike," Ye Zhixing said calmly, her face devoid of any excess expression.
If she weren't standing beside Shang Jingchen right now, Heyan would have truly thought she was a charlatan con artist wandering the jianghu.
Yet seeing how open and at ease she was, he calmed down slightly.
A flash of surprise also swept through Shang Jingchen's deep eyes.
Pressing his lips together, he thought to himself: *The girl actually sells talismans, too?* Yesterday, she had given him a few talismans and another to his younger sister, yet she never once brought up money.
Could it be that she had forgotten?
"Fine, sell me one. I'll give it a try."
"If it turns out to be useless, for Jingchen's sake, I won't hold it against you."
After all, two hundred bucks meant less than a drop in the ocean to him.
"This is an exorcism talisman. Keep it on your person for now, and we'll deal with the problem later. However, that comes with a separate price."
As she spoke, Ye Zhixing produced both the talisman and her old mobile phone.
The back of the phone featured a payment QR code. Her master had given it to her, and teaching her how to collect money was something her master had handled, too.
Ever since her master picked her up and brought her to Yusong Taoist Temple at the age of five, she had spent most of her time on the mountain. The furthest place she had ever visited was the market at the foot of the mountain, where she accompanied her master to buy food, daily necessities, or run a stall.
Right now, Heyan just wanted to solve his problem as quickly as possible. Whether her talisman was genuinely useful or not didn't matter; for the time being, he would treat a dead horse like a living doctor.
Besides, even if he didn't trust this little girl, he trusted Shang Jingchen.
So he very readily scanned the code to send Ye Zhixing two hundred yuan.
Ye Zhixing handed him the talisman and instructed, "Keep this on you at all times, and come sunset tonight, we'll go to your place to resolve the issue."
"Alright, many thanks, Master."
Heyan took the talisman from her hand. The moment he grasped it, he felt an instant shift.
His previously heavy and muddled mind cleared up significantly at once.
The persistent sensation of his body feeling weighed down vanished, replaced by a notable lightness and comfort. The feeling was far too obvious.
It left him staring at Ye Zhixing in involuntary shock.
Shang Jingchen had been watching from the sidelines all along, and seeing Heyan's reaction told him the girl's talisman worked.
"Master, your talisman is truly useful! I feel so much better now!" Gone was his previous skepticism; admiration now filled Heyan's eyes.
She truly lived up to someone who could catch Shang Jingchen's eye—she certainly had some tricks up her sleeve!
Ye Zhixing remained as composed as ever, nodding indifferently.
"Master, can you tell what kind of problem I've got?" Heyan asked eagerly.
"Call me Abbot Ye. You have been targeted by a Vengeful Spirit."
"It's likely man-made."
"Ah?"
At that moment, Shang Jingchen's deep voice sounded. "Heyan, what on earth has happened to you these past few days?"
He had felt that something was off the moment he saw him earlier.
"It's a long story."
"I've had the worst luck lately. Projects we'd already agreed upon keep running into all sorts of accidents and stall out. Two days ago, I almost got into a car crash. Whenever I sleep at night, I feel like something is wrapping around my neck, choking me so I can't breathe, and I keep having terrifying nightmares."
"You have no idea how agonizing these past few days have been!"
"Mas... wait, no. Abbot Ye, why can't we go and fix it right now?"
"Not now. Daytime isn't suitable."
"Fine."
Having aired his own troubles, Heyan turned his concern back to Shang Jingchen. He had come over today specifically to check on his condition.
"Jingchen, how are you holding up? That live broadcast today gave me quite a scare."
"I'm fine."
"Nuannuan woke up and is in her room right now. If you want to go see her, go ahead," Shang Jingchen said in a low voice.
At those words, Heyan's eyes lit up.
"What did you say? Nuannuan woke up? That's fantastic, I'm going to go see her!" With that, he strode quickly toward the upstairs, acting entirely like he was in his own home.
Shang Jingchen, however, was in no rush to go upstairs.
He looked at Ye Zhixing and asked, "Did you use to sell talismans to other people, too?"
"Mhm. Running a stall and doing fortune-telling."
A flash of surprise crossed Shang Jingchen's eyes.
Just as he was about to ask something else, his phone suddenly rang.
Noticing the incoming call was from Zheng Ying, he walked over to the balcony and answered it.
Ye Zhixing had no time to listen in on his phone call. She walked over to the sofa and sat down.
Inspecting her cloth bag, she noted that ever since coming to the Capital, she had used up a massive amount of her talismans, yellow paper, and cinnabar.
Very little was left now, and she needed to restock as soon as possible.
Otherwise, waiting until she ran out completely before trying to replenish would mess things up.
Yet, having just arrived in the Capital, she had no idea where such items were sold and would have to ask around first.
After a few minutes, Shang Jingchen returned.
Seeing that Ye Zhixing was still sitting in the living room, he sat down on the sofa as well.
He spoke in a low voice, "Zheng Ying just called to say that the chief doctor in charge of Nuannuan at the nursing home died at home. Bleeding from all seven orifices, a gruesome death."
"People from the Supernatural Bureau have already gone over there."
"He's the one who set up the Soul-Locking Formation for Nuannuan, isn't he?" Though phrased as a question, as it left his lips, it carried the absolute weight of certainty.
"Yes." Hearing what he said, Ye Zhixing's face remained completely unruffled.
"Yet I had no grievance with him. On the contrary, I helped him in the past." Shang Jingchen found it hard to understand.
"He was bought off, making a trade with evil spirits to get what he wanted." Ye Zhixing had seen plenty of such cases and was long past finding them strange.
Once human beings develop greed and desire, those impulses spread wildly like wild grass.
Shang Jingchen's expression turned somewhat grim.
This matter, at least, had temporarily come to a close.
An hour later, Heyan came back downstairs.
"Jingchen, I've got business at the company, so I'm heading back first."
"Abbot Ye, what time are you coming over to my place tonight to fix my problem?"
"Eight o'clock."
By then, the sky should be completely dark.
"Alright, should I contact you then?"
"Can I have your contact info? Or should I just call Jingchen directly?"
Before Ye Zhixing could answer, Shang Jingchen's cold voice rang out, "Just call me."
Heyan glanced at him without saying anything and readily agreed.
Perhaps he really did have urgent matters, as he soon left.
Only the two of them remained in the living room.
"Ye Zhixing, after we eat, I'll take you to buy some yellow paper," Shang Jingchen stated directly.
After all, Ye Zhixing had asked him about it earlier.
Though he didn't know where to get them himself, it didn't matter—it was just a matter of making a phone call to ask.
"If you have the time."
"I do. It won't take that long anyway," Shang Jingchen said without changing expression.
Who didn't know that President Shang had a thousand matters demanding his attention and that his time was more valuable than money?
Accompanying someone to buy things was something he would never have done under any circumstances in the past.
Yet, thinking of how this girl had just arrived in the Capital, he somehow felt uneasy.
He feared she might get lost, and he feared she might get scammed.
Shang Jingchen kept overthinking and rationalizing it to himself.
After a brief pause, he added, "Once I accompany you to buy what you need, could you do me a favor?"