On the helicopter back to Guoyang, An Dongye couldn’t help but ask, "Little Bro, when did you learn those Evil Arts? How come I didn’t know about this? When are you going to teach me?"

Ye Xiu was startled. "What Evil Arts?"

"Stop pretending. You cast a spell that affected Baishan Jun and Gu Mufeng like that, yet you still claim you don’t know any Evil Arts," An Dongye said, looking as if he had seen right through Ye Xiu.

Dongfang Chaonan asked, "Brother Ye, could it be that you’re also a Totem Inheritor, and your Totem Power is to bewitch people?"

Ye Xiu finally understood what was going on. He realized that Baishan Jun’s and Gu Mufeng’s behavior toward him had caused a misunderstanding. He didn’t explain but said mysteriously, "This isn’t an Evil Art or Totem Power, but a Taoist Art. Actually, my master is a Land Immortal who has lived for hundreds of years."

An Dongye and the others looked at each other in sudden understanding. No wonder Ye Xiu, despite his youth, possessed unmatched Medical Skills, incredible strength, and even knew Evil Arts—it was all thanks to his ridiculously amazing master.

"Big Brother Ye, since you understand Taoist Arts, can you tell fortunes? Please, tell me when I’ll find a wife!" the simple-minded Dongfang Erlang exclaimed.

"Of course, I can," Ye Xiu said earnestly. "The moment I met you, I cast your fortune. Now, kneel facing north, and I’ll teach you a Spell. Keep chanting it all the way to Guoyang, and I guarantee you’ll find a wife within a month."

He then repeated the "Spell" several times until Dongfang Erlang had it memorized before reminding the others, "While Erlang is chanting the Spell, no one is to disturb him, or it won’t work."

So, Dongfang Erlang obediently knelt, faced north, and began to mumble the chant, "A-bo-ci-de-e-fo-ge-he-yi-ji-ke-le-mo-ne..."

An Dongye and the others listened intently, not daring to speak for fear of ruining Dongfang Erlang’s marital prospects.

Ye Xiu took a deep breath. Hold it in. Don’t laugh!

Just then, his phone buzzed with a message from Gong Jin: "Young Master, the agent monitoring the Long Family members in the unfinished residential area has lost contact!"

Ye Xiu frowned and typed back, "What happened?"

Gong Jin replied, "It’s unclear for now. I have personnel check in with him every half hour as a rule. The last check-in failed. I’ve already dispatched someone to investigate."

"If Ergouzi killed the agent and is still at the unfinished residential area, aren’t you just sending your person to their death?" Ye Xiu pointed out.

"I’ll go myself," came her determined reply.

"Leng Yue and Ghost Doctor should be in Guoyang by now, right? Take Ghost Doctor with you. You can’t kill Ergouzi alone. Also, have Leng Yue head to the Long Family Manor immediately," Ye Xiu instructed. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"Understood!" Gong Jin confirmed.

Ye Xiu’s heart sank. If Ergouzi was responsible for the agent’s disappearance, then the two thousand-plus members of the Long Family in the unfinished residential area were likely doomed. That bastard Ergouzi... He’s dead set on ruining my revenge.

"Faster! Fly us over the unfinished residential area," Ye Xiu ordered the pilot.

An Dongye, the others, and even the still-chanting Dongfang Erlang were momentarily stunned. Wasn’t it agreed that no one should disturb the chant?

Realizing his slip-up, Ye Xiu quickly explained, "It’s fine if I’m the one talking."

Dongfang Erlang seemed to understand and resumed his chanting, "A-bo-ci-de-e-fo-ge-he-yi-ji-ke-le-mo-ne..."

***

In the unfinished residential area, eight large trucks were parked. The bodies of Long Family members were scattered everywhere, strewn across the grounds and throughout the buildings. They had all died in the same way, with blackened lips and blood streaming from all seven orifices. Clearly, they had all been poisoned.

Inside the gatehouse, Ergouzi sat on a chair with his legs crossed, smoking a cigarette and humming a tune. At that moment, seven people came running up to him.

"Master, we’ve checked every last one of them. There are no survivors; all died from poisoning."

"With just the eight of us, killing over two thousand Long Family members would have been impossible. If they had scattered, we could have never hunted them all down. Your plan to poison their food delivery was brilliant, Master. It killed them all at once."

"But the cleverest move was killing the Ming Feng Tower agent first. Now Ye Xiu is completely blind to what’s happened here. By the time he finds out, we’ll be long gone and safe."

Ergouzi leaned back, enjoying his seven subordinates’ flattery. Once they were finished, he said, "You don’t understand the rules of Ming Feng Tower. All agents on field missions must report to their superiors every thirty minutes. That half-hour passed long ago. The person Gong Jin sent to investigate should be arriving soon."

The faces of his seven subordinates changed instantly.

Wu Yiping said nervously, "Master, we should retreat immediately! If Ye Xiu shows up himself, we’re dead for sure."

"What’s there to panic about?" Ergouzi scoffed, perfectly aware of Ye Xiu’s and Ming Feng Tower’s protocols. "A single agent missing a check-in won’t bring Ye Xiu here himself. Gong Jin won’t even tell him about it yet. She’ll send someone to investigate the situation first, and only then will she report to Ye Xiu."

"What do you mean, Master?" Wu Yiping asked.

"We wait for the person Gong Jin sent, kill them, and then we leave. It won’t be too late," Ergouzi said with a grin.

Wu Yiping and the other six men finally understood. Ergouzi wanted to kill one more of Ye Xiu’s subordinates to really infuriate him.

Just then, the thrumming sound of a helicopter filled the air.

"Well, well. That was fast," Ergouzi said, standing up with a smile.

"Ye Xiu is loaded. Even his subordinates travel by helicopter," Wu Yiping remarked with envy.

"You like the helicopter? Simple. After we kill whoever Gong Jin sent, we’ll take it to make our escape," Ergouzi laughed.

Wu Yiping and his six companions laughed along with him.

At that moment, the helicopter arrived, hovering over the entrance to the unfinished residential area. Gong Jin and Ghost Doctor leaped directly from the aircraft.

"Why is it them?" Ergouzi’s expression changed drastically as he peeked through the gatehouse window and saw Gong Jin and Ghost Doctor. "Run!" he yelled. "Split up and run!"

With that, he shattered the window and scrambled out.

At that moment, he felt the stinging shame of a slap to the face. He thought he could wait here, kill another one of Gong Jin’s subordinates, and infuriate Ye Xiu. He never expected that killing a single agent would summon two of the Thirteen Protecters from under Huang Quan.

It seems Ye Xiu saw right through my plan... Ergouzi’s guts twisted with regret. His one careless move had placed himself and his seven men in grave danger.

"What?"

"Run?"

Wu Yiping and the others had been about to attack the newly landed Gong Jin and Ghost Doctor. Hearing Ergouzi’s order to flee, they froze for a second. But when they saw their leader smash through a window to escape, they realized that Gong Jin and Ghost Doctor were far from ordinary opponents and scattered in terror.

Gong Jin had already spotted Ergouzi in the gatehouse and his seven men at the entrance while she was still in the helicopter. After landing, she shouted, "I’ll hold Ergouzi off! Ghost Doctor, you kill the others!"

With that, she drew her sword and charged at Ergouzi as he escaped through the broken window.