Chapter 44
Chapter 44 Bad Apples
The thunder continuously rumbled, as it relentlessly struck the fake sorcerer’s head and forced him to jump around in pain like a monkey . His previous smile and confidence had all washed away now . At the same time, audibly raucous laughter rang from the crowd .
“This … what is going on? Whoever Is controlling the thunder, please forgive me!” pleaded the fake sorcerer, as he covered his head and ran around . Ye Shaoyang tried to hold back his laughter . Finally, he covertly withdrew the thunder talisman paper . Then, he approached the fake sorcerer and tapped his shoulder . Ye Shoayang asked, “Master, aren’t you here to hunt for spirits? Why are you leaving before catching them?”
“This spirit is too powerful for me, so I can’t subdue it,” replied the fake sorcerer in a cowardly manner as he continued to use his hands to cover his head . At this point, Ye Shaoyang could not hold back anymore . He burst into laughter and said, “You’re still trying to act? I don’t care which sect you are from, but you have violated the heavenly orders . You kept a spirit captive and used it to cheat people . From now on, you won’t be practicing sorcery anymore . ” Immediately, the fake sorcerer understood that this young had played him . Then, he asked Ye Shaoyang in a subservient tone, “May I know which sect are you from, fellow Daoist?”
“Fellow Daoist my a.s.s . I’m an inner disciple of Maoshan Sect,” replied Ye Shaoyang .
These words shocked the fake sorcerer, and he immediately kneeled down and started to beg, “Please great master; I’m just a lowly peasant trying to make a living . I’ll … I’ll never do this anymore, I swear!”
“No need for explanations!” Ye Shaoyang took out a purple talisman paper and rushed toward the fake sorcerer . This sight astonished the fake sorcerer as only Heavenly Master level sorcerers could use these talisman papers . He had never imagined that such a young man could become a Heavenly Master of Maoshan Sect .
As Ye Shaoyang charged toward the fake sorcerer, he took out his cinnabar ink pen and swiftly wrote on the piece of purple talisman paper—‘I, Ye, Shaoyang, find this man to be blasphemous toward the Three Pure Ones, as such I shall remove his powers . ’ Ye Shaoyang did not wait for the fake sorcerer to react . Instead, he grabbed the fake sorcerer’s right hand and proceeded to p.r.i.c.k the fake sorcerer’s thumb . Ye Shaoyang trickled some blood onto the purple talisman paper .
“Young man, you … . ”
Then, Ye Shaoyang released the purple talisman paper . It flew up and was swiftly reduced to ashes .
“Now that I’ve taken away your powers, you’ll never be able to use the Daoist name in vain,” Ye Shaoyang clearly explained . The fake sorcerer was unable to accept the reality that had unfolded . He muttered some words . Then, he sat on the ground dazed and blank .
“Let’s go,” Ye Shaoyang said . Worry and a slight hint of fear filled his eyes as he took a brief look at the darkness that the metal gates once closed off .
“Did you really take away that fake sorcerer’s powers?”
Xiao Ma asked, as he took another big bite from the pork rib that he held . Xiao Ma did not behave shy when Ye Shaoyang said he would treat him to a meal . Xiao Ma ordered quite an amount of meat and was enjoying this free meal immensely .
“Of course, I did . Maoshan Sect is the most authoritative sect in Daoism and always had the responsibility to chase away bad Daoist pract.i.tioners . Hey hey, is your zodiac the pig? Leave me some pork rib, will you?!” Ye Shaoyang scolded . Ye Shaoyang fought hard with his chopsticks . Finally, he managed to snag the last piece of pork rib to enjoy .
Then, Xiao Ma asked, “So, the Jade Emperor is just going to believe in what you wrote without any proof?”
“First of all, we worship the Three Pure Ones, not the Jade Emperor . Second of all, no . Proof is not needed . We are the agents of the Three Pure Ones in the mortal realm, so we have the authority to do so,” explained Ye Shaoyang .
“You have too much power,” said Xiao Ma . Ye Shaoyang did not impress him, and Xiao Ma asked, “What if he told you a fake name? How will the Three Pure Ones know?” asked Xiao Ma, as he quibbled over the minute detail .
“Are you stupid? Didn’t you see me p.r.i.c.k his finger and leave his blood on the talisman paper? Because the talisman paper contains his blood, it won’t matter if he is called tom or jerry . Also, all power comes from the Three Pure Ones, so he will no longer be given any power,” elaborated Ye Shaoyang .
“Oh, so it’s like a fingerprint record,” Xiao Ma nodded . Suddenly, Xiao Ma laughed with a touch of embarra.s.sment . He scratched his head and asked, “Little Ye, I wanna discuss something with you . You saw that even the fake sorcerer had a young man helping him, right? His young disciple . Why don’t I become your young disciple and help you with the physical work? Just pay me a portion when we do earn . ” Ye Shaoyang almost spat out the rice in his mouth, “Young? Young disciple?”
“But… . ” Suddenly, Xiao Ma felt ashamed, “Even though I’m not that young … I’m am still a virgin . ”
Unable to hold back his astonishment, Ye Shaoyang unwittingly sprayed rice all over Xiao Ma’s face and said, “Who even asked you that? I’m saying that you look way older than me . People might think that I’m a weirdo . Don’t even have any designs on me . ”
When they had almost finished their meal, Xie Yuqing called . She asked for Ye Shaoyang’s location . Then, she arrived ten minutes later . She had brought a middle-aged man, who was wearing a suit and tie . He had a pair of round gla.s.ses and seemed decidedly cultured .
“This man is the Vice-Princ.i.p.al of the School of Foreign Languages, Liu Ming,” Xie Yuqing introduced . Ye Shaoyang recalled seeing him in the crowd that followed the fake sorcerer .
“Mr . Ye, I’ve witnessed your capabilities first hand, and I have heard about your ident.i.ty from Officer Xie . Impressive, I must say,” Liu Ming proceeded to shake Ye Shaoyang’s hand . After they exchanged pleasantries, Ye Shaoyang asked, “So, what happened to that fake sorcerer?”
“He ran away with the few thousand Yuan,” Liu Ming recounted, as he poured some beer for himself . “Mr . Ye, I’ve already had a discussion with the Board of Directors before I came here . They’ve agreed to hire you to help us solve the problems of dormitory four . We only have two requirements . First, we hope that no one gets hurt in the process . Second, we wish for a definite solution to end this problem . If you are able to complete the task, the school is willing to pay you a remuneration of two hundred thousand Yuan,” said Liu Ming .
“Two hundred thousand!” Xiao Ma’s scream made everyone jump .
Ye Shaoyang stared at him and said, “Keep it down!”
Liu Ming blankly looked at Xiao Ma and asked, “And you are … ?”
“I’m Mr . Ye’s a.s.sistant,” Xiao Ma made a speedy introduction, “I’m always there to help Mr . Ye when he hunts for spirits . ” Even though Ye Shaoyang wanted to kick Xiao Ma’s b.u.t.t, he refrained from doing so in front of other people .
“Mr . Ye . Of this two hundred thousand, we’ll first give you fifty thousand as a deposit . You can also use it to acquire the needed materials . After the job is done, we’ll give you the rest of the reward . Are you okay with that?”
Ye Shaoyang did not agree immediately . Instead, he asked, “I recall that there have been other suicide incidents before this one . Has the school hired sorcerers in the past?”
“We have hired three,” Liu Ming said, “Since we’re working together, I’ll not keep the facts from you . Things were worst ten years ago . At its peak, four students committed suicide one after the other . The school hired three sorcerers, but all of them were killed . Even though it was an extremely horrific series of events, the school managed to stop the news from spreading too far . That’s why the public only knew that something had happened, but they don’t know that seven people were killed . ”
“Three sorcerers were killed … ” Xiao Ma looked at Ye Shaoyang with fear .
After all these words, Liu Ming smiled and took out some doc.u.ments from his bag . Then, he laid them on the table, “Here is an indemnity form . I really don’t have other intentions . To tell you the truth, after the incident of the three sorcerers getting killed, the school had a major legal dispute with their families . In the end, the school had to compensate with a large sum of money . So, this time, let’s sign these doc.u.ments … . ”
Ye Shaoyang interrupted Liu Ming . Ye Shaoyang placed his hand on these doc.u.ments and shook his head .