The Heavenly Master Residence was even more crowded than Jiang Luo had imagined. At a glance, there were children and elders, businesspeople and officials—and even some familiar faces he recognized as famous celebrities from TV.
These people either wore anxious expressions or behaved with utmost respect. Despite the constant coming and going of so many individuals, the large courtyard remained free of noise—everyone instinctively maintained silence.
But the majority of these people wouldn’t get to see the Heavenly Master in person.
Jiang Luo was astonished by the Feng family’s prestige. Chen Pi led him through the crowd in the courtyard to the first inner gate. A young disciple stood guard there. Upon seeing Chen Pi, he cupped his hands and greeted, “Senior Uncle Chen, Teacher Feng is already waiting for you inside.”
Feng Li?
Jiang Luo glanced at Chen Pi from the corner of his eye. What was this makeshift master of his bringing him to see Feng Li for?
Once they stepped through the first gate, the number of people instantly thinned. They hadn’t walked far when they passed a lotus pond. By the pond stood a stone table and stools, and two people were seated there.
One of them had a long flowing white beard and looked kind and approachable. Chen Pi immediately walked over and respectfully said, “Master.”
This must be the old Heavenly Master. Jiang Luo followed and called out, “Grandmaster.”
“Good,” the old Heavenly Master responded with a kindly smile. After exchanging a few words with Chen Pi, he turned to Jiang Luo and asked, “Is this the disciple who just won first place in the competition?”
Chen Pi said, “Yes, this child’s name is Jiang Luo.”
“Jiang Luo,” the old Heavenly Master repeated thoughtfully. “Not bad. A good kid.”
Then he looked at the elder sitting across from him. “This child’s talent is excellent. Compared to that one from the Chi family, he’s no worse.”
Chi family?
Jiang Luo’s expression didn’t change, but he sharpened his attention.
He caught a glimpse of the elder across from them—around seventy or eighty years old, his hands and face marked with age spots. His forehead was narrow, brows thick, jawbones protruding, and his eyes shone sharply. “Which child of my family is the old Heavenly Master referring to?”
The old Heavenly Master chuckled. “Who else but Chi You could be said to have such talent?”
“The direct line of the Chi family has always been exceptionally gifted,” the old man from the Chi family replied coldly. “Talented, yes, but doomed. Which of their line has lived past thirty?”
He glanced at Jiang Luo. “This one, on the other hand, looks like he might live long. Old Heavenly Master, your disciple’s not bad.”
The old Heavenly Master laughed heartily and waved at Chen Pi. “Go on, don’t let me delay your business.”
Chen Pi respectfully bid farewell to the old Heavenly Master and led Jiang Luo away from the lotus pond.
Soon, they arrived at the ancestral hall.
As soon as Jiang Luo stepped inside, he saw Feng Li offering incense. He still wore his traditional Tang-style robes. After finishing, he turned around and said flatly, “You’re here?”
Though Chen Pi was older than Feng Li and had been accepted as a disciple of the old Heavenly Master earlier, he still didn’t dare act casually in front of him. He bowed respectfully and said, “Junior Brother, I’ve brought Jiang Luo.”
“Mm.” Feng Li looked the black-haired youth up and down, then suddenly frowned. “What is this?”
His gaze landed on a faint strand of white hair near the youth’s ear.
Jiang Luo’s eyes flashed. “What?”
Feng Li stepped forward and plucked the strand from Jiang Luo’s hair. His face immediately darkened. “You’ve met with him again.”
Jiang Luo blinked innocently.
Feng Li abruptly yanked out the strand of white hair, then went to a drawer at the table and retrieved a sheet of paper, which he folded into the shape of a little figure. Wrapping the white hair around the paper effigy, he turned to Chen Pi and instructed, “Bring eight bowls of water.”
Chen Pi returned with disciples carrying eight bowls, which Feng Li arranged around the paper figure in the pattern of a Bagua formation. He formed a hand seal and pointed at the effigy. “Move.”
The paper figure lying on the table slowly began to move. As if something had possessed it, it stood up and looked curiously around its surroundings.
It had no facial features, yet when it turned toward Jiang Luo, it suddenly paused. Strangely, Jiang Luo felt a sense of familiarity from this small paper figure.
His brow twitched. He looked at Feng Li. “Teacher Feng?”
Feng Li said coldly, “I told you—if I see you tangled up with him again, I’ll make sure his soul is utterly destroyed.”
Before Jiang Luo could respond, Feng Li lightly tapped the bowl in the southeast position. “Xun Wind.”
The water in the bowl rippled slightly. At the same time, a sudden gust of wind rose over the table, sharp as blades, carving deep gouges into the wood as it surged toward the paper effigy.
But before it could reach the effigy, the wind abruptly vanished without a trace.
Feng Li said slowly, “So he has some ability.”
But given that the spirit in question was Chi You’s, Feng Li wasn’t surprised.
He tapped the bowls at the southwest and northeast positions—representing Earth (Kun) and Mountain (Gen), respectively.
The tabletop began to undulate as if high mountains were rising from it, jagged and steep, leaving the paper effigy with nowhere to stand.
The paper effigy lightly stomped its left foot. All the peaks instantly shattered. Not only that, but the two bowls representing the southwest and northeast also cracked, spilling water across the floor.
The ancestral hall fell utterly silent.
Chen Pi practically buried his head in his chest, cursing inwardly. At his age, he still had to go through this kind of torment. A duel of magical powers between a Heavenly Master—and his side lost! Wasn’t that for all to see?
Especially since Feng Li was notorious for holding grudges—of all people, he was the one you couldn’t afford to offend.
Yet Feng Li, looking at the wrecked table, didn’t show much reaction. Instead, he simply tipped over the white porcelain bowl in the northern position. “Kan Water.”
Kan Water represents Yang, of the Water element. Water upon water, with opposing forces of Yin and Yang—it came fiercely the moment it was summoned, surging to drown and tear apart the paper effigy.
The paper effigy was indeed submerged.
Chen Pi let out a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from his forehead. Cheerfully, he said, “The Heavenly Master lives up to his name. The moment he acts, even this evil entity can’t escape the palm of his hand.”
Jiang Luo, however, didn’t relax as quickly as Chen Pi. If it really was Chi You possessing the paper effigy, how could he be dealt with so easily?
He stared closely at the table surface, now surging like ocean waves. Just as everyone was letting down their guard, a sudden splash broke the surface—shockingly, the paper effigy burst out of the water and, in one swift motion, shot out of the Bagua formation, heading straight for Jiang Luo!
Jiang Luo reacted swiftly, stepping back—but suddenly, an extra hand appeared at his waist. The hand pulled him back and to the left as a voice beside him said with concern, “Careful, junior brother.”
Jiang Luo could have dodged cleanly on his own, but this unsolicited help threw him off balance and nearly made him fall. Thankfully, he instinctively grabbed the other disciple’s arm to steady himself. He couldn’t very well complain, so he awkwardly muttered, “Thanks.”
“No need,” the unknown good Samaritan smiled at him, then looked toward the ground. “Teacher Feng has already subdued the paper effigy.”
Jiang Luo was startled and turned his head toward it. Sure enough, the paper effigy had been pinned to the floor by a writing brush, unmoving.
Feng Li was wiping his hands with a handkerchief. The disciple beside Jiang Luo sighed in admiration, “Teacher Feng is truly incredible—no matter what kind of malicious ghost or ghost it is, none of them last more than a moment in his hands.”
But Jiang Luo felt something was off. “What about the thing possessing the paper effigy?”
“Probably dead,” the disciple replied with a smile, glancing at the soaked and nearly ruined paper effigy. “That strike just now from Teacher Feng was like lightning—unless something went very wrong, it should be dead.”
Jiang Luo thought to himself: Then something definitely went wrong.
There was no way he believed Chi You would die so easily.
“You seem really concerned about that evil spirit Junior Brother,” the person beside him said, interrupting Jiang Luo’s thoughts. The young disciple asked curiously, “Does it have anything to do with you, junior brother?”
Is everyone at the Heavenly Master Residence this nosy?
That thought flashed by, but Jiang Luo quickly went with the flow and said, “…Yes, it does.”
He honestly wished he could tell the whole world about his “love” with Chi You—so that when Chi You tried to kill him again, everyone would side with him. Jiang Luo’s eyes drooped just slightly with practiced melancholy, and he replied heavily, “He’s someone I liked.”
The disciple looked at him, noting the slightly pursed red lips and the half-lowered lids, and smiled, “Ah, I see.”
“Don’t be too sad,” the disciple said softly. “Otherwise, he’ll…”
He tilted his lips into a barely noticeable smirk, his tone rising gently, “…be very upset.”
Author’s note:
The disciple smiled: I promise he’ll be very upset.
