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Was Chapter 38 tragic?
Shang Xingjian didn't reply to her, but Cheng Mai could guess what was going on.

With her clever mind, it's clear that the people behind her haven't given up yet.

This also illustrates another point: the abbot of Xuantian Temple was not stupid.

The abbot wanted to sit back and watch the fight, to probe Shang Xingjian's identity, but Shang Xingjian directly undermined him.

The higher the virtue, the more...

Cheng Mai looked at Shang Xingjian and realized they were on completely different levels. Shang Xingjian was the originator of all connections; all relationships originated from him.

The abbot's connections in the Underworld are nothing compared to what the merchant guild has to offer.

That night, the Xuantian Temple, which was always a popular place of worship, was haunted.

Moreover, it was the kind of haunted place that had stirred up a hornet's nest, with spirits everywhere, and men and women demanding justice gathering outside the abbot's room.

The abbot urged the soul-summoning flag in his hand, trying to drive the wild ghosts outside, but it was never effective.

His heart skipped a beat.

That boss from Xuanhe must really have an extraordinary background.

Meanwhile, the inexperienced young Taoist priests in the temple gathered together, trembling, each carrying a ritual implement, whether useful or not, just for peace of mind.

"Sanze, do you think what's being said online is true? That the Taoist priests really used evil and crooked methods to enslave wandering ghosts, but now that a master has broken the spell, these wandering ghosts are coming to us."

Sanze was the young Taoist priest who received Jian and Cheng Mai from the business guild this morning.

The person he was talking to was his roommate, a young Taoist priest named Sancheng, with whom he practiced.

At this moment, Sanze held the peach wood sword against the door and carefully looked outside through the crack. Even though he hadn't opened his Heavenly Eye yet, he could still see those wild ghosts roaring and demanding justice.

He suddenly remembered the strange things that happened when that Mr. Shang came today.

"Sancheng, do you know the businessman in City A?" Sanze asked in a low voice.

San Cheng huddled in the corner, clutching his whisk. "I've heard of him, but... but didn't Master say he was just a conman?"

“I don’t think so.” Sanze gripped the peach wood sword tightly, and even their Dao Lord statue dared not look directly at the merchant.

He remembered once when a pilgrim ate his fruit, the Daoist priest made someone fall flat on their face outside the door. But the merchant had almost finished eating all the offerings, and the Daoist priest didn't dare to utter a single word.

That's right, they didn't even dare to fart.

As for Ms. Cheng, he checked the incense sticks afterwards, and they were all intact. He was able to light them, and there was only one reason: the Daoist Master dared not accept Ms. Cheng's incense offerings.

The roars outside grew louder and louder, as if they wanted to tear the entire sect apart in order to find the abbot.

Sanze looked at his trembling fellow disciples behind him, bit his lip, and said, "I'll risk it all."

With that, Sanze grabbed the peach wood sword and rushed out, shouting all the way to the abbot's room.

The female ghost, still howling desperately, thought: "..." Why is this little Taoist priest yelling even louder than them?

Sanze ran to the abbot's room and saw the abbot fighting with several evil spirits. He could vaguely hear the evil spirits shouting for justice from the abbot. They could have been reincarnated a few years earlier, but because they were tricked into becoming evil spirits by the abbot, their reincarnation was now a long way off.

"Demons, how dare you act so presumptuously here?" the abbot roared, but he was no match for the attacks of these evil spirits.

"You've lied to us so badly! Since that's the case, why don't you come and join us?" the evil spirit cried, attacking the abbot with its sharp nails.

“Your soul contracts are in my hands, so you… ah…”

Before the abbot could finish speaking, several bloody scratches appeared on his face from the female ghost's slashing, but instead of blood, black mist oozed from the wounds. "Abbot, hurry to the Xuanhe True Lord's Hall!" Sanze shouted loudly, hiding everywhere. Since Boss Shang wanted the abbot to go, he must be able to save the abbot's life.

Hearing the sound, a demon turned around and locked onto Misawa. Misawa immediately hid behind a pillar, muttering to himself, "I can't see him, I can't see him."

The evil spirits only glanced in that direction; their target remained the abbot. Several evil spirits attacked together, each blow fatal.

The abbot was unable to withstand the attack and fled in disarray, dropping the Soul-Suppressing Flag in his hand to the ground in the chaos.

The abbot ran away, and the evil spirit followed.

Sanze quietly peeked out, and when he stepped on the Soul-Suppressing Flag on the ground, he couldn't help but bend down and pick it up. The symbols on the back seemed different from the one he had seen that morning.

"Are you looking for this, little Taoist priest?" The female ghost came over with the soul-summoning flag and threw it at Sanze's feet.

Misawa was startled and recited all the scriptures he knew, only to find that the female ghost was still there. "How... how could this be?"

“We obey this soul-summoning banner, what use are you chanting these words?” The female ghost sneered. “This Xuantian Temple is rotten to the core, yet it still has a bunch of ignorant fools.”

Little idiot Misawa: "..."

"Don't worry, with Boss Shang here, we wouldn't dare to kill anyone. But we need your help, you little idiot."

The female ghost quickly explained her purpose: she wanted to find the soul contract that the abbot had retrieved from the Yama King's Palace. Only by obtaining the soul contract could these enslaved souls be freed.

However, the old Taoist priest's room had too many magical artifacts, so she could only stand at the door and couldn't get in at all.

Misawa was very clever and immediately understood what the female ghost meant.

The abbot borrowed a group of souls from Yama, the King of Hell, to help them catch ghosts and enhance the reputation of Xuantian Temple. However, he did some illegal things during this period and turned these borrowed souls into evil ghosts.

In short, it's like the thief crying "stop thief!"

Sanze's worldview is shattered, his worldview is about to cry, his mother is no longer pure!
"What does a soul contract look like?" Sanze clenched his fist, looking indignant.

The female ghost described what the soul contract looked like, and Sanze turned around and went inside to look for it.

Cheng Mai, watching from a distance, was surprised that the young Taoist priest actually believed the female ghost's words so easily. For a moment, he didn't know whether to say that he was too kind or brainless.

"That old Taoist priest went to the Xuanhe Zhenjun Temple, aren't you going?" Cheng Mai asked, seeing that the person leisurely sipping tea showed no intention of making a move.

"What's the rush?" Shang Xingjian personally poured tea for Cheng Mai and handed it to her.

Cheng Mai looked down at the clear tea. "Thank you, but I'm afraid of having insomnia, so I won't drink it."

Merchant Jian didn't press the matter and continued enjoying his tea.

Old Liu smiled and explained, "The evil spirits cannot enter the cycle of reincarnation unless their resentment is dispelled. Only when these evil spirits have dispelled their resentment towards this old Taoist priest can they be considered saved."

"How can we get rid of it? By killing that old Taoist priest?"

"If you kill him, he'll become a ghost. Ghost against ghost, neither of you will lose. Naturally, you'll be unable to live or die." Old Liu spoke the cruelest truth in the gentlest of words.

"Everyone in this Taoist temple involved in this matter, without exception, is destined to have a restless night," Old Liu said with a chuckle. "As for those little brats, they'll be scared for one night and that'll be the end of it."

In other words, this was a one-sided massacre that was not visible to the average person.

Cheng Mai couldn't help but look at Shang Xingjian, and with what little conscience he had left, asked, "Boss, isn't this method a bit too cruel?"

"Was it tragic?" Shang Xingjian asked rhetorically.

(End of this chapter)