This Taoist priest is so unprofessional!

The eerie sound of the abacus abruptly stopped the moment the door was kicked open.

Soon, the scene inside the room was revealed in the dim light of the corridor.

The A4 paper talismans that Zhang Chen had pasted on were indeed still hanging on the wall, looking both comical and ridiculous.

But in the center of the room, there was a dark figure.

It was leaning over the desk when it heard the sudden loud noise. Its body trembled violently, and even the things on the desk fell to the ground.

The dark figure was clearly terrified by the furious kick and paid no attention to the things on the ground.

It turned around hastily, like a startled bat, and quickly scrambled out of the study window.

Their movements were swift, clearly indicating they had come prepared.

Even Wang Xiaoer, who was closest to the window, only managed to catch a glimpse of a black outline before the shadow disappeared outside.

Almost at the same time the shadow disappeared.

At the end of the corridor not far away, behind the tightly closed door of the butler's room, came a crisp sound.

"Splash!"

That was the crisp sound of a glass shattering on the ground; the sound was brief, yet it seemed unusually abrupt in the silence.

Boss Liu followed Zhang Chen cautiously, looking at the empty windows in the study and then at Wang Xiaoer, who was standing there.

"Master, what was that just now?"

His voice was hoarse, and his eyes were full of doubt.

The shadowy figure's movements were nothing like those of a ghost.

Zhang Chen glanced around the room, finally fixing his gaze on the direction where the dark figure outside the window had disappeared.

The night breeze blew in through the window, rustling the talismans.

Zhang Chen sneered and lowered his voice, saying, "You should ask who that is."

"Boss Liu, in our line of work, it's seven parts about the person and three parts about the feng shui."

Boss Liu was stunned, his mouth agape, waiting for Zhang Chen to continue.

"Your house does have some feng shui issues, but it's not enough to attract evil spirits."

Zhang Chen pointed to the A4 paper talismans that were being blown by the wind.

"These things I put up during the day aren't for warding off ghosts at all; they're for attracting people."

"I deliberately said there were 'evil thoughts' here, and deliberately used such a talisman, just to make the person lurking in the shadows think that I was just a fraud."

He paused, his tone becoming playful.

"He thought I was just a clown trying to attract attention, and he was worried that I would stay here and not leave, so he dared to come to the room where I was putting up talismans in the middle of the night to continue his tricks."

Boss Liu's face turned from pale to bluish-purple; he finally understood what Zhang Chen meant.

"A thief within the family!"

Zhang Chen neither confirmed nor denied; he simply raised his hand and pointed to the window.

"Running away through the window, it's obvious whether they're a human or a ghost."

"The strange noises in your house were never a paranormal event from the beginning. It was someone playing tricks to make you believe that the house is haunted, so as to achieve their goal."

Wang Xiaoer stood aside, looking at Zhang Chen with utter astonishment.

He now understood that Zhang Chen's absurd actions, comical performance, and even his flamboyant declaration of running away during the day were all meant to deceive this "thief"!

Zhang Chen's "skill" was not in those peach wood swords and seals, but in his meticulous mind and understanding of human nature.

He wasn't exorcising ghosts; he was fishing.

"But there's nothing valuable in my study, so what's he doing here every day?" Boss Liu's voice was filled with anger and confusion.

"That's a question for you to answer," Zhang Chen scoffed, his gaze sweeping over the butler's tightly closed door.

He raised his hand and pointed to the safe in the study.

"Boss Liu, besides valuables, what else is locked up?"

Mr. Liu suddenly turned around and looked at the safe.

"The ledger!"

Zhang Chen remained calm as he picked up the small abacus that the shadowy figure had dropped.

"Presumably, the sound of the abacus is not a ghost doing accounts, but a person checking accounts."

He threw the abacus on the table, making a crisp sound.

"It seems that Boss Liu has offended someone."

Boss Liu looked through the window at the butler's tightly closed door.

"I'm calling the police! I'm going to catch them!"

Zhang Chen grabbed Boss Liu's shoulder.

"No rush."

He glanced at the end of the corridor; the door was open, and the butler was hurrying towards him.

Zhang Chen withdrew his gaze, a sly glint in his eyes.

"Boss Liu, how about you do me the favor and howl a few more times tonight?"

He lowered his voice and whispered a few words in Boss Liu's ear, then shouted at the top of his lungs again.

"My goodness! Boss, this evil creature is quite powerful; it actually broke free from my suppression!"

Zhang Chen suddenly collapsed to the ground, clutching his head in his hands, looking utterly exhausted and drained of his magical power.

Boss Liu understood immediately. He stepped forward, pointed at Zhang Chen's nose, and began his Oscar-worthy performance.

"What kind of lousy master is he! He can't even catch a ghost, yet he dares to ask for 100,000?"

Boss Liu's voice was filled with anger.

"Liar! Get out of here!"

"I should have seen it coming a long time ago, you're a complete fraud!" Boss Liu was so angry that his chest heaved violently, and his spittle almost landed on Zhang Chen's face.

Wang Xiaoer, standing to the side, didn't hear their whispers and was momentarily stunned by the sudden turn of events.

"Boss, calm down!"

At this moment, the butler ran over. When he saw Zhang Chen's miserable "failure," he immediately revealed an undisguised smugness on his face.

"See? I told you this kid was unreliable! Look, he's exposed now!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen jumped up from the ground, his face showing a mixture of embarrassment and anger at being exposed.

"How...how can you talk like that!"

Zhang Chen pointed at the butler, then at Boss Liu, his fingers trembling.

"I kindly helped you exorcise the evil spirit, and not only are you ungrateful, you even dare to curse me?"

"I was merely careless for a moment... I didn't dodge... It... it attacked from behind... it has no martial ethics..."

"It's only been alerted now. Once it completely takes over this place, you can beg me for mercy, but I won't be coming back!"

The butler was taken aback by his sudden outburst, but then turned to Boss Liu with a nonchalant smile and said, "Boss, please calm down. I'll send them away right away and find you a real expert!"

Immediately, the butler turned around and gestured "please" to Zhang Chen and Wang Xiaoer, his arrogance and sense of victory practically overflowing from his gesture.

"Please, Taoist priests."

Although Wang Xiaoer didn't know what Zhang Chen was up to, he still tugged at Zhang Chen's sleeve, signaling him to stop while he was ahead.

Zhang Chen snorted coldly, slung the tattered bag over his shoulder, and walked towards the stairwell without looking back.

The butler maintained a fake smile the entire way to the gate of the villa area.

He kept his head down and spoke gently, but his eyes, hidden beneath his eyelids, seemed to be looking at two fleeing, homeless dogs.

"Goodbye, gentlemen."

As the two slowly disappeared into the night, the butler's polite and submissive expression quickly turned into smugness.

He raised his hand, straightened his collar, and a smug smile appeared on his lips.

Only then did he take out his phone and quickly dial a number.

"Hey, it's me. I've already chased those two good-for-nothings away, haha... I get chills just listening to their voices. Old Liu? Old Liu is furious and told me to find another expert."

The butler lowered his voice, his tone carrying the excitement of a victor.

"Yes, come first thing tomorrow morning. Don't worry, he definitely won't doubt us this time. He only trusts us now."

He hung up the phone, looked up at the white villa that appeared even more secluded in the night, and his smile deepened.

His plan was finally about to succeed.