One of the middle-aged men, who was not young, was blinded by money. He stroked his beard, shook his head, and said:

"Ugh! What discouraging talk you're giving me! Haven't you heard of demon hunters? Just from their titles, you should know they're people who come here specifically to kill monsters. We're just humans!"

Even if they eventually find out we're involved, they don't have the authority to do anything about it, do they? Besides, that woman gave us a lot of money; are you willing to turn it down? Are you?!

Besides, if we sense something's wrong, we can just grab the money and run!

"I just don't know what her purpose is in having us pull this stunt. Aside from being a bit lecherous, Master Li is actually a decent person... What good will it do her to ruin the Li family's reputation?" Another person chimed in, joining the conversation.

The group grew louder and louder, each sticking to their own version of events. These unemployed people, who had only come together because they were all equally useless, were now abandoning even the last shred of their camaraderie.

The wild man was getting impatient. This could happen a few more times, and it wasn't impossible that the woman would turn on him and kill him to silence him. He should be more careful.

He pulled the group apart, divided the money among themselves, and said menacingly, "Alright, alright, enough talk! Let's take the money and go home first. Don't discuss this kind of thing here. If the Li family finds out, even if they don't know we did it, we'll still get a beating..."

The thugs thought his words made some sense, but they were mostly afraid of his fists, so they scattered and went home.

Meanwhile, in the Li residence, which was being sabotaged by an insider...

This time, the little red fox Yu Ling truly endured the soul aura forced back by the snakes and insects, and climbed onto the roof beam of the house where the incident occurred to sleep, entering a hibernation and recuperation mode.

But the others in the Li residence, while they were sleeping, were awakened by another breeze. This time, they all got out of bed and lit lamps.

Under Master Li's orders, Madam Li, her concubines, the steward, male servants, female servants, cooks, gardeners, and many others all gathered together.

They all looked worried, listening to the rustling sounds of pests having a party, exchanging bewildered glances as they watched the endless stream of snakes, rats, insects, toads, and other unpopular little virus-spreading experts roaming the yard.

They were dancing and causing destruction as they headed and swayed, walking in a line towards the yard where the incident had occurred.

Mrs. Li, suffering from trypophobia, felt extremely uncomfortable and, fanning herself, said to Mr. Li:

"Master, look! Look! Things have only just calmed down, and now our Li family is in trouble again, and it's the very day you invited the demon hunter here! Why is this all so strange?"

Or... why don't you send someone to invite Master Zhang and the others over, and see if you can find out anything?

Although Master Li also had many doubts, he didn't intend to cause any trouble so late at night and become a laughingstock. He couldn't help but frown at Madam Li's words and scolded her:

"Nonsense! How come you're getting more and more muddled in handling things? Those two are masters I went to great lengths to invite to catch monsters. It's the middle of the night, and all they're doing is causing a little insect infestation. It's so rude to disturb our guests' sleep!"

Besides, if there were any real danger here, they would have arrived much earlier than us!

After saying this, he turned to his concubines and the maids and servants attending to him, and said,

"Sigh! Tell me, tell me! What did our Li family ever do to deserve this? Why do we keep attracting these unlucky things that are running around and disturbing everyone's peace..." They're even interrupting his time with his beauties!

The concubines and servants were also full of complaints, but because Master Li was present, they all dared to keep their heads down and remain silent. However, in their hearts, they cursed Zhang Li and the others repeatedly: Weren't they supposed to be exorcists? They were even invited to stay tonight, so how come the Li family still suffered these undeserved calamities!

Seeing that none of them spoke up, Master Li continued his reprimand:

"What are you all standing around for? Go kill the bugs if you need to, tidy up if you need to, and go to sleep if you need to! Also, tell the kitchen to prepare a sumptuous meal for the masters tomorrow. We need to treat these two masters to a good meal..."

The servants were all sent off to work, and Master Li took one of his recently favored concubines back to his room. Several tall and strong old women, fearing that snakes or insects might harm the two of them, followed to protect them and went to keep watch at the door.

Madam Li was extremely annoyed that her words had been taken as nonsense. She snorted coldly, turned and left, secretly thinking:

Pshaw! You think I'd want to bother with a stupid pig like you whose head is full of women? If it weren't for my son's future while he's away taking the imperial examinations... ha, there's a death in the family and we have to observe three years of mourning!

The next morning, Zhang and Li, who had slept soundly until dawn, were led by servants to the main hall of the Li residence for a meal.

As the demon hunters who were the focus of everyone's attention, they were clearly being targeted and framed by the mastermind. They slept soundly last night and had no idea what had happened in the Li residence, let alone the insect plague.

But when they got up that morning, they were surprised to find that, apart from Master Li, who had always been very enthusiastic, even the old women who had been somewhat skeptical of them the day before, were now warmly welcoming them, and were smiling as they said to him:

"Master Zhang, you're awake! Master Li specifically instructed that he would personally attend to you both!"

There's no way to be unenthusiastic. Even Madam Li was scolded. We servants who sold ourselves to the Li family have even less human rights. We have to be clever when dealing with distinguished guests!

"Really? Thank you for your trouble!" Zhang Li smiled slightly.

Upon arrival, Master Li was already seated in the seat of honor, with Madam Li and several concubines accompanying him, all their eyes turning towards the door.

Seeing them enter, Master Li hurriedly stood up from his chair and said with a smile, "Oh, you two masters have finally arrived! Please, please have a seat!"

Zhang Li didn't stand on ceremony and sat down with Yang Wen beside him. They still carried their bags with them and didn't leave them in the guest room, except that the little fox Yu Ling was missing from the bag.

"Master Zhang, you've worked hard; this trip has been tiring for you all..."