Judging from the villagers' behavior, it seems that no other ghost story tellers entered this place before Jiang Ran and his group.
Jiang Ran had clearly stated that he wanted to deliver the letter to Xu Ying, but Ren Tianze did not allow them to leave. Instead, he brought them to this guest room, ostensibly as hospitality, but in reality as house arrest!
It makes sense. Master Zha Pian's influence is deeply rooted in the village. If Jiang Ran, this sudden outsider, hadn't used some methods to subdue them, things wouldn't be as easy as just being placed under house arrest!
Ren Tianze was just being cautious and didn't dare to openly oppose Jiang Ran. Jiang Ran guessed that he had already gone to Master Zha Pian to inquire about the origins of this "Soul-Communicating True Man".
Gwen asked, "Jiang Ran, haven't you already pretended to have the ability to communicate with the dead? You also introduced yourself as a member of the Ascending Immortal Sect. Between you and that Master Zha Pian, shouldn't the person who believes you be more trustworthy?"
Jiang Ran shook his head: "First, Master Zha Pian has enough experience in 'cooperating' with this village. Second, these charlatans are good at nothing but boasting. Who knows what kind of mysterious figure Master Zha Pian has packaged himself as?"
"Let alone talking to the dead, he could easily make up even bigger stories. With some maneuvering, he could easily fabricate a few so-called pieces of evidence. Given his prestige in the village, wouldn't he be more credible than a few outsiders like us?"
"Huh?" Gwen was a little unhappy. "Then what do we do? Should I go and cut him to death?"
“If necessary, I wouldn’t object to doing so,” Jiang Ran smiled slightly. “However, we should still prioritize harmony!”
“Little Immortal Master.” Ren Tianze pushed open the door and entered. “As you know, Master Zha Pian, the leader of the Ascending Immortal Sect, is in this residence. He is your senior in terms of seniority. He is eager to meet you, an outstanding junior. Please come with me!”
"Is that so?" Jiang Ran stood up and walked to Ren Tianze's side, whispering in a voice only he could hear, "Mr. Ren, I've never heard my master mention that our sect leader's Daoist name is Zha Pian. I'm quite interested in that!"
"Lead the way, Mr. Ren."
Ren Tianze's expression changed slightly, almost imperceptibly, before returning to normal.
"plz follow me."
The three followed Ren Tianze's footsteps, crossed an empty stone path, and arrived at a secluded place surrounded by greenery, with only a two-story luxurious residence standing out in the center.
"Master Zha Pian, I've brought them here!"
Ren Tianze pushed open the door, and a man around 50 years old, dressed in an expensive Taoist robe, sat in the main seat. Ren Tianze's attitude was extremely respectful; anyone who didn't know better would have thought that the man opposite him was the owner of the mansion.
At this moment, Master Zha Pian had a smile on his face but was cursing in his heart. He was really at his wit's end with these three "juniors" who had appeared out of nowhere!
Who are you guys?! Do you even know us?!
This so-called Ascension Sect is just something he made up to swindle money. Even those books were written by him. Where did these fellow disciples come from?
Master Zha Pian didn't believe a word of Jiang Ran and the others' claims about their identities. He was a fraud mastermind; how could anyone possibly fool him? The problem was, he couldn't just tell Ren Tianze, "My Ascension Sect is fake, therefore these three people are fake too!" Wouldn't Ren Tianze kill him on the spot?!
At least in order to maintain his persona, and since he also didn't know where Jiang Ran and the others came from, Master Zha Pian absolutely couldn't turn on them on the spot!
"Which fellow immortal master is the master of the three of you?"
"My master's Taoist name is Anti-Fraud Master."
Master Zha Pian almost turned pale on the spot, but he managed to keep his expression steady and said, "Good, good, good!"
"So it's the anti-fraud junior brother. I never expected to meet his disciple here. What a coincidence!"
Bullshit! There's no such person at all!
Ren Tianze nodded as he looked at the happy scene in front of him.
"Those immortal masters, I will go and continue to arrange my daughter's marriage."
He then left the room.
"Who are you?!"
As soon as Ren Tianze left, Master Zha Pian immediately turned hostile. He walked down from his seat cursing and swearing, completely losing the aura of a celestial master he had just displayed.
"Don't get agitated." Jiang Ran stepped forward as well. "We both know what's going on. Do you want to bring certain things out into the open?"
"Hmph!" Master Zha Pian calmed down slightly. "A few greenhorns, although I don't know what methods you used to bewitch Ren Tianze, this is my territory!"
"I'll allow you to make a quick buck here, but you have to get out of here immediately! How you scam money in other villages is none of my business. Just remember, don't use my 'Ascension to Immortality' cult name! Can't you make one up yourself?!"
"Scamming for money?" Jiang Ran sneered. "There are some things you don't need to hide. Including this wedding and the 'offerings' in the attic, what you're trying to do is more than just make money!"
Master Zha Pian's face instantly darkened. Not only the wedding, but even such a secret matter in the attic was known to Jiang Ran. At this moment, he realized one thing: the young man in front of him was not here for money at all!
“You can pretend you don’t know anything about this. I will definitely reward you handsomely afterward!” Master Zha Pian lowered his eyes. “You don’t need to make things difficult for me. We have no grudges between us. I don’t want to make things worse… Besides, what makes you so confident?”
"Oh? Are you threatening me?"
“You can also interpret it that way.” Master Zha Pian sat back in the main seat. “Today, I’m giving you a chance to leave. From now on, we’ll pretend we never met. Otherwise… you wouldn’t want to experience my methods.”
Let's go!
Jiang Ran pulled the two of them out of the room.
This silent battle came and went quickly. Gwen was even prepared to make a move, but unexpectedly, the two sides only exchanged a few harsh words and then left.
"What do we do? If you weren't planning to take action, why bring it all up in the first place? Wouldn't it be better if we operated covertly?"
"This Master Zha Pian is no simple man. From the moment we entered the room, he was already preparing to make his move. I'm only saying this to make him feel a little wary. There's no secret operation involved; he's been watching us the whole time!"
“What we need to do now is to sabotage this wedding!” Jiang Ran stepped onto the stone path, glancing at the bushes beside him. “First, we need to get Ren Xiaodie’s letter to Xu Ying!”
"Gwen, something's following us. Take care of it. We need to be quick. Zha Pian won't give us any time to think!"
"He's always wanted to kill us!"
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