The next day.
Tongcheng Bus Station.
An old Santana was parked next to the bus stop. Inside sat a fat Taoist priest. He slowly took a drag of his cigarette, then held it out the window and gently shook off the ash.
This round-faced, chubby Taoist priest is Jia Zheng.
He came to pick up Zhang Yuan.
Jia Zheng is a cultivator in the early stage of Foundation Establishment and a professional Taoist priest. He usually takes on exorcism and feng shui business in Tongcheng City. Although most of his business is relatively simple and he can handle it by himself, he always encounters some formidable characters in this line of work.
For example, the order I need to process this afternoon is a bit tricky.
Jia Zheng had been to that house before, but the matter wasn't resolved properly. The owner kept pressuring him to return the money and even called him a liar.
Jia Zheng was very upset!
Little did the homeowner know that the guy in his newly bought house was no ordinary person!
Jia Zheng didn't want to return the money he had received, and just as he was feeling troubled, Zhang Yuan suddenly called and said he was willing to try cooperating with him!
So, Jia Zheng was overjoyed!
Based on the exorcism incident at Tongcheng University, Jia Zheng deduced that Zhang Yuan was likely a cultivator with late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivation, whose strength far surpassed his own!
If they were to fight, even several of them combined wouldn't be a match for Zhang Yuan.
Therefore, if he could cooperate with a cultivator in the late Foundation Establishment stage, he would be able to take on a wider range of businesses and earn more money in the future!
His fame in Tongcheng will even grow.
However, before officially cooperating, Jia Zheng decided to use the presence of Boss Wang's family to test Zhang Yuan's strength.
If Zhang Yuanzhen is indeed a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, then Jia Zheng would accept a 40/60 split of business, or even a 50/50 split.
But if Zhang Yuan doesn't have that ability, then sorry, get the hell out of here!
A few minutes later.
At the exit of Tongcheng Bus Station, a young man with one arm was dragging a suitcase out of the station.
The damp and cold winter weather in Tongcheng City seemed to have no effect on the young man at all.
When Jia Zheng saw Zhang Yuan, he immediately rolled down the car window and waved to Zhang Yuan across the street.
Zhang Yuan quickly spotted Jia Zheng in the car opposite.
Although he had only met Jia Zheng twice, he could still recognize him at a glance.
The Taoist robe, the mustache, and the round face make him highly recognizable and easy to identify.
Besides, Jia Zheng was waving and smiling at him.
When Zhang Yuan arrived at Jia Zheng's vintage Santana, Jia Zheng had already gotten out of the car and opened the back door for Zhang Yuan.
"Master Zhang Yuan, welcome!"
Jia Zheng wore a professional smile, as if he were facing a customer.
His smile, combined with his round face, mustache, and a large black mole on his chin, gave the impression that the Taoist priest was somewhat cunning.
Zhang Yuan responded with a smile.
"Master Jia, just call me Zhang Yuan!"
Where is that neighborhood you mentioned? Is it far from here?
Zhang Yuan asked.
"Alright, then I'll call you Brother Zhang Yuan."
Jia Zheng said familiarly.
“Tai’an Community is a bit far from here, about a half-hour drive. How about you put your luggage in my car and we’ll drive there.”
"OK."
Zhang Yuan didn't stand on ceremony. After putting his suitcase in the trunk, he sat in the passenger seat, and the car started with two whistles before speeding away down the road.
25 minutes later.
Tai'an Community.
A black Santana was parked at the entrance of the residential compound and was stopped by the compound's security guard.
"Sorry, you are not a resident of this community and cannot enter!"
Jia Zheng had no choice but to get out of the car and call the homeowner.
The homeowner's voice came through the phone, cursing and swearing.
"This time it's not enough, you have to give me my money back!"
"What kind of bullshit master is this!"
Jia Zheng took the phone and walked away, not wanting Zhang Yuan to hear, but Zhang Yuan had sharp ears and eyes and had already overheard their conversation.
"This time it'll definitely work! It's because yours is too powerful! If I get rid of it for you this time, you'll have to pay extra!..."
After a heated argument, the two finally reached a consensus.
If Jia Zheng handles this well, the homeowner will need to pay an additional 10,000 yuan! If he doesn't handle it well, Jia Zheng must return the original 5,000 yuan.
In Tai'an Community, the owner of this problematic house is named Wang Zhongjun. He is now very helpless. He spent more than 1.8 million yuan to buy the new house, but after living there for a short time, ghostly and paranormal events began to occur.
Now, the house can't be transferred even if the owner wants to.
Because everyone in the neighborhood and the real estate agency knew that there was something wrong with this apartment!
Wang Zhongjun initially bought the haunted house at a price lower than the market value because he was greedy for cheap prices, thinking he could save hundreds of thousands of yuan!
That's good now.
The house is unsellable and uninhabitable!
He had no choice but to move out for the time being.
Several groups of professionals were brought in, but none of them could fix the house. Therefore, Jia Zheng proposed that if the house could be fixed, he would need to pay an extra 10,000 yuan, which Wang Zhongjun had no choice but to accept.
If spending another 10,000 yuan can resolve this matter, it's insignificant compared to the 200,000 yuan saved for the house purchase. If it can't be resolved, the fat Taoist priest will have to refund the money, so he won't lose out.
Zhang Yuan overheard Jia Zheng and Wang Zhongjun's conversation clearly, but he sat in the car pretending he hadn't heard or known anything.
Since this is our first collaboration with Master Jia, we need to establish a foundation of trust between us.
If Master Jia could handle things himself, there would be no need to ask him. Therefore, Zhang Yuan didn't care about what Jia Zheng was hiding. After all, he just needed Master Jia to share the money afterwards.
About ten minutes later, a middle-aged man of short stature arrived at the entrance of Tai'an Community.
The middle-aged man was a bit overweight, wearing slippers but a leather jacket. His eyes were somewhat unfocused, and he had very noticeable dark circles under his eyes. His hair was also messy.
This plump middle-aged man is Wang Zhongjun, the owner of the house Zhang Yuan is going to see today.
Wang Zhongjun, holding a bunch of keys, approached Jia Zheng and said casually, "Let's go!"
Then he led Jia Zheng and Zhang Yuan into the Tai'an residential area.
In Tai'an Residential Complex, on the 12th floor of Building A, the door to a suite opened with the sound of a key turning.
A gust of cold wind blew out of the room, making Jia Zheng and Wang Zhongjun shiver.
Zhang Yuan is alright.
As soon as Wang Zhongjun opened the door, Zhang Yuan felt a chilling aura emanating from the room.
Inside, even though it was broad daylight and the curtains were open, the room felt dimly lit.
After the door opened, Wang Zhongjun became visibly nervous and said, "This is it!"
Jia Zheng was the first to walk in. He was carrying the tools he usually used for exorcising evil spirits: a peach wood sword and a Bagua compass. He looked cautious.
Zhang Yuan followed Jia Zheng inside with his hands in his pockets, looking somewhat nonchalant.
Wang Zhongjun was the last one, following reluctantly behind.
If Jia Zheng hadn't said that he had brought a master with him this time, and that he would refund the money if things still weren't handled well, Wang Zhongjun really wouldn't want to come to this godforsaken place again.
Every time he brings someone to see this haunted house, he inexplicably experiences shortness of breath, unease, and hears eerie noises. Then he goes back and has nightmares for several nights in a row!
After the Taoist priest Jia's first attempt to perform a ritual in the suite failed, Wang Zhongjun began to doubt the fat Taoist priest's exorcism abilities.
I thought he would bring a master today to save face.
But when he saw that the person who came was a young man who looked like a student, Wang Zhongjun became even more suspicious that this Master Jia was a fraud!
That young man has absolutely no air of superiority!
Rather than saying this young man is a master exorcist, it would be more believable to say he is Jia Daoshi's apprentice or assistant.
Therefore, Wang Zhongjun did not have high hopes for Master Jia's exorcism.
Since the person is already here, let's just go through the motions and see what other tricks this fat Taoist priest has up his sleeve, but don't even think about swindling a single penny out of him.
Wang Zhongjun was already prepared to make the fake Taoist priest refund his money later.
After all, 5,000 yuan is not a small amount.
...
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