IMMFBCG Chapter 15

Chapter 15: The Third VIP Customer

Its reputation gradually increased since the Xuan Zhen Temple began conducting several ghost exorcism businesses. Thanks to the promotion from those people, the number of worshippers visiting the temple to offer incense also grew.

Although it still couldn’t compare to the foot traffic at Tianyi Temple in the city center, the current situation was much better than the previous state of being almost deserted.

One day, an elderly lady visited the Xuan Zhen Temple.

The grandmother came specifically to ask what kind of talisman she should buy for her sick grandson, while her granddaughter, Xiang Xinlan, stood by her side with a helpless expression, calling out, “Grandma!”

She was exasperated by her grandmother’s stubbornness.

Hearing their conversation, Ye Xue walked over and said, “Grandma, if you’re sick, you should go to the hospital. The ancestral master can’t help with that.”

However, the grandmother looked confused and replied, “Really? I don’t need a talisman then…”

She had previously encountered fortune tellers at tourist spots who didn’t say anything like that.

Those people told her that talismans could cure all illnesses and encouraged her to bring one home. The grandmother, however, felt that street vendors weren’t reliable; if it didn’t work, she wouldn’t even know how to find them for a refund. Since she lived near the Xuan Zhen Temple, she thought she would come here instead.

After listening to her, Bai Liu thought the grandmother was smart; she believed that talismans could cure all ailments, but at least she wasn’t fooled and understood to come to a legitimate temple for one.

However, this was a proper temple that operated legally and didn’t promote superstitions.

Bai Liu added, “Grandma, we don’t have talismans that can cure all illnesses here. If you hear similar things outside in the future, that person is a fraud.”

Xiang Xinlan quickly urged her, “Grandma, look, even the temple priests say we should go to the hospital. You can’t ignore what the master says, can you?”

The grandmother wanted to say more, but seeing her granddaughter’s insistence, she sighed and nodded, “Alright, alright, I’ll go later.”

Xiang Xinlan immediately replied, “I’ll accompany you!”

As she spoke, she looked gratefully at Ye Xue and Bai Liu.

Xiang Xinlan felt helpless; she and her parents were atheists, but her grandmother firmly believed in Taoism.

It wasn’t a big deal for the grandmother to donate some incense money to the temple, as it served as a little spiritual comfort for her. The problem arose when her grandmother believed the words of those swindlers in the tourist areas, thinking her discomfort was due to being cursed, insisting that she needed a talisman to treat her illness.

Fortunately, the people at the nearby temple were clear-headed; otherwise, Xiang Xinlan wouldn’t know what to do.

Since she couldn’t get a talisman, after lighting incense for the deities, Grandma Xiang planned to go to the hospital with her granddaughter.

As the elderly lady was putting money into the merit box, Bai Liu pulled Ye Xue aside and whispered, “Master, doesn’t that lady named Xiang have a rather unusual face?”

Having spent more time with Ye Xue and dealing with ghosts lately, Bai Liu has become more sensitive to issues regarding negative energy. So when he looked at Xiang Xinlan’s face, he noticed something different about her compared to ordinary people.

Ye Xue hadn’t paid much attention before, focusing on persuading the elderly lady to go to the hospital. After hearing Bai Liu’s words, she looked up and observed Xiang Xinlan’s features closely.

Xiang Xinlan had a round face and high forehead, indicating wealth and longevity. However, the aura between her eyebrows was somewhat murky, with excessive Yin and insufficient Yang, suggesting that she might encounter ghosts soon.

It wasn’t good to predict someone would encounter ghosts; if she just ran into a ghost that caused mischief, it might not be too bad, but if she met a more malicious ghost, it could endanger her life.

However, Xiang Xinlan didn’t seem like someone who would believe in such things. If she were suddenly told that she would run into trouble, it would likely have the opposite effect.

Thus, before they left the temple, Ye Xue gave Xiang Xinlan a talisman.

Since she didn’t know what kind of situation Xiang Xinlan would encounter, she gave her the most powerful Five Thunder Talisman.

Xiang Xinlan was momentarily taken aback when she received the talisman.

She had just thought that the priests at Xuan Zhen Temple were quite understanding and wouldn’t force superstitious beliefs on anyone. Now, this beautiful little priestess had sold her a talisman.

Feeling the bewildered gazes of the customers, Ye Xue took a moment to think and finally came up with a reason: “VIP customer benefit, free gift.”

Xiang Xinlan: “???”

Her grandmother didn’t seem to be a VIP of Xuan Zhen Temple.

However, Xiang Xinlan didn’t refuse, as Ye Xue and the others had just helped her, so she accepted the Five Thunder Talisman.

She smiled, holding the talisman, and said, “Okay, thank you, Master.”

Xiang Xinlan casually placed it in her clothing pocket and took her grandmother’s hand to leave the temple.

At first, Bai Liu thought she would refuse to accept it since Xiang Xinlan didn’t have any religious beliefs, not believing in Buddhism or Taoism, and it was unclear if she believed in Christianity.

As he watched the worshippers leave, Bai Liu remarked, “Master, your efforts are equivalent to two people; you truly are the ambassador for Xuan Zhen Temple.”

Ye Xue: “……”

……

On the weekend, Xiang Xinlan stayed at the office to work overtime. By around eight or nine o’clock, most of the other employees had already left.

She still had some final touches to complete on her work, so she stayed a bit longer. It wasn’t until nearly ten o’clock that she finally finished the proposal and sent the email to her supervisor.

After finally wrapping up her work, Xiang Xinlan stretched and turned around, realizing that she was the only person left in the office.

The other lights were all turned off, leaving just the light in her office.

After turning off the office light, the surroundings plunged into darkness.

Xiang Xinlan considered herself quite brave, but seeing such a dark environment made her feel a little uneasy.

She took a deep breath, recited the core socialist values to herself, then turned on the flashlight on her phone, locked the door, and stepped outside.

When the elevator door opened, Xiang Xinlan pressed the button for the first floor. As she was about to take out her phone to check Weibo, she realized that not only could she not browse Weibo, but she couldn’t even send a reply on WeChat.

Was the elevator signal really that poor?

Xiang Xinlan wondered to herself.

The elevator had been newly replaced in the last two years; how could its quality be so bad?

At that moment, the light in the elevator began to flicker, blinking on and off as if it might burn out at any second.

Xiang Xinlan became a little restless. Suddenly, the elevator lurched to a stop with a loud thud.

“Ding-dong,” the elevator doors opened.

The company was on the twenty-sixth floor; could it be so quick to reach the first floor?

As she thought this, gripping her phone tightly, she instinctively glanced at the floor number displayed in the elevator. When she saw the number clearly, her pupils dilated in shock.

—Negative eighteen floors.

The office building only had a basement level, so where did this negative eighteen come from?!

Xiang Xinlan bit her lip, looking out into the pitch-black environment.

She couldn’t see a thing; not only that, but she could also vaguely hear something outside as if someone was sobbing in despair.

In an instant, Xiang Xinlan turned pale and desperately pressed the door close button.

The distant sound of crying seemed to get closer as if it were approaching the elevator door at any moment.

She pressed the elevator button even harder.

Suddenly, she felt a wave of heat from her pocket; the elevator doors slammed shut, blocking all the crying sounds outside.

The lights in the elevator returned to normal, no longer flickering as they had before.

She didn’t know how long it took, but finally, the elevator door opened again.

This time, it displayed the correct floor number: the first floor.

When Xiang Xinlan saw the familiar office building layout outside, she felt an overwhelming sense of relief, as if she had survived a disaster.

Suddenly, she remembered something and dug out a talisman from her pocket.

The originally yellow talisman was now burned to ashes, blown away by the wind.

This was the talisman given to her by the beautiful little priestess at Xuan Zhen Temple during her last visit. Originally, Xiang Xinlan planned to keep it at home, but her grandmother insisted that since it was given by the priestess, she should carry it with her. Xiang Xinlan couldn’t argue, so she put the talisman in her pocket.

Just now, it was the heat she felt in her pocket that had caused the elevator to return to normal.

If she hadn’t listened to her grandmother and brought the talisman while working overtime, then just now…

Xiang Xinlan thought of the terrifying sobbing sounds and turned pale with fright, feeling a wave of dread wash over her.

Without thinking too much, she hurriedly dashed out of the elevator.

The next day, when Xu Zhou and Master Bai went out to perform rituals, Xuan Zhen Temple welcomed a new worshipper.

This time, Xiang Xinlan came by herself.

She hadn’t told her family about what happened last night to avoid worrying them.

After lighting three sticks of incense for the Three Purities, she turned to Ye Xue, recalling the events of the previous night, and still felt shaken. “Master, thank you for the talisman you gave me last time. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have known what to do.”

She then shared what had happened last night with Ye Xue and the others.

As she spoke, Xiang Xinlan placed a stack of red bills into the merit box. Bai Liu, standing nearby, counted at least ten or twelve bills.

After donating the incense money, she still felt uneasy and asked if there was anything else she needed to do.

It seemed that the events Xiang Xinlan experienced last night were terrifying enough to transform a staunch atheist into someone so anxious and on edge.

After listening to Xiang Xinlan’s account, Ye Xue realized that not only had she encountered something sinister, but she had also been unlucky enough to ride an elevator that became a direct route to the eighteenth level of hell.

If Xiang Xinlan hadn’t sensed something was wrong and had stepped out of the elevator, or if she hadn’t brought the talisman with her and had been lured away by a vengeful spirit, she would have been captured by a substitute ghost from the eighteenth level of hell.

At that point, if the ghost found a replacement for reincarnation, she would have had to endure the punishment meant for that evil spirit.

However, to avoid causing Xiang Xinlan further panic, Ye Xue chose not to mention these details to her, considering that the events had already passed.

Ye Xue reassured Xiang Xinlan, saying, “You’ve been having low luck recently, which is why you encountered this supernatural incident. But now that the calamity has passed, you have a bright future ahead of you, and you’ll be safe and sound from now on.”

Upon hearing this, Xiang Xinlan finally relaxed and mentioned that she wanted to apply for a VIP card at Xuan Zhen Temple.

With a VIP card, she would receive a discount for rituals or exorcisms, and if the temple had any events for worshippers, VIP members would be notified.

Most importantly, she would be able to get Ye Xue’s phone number, allowing her to call for help if anything happened in the future.

In this way, Xuan Zhen Temple welcomed its third VIP customer, thanks to Ye Xue’s influence.

On Ye Xue’s way back to school, Xuan Zhen Temple had another new customer.

When Master Bai received a call from Assistant Zhou, he was overjoyed. During his previous visit to see Yu Qi, the man had appeared quite ill, but now he could travel normally.

Just as Master Bai was about to ask who had healed Mr. Yu, Assistant Zhou informed him over the phone that they would be coming to Xuan Zhen Temple for incense in the afternoon.

Master Bai was even more delighted by this news.

Yu Qi was currently the highest-ranking disciple of the Zhengyi Sect, and anyone who saw him would respectfully address him as Mr. Yu.

Moreover, he rarely saw outsiders, except for a few colleagues from the Taoist community, making it even rarer for anyone to meet him.

This meant that Yu Qi’s visit to their temple would allow Xuan Zhen Temple to boast for an entire year!

Master Bai hurriedly instructed Xu Zhou and Bai Liu to clean the temple thoroughly in preparation for their leader’s arrival.

Fortunately, the statues had been custom-made recently. They had chosen an auspicious day to bless and redress the ancestral statues, making Xuan Zhen Temple appear less dilapidated.

Now, with the brand-new statues and the renovated main hall, Xuan Zhen Temple looked revitalized.

The temple was becoming busier, with half of the visitors drawn in by Ye Xue’s presence.

Watching the temple come alive bit by bit, Master Bai couldn’t help but feel a sense of satisfaction.

Xuan Zhen Temple would continue to flourish in the future.

…

When Yu Qi got out of the luxury car, Master Bai noticed he looked significantly healthier than before, which made him happy.

The young man arrived at the temple, offered incense to the statues in the main hall, and then exchanged pleasantries with Master Bai.

Of course, most of the conversation was led by Master Bai, with Yu Qi responding occasionally.

Master Bai had grown accustomed to Yu Qi’s few words.

After about ten minutes, however, Yu Qi glanced between them, as if searching for something.

Seeing him look at the two younger disciples, Master Bai misunderstood his intention and introduced them, saying, “This is my first disciple, Xu Zhou, who you should have met, and this is my son, Bai Liu.”

Xu Zhou and Bai Liu greeted Yu Qi.

Yu Qi nodded slightly. “Hello.”

Then, he fell silent again.

Noticing this, Master Bai felt a bit puzzled and instinctively glanced at Assistant Zhou.

Assistant Zhou smiled and asked, “Master, is everyone from your temple here?”

Master Bai replied, “Yes, everyone is here…” He suddenly remembered that Ye Xue was studying at Haicheng University. “Oh, right! My junior sister, Ye Xue, is also training here. But since it’s a weekday, she’s probably in class at school right now, haha.”

Assistant Zhou paused for a moment, then turned to look at their employer.

The young man’s expression revealed a hint of rare confusion.