When Tang Yuan saw that he wasn"t responding, he asked with concern, “What"s the matter?”

Zhao Zheng sat down next to Tang Yuan and said in a whisper, “Rice Ball, do you remember when I told you before that my dad might have cheated?”

Tang Yuan nodded, “I remember.”

Zhao Zheng sighed, “Previously, my dad always carried lipstick marks and the scent of a woman"s perfume, which made me think that he had another woman. But recently I discovered that I really misunderstood my dad because when my dad was hospitalized, I also had a lipstick mark show up on my body, even though I didn"t have any contact with a woman.”

When Tang Yuan heard him say that, he couldn"t help but think about something supernatural, but he didn"t want to scare Zhao Zheng, so he comforted him saying, “Maybe it is a lipstick mark accidentally left by your mother?”

“No,” Zhao Zheng anxiously replied, “If that was the case, then it would be fine. But those lipstick marks, it wasn"t lipstick, it was blood.”

It seemed that this really was a supernatural event. He began to think about how to calm Zhao Zheng when he heard Zhao Zheng say, “Even more terrifying, I got up in the middle of the night last night and found a woman lying next to me……”

This made both Tang Yuan and Zhao Zheng shiver. Tang Yuan couldn"t help but lean against Zhao Zheng. Then he swallowed hard and said, “Are you telling the truth?”

Scared and helpless, Zhao Zheng said, “Yes, you have to believe me, Rice Ball.”

“I believe you.” Tang Yuan had already encountered ghosts, so how could he not believe him?

“You really believe me?” Zhao Zheng exclaimed, suspicious.

Tang Yuan nodded. “I believe you. Tell me exactly what"s been going on. I"ll help you figure it out.”

Zhao Zheng nodded and explained everything about his own experiences and what had happened to his father. After Tang Yuan listened, he helped him sum it up.

Zhao Zheng"s dad was named Zhao Feng. A month ago, when Zhao Feng came home one night, Zhao Zheng"s mother, Ye Lan, saw a lipstick mark on his body. The two of them had a big fight over it. From that day on, Zhao Feng had lipstick marks on his body every day when he came home, which Ye Lan saw as Zhao Feng obviously provoking her so the Zhao family had a quarrel every day.

Ye Lan had been clamoring for a divorce, but Zhao Feng wouldn"t go for it. He had also said that he didn"t have a mistress, that he had been wronged, but that he couldn"t explain what the lipstick was all about.

Then Zhao Feng became more and more strange. The time he arrived home got later and later and every time he came home, he would be especially testy. He would run out like a madman, as if something outside was attracting him.

This was very obviously an incident of cheating, so Zhao Zheng and Ye Lan were convinced that he was having an affair. No matter how Zhao Feng explained it, they hadn"t listened, so that they ignored what Zhao Feng said about himself being possessed by evil.

But then when Zhao Feng was staying in the hospital, Zhao Zheng found a lipstick mark on himself and then he realized that he might have really wronged his father before.

But even if they knew, they had no way to solve the issue. Previously, his dad had already looked for a dashi1 to come take a look, but who knew if the man was a fake dashi or if he just wasn"t capable enough, but, in the end, it didn"t work. Instead, he sent his dad straight to the hospital.

“I"ll figure something out,” Tang Yuan, holding the teacup, said seriously.

“What can you do? You"re not involved yet, what if you also……” Zhao Zheng didn"t finish his sentence, but Tang Yuan knew that he was afraid of Tang Yuan getting implicated in the mess, and his heart was moved. At the same time, he became determined to help Zhao Zheng.

“I know a tianshi. He should be able to deal with the ghost haunting you. It"s just that his appearance comes with a relatively high cost. I don"t know if you all can afford it."

After getting to know Xie Yu, Tang Yuan has also learned about Xie Yu"s community. Xie Yu was part of the famous Xie family in the tianshi community, so his ability to catch ghosts naturally didn"t need to be discussed. Tang Yuan had listened to Tao, who had said that Xie Yu was in a high position in the tianshi community. After all, he was one of the few ninth-rank tianshi in the tianshi community.

The tianshi in the tianshi community were divided into nine levels; the most powerful and advanced was the ninth-rank tianshi.

(t/n: the terminology for these ranks mimics the ranking system from historical court systems in China)

These levels were divided according to strength, so the higher the rank of the tianshi, the higher the minimum payment for their work.

The minimum payment for a ninth-rank tianshi was 10 million yuan. He didn"t know if Zhao Zheng"s family could afford 10 million.

When Tang Yuan brought up the issue of compensation, Zhao Zheng quickly asked, “Can you say the approximate cost?”

Tang Yuan braced himself and said, “About 10 million yuan.”

Zhao Zheng was struck dumb. He had been thinking maybe 200 or 300 thousand yuan max. Who could have known it was 10 million? Luckily, the Zhao family actually had a good deal of money, or else he would have been scared stiff.

Shivering, Zhao Zheng said, “Rice Ball, uh, is this dashi very powerful? He can definitely solve our problem?”

Tang Yuan was a little hesitant, “It should……should be okay, he"s pretty powerful. I"ve heard that he can"t be surpa.s.sed.”

Zhao Zheng felt a little rea.s.sured. He thought about how they would suffer if they spent all that money and then it didn"t work in the end. If 10 million could really solve the problem, then it was worthwhile. He decisively said to Tang Yuan, “Then, Rice Ball, please help me call upon the dashi, we"ll get the money together as soon as possible.”

Tang Yuan heard and understood his underlying message, that they would probably be able to come up with 10 million. So he said goodbye to Zhao Zheng and went back to ask Xie Yu to help.

After he went back and told Xie Yu about it, Xie Yu seemed very happy and he said with a smile, “Thank you for trusting me.” He wanted to pat Tang Yuan"s head, but as he reached halfway over with his hand, he felt that he was being very rude, so he took his hand back and pretended to act natural as he said, “The ghost haunting your friend"s household is just a new ghost without any practical experience2. To handle it is just a matter of raising my hand, but……”

“But what?” Tang Yuan asked quickly.

“But I can"t act.” Xie Yu"s smile weakened a bit. He seemed to be a bit tangled up. “This kind of ghost issue can be solved by a first-rank tianshi. But if you ask me, it"ll cost a great deal more money.” Of course he could help for free. But this time, he didn"t want to act, because he had a plan.

Tang Yuan wore a stunned expression. After thinking about it, he immediately said, “I don"t know any first-rank tianshi. Can you introduce one to me? Or tell me where I can find one? Please.”

“How about you give it a try?” Xie Yu said softly. It seemed as if he was just casually proposing this, but Tang Yuan understood his intentions in an instant. He wanted to give him a chance to exercise his abilities and practice.

“Me? I can?” Tang Yuan seriously suspected that he had misheard him.

Xie Yu nodded, “You can do it.”

Tang Yuan felt like he was being pranked. “I"ve only learned a few spells, can I catch a ghost?”

Xie Yu nodded again. “Of course, your level is already better than the average first-rank tianshi. A little ghost like that, you"ll be able to handle it.”

“You really view me highly, eh?” Ove this past month, Xie Yu had taught him spells every day and often boasted that he was a genius, that even when those esoteric spells were too difficult to learn, he could do as soon as he learned them. But even then, he had only been practicing for one month.

Xie Yu smiled gently, then shook his head and said, “I don"t view you too highly, you"re the one who views yourself too lowly. You"re a genius. There"s nothing before you that you can"t handle.” He paused and then asked, “How many spells did you learn this month?”

“About one hundred.” Xie Yu had taught him three a day in each lesson, so he had learned about a hundred this past month. “But so what if I learned them, if I only have a little power?”

Xie Yu said patiently, “That"s because you haven"t initiated your spirit yet. After I initiate your spirit tomorrow, you"ll know how powerful you are.”

Tang Yuan listened to his words, but didn"t pay them much mind. After all, Xie Yu had a kind of blind admiration for him, as if he could do nothing wrong, only good.

“We children of tianshi families often start learning spells at the age of five or six, but most have to reach seven or eight years old before becoming a first-rank tianshi. We take three or four days to learn one spell, but you learned three a day. If you look at this comparison, you understand how powerful you are, right?”

Tang Yuan was afraid to open his mouth. If that was the case, then he really was a genius.

Xie Yu looked at him and thought he was obedient and cute and then said softly, “I"ll help you initiate your spiritual consciousness tomorrow, so you need to prepare.”

Tang Yuan"s head was spinning a bit, but he nodded and said, “Okay.”

And then Xie Yu gave him some tips so that he could get ready.

The two still weren"t married yet, so they slept separately at night. Early the next morning, Xie Yu called Tang Yuan from outside his door to get up.

Tang Yuan usually slept in as long as he wanted. However, to initiate the spiritual consciousness, it had to be done the moment the sun rose. This way, the spiritual consciousness could be initiated as a spirit of the sun, as that kind of spiritual aura could deter evil spirits.

Tang Yuan also knew this, so he had woken up early today. When Xie Yu knocked on the door, he had just started blow-drying his hair.

He put down the hair dryer and ran a few steps over to open the door. When he saw Xie Yu, he quickly said, “I"ll be right there.”

When Xie Yu saw that his hair was still wet, he said, “Don"t worry, you dry your hair first.”

Tang Yuan grinned and laughed, “Then, you can come in and sit down.”

After Xie Yu came in, Tang Yuan continued to blow-dry his hair. His hair was short, so he blew it mostly dry in just a few moments. Xie Yu watched him quietly and, seeing that he was going to put the hair dryer away, immediately took it, “That back hasn"t been blow-dried yet.”

Tang Yuan wanted to say that there was no need to dry it, but Xie Yu had already turned on the hair dryer and was blow-drying it for him. Xie Yu"s movements were very gentle, but Tang Yuan"s body went stiff and he didn"t seem very comfortable.

Waiting until Xie Yu was putting the hair dryer away, Tang Yuan lowered his head and asked, “Why are you so good to me?”

The two had only known each other for a little over a month, but Xie Yu had not only taught him the Xie family spells, but had also taken good care of him, so Tang Yuan always felt like it was a dream.

Xie Yu froze for a moment, then his gaze softened and he whispered, “You are my only family member in this world.”

The Xie family was dead; after all these years alone, he had become used to it. But now, since he had decided to marry Tang Yuan, he would treat Tang Yuan as his family and so Tang Yuan was worthy of his kindness.

"How could I be your only relative?" Tang Yuan patted his belly and said, “Is this not your other family member?”

Xie Yu froze again and then his smile became a bit more sincere, “You"re right.”

Tang Yuan laughed “heehee”. He looked so very good, his peach blossom eyes were especially beautiful, so when he laughed, anyone watching would be entranced.

Xie Yu glanced at him and immediately shifted his gaze away, saying, “Let"s go and I"ll initiate your spiritual consciousness for you”

“Okay.”

Tang Yuan followed behind Xie Yu and went to the spirit initiation room. He followed Xie Yu"s instructions and silently recited the secret pa.s.sage in his heart. After a while, his lower abdomen began to heat up. He could clearly feel that the unseen meridians in his body were activating.

The feeling was very subtle, Tang Yuan couldn"t help but chase that feeling, but the feeling was slowly fading away. When the feeling was about to disappear, Xie Yu suddenly felt something between his eyebrows, a stream of heat entering his body there, and then his body became like a black hole, absorbing the spiritual aura around him.

At the moment the sun rose, he felt as if he were back in his mother"s womb, not only warm and comfortable, but also at peace.

Slowly, his mind slipped from his body, looking at his surroundings from a top-down perspective, and then his mind went back into the body.

Just as his consciousness returned to his body, a tianshi with excellent spiritual powers seemed to sense something, and he looked in the direction of Tang Yuan, then smiled and turned his gaze away.

“In spite of everything, Xie Yu acquired a baby!” the man said. He was almost the same age as Xie Yu and it seemed as if he knew both him and also about Tang Yuan.

The author has something to say,
The appearance at the end is our Imperial Translator Fan YeLin, who mainly translates for the steamed bun.
For example:
Steamed Bun: “#&$%¥……”
Author: “What"s the bun saying?”
Imperial Translator, Fan YeLin: “He"s asking when he"ll have a scene.”
Author: “……”

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Footnotes:
1. dashi (大师): great master, courtesy t.i.tle for a Buddhist monk ↩
2. without practical experience (不成气候): a term from cultivation novels, meaning someone that has cultivated power but doesn"t know the proper situation to use it/how to use it ↩

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his family is growing T_T so precious!!!!