The atmosphere inside the small shop felt heavy. The three of them stared silently at the thin talisman paper lying on the desk.
"Liu, don't be too down. I'll take responsibility for you."
Looking at Liu the blind's iron-blue face, I really couldn't imagine that a human face could sometimes rival a bronze statue in color.
"Without this talisman, I probably wouldn't have survived last night. If you want any compensation, just say it. I won't refuse anything within my means."
"Compensation?" Liu the blind snorted coldly. "Cause and effect are tangled. I want you to pay with your life and settle everything once and for all. Are you willing?"
"This is a society ruled by law. If something happens to me, you'll be implicated too, right?" I wiped the cold sweat off my forehead. Usually, Liu the blind was a harmless herbivore no one messed with, but now that trouble had come, he kept talking about me paying with my life. "This is a civil dispute — how about I just compensate you with some money?"
"Money? How can you say that?" Liu the blind pulled out a peachwood box from his pocket, holding the talisman carefully with both hands, as if it were an ancestral tablet.
"This talisman was left by my great-grandfather to suppress the family's fate. It guarantees the Liu family's prosperity for a hundred years, spreading branches and leaves, endlessly."
"But as far as I know, you're already over forty and still single. Isn't this talisman expired?"
Smack! The bamboo pole hit the floor, making both me and Xia Qingzhi jump. I didn't dare say anything else.
"My Liu family is a Feng Shui lineage. The wisdom of our ancestors is beyond what you worldly people can understand."
I nodded repeatedly, humbling myself. After all, I was at fault.
"Besides, you're pretty lucky. This talisman survived wars, escaped foreign invaders, dodged the Japanese soldiers — and in the end, it ended up in your hands."
"I'm just a fool without fear, like a blind cat running into a dead rat."
The talisman returned to the peachwood box. Maybe it was my imagination, but the thunder talisman seemed to gain a bit of vitality.
"You touched our Liu family's talisman and unknowingly got tangled in our family's cause and effect. If the Liu family faces trouble in the future, you must help, or else karmic retribution will bring you disaster."
Seeing the thunder talisman wasn't seriously damaged but only lost some energy, Liu the blind's iron-blue face finally looked a little better.
"Alright, alright. Just say the word, and I'll serve you loyally, bro."
"Words are cheap. Who knows how sincere you really are?" Liu the blind put away the peachwood box and sighed. "You've stirred up Liu family's karma. If something happens to you, the Liu family will suffer too. Your forehead is blackened — your fate is near its end. You've caused us a big problem."
If someone had told me on the street before that my forehead was black and my time was up, I'd have taken off my shoe and chased them down. But after what I've been through — being forcibly contracted by The Netherworld Live Show, staying a night in a hotel where at least four people have died, even apparently seeing possession — I couldn't deny Liu the blind's words.
Maybe my fate really was running out.
"Liu, do you know any way to break this? From what you say, we're all grasshoppers on the same boat now."
"Who knows what kind of dark spirits or evil energy you've stirred up. Besides, I'm only a fortune-teller. I can read faces and interpret characters, but when it comes to magic or exorcism, I'm clueless."
Liu the blind removed his black blindfold and took out some eye drops, applying a few drops.
"You're not blind?"
Xia Qingzhi, sitting quietly in the corner, finally spoke after listening to us.
"I never said I can't see. The blindfold is to train the sixth sense — to connect with heaven and man."
After the drops, Liu the blind put the blindfold back on.
"Little girl, you should focus on your studies instead of bothering this Gao guy. I see you're surrounded by yin energy. You two being so close is bad for both of you."
"I'm here to—"
"Cough, cough!" I interrupted Xia Qingzhi. The contract with The Netherworld Live Show forbids leaking anything.
"To be honest, I don't know what's been clinging to me lately. And because of some special reasons, I've had to visit places with few people and heavy yin energy every few days."
"What are you doing in those places?" Liu the blind frowned.
I put the black package on the desk, took out the gold bar, and said, "Man dies for wealth, birds die for food."
The deeper reasons were too complicated to explain. I just hoped Liu the blind would understand my situation.
"Wait. Where did you get this book?" Liu the blind ignored me, fully focused on Essence of the Celestial Eye.
"You didn't steal it from Miaozhen Temple's sect, did you? That book is a secret not passed down easily. Even inner disciples need five years of cultivation and merit before they can read it."
"Do I look like a petty thief? The book's none of your business — it's neither stolen nor robbed."
"If it came from a shady source, be careful — trouble will come. Taoists nowadays aren't like before."
"Is Miaozhen Dao that hard to deal with?" His words made me uneasy. Who knows where The Netherworld Live Show got this book?
"Ha, you really are a brave rookie. Taoism has developed over thousands of years, with many sects. By doctrine, there are five main branches: the Benevolent, the Classicist, the Talismans, the Alchemists, and the Diviners."
"By region, there are Longmen, Laoshan, Suishan, Huashan, Yushan, Heshan, Huoshan, Wudang, and others."
"By lineage, even more: Shaoyang Wang Xuanfu, Zhengyang Zhongli Han, Chunyang Lü Dongbin, Ziyang Zhang Boduan, Chongyang Wang Zhongfu, and so on."
"The Miaozhen Dao I mentioned belongs to the Suishan sect, one of the more influential groups today."
"No way, there are still so many Taoists nowadays?"
"The world is vast, and extraordinary people abound. The immortals and Taoist masters just hide in plain sight, indifferent to worldly affairs."
"Good to know. Even if I open my celestial eye and gain clairvoyance, they wouldn't notice from their mountain valleys." I flipped through the Essence of the Celestial Eye casually. "Besides, this book looks good but it's all blank inside. Liu, do Taoists like to play tricks? Maybe it needs to be soaked in realgar wine to reveal the text?"
"If you truly want to cultivate, I'll give you four words: sincerity brings results."
Liu the blind closed the book.
"This book shouldn't be shown lightly. Don't force things — everything depends on fate. When the melon's ripe, the stem falls naturally."
We talked until afternoon and finally smoothed things over.
I offered one gold bar to hire him as my supernatural consultant, but he refused. He was an interesting guy — would rather endure the sun and wind and be chased by city patrols every day than livestream with me.
After Liu the blind left, I looked at Xia Qingzhi, who had started doing her homework in my shop. The girl was becoming more comfortable here, acting like she belonged.
"Hey, if you finish your homework, go home quickly. It's getting late."
I desperately needed sleep — I was so tired I could close my eyes standing up.
"I'm here with some clues. I found marks my brother left at home. Can we check them out together?"
The shy high school freshman only spoke after Liu the blind left. I didn't want to refuse, but going to her place abruptly could raise suspicion. Usually, detective work is done quietly.
"Maybe another day. I'm really too tired now."
The hope on Xia Qingzhi's face faded but she didn't give up:
"I took pictures of the marks on my phone. You can look at them first, and after you rest tomorrow, we can go to my place?"
"Qingzhi, your brother's situation is complicated and dangerous. I can't tell you much. This isn't something a high school girl should get involved in."
I deeply understood how dangerous The Netherworld Live Show was.
"Go home now. I'll get to the bottom of your brother's case."
"But—"
She held her phone but didn't push. Quietly, she picked up her backpack and left.
"Sorry to bother you."
Watching her lonely figure, I thought of my own past. Misunderstanding and loneliness are something everyone experiences. No one could help her right now.
After she left, I turned on my computer. As usual, I needed to organize everything that happened last night into a written report.
Just as the computer booted up, and I was about to make tea, I noticed Xia Qingzhi's homework and textbooks still on the desk.
"This girl, how forgetful…"
She had just left. I should still have time to catch up with her.