After nervously hanging up the phone, Zhang Chongchen looked at Ye Guichen with a bewildered expression: "Mr. Ye, are you very familiar with the master?"

Judging by Zhang Chonglou's tone, Ye Guichen's relationship with Zhang Chonglou is definitely not simple.

Ye Guichen smiled: "I met him seven or eight years ago, it's been a long time since I've seen him, haha, but that old man is quite amusing. He always wants me to learn Taoist magic and even said he'd teach me all his lifetime's worth of skills, but I didn't agree."

"Hiss..." Zhang Chongchen was moved, taking a deep breath.

If Ye Guichen had recklessly spoken such words, Zhang Chongchen would definitely think Ye Guichen was just boasting.

But now Zhang Chongchen was certain that Ye Guichen was not lying.

Nowadays, Zhang Chonglou is over a hundred years old but has only taken seven disciples in his lifetime. Zhang Chongchen, having grown up in Heavenly Master Tao, though not exceptionally talented, was fortunate enough to become Zhang Chonglou's seventh disciple, being called Xiao Qi by him.

However, Zhang Chonglou's seven disciples were only reluctantly accepted after a long period of testing.

Zhang Chongchen had never heard of Zhang Chonglou taking anyone in eagerly.

"Mr. Ye, whatever you want to ask, feel free to speak. I definitely won't hold back anything." Taking a deep breath, Zhang Chongchen noticeably became more talkative.

Although he was speculating why Ye Guichen's relationship with Zhang Chonglou was so extraordinary, an absurd thought even flashed across Zhang Chongchen's mind, wondering if Ye Guichen might be Zhang Chonglou's illegitimate son.

But this thought only flashed for a moment, and Zhang Chongjing slapped himself mentally.

This is simply blasphemy against the master.

The master is highly respected. How could he do such disgraceful things?

Moreover, the master is already over a hundred years old. If anyone could truly ascend to immortality, it would be the master.

Such a person is naturally pure as snow and radiantly dignified.

Ye Guichen naturally didn't know that Zhang Chongchen had so many thoughts in his mind—he merely wanted Zhang Chongchen to make that call to ensure cooperation in exterminating that water monkey as soon as possible.

In any case, having that water monkey around was always a danger.

"Taoist Zhang, you're too kind. I'm just not very knowledgeable about the water monkey, could you please tell me more about it, and explain how to deal with this kind of creature?" Ye Guichen politely asked.

Zhang Chongchen hurriedly nodded: "That's certainly no problem."

The two of them moved to the study room.

Zhang Chongchen indeed had extensive knowledge of evil spirits.

He spoke passionately, explaining everything he knew about water monkeys to Ye Guichen for more than an hour.

Ye Guichen finally gained a general understanding.

Apparently, eighty percent of these water monkeys are formed from transformed corpses.

Yet, they differ from the legendary zombies.

According to Taoist principles, zombies arise when a person dies, the soul dissipates, leaving only an obsession in the body, gradually forming due to certain reasons.

Water monkeys are different; when a person dies, part of the soul doesn't fully disappear, leaving one soul and three spirits in the body, and through a series of factors, this soul and spirits get activated, making them come back to life like an animal.

After all, humans are the most intelligent creatures with the complete three souls and seven spirits, whereas most animals only have two souls and five spirits, even the most intelligent apes only have two souls and six spirits, with incomplete souls and unopened spiritual senses.

Thus, the reason we call them water monkeys is because of this.

Once water monkeys are formed, they can largely be considered as a type of animal.

However, the biggest difference is that water monkeys are fiercer than ordinary animals, feeding on blood, preferring to live in the water, having strength and speed that far exceed ordinary humans, and due to being transformed corpses, their regenerative abilities are phenomenally terrifying.

Without a deadly strike, no matter how severe the injury, they recover quickly.

Because of this, dealing with water monkeys requires the use of Taoist talisman arts.

Using talisman arts to disperse the souls within the water monkey naturally kills it.

However, according to Zhang Chongchen, the water monkey in the artificial lake likely has fed on quite a number of people's blood and may even be purposely bred by someone. Ordinary talismans can't subdue it; only black talismans from Taoist techniques can possibly do so.

In Taoist practice, talismans are graded, the lowest being yellow talismans.

Yellow talismans suffice for expelling ordinary evil spirits.

Above that are orange talismans, blue talismans, black talismans, and red talismans.

Red talismans are the most terrifying and the hardest to craft.

Though black talismans aren't top-tier, they are considered mid-upper grade talismans, just a step away from upper-grade talismans. Not only ordinary Taoists find them difficult to create, but even Zhang Chongchen struggles with it.

"Mr. Ye, not to hide the truth, though I've cultivated Taoist arts for over thirty years, I'm far from mastering talisman arts. In Heavenly Master Tao, only my second senior brother has made significant achievements in talisman arts, creating a red talisman two years ago. My other senior brothers can mostly craft black talismans, but I, to this day, can hardly craft a blue talisman. To deal with that water monkey now, a blue talisman isn't enough."

Ye Guichen, currently researching talisman arts, knew quite a bit about the field. Aware that Zhang Chongchen spoke the truth, he reassured: "Taoist Zhang, you're too modest. But since dealing with water monkeys requires mid-upper grade talismans, could you tell me how to craft a black talisman? I'd like to give it a try."

"You?" Zhang Chongchen felt he must have misheard, looking at Ye Guichen incredulously: "Mr. Ye, are you joking? Didn't you say you've been studying talismans for only a short time? Well, I admit those two Evil-Expelling Talismans you used earlier were indeed powerful, but if evaluated by grade, they are probably only orange talismans. Black talismans of mid-upper grade aren't as simple as you think. If you make a mistake, it might rebound, causing serious injuries."

Ye Guichen persisted: "Taoist Zhang, I understand your concern, but we don't seem to have other options now, do we? Besides, Old Man Zhang has ordered you to eliminate the water monkey within three days. If you fail within that time, you'll likely face punishment afterwards, right?"

Zhang Chongchen's head drooped immediately.

Having practiced Taoist arts for decades, he thought, though he might not be invincible, he would easily eliminate a few demons.

Yet unexpectedly, he encountered such a troublesome entity this time.

"Alright then, you must be careful. If you feel something is amiss, please stop immediately, don't force it!" Zhang Chongchen said while pulling out a piece of talisman paper from his pocket.

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