Thump!!!

The desk trembled at the force of Magong Tong's bow, visibly demonstrating the strength she put into it.

It hurt.

With tears welling up, Magong Tong clutched her reddened forehead, her mouth twitching uncontrollably.

"..." Beichuan Si.

Magong Tong really hadn't changed much since before.

"It's alright, I've also visited Yutian Temple once, and Magong doesn't need to apologize," said Beichuan Si, pulling a pack of wet wipes from his pocket. "Try a cold compress. I must be going now."

"Okay, thank you, Beichuan," replied Magong Tong, gently rubbing her little head and expressing her gratitude.

Beichuan Si waved his hand, indicating it was nothing to worry about, and then stood up and left.

Once the other party had gone, Magong Tong placed the wet wipe on her forehead and murmured to herself, not understanding:

"I practiced so many times, why am I still so nervous?... Ouch!"

Magong Tong stuck out her tongue in pain.

Meanwhile.

It didn't take long to get from the mall to the Magong Family's place—Beichuan Si arrived at the front of Yutian Temple after roughly seven minutes' walk.

Yutian Temple looked just as it did two months earlier when he had last visited.

Pine trees, a low surrounding wall, a quaint courtyard, winding stone paths...

Beichuan Si didn't rush in; instead, he stood at the entrance and took out his phone to call Master Yutian.

After briefly explaining his purpose over the phone, he soon saw Master Yutian hurrying out of the time-honored temple building.

"Mr. Beichuan... it's been a long time," greeted Master Yutian with a smile and an affectionate Buddhist chant upon seeing Beichuan Si.

"It's been a long time, Master Yutian," Beichuan Si responded, then followed Master Yutian into the temple.

Inside Yutian Temple, there were only two or three young monks and no one else in sight.

These children were monks, but Master Yutian had not asked them to shave their heads. Instead, they maintained the appearance of ordinary children, except for the fitting monk's robes they wore, looking the part.

These children were all adopted by Master Yutian from various orphanages.

Beichuan Si hadn't seen these children during his last visit because they had been hiding in their rooms, doing their homework.

But on weekends like this one, Master Yutian would have them help with greeting visitors to the temple.

Beichuan Si took another look at these children and followed Master Yutian to a quiet room.

Master Yutian lit the sandalwood placed in the corner, then served tea that had been steeped, his demeanor gentle: "Mr. Beichuan, please enjoy."

After Beichuan Si seated himself on the cushion and had a sip of the tea, Master Yutian spoke with mild surprise: "I was actually planning on visiting you in these couple of days, Mr. Beichuan. I didn't expect you to take the initiative to visit today, which is quite an honor."

He continued, "Perhaps Mr. Beichuan doesn't know, you have become quite a famous figure in the Tokyo circles."

"Oh?" Beichuan Si's expression changed.

Beichuan Si was not quite aware of that.

He remembered that as Beichuan Master, his main activities had been confined to Ibaraki Prefecture, so why was Master Yutian suddenly bringing up the Tokyo circles?

Seeing that Beichuan Si seemed to not quite understand, Master Yutian eagerly explained: "Actually, this is in part thanks to Mr. Shan Yuan... You know Mr. Shan Yuan, right, Mr. Beichuan?"

"I do," nodded Beichuan Si.

Shan Yuanmu had been doing free publicity for him behind the scenes? Beichuan Si was uninformed of this.

Even if Shan Yuanmu had been promoting him for free, Beichuan Si wasn't especially concerned.

"They say Mr. Beichuan exorcised the vengeful spirits at Ibaraki Second Mental Hospital and also uncovered the affairs of the Suzuki Pharmaceutical Group... and the Hayakawa Family..."

It was unclear from where Master Yutian had heard so many rumors about him—aside from some of Beichuan Si's secretive actions, everything Beichuan Master had resolved was well known to Master Yutian.

Beichuan Si held up his hand, stopping Master Yutian from continuing to speak, and steered the conversation back on track:

"My business can be left aside for now," said Beichuan Si as he spoke to Master Yutian, "I heard from Magong that you were looking for me recently. What exactly is the matter?"

Upon hearing Beichuan Si's inquiry, Master Yutian paused in his narration, coughed twice, and then responded, "I do have a favor to ask of Mr. Beichuan... and I can also assure Mr. Beichuan that, if we are successful this time, we will receive a very handsome reward."

A very handsome reward?

Beichuan Si's gaze flickered. He took a sip of his tea and then asked with a composed demeanor, "So, what is the matter, exactly?"

Seeing the mature and composed expression on Beichuan Si's face, Master Yutian couldn't help but inwardly sigh.

After months of no contact, Beichuan Si was still the same as before, unmoved by the lure of money, possessing a calmness not typical for someone of his age.

Master Yutian carefully chose his words, "You might have guessed the nature of the matter, right?"

"Is it regarding an exorcism assignment?"

"Correct."

Master Yutian leaned in slightly, his expression becoming more grave, "However, this exorcism is not as easy as usual, so even though the reward is substantial, one's safety must come first."

It seemed this exorcism carried significant risk, to the point that even Master Yutian could not guarantee his own safety.

When Beichuan Si thought about it, it made sense.

If the exorcism were not risky and the reward was generous, Master Yutian certainly wouldn't have asked Beichuan Si to share in the opportunity.

After all, there were children Yutian Temple took care of.

These children were sent to decent schools, and the money Master Yutian earned from exorcisms and the offerings of the devotees were mostly allocated for these children's tuition, clothing, and living expenses.

For Master Yutian to have leftover funds was exceedingly difficult.

However, these were digressions.

Master Yutian briefly explained the content of the exorcism assignment to Beichuan Si.

"The Four Directions Family... restarting the shrine?" Beichuan Si raised an eyebrow after listening.

"Yes," Master Yutian took a sip of tea to moisten his throat, "To restart the Four Directions Shrine for the Four Directions Family, each of us can receive a payment of ten million yen."

Ten million yen.

That certainly wasn't a small amount.

If this task was completed, the tuition for the three children at Beichuan Si could be secured for the following year.

No wonder Master Yutian was so eager to collaborate with Beichuan Si.

But then—

"There's something I don't understand," Beichuan Si held up one finger, curiously asking, "You mentioned earlier, right? Besides us, there are two other exorcists or shrine maidens?"

Indeed, Master Yutian had mentioned that there would be two others alongside them.

So, counting that, the Four Directions Family would have to pay out 40 million yen.

Was it really necessary to spend such a large sum just to restart the family's shrine?

And who exactly were these two associates?

To be honest, aside from Master Yutian, this might be the first time Beichuan Si would be in contact with others who possessed special abilities.

What was their situation, and how strong could their abilities be?

Could they be more powerful than Beichuan Si's?

And the situation regarding the Four Directions Family shrine also piqued interest.

Since they had to hire four exorcists, their family shrine's condition must not be looking optimistic, right?

Master Yutian had not disclosed these details that should have been shared, which left Beichuan Si somewhat in the dark.

The Four Directions Family...

What exactly were they seeking?

Spending so much just to restart a shrine...?

That seemed highly unlikely no matter how one looked at it.

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