Chapter 8

The Jade Purity Temple on Mount Dalong is considered a very peculiar place by the locals in Yangxi Town.

The temple, a square courtyard, is built halfway up the main peak of Mount Dalong, facing south, with an area of only about 200 square meters, hidden among the bamboo groves, making it almost impossible to notice unless you get close.

Inside the temple, there is only one old Taoist priest in his fifties and a young Taoist disciple, around ten years old, who is either an illegitimate child or a disciple.

The old Taoist rarely goes down the mountain, and the young disciple usually goes down to buy supplies when the temple is short of something.

The old and young Taoists rarely interact with the locals, and the temple does not accept offerings. The main gate is usually closed all year round, rarely open.

However, many people in town also know that this temple is not to be trifled with.

A few years ago, when Mount Dalong was being developed for tourism, some officials from the county government wanted to relocate this obstructive temple.

But every time the demolition team came, they were called back by a phone call from their superiors. Later, the tourism development project on Mount Dalong was canceled, and everyone said it was due to funding issues, but some people whispered that it was because the Taoists on the mountain did not allow it, so it didn't happen...

Later, people began to pay attention to this temple and discovered that every so often, some very wealthy people would drive luxury cars worth one to three million yuan to visit the old Taoist on the mountain.

Thus, the locals began to spread rumors that the old Taoist was a highly skilled person, and many people believed it.

As a result, the Jade Purity Temple gained a special status in Yangxi Town, especially after the town mayor and party secretary were both turned away when they visited the temple a few years ago, making the rumors even more mysterious...

So, when a few passing villagers saw Yang Chen and Zhu Shishou getting out of a taxi and walking up the mountain, they pointed and whispered to each other, occasionally bursting into strange laughter.

Zhu Shishou, an ordinary person, couldn't hear what they were saying, and since the villagers were speaking in the local dialect, he was even more confused.

He looked at Yang Chen and asked curiously, "What are those people saying?"

"They say... that you have the nerve to come up the mountain in a taxi..." Yang Chen touched his nose, speechless.

"Damn, what's wrong with coming in a taxi?" Zhu Shishou, who couldn't stand being looked down upon, grumbled, "Next time, I'll come in a Lamborghini and blind their titanium alloy dog eyes!"

At this moment, Yang Chen kindly reminded him, "The Lamborghini has a very low ground clearance and can't drive up here."

"..." Zhu Shishou was taken aback for a moment and then laughed bitterly. The road leading to Mount Dalong from the town was indeed very bad.

After walking along the winding stone path for about six or seven minutes, they could vaguely see the Jade Purity Temple hidden among the bamboo groves.

But Zhu Shishou was already exhausted, with sweat streaming down his face like a waterfall. It was really hard for him...

The main gate of the Jade Purity Temple was red, and the wall was over two meters high, making it impossible to see inside from the outside.

Breathless, Zhu Shishou opened his suitcase, took out a letter, and asked Yang Chen to wait a few meters away while he walked over with a solemn expression...

"Knock knock knock..." His plump hands knocked on the temple gate, and Zhu Shishou called out, "Is the Jade Purity Immortal in the temple? I have been sent by my father to pay respects to the Immortal..."

Hearing Zhu Shishou's formal words, Yang Chen couldn't help but cover his face... Why did it sound so off when he said it!

After Zhu Shishou finished speaking, a young Taoist with clear features opened a small gap in the door and poked his head out.

He first looked at Zhu Shishou, then glanced at Yang Chen standing not far away, and asked, "Do you have a letter of recommendation?"

"Yes, yes, yes..." Zhu Shishou quickly handed over the envelope, smiling foolishly, "It's a letter of recommendation written by Mr. Zhao Guokang from Beijing..."

"Oh." The young Taoist responded indifferently, took the letter, and pulled his head back inside, "Wait here."

"Bang." The door was slammed shut again.

Zhu Shishou touched his head, not daring to say much, and stood there obediently.

Yang Chen found it quite amusing. This Jade Purity Immortal had no real skills but put on a grand show!

After waiting for about two minutes, the red main gate remained closed, but a small side door opened. The young Taoist said, "My master invites you in. Please come in."

"Thank you, thank you..." Zhu Shishou took out a red envelope he had prepared in advance and handed it over.

But the young Taoist didn't even look at it, just hummed lightly and turned away.

Zhu Shishou smiled awkwardly, feeling like a bumpkin compared to his usual smoothness in Beijing.

Yang Chen pushed him from behind, "What are you waiting for? Go in."

The Jade Purity Temple had three buildings: the main hall in the center and two side halls on either side.

The Jade Purity Immortal, in his fifties, with a slim build, was already standing in the main hall, wearing a dark blue eight-trigram Taoist robe.

The Jade Purity Immortal was not tall, about 1.7 meters, with a slightly grayish-white topknot, thick eyebrows, large eyes, and a goatee, giving off a clean and spotless first impression.

The main hall housed the statues of the Three Pure Ones. Two cold drafts blew in from the small doors on either side, making the main hall, with its open main gate, refreshingly cool, in stark contrast to the heat outside.

After the young Taoist entered, he bowed to the Jade Purity Immortal, said, "Master, the guests have arrived," and stepped aside.

At this moment, the Jade Purity Immortal smiled, looking at Zhu Shishou as if he were a long-lost nephew, with a gentle and kind expression...

"Are you a descendant of the Zhu family? The poor Taoist has some connection with your family, which is why Mr. Zhao recommended you to me. How is Mr. Zhao's health these days?" The Jade Purity Immortal's voice was calm but had a special charm that made people listen attentively.

Zhu Shishou bowed politely and quickly replied, "My grandfather is in good health. Thank you for your concern..."

Yang Chen then realized that this Mr. Zhao Guokang was Zhu Shishou's grandfather...

The Jade Purity Immortal didn't pay much attention to Yang Chen, only giving him a brief glance when speaking to Zhu Shishou, treating him as just a follower.

After some polite exchanges, the Jade Purity Immortal got straight to the point, "What trouble has the Zhu family encountered? Since Mr. Zhao has spoken, the poor Taoist cannot refuse. Please tell me the situation briefly."

"Sure." Zhu Shishou nodded quickly, bent down, and opened his suitcase, taking out a tablet computer.

He soon brought up a surveillance video, and Yang Chen moved closer to get a better view.

The video was a bit blurry but still clear enough to see that it was a factory workshop.

The time displayed in the lower right corner of the video was July 23, 2009, at 11:47 PM, four days ago.

The video started playing, and there were still a few workers in the workshop.

Zhu Shishou explained, "This factory is located in Zhenglong County, Luodian City, Nanhu Province, built in September 2003, specifically for producing phosphate fertilizer. It started production in early 2004 and ran smoothly until a month ago, when workers living in the dormitory heard some strange noises at midnight."

"The next day, a worker was found dead in the restroom. Then, on June 27, June 29, July 3, July 9, and July 17, workers died mysteriously one after another."

"Until the night of July 23, the surveillance camera in Workshop No. 3 captured this footage..."

As he spoke, the workers in the video, who were working at the machines, seemed to hear something and moved closer to a machine of unknown purpose.

One of them took out a phone and turned on the flashlight, looking down at the dark area under the machine.

But at that moment, the video turned to static for a second or two. When the picture returned, the workers were already on the ground, convulsing uncontrollably.

Soon, they all stopped moving.

But the strange events didn't end there. The large machine suddenly fell over, crushing the workers, and the scene became horrific, with blood splattering everywhere!

Zhu Shishou had already seen this video more than once, but his face still turned pale as he watched it again.

He swallowed hard and said with a trembling voice, "The factory has been forced to shut down. My father sent people to investigate in Zhenglong County, and they found out that the land where our factory is built was a cemetery in the 1920s and 1930s..."

Understanding the situation, the Jade Purity Immortal nodded and calculated for a while, then sighed, "The poor Taoist knows. This land is not clean, and there are likely ghosts causing trouble..."

"Yes, yes, yes. After my grandfather saw this video, he said the same thing..." Zhu Shishou nodded rapidly, "So, I came to you for help..."

"From the video, it seems that a very powerful evil ghost is causing trouble in your factory. Ordinary ghosts wouldn't cause such a commotion. The poor Taoist has not dealt with secular matters for many years and may not have the strength to handle this..."

"Please, Immortal..." Zhu Shishou was anxious and quickly said, "We can't find anyone else to solve this problem besides you... My father said that if you succeed, there will be a generous reward!"

"This is not about money..."

Zhu Shishou gritted his teeth and said firmly, "Ten million yuan, I beg you to help us!"

The atmosphere in the temple became heavy... The Jade Purity Immortal's expression stiffened, clearly showing that ten million yuan was not a small amount to him...

Although those in his profession have wide connections and are well-respected, they still need to solve practical problems. What good is a large network if it can't put food on the table? In this era, ghostly disturbances are rare, and people only want to connect with him as a precaution, not because they need his help every day.

Otherwise, if there were so many ghosts causing trouble, the world would be in chaos!

High-minded or not, practical issues still need to be addressed. What about the mistresses in the city? The tuition fees for the children studying abroad? The mortgage payments on the properties?

Ten million yuan was almost two-thirds of the Jade Purity Immortal's total income last year!

The hall was silent for nearly a minute before the Jade Purity Immortal sighed, "Fine, for Mr. Zhao Guokang's sake, the poor Taoist will make an exception and help the Zhu family this time!"

"Thank you, Immortal, for your help!" Zhu Shishou quickly bowed in gratitude and then asked, "We should act quickly. Are you ready to go and investigate the site?"

There was no time to waste. A factory of this scale would lose a staggering amount of money even if it were shut down for just a few hours, let alone several days.

The Zhu family was willing to pay ten million yuan to have the Jade Purity Immortal deal with the ghosts to quickly resolve the issue and resume production.

But after hearing Zhu Shishou's words, the Jade Purity Immortal frowned and said lightly, "There's no need for the poor Taoist to go to the site. Take some talismans back and follow the instructions I give you, and it will be fine."

"Ha..." Yang Chen, who had been watching and listening without speaking, couldn't help but laugh out loud...

"This Taoist must be very skilled to deal with a large group of vengeful spirits. I wonder what kind of talismans can suppress them so easily? I'm very curious... Perhaps you could give me some guidance?"

Yang Chen's eyes sparkled with a faint light, and a mocking smile appeared on his lips.

There were only two possibilities for the Jade Purity Immortal's behavior!

Either his skills were not up to the task, and he was just trying to get the money and avoid the trouble.

Or he saw the Zhu family's urgency to resume production and was trying to squeeze more money out of them!

If it were anyone else, it might be fine, but Zhu Shishou was his classmate and one of the few close friends he had!

Yang Chen couldn't stand by and watch his friend be taken advantage of!