Exorcising the Ghost Fiend

"All right, no need to say anything else. Eight hundred silver dollars. Go in and get rid of the Ghost Fiend."

Gu Sheng interrupted Wu Xin’s argument. He had finally forced the Thief Monk into a corner, so why bother listening to his explanations?

"No, that’s not how bargaining works!"

Wu Xin looked dumbfounded. Who asked for help like this? First, he had slashed the price by more than half, then kept lowering it bit by bit. Who was actually asking whom for help here?

"If you don’t decide now, it’s seven hundred silver dollars!"

Gu Sheng sneered and pointed at Li Yueya beside him. "If you still refuse, at worst I’ll lock you two in the residence for another night and let you pour your hearts out to the Female Ghost. You spared her once—do you think she’ll show you any mercy?"

"No, wait, what does this have to do with Yueya?"

Wu Xin saw that Yueya’s little face had gone pale with fright and opened his mouth to continue arguing with Gu Sheng.

"It doesn’t. But I’m a soldier, and I don’t reason with people. Is that not allowed?"

Gu Sheng was completely unconcerned. Wu Xin and Li Yueya were neither relatives nor friends of his. In the television series and the original novel, they were even enemies, and they had a blood feud with Zhang Xianzong. Why should he show them any courtesy?

"You…"

Wu Xin was instantly rendered speechless. Once a person had admitted that he was unreasonable, arguing further was pointless.

"Are you going or not?"

Gu Sheng swung the muzzle of his gun toward Yueya, frightening the girl stiff. "I’ll count to three. Go in now, and I won’t short you by a single coin of the eight hundred silver dollars. But if you still don’t know what’s good for you, don’t blame me for being ruthless."

Gu Sheng held up three fingers and parted his lips, preparing to count. "Three!"

"I’ll go!"

The instant Gu Sheng began, Wu Xin hurriedly answered. He glared at Gu Sheng furiously. "Who counts like that? You just shouted three right away." He had made his decision because Gu Sheng’s mouth had not looked as though he was about to say one.

"You’re not an honest monk. If I didn’t pressure you like this, would you have agreed so quickly? If I kept arguing with you, your regimental commander wouldn’t even have time to go back and catch up on his sleep."

Gu Sheng lowered the gun and tucked it into his belt. Then he reminded Gu Xuanwu beside him, "Prepare eight hundred silver dollars for him. You continue here. I’m going back to rest." As he spoke, he walked over, put an arm around Liu Daimei, who had just come out, and the two of them left.

"Right—hey! Wait, you’re just leaving like that?"

Gu Xuanwu had just been about to say "all right" when he realized that Gu Sheng had given him another order. He vented a bellyful of complaints at Gu Sheng’s retreating back, but there was nothing he could do.

Watching this, Wu Xin walked over to Gu Xuanwu and egged him on. "Lord Gu, aren’t you Wen County’s commander? Why are you afraid of a regimental commander?"

"Go, go, go! He’s my brother, a good brother I grew up with. Do you understand? My good brother!"

Gu Xuanwu grumbled at Wu Xin, "Enough. Stop wasting my time and hurry up and clean up the mess you left behind. If my brother hadn’t noticed that something was wrong yesterday, there really would have been a disaster."

"What about the money? I won’t feel at ease until I see the money!"

Wu Xin held out his hand toward Gu Xuanwu and rubbed his thumbs together twice.

"I’ll give it to you later. Do you think I’d welsh on eight hundred silver dollars?"

Gu Xuanwu said unhappily, "Just handle this properly. Forget eight hundred—even eight—no, a thousand silver dollars won’t be a problem."

"All right, it’s settled. A thousand silver dollars!"

Wu Xin slapped Gu Xuanwu on the shoulder and walked into the gloomy Gu Residence with a grin. Gu Xuanwu and the frightened Yueya followed close behind, with several guards bringing up the rear. Not long after they entered, two more phantoms darted across the end of the alley.

In the small courtyard of Gu Residence, Gu Xuanwu, Li Yueya, and a group of guards watched the well, its water churning, in tense anticipation. Wu Xin had been down there for quite some time, and the sounds and cries that rose intermittently proved that an intense battle was taking place below.

"Bang!"

Something burst out of the water. It was a huge mass of tangled hair, writhing and hissing beneath the sunlight. It was as though ice water and burning coals coexisted beneath the hair.

"Bang!"

A drenched figure shot out of the water. Li Yueya hurried over. Wu Xin’s fair body did not bear a single injury. His recovery ability was not quite on Wolverine’s level, but it was still beyond anything human—or perhaps that was because this fellow was not human in the first place.

Gu Xuanwu stepped forward twice and stared at Wu Xin in confusion. "You… you’re all right?" In his impression, a battle that caused such a commotion in the well should have left even the victor with some injuries. Even without wounds, there should at least have been signs of bruising or scrapes.

Yet this monk was absurdly pale and looked completely unharmed. Could this mean that he had not used his true strength yesterday?

Wu Xin looked up at him, then suddenly smiled as though he had realized something. "I…"

His words stopped after that single "I." He smiled again and was just about to lower his head and put on his clothes when he abruptly turned toward the roof on the other side of the residence. Two phantoms flashed past there.

"What is it?"

Gu Xuanwu was baffled by Wu Xin’s sudden reaction and instinctively raised his gun. This was a haunted residence, after all. With Wu Xin reacting so strongly, there might still be some supernatural creature lurking around.

"Nothing. I just felt as though there was someone over there. Not a supernatural creature, but not an ordinary person either. Something similar to…"

Wu Xin stopped before revealing the final word: "demon."

Inside the room Wu Xin had pointed to, two figures darted out. They moved through the residence with surprising familiarity, turning left and right. Before long, they slipped out the back door and reached the street. They were Gu Sheng and Liu Daimei, who had left ahead of the others.

Standing beside Gu Sheng, Liu Daimei looked back at Gu Residence not far behind them with lingering fear. "Is Wu Xin really a Sorcerer? Why doesn’t he seem like one at all? Aren’t Sorcerers supposed to set up altars and draw talismans when performing rituals?

"The way he dealt with the Female Ghost seemed ordinary, yet it was incredibly powerful. She screamed like that from just one touch. But he really doesn’t feel like a Sorcerer to me—he seems even less like one than you do. At least you have that mirror that collects things. When you use it, you look much more impressive than him."

"You’re right. He isn’t a true Sorcerer. He has no magical power."

As Gu Sheng spoke, he noticed the surprise in Liu Daimei’s eyes. Her slightly parted lips seemed to be asking why. After thinking for a while, he continued, "That said, this fake is far more capable than most Sorcerers. His methods for dealing with the Ghost Fiend are also highly effective.

"So there’s nothing wrong with him calling himself a great Sorcerer who subdues demons and exorcises evil. He has one reliable trick, and it works everywhere. Still, I think I know why he’s called Wu Xin now."

"What do you mean? Why?"

Liu Daimei was somewhat confused. She racked her memory, trying to recall everything that had happened, but she could not find any useful clues. She only felt that, aside from things like courage, Wu Xin and Li Yueya seemed no different from ordinary young men and women.