Shi Pengpeng ignored the speechless expressions of the other two and calmly handed the lock piece to Xiao Lingshu and said:
“Help me hang this on the Lovers’ Bridge later. I want to lock it with Zhao Xuantan, and you can swallow the key.”
“Please, senior sister, that’ll give me indigestion,” Xiao Lingshu complained, but she didn’t dare to resist and obediently took it, sighing, “No wonder people online say, ‘Where the money is, there the love is.’ “
Just look at my older sister’s devotion to the God of Wealth, Zhao Xuantan.
Who wouldn’t be moved by that?
Yan Jing silently calculated his own assets in his mind.
If the little sorceress knew about them, would she show him a bit more respect?
“By the way, there’s one more thing,” Xiao Lingshu suddenly remembered something.
She walked into the living room and led out a lion dog not much bigger than a cat-it was the Nian beast they had captured earlier.
“I was supposed to send Little Nian back to school, but the teacher said they’ve been on a business trip recently and are short-staffed. They asked me to take care of it for now and would contact me when they’re free.”
“Are they that busy?” Shi Pengpeng found it strange.
Although the Two Principles Academy wasn’t large, it had a decent number of staff.
How could they be so short-handed that they couldn’t even take in a Nian beast?
What kind of business trip would require so many people?
She asked, “Can you handle it?”
“Is that even a question?” Xiao Lingshu spread her arms confidently.
“With such a big yard, raising a little mutt is a piece of cake.”
“Arf arf!” The Nian beast barked twice, expressing its displeasure at being called a mutt.
Then it ran to Shi Pengpeng’s feet, fawningly nuzzling her instep with its head, “Woof-“
Fierce beasts only submit to those who have tamed them.
Although Xiao Lingshu had been taking care of the Nian beast recently, its true master was still Shi Pengpeng.
“Tsk, this little Nian beast is so ungrateful,” Xiao Lingshu grumbled, feeling extremely unbalanced.
“And here I was, kindly buying it a luxurious dog bed.”
Mentioning the dog bed only made the Nian beast angrier.
It turned its back to him and plopped down heavily, raising a cloud of dust.
Shi Pengpeng found it amusing and pulled out a palm-sized rabbit from her bag: “Perfect, then you can temporarily take care of this one too.”
“Where did you find the time to raise a rabbit?” Xiao Lingshu frowned.
“Wouldn’t it be better to leave this at a pet shop? This isn’t a farm.”
“This isn’t a rabbit,” Shi Pengpeng pinched the little rabbit’s ears.
“Show him your face.”
The rabbit obediently transformed its face into a human one and gave Xiao Lingshu a shy smile: “Hello, I’m the E Beast.”
Xiao Lingshu calmly accepted it, “Oh, so it’s a demon beast. You should’ve said so earlier. Welcome, welcome. From now on, you and Little Nian can guard the house together.”
The little rabbit blinked its big eyes: “Can I have my own separate bed?”
“Of course, absolutely,” Xiao Lingshu was pleased with the rabbit’s understanding and said grandly, “I’ll get you a deluxe two-story rabbit villa later.”
Hearing this, the Nian beast’s ears immediately perked up in alarm: “Arf—”
“Go away,” Xiao Lingshu kicked the Nian beast aside.
“Serves you right for looking down on me.” The little rabbit’s eyes gleamed with hidden pride, and it said softly, “Thank you for your kindness, Master.”
Shi Pengpeng glanced over and said lightly, “Be careful. The E Beast is full of lies and is very good at winning people over.”
“I know, I’m just tricking it too,” Xiao Lingshu chuckled.
“There’s actually no deluxe villa. It’ll have to squeeze in with Little Nian.”
A nest!
This is what you call anti-fraud.”
“???” The little rabbit was so angry that it was about to curse, but Xiao Lingshu made a hand gesture, turning it back into its rabbit form.
Seeing this, the lion dog giggled “hee hee hee.”
It was truly eerie for a dog to make such a sound.
Shi Pengpeng’s mouth twitched, and he immediately added another spell to the two beasts, warning them not to speak human language casually.
He also set up a barrier in the yard to prevent the two beasts from running around.
Yuan Yi Temple was located in a scenic area, and tourists often passed by.
It wouldn’t accidentally scare someone.
No sooner had he finished casting the spell than two girls in Hanfu entered through the back door, peeking around and asking, “Excuse me, can we take photos here?”
“Of course, of course,” Xiao Lingshu warmly greeted them.
“Feel free to take as many as you like.”
“Wow, there’s a little dog and a rabbit!” One of the girls spotted the Nian beast and the E beast on the ground, her eyes lighting up.
“They’re so cute!”
The other girl politely asked, “Can we pet them?”
“Absolutely,” Xiao Lingshu said, holding the dog in one hand and the rabbit in the other.
“Come on, don’t be shy. Our dog doesn’t bite.” Nian beast, E beast:
The fierce beasts were furious!
But they dared not speak.
The two girls cheered and took turns holding the lion dog and the little white rabbit, taking a round of photos before reluctantly leaving.
Feeling a bit guilty for freeloading, they each scanned the QR code on the donation box and contributed ten yuan.
Xiao Lingshu checked the twenty yuan that had just arrived in his Alipay account and nodded with satisfaction. “Not bad, not bad. A good start to the day.”
Shi Pengpeng:”…..”
“The joy of being a second-generation rich kid is just so simple and unpretentious.”
After the tour, Xiao Lingshu led them to the reception room and said, “By the way, senior sister, have you considered registering at my Yuan Yi Temple? Didn’t you sign up for that ‘Didi Ghost Hunting’ app? I noticed there’s a section for organizational verification.”
“If you register here, at least you’ll have an organization listed. Otherwise, your profile looks really bare, almost like a scam.”
“How is it bare?” Yan Jing glanced over, disagreeing.
“I wrote her a good review.”
“So that review was from you!” Xiao Lingshu suddenly realized, looking disdainful.
“No offense, bro, but when you write a review, could you at least put some thought into it? What kind of review is ‘Tried it, not bad, will buy again, highly recommend? It looks so robotic.”
Yan Jing: “That was an objective review.”
Though it was just four short phrases, each one was a genuine thought, without any fluff. “
Objective it may be,” Xiao Lingshu teased, “but it could just as easily apply to my takeout order.”
Yan Jing thought for a moment and asked Shi Pengpeng, “Should I write you another one later?”
“No need,” Shi Pengpeng chuckled. S
he had only asked Yan Jing to write a review to tease him, not really expecting a single comment to make much of a difference.
A while ago, seeing that Xiao Lingshu was determined to stay in Xiluo, she had mentioned the Didi Ghost Hunting mini-program to him, but she hadn’t paid much attention to it.
After all, she hadn’t received any orders since registering herself.
Part of the reason was also that she was too busy with her own work and hadn’t seriously managed the account.
Now that Xiao Lingshu brought it up, she thought about it and decided it was a good idea, so she agreed.
“Great!” Xiao Lingshu cheered.
“With Senior Sister joining us, our Yuan Yi Temple is like a tiger with wings. Together, we’ll dominate Xiluo. Those Qinglian Temple and the monk monastery better be ready to tremble!”
Yan Jing slowly turned his head, giving Shi Pengpeng a questioning look—is our junior brother okay?
Shi Pengpeng calmly replied, “Is it still possible to back out now?”
“No way!” Xiao Lingshu panicked, afraid she might actually change her mind.
He immediately urged her to open the “Didi Ghost Hunting” app and add the temple’s information.
His words were so persuasive that Shi Pengpeng, feeling a headache coming on, had no choice but to take out her phone, open the app, and fill in Yuan Yi Temple’s name in her profile.
A red dot.
Just as she submitted the information and was about to exit the app, the message bar, which had been silent since registration, suddenly popped up with a notification.
Shi Pengpeng clicked on it and found it was a consultation request.
User 241223: [Hello, I’ve been experiencing some strange things lately. Can you help?]
Shi Pengpeng: ?
Was the temple’s information that effective? She just added it and already got a job?!
Shi Pengpeng: [What’s the issue?]
The other side showed “typing,” but after a few minutes, a new message finally appeared.
User 241223: [Can we meet in person?]
It seemed the user had been editing their message repeatedly before deleting it all, either out of caution or some other concern.
Shi Pengpeng: [Sure.]
User 241223: [Are you free today?]
Shi Pengpeng found it odd.
While it was understandable that the person didn’t want to discuss the matter online, they hadn’t even asked about her professional background.
Since they found “Didi Ghost Hunting,” they must have seen the profiles of other experts from various mystical sects registered on the platform.
Compared to them, Shi Pengpeng’s profile wasn’t particularly impressive.
Why would someone so cautious not even inquire about her abilities before rushing to meet?
But since the person seemed so eager, Shi Pengpeng didn’t press further.
Seeing that it was still early and she had no other plans for the afternoon, she agreed to meet at Yuan Yi Temple.
The other person readily agreed but refused to come to the temple, suggesting a nearby teahouse instead.
When Xiao Lingshu heard they’d landed a job, he laughed excitedly, “I told you Senior Sister is a powerhouse for our Yuan Yi Temple! She just joined, and we’re already getting business! With her here, our temple is bound to thrive!”
Shi Pengpeng deadpanned, “I’m leaving the group.”
“No, don’t!” Xiao Lingshu instantly became serious.
“I was wrong, I’ll stop bragging!”
Originally, Xiao Lingshu insisted on tagging along, thinking this was Yuan Yi Temple’s first job.
But Shi Pengpeng, considering the person’s cautious behavior online, felt it wouldn’t be appropriate to bring someone else along and firmly rejected him.
Xiao Lingshu, frustrated, complained to Yan Jing, “Brother, can’t you talk some sense into her?”
Yan Jing coldly replied, “If you’re brave enough, say it yourself.”
Xiao Lingshu scoffed, “If I were brave, would I need to stir you up?”
Shi Pengpeng ignored their pointless bickering, grabbed her gear, and headed out.
The person had already arrived at the teahouse and booked a private room.
Shi Pengpeng found the room number they’d sent, pushed the door open, and saw a somewhat slender young girl inside.
The girl had shoulder-length hair with bangs that were slightly too long, almost covering her eyes.
Her outfit was uniquely styled, with a T- shirt layered under an oversized men’s jacket.
“Hello,” Shi Pengpeng greeted her.
“I’m Shi Pengpeng.”
“Hi, you can call me Xiao Tan,” the girl nodded, looking at her with some surprise.
“I didn’t expect you to be so young.”
Shi Pengpeng was used to such reactions and didn’t take offense, simply smiling, “Didn’t my profile mention my age?”
“Uh, I didn’t look closely,” Xiao Tan admitted sheepishly.
“I just skimmed through your resume.”
Shi Pengpeng felt even more puzzled.
When she registered on Didi Da Gui (a ghost-hunting app), she was still inexperienced and filled in her profile quite simply.
Later, as she got busier, she never updated it.
Compared to others, her resume was undoubtedly thin.
After exchanging a few pleasantries, they got down to business.
Xiao Tan held a teacup, her eyes downcast, and began, “So, here’s the thing. Recently, tarot card readings became quite popular online. I thought it was fun and bought a deck too. But ever since I got the cards, I’ve been feeling off…”
At the mention of tarot cards, Shi Pengpeng’s interest was piqued, but she kept her expression neutral, gesturing for Xiao Tan to continue.
“Lately, I’ve been feeling down a lot, crying at the drop of a hat. I haven’t been sleeping well either, often having nightmares,” Xiao Tan said, yawning, probably due to lack of sleep, her eyes still moist.
She pulled out a deck of tarot cards from her jacket pocket, her voice tinged with fear, “I… I suspect it might be related to these cards, so I wanted to consult a professional.”
“Let me see,” Shi Pengpeng already had a hunch. She took the deck, spread it out on the table, and with a quick incantation, she sensed a familiar dark energy clinging to it.
“How is it?” Xiao Tan asked.
“It’s nothing serious, just a bit of negative energy,” Shi Pengpeng replied.
Although the cards carried the same aura as the Lover card Jin Saosao had received before, it was merely a trace, not yet formed into a malevolent entity like a nightmare demon, making it easy to handle.
Shi Pengpeng burned a talisman, and as the flames died down, the markings on the cards gradually faded, turning into a wisp of gray smoke that dissipated into the air.
“That… that was scary!” Xiao Tan exclaimed, her eyes wide with shock.
After a moment, she calmed down and swallowed hard, “Is it all over now?”
“Not quite,” Shi Pengpeng looked up at the oversized men’s vest Xiao Tan was wearing, “May I ask where you got that jacket?”
Xiao Tan was taken aback, “Wh-what do you mean?”
Shi Pengpeng explained, “The problem isn’t with the tarot cards, but with the jacket you’re wearing. The cards just absorbed the negative energy from it.”
“What? Really?” Xiao Tan was stunned.
She quickly took off the jacket and said, “I bought this vintage piece online. A lot of these second- hand clothes are pre-owned. Could that be the reason?”
Vintage clothes, originating from thrift stores, are also commonly referred to as retro or second-hand.
Initially, it was a euphemism for old clothes from past eras, but it has since evolved into a unique nostalgic style, gaining popularity among many.
Many vintage clothes have been worn by others, so unscrupulous merchants often pass off old stock or imported waste as genuine vintage.
Occasionally, there are even rumors that vintage clothes are stripped from the dead.
Shi Pengpeng examined the jacket, and a wave of intense, almost tangible dark emotions washed over her. Despite being prepared, she still felt her mood plummet.
She recited a mantra to dispel the ominous feelings and, while inspecting the jacket, asked, “How long have you been wearing this?”
“I can’t remember exactly,” Xiao Tan thought for a moment. “Probably about two or three months?”
Shi Pengpeng nodded. “Then you must have a strong will.”
Xiao Tan was puzzled. “Why do you say that?”
Shi Pengpeng smiled. “This jacket was likely stripped from a dead person. A normal person would have gone mad after wearing it for so long.”
Xiao Tan’s eyes widened.
“Dead… dead person?!!”
“Yes,” Shi Pengpeng nodded solemnly.
“And not just an ordinary dead person.”
Xiao Tan asked, “What do you mean, not ordinary?”
Shi Pengpeng replied, “They died in a particularly gruesome way.”
Xiao Tan:”……”