Ch37 - The Grim Reaper Is My Sworn Brother

The summer was hot and dry, but the weather changed rapidly.

The air was laden with heat; dark clouds swallowed the moon. The horizon seemed oppressively low and it felt stifling.

Lightning flashed intermittently in the distant sky, mingled with the roaring of thunder. It was obviously about to rain.

Fan Zeng stood outside the building with a little assistant, waiting pitifully for that person to come as they glanced at the time.

“Didn’t he say he would come at 8 o’clock? It’s already past 8:30…” The little assistant was wearing high heels. After standing for so long, her calves were feeling a little sore.

“He said he was on the road, so he should arrive soon.” As a gold medal producer and well-known director, Fan Zeng admitted that he had a high position. Before, everyone would be waiting for him; no one would dare make him wait for so long. But that person wasn’t any other person, it was Master Lai. He could only restrain his temper and continue waiting.

After learning from Ji Xiunian that the building had ghosts, Fan Zeng, who was responsible for everyone, immediately contacted Master Lai as soon as he could.

The contact kept saying that Master Lai didn’t have any time to spare. It was only with much difficulty that they agreed to give them a slot, and told Fan Zeng to treat him well.

A master’s display of prowess was truly remarkable.

In order to show him the proper respect and importance, Fan Zeng stopped his work despite being so busy in order to welcome him. Who knew that the other party would actually be late.

“Fan ge.” When Ji Xiunian and Lu Xu came down, Master Lai still hadn’t arrived.

When Fan Zeng heard Ji Xiunian call for him, he turned around to explain the situation first, but when he saw Lu Xu standing next to him, he couldn’t help but be stunned. “Lu Xu came too?” When he thought about it, the person who had direct contact with the female ghost was Lu Xu, and he had some sympathy for this doomed child. “It’s good that you’ve come. Otherwise, Nian ge and I wouldn’t be at ease…”

As Fan Zeng spoke, a luxury car suddenly appeared from the corner of the road. When they looked closer, it was a new Mercedes VS680 series. The price was even more expensive than Fan Zeng’s family’s three cars put together.

Fan Zeng estimated the price of the car in his mind. Seeing that it was about to park in front of the broadcast station’s entrance, he said, “He’s finally come.” After saying this, he had already gone up to welcome them, his attitude enthusiastic and warm.

Lu Xu glanced at this Master Lai’s vehicle. No matter how he looked at it, he couldn’t connect it with his reputation of rejecting both fame and fortune.

Ji Xiunian’s thoughts were similar to Lu Xu’s; he felt like what he saw was the actual reality. To be so highly praised by others meant that one had to have something they excelled at, right?

The car halted steadily in front of the building entrance. The chauffeur got out of the car and went over to the back door to respectfully open the door.

With a slight turn of his head, Lu Xu saw a stably sitting middle-aged man. With the typical, stout figure of a middle-aged man, he wore a silk mandarin jacket. Along with his large beard, he did seem rather like a master.

“Master Lai, you’ve finally arrived!”

Fan Zeng’s face was full of smiles, greeting him politely.

Master Lai, who had just been sitting in the middle of everything, finally moved his body and got out of the car. He smiled politely at Fan Zeng. “Director Fan.”

Fan Zeng wanted to ask him to hurry up and go get rid of the ghost, but Master Lai suddenly stopped in his tracks, raising his hand to stop him from speaking.

They only saw Master Lai raise his head to look up at the building in front of them. His brows furrowed tightly as he calculated on his fingers. “The ghostly energy rushes the heavens, the bloody light of disaster abounds!” At that moment, the roaring of thunder filled the skies, signifying a violent storm brewing.

Master Lai held a compass, the wind blowing under his feet as he muttered, “Na mo he luo da na duo luo ye ye…”

Before Fan Zeng could figure out what he was chanting, he saw lightning flash above his head, followed by a harsh gust of wind and the crash of thunder.

“Evil spirits have come into this world and are flourishing.” Master Lai who had been chanting with his eyes closed suddenly opened his eyes and said to Fan Zeng, “There are evil spirits causing trouble inside, and more than one.”

“Yes yes.” Fan Zeng felt that Master Lai was very capable and hurriedly asked for his advice. “As expected, Master is too amazing. Can those things be sent away?”

“When dealing with something like these evil spirits that have been in the mortal realm, doing many vicious deeds, one cannot be softhearted.” Master Lai’s tone was firm, the very image of a righteous person who followed the dao and came to exorcise spirits. “As long as we shatter their souls, they won’t be able to bring disaster upon the mortal realm anymore.”

Evil spirits?

As Ji Xiunian listened to Master Lai’s words, he couldn’t help but think of the F4.

Whether it was He Xinghua or Tao Yingbo or their other group members, they were all polite and modest. They didn’t look like evil spirits in the slightest.

“Master Lai, can you determine if there are evil spirits without even going inside?”

Ji Xiunian couldn’t endure it anymore and asked solemnly.

Master Lai had been in the business for many years and rarely had anyone dared to use such a doubtful tone with him. But when his gaze landed on Ji Xiunian, Master Lai’s eyes gleamed slightly brighter and he answered with unexpected good humour, “Oh, Mr Ji.” He acted as if he had just seen Ji Xiunian and pursed his lips. “I heard that it was Mr. Ji who first saw those things, right?”

Ji Xiunian nodded. “Should be.”

“Tut tut tut…” When Master Lai heard this he couldn’t help but click his tongue, looking towards Ji Xiunian with a hint of compassion in his eyes. “Born to be alone, it must have been difficult for you.”

Ji Xiunian’s attitude had always been rather cool, but when he heard him say ‘born to be alone’, his face became even colder.

But Master Lai didn’t seem to notice this and only lowered his head to take out a red charm from his pocket to give to Ji Xiunian. “We can be considered to have some affinity. I will gift you this peace charm. Just take it as a first meeting gift.”

“Xiunian, hurry and thank Master Lai. This is something you can’t even beg for with a thousand pieces of gold.” Fan Zeng couldn’t help but be happy for Ji Xiunian and urged him to accept it. “Looks like Master Lai really likes you.”

Master Lai smiled wordlessly when he heard this, but his eyes held a certain light when he looked towards Ji Xiunian. He didn’t say anything, but all the cells in his body were basically screaming—

“Take it, hurry and accept it…”

Ji Xiunian looked down and saw the peace charm Master Lai gave him was different from the talisman Fan Zeng had given him earlier.

The talisman Fan Zeng had given him was yellow with black words and seemed no different from any other normal talisman. But the charm Master Lai was currently holding was a red talisman with black words. It was more refined in both material and colour than the yellow one. But Ji Xiunian stared at it for a long time and felt slightly uncomfortable for some reason.

Whether it was Ji Xiunian or Fan Zeng, this was the first time either of them had seen this kind of talisman. Whether or not it was someone’s goodwill, it wasn’t good to keep Master Lai holding it for so long.

“Mr. Ji, just take it. You don’t have to be polite with me. It can guarantee you peace.” Master Lai saw his hesitation and gently gave him some advice. “Not only can it protect you, it can also shield the people around you from bad luck.”

He stared doggedly at Ji Xiunian’s hand. Seeing that he was coming closer bit by bit, he couldn’t help feeling excited.

Just as Ji Xiunian was on the verge of touching the talisman, a sudden flash from the side came over and snatched the red charm away. “Nian ge, Master Lai said he would give it to you, so you don’t have to be too polite. I’ll help you take it first.”

Lu Xu smiled as he spoke, as if he didn’t care about Master Lai’s reaction at all.

“That’s not for you.” Master Lai was upset and about to reprimand this clueless boy. But before he could even speak, the other party was already done appreciating the charm. He turned around and gave it to Ji Xiunian. “Nian ge, this is something Master Lai especially gave to you. You should keep it well.”

As Lu Xu spoke, he seemed to have emphasised the word ‘especially’, smiling at Master Lai meaningfully.

Although this boy looked young, his temperament mysteriously made others feel very uncomfortable.

For some unknown unreason, this person hadn’t said much, but Master Lai kept feeling like he had been exposed by his gaze.

When he had decided to take a good look at Lu Xu’s features, the other party had already changed positions and was urging, “Standing outside for so long is not good. Why don’t we go inside to talk?”

With Lu Xu’s reminder, Fan Zeng hurriedly ushered Master Lai into the building. “Right right right, let’s say whatever we need to inside.”

Master Lai gave Lu Xu a deep look. He saw that he was always following Ji Xiunian, talking and smiling. This kind of reaction made it seem like he hadn’t discovered any clues. It seemed like he had been overthinking it.

It was just a rascal child. There wasn’t anything to be afraid of.

Fan Zeng and the little assistant led the way. Master Lai strutted along in the middle. Lu Xu and Ji Xiunian followed behind.

“Master Lai, I heard that you’ve died and come back to life before?”

They had just entered the corridor when Lu Xu happened to come up to him and seemed to casually ask him this.

This person was so close to him, it was impossible to pretend he hadn’t heard. In order to maintain his image as a powerful master, Master Lai could only answer patiently, “Yes, if we’re talking about it strictly, I should have already died several times.”

“Wow, so amazing?” Lu Xu reacted accordingly with a cry of surprise. His lips then curved up as he asked, “Since you’ve died so many times, have you seen a grim reaper?”

“Naturally.” In order to build up his own masterly influence, he had already lost track of the number of times he had spoken of his resurrection experiences. It was already etched into his mind. “I am very close with the grim reaper. To put it simply, we’re basically sworn brothers. Otherwise, how do you think I’ve been able to return to the world of the living over and over again?”

“So there really is a grim reaper in this world?” When the Fan Zeng who was walking ahead of them heard of this, he thought this was very intriguing and couldn’t help asking Master Lai, “Then Master, what does the grim reaper look like?”

“The grim reaper is three metres tall and muscular. He is full of strength and beauty…he has a fierce passion for killing. If you accidentally meet his gaze, then you won’t be able to escape from the clutches of death… he also has a cat. It has black fur, without a single strand of any other colour. It’s a ferocious beast and a sign of approaching death. If you find yourself one day suddenly being stared at by this black cat, then you definitely won’t be able to escape…”

“Mreow…” ‘Ferocious beast’ Ba Mei was currently resting on the staircase. When it saw the approaching Master Lai and others, it waved its tail and yawned.

chunky: I could not control the cringy-ness that master gives off.