The ghosts stared at Qian Duoqiun with utter fear. How could this small, sly human exploit them even more than Zhong Jiudao?

 

Zhong Jiudao could see at a glance that Luo Huai was optimistic, always thinking in a positive direction, whereas Pang Xinhao carried worries in his heart—he knew there were problems, yet was unwilling to admit them.

“You can come to me anytime if you have any troubles in the future,” Zhong Jiudao said to Pang Xinhao.

“Huh? What troubles? I’m fine,” Pang Xinhao said stubbornly.

Zhong Jiudao didn’t say anything further. The matters here were resolved, but upstairs there were still more things and a group waiting for him to handle.

As he got up to leave, he said at the door, “Earlier, while you two were acting, Pang Xinhao got carried away and broke the door. It’s better to sleep in another room tonight.”

After Zhong Jiudao left, Pang Xinhao looked at Luo Huai in confusion: “Did I really break the lock?”

“Zhong Dao said so; I guess that’s right,” Luo Huai said, touching his chest.

How strange… after waking, whenever he saw or thought about Zhong Jiudao, the left side of his chest would feel warm. And from the depths of his soul arose the thought, ‘Zhong Dao is truly reliable’, making Luo Huai instinctively trust Zhong Jiudao’s words.

“Oh, I kicked it. Then let’s temporarily switch rooms,” Pang Xinhao said, half convinced.

The two quickly packed their luggage and moved to Luo Huai’s room. Zhong Jiudao, hearing the movement, knew that no one was staying downstairs, so even if there was a commotion in the third-floor screening room tonight, no one would notice.

Zhong Jiudao added a soundproofing talisman at the door of the screening room, and outside there was complete silence. Upon opening the door, he heard Qian Duoqiun screaming like a slaughtered pig: “Ah!!! Don’t kill me! I haven’t done anything terribly wrong! I only took a small kickback while purchasing props! This movie of yours, Zhong Dao, I’ve already been conscientious. He’s so poor, I only earned 20,000 yuan in the middle!”

Zhong Jiudao: “……”

He hadn’t expected such explosive news the moment he entered, leaving him unsure how to react to Qian Duoqiun.

In truth, the ghosts all knew they were in trouble, so they didn’t dare harm Qian Duoqiun.

But when they didn’t use illusions to conceal their true appearance, they looked terrifying. For example, Fu Yue—though beautiful in illusion, it had likely died from falling off a building head first, so its real body would be gruesome, with a shattered skull, fragmented, brain matter still hanging on its face.

They hadn’t done anything—they just honestly gathered together and quietly stared at Qian Duoqiun. That alone was enough to scare him into being extremely frightened.

“Old Qian, Old Qian,” Zhong Jiudao stepped forward and patted Qian Duoqiun.

Qian Duoqiun, trembling, opened his eyes. Seeing Zhong Jiudao’s incredibly handsome and normal human face, he weakly let out a “waa,” tears and snot flying everywhere.

He wanted to rush into Zhong Jiudao’s arms for safety, but Zhong Jiudao, disgusted by the messy sight, lifted a hand and pressed it on Qian Duoqiun’s not-so-thick hair, preventing him from getting too close to avoid dirtying his clothes.

After a long while, Qian Duoqiun calmed down. He wiped the tears with his sleeve, sniffled, and said to Zhong Jiudao: “Zhong Dao, I’ll return the 20,000 yuan kickback. I don’t want any box-office share. I promise I’ll never speak of this. P-please let me go.”

It seemed Qian Duoqiun had misunderstood something. Zhong Jiudao waited until his emotions stabilized before speaking: “I wasn’t going to do anything to you. It was just chaotic at the time. Explaining it would be troublesome. But if I simply brought you to the third floor, there’s no need for explanation—everything is quite obvious, isn’t it?”

Qian Duoqiun gasped: “You mean, since I’ve become a ghost, I don’t have to explain?”

Zhong Jiudao: “…I have no intention of silencing you. I just truly had no way to be in two places at once and needed someone who knew the situation to help me.”

In truth, Zhong Jiudao wasn’t angry about Qian Duoqiun pocketing 20,000 yuan. Paying workers a wage is standard, and Qian Duoqiun had done multiple jobs alone; he should have been compensated.

Although Qian Duoqiun claimed he wanted box-office profit sharing, the film’s release date—or even whether it could be released—was unknown. Effectively, he had worked three months for free; 20,000 yuan was already too little.

Zhong Jiudao didn’t bring up the money for now and calmly explained the situation to Qian Duoqiun.

After a long, patient explanation, Qian Duoqiun finally understood.

“So the crew was so poor they had no choice but to use ghosts as actors—saving on pay and special effects. But these ghosts were unruly and tried to harm colleagues. Pang Xinhao and Luo Huai were possessed. You were saving Luo Huai at that moment?” Qian Duoqiun summarized.

“Yes. Your explanation is clear and concise,” Zhong Jiudao said.

Qian Duoqiun: “I thought these actors were doing me a favour out of respect for your family, but I didn’t realize there were so many behind-the-scenes issues.”

Zhong Jiudao: “You’re not too far off.”

The ghosts obeyed him only because of his Celestial Master family.

After calming Qian Duoqiun, it was time to deal with the troublesome ghosts.

Zhong Jiudao moved a chair and sat down, tossing the mineral water bottle into the middle of the ghosts.

The ghosts first avoided it, then finally saw the half-transparent, barely alive ghost of Qi Wanlian in the water. Seeing her miserable state, they were immediately frightened; they withdrew their true forms and combed their skulls into normal human shapes, so the room finally had some sense of liveliness.

Qian Duoqiun breathed a sigh of relief. If the ghosts had remained in that state, he probably wouldn’t have survived the room—he would have died of fright even if the ghosts didn’t attack.

Zhong Jiudao pointed at the bottle, opening the cap. Qi Wanlian flew out, kneeling in a pitiful posture, violently coughing and spitting out water.

She had always been elegant and beautiful; her true form was no different from her illusion. Even in death, she went gracefully. This was perhaps the first time she looked so inelegant, coughing as if about to spit out her entrails.

“Noisy,” Zhong Jiudao said, tapping his temple with a faint voice.

Qi Wanlian immediately covered her mouth, not daring to make a sound even as her chest shook violently.

It was Qian Duoqiun’s first time seeing this side of Zhong Jiudao. Usually, the young director was humble and low-profile, with a very good temper, and had been eager to learn when interning in the crew. Even at 1.9 meters tall, he never imposed a sense of pressure.

But now, sitting on an ordinary chair, he exuded a sense of oppression as if seated atop a mountain of corpses and sea of blood, making people afraid to look directly at him.

Qian Duoqiun silently stepped back, bowed, and stood behind Zhong Jiudao, suddenly feeling very much like a court eunuch standing behind an emperor.

“Those not involved, stand on the right; those involved, stand on the left.” After Qi Wanlian coughed less violently, Zhong Jiudao ordered.

Twenty-nine of the thirty-three ghosts moved to the right with a “woosh” sound, leaving only Qi Wanlian, Fu Yue, Shen Leshan, and Aunt Yang.

Zhong Jiudao pointed to the armrest of the right chair and said lightly, “One more chance. Liars will have their souls scattered.”

With another “woosh,” the twenty-nine ghosts moved to the left, standing behind the four, bowing deeply—one lower than the other—just hoping that the head of the other ghosts was higher than their own.

Some were so competitive they even took their heads off and stomped them underfoot, trying to see who could bow lowest!

Zhong Jiudao lazily ignored their scramble to show submission and remorse. He half-lowered his eyes and asked in a deep voice, “Is everyone involved?”

Shen Leshan, the slyest among the ghosts, saw that hiding left or right wouldn’t work, so it decided to be first to show loyalty. Stepping forward bravely, it said: “If we hadn’t worked together, how could we have torn even a small crack in your talisman array so quickly?”

Zhong Jiudao was meticulous in his work. The talisman array he had set up was absolutely not something one or two ghosts could break through, and even the formidable Fu Yue and Qi Wanlian working together could not.

Only when all the ghosts in the villa concentrated and continuously assaulted the array with yin energy, gradually eroding its power, could Qi Wanlian be released within a week.

Shen Leshan explained, “We’ve been trapped in the villa for decades, and in the past, we relied on subtle conflicts and open disputes with each other to pass the time. Zhong Dao, you can see it too—we all had grudges against each other. This is the first time the whole villa is working together, yet even so, we still couldn’t break the talisman array. We need the living Pang Xinhao on the other side to assist. Zhong Dao, you truly are…”

“Enough,” Zhong Jiudao interrupted. “Judging by your sly and cunning expression, you were the mastermind inciting the ghosts to cooperate, weren’t you?”

Shen Leshan immediately shut up, lowering its head.

“I’m a democratic person; I won’t blindly assign blame. I’ll give you a chance—say what use you have, and I might spare your life.” Zhong Jiudao said.

Aunt Yang, being action-oriented, spoke first: “I can clean the rooms. Additionally, I can cook.”

Seeing Zhong Jiudao frown, aunt Yang hurriedly emphasized, “This time, I absolutely will not poison anyone, and I will restrain my own yin energy to prevent colleagues from being harmed. If even once I fail, I’ll have my soul scattered and never be reborn.”

Only then did Qian Duoqiun understand why he had been foaming at the mouth earlier, suddenly feeling unable to look Aunt Yang in the eye.

“Aunt Yang, a ghost contract is a very serious matter. The oath you speak with your own mouth, if broken, even if I do nothing, you will suffer serious damage yourself,” Zhong Jiudao said.

“Yes,” Aunt Yang said. “I understand. Today, if this old slave doesn’t show sincerity, it won’t be resolved just by generating energy.”

No wonder this was a ghost who had once served a wealthy lady—its ability to read the room was exceptional.

“Good.” Zhong Jiudao traced a strange pattern in the air with his left index finger. The pattern flew to Aunt Yang and entered its third eye.

A ghost’s oath differed from a human oath. An oath originating from the depths of the soul couldn't be faked. What Zhong Jiudao just drew was not a talisman, but the ghost contract power from Aunt Yang transmitted to his pen, naturally forming a ghost pattern capable of restraining Aunt Yang. Without the oath, Zhong Jiudao could not have drawn this pattern.

Seeing Aunt Yang set an example, the other ghosts gathered courage and pledged to obey Zhong Dao completely, to do whatever he commanded, never to disobey.

Since they were only accomplices, Zhong Jiudao didn’t punish them harshly. After drawing the ghost pattern, he picked up a stack of white paper in the screening room, cut out thirty paper dolls, and tossed them toward the ghosts.

The thirty ghosts merged with the paper dolls, completely becoming Zhong Jiudao’s ghost servants.

All along, Zhong Jiudao had been reluctant to use this method.

This was true ghost-binding magic, requiring the ghost to willingly submit from the heart. Through the paper dolls, Zhong Jiudao could know their movements anytime, anywhere, leaving no room for error. Similarly, the connection between ghost servants and the Celestial Master would become closer. Everything the ghosts did, good or evil, would be attributed to Zhong Jiudao, and the heavens would judge accordingly.

After merging with the paper dolls, the ghosts gained form; they no longer needed illusions and could interact with humans.

Qian Duoqiun noticed that the previously light and floating ghosts now felt like they had substance. He dared to poke Aunt Yang’s arm and felt a tangible, fleshly sensation.

Looking at the group of ghost servants—some beautiful, some ordinary, some bizarre—Qian Duoqiun gradually had a bold idea.

The remaining three principal ghosts were also the three main actors of the movie.

Zhong Jiudao deliberately ignored them, waiting to deal with the minor offenders first. Then he looked at them: “And you?”

Fu Yue, seeing the others unconditionally become ghost servants, obviously didn’t want to comply. Gritting her teeth, she said, “Unless you give me your blood, I won’t do it!”

Even now, Fu Yue was stubborn, suggesting she had been a strong-willed woman in life.

“Fu Yue, you’ve misunderstood,” Zhong Jiudao said. “I am not here to seize you. You are seeking my protection to preserve yourselves. I see you as a righteous ghost with integrity… since that’s the case, I won’t scatter your soul, but send you to reincarnation. How about that?”

“No!” Fu Yue’s eyes reddened, and she shed bloody tears. “I still have unfinished business; I will not reincarnate!”

Compared to soul-scattering, letting go of obsession and reincarnating was even more painful for Fu Yue.

“Times change, and the blue sea has turned into mulberry fields (NT: idiom meaning everything has changed over time). No matter what obsessions you have, the grudges are decades old, nothing more than fleeting clouds and smoke. Let it go.” Zhong Jiudao said.

He lightly traced a symbol in the air. A “resurrection talisman” gradually formed. Seeing this, Fu Yue finally submitted: “No, I cannot reincarnate—not for many years. Accept me; I… I will try to cause fewer troubles.”

Zhong Jiudao didn’t know what obsessions Fu Yue truly had. He withdrew his power, erased half of the talisman he drew, and tossed a paper doll.

Reluctantly, Fu Yue merged with the paper doll. She struggled intensely as the ghost pattern enveloped her, but in the end, she bowed her head.

Seeing the situation lost, Shen Leshan also obediently became a ghost servant. Yet given its scheming nature, the ghost pattern would likely not prevent it from finding loopholes; constant monitoring would be necessary.

Finally, only Qi Wanlian remained.

Having been tossed in the River of Forgetfulness for a long time, much of her soul power was gone. She knew her sins were grave; even if she agreed to become a ghost servant, she would first be disciplined.

When her turn came, she immediately said, “I know the acting weaknesses of Pang Xinhao and can improve his performance.”

“Oh?” Zhong Jiudao had planned to use Qi Wanlian as an example to teach a lesson, but he hadn’t expected her to solve his current most troubling problem.

“This I only realized after possessing him,” Qi Wanlian said. “Please, Zhong Dao, allow me to redeem my sins with merit.”

Zhong Jiudao stared at her for a long while. Once Qi Wanlian began to show fear, he slowly spoke: “Fine, do what you say.”

Qi Wanlian’s ghost pattern not only enforced obedience but carried a binding promise; failure would lead to endless calamities with no return, one of the most severe ghost patterns.

After subduing all thirty-three ghosts, Zhong Jiudao silently nodded. Only now was the crew fully in sync. Everyone united, able to shoot the film successfully.

With the paper dolls possessing the ghosts, they now had bodies, would not easily reveal their true forms, and could move freely outside.

As a result, Zhong Jiudao no longer needed to do manual labour alone; the crew finally had plenty of hands.

He assigned tasks to the ghost servants. Since there were many, he implemented a rotation system—some working, some resting.

Upon hearing this, Qian Duoqiun could no longer restrain himself: “Wait! You can’t use them like this, it’s such a waste!”

“Huh?” Zhong Jiudao looked at Qian Duoqiun in confusion.

Qian Duoqiun, heartbroken and furious, pointed at a one-meter-tall ghost servant: “Look at this build! Such a great special actor wasted on chores! Set up a company, send them out for acting jobs. All profits for the company, none to them, perfect to supplement the crew!”

Zhong Jiudao: “……”

The ghosts: “……”

The ghosts stared at Qian Duoqiun with utter fear. How could this small, sly human exploit them even more than Zhong Jiudao?

 

Translator : DarNan