This was the Zhong family's commitment and traditional idealism.

 

A group of evil ghosts suddenly scattered in all directions, like tigers breaking out of their cages, pouncing toward every corner of the film set.

Zhong Jiudao knew the temperament of this group of non-human actors under his command very well. Without some restrictions to make them stay obediently within the set, there was no way they would behave themselves; at the slightest opportunity, they would run over to the neighbouring production and frighten people.

To prevent this group of unrestrained wild ghosts from running everywhere, Zhong Jiudao took out a peachwood sword that he had secretly hidden beneath his shirt and tucked into his belt.

Every member of the Zhong family had a peachwood sword of their own. From childhood, they personally planted a peach tree and carefully cared for it under the guidance of their elders. When they reached eighteen, they would choose a suitable peach branch, cut it down, and personally carve it into their own sword, engraving upon it the talismanic formation they most wished to use.

Ordinary celestial-master families no longer made peachwood swords in this manner. It was time-consuming and laborious, and a peachwood sword made by hand was not as smooth as one made by a carpenter. If the hilt was not polished properly, it could even cut into the celestial master's palm. Only the Zhong family had continued to follow this method. Back then, they had specifically rented an entire mountain to plant trees, and, as a side business, they had also developed a fruit-wholesale operation. Every year, the sales of white peaches alone brought the family a considerable amount of money.

This was the Zhong family's commitment and traditional idealism.

Zhong Jiudao had never denied his identity as a celestial master. Upholding righteousness and dispelling evil, eliminating demons and defending the Dao—he had never forgotten this duty.

The reason he worked so hard was to prove to his family that the family's heritage and his dreams did not necessarily have to be at odds with each other. In this current age of declining Dharma, why could the two not coexist?

What Zhong Jiudao had told Qian Duoqun about repeating high school for three years had merely been an excuse. The real reason was that he had started high school three years late.

After graduating from middle school, he had spent three years cultivating diligently, waiting until he was eighteen to personally make his own peachwood sword. Only after fulfilling the unique romance of the Zhong family did he take the middle-school entrance examination again and become a high-school student.

Unfortunately, this peachwood sword, which Zhong Jiudao had personally carved with countless talismanic inscriptions and formations, had never been drawn to this day.

Zhong Jiudao silently calculated the size and shape of the entire film set. During the day, taking advantage of his position as the assistant director, he had already familiarized himself thoroughly with the terrain of the set. Then, with the tip of his sword touching the ground, he effortlessly drew a map of the film set on the ground.

The moon on the fifteenth is rounder on the sixteenth. The moonlight on the sixteenth day of the seventh lunar month was even brighter and purer than the night before. With his left hand, Zhong Jiudao drew talismans, while with his right he raised the sword toward the sky, drawing the spiritual energy of the stars and moon into the peachwood sword.

After sealing the spiritual energy inside the sword, Zhong Jiudao formed a flower with the peachwood sword, then plunged it into the centre of the map of the film set. A vast surge of spiritual energy burst forth from the peachwood sword and spread throughout the perimeter of the entire film set.

« Seal! » Zhong Jiudao shouted softly, uttering the command for the sealing technique.

At this point, the entire film set was completely sealed off. Whether they were the evil ghosts from the villa or the evil entity hidden within the film set, none of them could escape.

If any ghost dared to disobey his orders, it would probably have a hard time.

« Ouch! » « Ow! » « It hurts! »

Sure enough, within just a few minutes, cries of pain rose one after another from all around the film set. It seemed that some ghosts were unwilling to give up and had disobeyed Director Zhong's orders, only to be restrained by the formation surrounding the perimeter.

Zhong Jiudao had barely taken a few steps when he saw Shen Leshan stuck to the wall outside the film set, strands of his power being drawn away by the formation.

« Director Zhong, help! I'm about to be exorcised and sent to reincarnation by the formation! » Shen Leshan immediately called for help when he saw Zhong Jiudao.

Zhong Jiudao said, « This formation uses the moon's spiritual energy as the power sustaining its protective barrier. It will not absorb your resentment. At most, it will simply drain away all the moon's spiritual energy that I replenished for you yesterday. Don't worry, it won't send you off to reincarnation. »

The day before, because Director Zhong had been excessively irritable during the filming, the villa was filled with corpses sprawled in all directions, gazing at Director Zhong with resentful eyes. Even those pairs of eyeballs had rolled away from Qian Duoqun and ended up at Zhong Jiudao's feet. Their eyes were filled with disbelief, utterly unable to imagine that Director Zhong was actually no different from Qian Duoqun—both were capitalists who exploited every last bit of remaining value from the evil ghosts!

Under these accusations, Zhong Jiudao rarely experienced a pang of conscience. Taking advantage of the Gates of Hell being wide open the previous night, he had set up a spirit-gathering formation to help the group of ghosts recover their strength. That was why today he had such a lively group of ghost employees full of energy.

However, Director Zhong's kindness was reserved for obedient employees. As for disobedient ghost employees like Shen Leshan, whatever power they had obtained, they would have to return exactly as they had received it.

Zhong Jiudao ignored the dozen or so ghosts stuck to the wall and continued searching the film set for the whereabouts of the infant spirit.

This infant spirit was somewhat peculiar. With an ordinary ghost or monster, Zhong Jiudao would have been able to sense its whereabouts during the day and eliminate it while no one was paying attention. But this infant spirit seemed to have no fixed form, its presence scattered throughout every corner of the production. If not for Luo Huai's unusual constitution, which could draw a large amount of the infant spirit's resentment onto himself, after which Zhong Jiudao's jewelry could dispel it, then no matter how many celestial masters this production brought in, misfortunes would have continued to occur without end.

Zhong Jiudao walked into the costume room and saw Fu Yue sitting inside, carefully examining each piece of clothing. This xianxia drama had ample funding, and all the costumes had been commissioned from professionals. The embroidery on the protagonists' costumes had even been stitched by experienced craftsmen, one needle and one thread at a time, making them extremely expensive to produce.

After looking over the costumes, Fu Yue commented, « They do not belong to any particular dynasty's clothing. They combine the characteristics of various dynasties with modern aesthetics. The clothes I made are still somewhat lacking; there is room for improvement. »

Once absorbed in her craft, Fu Yue was no longer irritable. Instead, she possessed a kind of focused and obsessive beauty. Seeing this, Zhong Jiudao said, « Sooner or later, when I make films, I will need a large quantity of costumes. Once the company makes money, I will send you to learn new techniques and make even better clothes. »

« Really? » Fu Yue's eyes lit up.

« If it is something that can save money, how could I be joking? » Zhong Jiudao joked at his own expense.

He then walked throughout the entire film set. He saw a male ghost in a suit curiously examining the filming equipment, Aunt Yang pointing at and discussing the large vacuum cleaner, and Shen Leshan, who, despite being stuck to the wall, was still stubbornly stretching his head outward, desperately trying to see the outside world.

The only one missing from the group of ghosts was the female lead, Qi Wanlian.

Zhong Jiudao mobilized his spiritual power and sensed the whereabouts of the paper figure. Only then did he find Qi Wanlian. She was in the dressing room, sitting quietly at the female lead's makeup station, silently looking at the mirror, which could not reflect her figure.

She seemed somewhat different from usual. Zhong Jiudao instinctively felt that she had discovered something. « Have you sensed the whereabouts of the evil entity? »

« That is not an evil entity, » Qi Wanlian said softly. « It is a child, a child who never had the chance to be born. »

With Qi Wanlian's reminder, Zhong Jiudao finally understood why he could not find the infant spirit's whereabouts. A child who had died before being born would not yet possess a profound awareness of self, so naturally, its body would have no definite form. Precisely because it was a child, it could hide inside the body of any female actress in the production, evading the detection of the celestial masters who had come before as well as Zhong Jiudao himself.

« Could it have left the film set with one of the female actresses? » Zhong Jiudao asked.

« No, » Qi Wanlian shook her head. « It harbours an inexplicable hatred toward this production. It will not leave until it has destroyed the entire production. »

Qi Wanlian seemed to understand this infant spirit particularly well, and her expression was no longer as composed as it usually was. Instead, it was filled with profound sorrow.

« Director Zhong, when you had me play a character who was both mother and daughter, what were you thinking? » Qi Wanlian, who had always been humble and courteous, spoke somewhat stiffly at this moment.

Zhong Jiudao remained silent for a moment before saying, « The characters I create for each actor are written according to their particular qualities. You have two souls inhabiting one body, with an undeveloped infant spirit that has always remained inside you. But it was too weak, while the attachment you held before your death was too strong. After your death, your resentment devoured the infant spirit. As long as that resentment remains, that innocent infant spirit will never be able to enter reincarnation. »

Qi Wanlian gently placed a hand over her flat abdomen and said calmly, « I can hear the voice of that infant spirit. It is hiding under its mother's protection, so naturally, Director Zhong cannot see it. »

Having said this, Qi Wanlian searched through the female lead's makeup table and took out a makeup bag. Inside were some inexpensive hair clips, hair ties, and an ugly little handmade stuffed pig.

The moment he saw the stuffed pig, Zhong Jiudao instinctively drew a talisman to seal it, preventing the infant spirit hidden inside the pig from escaping again.

Only after sealing the pig did Zhong Jiudao take it from her. Yet he saw no trace of resentment on its exterior. Even while he held it in his hand, it could evade the scrutiny of his Heavenly Eye.

There was only one possible explanation for this: an infant spirit less than three months old was hiding inside an object associated with its mother or within its mother's body. Under the mother's protection, no one could see it.

« An unborn infant spirit, especially one less than three months old, should not possess such intense resentment, » Zhong Jiudao said gravely. « Unless someone deliberately refined the infant spirit, intensifying its resentment, causing it to become like this. »

« This seems to be a celestial-master technique, » Qi Wanlian asked.

Precisely because it was a celestial-master technique, Zhong Jiudao was even more furious. Throughout history, there had always been evil-path celestial masters who enslaved ghosts and used them to wreak havoc upon the human world. And now, in the age of declining Dharma, some orthodox celestial masters, because the number of powerful ghosts in the world had decreased and the celestial-master profession was gradually declining, had actually devised methods for refining ordinary souls into powerful ghosts, thereby deepening the general public's reverence and fear of celestial masters.

Since the infant spirit had been found on the female lead's makeup table, it seemed that the female lead of this production was indeed the infant spirit's mother. Combined with the incidents that had occurred on the set, Zhong Jiudao quickly deduced the truth behind everything.

Ultimately, this matter still came down to profit. It was likely that a competing company did not want this television series to be successfully broadcast, so they had resorted to crooked and unorthodox methods.

As it happened, the female lead who had accepted this role had become pregnant and then miscarried. Naturally, she would have kept the matter secret, but someone who deliberately investigated would certainly have been able to uncover it. Someone had obtained the baby's remains, refined them, and released the infant spirit during the filming, allowing it to search for its mother and thereby causing all these disasters.

How innocent the infant spirit was. It had already been unable to be born, yet someone had exploited it in such a manner. If it truly caused someone's death and incurred karmic consequences, it would find it even more difficult to reincarnate.

Fortunately, Luo Huai had arrived at the production at the right moment. Because he absorbed most of the infant spirit's hatred, both sides had been spared a major disaster.

« Director Zhong, it has already become a resentful spirit. Because it does not understand the ways of the world, its attachment is deeper than that of ordinary ghosts and monsters. It is impossible to perform a ritual to send it into reincarnation. Are you going to beat it until its soul is completely scattered? » Qi Wanlian asked.

« Let it stay by my side for a while longer and be exorcised over the course of several years. After ten or eight years, its resentment will eventually dissipate, » Zhong Jiudao said.

« If you make its soul completely scatter, you can cause the person who cast the spell to suffer backlash, and you can also teach the celestial master who has been secretly causing trouble a lesson. » Qi Wanlian seemed to be advising Zhong Jiudao to destroy the infant spirit completely.

« There is no need to go to such trouble, » Zhong Jiudao said. « We can ask someone to investigate the production company's competitor, then have people in the celestial-master world look into who has recently had financial dealings with that company. That will reveal who committed such a heinous act. It is already the twenty-first century. There is a technique called criminal investigation. »

Qi Wanlian smiled. « It seems that I have fallen behind the times. Director Zhong, give me that infant spirit. I can absorb its resentment. That will both increase my strength and help it be reborn. This kills two birds with one stone. We powerful ghosts are more skilled at doing this than celestial masters. »

Zhong Jiudao handed the infant spirit, in the form of the little pig, to Qi Wanlian. Qi Wanlian stroked the pig's head and gently pressed her nose against its snout.

A terrifying surge of resentment entered Qi Wanlian's body. Zhong Jiudao saw the veins bulge across her beautiful face, while black resentment surged beneath her blood vessels, making her appearance extremely frightening.

Absorbing resentment was not as simple as Qi Wanlian had made it sound. The devouring between evil ghosts was a matter of life and death; Qi Wanlian wanted both to protect the infant spirit and extract its resentment, which was extremely difficult. The slightest mistake could cause the infant spirit to turn against her.

Zhong Jiudao raised his peachwood sword and touched the tip of the sword to the stuffed pig. He suppressed the infant spirit's resistance, allowing Qi Wanlian to absorb its resentment successfully.

Under her pale skin, it seemed as though countless black snakes were surging, making her expression look unbearably pained. Fortunately, she possessed a celestial master's flesh and blood within her body, which was particularly effective at suppressing evil, and it successfully helped her restrain the infant spirit's resentment.

After a while, Qi Wanlian opened her eyes. A ghostly light flashed before them, clearly indicating that she had grown stronger. Zhong Jiudao observed the level of her cultivation and realized that, in the future, this powerful ghost would probably be able to walk around during the daytime like an ordinary living person. He did not know whether that was a good thing or a bad one.

« Director Zhong, before exorcising the infant spirit and sending it into reincarnation, I would like to let it see its mother, » Qi Wanlian said, holding the little pig.

« All right. » Zhong Jiudao put away his peachwood sword, and the formation outside the film set dissipated along with it. At the same time, thirty-two paper figures were carried by spiritual energy and flew to Zhong Jiudao's side.

As usual, Zhong Jiudao stuffed his portable company into his wallet and took Qi Wanlian to the hotel where Luo Huai was staying.

The little pig in Qi Wanlian's hands had its own guidance and could lead her to her mother's room. With a whoosh, she vanished from sight, leaving Zhong Jiudao standing alone in front of the elevator.

Without checking into the hotel, there was no way to take the elevator upstairs. Zhong Jiudao could not possibly let Qi Wanlian, a powerful ghost, run around the hotel freely, so he hurriedly called Luo Huai and told him that he had already checked out and moved over.

Luo Huai, who had been preparing to go to sleep, threw on a piece of clothing and went downstairs to receive Director Zhong. He was not famous yet and therefore had no paparazzi secretly photographing him, so he was very free to come and go.

He happily led Zhong Jiudao upstairs. « My accommodation is really good. They arranged my room according to the standards of the male actor who stayed here previously. It is a suite. There is a large bed inside and a small bed outside. Director Zhong, you can sleep inside, and I will sleep outside. »

Luo Huai and the female lead were staying on the same floor, which made it convenient to monitor Qi Wanlian's movements. Zhong Jiudao did not resist much before agreeing.

--

Author's note:

Zhong Jiudao did not resist much before agreeing to stay in the same room as Luo Huai.

Translation: The financially strapped Director Zhong was extremely pleased to hear that he could stay in an executive suite without having to pay for the room, so he happily gave in to Luo Huai.

 

Translator : DarNan