Volume One, Chapter Fourteen: The Supernatural Incident Discussion App

At exactly midnight, Xiao Yue opened his eyes.

The events of the night had been eye-opening for him. And, as it turned out, his fiancée was a big shot.

Today was a day off, so Xiao Yue had no need to go to his study. He picked up his phone and sent a message to his assistant.

“Look into Qianquan Temple.”

Before long, his assistant called back.

“Deputy Director Xiao, I’ve checked. There’s only one temple called Qianquan Temple in the country, and it’s located in Pingjing City. However, this temple is not well-known locally, and there aren’t many visitors.”

Xiao Yue asked, “Check if Qianquan Temple sells medicinal herbs to outsiders.”

Although puzzled, the assistant started investigating right away and soon replied, “Yes, they do, but to purchase their herbs you need to be a member. It’s said there are even purchase limits.”

“Find a way to get membership.”

…

Early the next morning, Dadai woke up from Chi Xingwan’s bed, his dark eyes pure and innocent.

“Sis, are we going to that place again today?”

“Yes,” Chi Xingwan replied, already dressed and ready to go out with Dadai.

Chu Fangfei was squatting at the entrance to the Tower of the Spiritualist Association, watching every passerby intently.

When she saw Chi Xingwan, her eyes lit up, and she immediately ran over. “Boss, I’ve finally waited for you.”

“What are you waiting for me for?” Chi Xingwan was puzzled.

Chu Fangfei said, “Boss, team up with me to take on a task.”

Chi Xingwan recalled who the girl was—the one people had called a jinx last night, named Chu Fangfei.

Looking closely, she could indeed see traces of ill luck in Chu Fangfei’s fate.

“Boss, you’ve just come out of the mountains, right? You probably aren’t familiar with the Spiritualist Association yet. Why not join me in taking on a task and get used to the process?”

Chi Xingwan had intended to refuse, but after hearing this, she thought it was a good idea.

“Alright, what kind of task do you want to take?”

Chu Fangfei said excitedly, “Come on, let’s go inside and pick one.”

The second floor of the tower was the task hall, the liveliest place in the building.

Chu Fangfei took Chi Xingwan to a machine, opened the task panel, flipped through several pages skillfully, and found the task she had her eye on.

“The Association’s tasks come in various grades, from S down to D. I’m a C-level spiritualist, so I can only take tasks of C or below, but now that you’re here, Boss, I can take this A-level task.”

Chi Xingwan was a super-Alpha spiritualist and could take any task.

She stepped forward to look at the task details, with Dadai perched on her shoulder, craning his neck to peer at the screen as well.

“Chen Family Mansion on Liuhe Road?” Dadai repeated the address, feeling it was oddly familiar.

Hearing Dadai speak, Chu Fangfei finally noticed the parrot.

She was surprised. “There’s a human soul in this parrot’s body?”

“That’s right. His physical body has probably died, and his soul accidentally entered this parrot.”

Though rare, such things did happen. After a brief moment of surprise, Chu Fangfei no longer minded and turned to the task at hand.

“Over a month ago, the owner of the Chen family posted for help online, saying their ancestral home was haunted. The Association sent people to assess the situation and ultimately classified it as an A-level task.”

There were two sources for Association tasks: one, incidents discovered by spiritualists and reported to the Association to be assessed and listed as tasks; the other, the Association’s own paranormal incident app.

This app was open to the public and served as a gathering place for paranormal enthusiasts. There was a help section where people who suspected they’d encountered the supernatural could post.

The Association had staff who monitored this board, and after filtering, they would turn certain non-urgent posts into tasks for others to take on.

The Chen Family Mansion on Liuhe Road had entered the task list through this method.

“The black energy emanating from the mansion is extremely dense. It’s suspected there’s a powerful ghost there. The Association concluded that, for now, the entity poses no direct threat to humans, so they didn’t send someone to eliminate it immediately, but instead released it as a task.”

With Chu Fangfei’s explanation, Chi Xingwan finished reading the task details, and also noticed that, besides herself and Chu Fangfei, there was another team member.

“Who is this Jin Feng?”

Chu Fangfei answered, “He’s my senior brother from the same sect. I was born unlucky, so no one in the sect feels comfortable letting me take tasks alone. Boss, if you mind, I’ll kick him out.”

Chi Xingwan shook her head. “I don’t mind.”

Chu Fangfei happily grabbed her hand. “Great, let’s go meet Senior Brother Jin now.”

With that, Chu Fangfei led Chi Xingwan to a courier station in University Town.

“Almost there. Senior Brother Jin only has a few deliveries left.”

After about ten minutes, an electric three-wheeler stopped in front of them.

Jin Feng got off the vehicle. On this scorching day, he wore a black tank top and work trousers, his wavy long hair tied in a small tuft behind his head, a cigarette dangling unlit from his lips.

He looked rather like a street punk.

“Boss, this is my senior brother, Jin Feng. Senior Brother, this is the super-Alpha I told you about,” Chu Fangfei introduced them.

Jin Feng immediately took the cigarette from his mouth and shoved it into his pocket, wiping sweat from his pants with his hand.

“Boss, nice to meet you. I’m Jin Feng of the Seven Stars Sect, Chu Fangfei’s senior brother.”

Chi Xingwan shook his hand politely, then asked curiously, “Fellow Daoist Jin, are you delivering packages?”

Jin Feng grinned, “That’s right. I handle all deliveries in this part of University Town.”

Chu Fangfei explained, “Our sect isn’t very wealthy. Most of us have part-time jobs besides our work as spiritualists.”

Perhaps worried their sect would seem too shabby, she quickly added, “Within the spiritualist community, most transactions are barter. Not just our Seven Stars Sect—most spiritualists have other jobs to earn money. After all, we’re just flesh and blood and need to eat.”

Chi Xingwan could relate; after all, she too made her living by selling antiques.

“What do you do when you have a task and can’t deliver?” she asked.

Jin Feng replied, “That’s easy. I just grab a random junior brother from the sect to cover me.”

Chi Xingwan thought of her own sect, Tianxuan Sect. Before the sect was wiped out, they had been just the same.

Listening to Jin Feng and Chu Fangfei chat about these ordinary things, a sense of nostalgia filled her heart. She didn’t notice, not far away, a luxury car was parked, and Chi Yueyao was watching her through the window.

Xiao Jin boarded the car with milk tea in hand, “Yueyao, what are you looking at?”

“Nothing, let’s go,” Chi Yueyao replied, though her eyes lingered in that direction.

Following her gaze, Xiao Jin immediately spotted Chi Xingwan chatting and laughing with two strangers, both dressed very simply.

She grew annoyed at once. “What’s she doing? She’s already engaged to my second brother, and she’s still befriending all sorts of random people.”