I have the face of a great demon.

At the foot of Jianxian Peak, a tranquil little village resembles an exquisite ink painting.

Smoke curls up from the chimneys, mingling with the mountain mists to create a harmonious scene.

The tranquility of the village was gently broken by the arrival of three Taoist priests, namely Liu Xingchen and his two disciples.

The old Taoist priest, accompanied by his two apprentices, wandered around the village, looking around, their footsteps echoing on the village's stone-paved roads.

Outsiders rarely visit the village, so the three Taoist priests quickly attracted the attention of the villagers.

Their eyes held both curiosity and awe.

As they completed their third lap, a simply dressed man, who looked like a servant, hurriedly approached them.

His eyes held a hint of anxiety, but when he saw the Taoist priests, a glimmer of hope appeared in them.

"Greetings, fellow Taoist priests," his voice trembled slightly, clearly indicating nervousness, "May I ask if any of you are skilled in exorcism?"

Business is picking up.

Hua Laodao's lips curled into a smile. He gave Liu Xingchen and Tiezhu a knowing look, then turned to the man.

"As for exorcism techniques, this humble Taoist knows a little about them. May I ask what brings you here?"

"That's wonderful!" The man was so excited that he knelt down on the ground.

"Master, please save my master!"

Old Hua gently helped the man up.

"What's the problem? Tell me in detail."

With a trembling voice, the man Chen San recounted the events to Hua Laodao and the others.

“My master, Mr. Chen Wangfu, is a good man who always takes good care of the villagers.”

“But ever since the master’s mother passed away ten days ago, there has been no peace in this house.”

He described the strange things that happened after the old lady passed away, and that she was buried on a hillside outside the village.

To everyone's surprise, the old lady returned in the middle of the night the next day. Her ferocious face and lifeless eyes sent chills down everyone's spines. As soon as she entered the house, she began to rummage through everything.

Later, they found a piece of pork hanging in the kitchen, ate it raw, and then left.

This incident terrified the whole family.

They thought that was the end of it, but unexpectedly, in the following days, the old woman would come back every night looking for meat to eat, driving the whole family crazy.

“We live in constant fear, afraid that one day she won’t be able to find meat to eat, and then…”

Chen San didn't finish his sentence, but everyone understood what he meant.

These past few days, the servants have been going around asking monks and Taoist priests to exorcise evil spirits, hoping to drive away the evil spirits from the old lady and allow the family to return to a normal life.

This sounded quite frightening. It was the first time Tie Zhu had ever heard of such a thing, and he asked with a bit of trepidation:

"Is that old lady a human or a ghost?"

"Of course it's a ghost. My old lady has been dead for many days, how could she possibly come back to life? This must be the work of evil spirits, it's definitely not my old lady."

Master Hua explained to his two disciples, "This is what happens when a ghost possesses a body."

"Then... do you Taoist priests have any way to save us?"

Upon hearing this, Tie Zhu drew out a pair of iron maces that he had been carrying on his back.

"Don't worry, no matter what kind of evil spirit it is, I'll smash it into mincemeat with one blow of my mace, and it'll be dead beyond any hope of survival."

Chen San was intimidated by Tie Zhu's towering figure.

When the burly Taoist priest struck down with his mace, the evil spirit was indeed reduced to ashes, but the old lady's body was beyond saving.

He waved his hands repeatedly, saying, "No! That's my old lady. Taoist priest, as long as you drive away the evil spirits and allow the old lady to be laid to rest, my master will reward you handsomely."

Seeing that he had frightened the patron, Hua Laodao quickly gestured to Tie Zhu to tone it down, and then gave Chen San a kind smile.

"Haha, my apprentice was just joking. We are professional Taoist priests, how could we use such a reckless method to exorcise ghosts?"

"Don't worry, we will definitely help you drive away the ghost so that the old lady can rest in peace."

Chen San was relieved and happily led Hua Laodao and the other two home.

Back at the mansion, Master Chen Wangfu's eyes lit up when he saw the Taoist priest Hua's dignified and otherworldly appearance.

He immediately ordered his servants to prepare a sumptuous feast so that the three of them could eat and drink their fill and have the strength to exorcise the ghost that night.

They had only eaten half of the food and wine when a servant led several Taoist priests to their door.

"Sir, this is Master Hong, whom I invited from Qingfeng Temple. He came here specifically to exorcise the ghost for us."

Qingfeng Temple is the largest Taoist temple within a radius of hundreds of miles, with flourishing incense offerings and a far-reaching reputation.

After Chen Wangfu's family was haunted, he sought out people everywhere to exorcise the ghost, but the monks and Taoists he invited all returned empty-handed, and some were even frightened away.

Left with no other option, they had to send someone to the farthest Qingfeng Temple to ask the Taoist priests there to exorcise the ghost.

Unexpectedly, before the Taoist priests from Qingfeng Temple arrived, Chen San had already invited Hua Laodao and his two companions.

This is awkward.

Those in the same trade are enemies; two groups of Taoist priests have come to exorcise the ghost. Who should we listen to?

Master Hong was displeased when he saw that the host had invited other Taoist priests.

But he was, after all, a cultivator, and he maintained a calm and composed demeanor.

He smiled slightly, bowed to Old Master Hua, and spoke with a touch of politeness.

"Greetings, fellow Daoist. I am Hong Tianlong from Qingfeng Temple. May I ask where you cultivate?"

Hua Laodao also stood up to greet him and said, "This humble Taoist practices at Wuhua Temple."

Master Hong raised an eyebrow slightly: "Wuhua Temple? Please forgive my ignorance. On which sacred mountain is Wuhua Temple located?"

Hua Laodao smiled slightly, stretched out his hand, pointed to the majestic mountain in front of the house, and said, "It's on this mountain right in front of us."

Master Hong was taken aback; he hadn't heard of any Taoist temple here.

As a local, Chen Wangfu knew every plant and tree here like the back of his hand, and explained:

"The mountain in front of my house is called Dog Tooth Mountain, which is both high and dangerous."

"Thirty years ago, a Taoist priest spent a lot of money to build a Taoist temple on the mountain."

"Because this mountain is too difficult to climb, not many people usually go up there. I heard that it was abandoned later."

"I wonder if this is the Taoist temple that Master Hua mentioned?"

Hua Laodao nodded and said, "That's right. I was traveling around and saw this Taoist temple lying in ruins, which was a great pity. So I repaired it and named it Wuhua Temple."

Upon hearing this, Master Hong couldn't help but sneer inwardly.

He had originally thought that Hua Laodao was a master from a famous sect, but he didn't expect him to be just a rogue Taoist. He felt much more relieved.

Since the opponent was just an unknown nobody, he was naturally confident of victory in tonight's exorcism show.

So he casually sat down with several young Taoist disciples and began to eat without ceremony, saying to Chen Wangfu as he ate:

"Master Chen, please rest assured that the exorcism will be handled by Qingfeng Temple."

They completely ignored Hua Laodao and his two companions, treating them as if they were invisible.

Tie Zhu was displeased upon hearing this.

"Master Hong, we arrived first."

Master Hong chuckled: "Little Taoist, there's no such thing as first come, first served when it comes to exorcising ghosts. Whoever has the ability can step up."

Liu Xingchen chimed in, "Then how do we know who's capable?"