I have the face of a great demon.

Old Master Hua was right. While Master Hong was still smugly accepting the flattery of Master Chen's family, things changed.

On the old woman's face, the talisman that had been faintly glowing seemed to be struggling, but the light grew weaker and weaker, as if it would go out at any moment.

But Master Hong had his back to her and didn't notice any of this.

With a beaming smile, Mr. Chen said, "Master Hong is truly a celestial being descended to earth; he subdued the ghost with a single move. Now my old lady can rest in peace."

"Haha, Mr. Chen, you flatter me. This is nothing. As long as I have this talisman, this ghost can't cause any trouble."

As Master Hong spoke, he turned to look at the three of them, including Elder Hua, his smugness evident in his eyes.

Such a powerful ghost was dealt with by me with just one talisman, instantly outshining these quacks.

Master Chen chimed in, "That's right. When Master Hong makes a move, he accomplishes it perfectly. Unlike some people who only talk the talk but never walk the walk, just sitting there doing nothing."

"Hehehe..." The two of them laughed.

The three, including Hua Laodao, remained noncommittal; they were waiting to see what would happen.

Taking advantage of Master Hong's good mood, Master Chen quickly made his request.

"But my old lady can't just be buried with a talisman pasted on her like this, can she? Master Hong, please think of another way."

“No problem, no problem. Wait another half an hour, and this brat will be destroyed by my talisman. Then we can…”

Before he could finish speaking, a sudden change occurred.

Master Hong's ears caught a low, terrifying growl coming from behind him. The sound seemed to come from the depths of hell, making his heart leap into his throat.

He turned around abruptly and saw that the talisman on the old woman's face had lost its luster, clearly indicating that it could no longer suppress the ghost inside her.

The old woman's hands were withered like dry branches, but she reached out to Master Hong with astonishing speed and grabbed his neck.

Her mouth was wide open, revealing sharp, knife-like teeth, which lunged straight at Master Hong's neck.

Oh my God!

Master Hong reacted quickly, and a stream of heat gushed out, soaking his lower body.

Just as the old woman's sharp teeth were pressed against Master Hong's neck, a figure rushed to his side with lightning speed.

Liu Xingchen had been prepared for this moment for a long time.

He used his movement technique to rush forward, took out the prepared talisman, and as he circulated his spiritual power, the talisman emitted light.

Liu Xingchen slapped the talisman onto the old woman's face.

"Aww~~~~"

The old woman let out a painful scream, her face turning as if it had been doused with sulfuric acid, emitting blue smoke and quickly becoming charred black.

Ten breaths later, the old woman fell silently to the ground and never moved again.

At this moment, Master Hong, who had narrowly escaped death, came to his senses. His body was still trembling uncontrollably, his legs were weak, and he could hardly stand.

His crotch was dripping wet, just like Mr. Chen, who was two steps away, both of them were dripping water, creating a striking contrast.

Liu Xingchen suppressed a laugh and said, "Master Chen, the ghost has been eliminated, and your old lady can now rest in peace."

"Ah. Can...can I be laid to rest now? Good...good. Thank you very much, young Taoist priest. I'll have someone take care of it right away."

Mr. Chen's voice was still trembling, clearly not yet fully recovered from the shock he had just experienced.

"Chen San, Chen San!"

"Yes, sir! Chen San will take care of it immediately and send the old lady to be buried in peace."

"Please don't rush, madam. Please help me, my legs are weak."

After the evil spirits on the old lady's body were exorcised, Mr. Chen's family could finally breathe a sigh of relief and return to their peaceful lives.

To express his gratitude to Master Hua and his party, Master Chen generously offered Master Hua two hundred taels of silver, more than double the originally agreed reward.

I was blind to your greatness before and neglected Master Hua. Consider this extra silver as an apology.

Hua Laodao exchanged a few polite words, but the smile on his face betrayed his feelings; he accepted the silver with a beaming smile.

Tie Zhu hugged the heavy silver coin, his eyes narrowing into slits with a smile.

With so much silver, how much rice could you buy?

Now we can eat as much as we want.

Old Master Hua whispered to him, "Look at you, so easily satisfied. You're happy with just a little bit of silver? Watch how your master makes money."

Then he turned to Master Chen and said:

“Master Chen, the evil spirit in your house has been exorcised, and you will be safe for the time being. We should take our leave now.”

“Hey, Daoist Master, it’s the middle of the night, how can you leave? Why don’t you stay at my humble abode for the night and let me do my duty as a host? You can leave tomorrow.”

Mr. Chen extended a warm invitation.

Hua Laodao politely declined, but agreed to stay the night.

"By the way, the Taoist priest just said that there won't be any problems for the time being. What does that mean? Does it mean that there will be problems later?"

A look of worry appeared on Mr. Chen's face.

"Well, although this ghost has been exorcised, it's hard to say whether other ghosts will appear in the future."

"But it's alright, we can come again if anything happens."

"That won't do!" Master Chen exclaimed anxiously upon hearing this.

The Taoist priest is right. If a ghost can target a family once, it's hard to guarantee that it won't target them a second time. We must be on guard.

"Master, you live far up in the mountains. If I need to ask you for help, I'm afraid it will be too late. Do you have any good ideas for me?"

There was a hint of anxiety in Mr. Chen's tone.

Old Master Hua stroked his beard, pondered for a moment, then took out a talisman and said:

"Here you go. Look, this is the talisman used to exorcise the evil spirit. It was specially made using our temple's secret method and many precious materials."

"You just saw its power; no evil spirit is immune to it."

"As long as you stick this talisman on your door, you can rest easy. No ghost will dare to enter your door."

Master Chen was overjoyed upon hearing this, for with this talisman, he could suppress the ghost.

He immediately asked, "Excuse me, Taoist priest, how much does one of these talismans cost?"

Hua Laodao stretched out his hand.

"Fifty taels of silver per piece."

What an expensive talisman!

The price made Mr. Chen gasp, but considering the power of the talisman, he reluctantly bought one.

No, two.

Only by placing one on each of the front and back doors can you rest easy.

Master Hong felt a pang of envy watching Master Hua making so much money.

What's so great about it?

Isn't it just because they're using powerful talismans?

If I had such a talisman, I definitely wouldn't lose to them.

But no matter how unwilling he was, he had to admit that he had lost a lot of money on this trip.

He didn't make any money, lost all face, and even almost lost his life.

Looking dejected, Master Hong ignored Master Chen's attempts to persuade him to stay and insisted on leaving.

Although it was the dead of night, they had a carriage and the moonlight was beautiful. Ashamed to face Master Hua, Master Hong preferred to travel back at night.

But just as he was about to leave, he heard Old Hua say something.

"Fellow Taoist, please stay."