My Master is the Real Boss – Chapter 35

Chapter 35: All First Times

Surrounded by the crowd and heading towards the Li residence, Xiang Jiannan really hadn’t expected his arrival to cause such a big reaction. After the direction-giving old man shouted, the originally somewhat deserted street immediately became lively. As if receiving a rallying cry, people kept gathering towards the location of him and Wang Yixing.

The crowd chattered all at once. After becoming somewhat familiar, they busied themselves escorting Xiang Jiannan and Wang Yixing towards Li Yuanwai’s home. Their gazes were filled with joy, curiosity, and even a peddler carrying goods on a shoulder pole announced loudly at the front of the group:

“Candied hawthorns! Open the door quickly, the little Taoist priest from Ping’an Temple is here!”

“Little Taoist priest, slow down.”

Guiding Xiang Jiannan to move slowly through the crowd, the wrinkles on the direction-giving old man’s face never smoothed out for a moment.

Li Yuanwai was a well-known philanthropist in Pingshun Town, and there was a reason why the villagers were so enthusiastic. Being able to personally escort the little Taoist priest to the Li residence was considered a good deed by the old man. If he had the chance later, he also wanted to see how this little Taoist priest would exorcise the demon.

It had only been a few days since Li Yuanwai was possessed by an evil spirit, and the people they had hired should have arrived by now.

“Grandpa, you slow down too.”

Knowing that he definitely couldn’t run away for the time being, Xiang Jiannan’s sleeve was tightly gripped by the direction-giving old man as he spoke.

This old man must usually be a warm-hearted person. The way he led the way gave him the illusion that the other party was afraid he would run away. With so many people surrounding him, Xiang Jiannan couldn’t possibly do such a thing. He didn’t even have a chance, and when he looked up, they had already arrived.

“The little Taoist priest from Ping’an Temple?”

A house servant was already standing by the roadside to welcome them. Before Xiang Jiannan even reached the door, a middle-aged man who looked like a steward had made all the preparations. He hadn’t met Xiang Jiannan before, but he didn’t dare to be negligent because of it. The matter of the master had been spreading like wildfire these past few days, and it might have even reached Ping’an Temple.

Hadn’t they invited their master and disciple to the ancestral tomb a few days ago? Once the people who had met them came out, the identity of this little Taoist priest could be confirmed.

The middle-aged man hadn’t been present the day Xiang Jiannan and his master went to Li Yuanwai’s ancestral tomb. He was aware of the matter, but he hadn’t come forward. At this moment, he was welcoming them ahead of the people from the residence, mainly to delay for a bit.

The person who went to the residence to report the news hadn’t returned yet.

“Little Taoist priest, you’ve finally arrived.”

His tone was exactly the same as the direction-giving old man. After Xiang Jiannan arrived beside him, the middle-aged man immediately greeted him courteously. His tone made it sound like they had agreed to meet long ago, and his expression was happier than everyone else present.

That expression, which showed no surprise at all, made Xiang Jiannan feel like he had fallen into a trap. His master had been so anxious to urge him to come find Li Yuanwai. Could it be that they had agreed on this long ago? It wasn’t until he saw someone come out of the Li residence and whisper a few words in the middle-aged man’s ear that he understood why this man wasn’t flustered at all.

He was acting, just to give others a false impression. Now, he must have already verified his identity. His tone became even more amiable as he spoke:

“Please, let’s go inside the residence to talk.”

With a wave of his right hand, he reminded the house servants to do their jobs. Xiang Jiannan saw that the people who had escorted him were all politely refused. Even though Wang Yixing was right behind him, pulling the donkey, he couldn’t avoid the same fate as them.

Watching the excitement while pulling a donkey cart, this man was truly interesting. It wasn’t until he explained himself that he proved Wang Yixing was one of his people.

The donkey cart was left to be taken care of by a special person. That man, you can follow the little Taoist priest inside.

“Taoist priest, you are truly a divine strategist. My madam was just saying she was going to invite you.”

Leading Xiang Jiannan and Wang Yixing through several courtyards, the middle-aged man’s mouth didn’t stop talking the entire way. They had indeed planned to invite Xiang Jiannan and his master, but because of the rain, they had been delayed these past few days. The main reason was that the master was sometimes fine and sometimes not, and the madam had been unable to make a decision.

The madam was meticulous and tended to overthink things. These past few days, everyone in the residence had been suffering along with her.

“How is Li Yuanwai’s condition now?”

Listening to the middle-aged man’s words, Xiang Jiannan didn’t feel relaxed at all. In fact, he was feeling somewhat annoyed by what he was saying.

He felt that he couldn’t solve Li Yuanwai’s problem on his own. What was frustrating was that he was already inside. He had a feeling that his master had done this on purpose. To be honest, that old Taoist couldn’t not know.

Was it to train him? His heart was truly cruel.

“He’s in the room being taken care of by a few house servants.”

As he spoke, he had already led Xiang Jiannan to their destination. The middle-aged man then quickened his pace up the steps.

On the steps, there was a haggard-looking woman, staring blankly at them.

“Madam, this is the little Taoist priest from Ping’an Temple.”

Stepping onto the steps, he reported to the woman. The middle-aged man then retreated to the side. He then saw the woman cover her face with a handkerchief, and before saying a word, she started crying:

“My poor master!”

Her cries were tragic and desolate, causing the maids beside her to also tear up.

Routine operation, don’t panic.

Knowing that Li Yuanwai’s family would definitely cry after seeing him, Xiang Jiannan stood below the steps without rushing to console them. There was nothing to say. Emotions needed to be released. As a transmigrator, he had seen too many similar scenes before.

He would speak after they finished crying.

“Madam, don’t be sad. With the Taoist priest here, the master will definitely turn bad luck into good.”

Seeing that Xiang Jiannan hadn’t spoken for a long time, the middle-aged man had no choice but to try to console her. Logically speaking, the little Taoist priest should be the one to do this, so why did it still fall on him in the end?

This little Taoist priest did seem extraordinary. He was silent and had an aura that didn’t match his appearance.

“Let’s go see Li Yuanwai.”

Seeing the woman go from crying to sobbing because of the middle-aged man’s words, Xiang Jiannan still hadn’t thought of anything to say during this time.

He was also feeling annoyed inside. He just wanted to see Li Yuanwai as soon as possible. If he waited any longer, the courage he had barely mustered might just dissipate.

Just because he was a Taoist, he had to hide his thoughts. For a time, he even thought being a woman was better.

“The master is in the side room, please follow me.”

Quickly signaling the maids to help the woman go rest, the middle-aged man found himself increasingly respecting this little Taoist priest.

Not a single word of nonsense, everything was focused on the matter at hand. If he had known this earlier, he would have gone to invite him even in the rain these past two days. There weren’t many Taoist priests like this in the Great Zhou Dynasty.

“Open the door, I am Steward Zhao.”

Leading Xiang Jiannan and Wang Yixing to the door of another side room, the middle-aged man finally let the two know his surname. With the sound of a door bar falling to the ground, a few house servants with dark circles under their eyes walked out of the room. They simply greeted them politely and then, yawning, went back into the room. Judging from their attitude, Xiang Jiannan felt that these people must have suffered a lot.

“Why is Li Yuanwai tied up?”

After entering the room, Xiang Jiannan immediately saw Li Yuanwai, who was bound tightly. Xiang Jiannan didn’t know whose bad idea this was. He saw that Li Yuanwai was wrapped in several layers of iron chains. At the moment, he was sitting by the bed with his head lowered. Perhaps he was woken up by Xiang Jiannan’s words, he then raised his head and opened his eyes. He looked no different from a normal person, and even took the initiative to greet Xiang Jiannan:

“Little Taoist priest, how have you been recently?”

“Good.”

Turning his head to look at Steward Zhao, Xiang Jiannan wanted to ask about Li Yuanwai’s specific situation, but just as he was about to speak, he felt a chill down his spine. Without needing to turn around, he knew that the tense and exciting moment had arrived again. He immediately shouted to lock the door, but he saw that everyone in the room except Wang Yixing had already jumped out of the room before him, and then quickly and nimbly pulled the door shut.

D*mn it, I’m still in the room!

Coming to the door and hearing the sound of it being locked, Xiang Jiannan knew that Steward Zhao and the others had misunderstood. Turning back to look at Wang Yixing, he saw that he was looking directly at Li Yuanwai, neither of them in a hurry. When he noticed that Xiang Jiannan was looking at him, Wang Yixing finally smiled excitedly:

“This is the first time I’ve seen a Taoist exorcise a demon.”

“It’s okay,”

Walking to Wang Yixing’s side and looking at Li Yuanwai with him, Xiang Jiannan’s tone became elusive:

“It’s my first time too.”

After saying these words, he saw Wang Yixing’s body instantly stiffen.