"Help! There's a ghost!"
A nightmare-level ghost—this was a being of the fifth rank, a height she could never hope to reach in her lifetime.
"Didn't you say you'd help me gather information?" Mo Lin asked Feng Mingyu.
"Right, right..." Feng Mingyu snapped out of her shock.
"This way."
She led the way, with Mo Lin following closely behind. As they walked, more people began to appear on the streets.
Mo Lin and Feng Mingyu arrived at a nondescript little shop. The sign above the door advertised the establishment, which housed a few lower-tier ghosts behind bars in the middle of the room. A protective barrier separated them from the outside—a small twenty-centimeter gap in the glass allowing for transactions to occur.
Inside, an elderly man sat. He wore dark sunglasses, and in front of him were dozens of phones. His eyes were fixed on the screens, while his pen busily jotted something down in a notebook. He appeared utterly engrossed in his work.
Mo Lin and Feng Mingyu entered the shop, but the old man didn't seem to notice them at all.
Feng Mingyu pointed to the old man and said, "This is my uncle..."
"Your uncle's a bit old..." Mo Lin couldn't help but remark, feeling slightly embarrassed.
The old man was at least in his fifties or sixties, while Feng Mingyu was barely in her twenties.
"I can't help but make a comment," Mo Lin said with a smirk.
"My uncle is very capable. His main job is to gather information. He knows all the important news around Yun Chuan," Feng Mingyu explained.
Feng Mingyu greeted the old man through the protective glass. "Uncle..."
Liu Feng paused his work and looked up, smiling upon seeing Feng Mingyu's face.
"Ah, Mingyu! It's been a while. How've you been?"
"Not bad."
Feng Mingyu pointed to Mo Lin beside her and introduced him to Liu Feng. "This is my friend, Mo Lin."
Upon hearing the name, Liu Feng leaned forward, examining Mo Lin closely.
"I know this kid. He caused quite a ruckus at the Xian family's place a few days ago, and just yesterday, he nearly toppled the Ghost Tamer Society headquarters."
Liu Feng quickly recalled the events surrounding Mo Lin.
"By the way, this guy sold several top-tier ghost instruments just a few days ago."
Upon hearing this, Mo Lin understood that Feng Mingyu hadn't been exaggerating. Her uncle's network of information was indeed formidable.
"What's the matter?" Liu Feng asked. He was familiar with Feng Mingyu's nature—she wouldn't show up without a reason.
Feng Mingyu lightly tapped Mo Lin's shoulder, signaling him to speak.
"I came to inquire about some information," Mo Lin said straightforwardly to Liu Feng.
"Information? Sure, but my information comes at a cost. It's paid in Hell Coins," Liu Feng responded. Gathering news was his livelihood, after all.
He had substantial daily expenses related to his work.
"That's fine," Mo Lin nodded in agreement.
"Alright, what do you want to know?"
"I'm looking for information on who captured a ghost child a while back."
"I'll check for you."
Liu Feng grabbed a white notebook and began flipping through it. After a few minutes, he found the information he sought. He then took a pen, wrote down the details on a piece of paper, and waved it in front of Mo Lin.
"The information you wanted is here. It'll be 1,000 Hell Coins. No haggling."
Mo Lin didn't hesitate. He took out the 1,000 Hell Coins and handed them to Liu Feng.
Through the protective glass, Liu Feng handed the paper back to Mo Lin.
Mo Lin unfolded it, and the message was simple: "The ghost child was captured by a disciple of the Qi Dao Temple."
Although Mo Lin wasn't sure how Liu Feng had obtained this information, it certainly didn't seem fabricated.
"My uncle's information is always accurate. If he gives you something, you can trust it completely," Feng Mingyu said to Mo Lin.
"Where is the Qi Dao Temple? What kind of place is it?" Mo Lin asked, unfamiliar with it.
Feng Mingyu's eyes widened in shock. "Oh my ancestor... You're not planning on causing trouble at the Qi Dao Temple, are you?"
Having already angered Grandfather Sun, was Mo Lin now going to stir up trouble with the Qi Dao Temple as well? Was he trying to antagonize everyone in Yun Chuan, both the underworld and the law?
"Well, it's not so much causing trouble as it is... asking for something," Mo Lin explained.
Feng Mingyu rolled her eyes. She didn't believe him for a second.
"Can't you just settle down for a bit? The Qi Dao Temple holds great influence in Yun Chuan. There are two major Daoist temples here—the Jin Ci Tang and the Qi Dao Temple."
"Jin Ci Tang is home to Ghost Tamers and Daoists, while the Qi Dao Temple is entirely comprised of Daoists—around a dozen of them."
Mo Lin wasn't very familiar with Daoists, having never interacted with them before.
However, his master had once been a highly respected Taoist priest in the human world, part of the Taoist tradition.
"The Qi Dao Temple practices orthodox Daoism. They specialize in ghost hunting, and their main source of income comes from exorcising spirits. Occasionally, they also engage in small businesses, such as selling ghosts," Feng Mingyu explained further.
"Alright, I understand," Mo Lin said, preparing to leave.
"What are you doing? You're not really going to the Qi Dao Temple, are you?" Feng Mingyu asked, pursuing him.
"Yes, I have something urgent to attend to. I'm going to the Qi Dao Temple."
"Wait... the Qi Dao Temple isn't a place to trifle with... Wait..."
Feng Mingyu tried to dissuade him, but Mo Lin didn't listen and walked away without a second thought.
Feng Mingyu, utterly speechless, couldn't believe how reckless he was.
A man who had no regard for consequences?
Feng Mingyu opened the chat for the Yun Chuan Ghost Tamers, venting her frustration.
Feng Mingyu: "I'm at a loss. Mo Lin is a real troublemaker."
Lin Xi: "Σ(⊙▽⊙"a?"
Yun Ling: "What now?"
Sha Jian: "What happened? Didn't we solve the Sun Grandfather issue already?"
Feng Mingyu: "Mo Lin's off to stir trouble at the Qi Dao Temple."
Yun Ling: "What?"
Lin Xi: "Huh? Is he incapable of sitting still?"
Sha Jian: "Has this guy lost his mind? First Sun Grandfather, now the Qi Dao Temple?"
Yun Ling: "What's going on with him?"
Feng Mingyu: "I don't know, but he's already gone to the Qi Dao Temple. He's a real troublemaker. I'm going to check on him now."
Lin Xi: "o(╥﹏╥)o Does he enjoy causing chaos?"
In less than a day since joining the group, Mo Lin had already become the center of their discussions.
Feng Mingyu set off to catch up with him.
After leaving the black market, Mo Lin turned on the navigation and followed the route to the Qi Dao Temple.
The Qi Dao Temple was a Daoist temple, covering around 2,000 square meters. It wasn't very large but was well-decorated, with stone lions at the entrance.
A young man in simple clothes guarded the gate. He lounged lazily in a chair, his legs crossed, drifting in and out of sleep.
His eyes would flutter open briefly before closing again, in a repetitive cycle.
But when his eyes opened slightly one time, his body jolted with shock, and he fell off the chair, scrambling to his feet in panic.
"Senior Brother, help! There's a ghost! A ghost!"
He cried, stumbling toward the door of the temple, looking frantic.
"Brothers... hurry out! A ghost is here... a very fierce one..."
Mo Lin arrived at the Qi Dao Temple just after seven in the evening. He looked around, but no one was there except him.
A ghost?
Was he being mistaken for a ghost again?
Mo Lin found this puzzling. When he first returned to the human realm, people had mistaken him for a ghost. And now, again, he was being mistaken as one.
These people must have some ability to sense spirits. Perhaps they had mistaken Mo Lin for a ghost through their spiritual sight.
Of course... this was just Mo Lin's theory.
From another perspective, he could also be considered a ghost, seeing as he held an identity in the Underworld.