Chapter 21: Transaction
“Hope it’s useful.”
Zhang Qian carefully channeled True Qi into Director Liu’s body through his finger.
As the True Qi delved deeper, he slightly furrowed his brows. “Something’s not right…”
The True Qi was like a roaming dragon returning to the sea, showing no sign of clashing with the supernatural power inside Director Liu’s body.
“The power in the True Qi that suppresses supernatural forces comes from the Ghost Hand, so it can’t affect the supernatural remnants left by the Ghost Hand. If I only use the True Qi’s own power, I could forcibly counteract it, but Senior’s body probably couldn’t withstand such torment.”
With that thought, Zhang Qian scanned Director Liu’s body one last time, confirmed there were no other threats, and then withdrew his True Qi.
“How is it?” Wang Shijin leaned forward and asked curiously.
Zhang Qian shook his head slightly. “He needs to rest for a while first. Senior’s body can’t handle aggressive treatment right now.”
Director Liu was just an ordinary person after all, not as tough as a Ghost Controller. It was best to let his body recover before proceeding with treatment.
“Alright, I’m here watching over him, so you can rest assured.” Wang Shijin patted his chest in guarantee. “Headquarters will definitely use the best treatment methods.”
“Thanks.”
Zhang Qian said no more. With Headquarters backing it, the hospital side definitely wouldn’t have any problems.
Now it was time to deal with the fierce ghosts on his body, especially that skeleton. Carrying it around all the time wasn’t a good solution.
“Bzzz—”
The satellite phone in his pocket rang. Zhang Qian glanced at it and saw it was a call from Headquarters.
“Didn’t Feng Quan already go make the report? Why is Headquarters calling me?”
Though somewhat puzzled, Zhang Qian still chose to answer.
A youth’s voice came from the other end of the phone. “Hello, Zhang Qian. I’m Wang Xiaoming, a researcher at Headquarters on supernatural matters.”
Before Zhang Qian could ask, he continued, “Do you have a Skeleton Fierce Ghost on hand? Can you sell it to me?”
“It is in my possession, but I don’t want to sell it. Money is enough for me as long as I have sufficient amounts; it doesn’t really attract me.” Zhang Qian generously admitted while stating his stance.
“I can trade other things for it.” Wang Xiaoming’s attitude was firm, as if he was determined to get the skeleton.
Zhang Qian thought for a moment and tentatively said, “It’s not impossible. If you bring two fierce ghosts…”
“Deal. I’ll come find you this afternoon for the transaction.”
Wang Xiaoming eagerly agreed and then hung up to start preparations.
Li Jun saw Wang Xiaoming end the call and start flipping through fierce ghost information, feeling somewhat surprised. “Professor Wang, you’re just agreeing to Zhang Qian’s request like that?”
“This transaction doesn’t represent Headquarters; it’s a personal deal between me and Zhang Qian.” Wang Xiaoming said without looking up. “The Skeleton Fierce Ghost is very special to me. I’ll use my own contribution points to exchange for two fierce ghosts to trade with him.”
Wang Xiaoming was human, of course, and naturally had his own selfish motives.
In this chaotic world where supernatural events were frequent, wasn’t a ghost skeleton with strong life-preserving abilities perfect as a protective talisman?
He selected a few particularly special fierce ghosts and showed them to Li Jun. “These ones. Bring them all over and let Zhang Qian choose himself.”
“Got it.” Li Jun leaned over for a look and then issued orders to mobilize the fierce ghosts.
……
“Beep beep beep—”
Zhang Qian looked at the hung-up phone and fell into thought. He seemed to have underestimated Headquarters’ generosity.
He had thought fierce ghosts would be very rare, but unexpectedly, this Professor Wang agreed to a one-for-two trade without hesitation.
Still, trading for two fierce ghosts wasn’t bad. Anyway, Zhang Qian didn’t like the ghost skeleton much; there was no meat on it, and it would probably be tough to gnaw.
After sending a red envelope to the ride-hailing driver, Zhang Qian returned to his home in Old Town.
To his surprise, the main entrance was slightly ajar, and the faint aroma of meal wafted from inside.
“Dad, Mom, I’m back.” Zhang Qian pushed the door open and indeed saw Zhang Dad and Zhang Mom, whom he hadn’t seen in a while.
No, he had just seen them at the mental hospital last week, so it wasn’t that long ago.
Zhang Dad and Zhang Mom looked travel-worn, clearly having just arrived home themselves.
“Wash your hands, sit down, and eat. We can talk about things after the meal.” Zhang Dad didn’t ask where Zhang Qian had been. He got up and served three bowls of rice from the kitchen.
There was no conversation during the meal; Zhang Qian silently savored his mom’s cooking.
After the meal, Zhang Dad sat on the sofa and lit a cigarette. “Do you blame me? For believing those quack doctors and sending you to the mental hospital.”
“Of course not.” Zhang Qian shook his head firmly.
Zhang Dad took a deep drag on the cigarette. “It’s laughable, really. I’ve Zhang Yao Cheng have had some success in business, yet I didn’t even understand my own son. If the mental hospital hadn’t called, I’d probably still be in the dark. Those doctors are really useless; so many experts couldn’t even see that you were normal.”
Zhang Qian sat on the sofa and poured a glass of water for Zhang Dad, saying calmly, “Something like cultivating immortality is indeed shocking and unheard of. It’s normal to be misunderstood.”
Moreover, his behavior of trying to open the Ren and Du Meridians would probably seem like a very crazy thing in others’ eyes.
“Mm, as long as you understand that this stuff isn’t reliable. I was too strict before. Your mom and I have discussed it. If you want to do business in the future, you can learn from me and gradually take over the family business. If not, I won’t force you; it’s fine if you do something you like.”
Zhang Yao Cheng’s voice carried some guilt. “I’ll arrange the study abroad matter. If you want to attend university domestically, I can figure something out too.”
He had figured it out: all that talk of raising ambition in poverty and character in wealth was nonsense. He only had this one son; let him do whatever he wanted. Earning money was for spending, after all.
Zhang Qian shook his head. “I’m not interested in going to school. Catching ghosts and wandering around sounds pretty good.”
“Catching ghosts is good, catching ghosts…” Zhang Yao Cheng muttered it a few times and felt something off. “You want to become a Taoist priest now?”
“Alright, at least a Taoist priest is legitimate; it won’t be like before with silver needles stuck all over your body.” Zhang Yao Cheng shook his head helplessly and dialed his assistant’s number. “Xiao Wu, go find a good Taoist temple and donate some incense money to the masters. Zhang Qian wants to become a Taoist priest.”
“…Is it possible that I really am an immortal cultivator now?”
With no proof in words alone, Zhang Qian casually delivered a hand chop to the coffee table.
The solid wood coffee table didn’t hesitate at all and performed a clean one-slice-two-break for Zhang Yao Cheng.
“You…” Zhang Yao Cheng, caught off guard, accidentally dropped his cigarette onto his pants, startling him into quickly patting it off.
He squatted by the coffee table to examine it, stroking the smooth cut surface with some doubt. “Did you tamper with it beforehand?”
Zhang Qian shrugged. “No problem, there are plenty of things at home. I can demonstrate a few more times.”
Finally, after losing three kitchen knives, two cutting boards, and one dining table, Zhang Dad and Zhang Mom believed that Zhang Qian had truly awakened superpowers.
