On the mountain road from Renjia Town back to Potter's Field, Wen Cai was riding his bicycle with a cheerful grin on his face.
"Hehehe, I really hit the jackpot this time. I don't even know how to spend all these Silver Dollars!!"
Just thinking about the several Silver Dollars in his pocket made Wen Cai grin so wide his face looked crooked.
There were eight Silver Dollars in total. After giving three to Qiu Sheng, he still had five left.
That was more than a month's worth of pocket money for him.
Suddenly, the once eerie mountain road didn't seem so scary anymore.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh…
However, at that moment, a gust of gloomy wind blew from the end of the mountain road.
The already dark sky grew even darker.
The sudden chill made Wen Cai shiver from head to toe.
"Why did it get so cold all of a sudden? It's summer—could it be about to rain?"
Wen Cai muttered in confusion.
But he didn't think much of it and continued pedaling toward Potter's Field.
Hehehe…
Suddenly, a child's laughter echoed behind him.
The moment he heard it, Wen Cai felt a chill run down his spine.
"No way. I must've misheard. How could there be a child laughing at night!"
Wen Cai quickly shook his head, trying to convince himself.
He immediately sped up.
Yet right then, a pale little hand slowly reached out from behind Wen Cai.
The small hand gently tapped him on the shoulder.
Boom!!!!!!
In an instant, Wen Cai's mind went blank, and his whole body stiffened.
"Big brother, wanna play a game with me?"
A childlike voice whispered in Wen Cai's ear.
Wen Cai's face turned pale as he looked back in horror.
Roar!!!!!!
Suddenly, a child ghost with a rotting face and a gaping bloody mouth lunged at him with a screech.
"G-G-Ghost!!!"
Wen Cai screamed, rolled his eyes back, and passed out on the spot.
Bang!!!!!!
Losing control, the bicycle slammed hard into the ground along with Wen Cai.
"Huh? He passed out from that?"
The child ghost was speechless as he watched Wen Cai faint.
He poked Wen Cai with a tiny finger and confirmed that he had indeed been scared unconscious.
" Uncle Ming, Dabao, Xiaobao—come on out! I scared him unconscious!"
The child ghost waved toward the woods not far away.
From the trees emerged a middle-aged man with a small mustache and a teenage ghost around seventeen or eighteen.
These three were none other than Uncle Ming and his two ghost companions, Dabao and Xiaobao, from the movie Mr. Vampire.
"That was too easy. This kid's a total coward!"
Ming of Mount Mao scratched his head helplessly as he looked at the unconscious Wen Cai.
"What do we do now, Uncle Ming!?"
Xiaobao leaned in curiously to ask.
His rotten face startled Uncle Ming so much he shuddered.
"Ahem, Xiaobao, maybe change back to your normal appearance. Even the bravest would be scared looking at you—let alone this kid!"
Ming of Mount Mao said with a sigh.
"Hehehe, Xiaobao's scare tactics are getting better! Even Uncle Ming got spooked!"
Dabao chuckled at Uncle Ming's reaction.
"Shut it. I was worried Xiaobao would scare you."
Ming of Mount Mao rolled his eyes at Dabao.
Then he crouched down beside Wen Cai and began rifling through his pockets.
Soon, he fished out nine Silver Dollars.
Eight were leftovers from buying glutinous rice, and one was Wen Cai's stash money.
"Whoa? This kid's loaded!"
Seeing the nine Silver Dollars, Uncle Ming's eyes lit up.
With this much, he could buy more offerings for Dabao and Xiaobao.
But after a moment's thought, he took out four and stuffed them back into Wen Cai's clothes.
"Kid, bad luck for you running into Uncle Ming. Next time, don't go wandering around at night! If you meet a real Malevolent Ghost, your life's gone for sure."
With that, Uncle Ming slipped the remaining five Silver Dollars into his own pocket.
" Uncle Ming, where are we going next?"
Dabao asked curiously.
"This time we're heading to Taishan. I spent good money buying a lead from a fellow Taoist."
"Apparently a big landlord there has a haunted house. He's not generous, but he's a total coward."
"We'll scare him a little and he'll cough up loads of cash."
Ming of Mount Mao grinned as he spoke.
He didn't feel much guilt conning wealthy folks like that.
With that money, he could bring Dabao and Xiaobao to find a powerful cultivator to release their souls. That way, they wouldn't have to follow him living rough all the time.
Truth be told, Uncle Ming had done his fair share of shady things, but mostly out of necessity.
"Great! Then let's use our old trick to scare him!"
Xiaobao said excitedly.
"Let's go. Taishan's not far from Renjia Town. We should arrive by morning. Then Uncle Ming will treat you two to a feast!"
Ming of Mount Mao patted Xiaobao's head and smiled as he looked toward Taishan.
Now, though Uncle Ming was a cultivator, he actually had no real connection to Mount Mao.
Mount Mao was one of the most prestigious Taoist sects in the cultivation world. Its name and the strength of its disciples spoke for themselves.
Just look at their entry standards:
Only those who reached the First Heaven of the Human Master Realm before the age of eighteen could be accepted as entry-level disciples.
And to officially graduate and travel the world, one had to reach the Earth Master Realm.
This applied to sect-line disciples.
Uncle Nine, Taoist Priest Four-Eyes, and Shi Jian were all such core disciples who had trained with Mount Mao from the start.
As for Ling Xiao, Wen Cai, and Qiu Sheng—disciples taken in by Uncle Nine and others—those were branch disciples.
Branch disciples also had to reach the Earth Master Realm to graduate. Until then, they weren't recognized as true Mount Mao disciples.
So anyone claiming to be a Mount Mao disciple out in the world had to be at least Earth Master Realm level.
And someone at Earth Master Realm could handle 99% of all ghosts and monsters.
That was why the name "Mount Mao" was such a golden brand.
This was exactly why Uncle Ming took the name—just to borrow some of Mount Mao's fame.
Of course, if Mount Mao's core members ever caught someone like him, a beating was the least he'd get. In serious cases, they might even destroy his cultivation.
Luckily, Uncle Ming had never explicitly said he was a Mount Mao disciple. He only changed his name to "Ming of Mount Mao."
In fact, his master's master was a legitimate disciple of Mount Mao. But unfortunately, his master never reached Earth Master Realm before dying, so he only counted as half a disciple.
As for Uncle Ming himself, he was even less qualified. Still, he was a cultivator at the Fourth Heaven of the Human Master Realm, so he had some skills—and he kept on the move.
That's how he had avoided getting caught.
……
……
About ten minutes later, Wen Cai slowly came to.
"Ghost!!!"
As soon as he recalled what happened, Wen Cai screamed and jumped up from the ground.
Then, without hesitation, he hopped on his bike and raced toward Potter's Field.
……
……
Meanwhile, inside Potter's Field—
"Master, did you call for me?"
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