Chapter 1 I am a cleaner

  "Even if I die under the peony flowers, it will be a romantic ghost." A sentence of poetry that has been passed down for thousands of years, both wonderful and beautiful. However, Fu Chuan, who is now standing under the peony tree, does not think so.

  The Flower Ghost is formidable, even Fu Chuang, who has a high level of Taoist cultivation, finds it difficult to deal with. The Flower Ghost is the spirit of a Tang Dynasty prostitute who was wronged and attached itself to a peony flower. It has been causing trouble in the world for thousands of years, and there are records of this in the sect's scriptures. This Flower Ghost escaped from the 34th generation leader of our sect during the reign of Emperor Taizong of Tang and its whereabouts were unknown until it reappeared today in the home of a wealthy man in Hong Kong.

  Fuhe glanced at the wealthy man who was already lying on the ground, as thin and dry as a corpse, and silently cursed him for his fate before continuing to trample the Peony Flower Ghost's vines underfoot. The flower ghost was unable to move at this time, its ferocious face could only let out a low growl in the center of the flower, "I have no grudges or grievances with you, the Fu family of South Gate, why do you pursue and kill me for a thousand years without letting go?"

  The Flower Ghost had cultivated for thousands of years and became a spirit, but still didn't have a personal form to show people. Piao Chuan wore a set of black casual clothes, looking like an ordinary tourist who came to Hong Kong to have fun, but who would have thought that he was actually the leader of the Maoshan Sect of Taoism?

  "Humph! Since ancient times, good and evil cannot coexist. You demon flower spirit, you poisoned several of my fellow disciples' ancestors a thousand years ago, and now I've finally discovered you. If I don't take care of you, it would be an injustice to the ancestors of the Orthodox Hall of the Fragrant Lotus View!"

  Fuhe is the apprentice of Qingyuan Daoren, the leader of Furong Daoist Temple. Fuhe held a yellow talisman between his fingers, muttered a few lines of Taoist scripture, and then threw it out. The talisman immediately turned into a beam of yellow light that shot out quickly and accurately, piercing the trunk of the flower demon's tree. The vines wrapped around Fuhe's body also rapidly retracted as if they were out of control. Then, the entire trunk of the flower demon's tree shriveled up like old bark.

  Deep red blood flowed out of the golden flower pot, and a demon-suppressing charm was not enough to take the life of the flower ghost. Fu Chuan carefully approached to examine it, and found that the stem of the flower had some unknown sticky liquid on it, which was still wriggling on the ground, making people feel nauseous just by looking at it.

  He treaded carefully on the riverbank, knowing that this nearly matured Huā Guǐ was full of toxic substances harmful to humans. This Huā Guǐ had accumulated a thousand years' worth of resentment, and anyone entwined by its resentful aura would immediately lose their sanity.

  Moreover, the flower demon made the rich man lose his mind after entwining him, and it was fed with fresh blood for many years. It can be said that it is a case of "adding insult to injury". According to the records in the door book, there is a 500-year-old purple-red ancient peony in a certain place in the mainland. The history of this ancient peony dates back to the Ming Dynasty and was left behind as a treasure at that time. According to the owner's family tree, the master of the flower should be the Left Chancellor of the Imperial Palace at that time. Later, the flower followed its master to Anhui Tongcheng, and then moved to Suzhou, but this ancient peony had a preference - that is, "eating meat".

  When killing fish, the fish guts or small shrimp caught back are buried in the flower pot. The roots absorb them, making the roots thicker and deeper, requiring several feet to dig. This way, every year when the flowers bloom, they become more vibrant and stunning.

  The peony had a history of eating meat, but other spiritual peonies only ate small fish and shrimp. The spirits in the flowers were mostly harmless, waiting for their next reincarnation before leaving their hosts. However, this peony was different. According to the records of the sect's leader, this peony was originally just an ordinary wild peony growing at the foot of Danxia Mountain in Luoyang. A courtesan happened to pass by Danxia Mountain and encountered the flower, which became a fateful encounter. The courtesan met with misfortune under the peony, being raped and murdered, dying a tragic death beneath its branches. Her unjust death was compounded by the humiliation she suffered before passing away, leaving behind a deep-seated resentment. From then on, her spirit attached itself to the peony flower, harming countless innocent travelers who passed through Danxia Mountain. The mountain, once famous for its serene beauty, became a place of terror, feared by the people of Luoyang.

  Fu Chuan knew that it wouldn't be easy to completely eliminate the Flower Ghost, but he could use a spell and the Five Pure Fires to burn it. Just as Fu Chuan was about to recite the incantation and stick on the talisman, a mournful cry came from within the flower, probably the Flower Ghost's last struggle.

  The flower demon was already bound by Fugui's spiritual rope, and no matter how hard it tried to break free with its resentful energy, it was impossible. Looking at her appearance, Fugui suddenly put down the talisman in his hand, and then looked at her as she spoke of her suffering: "I was sold to a brothel by my parents when I was three years old, and started serving customers at thirteen. I suffered all kinds of humiliation from the madam, and death would have been a blessing for me. But why did I have to suffer this kind of humiliation even before I died? I won't accept it! Heaven is unfair to me, and I want revenge!"

  Fu Chuan's voice was low and he looked tired, having just gotten off the plane and rushed here. He said in a deep voice: "A person's fate is already determined, you suffered hardships in your past life, why not think that maybe in the next life you'll be wealthy and prosperous? You're not an evil person, heaven won't let you suffer for ten lifetimes, but you still linger in the mortal world, harming countless innocent people over a thousand years." At this time, Fu Chuan glanced at the rich man lying on the ground, people really are more greedy when they have more money, already having so much wealth and yet still thinking of using evil magic to harm others.

  "For a thousand years, you've lost count of how many times you've been reincarnated, and long forgotten past grievances. Why must you become a vengeful spirit to haunt the world again? Heaven, you can't defeat it with your resentment alone. Do you think you can become a supernatural being just by relying on your grievances? Becoming an immortal, a spirit, or a demon is not an easy feat; everything depends on fate."

  "Sorry, I won't keep you!"

  As soon as Fu Chuan's words came out, the corner of his mouth moved, and with a flick of his finger, the flower was already surrounded by a burst of golden flames. The vengeful spirit of the flower still refused to give up, even as it turned into ashes, wanting to vent its resentment beyond the boundary. However, Fu Chuan had already leapt forward and sucked the green vengeful energy that was about to surge out of the roof into his Qiankun bag. He could take it back and ask the old monk with a shaved head from the temple to help pacify it. As a Taoist, he wouldn't be able to pacify the spirit, but Fu Chuan thought it was worth a try. After all, this deep-seated resentment wasn't something that could be easily eradicated - it had been lingering in the world for thousands of years and couldn't be eliminated just by destroying the flower.

  Fuhe didn't want to leave any leeway, he sympathized with Huagu's miserable life and the people she had harmed over the years were also somewhat greedy, so he wanted to give her a chance to reincarnate, therefore when capturing her, he didn't use the magical treasure Huo Qilin.

  After putting the flower demon into the Hundred Ghosts Bag, he said to the bag: "Humans have human paths, ghosts have ghostly ways. You've harmed countless people, but I think of your cultivation as not easy, and I won't destroy your form and spirit together. I hope that in the future you can eliminate your demonic nature and peacefully reincarnate."

  The bag made no sound, only the force of the hard object colliding with the mouth of the bag. Fujiang put the Hyakki Bag into a large cowhide backpack he had brought with him.

  After capturing Huagu, Fu Chuan returned to C City on the second day.

  Fu Xiang held the door handle, and in his heart, he couldn't help but feel a little regret. It had been eight years since he took over Bao Fa Tang, but he still hadn't met a real zombie. Since childhood, he had always aspired to be like the generations of masters of Bao Fa Tang, to subdue a real zombie. Unfortunately, in this society, all kinds of monsters and ghosts existed, but zombies were nowhere to be found.

  Bao Fa Tang is a branch of Taoism founded by the Fu family from Nanmen. They had already taken root here when C City was just a small fishing village, and they have been here for over a hundred years without falling. Unfortunately, people nowadays no longer believe in such things. If Fu Chuan were to say that he is a Taoist, he would probably be laughed at. So, as the only university graduate from the Fu family in C City for hundreds of years, after Fu Chuan took over Bao Fa Tang, he renamed it Bao Fa Cleaning Company and became its CEO. His disciple Yang Yangyang concurrently held various positions in the company, mainly responsible for odd jobs, while another woman, Hu, was in charge of the company's daily management, mainly responsible for financial management.

  The address of the Bao Fa Cleaning Company is in the Bao Fa Building, which was built by the former owner of the Bao Fa Hall on a piece of land he bought decades ago. It's not a high-end office building in the city center, but rather a residential apartment building. The Bao Fa Hall occupies the top two floors, and the remaining floors are rented out to others. In the past, they could rent out a good price, but now the Bao Fa Building, which is over 60 years old, is similar to the surrounding buildings that are about to be demolished. A two-bedroom apartment can only be rented for $400 per month. When there is no cleaning work, the three of them rely solely on the rental income to make a living.

  "Three sheep."

  Arrived.

  In front of the altar, Fu Chuang neatly pulled out a strand of green ghost from the hundred ghosts bag. Then, with one hand holding up the black medium-sized cauldron on the altar, he nimbly bit his finger and drew a circle around the mouth of the cauldron with his bleeding finger before throwing the flower ghost into it.

  He handed the basin to San Yang beside him and said, "Take it upstairs to help Guang Tou attain enlightenment."

  "Master." Three sheep took over the urn, wanting to walk but not walking, his expression was like he wanted to push him into a fire pit. Fu Chuan looked at him and asked: "What's wrong?"

  Three sheep opened their mouths and said, "You're settling accounts again. The master said you still owe him money for the last two times he helped your soul cross over. If you go this time, I'm afraid you'll be chased away."

  "Tell him to keep accounts and settle together at the end of the month."

  Fuhe rubbed his nose, thinking that this time he didn't make any money either. The rich man's family had moved all their belongings away, and he had sneaked into someone else's house without permission. It was lucky they hadn't called the police; where would he have gotten the chance to ask for money?

  Fu Chuan knew he had done it in vain again, "Go quickly!"

  The master in the Three Sheep's Mouth was actually younger than Fu Chuan, known as Master Hui Lin. At the age of 20, he became the abbot of a temple, but unfortunately, like Fu Chuan, who was considered to have declined from his family's prosperity, his temple was also demolished overnight by the demolition team. No matter how great his skills or deep his wisdom, he couldn't save the temple.

  Some things are just fated, Huilin came to rent a house in Bao Fa Building, and Fu Chuan knew from the first glance that this monk was extraordinary. On one occasion, they jointly subdued a fierce ghost, after which Fu Chuan decided to waive the monk's rent, but the monk had to agree to one condition: to help him free those vengeful spirits he had subdued in the future for free.

  Although it was free at first, later on the monks didn't work for nothing. Although they didn't have to pay rent, the monks still had to eat and drink, so in the end, Fu Chuan still followed the Buddhist principle of supporting the monks with some money after each ritual. However, he hadn't settled his account with the monks for two months now, no wonder even the monks were getting anxious.

  After lunch, Hu Lijing started settling accounts with Fu Chuan. As the financial manager of Bao Fa Tang, this was a title given to her by Fu Chuan. In fact, Hu Lijing was a distant cousin of Fu Chuan's, and had come to rely on him several years ago, so Fu Chuan had taken her in.

  Huli Jing put the account book in front of Fu Chuan and said, "This month's income is this much!" She had one hand on her waist and the other pointing at the dizzying numbers in the account book. Her fingers moved around on the book, and Fu Chuan widened his eyes in surprise, exclaiming, "It's really not a small amount!"

  "Damn it!"

  Hu Lijing immediately spat it back, pointing at the extra zero in the number: "This is what you used this month!"

  In Professor Xing Chengtian's office, Fu Chuan encountered a very tricky cleaning job two days ago, and probably only Xing Chengtian could help him resolve the issue.

  "Shi Ji was a demonic stone spirit, absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, receiving the essence of the sun and moon, and cultivating for thousands of years without achieving true enlightenment. Now that the great calamity has arrived, his original form is hard to preserve, so he came to this mountain. Firstly, Shi Ji's lifespan was about to end; secondly, Nezha should be born in this place. The heavenly decree has been set, how can it be avoided?"

  Now, Taiyi True Person covered the stone with a divine canopy. The stone inside the canopy had no sense of direction. The True Person clapped his hands, and inside the canopy, flames burst forth, intense light was born, and nine fire dragons coiled around - this was the Samadhi Fire refining the stone. A thunderclap sounded, and the true form of the princess was refined out, which turned out to be a block of unyielding stone. This stone was born outside the primordial void of heaven and earth, and after passing through the five elements, it was refined into a spirit; today, its heavenly fate had been decided, and it was destined to die in this place, so it revealed its true form. This was Taiyi True Person's opportunity to start killing. The True Person put away the divine fire canopy, as well as the Qiankun Circle and the Hun Tian Silken Thread, and entered the cave.

  Fu Chuan had just entered the office when he heard Xing Chengtian explaining doubts to his students. When Fu Chuan went in, he didn't disturb Xing Chengtian and sat down on one side, intending to wait.

  Xing Chengtian is a friend of his master and also a great Chinese archaeologist of ancient times. If Fu Chuan encounters something he doesn't understand, he will come to Xing Chengtian for help. Fu Chuan knows that what Xing Chengtian teaches his students should be about the disciples of the Jie Teach sect leader in mythology. Xing Chengtian didn't originally believe in these supernatural things, but after following his master on a journey through the underworld, he completely overturned all his previous knowledge and thoughts.

  Xing Chengtian hadn't seen Fu Chuan for a long time, "It's really been a while, I heard you went to Hong Kong, did you make a lot this time?" As soon as Fu Chuan was mentioned about this, he felt embarrassed and immediately said: "Don't mention it."

  Xing Chengtian knew that Fu Chuan had come to find him and must have something on his mind, so he asked: "Is there something?"

  Fuhe nodded slightly and pushed the door beside him, which closed with a creak. "Two days ago, an old man came to me to do some cleaning."

  Xing Chengtian was already very curious about these supernatural things, and Fu Chuan had come to his door. He didn't want to miss a wonderful story, "Continue."

  "This old man gave me a bad feeling as soon as he walked in."

  "Why?" Xing Chengtian asked.

  Fu Xiang paused for a moment, then touched his watch on his hand before saying: "That old man is a ghost."

  "The ghost is looking for you to clean up, aren't you afraid of losing your soul?"

  "Let me finish speaking." Fu Chuan was in a bad mood and didn't like others interrupting him: "He's a ghost who's been bothering me, asking me to clean for him. I should have taken care of him immediately, but he gave me two catties of gold as payment."

  Xing Chengtian was silent. Fu Chuan saw that Xing Chengtian didn't speak up, so he impatiently said: "Why don't you ask me if I've received it or not, if I've accepted it or not."

  Xing Chengtian helplessly spread his hands and said: "It was you who told me not to interrupt your speech."

  "Now you can ask."

  "Alright, I don't know if you've accepted or not, but I know that with money, you definitely won't refuse. As for whether to accept the ghost or not, it depends on whether you agree to it or not. However, I'm very curious what kind of cleaning job can earn you two catties of gold."

  "This is exactly why I came looking for you."

  Fu Chuan continued: "This time I need to go to Yunnan, and I think you will also be very interested." Fu Chuan occasionally goes out and invites Xing Chengtian to go together.

  "Where is Yunnan?" Xing Chengtian did not expect a ghost to run thousands of miles to find Fu Chuan here: "When the time comes, it won't be a ghost welcoming us, will it?"

  "He won't, he gave me an address, San Yang called to ask, there's someone there, and why that ghost would come looking for me, I'd like to know too."

  "Unlike other ghosts?" Xing Chengtian asked.

  "Ghosts also have seven souls, but I found that the ghost who came to find me was incomplete in his seven souls, as if he was being controlled by something."

  "Is someone controlling the ghost?" Xing Chengtian was somewhat unbelievable, but he also felt that there was nothing unusual. In their Bao Fa Tang, he had seen all sorts of demons and monsters. He raised his glasses slightly and said: "Alright, I'll go with you."

  Fuhe thought that this cleaning should be a good journey, the ghost holding gold to find himself, but his heavenly eye couldn't see clearly the past and present of that ghost.

  That old man gave Fu Chuan a very uncomfortable feeling, the kind of feeling that made Fu Chuan not accept him in the end. He still remembered the look on the old man's face when he came to find him, as if he was afraid of being overheard by others. The address he provided for himself was a mountain village in Yunnan, but his accent sounded like a northerner.

  A northern ghost actually let him go to a certain place in the south, Fu Chuan thought it was interesting, "Three sheep!"

  "Ah! Master." Three sheep ran in, hugging a bucket of instant noodles that had been completely wiped out. Fu Chuan hadn't eaten anything all day, and the fridge was empty. He had thought about making a bowl of noodles to eat, but there weren't even any noodles left.

  "Didn't buy vegetables today?"

  "Yes, Lijie said you spent all our meal money, so there's no money left to buy food, let us eat by ourselves."

  Fu Jiang almost spat out a mouthful of old blood, and San Yang's face turned pale.

  The big stall downstairs, Fu Chuan decided to bring San Yang here to open a restaurant. He still had some loose silver in his bag, and the gold brick had already been confiscated by Hu Lijin.

  Fu Chuan was familiar with the owner of the big stall, so the stir-fried clams were exceptionally many. San Yang looked at the owner's eyes and whispered to Fu Chuan: "Master, such a large plate of clams, it seems like she's afraid others won't know, every time she comes to you for fortune-telling, she eats your tofu."

  Fuhe's facial expression twisted, a mouthful of beer was stuck in his throat, and he finally managed to swallow it down with great effort. He pinched San Yang's cheeks with a fake smile, "So you should eat more, just think of it as helping Master get back the cheap stuff."

  "Of course!" San Yang immediately patted his chest, picked up the plate and poured more than half of it into his own bowl, then started eating with relish.

  He came down by the river just to have a beer, he didn't eat much, but his mind was still thinking about that old man's affairs, and the doubts in his heart couldn't be figured out.

  Fujiang didn't understand why that ghost would come all the way here to find him, how did he know his own, and where did that gold come from. The gold seemed to be privately smelted, which lacked a clue.

  Fu Chuan and the others drank two bottles of beer, finished the bill and stood up to leave. However, when he looked around, San Yang was nowhere to be found. He turned his head to look at the other side, only to find that San Yang had already moved to the other side and was standing with a pretty little girl.

  Fu Chuan stood there, and saw that the lovely little girl was walking towards him, with San Yang following closely behind. As soon as the little girl saw Fu Chuan, she joined her hands together in a prayer-like gesture, then raised her index and middle fingers, lowering her wrist to chest level, saying "Shi Bo."

  Fu Xiang nodded and said, "Helping your master buy a midnight snack."

  "Yes, Master just came back."

  "Alright, go ahead." Fu Jiang knew that the thermos contained a bowl of clear congee, and that dead girl liked to add some strange things inside, such as small shrimp, crab, and scallions, which he disliked, but she loved those seafood flavors.

  "Your master doesn't like cold things, hurry up and send it back."

  "Alright, Master."

  This girl is like San Yang, both are young apprentices. However, his Bao Fa Tang is struggling to make ends meet, while their Fu Rong Guan is bustling with activity. "Master, what's going on between you and Master Shu? For so many years, you've been like sworn enemies, living across from each other yet never interacting." San Yang followed closely behind Fu Chuan, he just couldn't understand why his beautiful Master Shu and his own master had become like this. From the time he entered the sect, it was clear that the two were on good terms, but after Master Shu's grandmother took her back, everything changed.

  However, in San Yang's eyes, he felt that there was no woman in the world who could be as beautiful, gentle, and devoted to Shifu as his own Shibo. Yet, such a good person had been ruined by Shifu, while others might just think it was nothing but a minor mistake, San Yang thought that Shifu's actions were even more shocking and heartbreaking.

  Fuhe returned home and remained silent, San Yang knew this was a normal reaction. Every time the little girl who bought porridge for Shifu came back, she would be sulky for a day and night. If she had seen Shifu, she would definitely scold whoever she met, like a powder keg, ready to ignite at any moment.

  "Three sheep!"

  "Arrived!"