STD CH6

Chapter 6: Offending Public Morals

Lu Wenxi was stunned for a moment, unable to utter a single word for quite a while, his feelings somewhat complicated.

However, Xu Chen looked completely serious, staring straight into his eyes with a candid, pure gaze like a clueless little lamb, waiting patiently for his answer.

Actually, the reason Lu Wenxi had been suspicious was that he noticed Xu Chen hadn’t brought a bag the first time he came, whereas this time he had. Had he brought his tools along because he was coming to scam him and guessed he would have to read his bazi this time?

And issuing a tax invoice on top of that?

Still, he didn’t dare say it out loud. He was afraid Xu Chen would walk away again, and if he later found out he had wrongly accused Xu Chen, he wouldn’t even have a place to go cry.

“You… are actually pretty legit,” Lu Wenxi remarked, his words contradicting his thoughts.

“I have seen my martial uncles issue them before. Quite a few businessmen hire them to inspect the Fengshui of real estate developments and private residences.”

Lu Wenxi had heard of this sort of thing. Plenty of people liked hiring someone to check the Fengshui when developing new properties or buying their own homes. When his dad contracted new real estate projects, he had hired Fengshui masters to take a look too. Even before starting film shoots, they had to burn incense to pray for good luck.

This much he could understand. After hesitating a moment, he nodded, pointed toward his apartment, and asked, “Shall we go inside and discuss the details?”

“Alright.” After agreeing, Xu Chen added, “If you require a tax invoice, I will need some time before I can get it to you.”

“If it’s too much trouble, forget it. I don’t even know if I’ll live long enough for you to hand me that invoice.”

The two went back into the apartment. Lu Wenxi locked the door from the inside, only to see the robot vacuum humping his slipper again. He immediately picked it up, preparing to move it out of the way. Who knew how Yin Hanwei had programmed the thing, because the moment he lifted it, the robot vacuum cried out, “His Majesty has been assassinated! Hurry and protect the Emperor!”

Irritated, Lu Wenxi set it off to the side and pressed the power button to shut it off, muttering at the same time, “Now His Majesty has passed away.”

Xu Chen watched the whole thing. His eyes swept over the robot vacuum before he followed Lu Wenxi further into the living room.

“Since you say I don’t have long to live, that means the time you’ll need to protect me won’t be very long either. I’ll inform my assistant about this; he handles the accounts. I’ll pay you a five-million-yuan deposit first, and after I die… F*ck, damn it all… whatever, after I die, he’ll pay you the remaining fifteen million. We can draw up a written agreement. Give me your bank card number and phone number.” Saying the words “about to die” right now was a sentence structure Lu Wenxi thoroughly despised.

Speaking, Lu Wenxi walked over, pulled a folder out of his suitcase, and took out a check to start filling it out. After waiting a moment and noticing no movement from Xu Chen, he looked up at him in puzzlement.

“I do not have a bank card, nor do I have a mobile phone,” Xu Chen answered.

“Then how am I supposed to give you the money? Do you want it all in cash? Should I rent a truck to haul it over?”

“Could you perhaps pay my tuition fees for me first?”

Lu Wenxi froze once again. He sized up Xu Chen; the clothes and backpack on him really were quite worn out and probably very cheap. A young man like this hadn’t even paid his tuition yet?

“Then when I tried to give you money yesterday, why didn’t you take it?” he asked.

“I do not take that kind of money.”

Lu Wenxi realized that the way he had offered the money yesterday probably felt like an insult. Xu Chen must have hated it and refused to accept it out of pride. He couldn’t help sighing, “You’re already this poor, yet you still act so lofty and aloof.”

Xu Chen pressed his lips together without speaking, clearly disliking that barbed tone.

Lu Wenxi raised a hand and beckoned Xu Chen over. “How do we pay the tuition? If online payment works, I can transfer it to them right now.”

At that, Xu Chen reached into his bag, pulled out a notebook, flipped it open to check, and handed it to Lu Wenxi.

The characters in the notebook were written in ballpoint pen, yet the handwriting was remarkably neat—standard regular script, very easy to read. It looked practically printed, orderly and meticulous.

Written on the page was a string of bank account numbers, instructions on what to watch out for during the wire transfer, how to fill out the remarks section, and Xu Chen’s student ID number.

Looking at what was written in the notebook, Lu Wenxi opened his banking app, followed the exact instructions to process the transfer, and pointed at the amount written on the page: “Just transferring this exact amount is enough?”

“Yes.”

Once the transfer went through, Lu Wenxi showed his phone screen to Xu Chen. “It’s done. Do you have any living expenses on you right now?”

Xu Chen said nothing.

“Have you eaten dinner tonight?” Lu Wenxi asked again.

Xu Chen still remained silent.

What an extraordinarily impoverished little Taoist priest this was…

“Come on, your bro will take you out to eat.” Lu Wenxi slid his phone into his pocket, pulled his wallet from his bag, opened it, and drew out five hundred-yuan bills to hand to Xu Chen. “I don’t carry much cash on me, take this for now.”

Xu Chen hesitated briefly before reaching out to accept the bills and tucking them into his trouser pocket.

Lu Wenxi then threw on his black jacket, pulled on a cap, and slipped on a mask, completing his disguise.

The two walked out the door together. Lu Wenxi led Xu Chen to the elevator lobby and pressed the down button.

Standing diagonally behind him, Xu Chen quietly observed Lu Wenxi’s actions. When the elevator doors slid open, Lu Wenxi stepped straight inside.

Once inside, Lu Wenxi realized Xu Chen hadn’t moved. Holding the elevator doors open with his hand, he asked, “Aren’t you coming in?”

“What is this?” Xu Chen asked, pointing at the elevator.

“This… is an elevator.”

“What does it do?”

“It takes you downstairs.”

Looking puzzled for a moment, Xu Chen still followed Lu Wenxi inside. The instant he stood steady, the elevator doors closed, and the cabin began descending. The numbers on the display screen shifted downward, and soon the doors parted again as Lu Wenxi walked out.

Trailing behind him and discovering they had already reached the ground floor, Xu Chen couldn’t help widening his eyes in astonishment as he looked around. When Lu Wenxi glanced back at him, he felt as though Xu Chen’s eyes lit up for a brief second—like someone discovering a new continent, or a young boy spotting his childhood hero.

This little Taoist… had never ridden an elevator before, didn’t even know what an elevator was.

Taking this in with a touch of curiosity, Lu Wenxi asked, “Did you live in a Taoist temple before? Up in the mountains? You’d never come down?”

“Yes, this is my first time descending the mountain,” Xu Chen answered truthfully.

“No wonder. Still, since your martial uncles make good money, why didn’t they help pay your tuition?”

Xu Chen pursed his lips. Having looked secretly excited just a second ago, he instantly reverted into a silent gourd, saying nothing and simply trailing behind Lu Wenxi.

Lu Wenxi began speculating that perhaps his elders disapproved of their junior not inheriting the temple’s mantle and instead going off to attend university, meaning this little Taoist had likely insisted on coming down on his own. Immediately, Lu Wenxi conjured up a mental image of a pitiful kid from the deep mountains yearning to go to school, and he couldn’t help feeling a surge of sympathy for Xu Chen.

Checking his phone, Lu Wenxi saw it was already 10:47 PM. He wondered what shops might still be open at this hour. Had the reporters outside cleared out yet? Would he get recognized walking around like this?

Right then, under a streetlight not far ahead, he spotted two dark shadows standing together—one taller, one shorter, clearly a man and a woman. The man even had one hand propped against the streetlight pole, trapping the woman beneath his arm as they seemed to chat before sharing a kiss.

Lu Wenxi froze, suddenly remembering he could see ghosts now. He looked around involuntarily and noticed several more dark shadows playing basketball on the sports court a little further away. Naturally, someone must have burned paper offerings of a basketball for them, so to Lu Wenxi’s eyes, the round ball was also a dark shadow.

After gathering his wits, Lu Wenxi turned his head and asked Xu Chen, “After people die, their souls can still date?”

Caught off guard by the question, Xu Chen furrowed his brows, though it was hard to tell whether he was genuinely pondering it or simply disliked the topic. As Lu Wenxi kept watching him, Xu Chen finally answered, “It should be possible.”

“Then can they do papapa?”

“What does papapa refer to?”

“Having sex.”

“…” Xu Chen went speechless for a long beat before replying, “I do not know.”

His tone wasn’t particularly pleasant.

Lu Wenxi concluded that this guy was definitely the abstinent type.

Stuffing his hands into his jacket pockets, Lu Wenxi walked forward with his head lowered. After a short distance, he glanced back at Xu Chen. “What do you like to eat?”

“Anything is fine.”

“At this hour, probably only a few places are still open. I’ll buy you KFC.” Saying so, he led Xu Chen out of the residential complex. Upon reaching the restaurant, he told Xu Chen to wait by the entrance while he went up to order a huge pile of food, tacking on a rice combo meal at the end.

While ringing him up, the cashier stole several extra glances at Lu Wenxi, seemingly recognizing him.

Lu Wenxi maintained his usual nonchalant demeanor, standing by the pickup counter to wait.

When the employee went to the back to pack the order and returned, several other staff members tagged along. They all peered over at Lu Wenxi, craning their necks. One bolder employee even opened her phone’s front camera, pretending to take a selfie while actually angling the lens to capture Lu Wenxi in the background.

Seeing this, Lu Wenxi pulled down his mask, took off his cap, smiled toward the girl’s selfie camera, and flashed a peace sign, instantly eliciting a muffled squeal from the girls.

After the photo, Lu Wenxi put his disguise back on, grabbed his bags of food, and walked out of KFC.

Reaching the door, he saw Xu Chen staring at him with a puzzled expression. Xu Chen spoke up, asking, “Can they also see the aura of death on you?”

“Probably not.”

“Then why did they scream?”

Lu Wenxi couldn’t come up with an answer. He stalled for a second before deciding not to explain anything at all. Explaining what an idol celebrity was to a little Taoist who didn’t even know what an elevator was would be way too difficult; Xu Chen probably couldn’t comprehend celebrity fandom culture either.

On the walk back, Lu Wenxi spotted another swaying dark shadow.

Actually, now that he knew ordinary souls were harmless, Lu Wenxi wasn’t particularly scared anymore and stayed fairly calm when seeing them. However, something seemed off about this specific shadow. Turning around and spotting Lu Wenxi, it froze for a beat before abruptly charging straight at him.

Startled, Lu Wenxi instinctively took a step back, only to hear Xu Chen beside him murmur, “Forgive the intrusion.”

In a flash, Xu Chen lunged forward a step, clamped his hand over the back of the dark shadow’s head, and slammed it forcefully toward the ground. His speed was astonishingly fast—so quick that in a split second, Lu Wenxi only saw a blur before the shadow was pinned violently against the pavement, collapsing with virtually zero resistance.

Next, Xu Chen pulled a blank sheet of yellow paper from his trouser pocket and tossed it upward. The yellow paper actually hovered suspended in mid-air on its own. Xu Chen drew the folding fan from behind his waist and snapped it open, revealing intricate, complex patterns arranged neatly side by side across the fan’s surface.

With the fan open, Xu Chen chanted something under his breath. Immediately, Lu Wenxi watched one of the patterns lift right off the fan’s surface, float through the air, and imprint itself onto the yellow paper.

Watching the scene unfold before him, Lu Wenxi felt that not even TV drama special effects dared to pull off something like this, nor could they look half as realistic. Earlier, when he saw Xu Chen carrying a folding fan, he had fully expected the kid to suddenly whip it out and start singing Ali, Alibaba when nobody was looking—who knew the fan actually operated like this?

Xu Chen snapped the fan shut, plucked the talisman out of mid-air, and slapped it onto the shadow pinned on the ground. In that same completely unruffled voice, he spoke words that sent a chill down Lu Wenxi’s spine: “Rest in peace.”

The dark shadow gradually dissolved, turning into fine ash and vanishing into the night.

Black flames seemed to ignite briefly as the talisman flared up with blue fire, looking undeniably eerie in the quiet night.

From start to finish, the whole thing had barely taken the span of a single breath.

Lu Wenxi had barely steadied himself from his backward step when the shadow was already wiped out by Xu Chen. A few other dark shadows lingering nearby were peeking over secretly, trembling in terror.

“That thing just now… was what you call an evil spirit?” Lu Wenxi realized his own voice was shaking as he asked.

Happening right before his eyes, the shock was simply too intense.

“Yes, though a very low-level, foolish one,” Xu Chen replied, tucking the folding fan back behind his waist.

Lu Wenxi suddenly wondered: earlier, when he had provoked Xu Chen, if Xu Chen had slammed his head down like that, would his skull have shattered on the spot? He instinctively glanced left and right, hoping nobody else had witnessed the scene. Seeing the street completely empty—not even a hidden paparazzi van in sight—he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He suddenly felt that Xu Chen’s move had been like a live magic show, genuinely blowing his mind.

“Why did it charge at me?” Lu Wenxi asked.

“You are covered in an aura of death; evil spirits can possess you.”

“They can even possess people?!” Hearing this news felt like another devastating bolt from the blue, leaving Lu Wenxi thoroughly shaken.

“Correct. However, if your willpower is firm and your physical constitution is strong, they will not succeed.”

“And if my willpower isn’t firm and my body is weak, it’s easy for them to succeed?”

“Correct.”

“F*ck…” He hurriedly pressed, “Then what should I do?”

“Illness and injury both weaken the body, as does overexertion. Also, do not overindulge in carnal desires, as it harms your vital essence. Aside from that, try your best to avoid running into evil spirits.”

Lu Wenxi pressed his lips together, suddenly feeling like that was a veiled jab at him, which left a slightly sour taste in his mouth. Turning to look at Xu Chen, however, he saw the same solemn, rigorous expression without a trace of teasing, so he held his tongue.

Standing there for a moment to collect himself, he resumed walking home. He couldn’t shake the surreal feeling that he had become something extraordinary overnight—surrounded by ghosts everywhere while walking side by side with a bizarre little Taoist priest.

That practically made him a big shot, didn’t it?

Back in ancient times, wouldn’t he basically be a hero of troubled times?

Returning to the apartment, the two went into the dining room. Lu Wenxi pushed the bulk of the takeout over to Xu Chen. Opening his own rice box, he picked out the chicken drumstick and handed that over to Xu Chen too, leaving himself with just the plain rice and a few pieces of vegetables.

Xu Chen stared at him in puzzlement. “Are you not eating?”

“Because of my job, eating at this hour is already courting death. If I eat high-calorie food on top of that, I’m practically dead meat. You go ahead,” Lu Wenxi explained.

Xu Chen picked up a chicken nugget and remarked, “My teacher told me these foods are unhealthy and should not be eaten in excess.”

Having said that, he took a bite, then another, and promptly reached for a second piece.

Lu Wenxi guessed this little Taoist had probably never eaten KFC before; judging by Xu Chen’s expression right now, he actually loved it. He found the kid pretty amusing—young in age yet acting like a stuffy old man, genuinely like an innocent little lamb that looked tender on the outside yet somehow sprouted an old man’s beard.

After eating a few casual mouthfuls of rice and feeling full, Lu Wenxi stopped, only to suddenly remember something and blurt out, “I’m about to die anyway, why am I still dieting?! I should indulge myself and eat whatever I want before I kick the bucket!”

With that, he grabbed a New Orleans roasted chicken wing and started eating. Once he finished it, though, a wave of guilt washed over him, and he decided not to eat any more. “The scary part isn’t dying—it’s indulging yourself and then not dying. How am I supposed to face the public afterward? Having people hold up photos saying a famous fresh-meat idol let himself go, or entertainment gossip accounts posting before-and-after comparisons saying time is a butcher’s knife?”

Xu Chen merely gnawed on a chicken wing while staring at him. Not understanding a word of what he meant, he didn’t reply.

Lu Wenxi walked into the bathroom to wash his hands. Stepping back out, he stood in the doorway and asked Xu Chen, “Where do you live?”

“Not far from here, at my university.”

“Oh. How did you end up coming over here yesterday?”

“My compass indicated this direction, so I followed its lead. I discovered that spirit had not yet turned into an evil spirit and originally intended to bind and purify her, only for her to slip away.”

Lu Wenxi recalled the chain wrapped around Xu Chen’s wrist yesterday; he had probably planned to use that to bind her.

“Then stay at my place tonight. You can take the guest room. I’ll have to find a pair of my pajamas for you to wear—we look to be about the same build,” Lu Wenxi offered.

“Alright.” Xu Chen was still eating, his mouth never pausing for a second.

A moment later, Lu Wenxi returned holding a set of pajamas. Xu Chen took one look at them, hesitated briefly, and asked, “Must I wear these?”

“What? Don’t they look good?” Lu Wenxi unfolded the pajamas to show him.

The pajamas had a white base covered in a navy-blue print. The design was actually quite stylish and from a major international luxury brand—except the print consisted of female silhouettes, each striking a different, sultry, seductive pose.

“Indecent,” Xu Chen replied.

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Author’s notes:

Lu Wenxi: We’ll be doing even more indecent things in the future.