Chapter 69: Master Yanming

“The masters from Mingwang Temple?” Xiao Qing said from the side.
She recognized the origins of this group of monks; it was the same Mingwang Temple she had mentioned last night.

I had also heard of this temple before.
It was a temple of moderate size just outside the city, but it was very popular, with a constant stream of worshippers.
My grandmother used to go there often to burn incense and pray to Buddha when she was alive.
Of course, our family had never been.

“Greetings, Masters,” Mo Qingyan greeted the monks, proactively putting her palms together in a Buddhist salute.
Xiao Qing did the same.

“Amitabha. Miss Mo, and you two benefactresses, this humble monk pays his respects,” the high monk leading the group returned the Buddhist salute.
However, because he was holding his staff in one hand, he only used a single palm held upright.

“These two benefactresses must be the ones Miss Mo mentioned who need the ceremony, correct? This humble monk seems to have some impression of this benefactress. Are you Miss Ou Zhiqin?”

Unexpectedly, this elderly head monk could actually recognize Xiao Qing.
It seemed what Xiao Qing said about having visited Mingwang Temple to worship and offer incense before was true.

“Greetings, Master Yanming. I visited Mingwang Temple during the first month of the year to pay respects and was fortunate enough to hear your sermon,” Ou Zhiqin said.

“This humble monk remembers. Miss Ou is also a fated person who has visited our temple many times. But this young lady looks a bit unfamiliar,” the old monk named Yanming said, looking at me.

“This is our friend, Miss Xia Yubing. It is her family that has suffered some misfortune, requiring us to invite you all to perform a ceremony,” Mo Qingyan stepped forward to explain.

“I understand. Miss Xia, please accept my condolences. We will definitely dispel the resentment of your family and send the victims to the Pure Land. Please lead the way,” Master Yanming said.

What surprised me was that this master was very easy to talk to.
He must be an enlightened high monk.
Moreover, he didn’t mention money at all, immediately talking about the ceremony first.
He didn’t seem like a monk, but rather like a foreman eager to start work.

I had previously thought that spending tens of thousands of yuan to hire monks for a ceremony was a bit too expensive.
Of course, I wasn’t reluctant to spend it; it was purely an estimation.
But when I saw the radiant Dharma artifacts in these monks’ hands, all I could say was that it was a bit too cheap.
Any single Dharma artifact here was worth around one hundred thousand yuan.

We led the way, and the monks followed behind.
When we arrived at the entrance of the Xia family home, I found that the police cordon had been temporarily removed.
At the same time, many luxury cars were parked in the courtyard.

It seemed the police had already notified others of the deaths of Xia Yubing’s parents, and their other relatives had all rushed over.
I didn’t know any of these people, which made me quite worried.

Upon entering the main gate, I saw several men in suits and leather shoes talking to the police officer, seemingly with some dissatisfaction.
The officer also seemed to be wary of their identities and was explaining to them.

When I entered, their gazes all focused on me, putting me under immense pressure.
And I always felt that the gazes of a few of them were not well-intentioned.

The officer, however, showed a look of relief and walked over quickly with a smile, “Master Yanming, I didn’t expect you to be the one conducting the ceremony. It’s been a while.”

“Officer Li, I’ve brought a new batch of disciples this time to gain some experience. Mingwang Temple will have to be handed over to them in the future. And who knows, there might be a few outstanding ones among them who can help you solve your troubles in the future,” Master Yanming also greeted the officer with a smile.

It was clear that the two of them had known each other for a long time and were even very familiar.
I thought about it for a moment and guessed it.
The most famous temple in Xunjiang City should be Mingwang Temple.
If the police needed to deliver souls or vanquish demons, they would definitely need to cooperate with the temple.
So it was perfectly normal for the officer to know a high-ranking monk from Mingwang Temple.

“Officer Li, looking at you, your brow is furrowed, and a yin energy is emerging. It seems this matter is quite tricky. You’ve been invaded by ominous aura. You must also take care of your health,” Yanming said, looking at Officer Li.

“Alas, this is indeed a major case. Even this Xia family has been wiped out. There are more than thirty dead,” Officer Li said, telling Yanming everything about the Painted Skin Ghost.
It seemed he didn’t treat him as an outsider at all, telling him every single detail.

“Evil creature! Officer Li should have notified the abbot sooner. This humble monk would have definitely led the monks of our temple to come and assist you all in slaying the demon!” Yanming exclaimed indignantly, as if he wanted to fight the Painted Skin Ghost himself.

“Hehe, I certainly don’t doubt the righteousness of you masters. I was originally thinking that if we couldn’t catch the Painted Skin Ghost that night, I would ask you masters to take action. But we recently received help from a young cultivator, who set up an ambush and killed that evil ghost in just one night,” Officer Li said.

“Oh? A Painted Skin Ghost is not easy to deal with. To be able to slay it single-handedly, does our Xunjiang City have such a talented young person? Please, Officer Li, introduce me,” Master Yanming said in surprise.

“He is right here. Go and ask Master Yi to come over,” Officer Li said to the officer beside him.
He immediately ran into the mansion, and a moment later, Yi Zhiqiu walked out.

“Master Yi, this is Master Yanming from Mingwang Temple. He heard of your deeds and would like to meet you,” Officer Li acted as the introducer. “This is Yi Zhiqiu. He is a recently graduated exorcist who has already helped us solve several supernatural incidents.”

“I’ve long heard of you. I’ve also heard of Master Yanming’s name. Your deeds of slaying demons with youthful passion in your younger days fill me with admiration,” Yi Zhiqiu’s eyes lit up when he saw the monks, and he took the initiative to greet them.

“Not at all. In my youth, I was just a newborn calf unafraid of a tiger. I was just lucky not to die. On the contrary, the younger generation is to be feared. You are much stronger than I was back then. May I ask where Master Yi learned his skills?” Master Yanming also returned the courtesy.
Then, the two of them began a round of commercial flattery.

The three of us were completely ignored on the side, including the other relatives.
The scene became a bit awkward for a moment because I didn’t know anyone.

Just then, a man in an expensive suit walked over and asked me, “Bing’er, something so big has happened, why didn’t you tell me?”

“That’s right, Bing’er. If I had known you were homeless now, you could have come to stay with your aunt,” a beautiful woman adorned with luxury goods also said with a look of concern, as if she was very worried about me.

“Bing’er, what on earth happened? How did your family get into such trouble? Who was so vicious as to kill your entire family?” another old man asked.

I was stuck.
Who were these people?
I didn’t know a single one of them.
Why did they all act as if I had to answer them?

“Everyone! I can understand your feelings, but please don’t ask Miss Xia Yubing too many questions. She has suffered too much stimulation from her parents’ murder and is now experiencing memory loss. We are investigating the murder case and will definitely get to the bottom of it and give everyone an explanation,” Officer Li came to my rescue.

“Amnesia?” Everyone looked at me, and their expressions instantly changed.