Spectral Doctor of the Metropolis

Sleeping on the Street

"Oh my god, this old man is such a jerk! He's always interrupting other people's fun..." Yin Dang was furious, looking like he was about to die, but then his grandfather showed up.

But when he saw the two stacks of red bills in Xiao Shiyun's hand, Yin Dang's eyes nearly turned green. What a lot of money!

Xiao Shiyun dumped the two stacks of bills on the coffee table in front of the sofa and said with a smile, "Master, to thank you for helping me exorcise ghosts and cure illnesses, here are these 20,000 yuan. It's disrespectful, but please accept it."

"What? All mine?" Yin Dang asked in disbelief, pointing at himself.

"Yes," Xiao Shiyun nodded.

Yin Dang took the 20,000 yuan and twirled it. It was the most money he had ever seen.

After twirling it several times, Yin Dang put the money back on the coffee table and said sternly, "I can't take that much from you. My grandfather said one shouldn't be too greedy, or else it will shorten one's lifespan."

"So, Master, how much do you think you'll take?" Xiao Shiyun asked.

Yin Dang continued with a confident tone, "The palm reading is fifty, the exorcism and the medical treatment is two hundred, a total of two hundred and fifty."

"Puff!"

He let out a small laugh. He had clearly seen this country boy's money-grubbing demeanor, tempted to accept the twenty thousand yuan, but reluctantly only offered two hundred and fifty.

Xiao Shiyun took out a pile of money, took out three hundred-yuan bills, and handed them to Yin Dang, saying, "Master, it's already very generous of you not to covet extraneous wealth. Take these three hundred yuan. The extra fifty will be a tip."

Yin Dang thought for a moment, then calmly took the three hundred-yuan bills, put them away, and stood up, saying, "Then I'll take my leave."

"How about you stay for dinner, Master? I'll have the nanny hurry up and cook," Xiao Shiyun said, trying to entice him to stay.

"That's not necessary. I have things to do, so I'll be leaving now."

With that, Yin Dang turned and headed downstairs. Xiao Shiyun immediately said to the sidewalk, "Shihan, go see the master off."

"Okay."

Xiao Shihan jumped up and followed, running to Yindang's side and saying, "Master, let me take you out. Our neighborhood is hard to find."

"Thank you very much." Yindang was naturally more than happy to be offered a ride. Especially with someone so big, having him around was a real treat.

"Master, are you accepting disciples?" Xiao Shihan asked as they walked.

Yindang glanced at Xiao Shihan and smiled, "I'm sorry, but this is a family tradition and won't be passed down to anyone else. Therefore, I don't accept disciples."

"Oh." Xiao Shihan felt a little disappointed to hear that Yindang wasn't accepting disciples. Seeing how handsome Yindang was when he was exorcising ghosts, she had wanted to learn a few tricks from him so she could show off in front of her friends, but her plan had fallen through.

Xiao Shihan led Yindang out of the neighborhood without saying anything. After bidding farewell to Xiao Shihan, Yindang walked down the street, his large canvas bag on his back, feeling a sudden sense of daze.

Having lived in the mountains for years, never having traveled far, he had no sense of time. Imperial Capital University's first semester was September 1st, and he had arrived three days early. Now, besides tuition, he only had the three hundred yuan he'd just earned. After these past few days, Yindang's biggest worry was that he couldn't spend all that money.

The streets of the Imperial Capital were lined with tall buildings, and Yindang, who had never been there before, was lost. He didn't know how many streets he'd walked or how many roads he'd crossed before it was already night.

Why not find a hotel first?

Determined, Yindang walked into a large hotel, but when he asked the price, he immediately backed off. A single room was 238 yuan, and the cheapest was 168 yuan. So expensive, a fortune teller would have to tell him it was enough for several people to stay overnight.

After Yindang was chased out of the hotel, he checked with two other hotels, but the cheapest was 98 yuan a night. Ultimately, Yindang gave up.

As the night deepened, Yindang, carrying a large canvas bag, unknowingly walked under an overpass.

From a distance, he saw two beggars in their thirties gathered around a fire. Atop the fire sat a small stainless steel pot, where something was cooking.

Yindang found a corner not far from the two beggars, put his large canvas bag on the ground, and sat down.

The two beggars had noticed Yindang when he arrived, but they simply glanced at him curiously before returning to their small pots.

Seeing the two beggars cooking, Yindang realized he'd only eaten half a bowl of noodles and a bowl of soup that day. His stomach was already rumbling.

Seeing Yindang staring at their small bowl, the two beggars exchanged glances. One of them stood up, walked over to Yindang, and said, "Young man, you look so young, what's wrong with you? You've fallen on hard times too. Would you like to come and eat with us?"

Yindang glanced at the other beggar, shook his head, and said, "Thank you. You guys can eat."

"Gurgle gurgle~"

Just as he finished speaking, Yindang's stomach began to growl.

The beggar smiled and said, "Your stomach seems to be growling. If you don't mind the mess, come and eat with us."

Finally, Yindang stood up and followed the beggar over to the fire. Together, they squatted by it. Only then did Yindang look over. In the small bowl above the fire, some vegetables and other things were cooking, and the broth was a bit dark.

The beggar who had brought Yindang here walked to the green belt beside the overpass, broke off a branch, cut it in two, and handed it to Yindang, saying, "Come, let's have some together."

Yindang took the beggar's chopsticks and said, "Thank you!"

Yindang used the branch chopsticks to pick up a piece and put it in his mouth. It tasted quite good.

"Little brother, how did you end up under this overpass?" the beggar asked as he ate.

In fact, Yindang was now regretting it deeply. Thinking of the 20,000 yuan Xiao Shiyun had given him, he wondered why he had installed the HDTV! If he had taken that 20,000 yuan, he wouldn't have come here to sleep. But it was too late to regret.

As for tuition and miscellaneous fees, they were for school, and Yindang understood the principle of keeping money.

Yin Dang thought for a moment and said, "I just came from the countryside and I'm broke. How about you?"

"Hey, I'm Li Jianzhi, and he's Qi Kairong. We're both from the countryside. We originally came to the capital to work, but we met a ruthless contractor. We worked for six months, and then the construction site was haunted. The contractor ran away, leaving us both without a penny of pay. We were kicked out by the boss, too embarrassed to go home. In the end... well," Li Jianzhi, the beggar who had brought Yin Dang here, sighed helplessly.

When Li Jianzhi mentioned the haunted construction site, Yin Dang became interested. He took a piece and put it in his mouth, then said, "The construction site is haunted? What's going on?"

Li Jianzhi said in a daze, "Brother, this is really strange. While working on our site, we unearthed a century-old tomb. As soon as it was opened, a cloud of black energy emerged from it, and the guy operating the excavator was cut in half and killed."

"Whenever anyone approached the tomb, it would release black energy. Anyone caught in it would go insane. Later, the contractor invited an exorcist to perform a ritual on the spot. But the exorcist was only halfway through the ritual when he was entangled by the black energy from the century-old tomb and fled in terror!"

Li Jianzhi still felt a lingering fear as he recalled that bizarre incident. Qi Kairong, standing beside him, also had a grim expression.