The young disciples near Zhao Yan first cautiously glanced at the old Taoist priests outside.
One of them lowered his voice and said, "We want to re-establish our banner, to form a new generation of Xuanmen disciples, with Senior Zhao leading us, to avoid being oppressed by the elder Taoist priests."
"Yes, those old Taoists don't treat us like people. We saw it clearly when dealing with the Bú Huà Gǔ."
Seeing the strong resistance from the young Taoist priests, it seemed they had indeed been bullied by the elder ones.
These young Taoist priests all followed the same lineage and had been out in the world for a long time.
They made a living by catching ghosts and helping people solve problems.
Where there are people, there is a Jianghu. The number of ghost incidents each year is not very high.
This led to a situation of more monks than rice.
Many lucrative opportunities were snatched away by the elder Taoists.
As Zhao Yan listened, she felt a pang of sadness.
She remembered the days when she lived under the overpass with the old man.
"As long as we gain fame, with Senior Zhao leading the way, we can rally together and form a Taoist organization. From then on, we will all be brothers and sisters, and we won't have to fear those thieving old Taoists relying on their age to steal our work."
"That's right, those old Taoists are too overbearing. As long as we unite, if one person can't defeat an old Taoist, two surely can, and if not three, we can defeat quality with quantity."
As they spoke, their voices gradually grew louder. Zhao Yan coughed.
Talking about this in front of the elder Taoists might not be appropriate.
Zhao Yan's cough immediately pulled the young Taoist priests back from their heated discussion. Their faces lost their agitation and became calm.
The reason these young Taoist priests were bullied was simply because they were alone. Their masters were gone, leaving them to wander the Jianghu by themselves.
Zhao Yan did not want to get involved. Involvement would only complicate matters.
She was still primarily focused on running her shop well, earning money, and opening a branch.
Zhao Yan said, "Let's get back to the Bú Huà Gǔ. You're right, this Bú Huà Gǔ cannot be left unchecked."
"Are you sure the Bú Huà Gǔ is in Jiangxi Nanshan?"
The young Xuanmen Taoist priests nodded, "There's no mistake. Some fellow practitioners went to Jiangxi Nanshan last night, and they confirmed that the Bú Huà Gǔ is indeed in Jiangxi Nanshan. We have solid evidence."
Fearing that Zhao Yan would doubt their abilities, they took out their phones and showed her the evidence their colleagues had sent them.
The evidence consisted of many photos, most of which were footprints.
These footprints were covered in a thick layer of Yin energy.
However, the footprints were very blurry.
There was a layer of dark Yin energy on the footprints, which was similar to the type found on the little zombie.
Zhao Yan took out her phone to check the map. Jiangxi Nanshan was a high mountain in Jiangcheng City.
It would only take about thirty minutes to get there.
"We implore Senior Zhao for your assistance."
Over thirty young disciples said this to Zhao Yan simultaneously.
They almost knelt on the ground to beg.
They desperately needed this event to boost their reputation.
Moreover, that zombie was a Bú Huà Gǔ, and it was rumored to possess an extremely precious treasure.
Whichever it was, if it fell into their hands, it would surely shake the Xuanmen world.
Wang Xianzhi whispered advice, "Master, I think this matter is beneficial to us. We can use this opportunity to strike while the iron is hot. Your reputation has been increasing lately, and with the boost from this event, it will naturally soar."
"What is most valuable now? It's reputation. Once you have reputation, making money becomes very easy."
Zhao Yan, with her hands behind her back, said, "Disciple, as disciples of the Taoist sect, we should not place so much importance on fame."
"The most important thing right now is to protect the villagers. As the fellow Taoists said, that little zombie is indeed a great menace, a menace that must be eliminated."
"I, Zhao Yan, am willing to help you all and eliminate evil together!"
"Not for anything else, but solely to protect the safety of the villagers. As long as the villagers can be safe and sound, what does it matter if I, Zhao Yan, suffer hardship or fatigue!"
After saying these words, Zhao Yan felt a surge of spirit.
With her hands behind her back, she felt she had acquired a bit of a master's demeanor.
Looking at the young men around her, their eyes held even deeper admiration.
This! Damn charisma!
Wang Xianzhi secretly gave Zhao Yan a thumbs-up.
These few words immediately crafted a persona of someone who was not greedy for wealth or fame, but only cared about the well-being of the villagers.
"Alright, let's go and see together," Zhao Yan said.
The elder Taoists stood outside the door. The conversation inside was too quiet to be heard clearly. They only heard sounds from within and saw the young Taoist priests parting on both sides, creating a path for Zhao Yan to exit.
"You stay here to guard the house. I'll go and take a look. If anything seems wrong, call me immediately."
Zhao Yan turned back and said to Wang Xianzhi.
The shop's main hall had just hung a plaque worth millions. They absolutely couldn't have it stolen at this moment.
Most importantly, the little zombie was locked up on the second floor, and it was reassuring to have someone watching it.
"Don't worry, Master," Wang Xianzhi stopped and said to Zhao Yan.
Zhao Yan patted her pocket. She didn't have any top-tier treasures to take out at the moment.
She could only pull out a few talismans and hand them to Wang Xianzhi.
At the same time, she reminded him to wake up General Black Tiger if anything happened, as General Black Tiger was very useful in critical moments.
After finishing these arrangements, Zhao Yan left.
She was followed by over thirty young men. Then, vehicles one after another arrived, parking outside the shop and forming a long convoy.
"Senior Zhao, please get in the car!"
Zhao Yan said thank you and got into the first car.
As the convoy drove towards Jiangxi Nanshan, the elder Taoists were somewhat bewildered.
They had also come with the young Taoist priests, with the common goal of bringing Zhao Yan into their ranks.
However, seeing how young Zhao Yan was, they found it difficult to invite her.
Even more surprising was whether Zhao Yan was as powerful as rumored online; they harbored doubts.
"Let's go and see as well. If she truly has some skill, it won't be too late to win her over."
Upon arriving at Jiangxi Nanshan, Zhao Yan alighted from the car.
She followed the young men along the mountain path and entered Jiangxi Nanshan in a grand procession.
Seeing the young Taoist priests pointing at the evidence, which were all zombie footprints.
Zhao Yan looked closely and was somewhat surprised.
These footprints were indeed from a zombie, and the Yin energy was very strong. In fact, compared to the little zombie, it seemed even stronger.
"Could Jiangcheng have produced two Bú Huà Gǔ zombies?"
Thinking of this, Zhao Yan's expression turned solemn.
This zombie probably stumbled upon it by chance.
"Senior Zhao, this Bú Huà Gǔ is detestable. Several elderly cowherds were injured, and their cattle were drained dry."
"Last night, if we hadn't arrived in time to help those elders remove the Yin energy, they would have been in grave danger."
"The elder said that the zombie he saw had extremely strong malevolence. Fortunately, he quickly let his cattle run, and the zombie chased the cattle, allowing him to escape."