Li Mochen on the side became impatient, "Big Brother, hurry and save him, or he'll really burn to death if you delay any longer!"
"Ai ya, Master Peng... hurry and save him! He came to save the old master. If something happens to him here, it will spread that our Li family is ungrateful, watching the person who helped us burn to death, it doesn't sound good!"
Sun Fu wanted to help but dared not, breaking out in a sweat from anxiety, and also urged Li Mohan.
Li Mohan looked at the flames and extended his hand over the fire.
Li Mohen grabbed his hand, "Big Brother, what are you doing! Didn't you see that the young Taoist priest just touched a bit of flame and was set alight? I'll go get a fire extinguisher!"
Ye Huohuo finally sighed.
She walked forward a few steps, reaching the two people still screaming.
Chanting incantations, she twisted out the lipstick from the tube and drew a red line on each of her palms.
Then, she rapidly formed mudras with both hands.
A golden light flashed from her palms, and everyone felt their eyes dazzled, involuntarily closing them.
When they opened their eyes again, there were no flames. The peach wood sword that had first caught fire was tossed aside, perfectly fine, without a single spark.
And the master and disciple were also completely free of any sparks. Yet, they were as if being burned by fire, patting their clothes and screaming for help.
"What is going on? This is too strange!" Li Mochen asked first.
"This... this..." Sun Fu also gaped in astonishment.
Ye Huohuo tapped the center of their foreheads with her fingers. Master Peng and his disciple jolted, stopped screaming, and looked at themselves and their surroundings with terrified eyes, nearly collapsing.
Their faces were now covered in sweat. Master Peng was even more pathetic. He had thought his clothes were on fire and tried to take them off, but in his haste, he couldn't.
So, he made up his mind and tried to rip his clothes off forcefully.
As a result, his clothes were now torn into strips, looking like post-modern beggar attire.
Li Moyan on the side shook her head, "If our film crew needs beggar costumes in the future, we can ask Master Peng for help."
"Master, we're fine. What was that fire?" The disciple, who had been looking down on people earlier, was now nervously glancing around, afraid something else might fly out.
"Alas, I never expected to encounter such a formidable entity after half a lifetime of ghost hunting. That wasn't real fire, but a hallucination caused by spectral interference!" Although Master Peng lacked some skills, he at least had some insight.
"Benefactor Sun, this humble Taoist did not expect to meet such a powerful being today. To subdue it would cost me decades of my cultivation. Therefore, I beg your pardon, but I am powerless. Benefactor Sun, Benefactor Li, please seek someone else!" Master Peng finished, shaking his head regretfully.
"No, Master Peng, you must at least save Old Master Li. I am best friends with their father, and Old Master Li is like my own father. No matter how much money it costs, even if it means I go bankrupt, I must heal the old master!"
Sun Fu spoke with such sincerity, as if the four grandsons of Old Master Li were unfilial and didn't want to save their grandfather, but he, as the old master's son's friend, was willing to go bankrupt to save him.
This made him appear so righteous, as if he would go through fire and water for a friend.
Ye Huohuo was even a little stunned by his behavior.
She leaned closer to Li Mohan and whispered, "He's not your grandfather's long-lost son, or your biological uncle!"
As she spoke, she was counting on her fingers, her expression quite serious. "That's not right, the old master's eight characters only indicate one son?!"
Li Mohan gave her a cold glance and ignored her.
Li Mochen, who overheard Ye Huohuo's words, chuckled "pfft."
Li Mohan's gaze flickered towards him, and Li Mochen immediately stopped smiling, standing straight as if at attention.
Li Moyan glanced silently at Li Mochen, her eyes full of schadenfreude.
Master Peng was still hesitating. His disciple looked grief-stricken, "Benefactor Sun, it's not that my master doesn't want to help you. You just saw it, ordinary methods can't deal with that fierce ghost at all. My master and I were almost killed by it.
If we want to capture it, we need to use higher-level techniques, which would cause irreversible damage to my master's body. Afterward, we would need to buy many precious medicinal herbs to recuperate..."
"I understand. How much do you need? Name your price, and we won't haggle!" Sun Fu's attitude was resolute, even more filial than the most devoted son.
Master Peng pondered for a long time and reluctantly held up a palm.
"Five million?" Sun Fu tentatively asked.
"Benefactor Sun, those herbs are truly too expensive. Five million can't even buy one dose!" The disciple looked regretful.
"Fifty million?" This time, Ye Huohuo spoke.
She had originally intended to rest a bit longer and see how this act by the master and disciple would unfold, but now she couldn't stand it any longer. If she didn't speak up, she felt she would suffocate.
Master Peng then turned his gaze to Ye Huohuo, "Little girl, don't put money on your lips at such a young age. We who study the Way of Tao always help others and value serendipity."
"Exactly, this is why you can only tell fortunes under the overpass, while Master is respected as a master.
Your eyes are only on money, but Master values alleviating calamities and resolving difficulties for people more.
Master means to light five bright lamps and pray for Old Master Li." The disciple quickly added.
"Oh dear, I am too common, too common!" Sun Fu quickly apologized, "Then, how much is one bright lamp..."
Sun Fu quickly stopped himself, not daring to mention money again.
Seeing that the groundwork had been laid, Master Peng nodded at his disciple. The disciple took out five lotus-shaped candles from his bag. "These were blessed by my grandmaster and are very effective. My master only has seven left. If it weren't for my connection with Old Master Li, I would never take them out.
This fierce ghost is too malevolent. Five bright lamps are needed at once. When these five bright lamps burn out, Old Master Li will wake up. Each bright lamp is nine million nine hundred and ninety-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine!"
"Pfft!" Ye Huohuo couldn't hold it in any longer.
"You two, you've acted enough. Your so-called bright lamps are just candles that cost a few yuan in the market. You actually dare to sell them for nine million nine hundred and ninety-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine?
Why don't you just say ten million per candle, it's much simpler? Is there any difference between that and the fifty million I mentioned?
Furthermore, how come I don't see any traces of blessings on these candles? How can you guarantee that Old Master Li will definitely wake up after these candles burn out? If he doesn't wake up, are you responsible?"
As Ye Huohuo spoke, her expression grew colder, losing the obsequious attitude she had towards them before.
"This master says he can, so he can. What do you know, you junior?"
Master Peng and his disciple were trapped in the fire earlier and didn't know that Ye Huohuo had saved them. So, in their minds, Ye Huohuo was still an amateur who was worse than them.
"Oh? Then let's sign an agreement. If I pay fifty million and you don't cure Grandpa, you have to pay me back triple, how about it?" At this moment, Li Mohan, who had been silent, spoke.
Master Peng's face turned pale, but his eyes rolled, and he quickly returned to normal. "Destiny dictates life and death, prosperity and wealth are decreed by heaven. Sincerity is effective. This master will do his best to treat Old Master Li, but one cannot make absolute statements.
When the moon is full, it wanes; when water is full, it overflows.
How about this: I can guarantee that if the old master does not wake up, I will not take a single cent!"
As he said this, shaking his head, everyone present, except Ye Huohuo, was taken aback.
Had they really misjudged this old man? He wasn't a骗子 (piànzi - swindler)?
"Master Peng, if the situation of being burned by fire hadn't happened, could you have guaranteed that you could make the old master wake up?" Ye Huohuo suddenly asked.
"What do you mean? You're nothing yourself yet you keep disturbing Master's ritual. It's very likely that your influence caused that demonic fire!" Master Peng's disciple was somewhat angry.
If it weren't for the outsiders present, he might have even attacked Ye Huohuo.
But Ye Huohuo's expression remained calm, neither pleased nor displeased.
"My meaning is very clear, which is that you should stop acting. This is all a self-directed and self-performed play!" Ye Huohuo's words shocked everyone!