Weapon System 6. Entering the Pit (1)

As soon as Zhang Mingjing heard this, he jumped out of bed, shouting as he dashed out of the room, “Zhang Yidao, what kind of act are you putting on now?”

“I can see you’re not cut out for studying. You’re at just the right age, and the timing is perfect. Why not follow me and make a career in the Daoist world?”

“The Daoist world? It’s more like your own private stage!” Zhang Mingjing cried out in anger. “You just want me to make up the numbers, don’t you?”

“What’s this? You gain a little skill and now you look down on me?”

At this moment, Zhang Mingjing wanted to vent his frustration, but then Xiao Nüxia joined in, adding fuel to the fire. She said, “Didn’t your homeroom teacher say it already? You should choose a path that suits your strengths and interests. It’s not necessary to go to university. A vocational or technical college is also a good choice. Aren’t you just the type suited for that?”

Zhang Mingjing was horrified. “You’re not thinking of sending me to a Daoist Academy, are you?”

But Xiao Nüxia continued, “Speaking of vocational skills, do you even know what kind you like? You still haven’t figured it out, have you? Zhang Yidao and I discussed it and think you might be best suited for drawing talismans, exorcising spirits, and fortune-telling.”

“Come on! You two actually want your own son to be a charlatan? Are you even human?” Zhang Mingjing’s anger flared up again.

Zhang Yidao and Xiao Nüxia remained completely unfazed by his outburst.

Xiao Nüxia pressed on, “It’s a great profession! Just two hours of work a day, your time is otherwise your own, practically no competition, and the income rivals that of a senior executive in a state enterprise.”

At this, half of Zhang Mingjing’s anger was instantly extinguished.

Zhang Yidao added, “That’s why I have plenty of cases to teach you Daoist methods. There’s a lot for you to learn!”

Zhang Mingjing’s anger flared up again, but before he could retort, Xiao Nüxia said something that doused his fury completely: “You’re already seventeen. In a few months, you’ll be eighteen. If you could earn some money over the next two years, you could buy a place and move out earlier.”

Zhang Mingjing thought, “Leaving this house? That would be amazing!”

He felt that after living in this household for seventeen years, he was like a little bird caged by Zhang Yidao and Xiao Nüxia. He had longed for wings to fly free of this invisible cage—and those wings were money!

Hearing Xiao Nüxia say this, he silently returned to his room and sent a voice message to his homeroom teacher.

At that moment, Xiao Nüxia and Zhang Yidao exchanged glances, a sly smile playing on their lips. Their scheme had succeeded!

Since Zhang Yidao had started fortune-telling, he knew his capabilities were limited; he only took on cases involving fortune-telling, drawing talismans, and exorcising spirits, never daring to hunt monsters. A careless move could land him in the hospital, or worse, cost his life!

But in recent days, Zhang Mingjing had demonstrated extraordinary abilities, prompting Zhang Yidao to rethink his own position and that of the family.

Just yesterday morning, he’d ordered a door plaque and by afternoon had hung it on their front door, boldly emblazoned with “Cultivation Family.”

Fortunately, Xiao Nüxia’s education stopped at the first year of middle school. Not only could she not discern the absurdity of it, she thought it looked prestigious and let him have his way.

Zhang Mingjing, at least a high school student, saw through all this. Though he said nothing, in his heart he complained bitterly, “At their age, they can be even more childish than elementary schoolers!”

As for the so-called monsters, they were actually just mutated animals—mainly rats, cats, and dogs, occasionally other species.

After mutating, they became far more aggressive, with speed and strength several times their former selves, and their mouths harbored terrifying bacteria, making them extremely dangerous.

Their mutations had occurred suddenly after the sun lost half its heat. Though the police were tasked with handling such creatures, among the superstitious, things were not so simple.

To them, the sun’s change was the work of monsters, and these creatures were considered little demons.

Zhang Yidao’s understanding went further. He believed these were the vanguard of the demon race, sent to test humanity, with the true monsters yet to come.

For a time, he’d gone around spreading this theory, until he was detained by the police three times and visited by the neighborhood committee several times, finally forcing him to stop preaching such nonsense.

When these mutated animals invaded the homes of the superstitious, people dared not speak of it, fearing gossip that would damage their family’s reputation and feng shui. So they paid a fortune to hire so-called underground monster hunters.

Seven or eight months ago, quite a few bold people took up this line of work, and for a while the internet was full of their advertisements. But then, after many were injured or killed, few dared continue.

After breakfast, Zhang Mingjing followed Zhang Yidao and Xiao Nüxia on a monster-hunting job, never imagining this would be the start of his career in the field.

They soon arrived at the client’s home. Before entering, Zhang Yidao repeatedly instructed him, “Put on your Daoist robe and stand behind me with Xiao Nüxia. I’ll handle the ritual and chanting. When you see the monster, I’ll shout ‘Demon-Reflecting Mirror!’ You hold up the mirror, point it at the creature, press your finger to the mirror’s frame, and unleash the divine light. That way, people will think it’s the mirror’s doing. Make it two-dimensional and flat, got it?”

“Got it!”

Before going in, Zhang Mingjing had already sensed that the ‘monster’ was a mutated giant rat, its fur as bristly as a porcupine’s quills, locked in the bathroom by the family.

Zhang Yidao set up a small ritual space three meters from the bathroom, which Zhang Mingjing thought was too close, though Zhang Yidao disagreed.

Dressed in his Daoist robe, peachwood sword in hand, Zhang Yidao recited incantations and burned a few talismans before sitting cross-legged to focus on the exorcism chant.

Zhang Mingjing stood behind him, Demon-Reflecting Mirror in hand, palms already sweaty with nerves.

Xiao Nüxia’s job was to press a long stick against the bathroom door handle. At Zhang Yidao’s command, she would open the door and release the monster.

She, too, was extremely nervous, the stick trembling in her hands. Zhang Yidao shot her meaningful glances several times.

The client’s family had all climbed onto the dining table, anxiously and excitedly awaiting the result.

At last, Zhang Yidao shouted, “Open the door!”

Xiao Nüxia pressed down with her pudgy hands, and the door swung open. But the little monster did not immediately bolt out.

Zhang Mingjing sensed it crouched just inside, poised to strike, as if listening to Zhang Yidao’s chanting.

Though Zhang Yidao chanted with his lips, all his thoughts were on the doorway; he was afraid, not just of the little monster, but of what this encounter meant. If today’s battle was a success, his business would flourish and, more importantly, he could bring Zhang Mingjing fully into the fold. But if he failed, all his previous achievements would crumble.

Zhang Mingjing focused all his attention on the creature. He could sense its heartbeat quickening—it was about to charge. His own leg muscles twitched involuntarily, his finger tightly pressed to the mirror’s frame, ready to fire.

Sure enough, a streak of black shot out, lunging straight at Zhang Yidao.

Zhang Yidao, terrified, shouted, “Demon-Reflecting Mirror!”

Quick as lightning, before the words had fully left Zhang Yidao’s mouth, a beam of light shot from Zhang Mingjing’s finger, striking the so-called monster.

In an instant, the rat became a two-dimensional membrane, floating down to the floor half a meter in front of Zhang Yidao.

“Just half a meter short!” Zhang Yidao grumbled inwardly, breathing a deep sigh of relief. He quickly shifted to a triumphant expression and called out to the clients, “It’s done! Come take a look at this beast!”

The family scrambled down from the table, crowding forward to see. When they saw the flattened rat, its eyes still darting about, they were all aghast.

Zhang Mingjing read their heartbeats and expressions and found that their psychological trauma was now several times greater than before the exorcism. He couldn’t help but find it amusing, thinking, “They’d have been better off just calling the police to shoot it.”

This victory naturally spread Zhang Yidao’s reputation further, and Zhang Mingjing was officially ushered into the profession. But he cared little for fame; he was after money—only with money could he be independent!

He watched as the client handed Zhang Yidao ten thousand yuan and slipped two thousand each to him and Xiao Nüxia in red envelopes. The sheer thrill of it shattered his former sense of oppression, which had been capped at thirty-five yuan.

Afterward, he made it clear: he would leave school and pursue the Daoist path.

In the fifth-dimensional space, a council of elders received these updates with amusement and began to discuss.

“We can’t just let Zhang Mingjing misuse his powers, can we?”

“These abilities are his now. How he uses them is up to him. We only need him to complete our tasks.”

“But what if he uses them for evil?”

“We’ll deal with that when the time comes!”

The elders found it difficult to reach a consensus. At that moment, Elder A spoke up, “I don’t think he’s that proficient with his abilities yet. Letting him hunt ‘monsters’ can serve as practice. In a while, once he’s mastered his powers, we can assign him real missions.”