Xie Qiao was squinting. She looked like a senior who was full of love.
The corner of Zhao Xuanjing’s lips suddenly twitched.
He saw… a small piece of makeup that had peeled on Xie Qiao’s face. It was not obvious.
‘Haha, Senior Sister.’
Just when he was going to speak, Xiao Yurong suddenly ran in from the outside, carrying a pot of orchids happily.
He saw Zhao Xuanjing as soon as he came in and said while frowning, “Why is Your Highness here?”
“I’m here to visit Senior Sister.” Zhao Xuanjing scoffed and smiled. He took a seat as if he was the master and glanced at the pot of orchid in Xiao Yurong’s hands. “Isn’t this Senior Brother’s priced beauty?”
Xiao Yurong carried the pot tightly like he was worried that the Crown Prince would take it away. “I picked this pot of orchids for Senior Sister to feast her eyes on as I noticed that the shop was lacking color…”
Xiao Yurong smiled in a shy manner at Xie Qiao as he spoke.
Xie Qiao held her head low slightly, feeling rather awkward.
Why was this dumb teacher here…
“I dropped by in the morning, but Senior Sister Mo wasn’t around. I heard from the shopkeeper that you were working outside. I wonder, what was it? And did it go well? I’ll help you without hesitation if you need my help at all,” Teacher Xiao said immediately.
Zhao Xuanjing was observing him.
Xiao Yurong wore a new robe today.
“Senior Sister Mo is a priest. Naturally, the job she accepted would be subduing demons and expelling evil, capturing souls to release them. Since Senior Brother Xiao is so interested, I wonder if Senior Sister can tell us what’s with the soul that you captured today,” Zhao Xuanjing said with a smile and a calm tone.
Teacher Xiao’s expression turned stiff.
Capturing souls?
Souls were illusory…
Xie Qiao’s spirit lifted. “Sure. Since Junior Brother Xiao bought some talismans from me earlier, I assume you must be very interested in such a thing.”
Teacher Xiao’s eyelids twitched. He had put the talismans away instead of using them.
“I saw black smoke everywhere today. I’m afraid it was a ferocious soul?” A curious smile appeared on Zhao Xuanjing’s cold face. It looked rather creepy.
“That’s right.” Xie Qiao nodded. “That person died in a horrible way. His life was already hard when he was alive. When a great opportunity arose, he was killed and immersed in wax. His eyes, nose, lips, and ears were covered in wax. He was sealed for quite some time, so his grievance was extraordinary.”
Teacher Xiao had no smile on his face. Not only that, he could not bring himself to smile.
‘Ridiculous, ridiculous!
‘Senior Sister is speaking as if she had seen the soul with her very own eyes!’
“Oh yeah, Senior Sister mentioned about the payment with the couple before leaving. Approximately how much was it?” Zhao Xuanjing asked again.
“It has to be at least 100 taels of silver. The Wei family is wealthy. Their daughter’s private money is hidden under the osmanthus tree. I’m sure there are some accessories apart from silver. I’ll melt them later and forge them into Dharmic instruments.” Xie Qiao smiled in satisfaction.
“You asked for so much?” asked Teacher Xiao instinctively.
To him, capturing souls was purely ridiculous. It should be no different than what other priests did—performing a ceremony and burning some talismans at the place.
How could she charge so much?
“Does Junior Brother think I charged too much?” Xie Qiao looked at him with confusion.
“No, no!” Teacher Xiao said what he did not mean as he waved immediately. “Senior Sister is capable. I’m sure the clients would be at peace after the ceremony. Everything will go well when one’s at peace. When everything goes well, it’ll mean that Senior Sister’s ceremony was effective. It makes sense for you to charge that amount, it makes sense.”
