Chapter One: The Charlatan
Yang Haoran was exactly thirty years old this year. The reason his parents gave him this name was their hope that he would grow up to possess a spirit of noble righteousness. They didn't ask for him to be incredibly capable, but at the very least, he shouldn't become a scourge on society. His parents weren't very educated, so they'd spent a few New Beginning Coins, plus a basket of eggs, to have a master choose the name for him—though not a schoolteacher, but a fortune-teller.
The fortune-teller said that Yang Haoran's destiny was lacking in water, and adding the character "Hao" to his name would compensate for it. His parents found this very reasonable and thanked the master profusely, and so Yang Haoran's name was thus decided.
However, Yang Haoran's parents never dreamed that their beloved son, upon growing up, would not only fail to possess a spirit of noble righteousness, but would instead embark on a path of deception and trickery, relying on posing as a charlatan to make a living. If they had known, they would surely have beaten this unfilial son to death.
This world was named the New Beginning Realm, a vast and wondrous place. The county town where Yang Haoran resided was called Lecheng, a relatively poor small city. Precisely because of its poverty, more people believed in ghosts and gods here than in larger cities. This was one of the reasons he chose to settle in this city after drifting for over ten years: here, his clientele would be relatively broader.
There was another reason he chose to stay in Lecheng: Yang Haoran was originally a local of Lecheng, but not from the county town itself, rather from a rural area within Lecheng's borders.
In this world now, those who disbelieved in ghosts and gods far outnumbered those who believed, which caused Yang Haoran's business to struggle. After all, he had no genuine abilities, relying entirely on glib talk and supernatural charades. He attracted very few clients, and the remuneration he earned was limited, so he was naturally getting nowhere.
However, the world's population was enormous, and though disbelievers far outnumbered believers, the latter still constituted a considerable number. Yang Haoran himself had learned that the masters in his line of work who possessed genuine abilities had quite substantial incomes. Sometimes, the remuneration from a single job could sustain someone like him for several years. But he lacked such ability and dared not take on such large assignments. The ones he dared to take on were almost all about Sense Yin.
The term "Sense Yin" sounded quite mysterious, as if it were very impressive. But if one knew what Sense Yin truly was, perhaps no one would find it very impressive.
The former sounded somewhat mysterious. As for the latter, it was practically a blatant mockery. Just standing there to feel if it was cold or not—in Yang Haoran's eyes, anyone could do that.
In the eyes of true professionals, real Sense Yin existed, and its function was not insignificant. But when it came to Yang Haoran, the charlatan, it had completely lost its essence.
Besides Sense Yin, Yang Haoran also performed exorcisms. Of course, this was only in the eyes of outsiders, because he himself knew perfectly well that his so-called exorcism consisted of burning a pile of ghost money, lighting three sticks of incense, and a pair of red candles, then muttering a heap of mystic nonsense. He often didn't even know what he was reciting, sometimes even unwittingly including curses and swear words.
Relying on these tricks learned from movies, coupled with his superb acting skills, he truly looked like a master, performing house inspections and exorcisms for people, carrying it out with convincing authenticity. Although he hadn't been in this line of work for long, he had already gained a small reputation on their street. Everyone knew this fellow was a bit odd and mystical, but as for whether he had any real ability, everyone had their own opinion.
Yang Haoran rented a small storefront in Lecheng. The items he sold were not funeral supplies, but rather he ran a small convenience store, selling various odds and ends.
Logically speaking, having taken up his current profession, it would have been more fitting for him to sell funeral supplies or similar items; this would better suit his identity. But he did not do so, because he was also quite timid. Despite his mystical mumblings and the appearance of an exorcism master in front of outsiders, in reality, he held ghosts and gods in great awe. He dared not sell such items, because he still had to live there.
Yang Haoran divided the small storefront into two areas: the outer area sold various odds and ends, while the inner area was his living quarters, separated by a verdant green curtain—a very green curtain.
The storefront itself was not large to begin with, so after being divided into two areas, Yang Haoran's living space naturally became even smaller. Behind the green curtain was a wooden bed, a small folding wooden table, and on the table, a rice cooker and a set of chopsticks and a bowl.
There wasn't much to say about the chopsticks and bowl; they were very ordinary, serving no great purpose other than for eating. However, the rice cooker was different. Its utility far surpassed that of the chopsticks and bowl. Not only could it be used to cook rice, but also to stir-fry dishes, boil water, make hotpot, and so on.
Due to his impoverished family background, Yang Haoran dropped out of school very early. At fourteen, he was forced to leave his hometown and wander afar. Over the past decade or more, he had experienced a lot and suffered many hardships, but he had also learned a great deal. Naturally, being frugal, he had also saved up a sum of money.
This sum of money was not large, but it represented his hard-earned blood and sweat. Thus, he cherished it greatly, depositing it in the bank and not daring to spend it frivolously. He planned to save enough to buy an apartment in Lecheng, then find a wife and live a good life. At that time, he would bring his parents into the city to enjoy their grandchildren and live a comfortable life.
To achieve this goal as quickly as possible, he had always worked very hard and was very frugal, which was why his living situation was so poor. However, to this day, he was still a long way from this goal. No matter how frugal he was, the money for a home was still a considerable amount short. This wasn't the most critical problem; the killer was that he currently had no girlfriend at all.
Even the cleverest housewife cannot cook without rice. For a perpetually single man with no girlfriend, no matter how much he planned for the future, it was all in vain. It was like a computer: the operating system was the latest, but the specifications were so terrible it was unbearable to look at, making it utterly unplayable.
Such was Yang Haoran's life at the moment. He had many ideas, but alas, his "hardware" simply wasn't up to par, leaving him unable to make a single step of progress. Fortunately, this fellow had also weathered many storms. He was merely disappointed, but not despairing. He even redoubled his efforts, striving harder to achieve his goals.
Today, Yang Haoran, as usual, was running his convenience store, waiting for customers. He sat on a chair, scrolling on his phone, and intentionally or unintentionally covered the phone screen with his hand. He watched with great relish, completely engrossed. It was unclear what he was looking at; it seemed to be something that couldn't bear to see the light of day.
Precisely because he was so engrossed, he didn't notice anyone approaching at all. Caught off guard, a hand suddenly appeared and snatched the phone from his grasp.
Yang Haoran was just enjoying his viewing when such a sudden incident startled him. He immediately looked up to face what was in front of him.
A man had appeared in front of Yang Haoran at some unknown point—a handsome young man. Judging by his appearance, he was probably around twenty-five or twenty-six years old. He was currently looking at Yang Haoran with a cheerful grin, his handsome face bearing a smile that all men understood.
"In broad daylight, you sneaky brat, watching so furtively and engrossed, as if you wanted to stuff your eyes right into the screen! Which 'teacher' has you so addicted that you've forgotten time and place?"
The man chuckled, then his gaze shifted to the phone in his hand. Seeing this, Yang Haoran didn't try to snatch back his phone. He merely looked at the man with disdain, making no other moves.
From Yang Haoran's reaction, it was clear that the man was an acquaintance of his. Otherwise, the man wouldn't have been so unrestrained, and Yang Haoran naturally wouldn't have allowed him to act so wildly.
"Tsk, I thought you had some new discovery. Never thought you'd be looking at this mystical nonsense. " The knowing smile vanished from the man's face, then, with a bored expression, he tossed the phone back to Yang Haoran, who was sitting on the chair.
He had assumed Yang Haoran was furtively looking at something indescribable, but he hadn't expected Yang Haoran to be browsing information on various ways to subjugate demons and eradicate evil. Naturally, he immediately lost interest. After all, he had always been rather indifferent to tales of ghosts and gods.
Yang Haoran rolled his eyes at the man. While continuing to scroll on his phone, he spoke with an air of seasoned wisdom: "What do you know? Do you know what it means to never tire of learning? Do you know what it means to learn throughout one's life? Though your Brother Yang here has some skill in exorcism, I never consider myself invincible. There's always a higher peak, you know. Learning more can only benefit me, not harm me."
Yang Haoran's words were flawless, his expression on point, his tone perfect. Not only did he fool the man in front of him, but he even fooled himself, believing himself to be an exorcism master, a man of great capability.
"If you can't even fool yourself, how can you fool others? " Ever since he embarked on this profession, this phrase became Yang Haoran's motto, constantly reminding him and motivating him.
In the realm of exorcism, Yang Haoran naturally had no real ability. He hadn't even seen what a ghost looked like. The reason he watched these exorcism materials with such relish was partly due to interest, and partly because of his current profession. If he didn't learn these exorcism tricks online, what would he use to deceive others? Regardless of whether these methods online were actually effective, as long as he used them well, he could still fool people. And that was all Yang Haoran wanted—something so simple.
The man was momentarily stunned by Yang Haoran's words. Then he reacted, chuckling as he chided, "You brat, all day long you're pretending to be mystical, acting like a demi-immortal! If you really have the ability, when will you perform a ritual and let me witness it? If you can really let me see a ghost, then from now on, forget calling you Brother Yang; calling you Grandfather Yang would be no problem!"
Yang Haoran cursed the man inwardly, but his face showed no hint of displeasure. He maintained his seasoned, world-weary demeanor. While feigning seriousness, he lowered his head and carefully studied the information on his phone, and casually spoke, "Different professions are like separate mountains; you don't understand, and I don't blame you. Speak, what do you need me for?"
"Heh heh, my friend just bought a new apartment. He heard me mention you and wants you to go take a look."
As soon as the man's words fell, Yang Haoran, who was scrolling on his phone, suddenly froze. He immediately stood up, his left hand swiftly tucked the phone into his pocket, and his right hand deftly pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his right pants pocket. With a face full of smiles, he offered a cigarette to the man and chuckled, "Have a smoke, have a smoke. Take a cigarette first."
As he spoke, Yang Haoran noticed that the man had no chair to sit on. Then, with an apologetic laugh, he personally moved the chair he had been sitting on and placed it under the man's backside. He said, "Look at me, so focused on studying exorcism techniques that I overlooked such a small detail. You sit down and have a smoke first; we can talk about the matter later. Oh, right, what would you like to drink? The usual?"
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