Stepdaughter of a wealthy family? The little darling of a Beijing tycoon

The moment the three stepped off the bus and their feet touched the ground, the chilling atmosphere that had lingered all night completely dissipated, and the air finally returned to the cool and refreshing feel of the night.

Just then, two unassuming black sedans drove up from the distance into the night. The cars were ordinary and inconspicuous, blending perfectly into the suburban night scene, yet they carried the solemn aura unique to special departments.

The car came to a smooth stop on the side of the road. The door opened, and Lin Feng and Ye Shuang quickly got out.

After receiving Chen Hai's urgent orders, the two rushed to the scene at full speed, fearing that any delay might lead to unforeseen complications. However, upon arrival, seeing Shen Jingshu, Xuan Feng, and Lin Yueru all unharmed, and the No. 14 bus quietly parked by the roadside, now back to normal, they instantly understood—

They were still too late.

The entire bizarre and dangerous ghost realm incident has been quietly resolved by Shen Jingshu.

Both of them felt a pang of regret: they ultimately didn't get to witness Master Shen's skills firsthand.

Xuanfeng and Lin Yueru saw the two of them and greeted them with smiles.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Shen Jingshu briefly explained the whole story of the bus haunting, the lingering spirits, and the people trapped in the ghost realm that night, and handed over the follow-up work to Lin Feng and Ye Shuang.

"I'll leave the rest to you. It's getting late, so I'll head back to school now."

After she finished speaking, she turned to look at Lin Yueru beside her and said softly, "Let's go back to school together."

"Okay, Junior Uncle!" Lin Yueru quickly replied, then hesitated slightly, "But... we came by taxi, and this is the middle of nowhere, so it's not easy to call a taxi back now."

Lin Feng, being extremely perceptive, immediately stepped forward and respectfully said, "Master Shen, Miss Lin, I'll escort you back to school."

Now that the matter was settled, he was eager to see Shen Jingshu off as much as possible.

Afterwards, Lin Feng personally drove Shen Jingshu and Lin Yueru back to the Peking University campus.

When passing through a busy section of the city, he deliberately dropped off Xuanfeng and chose a busy intersection where it was easy to hail a taxi.

"Thank you, Fellow Daoist Lin." Xuanfeng said as he got out of the car.

After the car drove away, he hailed a taxi and returned home on his own.

The mysterious disappearance of bus route 14, which shocked the suburbs of Beijing overnight, has now been completely resolved.

News quickly spread in the esoteric arts exchange group: the incident of the missing No. 14 bus in the suburbs has been successfully resolved.

The group members were all curious and wanted to know who had stepped in to quell this thorny ghost realm case. Someone revealed that it was Master Shen.

However, most people are unfamiliar with this name and have no idea about Master Shen's background.

The well-informed person quickly followed up, "I heard that the Special Affairs Bureau has hired a consultant, everyone calls her Master Shen, could it be her?"

"The fact that Master Shen was able to resolve the No. 14 bus incident so quickly shows that he truly has real skills."

"Of course. To be hired as an advisor by the Special Affairs Bureau, one's cultivation must be extremely high. I really want to meet her sometime and exchange some pointers."

Shen Jingshu was completely unaware of these discussions. Although she had been added to this Xuanmen (Taoist sect) group, she never checked the group messages, remaining quietly in the list as if invisible. People in the group often posted various small tasks, inviting like-minded individuals to join them, but she never participated.

The weekend is just around the corner. This is the last weekend of the semester. In three days, next Wednesday, the school will officially start summer vacation.

Shen Jingshu remembered that she had arranged to visit Grandpa Lu on Sunday with Lu Jingxing. On Saturday, she planned to go out to buy supplies. Whenever she had free time, she would focus on drawing talismans. She had accumulated over a hundred talismans, but the yellow paper, cinnabar, and other materials she used for drawing talismans were running out and needed to be replenished.

So on Saturday morning, Shen Jingshu went to the antique street alone. Lin Yueru had told her about this feng shui shop; many people from the Xuanmen sect came here to buy materials for drawing talismans, and the goods were of excellent quality.

Following the address given by Lin Yueru, Shen Jingshu arrived at the shop. The entire antique street was built in an antique style, and if it weren't for the modern clothes worn by the pedestrians, one would almost feel as if they had stepped into an old-fashioned alley.

The shop's wooden door was half-closed, and an old wooden plaque hung above the door with the three characters "Xuanbaozhai" written on it. Several pots of calamus, not growing very vigorously, were placed at the entrance, and the air was filled with a unique scent of sandalwood and cinnabar mixed together.

Shen Jingshu raised her hand and gently pushed open the wooden door.

A copper bell hangs above the door, and it rings softly as the door is opened.

The shop owner, who was sitting behind the counter wiping a compass, looked up when he heard the noise, smiled, and asked, "Young lady, what would you like to see?"

The shop owner was an elderly gentleman with kind eyes and a face full of wrinkles.

Seeing that Shen Jingshu was so young, he assumed she was just a tourist drawn in by the antique charm of the street, browsing out of curiosity. Many young women did the same thing on ordinary days, casually glancing around, and when they saw compasses, talismans, and ritual implements on display, they would laugh and joke, "What era are we living in, still selling such feudal and superstitious items?" Whenever this happened, the old man would just smile and offer no further explanation.

Outsiders might just see this as a gimmick, but only those in the know understand that all the goods in his shop are genuinely high-quality items, many of which he acquired through various connections. Having dealt with various sorcerers for years, he knows exactly what's real and what's fake, good and bad.

Shen Jingshu's gaze slowly swept over the various ritual implements and incense sticks displayed in the shop, and she said, "I want the finest cinnabar and yellow paper to draw talismans."

The old man paused slightly upon hearing this, scrutinizing the young woman before him: "Drawing talismans? Young lady, if I may be so bold as to ask, did you buy this for your elders?"

Shen Jingshu gently shook her head: "No, I'll use it myself."

"Oh?" The old man's eyes immediately changed. "Could it be that the young lady is also a Taoist practitioner, a talisman master?"

Shen Jingshu nodded in agreement.

"Okay, I just received a new batch of goods the day before yesterday."

The old man turned around, bent down and took out several stacks of yellow paper from under the counter, then took out a simple wooden box and pushed them in front of Shen Jingshu.

Shen Jingshu reached out and lifted the lid of the wooden box, peering inside. The cinnabar inside was of ordinary color and of only average quality, far from meeting her standards for superior quality.

She frowned almost imperceptibly, her expression not overtly revealed, and simply uttered two words: "Barely."

Having been a businessman in the city for decades, the old man had developed an instinct for reading people's expressions. He immediately noticed the subtle change in her expression, and the smile on his face faded slightly.

"Don't try to fool me, young lady. I've been doing business on this antique street for decades, and none of my goods are ever defective. Even the Taoist priests at Qingfeng Temple get their talismans from me."

Shen Jingshu had never heard of Qingfeng Temple before, only knowing that it must be a Taoist temple and had nothing to do with her.

She couldn't help but recall the time when she was cultivating with her master, Xuanjizi. The cinnabar her master used was deep red like blood, finely ground, and full of spiritual energy. It was in a completely different league from the box in front of her.