The male supporting character was actually myself.

"Stop," Jiang Chen commanded in a cold and steady tone.

Only then did the ordinary people in the hall realize what had happened. Screams, cries, and the sounds of people running away and falling were all in chaos. The other Taoist priests finally realized that this evil spirit was not to be trifled with, and they all retreated and hid far away.

"Little brother, are you teaching me how to do things?" She floated over slowly, her tail tip like a venomous snake suddenly stabbing straight at Jiang Chen's neck!

It was only one centimeter away from the skin, its tail tip wobbling but not striking.

Jin Nian suddenly felt a chill down her spine. Her instincts told her that if she took another step forward, she would die!

The chill gradually intensified the fear, and the excitement brought by the killing quickly subsided. The crimson in Jin Nian's eyes also gradually disappeared.

A dozen seconds later, she finally realized what she had done, screamed, and pulled her tail back. "Brother! I...I didn't mean to, I'm sorry...I..."

The whole process took no more than two minutes, and the commotion in the hall finally alerted the people upstairs.

Yuan Xuefei came out of the art studio and, not seeing Jin Nian, hurriedly looked towards the hall. She was immediately terrified, her face turning pale. "Brother! Jin Nian! Are you alright?"

"Come and take Jin Nian back to rest. Leave the rest to me." Jiang Chen waved for his sister to come downstairs, then gave her a look.

The quick-witted Yuan Xuefei immediately understood and gently hugged Jin Nian's shoulder to comfort him, "It's alright, it's alright, brother will handle it. Don't be afraid, let's go home first."

The Taoist priests who had narrowly escaped death were terrified and dared not even try to stop them.

Chapter Nineteen: Yuan Jiangchen actually set a trap for me!

"Feifei, I messed it up!" As soon as she entered the house, Jin Nian covered her face and started sobbing. "You and my brother were both helping me, but I... I messed it all up! I couldn't control myself, I'm so sorry... I hurt you and dragged my brother down with me..."

Yuan Xuefei hugged her and gently comforted her, "It's not your fault, it's my fault. I should have let you stay by my side."

Don't cry, don't cry. Trust that your brother will handle it.

You've taken human form, so I'll prepare some hot water for you to take a hot bath.

Let's just wait quietly for news from our brother, okay?

Jin Nian hugged her, tears streaming down her face, "You are all such good people, sob sob sob... I swear I will never let anyone hurt you!"

Yuan Xuefei comforted Jin Nian and stayed home with her.

Jiang Chen was already sitting in the conference room of the Ningzhou branch headquarters of the Celestial Masters Sect.

Jin Nian's appearance shocked and terrified the entire Celestial Master Sect. Even the three remaining ninth-level Celestial Masters at headquarters were mobilized immediately, using precious teleportation talismans to rush over.

At this moment, they and the sect leader of the Celestial Masters Sect were sitting in the seat of honor in the conference room, their expressions serious and the atmosphere solemn.

Wu Pei, the leader of the Ningzhou branch, sat on the right, his face dark with anger as he stared at him.

Once everyone was present, Jiang Chen couldn't help but laugh when he saw the setup: "What? Are you going to interrogate a prisoner?"

"Shouldn't we interrogate you?" Wu Pei slammed his fist on the table and launched the first attack. "Such a big thing as the escape of an evil spirit, and you concealed it. Yuan Jiangchen, how dare you!"

"Heh... are you going to punish us siblings for failing to supervise her properly?" Jiang Chen chuckled. "Master Wu, it's been thirteen years. If my parents hadn't kindly adopted Feifei and given her a warm home, where would this innocent little girl be now, being used as a vessel to suppress evil spirits?"

Orphanage?

Or will you lock me up?

For thirteen years, the Celestial Masters Sect has never inquired about how that innocent girl is doing. You have such a big face!

When they need someone's help, they don't consult with them at all. They take advantage of Feifei being an orphan and a three-year-old child who doesn't understand anything, and they just requisition her without asking.

Seeing that the evil spirit had stabilized and the world was at peace, they immediately kicked the person aside and ignored them completely.

My parents brought her back from the orphanage and raised her with great care for ten years!

Three years ago, they were summoned to fight off an evil spirit invasion and both perished.

My brother and I have been relying on each other ever since. Where was your Celestial Masters Sect back then?

在干什么呢？

Oh right, I almost forgot, your Celestial Masters Sect hasn't forgotten about my brother and sister.

Less than six months after my parents passed away, you sent people to persuade me to donate money and supplies, saying that clearing away evil spirits is too dangerous, and that if we don't want others to suffer the same fate as my parents, we must unite and make a contribution.

The result is that the property left by my parents was sold for millions by your agency, right?

I didn't see a single penny; it was all donated directly to the Celestial Masters Sect's account.

Excuse me, everyone, is eating human blood buns delicious?

"You..." Wu Pei was so angry he almost vomited blood.

He never expected that Yuan Jiangchen would suddenly become such a different person.

When the sect leader wanted to take Yuan Xuefei away as a containment object, I did try to stop him by keeping such an important person in my hands in order to gain credit.

At that time, the idea was to take her under the tutelage of the Celestial Master, providing her with all the necessities of life and supporting her as an idle person.

It was the Yuan couple who, overflowing with love, insisted on adopting her, saying that giving her a home would help stabilize her emotions.

The suppression went smoothly afterward, and since the higher-ups didn't question it, I became careless.

As for the matter of selling the house to donate money, I really didn't know. Who needs his millions?

However, they didn't pursue the matter afterward, thinking that Yuan Jiangchen was willing and that he was the kind of person who could be easily manipulated, so he wouldn't cause any trouble...

Who would have thought he'd dug such a huge hole for himself!

"Don't change the subject. We're talking about the fact that we couldn't suppress the escape of the evil spirits, and what you've been hiding!" Wu Pei quickly clarified and brought the topic back on track.

Jiang Chen shrugged and spread his hands, "Jin Nian is out of trouble, so what?"

The evil spirits escaped because the Celestial Masters Sect has been inactive for years.

First, it caused my brother and me to live a turbulent and wandering life, which led to Fei Fei's unstable emotions and weak body. Her spiritual power growth rate could not counteract the erosion of the evil spirit's yin energy.

Secondly, after the evil spirit escaped, my sister and I tried our best to influence and comfort her, and she never lost control or hurt anyone. Why did she suddenly kill someone when we encountered people from your Celestial Master Sect at the mall today?

Furthermore, since you complain that we're not doing a good job, why don't you do it yourselves?

Go ahead and arrest or kill me if you want, what good will it do to scold me here?

They've been using us and swindling our money, and now they need us siblings to appease the evil spirits while simultaneously making a scene and accusing us of crimes. Don't the people of the Celestial Master Sect have any shame?

The little white cat perched on his shoulder, patting its fluffy paws and exclaiming, "What you said, Master, is so great! It's so satisfying!"

The old Celestial Master and the Sect Master had faces so gloomy they could drip water, and their eyes were filled with thorns as they looked at Wu Pei.

Wu Pei wiped his sweat, momentarily speechless. "No matter what, you shouldn't have concealed it!"

"Oh ho, so you're fixated on this point, huh?" Jiang Chen crossed his arms, leaned back in his chair, and chuckled. "I thought the most pressing issue was controlling the evil spirits."

So, in your view, holding people accountable is more important than solving the problem.

Okay then, I'll cover it up, so what?

How are you planning to kill me?

Seeing his nonchalant expression and attitude, as if he were a dead pig unafraid of boiling water, Wu Pei was so angry that he felt dizzy.

How did a perfectly good steamed bun turn into a hungry wolf?

His words were like knives, each one aimed straight for the vitals!

"Xiao Chen, we will personally investigate the matter at the Ningzhou branch. The most important thing now is the escape of the evil spirit." The sect leader reassured him, "Could you tell me in detail when she escaped? And what is her current situation?"

The little white cat sat on its host's shoulder, its two short arms wrapped around the cat's body, and gave a disdainful look. "Tch~ You call me Little Chenchen when you need me, but you kick me aside without even asking when you don't. Hypocritical! Shameless!"

Jiang Chen pressed on, "Back when they tricked me into selling my house to donate money, I was only fifteen and still a minor. If the sect leader wants to back us up, don't forget to add the charge of instigating a minor."

As for Jin Nian...

It's the evil spirit inside Feifei.

She's been out of trouble for almost a week now. She was quite fierce at first, but she's also rational and reasonable.

Now that we've spent a few days together, I'm trying my best to guide her towards a better or worse direction.

I'm trying to make her a partner of humanity, like... some rational evil spirits in underground intelligence stations.

We should get along well, cooperate, and achieve mutual benefit.

Regarding today's unexpected incident, I don't think Jin Nian will initiate trouble. Perhaps we should check the mall's security camera footage to see what happened?

"No need for that trouble. Just call the involved Taoist priest over and ask him. That will clarify things," said an old Taoist priest who had been resting with his eyes closed.

The sect leader nodded, and Wu Pei had no choice but to call them in.

Chapter Twenty: One Wave Subsides, Another Rises

"Today we were planning to eat on the fourth floor of the mall..." As soon as the leader of the Taoist priests entered, he glanced at his master's face and pondered how to shirk responsibility.

However, as soon as he opened his mouth, the old celestial master who had been resting with his eyes closed opened them and looked at him.

His bright, clear, and piercing eyes didn't look like those of an old man at all.

"It's my junior brother's birthday today, so we booked a private room at the restaurant on the fourth floor yesterday."

Stared at by a pair of eyes as bright as sword light, the third-level Celestial Master shivered and involuntarily confessed, "As soon as we entered the mall, we felt a sinister aura."

Then they discovered that the odor emanated from a little girl sitting on the second-floor corridor.

At the time, we didn't think much of it and assumed that an ordinary person was possessed by an evil spirit.

The second senior brother wanted to give a reminder, but the girl completely ignored him.

When Taoist masters walk through society, they are always fawned over and worshipped. When have they ever been so ignored by a mere child?

We got angry.

Of course, there was also a hint of showing off, so the junior brother controlled his flying sword to stab her, trying to scare her.

Unexpectedly... the little girl caught the flying sword and threw it down.

We thought she was so powerful because she was possessed by an evil spirit. We figured that defeating the evil spirit would not only make us famous in front of everyone, but we could also get the spirit core and make some money. Plus, we had many fellow disciples and lots of magical artifacts and talismans, so we were sure we could win.

As a result, enraged, she tore her junior brother to pieces in an instant…

Recalling the moment he fought his opponent, the terrifying feeling of being enveloped by death with nowhere to escape made this third-level Celestial Master tremble uncontrollably.

Jiang Chen spread his hands, looking helpless. "Look at what you've done to them."

"A demon that could destroy the world with a flick of its wrist only retaliated after being hit. It's so well-behaved, and you're still not satisfied!"