David Carter nodded like a sleepyhead, groggily opening his eyes to take a look.

　　Then he suddenly snapped awake!

　　His chubby face twisted into a ball, his two lips parted like a pair of fat sausages—astonishingly, even they could contort!

　　“Ho ho, uh ho ho!”

　　He was so terrified that he couldn’t make a sound for a moment. As he tried to scoot away, his back gave out and he collapsed to the ground.

　　Just then, the clouds cleared and the moonlight shone through the gaps in the branches, illuminating Samuel’s face so that David Carter could see him clearly. Immediately, clutching his chest, David Carter cried out:

　　“Hiss, Little—Little Master? What are you doing here?”

　　Samuel sneered, “Shouldn’t I be the one asking you that? Didn’t you go down the mountain to return home? Why are you still here?”

　　“I wanted to go down the mountain too, but it’s already night, I can’t make it down now.” As David Carter spoke, he tried to get up. Samuel reached into his robe and pulled out his horsetail whisk, extending it toward him.

　　Seeing this, David Carter was overjoyed and reached out to grab the whisk, hoping to be pulled up.

　　But the whisk deftly dodged his hand and jabbed him in the chest, pressing him back to the ground:

　　“In a hurry to get up? What’s the rush? As Lu Xun said, ‘Why stand for long while alive? There’s plenty of time to stand after death.’”

　　Hearing this, David Carter shivered and said, “Little Master, what are you saying? We don’t talk about ghosts at night, nor monsters in the wild. I’m timid, please don’t scare me in the middle of the night.”

　　“Besides, aren’t people supposed to lie down after death? How would there be time to stand?”

　　Samuel said, “If I bury your corpse upright in the ground, wouldn’t you be able to stand forever?”

　　David Carter gave an awkward laugh, “Little Master, don’t kid—”

　　“Enough nonsense!” Samuel cut him off with a stern face. “Speak. Tell me everything you’ve done to harm our temple!”

　　At these words, David Carter looked utterly confused and said, “Little Master, what do you mean by that? Harm the temple? How could I possibly do anything to harm the Four-Eyed Temple?”

　　Samuel impatiently flicked his whisk and gestured, “Blessings upon your mother, my patience is limited. I don’t want to play riddles with you.”

　　“Listen up. Quickly confess everything you did to the temple today, or else—there are plenty of ghosts in the temple right now, and they’re all vengeful spirits. If I send you in there, you know what’ll happen to you, right?”

　　David Carter looked even more bewildered: “The temple is a sanctuary of the Three Pure Ones, how could it be full of ghosts?”

　　Seeing his innocent look, Samuel grew angry and raised his fist: “Clay pot—have you ever seen a fist as big as a mini clay pot?”

　　This finally scared him. He cried out, “Little Master, spare me! I’ll talk, I’ll answer whatever you ask, I’ll tell you everything. B-but I really didn’t mean to harm the temple, let alone harm you!”

　　Samuel swung his hand as if to strike him, shouting, “I see you won’t shed tears until you see the coffin! Do I have to ask? Can’t you confess on your own? Still not being honest, huh? Do you want to go into the temple and experience being torn apart by a hundred ghosts?”

　　David Carter was so terrified he waved his hands frantically: “I wouldn’t dare, I wouldn’t dare! I’ll confess, I’ll confess right now, please calm down, Master.”

　　He thought for a moment, his chubby face wrinkling up: “But what exactly am I supposed to confess? You have to ask!”

　　“Confess everything you think you should confess!” Samuel roared.

　　David Carter nodded in sudden realization and quickly said, “I am David Carter, courtesy name Buqi, the mayor of the old town at the foot of Yunqi Mountain, fifty-one years old, with one wife and one concubine, no children…”

　　“Don’t give me all that useless stuff, get to the point! Tell me how you harmed my family’s temple!” Samuel interrupted him. “Here’s a hint: Qianyan’er!”

　　This was also a clue given by the ghosts.

　　They had been drawn here by something called Qianyan’er.

　　At the mention of ‘Qianyan’er’, David Carter’s fat body couldn’t help but tremble a few times.

　　He said in panic, “Qianyan’er? How does Little Master know about Qianyan’er? Why are you suddenly asking about this?”

　　Samuel sensed there was more to his words and watched him warily, saying, “It’s not your turn to ask questions. Answer me first—what is Qianyan’er?”

　　David Carter said, “Qianyan’er is a demon!”

　　“I don’t know what its true form looks like, only that it can sense people’s greed and change its appearance according to that greed.”

　　“If you like silver dollars, it will turn into a pile of silver dollars; if you like copper coins, it will become a heap of copper coins…”

　　“If it finds out I like banknotes…” Samuel interjected.

　　David Carter said gravely, “Then it will turn into banknotes. In short, it can become anything related to money, as long as it can tempt you to accept it.”

　　Samuel understood.

　　His lack of greed had saved his life.

　　Earlier, he’d been unmoved by the gold bars, picked them up and put them back, but had pocketed a banknote instead.

　　After seeing this, Qianyan’er thought he liked banknotes and not gold, so it turned into a banknote.

　　As he pondered, David Carter continued:

　　“The matter of Qianyan’er started with the Sanluzi family.”