"A gift for me?"
Now it was Zhao Yuan's turn to be stunned.
He had expected Wang Qing to demand an exorbitant price, so he was surprised when the man decided to give them to him for free.
"Are you sure about that?" Zhao Yuan asked, feeling a bit awkward.
"Of course! It's a small token of my appreciation. Thank you, Master Zhao, for taking the trouble to come and rid my home of its curse!" Wang Qing had some serious nerve. A moment ago, he had been plotting to fleece Zhao Yuan, and now he was speaking with such righteous conviction.
Zhao Yuan was a sharp guy. A glance at Cheng Yunlong, who was standing beside Wang Qing, was all it took for him to piece together the situation. So, he didn't stand on ceremony. After nodding to Cheng Yunlong, he accepted the four small gourds.
Outwardly, he stuffed the four small gourds into his pocket. In reality, however, he had secretly activated his Storage Ring and placed them inside the Storage Ring Space.
Once that was done, he prepared to take his leave. "Boss Wang, now that I've taken the four small gourds, the chaotic Five Elements in your home will soon return to normal. The strange phenomena won't appear again, and you and your family no longer need to live in fear."
"And that's it? We're done?" Wang Qing's jaw dropped in disbelief.
He had assumed that even if Zhao Yuan didn't perform some grand ritual with an altar, he would at least set up an Array or use a few Magical Artifacts, making a big spectacle of it for half the day. He never imagined it would be so simple from start to finish—a quick tour, taking four small gourds, and then declaring the job done... 'Is it really over?'
"What, you don't believe me?" Zhao Yuan smiled. "How about this: leave this room empty for three more days. After that, have someone come clean it, and then see for yourself if the strange phenomena have stopped."
"Alright." Wang Qing nodded. It was a sound plan. The phenomena had been occurring every day or two, so it wouldn't take long to see if they had stopped.
Then, Wang Qing asked, "By the way, how much should I pay you for your services?"
Zhao Yuan waved his hand. "Let's not worry about that just yet. It's not too late to pay me after you've confirmed the phenomena in your house have stopped."
Wang Qing nodded. "Alright, we'll do as Master Zhao says. If the phenomena in my home truly stop, I will be sure to reward you handsomely!"
To him, this was the perfect arrangement. 'If I have to pay now, and I pay too much, what happens if the problem isn't actually solved? I'd have wasted my money. But if I pay too little, I risk offending Master Zhao.'
After leaving Wang Qing's house, Zhao Yuan politely declined Wang Qing's offer to see him out and hailed a cab back to West Hua Medical University.
Back in the dorm room, Liu Zhu, Wang Rongfeng, and Wu Yan were already waiting for him. When they saw him finally return, they swarmed him, all talking at once.
"Third Brother, you're finally back!"
"Let's get started with today's training! While you were gone, the three of us tried practicing on our own for a bit, but without you here to supervise and guide us, it just didn't feel right. We couldn't get that same feeling of extreme exhaustion and strain we had yesterday."
"Third Brother, hurry up and put us through the wringer! I'm practically begging for it!"
Cultivating the Four Saints Technique last night had been agonizing for Liu Zhu, Wang Rongfeng, and Wu Yan, but the benefits were also obvious. Today, all three felt that their mental state and physical fitness were much better than before.
Liu Zhu, in particular, noticed during basketball practice with his teammates that night that his strength, speed, and reflexes had all improved!
He had made this much progress after just one day of cultivating the Four Saints Technique. 'If I can keep this up and completely master this Cultivation Technique,' he thought, 'won't my body become ridiculously badass?'
Seeing the results, the three were naturally motivated and eager to learn.
"No problem. I'll put you through your paces right now!"
Seeing his three friends so cooperative, Zhao Yuan was pleased. He immediately lit a stick of Soul-Stabilizing Incense and, along with his "deputy coach," the White Cat, began guiding the three in their Cultivation of the Four Saints Technique.
A series of blood-curdling screams, the kind that could easily give someone the wrong idea, echoed out from dorm room 301, disturbing students in the neighboring rooms.
"Damn it! Those guys in room 301 are at it again! How is anyone supposed to live with this racket every night?" a student in the next room grumbled. Annoyed, he headed downstairs to complain to the dorm manager.
A few minutes later, the brawny dorm manager arrived at room 301, trailing behind the complaining student. Hearing the miserable screams and groans coming from inside, her mind instantly filled with all sorts of R-rated images.
'Good heavens,' she thought, 'are students these days really this wild?'
A green glint flashed in the dorm manager's eyes; it was hard to tell if it was from anger or excitement. She raised a hand and knocked on the door. The thundering BANG! BANG! was so loud it made the ears of the onlookers ache.
Zhao Yuan opened the door and was taken aback to see the dorm manager. "Ma'am, can I help you?"
Instead of answering, the dorm manager fired back a question, "What are you boys doing in here?"
"Nothing much, just training," Zhao Yuan answered honestly.
"Training?" The dorm manager looked skeptical. She pushed past him into the room and saw Liu Zhu, Wang Rongfeng, and Wu Yan in the middle of cultivating the Four Saints Technique.
Seeing that the scene was completely different from what she'd imagined, the dorm manager was visibly disappointed. She frowned. "You're really just training? You're not... doing *that* kind of thing?"
"What kind of thing?" Zhao Yuan was completely baffled.
"You know... *that* thing..." The dorm manager brought the tips of her two index fingers together. "Get it?" she asked.
"No." Zhao Yuan shook his head, looking lost.
The dorm manager was speechless. She shook her head. "Forget it. Never mind."
Her gaze fell on the three who were cultivating the Four Saints Technique. She looked a little surprised. "Well, what's this? Are you practicing square dancing?"
Even though Zhao Yuan had said they were training, the way the three of them were twisting and turning looked for all the world like they were square dancing. The dorm manager automatically filled in the blanks, reinterpreting "training" as "practicing their square dancing moves."
Before Zhao Yuan could explain, the dorm manager continued, talking more to herself than to him. "I didn't expect you boys to be into square dancing. Hmm, that's a good habit. I should organize a dance-off with my troupe someday! To be honest, you young people should do more of it. Look at you lot, you're either chubby or frail. It's all from a lack of exercise!"
After a long spiel, the dorm manager finally got back to business. "Practicing square dancing is a commendable activity, but could you please not scream so loudly and miserably? Anyone who didn't know better would think you're up to some funny business in here! Then again, if a little square dancing can make you all scream like that, it just goes to show how terrible your physical condition is!"
Having delivered her lecture, the dorm manager left room 301.
The crowd of onlookers also dispersed, disappointed with the anticlimactic show.
"What the hell? I thought the guys in 301 were having an orgy, but they were just square dancing!"
"Why are a bunch of young guys doing square dancing? What's wrong with the people in 301?"
"There was none of the steamy action I was hoping for. So boring!"
Hearing the crowd's chatter, dark lines formed on Zhao Yuan's forehead.
'Holy crap,' he thought, 'do all of you have to have such dirty minds?!'