The ancestral hall's gate was tightly shut. Mr. Yu stood with his hands behind his back, his expression heavy with concern. Several respected elders from the village gathered together, discussing urgently.

One of the elders suggested to Mr. Yu, "Dealing with Huang Pizi's revenge won't be easy. I suggest we seek help from a skilled individual."

Mr. Yu nodded in agreement, "I've been thinking the same. Truth be told, Qi Lao'er only acted to save his child. We should do everything we can to protect him. So when someone suggested abandoning Qi Lao'er earlier, I didn't agree!"

Mr. Yu glanced at the elders, and some of them sheepishly lowered their heads.

I grabbed Mr. Yu's hand and pleaded, "Mr. Yu, please save Uncle Qi! He's a good man!"

Mr. Yu looked at Uncle Qi, lying unconscious in the corner of the hall, and patted my head, saying, "I know, I'll find a way to help him."

Then he turned to my grandfather and said, "When you return, see if you can find Kulezi. Last time, he handled Yin Hongyi's matter well. Surely he can deal with Huang Pizi too!"

My grandfather nodded, "Alright, I'll go right away!"

In the evening, my grandfather returned, but behind him was not Kulezi. Instead, there was a chubby Daoist with a prominent garlic-shaped nose, dressed in Daoist robes, and sporting a humorous mustache. He carried a piece of black cloth wrapped around a wooden sword, with only the handle visible.

Mr. Yu pulled my grandfather aside and asked in a low voice, "I told you to find Kulezi. Who's this person, and where did you find him?"

Rubbing his hands nervously, my grandfather replied, "I wanted to find Kulezi, but he's out of town and won't be back soon. I saw this Daoist in a neighboring village, performing rituals for people. He seemed quite experienced, so I brought him here!"

As they whispered, the chubby Daoist walked up to them with an air of arrogance and said, "Old Yang has already briefed me on the situation in your village. It's just Huang Pizi's possession. I can easily handle it!"

We looked at the chubby Daoist in surprise. Hey, this guy's quite arrogant!

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Mr. Yu politely clasped his hands and asked, "May I ask how we should address you, Daoist?"

The Daoist waved his hand, "Everyone calls me Master Wang!"

Mr. Yu nodded, "Master Wang, can you really help us solve this matter?"

Master Wang gave a mysterious smile and rubbed his thumb and index finger together in front of Mr. Yu, "As long as this is in place, anything is negotiable!"

Mr. Yu asked, "Could you give us an estimate, Master?"

Master Wang extended two fingers and waved them in front of Mr. Yu.

Mr. Yu immediately reached into his pocket, "Two hundred? No problem, I have it here, take it!"

Master Wang twirled his mustache and said, "Mr. Yu, it's two thousand, not two hundred!"

Everyone present gasped when they heard Master Wang's price of two thousand yuan. This chubby Daoist was really asking for a lion's share!

During that era, two thousand bucks were nearly equivalent to a year's living expenses for a family of three. For us, it was simply an astronomical figure. As kids, we only received ten or twenty bucks as New Year's money. What concept was two thousand bucks to us? I remember we only gave Lame Ku a few hundred bucks for his red envelopes before. Could this fat guy be as powerful as Lame Ku? His asking price is still so high!

Mr. Yu's expression turned troubled, "Master Wang, isn't two thousand bucks a bit too much?"

Master Wang counted on his fingers while explaining to Mr. Yu, "Mr. Yu, you have to understand, these two thousand bucks aren't buying just Qizhi's life, but the lives of the entire village. Although Yellow Skin came for Qizhi's revenge, he has already made enemies with your whole village. Can you guarantee that Yellow Skin won't continue to retaliate against others? Are the lives of the entire village only worth these two thousand bucks?"

"This..." Mr. Yu was momentarily at a loss for words. What Master Wang said indeed posed a hidden danger. What if Yellow Skin continued to retaliate against others?

Mr. Yu gathered a few elders together to discuss in hushed tones at the temple's entrance.

Master Wang paced around impatiently, "Gentlemen, are we doing this or not? Give me a straightforward answer. If not, I'll leave. I'm quite busy!"

As Master Wang pretended to leave, Mr. Yu stopped him, "Master, please stay! How about this: we've already agreed. The two thousand bucks will be crowdfunded by the whole village, but this will take some time. We'll give you a thousand bucks as a deposit first. After everything is settled, we'll pay you the remaining thousand!"

Master Wang squinted, thinking for a moment before smiling, "Alright, it's fate that we've met. I'll give the village chief some face! Let's go, take me to see Qizhi first."

Mr. Yu nodded, leading Master Wang into the temple.

It was already dusk, and there were no lights in the temple, making the light dim.

Qizhi was curled up in a corner, motionless, as if still asleep. Perhaps the effects of the anesthesia had not worn off yet.

Master Wang walked over, untied the fishing net, and dragged Qizhi out from within.

"Master Wang, how's the situation?" Mr. Yu asked.

Master Wang glanced at Qizhi's condition, then reached out to feel his breath, revealing a strange expression, "What's the situation? This man is already dead!"

What? Qizhi is dead?!

Everyone present was shocked, exchanging incredulous looks.

At that moment, I was standing at the temple's entrance. Upon hearing that Qizhi had died, grief overwhelmed me, and I burst into tears uncontrollably. Those tears just wouldn't stop flowing.

I felt like there was a huge stone pressing down on my heart, making me panic. I was filled with guilt, feeling like Qizhi's death was caused by me and the fat guy. If Qizhi hadn't tried to save us, he wouldn't have provoked Yellow Skin, and wouldn't have been sought out for revenge.

Just then, the fat guy walked into the temple. Seeing me crying, he quickly asked what had happened.

I cursed at him and demanded to know why he was here.

The fat guy looked surprised, "I came to see how Qizhi was doing..."

"How is he? He's already dead, what else can there be?" I glared with red eyes, pushing the fat guy away.

The fat guy stood there like a wooden stake, his eyes reddening too. He cried out and ran toward the temple, "Qizhi! Qizhi!"

Arriving at the temple's entrance, the fat guy was stopped by Mr. Yu. The latter said, "Don't go in, the situation hasn't been resolved yet!"