At three in the morning, Zhang Xian's phone rang.
"This is the leader of Eagle Sauce."
"...Could you put a little more effort into your next scam?"
Five minutes after he hung up, his master's call came through.
His master said earnestly, "You silly disciple, this is a big job! Remember to haggle."
That night, Eagle Sauce's air raid sirens blared. Two F-22s took off to intercept an unidentified flying object. A young Daoist in robes, riding a somersault cloud, waved his horsetail whisk at the pilots, then casually slapped a "Safe Travels" talisman onto each fighter jet.
Others exorcise demons with crosses and holy water. He hunts ghosts with assault rifles, every bullet engraved with a tiny thunder talisman.
"Times have changed."
Others hunt ghosts to destroy them. He hunts ghosts to recruit them:
An entire guard unit signed on, a vampire princess queued up for a position, and even the Old Ones in the ocean received commissions as "Great Generals Who Pacify the Sea."
"Help me out one more time! I'll pay extra!"
"The sauna's ready, the vodka's poured. Where are you?"
"May the Lord protect him. By the way... could I ask about his availability?"
The clink of a coin when his merit points came through was the happiest sound Zhang Xian heard all day.
Faced with a global appointment list of politicians booked three years in advance, he made a calculation on his fingers and kept his merits to himself:
"I am the Daoist Zhang Xian. Xian, as in 'idle.'"
"Want an appointment? Get in line. You can cut in, too, if you pay extra."
Okay, finally there is someone who understands Wang's writing