Blurb:
Yang Fu is a con artist who roams the martial world.
With his half-real, half-fake knack for the occult, he seeks out haunted places. Wherever evil spirits appear, there he is, stirring up trouble and taking advantage of the chaos.
Until one day, he runs into Sun Zhengchi, the youngest junior uncle of the Daoist orthodox sect.
Sun Zhengchi cannot tolerate even a grain of sand in his eye, and has always despised frauds like him. The moment they meet, he tries to haul Yang Fu off to the authorities.
Yang Fu turns on his heel and is about to make a run for it.
But Sun Zhengchi flicks his horsetail whisk and says coolly, “A vicious ghost will emerge here soon. If you dare run, I'll tell the whole city you're a fraud.”
Yang Fu: ???
To avoid getting arrested, the con artist is forced to get to work catching ghosts.
And so one of them is forced to put on a show and play at being a spiritual master, while the other watches coldly, ready to expose him at any moment.
Yang Fu hoodwinks the pilgrims up front, while Sun Zhengchi keeps an eye on him from behind.
Yang Fu pulls little tricks in the shadows, while Sun Zhengchi listens right beside him.
But when a real evil spirit appears, the first to stand in front of Yang Fu is none other than the junior uncle who can't stand him.
At that moment, blood stains the horsetail whisk. The cool, aloof junior uncle shields him, his voice low: “Don't be afraid. I'm here.”
Yang Fu gradually realizes that Sun Zhengchi's gaze is becoming more and more unsettling.
There is less scrutiny and disgust in those eyes, and more of a possessiveness that makes his scalp tingle.
So much for the righteous and the wicked being irreconcilable, huh?
Junior Uncle, if you keep staring at me like that, my secret identity is going to be completely exposed!
[Bonus Scene]
Late one night, Yang Fu is secretly removing his makeup and changing back to his real appearance in his room.
The door creaks open, and Sun Zhengchi leans against the doorframe, staring intently at his face, even more captivating without makeup.
Yang Fu's hand shakes, and his compact drops to the floor. “J-Junior Uncle? Let me explain. This is a disguise technique...”
Sun Zhengchi steps closer, trapping him between the desk and himself. His fingertips gently brush the corner of Yang Fu's eye. “Daoist Yang's disguise technique really is remarkable. You fooled the whole city, and you fooled me for so long, too.”
He lowers his head, his breath brushing Yang Fu's ear, his voice hoarse. “But now that I've got you, you won't be changing back for the rest of your life.”
Yang Fu: Help! Why is the light of righteousness even harder to shake than a vicious ghost...
▲Coming soon: “By My Calculations, If I'm Wrong, I'll Pay You Back in Pots and Pans”
Blurb:
Yang Yiyang is a fortune-teller with a stall beneath an overpass.
His main business is fortune-telling, character readings, face reading, and feng shui. His side business is selling his family's newly developed pots and pans.
His father can't help feeling that Yang Yiyang is wasting his potential by making a living as a fortune-teller.
But Yang Yiyang simply writes a big sign for his stall:
“Fortune-telling, character readings, palmistry, face reading, all in one. If I'm wrong, I'll pay you back in pots and pans.”
He thinks he'll just scrape by like this.
Until he runs into a ghost named Shi Ying.
The ghost smiles at him and says something that makes his scalp tingle: “A match ordained by heaven, fated to be.”
A living fortune-teller and a ghost who has been dead for who knows how many years.
Whoever wants this fated match can have it!
But Shi Ying won't leave him alone. He won't go away, and insists on lingering by his stall to watch him con people.
When Yang Yiyang reads someone's feng shui, Shi Ying offers commentary from the side.
When Yang Yiyang reads someone's fortune from a character, Shi Ying whispers in his ear.
A master of the occult is forced to team up with a ghost.
He uses his real skills to subdue demons and exorcise evil spirits, earning a good reputation, while this ghost makes his heart race and his hands shake until he gets the readings wrong.
Worst of all, Shi Ying seems to know every secret about him.
Every coincidence points to the same answer.
There is far more between them than a chance encounter.
Before he has had to pay out even a few sets of pots and pans, Yang Yiyang has already given himself away.
But did Shi Ying come to continue a past romance, or to collect an old debt?
-If I'm Wrong, I'll Pay You Back in Pots and Pans
How does a charlatan end up completely under a ghost's thumb?
Theme: Every person is different; adapt as circumstances demand.
