Chapter 2

Chapter 2

“Alright, Professor Zhu. Sorry for the trouble. I’ll be in Sichuan tomorrow.”

I hung up the phone, beaming. Professor Zhu said he had seen that pentagram pattern before and told me to meet him in Sichuan. I’ve always been an optimist; if he’s seen it, then breaking the curse shouldn’t be far off.

I had Jiang Haoyan book the plane tickets while I took a moment to look up the ancient tomb Professor Zhu mentioned online.

As soon as I logged into Weibo, I saw my notifications had exploded. I clicked through and saw that the award-winning actress, Sister Bai, had tagged me first.

“This fever doesn’t feel like a normal infectious disease. Master Qiao, do you have a way to fix this?”

Comedian Wang Qiang followed right after: “Master Qiao, save me! I’m counting on you.”

Many fans who had watched the show joined in on the fun: “Praying to Master Qiao. Evil spirits begone! Begone, begone, begone!”

Looking at the thousands of comments, I decided to join the fray and replied to Sister Bai.

“Don’t worry. I will step in.”

I didn’t expect the private messages and comments to blow up the second I hit reply. A crowd of people rushed to my page to curse me out, asking what kind of person would joke about this or use it to chase clout at a time like this.

“This is disgusting. What’s with this ‘Feng Shui Master’ persona she’s trying to sell? Even if you really were a master, would you even know anything about this?”

“What would a canary kept by some rich guy know? She’ll do anything to get famous.”

Little Jiang of Qiao Sect: “What are you all talking about? I already told you she doesn’t have a cent’s worth of a relationship with that wealthy businessman Liu Xiong!”

Every kind of nasty insult imaginable was being hurled at me. Frightened, I quickly logged out of Weibo.

The next day, I arranged to meet Jiang Haoyan at the airport. Unexpectedly, I ran into Lin Xin and Zhao Sisi there.

Zhao Sisi was Jiang Haoyan’s cousin, a glamorous eighteenth-tier actress. It was at her invitation that I had gone to Yunnan to participate in the show.

Lin Xin was a tall, handsome, top-tier idol. Last time, in the cave at Ailao Mountain, these people had all been present and had seen the pentagram curse on the stone slab with their own eyes.

Zhao Sisi’s face was beet-red, like a boiled crab, but she forced herself to wave at me.

“Master Qiao, long time no see-”

I frowned. “Why are you out here in your condition? Go home and lie down.”

Lin Xin looked much more normal. He was wearing a mask, and his handsome eyes looked quite spirited.

“We have that pattern on our backs too. I couldn’t sit still at home, so I figured I’d better come and see for myself with you.”

I couldn’t win the argument against the two of them, so I could only agree to let them come along.