Zhou Hehe's heart skipped a beat at her sudden words.
Preparing a variety show like Inspiration already made him feel sensitive to these topics. Being suddenly handed a talisman was enough to make anyone's skin crawl.
Jiang Huai and Wen Wan also looked at Jiang Xuxu.
Jiang Huai had the proud look of a parent watching their child show off a skill. Wen Wan was simply curious.
Finally, Zhou Hehe couldn't help but ask, "Is there any particular reason for this?"
He knew this eldest miss of the Jiang family was about to enroll in the Taoist Academy, but he didn't know if she actually had any real skill. To be honest, he had only agreed to Director Chen's plan to bring her on for the sake of the publicity stunt.
Jiang Xuxu shook her head slowly, her almond-shaped eyes looking at him with a shallow gaze. "I noticed your fortune has been low lately. It's just for protection."
A person with low fortune has weak Yang Qi. If they go to places with heavy Yin Qi, they are much more likely to encounter ghosts than an average personespecially someone preparing a show of this nature.
Zhou Hehe looked at Jiang Xuxu, unable to tell if she had actually seen something or if she had just learned a bit of superficial knowledge to bluff people. But for the sake of the Jiang family, he couldn't possibly embarrass the girl.
He accepted it with a sincere and happy expression, tucking it away in his pocket right in front of her.
Wen Wan wasn't surprised by the actions of a shrewd man like Zhou Hehe. Once he had left, she looked at Jiang Xuxu with a smile. "Since it's a greeting gift, do I get one too?"
Jiang Xuxu looked at her, her exquisite face full of seriousness as she shook her head. "You don't need one."
The smile on Wen Wan's face widened.
When it came to gifts like this, sometimes receiving one was more worrying than not receiving one at all. If Jiang Xuxu said she didn't need one, it meant she looked perfectly fine.
Whether the girl had real talent or not, Wen Wan was happy to hear such words.
She found the Jiang family's daughter increasingly interesting. If she wasn't currently refusing to sign new artists, she would have seriously considered signing the girl in front of her.
Meanwhile, after saying goodbye to Jiang Xuxu, Zhou Hehe received a call from Director Chen. The director wanted to do a site survey for Inspiration the following day.
The words Jiang Xuxu had just spokenplaces with heavy Yin Qiimmediately popped into Zhou Hehe's mind.
He felt an instinctive repulsion and a string of excuses came to his lips. "Tomorrow... I might not be feeling well."
Director Chen on the other end of the line went silent for a moment. "...Do you hear how unreasonable you sound?"
How could he know he was going to be sick tomorrow? Was he a woman on a cycle? Even an elementary schooler wouldn't use such a pathetic excuse for a leave of absence.
Zhou Hehe knew his friend's temper and knew he couldn't escape. He could only chuckle and say he was just joking. "I'll go! I'll be there on time tomorrow!"
Even if he felt awkward about it, he knew this was work. He couldn't set it aside just because he felt uneasy. Even if he didn't go tomorrow, as long as he was in charge of the show, he would eventually have to visit the site.
He might as well go. Who was he afraid of?
With that resolve, Zhou Hehe followed the production team to the site the next day.
It was an abandoned ancient residence.
It was said that every owner of the house would start experiencing various strange occurrences within six months of moving in. As the rumors spread, it became known as a "Yin House" online.
Since Inspiration used metaphysical and paranormal adventures as its main gimmick, it was only natural to visit such a place.
To increase the show's authenticity, the production team had opened a help hotline at the start of preparations. One of the segments involved guests interacting with viewers via live stream to help solve strange incidents happening around them.
This was why the guest list included figures like the Taoist from Qingfeng Temple and the metaphysical streamer, alongside the celebrities.
As for Jiang Xuxu, the main reason Zhou Hehe had chosen her was for the publicity her family name brought. He didn't actually have high expectations for her skills in this area.
But thinking of the calm, certain look in her eyes when she gave him the talisman, Zhou Hehe felt a flicker of doubt.
Because of that, he kept the paper talisman tucked close to his body throughout the entire site survey.
However, after a full walk-through, aside from the ancient house feeling genuinely eerie and gloomy, Zhou Hehe didn't notice anything wrong.
He couldn't help but find it funny. He had been in the industry for so long, yet he had actually been spooked by a single sentence from a young girl.
The talisman was likely just a unique prank from a wealthy young lady.
With that thought, Zhou Hehe bid farewell to the production crew and drove home after work.
The ancient house was located near the suburbs. By the time Zhou Hehe drove back toward the city, it was already getting late.
The sunset clouds initially painted the sky with beauty, but as the last light faded, the ink-blue sky felt strangely oppressive to him. It felt like a massive, pitch-black net was pressing down on him.
He suddenly felt cold. He assumed the car's air conditioning was set too low.
With one hand on the steering wheel, he reached out with the other to turn up the temperature.
However, as his eyes swept over the control screen, he saw something in the corner of his eye. In the shadows of the passenger-side footwell, a pair of eyes was staring deathly still at him.
Zhou Hehe's pupils dilated in pure shock. Before he could even get a closer look, the steering wheel spun out of control.
"Aah!"
The moment his car slammed into the guardrail, he thought he heard a faint chuckle in his eara sound that made every hair on his body stand on end.
At the same time, he felt a sudden heat radiating from his chest...
At the Jiang residence.
Jiang Xuxu had just finished checking the growth of the Yin Qi on the little Infant Spirit when the phone beside her rang abruptly.
She glanced at the caller ID and picked up.
The next second, a man's sobbing wail erupted from the other end.
"Master Jiang! Save me! I really ran into something! Master Jiang, please help me! You're the only one who can save me now!!"
The man was Zhou Hehe, who had just escaped death.
An hour ago, his car had suddenly spun out of control and hit the guardrail. The force was so great that the front of the car was completely crushed.
When the traffic police arrived, they assumed the driver couldn't have survived.
Yet, other than a few scratches, Zhou Hehe was perfectly fine. He didn't even have a mild concussion.
After recovering from his initial terror, he remembered something and frantically fumbled at his chest.
In the spot where he had placed the talisman, he felt nothing but a handful of ash.
The paper talisman in his pocket had completely disintegrated into dust.
In that instant, Zhou Hehe realized everything. The talisman had blocked a disaster for him!!
By now, he was entirely convinced of Jiang Xuxu's abilities.
Recalling those eyes he had seen before the crash, Zhou Hehe felt as if he had been plunged into an ice cave. He was chilled to the bone and terrified that the thing was still following him, which was why he had called her without any concern for his image.
In this moment, he was certain that the eldest miss of the Jiang family was exactly what the internet said she wasthe Chosen One with real power.
The Inspiration production team could do without anyone, but they absolutely could not do without her!!
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