Sunday, August 27th.

　　It was the fourteenth day of the summer vacation.

　　The exorcism convention’s competition would officially start on August 28th, which was tomorrow. After Odd Zhuo got the teams sorted out last night, everyone agreed to go to the pre-competition group registration.

　　The Songhai Modern Exorcism Center was a building that looked like an ostrich egg, and there was a reason why it had been built on this site. It was said that a thousand years ago, a major ghost who plagued the earth had been eliminated on the spot where the Modern Exorcism Center was situated… This major ghost could take human form at will, and disguised itself most often as a plumber; it had a special hobby of eating mushrooms and used a wrench as its weapon.

　　At that moment, Wang Ling and his party arrived at the entrance of the exorcism center. Wang Ling raised his eyes lazily and saw a glass cabinet in the center of the exorcism center’s reception hall, which held a wrench stained with green blood.

　　This was the weapon used by that major ghost back then… For some reason, Wang Ling felt that it looked a little familiar…

　　When Odd Zhuo had still been the deputy director, he had actually come to the exorcism center before because of work. Some of the low-level leaders who worked at the exorcism center had called him and requested his help with their children’s schooling.

　　But rather than call it a request, it was more like a threat, and their manner of speaking had been very unpleasant. They had even taken out gifts and insisted that Odd Zhuo accept them.

　　Odd Zhuo was a man of integrity, and absolutely wouldn’t agree to this sort of shady deal. He rejected the requests of these parents on the spot.

　　He still remembered that when he left the exorcism center back then, these low-level leaders had been furious and even said that they would get their friends from other departments to “impeach” Odd Zhuo and remove him from office.

　　Who would have thought that his luck would change, and he would be promoted to Director… Furthermore, he was also Huaxiu Alliance’s council representative. These low-level officials from back then could no longer threaten him.

　　But that was a long time, and Odd Zhuo reckoned that these people might have already transferred to other parts in fear that he would retaliate in revenge.

　　They waited at the entrance for a bit, and a moment later, the two teams led by Grenade-Throwing Senior Immortal and Fang Xing respectively also arrived.

　　But upon tacit agreement, they didn’t speak to each other, and merely confirmed that they had all arrived before they entered the Modern Exorcism Center.

　　Their goal was to sweep the top three spots, so it wasn’t a good idea to let the others see them interact with each other. Hence, before coming here, Grenade-Throwing Senior Immortal had prepared masks for everyone, including Wang Ling and Odd Zhuo, to hide their appearances.

　　Fatty Luo had worked through the night to make these masks, which also had an anti-penetration layer to prevent other people from using their power of sight to perceive who they were.

　　The only one that couldn’t be hidden was Loopy Toad…

　　Loopy Toad also wore a mask, but it wasn’t any damn use, because that eye-catching green fur was really too conspicuous! Coupled with that wagging tail that couldn’t be hidden… Wang Ling didn’t think Dog Two needed to wear a mask.

　　But speaking of which, Loopy Toad had recently been cultivating diligently. It shouldn’t be long before it could turn into a human – who knew what Loopy Toad would look like after it officially took on a human form…

　　Actually, it was normal to wear masks in the exorcism competition. Most people participated in the form of small groups, which were led by professional exorcists, and many of these cultivators were temp workers hired by the exorcists. Naturally, they had to hide their identities.

　　Another reason was that the prize money was a massive sum, so protecting yourself would give you some peace of mind – it was like wearing a mask to accept your prize after winning the lottery.

　　Boss Jin rested one thick and solid arm on the registration table as he said in a clear and enigmatic voice, “I’m here to sign up. Our team has the maximum four members.”

　　Boss Jin didn’t wear a mask. He was from the old generation of exorcists, and was a familiar person in the circle.

　　“Boss Jin, are you signing up again?” The young lady at the front desk who was in charge of registration was also an old worker at the exorcism center. She was all smiles as Boss Jin handed her a folder, which contained the personal information of the four people.

　　Naturally, the entire registration process was confidential.

　　The young lady’s slender fingers danced across the keyboard as she checked the data, but when she keyed in the information of the fourth person, she stared blankly.

　　Because this was Wang Ling’s profile.

　　“Underage?” the young lady cried out as she looked up at Boss Jin, drawing strange stares from the countless people around them.

　　“Boss Jin… according to the rules of the exorcism center, minors aren’t allowed to compete, unless they have documented permission from a parent or a relevant authority.”

　　“I know that.” Boss Jin looked at her and wiped at his sweat. “Please check the information again…”

　　The young lady carefully flipped through the folder and then realized that there really was a document.

　　Furthermore, it was issued by the General Administration of 100 Schools! The document even had its official seal…

　　“Ah! I’m so sorry! I didn’t see it just now…” The young lady quickly stood up and apologized.

　　After a few minutes, all the data had been keyed in.

　　The lady handed the folder back to Boss Jin. “Good luck with your exorcism! You’ll receive the latest exorcism ranking list on your phones in a short while, and you can discuss which demons or ghosts you want to tackle.

　　“The exorcism center will send the action plan to your phones later via text. The competition will kick off officially at midnight tomorrow, so team members, please be ready beforehand.”

　　“Thank you.” Boss Jin nodded.

　　Just as he was about to put away the folder, an exorcist led his teammates over from afar.

　　He was a middle-aged man, about the same age as Boss Jin, with a large mole on his chin that had several black hairs sticking out of it.

　　The man also wasn’t wearing a mask and looked like a veteran exorcist.

　　“I haven’t seen you in so long. How are you, Boss Jin? You lost consecutively in the last few exorcism conventions – I would have thought you would be too ashamed to attend this year.” When the man spoke, a lot of people instantly turned to look at him.

　　“It’s Mr Fang!”

　　“Mr Fang? The runner-up at the last exorcism competition?”

　　This “Mr Fang” was clearly very famous.

　　Plenty of people kicked up a discussion.

　　Listening to them in passing, Wang Ling found out that Boss Jin and Mr Fang had a history. Mr Fang had ruthlessly taken advantage of Boss Jin last year — Boss Jin found a ghost and had been about to eliminate it when his kill was suddenly stolen…

　　When all was said and done, Wang Ling hadn’t been involved and didn’t know exactly what had happened last year. He also didn’t want to get involved. In any case, he just needed to help Boss Jin win the competition this year.

　　Boss Jin also couldn’t be bothered to talk to this Mr Fang. He pretended he didn’t see the other party and was planning to leave right away, but was stopped by Mr Fang after taking just one step.

　　Mr Fang chuckled, a taunting expression on his face. “I heard that Boss Jin has a minor in his team this year? I never thought our Boss Jin would already be in such dire straits that he has to use child labor…”

　　In a flash.

　　Before Boss Jin could respond, tremendous spiritual pressure was already pushing down on Mr Fang from all quarters…

　　Grenade-Throwing, Fang Xing, Little Silver, Loopy Toad, Odd Zhuo, Immortal Toya, Cailian Zhenren… This was a spiritual pressure combo from all the members of the Office of Strategic Deception!

　　Moreover, when everyone from the Office of Strategic Deception heard Mr Fang’s provocation, they were extraordinarily united in heart.

　　Six words summed it up — diss the group favorite and die!