One week was up, the mission was over. According to the System's precise calculations, the total number of visitors reached nearly 2,500, exceeding the mission's requirement.

Duan Jiaze clicked "claim reward" with familiarity, and a construction team arrived at the door. But they were different from the last ones, perhaps specializing in different fields. Duan Jiaze's only request was not to affect their business hours, and the construction team was very cooperative.

Their plan was not to upgrade the original site, but to open a new entrance on the side, build a visitor service center with a new gate, and after moving operations there, demolish the old building and seal the old entrance.

The construction team still had a lot of people, they set up their equipment with great fanfare, and their movements were just as fast, working day and night. Moreover, any equipment that made loud noises was only used when there were few visitors or at night.

Xiao Su was speechless when she saw the construction team. "Zoo Director, you rich people are too much... Don't you ever tell me again that you'll be broke after building this!"

She would never again believe the Zoo Director when he said he was poor.

Duan Jiaze: _(:з」∠)_

By the second weekend, several hundred people came to Lingyou Zoo. Some were returning customers, including Yousu's fans, and some were people who hadn't come last time and were attracted by the feedback.

Many people, especially children, would post reports on social media after returning home. In real life, they would also chat with friends about it, and even plan to go again together. This word-of-mouth promotion naturally brought in visitors through its reputation.

Seeing the excellent situation, Duan Jiaze naturally paid more attention to establishing a promotional platform.

The platform he had arranged with came over to give a lesson. Duan Jiaze and Xiao Su learned together. Weibo was easy to operate; it was mainly about some operations for the WeChat official account, which also weren't difficult.

Xiao Su herself was a Chinese major and knew how to use photo editing software. She quickly produced the first WeChat post under guidance. Besides posting lots of cute pictures, the main thing was a lottery, with a cash prize, some tickets, and a bird escort qualification, requiring people to follow and share the official account.

This WeChat online media platform would also help forward it on their end, which could directly convert some of their followers into fans.

Because Xiao Su was already responsible for two jobs, and now she was also managing the official Weibo and WeChat, it was quite hard work. So although Duan Jiaze didn't give her a raise, he set up a bonus system for her. For the promotions sent out through this platform, the bonus would be calculated based on the number of clicks and shares.

At this moment, Duan Jiaze opened Weibo again.

He had posted the first Weibo message himself. In the following days, he was out running errands, so Xiao Su was managing it, and he hadn't gone online to check. Now that he looked, it had only been a few days, but there were already over a thousand followers.

"Holy crap, Xiao Su, did you buy zombie followers?" Duan Jiaze said in surprise.

Xiao Su came over and said, "Zoo Director, scroll up. I was too busy and forgot to tell you, it was the first Weibo post you sent that got shared many times..."

Xiao Su's Weibo posting frequency was about four or five posts a day, all cute pictures of the animals in the zoo, welcoming everyone to Lingyou. With a base of over two thousand followers, each post got about thirty to forty shares, with the most popular ones getting over a hundred. The activity level was quite good.

And why were there over two thousand followers? Scrolling back to the first post revealed the answer. The picture of the little monkey making a heart sign with its hands, posted by Duan Jiaze, had been shared nearly ten thousand times. Many of the shares were people exclaiming how cute it was, and some even photoshopped words like "finger heart" and "love you" onto the picture...

To be fair, the monkey was very cute, and the visitors who saw it in person also loved it. The photo was especially well-taken, with every detail visible, a warm color tone, and it completely captured the little monkey's expression. The pose it struck was extremely human-like and very interesting.

The editor who came to give the lesson also looked at it with great interest. "You can post more pictures like this, especially of young animals. They're great for attracting followers. When doing online promotion, whether on Weibo or WeChat, pictures are very important."

"Mhmm, makes sense." Duan Jiaze casually posted a photo of Yousu in her arctic fox form, typing and reading aloud at the same time: "Share this white fox who prayed before the Buddha for thousands of years, and good luck will follow you..."

Xiao Su: "..."

Xiao Su wiped her sweat, thinking that the Zoo Director's brainwaves were indeed different from ordinary people at times.

......

The old mission was complete, so naturally, he could receive a new one.

Duan Jiaze opened the new mission and looked:

Mission Description: The situation is excellent. To maintain the current momentum and rapidly accumulate funds, please sell 3,000 annual passes with a ticket price of at least 100 yuan, or achieve a turnover of 350,000 yuan within three months.

Mission Reward: Upon completion of the mission, you will receive an exhibition hall building with an area of 40 mu.

......

Duan Jiaze nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.

He never would have expected this mission to be so outrageous. He had only been open for a week; he had thought the second mission would at most be about gathering a few thousand or ten thousand more visitors in a month.

Selling three thousand annual passes in three months? Even if he sold himself to Cape Park right now, it would be impossible, right?

And that reward was also idiotic. A building with an area of forty mu... Where was he supposed to put it! Stack it on top of the existing exhibition hall? Didn't this mean that in order to receive these rewards, he had to get forty mu of land first? Was this a reward or a punishment?

Duan Jiaze was about to die from anger. This damn Ling Xiao Hope Project was too much of a bully. It was either become a successful person or die.

Furious, Duan Jiaze ran to find Yousu.

He looked at Yousu with pleading eyes. "I don't want to run a zoo anymore. you're full of ideas, can you think of a way to complain about this BUG?"

Yousu was living such a comfortable life. How could coming to the Human Realm be considered a punishment? This was practically a publicly funded vacation; she didn't want to go back at all.

So Yousu comforted Duan Jiaze, "How can it be that hard to complete? Don't always think it's impossible. Before, you also thought two thousand people in a week was impossible, and now haven't you exceeded it? Take it slow, we'll definitely find a way."

Duan Jiaze was about to cry. "I was actually quite motivated, you know! But you don't know, the reward is actually a forty-mu building! I have to spend money to rent land! I don't want to live anymore!"

Yousu hugged Duan Jiaze. "Zoo Director, pull yourself together. With me here, you can definitely complete the mission!"

Just then, Luya walked in. Seeing Yousu hugging Duan Jiaze's head while Duan Jiaze was whimpering and on the verge of tears, he said coldly, "What are you doing? You're not allowed to eat the Zoo Director."

Duan Jiaze shuddered and quickly sat up straight. He had forgotten that Yousu was a great demon who wanted to eat people the moment she arrived. Due to Yousu's deceptively beautiful appearance, he often forgot about her "glorious achievements" in history.

—His heart and liver might not have seven orifices, but they were still very precious!

Yousu rolled her eyes internally and said, "I'm comforting the Zoo Director. He's worried he can't complete this mission. Zoo Director, it's really fine. To put it another way, even if you can't complete it, you can have the Daoist Lord take the lightning for you!"

Luya: "Me, take the lightning for him? In his dreams!"

Yousu: "..."

Duan Jiaze: "..."

Yousu calculated for a moment. "It's fine, the next dispatched colleague is coming soon. We'll have them take it."

Luya had a cold expression, noncommittal.

Duan Jiaze: "..."

These two really had a lot of colleague-ly love. But Duan Jiaze was indeed comforted. At worst, he could have Yousu use her ultimate move, release some kind of charm spell or something... Yousu must have that kind of magic, right??

Duan Jiaze pulled himself together and went to find someone to design the annual passes.

And he decided to sell the first batch to Yousu's fans. It would definitely work.

......

Duan Jiaze was looking for someone online to design the annual passes and casually opened the official Weibo to take a look. Then he was surprised to find that the white fox post he had casually sent out had been shared thirty thousand times...

Duan Jiaze: "?? "

Wasn't this kind of "share for good luck" meme already outdated? How could a casual post of his get so many shares? It couldn't have been bought by Xiao Su either, since he was the one who posted it, so it wouldn't even count towards her bonus.

Duan Jiaze opened the comments and shares to take a look, and surprisingly, there were a great many people saying it was effective...

"Oh my god, it's miraculously effective. I shared it casually and immediately found five hundred yuan!"

"Shared it in the morning, had an explosive lucky streak playing mahjong in the afternoon, won three thousand yuan."

"Thank you, Great Fox Immortal! Sob, my crush confessed to me!"

"This thing is seriously magical, no joke! It's the first time I've felt my luck has really turned around. I'd been having a string of bad luck recently!"

......

There were many similar comments, and they made up a particularly high proportion.

In an era where the "share for good luck" meme wasn't completely obsolete but had lost its popularity, this white fox Weibo post had managed to carve out a bloody path through its own "merit," with its shares steadily climbing...

Duan Jiaze was a little stunned. He ran to find Yousu. "Tell me, this must be a coincidence, right?"

Yousu glanced at it and said delightedly, "Huh, no wonder I felt something was off. So the internet is useful too? Sigh, if we had something like this in our era, I might have become a saint."

The difference between immortals and demons was actually very subtle; their essence was the same, it's just that immortals were officially recognized. So in terms of having believers, both could naturally have them, and thus they could also bless their believers.

As a form of exchange, people gave them their faith. They gained believers, and in return, they would bless them.

"This works too?" Duan Jiaze looked left and right. "Great Yousu, how about you sit on the table and let me worship you for a bit..."

Yousu stopped him. "Zoo Director, it's useless on you! We can't harm you, and by the same token, we can't change your luck." Just like how her natural charm had no effect on Duan Jiaze.

It seemed that everything had its good and bad sides. Duan Jiaze couldn't help but shed tears. "I feel like I missed out on fifty million..."

......

Duan Jiaze rejected Yousu's request to change the Lingyou Zoo official Weibo to the Great Fox Immortal's official Weibo, on the grounds that it would look too feudal and superstitious. However, he did secretly ask Xiao Su to post more arctic fox pictures to attract followers.

Although those people online couldn't come to visit, they could help expand the zoo's influence, which would ultimately affect the local citizens.

Duan Jiaze wrote an announcement, printed several copies, stating that the zoo was now offering annual passes for just one hundred and twenty yuan, and posted them in various places around the zoo. The annual pass was for individual use only, so a photo had to be attached to it.

He raised the price by twenty yuan because he had to consider giving discounts for student IDs and the like. It really wasn't easy for him to sell annual passes.

As soon as the announcement was posted, Yousu's fans were indeed the first, and almost the only, group to buy annual passes. Besides them, who would be willing to buy an annual pass for a small, newly opened zoo?

At this time, Duan Jiaze noticed a new notification pop up on his phone. He opened the Ling Xiao Hope Project APP and saw there was actually a new mission. This made Duan Jiaze furious.

How could there be another new mission on top of the old one?

Duan Jiaze clicked it open and saw that it was a sudden side mission.

Mission Description: The male peacocks in the zoo are gradually entering their mating season, but can only display their feathers to their own kind each day, and do so very frequently, resulting in a depressed mood. Please solve this problem to prevent the peacocks from developing depression and ensure their physical and mental health!

Mission Reward: Upon completion of the mission, the peacocks will advance to "King of a Hundred Birds."

Duan Jiaze: "............"

This mission was just ridiculous. Wasn't this just about helping the peacocks find girlfriends? And the mission reward was so hypocritical. What "King of a Hundred Birds"? With such a cool-sounding name, could it really advance the peacocks to a level more awesome than Luya?

Duan Jiaze went to ask Liu Bin, "Have our two peacocks been acting strangely recently?"

Liu Bin took out the record sheet and looked at it. "Zoo Director, they have been a bit. They haven't been drinking as much water as before, and sometimes they cry out a lot, but I thought it was because the weather was getting hotter."

"It's their mating season," Duan Jiaze said. "And we can't solve it internally. In a couple of days, come with me to the City Zoo. We'll find them a match."

With Sun Aiping helping to connect them, Duan Jiaze had established a relationship with the City Zoo. After all, they had just taken in the lioness Huanhuan. He decided to go to the City Zoo to inquire.

Liu Bin was amused. He was also a layman, and only knew it was because they wanted girlfriends after hearing Duan Jiaze say so. "I really didn't consider that reason. Alright, let's go find them girlfriends."

Duan Jiaze immediately called the City Zoo to explain the situation. He knew the City Zoo had peacocks, far more than they did, but he didn't know the procedure for this sort of thing.

It was common for zoos to arrange blind dates for their animals. When the other side heard he wanted to find a mate for his male peacock, they said with some difficulty, "We do have peahens of a suitable age, but we had an accident here this year, so we also have a situation with more males than females..."

Duan Jiaze shamelessly pleaded again. He had been introduced by Sun Aiping, so the other side didn't want to embarrass him. They said, "How about this: you bring the peacock over, we'll put them in an enclosure together here, and let them compete fairly. Is that okay?"

"Yes, of course!" Duan Jiaze was overjoyed. It was already great that they were letting him bring the peacock over; it was impossible for them to send one to Lingyou. So the two parties agreed on a time, and he and the keeper would take the peacock over for the mixed enclosure.

But because they only had two peacocks, they decided to take turns. One would stay home to greet visitors, while the other went on the blind date. They would switch after one succeeded.

Duan Jiaze had just hung up with the zoo when Xiao Su called. "Zoo Director, your line was busy."

"I was talking to the City Zoo, arranging a blind date for the peacock. I'm even planning to take pictures to make a WeChat post." Duan Jiaze asked, "What's up?"

Xiao Su: "Someone is looking for you."

Duan Jiaze: "Is it a Daoist priest? If it is, I'm not seeing them."

Although that group of Daoist priests had been scared away by Luya, Duan Jiaze still felt some lingering fear.

Xiao Su: "No, it's a lady and a handsome guy. They said something about being dispatched. I don't know what that means."

Duan Jiaze: "...Have Xu Wen bring them to the break room. I'll be right down!"

......

Duan Jiaze went downstairs. Xu Wen hadn't arrived yet, so he stood at the door waiting. Sure enough, after a short while, Xiao Su came over, leading a man and a woman.

The woman looked to be in her late twenties or early thirties. A pearl-white professional skirt suit enveloped her exquisite figure, and her long, curly hair was draped over her shoulders. Her lips were fiery red, making her look glamorous and bewitching.

As for the man, he looked to be in his early twenties, wearing jeans and a black T-shirt. His features were so pretty and his skin so fair that he looked a bit like a girl, but you could still tell he was a man. And this type of look seemed to be quite popular nowadays.

He didn't expect two to arrive this time. Duan Jiaze first shook the woman's hand. "Hello, I'm Duan Jiaze. Please come in and have some tea."

Xu Wen wanted to watch the fun, as she was quite interested in the handsome young man, but she was shooed away by Duan Jiaze.

The two new employees had just sat down, and Duan Jiaze was about to get to know them when Xiao Su's phone call came through again. He could only smile apologetically. "Excuse me, I need to take this call."

"Hello? What's wrong?"

Xiao Su: "Zoo Director! Someone's looking for you! This time it's really a Daoist priest. He says he's the abbot of Linshui Temple and wants to see you. Oh my god, he also said that if you don't see him, he won't leave."

Duan Jiaze: "..."

After chasing away the junior, the senior one comes. After the juniors and seniors, now the master comes. It's never-ending.

Duan Jiaze sighed. "Stall that priest for a bit. I'm still entertaining guests here."

Duan Jiaze hung up the phone, very depressed. The Daoist Lord must have been bluffing last time. It seemed the old priest had seen right through his trick. He probably now thought there were two demons in the zoo, and he definitely knew he was a "human traitor."

The glamorous lady spoke up at this moment, slightly surprised. "A Daoist priest?"

After his experience with Yousu, Duan Jiaze knew that these dispatched "animals" all had a heart to help him—as long as they weren't bullies like Luya—so he confidently poured out his difficulties.

He recounted the whole story from the beginning: how the young Daoist priest came in to catch demons, was dealt with by him, and as a result, his martial brothers and now even his master came one after another. Now he himself was exposed and probably couldn't play dumb anymore, and the old priest was outside looking for him right now.

The lady's beautiful eyebrows furrowed slightly. "Zoo Director, you must be extremely careful. The old priest is convinced you've been bewitched. He will definitely try everything in the name of helping you, to brainwash you, or even to enlighten you."

To enhance the credibility of her words, she added, "I have experience with this kind of thing!"

The young man beside her couldn't help but nod in agreement.

Duan Jiaze couldn't help but ask, "I haven't had the honor of asking your name yet?"

The lady stood up. Dressed in a modern professional suit, she nevertheless turned sideways and curtsied in an ancient style. "We haven't exchanged names yet. This humble one is Bai Suzhen. From now on, I ask for the Zoo Director's kind forbearance."

Duan Jiaze was immediately filled with respect.

Holy crap, of course she has experience!

Wait, if this is the White Snake...

Duan Jiaze looked at the young man and asked Bai Suzhen, "Sister Bai, then could this be..."

Bai Suzhen smiled slightly, patted the young man's shoulder, and said, "This is my younger brother, Xiao Qing."

Duan Jiaze said in shock, "But... Xiao Qing, how is Xiao Qing... a man?"

Or was he mistaken? Was Xiao Qing actually flat-chested and liked to dress androgynously?

Xiao Qing crossed his arms and said resentfully, "I used to be a woman, but being a woman was too annoying. People kept asking me when I was going to find a Daoist companion, so I changed. Now, everyone just says I can still fool around for a few hundred more years, hmph."

Duan Jiaze: "..."

Duan Jiaze was sweating bullets. He didn't expect the social situation up there to be like this too. On second thought, it made sense; that place was probably even more old-fashioned than the Human Realm.

Bai Suzhen asked in a gentle voice, "Zoo Director, is there anything we can help with?"

'Don't be fooled by Sister Bai's gentle demeanor. Duan Jiaze knew her deeds. Wasn't he afraid she'd flood Linshui Temple for him?'

He was initially quite expectant, but now seeing who it was, he immediately dismissed the thought. He didn't dare let Bai Suzhen help. He quickly said, "It's fine, no need to trouble another master for one matter. I'll just have Luya handle it—by the way, do you know the Three-legged Golden Crow Luya and Daji, the Nine-tailed Fox?"

"Daoist Lord Luya?" Xiao Qing said curiously. "We've met Senior Nine-tailed Fox a few times, but we've never met the Daoist Lord. So his old self is here too."

His old self? Duan Jiaze felt like laughing when he heard that form of address. That scoundrel Luya had quite the seniority...

However, when Bai Suzhen learned that the person Duan Jiaze said had taken action was Luya, she no longer offered to help.

Duan Jiaze said, "Then I'll take you to your rooms to rest first. The other two are still at work. We'll all gather for dinner tonight. We'll be colleagues from now on."

Duan Jiaze arranged two rooms for Bai Suzhen and Xiao Qing, thinking to himself that with more and more people living on the second floor, he might have to expand the living quarters. Otherwise, would he have to make Luya and Xiao Qing sleep in a bunk bed in the future?

Duan Jiaze imagined Luya's reaction if such a thing happened and immediately shuddered.

After temporarily settling Bai Suzhen and Xiao Qing, Duan Jiaze went to find Luya again. He told him the old priest was waiting outside and tactfully suggested that it must be because Luya hadn't practiced in a long time, and his technique from last time was exposed.

Luya's face instantly turned pale then green; he refused to believe it. Even if he hadn't practiced in a long time, it couldn't be that he couldn't even fool a Daoist priest from the Human Realm where spiritual energy was in decline, right?

So Luya roared back, wishing he could curse Duan Jiaze out. How dare he question this Daoist Lord's ability.

"The man is already outside..." Duan Jiaze said dejectedly. "How about this, I'll go out first. If anything happens, you have to show up in time."

Luya impatiently waved his wings.

......

Duan Jiaze walked to the main gate and, sure enough, saw an old priest standing outside. He said to Xiao Su and Xu Wen, "He's of such an advanced age, why not invite him in to sit down?"

Xu Wen was also helpless. "I invited him, but the old gentleman didn't want to."

Duan Jiaze had no choice but to walk out and say dryly, "Daoist Priest... I'm the director of this place..."

Zhou Xintang had been standing under the sun for half a day, but his movements were still very agile. He took a swift step forward and grasped Duan Jiaze's hand. "Mr. Duan, we were in the wrong before. I, this humble one, apologize to you here!"

His attitude couldn't have been more sincere.

Duan Jiaze was a bit dazed. "Huh...?"

Tears streamed down Zhou Xintang's old face. "Could you please convey our apologies to that Buddhist senior? Please ask him to be magnanimous. My only disciple, ever since returning from here, entered a deep meditation for three days and three nights, and after waking up, insists on abandoning Daoism for Buddhism!"

Duan Jiaze: "............"

What was this all about? From Duan Jiaze's perspective, it seemed like Luya had just scared the young priest with a sword that day and they had run off. He didn't understand the specifics of the operation, he had even thought Luya had failed!

Zhou Xintang felt he had no face to lose when confronting a senior of that ascension-level. However, his juniors mentioned that the director here seemed to know the senior's identity, and for some reason, that senior was actually living at his place. Moreover, they had been harassing the director from the start, so Zhou Xintang decided to come and plead with Duan Jiaze to see if it would work.

Before coming out, Duan Jiaze had questioned Luya. Now he felt like he had been slapped in the face.

But with an old man like Zhou Xintang pleading with him with such a low posture, he felt a bit embarrassed. Besides, the whole affair was a matter of good intentions on both sides. The priests thought there was a demon causing trouble, and he was stopping the demons from eating them.

So Duan Jiaze said embarrassedly, "I'll try talking to him..."

Zhou Xintang was extremely grateful, wishing he could perform a grand bow to Duan Jiaze. He poured his heart out to Duan Jiaze. "Luo Wuzhou is my only successor, the most talented disciple in the temple. If he gives up his cultivation, not only will I lose my heir, but Linshui Temple will lose all face!"

"I really don't know how to thank you, sir. It was originally the disciples of my temple who disturbed the layman's peaceful cultivation. But ignorance is not a crime. In the future, we will absolutely not dare to disturb you again. If the layman has any commands, we will not dare to disobey."

Never mind that Buddhism and Daoism walk different paths. Indeed, for over a thousand years, Donghai City had been the territory of Linshui Temple; no Buddhist temples had ever been established. But in these thousand-plus years, a Buddhist cultivator of this level had never appeared in the cultivation world either!

Despite Zhou Xintang's deep respect for the Buddhist cultivator, he was still a person of high caliber. After all, he was the successor of a famous school. He contained this news to the few disciples who already knew, not letting anyone else know to avoid causing unrest.

If it were another Daoist temple, perhaps without even needing Luya's enlightenment, the abbot would have kowtowed and pledged allegiance at the first opportunity, becoming his disciple. Of course, if you swapped it for a Daoist cultivator of the same level, some Buddhist disciples might have the same reaction. After all, times have changed, and most people have become utilitarian.

After thinking it over, Zhou Xintang gave Duan Jiaze another deep bow. "Thank you also for your magnanimity..."

When Luya entered the scene, the matter was no longer about who was right or wrong. Luya's level was simply too high. Now that there was someone who could pass on a message, Zhou Xintang was naturally extremely grateful, which made Duan Jiaze feel ashamed, seeing how he had put the man in a predicament.

"It's alright, it's alright, please get up." Duan Jiaze quickly helped Zhou Xintang up. "Please go back. I'll talk to him later and let you know if there's any news."

Zhou Xintang knew that Duan Jiaze had previously agreed to help Shao Wuxing and the others but then ignored them. Although Duan Jiaze seemed very sincere now, he still took out his phone pitifully and said, "Then could you scan my code and add me on WeChat..."

Duan Jiaze: "..."

......

After seeing Zhou Xintang off, it was almost time to get off work.

Just now, Xu Wen and Xiao Su had been watching the two talk from a distance. Their ages were not far apart, so Xiao Su often came to Xu Wen's area to work, and the two would chat while doing their tasks.

As soon as Duan Jiaze returned, Xiao Su inquired, "Zoo Director, what was that all about?"

The abbot of Linshui Temple, while not exceptionally famous, was someone who occasionally appeared on the news. Why did he just bow to Duan Jiaze?

Duan Jiaze said seriously, "He saw my extraordinary talent and wanted to take me as his disciple, but I only want to run a zoo."

Xiao Su: "..."

Xu Wen complained, "Zoo Director, you're talking nonsense..."

Duan Jiaze joked, "Actually, last time a young priest from their temple went crazy from watching TV, came here to cause trouble, and I called the police. Then he came personally to apologize. That was his disciple. Pretty well-mannered, right?"

Although not everyone saw the young priest coming to the zoo, Xiao Su, even if she didn't see it, vaguely remembered hearing a few words about it. She nodded in understanding. "He really is well-mannered. It's just that his disciple should have been the one to apologize for this. He's too spoiled."

'His disciple wants to change professions and become a monk now, how would he have time to apologize,' Duan Jiaze thought.

"Then who were that beautiful woman and handsome guy from today?" Xu Wen asked curiously.

Duan Jiaze said casually, "That's your Brother Lu's older female cousin and younger male cousin."

Xiao Su and Xu Wen couldn't help but exclaim, "Their whole family is so good-looking!" From Luya himself, to his younger sister Yousu, to his cousins, each one was more beautiful than the last. Look at how good their parents were at having kids.

"Alright, there are only about ten minutes left, and there's no one in the zoo anymore. You two can just get off work now. Go home and rest early." Duan Jiaze casually let Xu Wen and Xiao Su off work.

Xu Wen and Xiao Su left work. Duan Jiaze walked back, and on the way, he checked Zhou Xintang's WeChat Moments. It fit his image perfectly: a middle-aged to elderly man, a Daoist priest, sharing insights on cultivation, life on the mountain, and health preservation tips.

And occasionally seeing screenshots of testimonials in his comments, one could also see a long list of likes... The old priest had more friends on WeChat Moments than Duan Jiaze!

As Duan Jiaze was thinking this, he saw that Zhou Xintang was going through and liking his past Moments one by one... It was inexplicably heart-wrenching.

The employees didn't eat dinner at the zoo. Normally, a zoo would operate in three shifts, but their zoo was poor with few staff, and there were demons roaming around at night, so everyone went home after their afternoon shift ended.

In other words, everyone eating dinner together, except for Duan Jiaze, was not human.

Duan Jiaze introduced Bai Suzhen and Xiao Qing to everyone, mainly to Luya, because from what Bai Suzhen had implied, she and Luya were not from the same era, nor were they on the same level.

Luya pointed at Bai Suzhen and said to Duan Jiaze, "Since she has arrived, I wish I'd known earlier. You could have taken her out to find the priest."

'I wanted to,' Duan Jiaze thought, 'but I was afraid she would flood the city...'

Luya said nonchalantly, "Looking at her style, it has a bit of Guanyin's flavor."

Only then did Duan Jiaze remember. Right, Bai Suzhen had received guidance from Guanyin. She had studied Buddhist doctrine.

However, since Luya brought it up, Duan Jiaze wanted to ask, "What did you do to the young priest before? His master ran over here, saying the young priest was clamoring to become a monk after he went back."

Hearing this, Luya actually burst out laughing, incredibly pleased with himself. "Now you don't doubt me anymore, do you?"

Bai Suzhen and Xiao Qing didn't yet know what Luya had specifically done. After hearing Duan Jiaze and Luya recount the incident, they both showed expressions of awe. "What profound cultivation, Daoist Lord!"

To refine wisdom into a magical artifact... let alone her and Xiao Qing, even the great Guanyin might not be able to do it. And Luya had told Duan Jiaze it was just a small Buddhist trick.

It was only after these insiders explained it that Duan Jiaze realized that even Luya's minor studies were this incredible. No wonder he could survive to this day despite being so infuriatingly arrogant when he spoke...

What else could Duan Jiaze say? He could only praise Luya profusely. Seeing Luya looking refreshed and pleased, he then asked, "...Daoist Lord, the old priest came to plead, hoping you could let his disciple off the hook. This person you've enlightened, can you... bend him back?"

Their original intention was just to not be harassed. If they let the disciple continue to cause a fuss, and the master came back to bother them, wouldn't that be overcorrecting and counterproductive?

Before Luya could speak, Bai Suzhen explained it to him. "The Daoist Lord possesses both the Man-Saving Sword and the Man-Slaying Saber. Both are tangible magical artifacts refined from intangible wisdom. Besides being used as artifacts, they can also exert their inherent functions. The Man-Saving Sword awakens a person's great wisdom, while the Man-Slaying Saber has the opposite effect."

Duan Jiaze: "So, you just need to graze him with the Man-Slaying Saber and it'll be fine?"

Just as Luya was about to nod, Yousu, leaning on the table, said in a soft voice, "Wait, we can't let them off so easily! They want to ask the Daoist Lord to take action, and he's just supposed to come when called? Without paying any price?"

Everyone looked at Yousu.

Duan Jiaze's hair stood on end. Yousu was instigating Luya to stir up trouble. He quickly said, "Great Immortal, times have changed. We can't carry out private punishments..."

Yousu shot him a reproachful look. "Who said anything about punishments? Zoo Director, I'm thinking of you. We have a huge mission weighing on us right now."

Duan Jiaze didn't understand Yousu's meaning. "Even if every one of the priests buys an annual pass, it's not enough for us to complete the mission."

Yousu smiled, her eyes sparkling. "But it also works if our total sales reach three hundred and fifty thousand. There's no limit on the number of visitors. Tell the old priest to give the order: Linshui Temple and Lingyou will sell joint tickets. Linshui Temple will sell, and only sell, joint tickets. It's fine if they don't come to the zoo, but to visit Linshui Temple, they must buy our ticket along with it. A mandatory bundle."

"Zoo Director, if you want your business to succeed, you can't be bothered by trivialities."

Duan Jiaze was sweating profusely. "No... Yousu, the mission would be completed that way, but we'd probably be cursed to death by everyone...!"

A Daoist temple and a zoo selling joint tickets? Only Yousu could think of something like that.

He discovered that although the Nine-tailed Fox was full of ideas, she sometimes loved to offer suggestions that would turn him into a public enemy. That route was proven to be a failure over three thousand years ago