CHAPTER 44: CHAPTER 44: FOLKLORE ASSOCIATION

"Little brother, do you have yin-yang eyes?"

Handing the teacup to Sun Yan, Zhou Haidong, sitting in the tea room, asked curiously.

After Sun Yan personally destroyed that Ancient Mantra, Zhou Haidong successfully used the power of the Cyan Stone God to completely remove the Black Magic from Sun Yan.

Not long afterward, Raymond called to report that they had found an Asian corpse in a rental room, and the death was very tragic.

Upon hearing this news, Sun Yan and Zhou Haidong realized that the Black Magic Master must have failed in the magical combat, suffered backlash, and lost his life attempting to harm others.

Southern Ocean Black Magic Masters gain their magical power by worshipping evil gods to perform spells and curses. Although this method comes without arduous practice and results in rapid strength gain, failure in casting spells leads to backlash from the evil gods, resulting in a very tragic end.

"Yes." Sun Yan nodded without hiding anything.

Although the Celestial Eye ability was a power brought by the True Monarch of Pure Origin and Mysterious Dao as a tomb guardian, rather than an innate yin-yang eye that Sun Yan was born with, the effects were similar, and he saw no need for special explanations.

"No wonder you could see that Ancient Mantra, little brother, you’re naturally suited to ’eat from this bowl of exorcism,’ so to speak."

Zhou Haidong took a sip of tea and asked Sun Yan with satisfaction, "I wonder if little brother is interested in joining our ’Folklore Association.’ You’re Chinese, born with a yin-yang eye, capable of exorcism, just what we need in our group."

"Folklore Association? What’s that?" Sun Yan looked puzzled. Having lived in Saint Anna City for so many years, he had never heard this name before.

There are many unofficial associations in North America, and people are fond of creating unions, such as animal protection organizations, plant protection organizations, pizza research clubs, and pasta research societies. Basically, anyone can form one, leading to many miscellaneous groups that most people have never heard of.

Hearing about a Folklore Association from Zhou Haidong, Sun Yan was not surprised at all.

Zhou Haidong put down his teacup and said, "Little brother, you’ve done exorcism in Saint Anna City, so you must have encountered the priests from the local churches. What do you think of them?"

Sun Yan shared his view: "They can be somewhat arrogant, looking down on Asians, but their exorcism methods are quite good, not just ’empty sacs of words.’"

"In this North American land, although America is powerful, it’s also a young country. Even if they have their god to believe in, their priests, being believers, can’t get strong exorcism power from God. When encountering evil spirits, they can usually only seal them rather than completely destroy them. This leads to evil spirits easily proliferating and running amok on this continent.

Therefore, those God-believing churches teamed up and created a standardized grading system, classifying priests according to strength into lower-level, mid-level, upper-level, and special-level priests. Whenever an evil spirit incident occurs, they dispatch priests of different strengths based on the severity of the situation. The different grades also receive different commissions for exorcism. This system has allowed churches to severely monopolize the exorcism industry in North America.

For us external exorcists without circles or connections, it’s very difficult to grab exorcism jobs from the churches. If you help those white people with exorcism and get discovered by the churches, they will use various connections against you. To unite for protection, we external exorcists established the Folklore Association, an entirely Chinese association where everyone helps each other and shares exorcism job referrals, making sure every exorcist can earn a living."

Zhou Haidong continued to explain, "Joining the Folklore Association means meeting more exorcists. If you come across something you can’t handle, you can ask other members for help. We’re distributed across various industries, and united, we have some connections."

"I see." Sun Yan nodded, "Do I have to fulfill any obligations to join the Folklore Association? I’m quite laid-back, and if there are a lot of rules, I might not be able to comply."

"No need to worry, it’s just a platform to gather Chinese exorcists. Everyone is equal, there are no rules. I’ll invite members into a WeChat group. If you encounter trouble, you can ask for help in the group, and when free, we can chat or have meals together."

"In that case... okay, I’ll join." Sun Yan readily agreed.

After this crisis, Sun Yan realized that even with magical artifacts and immortal protection, there are times when a one-man show is insufficient.

Indeed, specialization matters. Exorcism and ghost-hunting are Sun Yan’s fortes, but dealing with human treachery like Black Magic curses is something he struggles with.

Joining an exorcism organization and getting help from its members when needed seemed beneficial to the present Sun Yan.

After all, each member is a connection, and if they help promote his cemetery business, he will never lack business.

Zhou Haidong took out his phone: "Let’s add each other on WeChat, and I’ll include you in the group. By the way, I still don’t know how to address you, little brother."

"Jackson."

When you’re out and about, it’s smart to be cautious.

Sun Yan chose not to reveal his real name. Using Western names in North America is quite common, especially among young people, so there was nothing wrong with Sun Yan doing so.

Upon Zhou Haidong’s invitation, Sun Yan joined a WeChat group called "Life Supplies Exchange," which had 32 members.

Zhou Haidong patiently introduced, "The members in the group are all exorcism individuals, including Daoists, monks, and shamans. Among them, some practice medicine, healing skills, and divination. If you need help, just ask in the group, and if they’re available, they’ll come to assist."

As soon as Sun Yan joined the group, plenty of members welcomed him warmly.

[Zhao Chuan Yi (Find me for peace talismans)]: Master Zhou, where did you meet this fellow townsman? Need a peace talisman? It ensures family health and children’s safety.

[Deng Lan (Divination and fortune-telling | Wonton group-buy)]: Fellow townsman, what business are you in? Let’s get to know each other better for future patronage.

[Profound Wisdom (Blessings | Supernatural salvation | Blessing)]: Great, we have a new friend.

Seeing the messages, Sun Yan quickly typed a reply. With such enthusiasm from Folklore Association members, he couldn’t afford to be too aloof; after all, these were valuable connections.

[Jackson (Gospel Town Cemetery Manager)]: Hello everyone, I run a cemetery next to Gospel Town in Saint Anna City. It might be a bit inauspicious, but hopefully, you can recommend it to friends and family. If anyone needs funeral services, my cemetery offers favorable prices.

[Profound Wisdom (Blessings | Supernatural salvation | Blessing)]: A friend running a cemetery? These days, getting a business license for that industry is difficult. When did you start? It seems like it’s been years.

[Zhou Haidong (Vice President of Folklore Association)]: This new member is quite skilled in exorcism; everyone should get to know him.

Sun Yan noticed Zhou Haidong’s suffix, realizing his position as the Folklore Association’s vice president.

No wonder he was so enthusiastic when seeing him at the hospital. For a Folklore Association exclusively for Chinese, he probably planned to invite Sun Yan from the first meeting.

As for helping remove the Black Magic, it seemed it was just done in passing.