Chapter 13 - The Haunting Incident at the County School

After fifteen minutes, the two of them settled in a cozy private room at the Fragrant Pavilion.

Shi Xiaohan couldn't contain her excitement and snatched the menu from the waiter's hand. As she quickly flipped through it, she rattled off a long list of dishes:

"We'll have a plate of Beggar's Chicken, a bowl of Clear Soup with Bird's Nest, a serving of Hot and Sour Wuyu Fish Balls, and Sweet and Sour Carp..."

The waiter couldn't keep up with her speed and couldn't help but exclaim, "Miss, can you please slow down a bit? I can hardly write it all down!"

On the other hand, Gu Xu sat across from her, closed his eyes, and relaxed. He silently contemplated improvements to the "Ghost-Killing Talisman."

He didn't care about what dishes Shi Xiaohan ordered or how many. After all, he wasn't paying for it.

And besides, Shi Xiaohan always managed to finish every single dish without wasting any food.

Another fifteen minutes passed, and the waiter brought the dishes one by one, filling the table.

"Dinner is served!" Shi Xiaohan exclaimed, immediately scooping a large bowl of rice for herself and devouring it, occasionally making "chew chew" sounds.

In her presence, Gu Xu appeared refined, like a young lady from a respectable family. He calmly wiped his hands with a napkin, sipped the soup first, then picked up the dishes, and finally ate the main course, savoring each bite.

To him, the most important things in life were eating and cultivating.

Delicious food was meant to be savored.

Taking small bites and eating slowly was beneficial to health.

Shi Xiaohan, on the other hand, was simply wasting precious food.

...

With their stomachs full and the plates empty, Shi Xiaohan stretched lazily and waved for the restaurant owner to bring the bill.

"Sir, the total comes to five Liang of silver!" The restaurant owner wore a gracious smile on his face as he handed the bill to Shi Xiaohan.

Without even looking at the bill, Shi Xiaohan stuffed a banknote into the owner's hand and said, "Keep the change."

The owner's smile grew even warmer.

He liked customers who paid promptly and never haggled over prices.

On the other hand, Gu Xu silently calculated in his mind—five Liang of silver was equivalent to two and a half months of his salary. He would have to avoid such high-cost establishments in the future.

Of course, except for free meals.

...

After the meal, the two of them retraced their steps.

At this hour, the streets were dimly lit, and the crowd was thinning.

"Gu Xu, do you have any plans for tonight?"

"I'll return to the Exorcism Bureau and take on another mission to earn more merit points."

"You... You're always so focused on merit points," Shi Xiaohan pouted, clearly dissatisfied with his answer.

"Because I want to emulate Lady Shi, slay more ghosts, and bring blessings to more people," Gu Xu chuckled. "I strive to be a hero who upholds justice, just like Lady Shi."

He knew exactly what kind of words Shi Xiaohan liked to hear.

Sure enough, Shi Xiaohan quickly went from anger to joy. She tiptoed and patted his shoulder, saying, "Go for it! I support you! Don't let the reputation of our Exorcism Bureau diminish!"

Gu Xu nodded in agreement, thinking to himself that this girl was easily appeased.

Recently, he was on the verge of a promotion.

His competitor, Ma Qin, was coming on strong—an advanced cultivator in the Second Realm, with more experience and a registered residence in a big city. He was definitely not an easy opponent.

Gu Xu had to seize every opportunity, take on more missions, and impress the examiners to leave a good impression.

...

In the Great Qi Dynasty, anxiety about one's future wasn't exclusive to Gu Xu. It was a common sentiment shared by many.

At this moment, on the other side of Yishui County, a young man dressed in a blue cotton robe, with a pale complexion and a worried expression, approached a fortune-teller's stall.

"Master, can you tell me about my official career?" he asked while taking out a copper coin from his pocket and placing it on the fortune-teller's table.

The fortune-teller called himself "Zhang Half-Immortal."

He sat with his legs crossed, ragged clothes, and scruffy beard, and held a tattered fan in his hand. He looked like a beggar, far from possessing any semblance of an "immortal."

On the wall behind him hung two apricot-yellow banners.

On the banners were embroidered a pair of couplets—

Upper Couplet: Four Pillars and Eight Characters, revealing fortunes and misfortunes in the mortal realm;

Lower Couplet: Five Elements and Eight Trigrams, predicting auspicious and inauspicious signs in the world.

"Sir, how would you like me to read your fortune? Through physiognomy, handwriting analysis, fortune sticks, or divination with the Six Coins?"

"Do you understand all of those?" the man asked.

"Of course."

"In that case... let's go with handwriting analysis! Please, Master, take a look and tell me if I have any chances of promotion."

With that, the young man picked up a brush from the table and wrote the character "horse" on a piece of paper.

The fortune-teller, Zhang Half-Immortal, stared at the character "horse" for a long time without saying a word.

"Does it mean success is just around the corner?" the young man urged, his tone filled with hope and anxiety.

"No," Zhang Half-Immortal shook his head repeatedly. "The 'horse' character represents progress and success. However, the 'sun' character is missing, and since it's nighttime now, there's no sun, so it doesn't fit."

The young man's expression froze.

But he was still somewhat unwilling and wrote another character, "qin."

"Now, can you tell me about this 'qin' character?" he asked.

At the same time, he secretly thought, Qin as an appointment. Unless something unexpected happens, it should be a result like "appointed by higher authorities, successful official career."

But Zhang Half-Immortal continued shaking his head.

"The 'qin' character has the radical 'jin' (gold), representing abundant wealth and rising fortunes. However, next to it is the character 'qian' (owe), which unintentionally becomes 'owing gold.' It signifies a roadblock in wealth, hindrance in prosperity, and no prospects of promotion."

This young man was none other than Ma Qin, Gu Xu's rival. He was a Second Realm cultivator from Qingzhou Prefecture, wearing a long blue robe and a sallow complexion.

Lately, he couldn't sleep because of his anxiety.

The reason was simple.

On one hand, he was nearly thirty-five years old but still hadn't achieved anything—no property, no wife, no official hat. He was still an insignificant low-ranking clerk.

He was the epitome of a "loser in life."

Whenever acquaintances saw him, they couldn't help but say, "Ma Qin, oh Ma Qin, you're almost at the age of enlightenment, yet you're still struggling like this?"

On the other hand, his competitor was incredibly formidable.

Ma Qin had thought that by moving from Qingzhou Prefecture, a place teeming with talent, to the remote town of Yishui County, he could avoid fierce competition and easily obtain the desired official position, becoming a distinguished individual.

But he never expected that Yishui County would produce such a terrifying freak.

According to the rumors Ma Qin heard from his superiors, this freak named Gu Xu had been cultivating for less than a year and was already preparing to break through to the Second Realm—

Was this the normal speed for a human being?

Sigh, the waves of the Yishui River propel the younger generation forward, leaving the older ones stranded on the beach.

The younger generation is truly formidable, truly formidable!

As an ordinary clerk with nothing but ten years of work experience, Ma Qin felt so miserable that he wanted to cry.

He reached up and touched his thinning hair, feeling the strands gradually diminishing.

...

Gu Xu returned alone to the Exorcism Bureau.

He first glanced at the bulletin board, selecting a mission that wasn't too difficult for himself.

The reward was forty merit points, equivalent to slaying four fiends.

The mission description was straightforward: "The County School in Yishui County is haunted. The Exorcism Bureau is requested to dispatch personnel to resolve the issue as soon as possible."

The County School was a place where scholars studied.

In the Great Qi Dynasty, those with cultivation talent were the minority, and the imperial examination system still served as the ladder of promotion for most ordinary people.

According to the examination system, after passing the preliminary exam, candidates were permitted to enter the County School for further studies in preparation for the higher-level provincial exams, known as "advancement in education."

Eight years ago, when Yishui County was plagued by ghosts and monsters, the County School was also destroyed, and many teachers and students lost their lives.

After the calamity subsided for a year, the County School was rebuilt.

As the students returned to the classrooms, the scars of the past seemed to have faded away.

Until tonight.

Yishui County's Education Official, Zhou Siqi, had forgotten his keys in the drawer and was forced to return to the County School late at night to retrieve them.

However, in the supposedly empty school, he heard the sound of students reading aloud.

With rhythmic tones and clear voices.

Zhou Siqi was frightened, his face turning pale. He quickly ran out of the County School and instructed the guards to report the incident to the Exorcism Bureau.

And now, this task has fallen into Gu Xu's hands.

"I came back just in time!" Gu Xu silently commented.

At the same time, he took out three copper coins and used the Six Coins divination method to foretell the fortune of this mission.

The result was "Qian above Qian," which represented the hexagram "Qian," signifying great success and prosperity in all matters.

A pleased smile appeared on Gu Xu's face.

With the remaining "Ghost-Killing Talisman" in his possession, he set off confidently.

"Come back soon!" Chen Jisheng, who was working at his desk, raised his head and advised, "If you can't handle it, run away. Don't be reckless."

"Don't worry," Gu Xu smiled reassuringly. "I know my limits."

With that, he stepped out of the Exorcism Bureau and into the vast dark night.