The Bright Moon and the Great River

Fortunately, I had "The Three Pure Books" in my mind. Master Jiu had told me that the best talisman to deal with extreme Yin and extreme evil spirits was to summon the full set of the twelve divine generals, the Six Ding and Six Jia. Since my fate was linked to wood and fire symbols didn't work well for me, he had told me to focus on three main talismans to finish in one day. These three were: the "Ding Yi Ju Qing Protecting Talisman", the "Jia Zi Wen Qing Soothing Talisman", and the "Jia Wu Yu Qing Breaking Evil Talisman."

Since the ghost hadn't fully formed yet, using the "Jia Wu Yu Qing Breaking Evil Talisman" on its ghostly door would make it dissipate and scatter its soul.

But I only had one day! The shapes of these talismans vaguely appeared in my mind, but they were difficult to draw. However, there was no choice. Even if there was just a slim hope, I had to try.

By the time the third watch was nearly over, Master Jiu repeatedly warned me to be cautious and not put my life on the line before he left. I wiped the water off the mirror and returned to my dorm room. Lying on my bed, I kept thinking of ways to come up with a perfect plan, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't think of anything. It was frustrating because, frankly, my brain didn't work all that well. Sigh.

I had no choice but to set the alarm for eight in the morning and try to sleep while reviewing "The Three Pure Books." When the alarm went off at 8 AM, I got up. Bao Long and the others had just returned from an all-nighter at the internet café, and when they saw me up, they asked if I was going to class. If I was, could I report for them?

I shook my head, thinking, "This time, I'm off to save the world." Damn it, how did I end up with such bad luck?

Seeing I wasn't going to class, they climbed back into bed. I washed up and got dressed. Who knew what would happen that night? After finishing my hair, shaving, and changing into clean clothes, I looked in the mirror and felt like I had aged five years in a second. "Alright, looking good," I muttered to myself.

I grabbed my painting bag, went downstairs, and caught the bus. On the way, my heart was still racing.

About an hour later, I arrived. Instead of going directly to the school, I found a small hotel nearby and rented a room. I needed the day to focus on drawing as many talismans as possible and then deal with the ghost later that night.

I took paper from my bag, cut it to size, and after offering a prayer to the Heavenly Jade Emperor, I pricked my right hand's wrist with my fingernail. The blood flowed out. It was a useful trick, using a sharp little fingernail—very effective with no pain at all. The downside? Girls might think I was being a bit of a wimp.

I began my chanting.

"Ah~~~~~~!" Suddenly, a scream from the next room startled me. My heart nearly stopped. What was that sound? I listened carefully and could hear rhythmic slapping sounds followed by a woman's heavy breathing.

Great, the hotel had good soundproofing. I could clearly hear the woman and the man talking about how her backside hurt. Damn it, I thought. I should have known staying in a hotel near a university would lead to this.

My concentration broke. The noise from next door was distracting me. Here I was, trying to save everyone, and yet those two were busy with their own business. The injustice was too much!

I slapped myself in the face to clear my thoughts. "Focus," I told myself. "Focus." Then I remembered a line from a TV show, the one Zhang Wuji says: "He's strong as he is, the wind brushing the mountain peak. He's weak as he is, the moon shining on the great river." Though I probably misremembered it. It should have been "The moon shining on the great river," not "the great river and the sun."

Finally, I gathered my composure and stopped thinking about the noise. I started over, reciting the chants and focusing intently on the talismans.

The first one was done. The second one. The third one! They were all done! I couldn't believe how quickly they came together. Looking up, it was just noon.

I tested the talismans, and all three glowed faintly.

Success! Was I a genius? For a moment, I felt on top of the world. But as I think back to that time, I realize it was probably because of the "Great River" and "Moon" noise from next door. The disturbance forced me to concentrate harder, and in the end, it might have improved my efficiency.

After finishing the talismans, I bought a bowl of instant noodles from the hotel's owner and ate it to fill my stomach. Afterward, I kept drawing more talismans. The more I succeeded, the better my chances would be. In other words, the more I drew, the higher the chance of survival.

But then, the noise next door stopped. Finally, the room went quiet. But oddly enough, with the silence came even more failure. By 6 PM, after six hours, I had only successfully completed four talismans. The rest were wasted paper.

I now had three "Ding Yi Ju Qing Protecting Talismans," two "Jia Zi Wen Qing Soothing Talismans," and two "Jia Wu Yu Qing Breaking Evil Talismans." I had reached my limit. If I kept going, it would only be a waste of time. I needed to rest and prepare for the confrontation tonight.

I stepped out of the hotel and called Dong Shanshan. I told her I had come to her school and asked her to meet me for dinner. She thought I was joking, but when she saw me in person, she was pleasantly surprised. She happily agreed to meet me downstairs.

I went to pick her up. Under the streetlamp, she looked at me and said, "Look at you. You cleaned up well, didn't you?" I smiled back. We walked away from the school together. I don't know why, but at that moment, I grabbed her hand. She didn't pull away. It felt natural.

We ended up at the same restaurant we'd visited yesterday, sitting at the same table and ordering the same dishes. But tonight, my mood was completely different from yesterday's. Looking at Dong Shanshan, she was the only one from my high school who had ever comforted me, and I couldn't bear the thought of anything happening to her.

Even if it cost me my life, I would not let her come to harm.

At this point, you might think I'm being overly dramatic. Wouldn't it have been better to just tell her about the ghost and get her to leave? I thought about it too. But how could I say something like that? "There's a malicious ghost at your school, and if you don't leave soon, there will be a bloodbath within five miles." She would think I was crazy.

I smiled bitterly at my own thoughts.

She smiled back, asking, "What's so funny?"

I teased her, saying, "I'm laughing because you came out without wearing underwear, didn't you?" But as soon as I said that, her face turned pale, and she quickly covered her chest. In a small voice, she asked, "How did you know?"

Damn it, I didn't know! I was just joking! But seeing her reaction, it was kind of funny, so I kept teasing her. "You want to know? Then kiss me first."

Her face turned bright red, and I saw her cheeks light up like a switch. She lowered her head without saying a word.

Anyone could tell the atmosphere was changing. It was awkward, a little flirtatious, but also incredibly tense. Was she starting to like me?

I coughed to break the tension. What was I thinking? Now wasn't the time for that. I had to focus on dealing with that ghost.

The food came, but the awkward atmosphere continued. We ate in silence, and as they say, eating under awkward circumstances only made it worse.

After dinner, I suddenly had the urge to play some arcade games. I didn't know why. It was just a weird impulse.

I asked Dong Shanshan, and she agreed. The atmosphere lightened immediately. She led me to an arcade nearby. After getting ten tokens, I went straight to a King of Fighters machine.

To my surprise, Dong Shanshan was an expert. She completely destroyed me with her Ice Queen. My best team, Terry, Eiji, and Kyo, was annihilated in no time.

"How did you get so good at this?" I asked.

She casually replied, "Oh, I've been playing since high school." Another KO, and my best fighter hit the floor with a loud crash.

I was stunned. "I didn't know you played."

She sighed. I wondered why everyone around me liked sighing. As she continued to dominate me with Ice Queen, she said, "You were too busy chasing Du Feiyu back in high school to notice me."

I had no words. Maybe she was right. Back then, I was too focused on serving Du Feiyu. How could I pay attention to other girls, especially those who spent their time talking nonsense while drunk?

Another crushing defeat. My favorite character, Kyo, had fallen. I guess I was just destined to lose this one.