Chapter 151
Chapter 151
Under that cold judgment, tinged with faint rejection, the Chopstick Spirit’s body shattered like a broken mirror. In an instant, she splintered into countless thin shards of light, then vanished within three breaths.
At the same moment, all the strength seemed to drain from Qiao Yu’s body. He collapsed and slowly closed his eyes…
Elsewhere, on an unknown mountain, a square pavilion stood hidden among the trees.
The dense forest enveloped the entire structure. Moisture gathered into a pale mist that drifted lazily between the trunks whenever there was neither wind nor rain.
A figure in Taoist robes raced up the steps, shouting as he ran, “Martial Uncle! Martial Uncle!”
The old man seated before the temple doors snorted at his frantic approach. “What kind of behavior is all this shouting?”
The young Taoist slowed down, but he could not hide his anxiety. “Martial Uncle, something terrible has happened!”
“Tsk, you brat… What nonsense are you spouting?”
What did he mean, something terrible had happened to his martial uncle? He was perfectly fine.
“Martial Uncle, the Chopstick Spirit’s soul tablet shattered!”
The leisurely old man shot to his feet. “What did you say? Why did her soul tablet shatter?”
The youth shook his head. “I don’t know. It just… broke with a bang.”
The old man lowered his head and paced in a circle, looking momentarily lost. “How could the Chopstick Spirit’s soul tablet have shattered…? Then-the coffin? What about the coffin?”
The youth blinked. “The coffin is still fine. We’ve only lost one channel supplying malicious emotions.”
The old man breathed a sigh of relief. After a moment’s thought, he said, “Notify everyone in the sect. We’re relocating… And shut down that website. We need to lie low for now.”
“But without the website, where will we find more malice?”
“Forget that for now. The Yuanyang Consortium has already fallen. Until we find a new backer, we need to keep our heads down. Everything can wait until the thing in the coffin awakens.”
The young man nodded solemnly. “We’ll do as you say, Martial Uncle.”
After the young Taoist left, the old man took out his phone and made a call.
A man answered.
The old man asked, “How are things going with my senior brother?”
The man sighed. “It’s difficult. The fall of the Yuanyang Consortium is already all over the news. With everyone watching, I really don’t dare make a move.”
The old man grew anxious. “Can’t you think of something? You took so many kickbacks from the Yuanyang Consortium. You can’t just wash your hands of this now.”
The man fell silent for a moment, then replied impatiently, “You think I don’t want to get Daoist Wu out? He’s being held by the Security Bureau. Do you honestly think that kid from the Shang family can be bought with money? The moment I show up with cash, he’ll have me locked up too.”
“Then what are we supposed to do?”
“Wait for news. You people need to relocate quickly. My source says the Security Bureau seems to have noticed the supernatural website. Don’t leave any evidence behind for them to use against you.”
The old man hung up and kicked the doorframe in frustration. “Fuck!”
At No. 4 High School, the bell had just ended another grueling day for the seniors. Students poured out of the teaching building in a flood, leaving the already neglected equipment room even more desolate.
Through the haze, Qiao Yu vaguely heard a familiar voice calling his name.
His eyes flew open. Faced with one puzzled expression after another, he stared blankly. “What, are you all mourning at my grave? Did you at least bring condolence money? And are you feeding me-mmph!”
What went around certainly came around.
Before he could finish, Kong Xianya pinched his lips together, turning his mouth into a duck’s bill.
Qiao Yu’s eyes widened.
Did she know copying other people would get her struck by lightning?
“You scared us to death! You wake up and immediately start talking about dying again. Do you think we weren’t frightened enough already?”
Qiao Yu pried Kong Xianya’s claws away and looked around in confusion. “Why did I pass out?”
“You don’t remember?” Shang Yan drew him closer, his expression strange and complicated.
Qiao Yu looked both bewildered and innocent. “Remember what?”
Shang Yan leaned in and whispered beside his neck, “Qiao Yu, you’re not human.”
Qiao Yu froze for several seconds, then shoved him away, thoroughly offended. “And what gives you the right to turn that accusation around on me, you dog?!”
Shang Yan was speechless.
Cheng Dai zipped over just then, her eyes full of worship. “Brother Qiao, you’re awake?”
Qiao Yu hurriedly raised a hand. “Since when am I your brother? We can’t muddle up the generations like that. If you really must, you can call me Dad instead. I wouldn’t mind.”
Cheng Dai didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She swiftly changed the subject. “You were incredible! How did you destroy the Chopstick Spirit?!”
Qiao Yu pointed at himself in astonishment. “Me? I destroyed the Chopstick Spirit?”
The next second, fragmented memories surged through his mind like floodwater through an opened gate. The smile at the corners of his mouth stiffened, and he instinctively glanced at Shang Yan.
Those beautiful eyes, however, were fixed directly on his forehead. Shang Yan muttered, “Should we take you in for a brain CT?”
Qiao Yu lowered his lashes, and his heart instantly settled.
Good. At least they didn’t think he was a monster…
Realizing Cheng Dai was still waiting for an answer, Qiao Yu waved a hand and glossed over the matter. “Maybe the Chopstick Spirit was just too fragile.”
Cheng Dai was rendered speechless.
Did he even hear the nonsense coming out of his mouth?!
“Right, I still have something to ask you.”
The Chopstick Spirit might have been destroyed in a muddle, but the case remained. The three victims could not be allowed to die without the truth ever coming to light.
“What do you want to ask?”
Qiao Yu thought for a moment and motioned for the still-confused Kong Xianya to take notes. Only then did he begin his questioning. “Do you know how Bai Panpan died?”
“You mean the first girl who died?” As an earthbound spirit, Cheng Dai spent her time either studying or roaming around the school. She had little impression of most students, but the outstanding ones tended to stick in her memory.
There was Bai Panpan, the school beauty; her awkward younger sister, An Yaoqing; and the delinquent girl, Ding Ying.
Cheng Dai was especially well informed about the tangled love lives surrounding those prominent students.
“You’ve asked the right person… No, the right ghost.” Cheng Dai glanced at Xi Qiu, the school’s heartthrob, sitting on the floor with a deathly pale face, and curled her lip. “Bai Panpan died because of him.”
Shi Xingguang, who had only just regained consciousness, rolled his eyes back and nearly fainted again. Fortunately, the quick-handed Luo Yunmeng pinched the spot beneath his nose and brought him back around.
“That’s impossible! Xi Qiu would never do something like that!”
Cheng Dai shrugged. Her long tongue drooped from her mouth as she went, “Bleh, bleh, bleh,” in blatant provocation.
Shi Xingguang did not dare pick a fight with a ghost and quickly looked away.
Qiao Yu snapped his fingers at the mischievous Cheng Dai. “Keep going. Why did Bai Panpan die because of Xi Qiu?”
Cheng Dai turned back and floated slowly to Qiao Yu’s side, putting on a profound expression. “Well, that’s a long story.”
Qiao Yu rubbed his brow impatiently. “Then make a long story short.”
Cheng Dai knew when to submit to someone stronger, so she behaved. “Xi Qiu was very popular with the girls. When he started dating Bai Panpan, she became their common enemy. A clique of delinquent girls led by Ding Ying was especially fond of making trouble for her. Beatings and verbal abuse were practically routine!
“Ding Ying’s family was pretty rich. She used the power of money to bribe the discipline director, so even when people reported her, nothing was properly handled. At most, she’d get a meaningless demerit. All reporting her accomplished was even fiercer retaliation, and no one could do anything about her.
“Then, after Bai Panpan was stripped in public, our great school heartthrob Xi dumped her because he was afraid of losing face. Maybe he still couldn’t let her go, because Xi Qiu kept helping her in secret…”
At that point, Cheng Dai seemed to notice Xi Qiu’s shocked, humiliated expression. She immediately added with biting sarcasm, “Affection that comes too late is worth less than weeds. And if you don’t want ghosts to know what you’ve done, then don’t do it in the first place.”