Chapter 34
Chapter 34
“The Education Administration Bureau is organizing a Teachers’ Day event?”
Li Que was quite surprised when Leng Qingyan informed him at Mingjiang No. 7 Special School.
“Yes. In addition to you and Dean Qin, teachers from several other schools will be joining the trip. A deputy director from the Education Administration Bureau will lead the group.”
Leng Qingyan explained the entire itinerary in detail. “Teacher Li, do you have any suggestions or concerns?”
After all, the Anomaly Suppression Bureau had organized this event entirely to support Li Que!
Whatever he wanted, they would adjust the plan accordingly.
Li Que thought the Education Administration Bureau’s event sounded quite good. He could participate and conduct a home visit with Lin Xiaoyu along the way.
“It sounds excellent. I have no objections.”
Leng Qingyan sighed in relief. As long as Li Que approved, everything was fine.
“There is one thing, though.”
Li Que looked at her. “While I’m away, could you help cover my classes?”
He did not want Nian Youyu, Meng Mo, and the others to be left without supervision. Of everyone at the school, Leng Qingyan was the person he knew best and trusted most.
Leng Qingyan froze. Me?
He wanted her to teach several anomalies above S-class?!
“Don’t worry. The students in my class are all very well behaved. I’ll speak to them in advance. They won’t give you any trouble.”
Li Que smiled.
Leng Qingyan felt a chill crawl through her heart. But Li Que had asked her personally. How could she refuse? She could only steel herself and agree.
“I’ll… do my best!”
Leng Qingyan left at once. She still needed to confirm the details with the Anomaly Suppression Bureau.
Li Que carefully organized his lesson plans for the next few days into a booklet and left it for Leng Qingyan, making things as easy for her as possible.
When the bell rang, he headed to the classroom.
All four students were already seated.
“Nian Youyu, are you feeling better?”
Li Que looked at him. Meng Mo and the others had said Nian Youyu ate something that upset his stomach, but Li Que had not found time to check on him.
Now that Nian Youyu was eating potato chips again, he had probably recovered.
“Much better, Sir. I just ate something I couldn’t digest,” Nian Youyu said.
Li Que took out a box of sour jujube seeds and handed it to him.
“Here. If you overeat in the future, chew on a few of these. They’re good for your stomach.”
This was another reward from the Good Teacher System. It gave him all sorts of miscellaneous things, and Li Que rarely knew what to do with them.
Now they were perfect for Nian Youyu.
Nian Youyu accepted the sour jujube seeds. His eyes lit up, and his mouth immediately began to water.
“Thank you, Sir!”
“If I’d eaten these earlier, I wouldn’t have to fear anything filthy, no matter how dirty it was!”
He was overjoyed.
Li Que smiled and continued the lesson.
When class ended, Li Que finally told them he would be leaving.
“In a few days, Xiaoyu and I will visit her home. Ms. Leng will substitute for me while we’re gone.”
“You need to treat her well. Don’t upset her.”
With that, Li Que turned and left.
“Wow, Lin Xiaoyu! Sir treats you so well!”
Nian Youyu ate his sour jujube seeds, envy suddenly filling his eyes. “Are you going to become a god when you go home this time?”
“Becoming a god… That sounds like fun. Too bad Sir isn’t taking us along,” Meng Mo said regretfully.
Lin Xiaoyu silently lowered her head. She studied the red knot around her left wrist, her expression complicated-three parts gratitude, two parts warmth, and half self-doubt.
Even now, remembering the power that had erupted from the red cord when she faced Frost left her dazed.
Sir had truly given her this red cord.
And now he was going home with her?
Did she really deserve any of this?
“Sir… really is far too good to me,” she murmured.
“If Sir treats you well, that means you deserve it.”
Bai Lu put away her mirror and rose calmly.
“Becoming a god… isn’t as solemn or exalted as you imagine. It’s nothing remarkable. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself.”
“Just follow Sir and study hard.”
Lin Xiaoyu looked at Bai Lu gratefully, then nodded with all her might.
“I will!”
…
Li Que made a special trip to a shopping mall in the city and bought many gifts.
They included two cases of milk, some beautiful stationery, and a certificate of merit.
Communication was the most important part of a home visit, and the child was always at the heart of that communication.
A certificate for Lin Xiaoyu would show her guardians that she behaved well and performed admirably at school. That would encourage her family to support her education.
Being praised by her teacher in front of her family would also help build her confidence.
Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
Outside the school gates.
Li Que carried several large bags, while Lin Xiaoyu followed behind him with two cases of milk.
When Qin Shiyu arrived with a small travel bag and saw them, she was dumbfounded.
Wait. He was seriously conducting a home visit?
An anomaly wielder and a great anomaly, both above S-class, looked no different from ordinary relatives visiting family in the countryside.
Her expression grew complicated. Li Que genuinely seemed to take these “little things” seriously.
Could earnestly playing the roles of teacher and student be the key to giving an S-class anomaly humanity?
“Dean Qin, give me a hand.”
Li Que smiled.
Qin Shiyu hurried forward and took a bag of fruit from him.
Just then, a bus pulled up in front of them. A portly middle-aged man in a dress shirt and slacks leaned his head out.
“Dean Qin Shiyu and Teacher Li Que? Hurry aboard.”
Li Que and Qin Shiyu carried the gifts onto the bus. Lin Xiaoyu silently followed.
“Hey, who’s this student?” the middle-aged man asked in confusion.
“She’s a student at our school. Her home is near Five Dragons Mountain, so I’ll conduct a home visit while we’re there,” Li Que explained.
The middle-aged man’s brow furrowed in obvious displeasure. This was an official event organized by the bureau. What was a student doing here?
“You must be Deputy Director Gao,” Qin Shiyu said at that moment, giving him a faint smile. “Our school already registered her participation. There shouldn’t be a problem, should there?”
Gao Shen had noticed Qin Shiyu earlier. Now that she was smiling and speaking to him, he inexplicably grew nervous and hurried to reply,
“No problem. Of course there’s no problem!”
“So you’re the new dean at the school? It seems your school takes home visits very seriously. You’re doing excellent work with family-school communication. I’ll mention it to the bureau when we return!”
His attitude changed instantly. He could not have been more enthusiastic.
He was not the only one. Several other male teachers inside the bus were now staring at Qin Shiyu as well.
Her beauty and figure were genuinely stunning. She was the sort of dream woman an ordinary person might encounter only a handful of times in his entire life. Every smile and gesture tugged at the heart.
“Ms. Qin, why don’t you sit here?”
Gao Shen eagerly pointed to the empty seat beside him.
“The mountain roads near Five Dragons Mountain have a lot of sharp bends. It’s very easy to get carsick!”
Qin Shiyu looked deeply grateful. “Oh, that would be wonderful. Xiaoyu, come here. Didn’t you say you get carsick? This seat will be perfect.”
She beckoned to Lin Xiaoyu.
Lin Xiaoyu did not react and silently remained beside Li Que. Li Que thought for a moment.
“Xiaoyu, it’ll be more comfortable at the front.”
Only then did Lin Xiaoyu walk over in silence and sit down.
Qin Shiyu smiled at Gao Shen. “Thank you, Deputy Director Gao.”
Then she walked away and sat directly beside Li Que.
Gao Shen was speechless.
He looked back at Li Que twice. Who was this brat?
Gao Shen did not recognize him, which probably meant he had no connections. Fine. He would find a chance to teach the man a lesson later!
“What’s your name? Are you Dean Qin’s student?”
He tried to draw information from Lin Xiaoyu.
She did not even look at him. She ignored him completely.
“Not a shred of manners. What a rude little cripple.”
Disgust flashed through Gao Shen’s eyes.
He stopped paying attention to Lin Xiaoyu and began plotting ways to approach Qin Shiyu during the journey.
But as his thoughts wandered, agitation suddenly overtook him. His emotions deteriorated sharply, swinging from anger to inexplicable sorrow and plunging him into a terrible depression.
The bus had barely left the school when he suddenly vomited.
Another teacher hurriedly handed him a bag. Gao Shen retched so violently that his stomach seemed to twist in knots. He looked utterly miserable.
From the back of the bus, Qin Shiyu stared at Lin Xiaoyu, who was sitting obediently in the front, and astonishment filled her eyes.
It was true. Rain… truly possessed humanity!
External provocation stirred emotions in her just as it would in a human being!
As the bus left the city, the lively chatter and greetings inside gradually died away. Everyone grew tired and waited in silence to reach their destination.
A female teacher in the row ahead rested her head on the shoulder of the male teacher beside her. Qin Shiyu secretly glanced at Li Que, only to find him absorbed in a book about education.
She deliberately yawned.
Li Que did not react.
“How boring.”
She sighed softly.
…
Meanwhile, on another bus.
To keep Li Que from being noticed, Shi Xuan and the others had deliberately traveled separately from him.
Shi Xuan, Xu Changjiang, Wang Zhong, and Zuo Qingting had blended into the group disguised as teachers. Wang Zhong and Zuo Qingting checked their phones from time to time; they were responsible for coordinating the operation.
Zuo Qingting glanced around. Shi Xuan and the others had their eyes closed, and no one was watching him. He quickly composed a text message.
“Shi Xuan is on the move. The sacrifices are en route to Five Dragons Mountain. Also: Qin Shiyu of the Hall of Anomalies is among the group. Exercise caution.”
He sent the message, then immediately deleted it.
His expression was grave as he took several more looks at the bus ahead.
As a member of the Eclipse Organization, Zuo Qingting came from a powerful clan and had spent years undercover inside the Provincial Anomaly Suppression Department. He naturally knew a great deal about the Hall of Anomalies.
The moment Qin Shiyu’s name appeared on the list from Mingjiang No. 7 Special School, he became wary. Later, when the buses picked up the school staff, he observed her from a distance and confirmed her identity.
Qin Shiyu, an S-class anomaly wielder of the Hall of Anomalies, had come in person. She was the sole variable in their plan!
…
On a winding, rugged mountain road.
An off-road vehicle stopped on a steep slope. A middle-aged man wearing sunglasses and a long coat stepped out, while a subordinate in a suit held an umbrella over him.
The middle-aged man stood at the roadside and gazed into the distance.
A hollow lay ahead. Upstream, five mountain streams converged from different directions, forming a sizable river through the depression.
The river was clear and blue, winding like a jade belt around a mountain village. From a distance, the scenery looked like a painted scroll.
But there was something deeply unsettling about it. A white spirit-summoning banner stood before every household in the village.
The village was desolate, seemingly devoid of a single living soul.
“It is indeed an anomaly-infested place,” the middle-aged man said. “Have you located the Water God’s grave?”
The man holding the umbrella replied, “Third Master, the anomalous aura is strongest on a gentle slope about two li south of Five Dragons Village. The Water God is buried there.”
“Frost, Rain, and the Wraith-Mother of the Vengeful Infant were all born from that place.”
“However, according to our preliminary investigation, anyone who approaches the site encounters a ghost maze and inexplicably enters Five Dragons Village. It is extremely difficult to escape.”
“We believe Five Dragons Village is a barrier protecting the Water God’s grave. It can only be broken by conducting a human-sacrifice ritual inside the village.”
Zuo Yuanfeng nodded.
“Qingting is already bringing people here. We have our sacrifices.”
“Make your preparations. The fish will enter the baited waters soon… and one particularly fierce fish comes from the Hall of Anomalies.”
The man beside him said,
“Rest assured, Third Master. Tonight we’ll build the stage, put on the show, and invite the anomalies to feast. No matter how fierce the fish, it will end up as nothing more than a dish on the table!”
Zuo Yuanfeng nodded.
“One more thing. Now that Shi Xuan and Qin Shiyu have both left Mingjiang City, we must investigate that school as quickly as possible.”
Zuo Yuanfeng added, “Once we’re finished here, we’ll go to the divinity-nurturing ground and contain the Water God’s Authority. Then our great undertaking will be assured!”
…