Chapter 39
Chapter 39
When the thick fog finally dissipated, the group found themselves outside the wall of the school’s back playground.
Hua Jiunan bowed toward the Daoist floating in the distance.
“Thank you for saving our lives, Daoist Master.”
The Daoist said nothing, simply vanishing with a smile.
This act terrified Zhang Shun. “B-B-Big Brother, who are you talking to?”
Hu Wa shot him a look of disdain. “Don’t make such a fuss!”
“Brother Jiu has Yin-Yang Eyes; he can see things we can’t.”
“He’s thanking the Immortal Spirits who helped us escape!”
Hu Wa had actually guessed correctly.
However, Hua Jiunan didn’t even know this particular “Immortal Spirit.”
Hearing Hu Wa’s words, Chen Daji hurriedly cupped his fists and bowed in all directions, just like he had seen in period movies.
“Thank you, old immortal! Thank you, old immortal!”
By the time Hua Jiunan and the others returned to the dormitory, it was already five in the morning.
They had no idea how many times they had tripped and fallen along the way; every one of them was a disheveled mess.
Chen Daji was in the worst state: his face was covered in blood and his body was caked in mud.
After they had cleaned themselves up thoroughly, Hua Jiunan checked everyone over.
Fortunately, no one was seriously injured.
The other two roommates were merely unconscious, and Chen Daji’s nose wasn’t actually broken.
Zhang Shun was still shaken, his voice trembling as he spoke. “Guys… did we just see ghosts?”
Chen Daji replied while looking into a mirror, full of self-pity, “You bet we did!”
“Let’s see if you ever dare to go digging up dead people’s bones in the middle of the night again!”
“If Big Brother hadn’t noticed early on and brought me to find you, you’d have been eaten by ghosts by now!”
“Oh, crap! My nose is bleeding again!”
Hua Jiunan cautioned them, “Don’t tell anyone about tonight. It’ll only bring unnecessary trouble.”
The three of them nodded repeatedly.
Chen Daji had been pampered since childhood; he had never suffered such a huge loss before.
He said resentfully, “Big Brother, we can’t just let this go!”
“It’s not in my nature to get bullied and not retaliate!”
“When you go home, ask the Immortal Spirits how much it’ll cost to deal with those filthy things from last night. I’ll pay!”
“Damn it, we have to take them down and avenge my handsome nose!”
Even if Chen Daji hadn’t said anything, Hua Jiunan would have found a way to deal with the evil ghosts from the night before.
For one, Old Li had raised him with a specific philosophy: you shouldn’t bully others, but you absolutely must not let others bully you.
Secondly, he was afraid those filthy things would harm other students.
“Mm. Don’t worry, Daji. Leave this matter to me!”
Chen Daji nodded vigorously. “Big Brother, once you wipe out those filthy things, I’ll use a detonator to level their home!”
“Dammit, they dared to bully this young master? I won’t even leave them a roof over their heads!”
Looking at the furious Chen Daji, Hua Jiunan finally understood why even ghosts feared wicked people.
Especially wealthy and powerful ones!
Hu Wa asked curiously, “Brother Daji, what does your family do? Why do you have detonators?”
Chen Daji was still immersed in his fantasy of blowing up the ghosts’ home, so his answer was a bit distracted.
“My family owns a few iron mines. The detonators are for blasting the mountains!”
At daybreak, Hua Jiunan told Chen Daji and Hu Wa to look after their two unconscious roommates while he headed home first.
Chen Daji spoke up, “Wait a second, Big Brother. I’ll have my driver take you back.”
“From now on, whether it’s coming to school or going home, I’ll arrange for someone to pick up you and Hu Wa!”
As he spoke, the boy pulled out a bulky brick phone and quickly climbed onto the roof to make a call.
In the nineties, mobile phones were still rare in China, and the signal was exceptionally poor, especially in remote areas.
To make a call, Chen Daji had to climb to a high point just to find a signal.
A few minutes later, Chen Daji climbed down. “Let’s go, Big Brother. We’ll wait at the school gate.”
Half an hour later, a black sedan indeed pulled up.
Under the shocked and envious gazes of the other students, Hua Jiunan and Chen Daji got into the car and left.
Chen Daji was extremely curious about the business of being a spirit medium, so he shamelessly insisted on going home with Hua Jiunan.
He claimed he wanted to “broaden his horizons.”
In the car, besides the driver, there was a very stout middle-aged man.
Chen Daji asked casually, “Dad, why are you here?”
Hua Jiunan followed suit. “Hello, Uncle.”
The middle-aged man nodded to Hua Jiunan, then glared at the bruised and battered Chen Daji and started cursing.
“You little brat! I spend money so you can study hard, so why are you fighting again?”
“And you got beat into this shitty state? Where’s all that capability of yours? Aren’t you usually so tough?!”
Chen Daji was annoyed. “Dad, can you at least ask what happened before you start yelling?”
“I fell during labor skills class. I wasn’t fighting!”
“If you don’t believe me, ask my Big Brother. He had the highest middle school entrance exam score in the whole county. If you don’t believe me, you have to believe him!”
The middle-aged man was taken aback. “Young man, is your name Hua Jiunan?”
Now it was Hua Jiunan’s turn to be surprised. “Uncle, how do you know my name?”
Seeing that it really was Hua Jiunan, the middle-aged man immediately broke into a smile.
“The family mines often have matters that require Chief Zhou’s help. He told me about you!”
“Say no more. If Daji is hanging out with you, I can rest easy!”
The man paused before continuing, “Daji, you follow Jiunan and learn some good habits. Stop thinking about fighting all damn day!”
“We live in a society ruled by law now. What’s the point of fighting?”
Chen Daji felt wronged and muttered under his breath, “Big Brother is way better at fighting than I am. That’s why I follow him…”
The middle-aged man froze again, then turned around and gave Chen Daji a heavy smack on the head.
“Still talking back!”
“If Jiunan is good at fighting, that’s called being a master of both the pen and the sword!”
“You? You’re just a damn street thug!”