Chapter Eleven: The Style of the Great
When Ye Xue placed the pillow on the bedding, she couldn’t help but glance again at the building across from her. At this moment, the red figure on the science building had disappeared.
In ghost stories, there’s often mention of red-dressed female ghosts, thought to be the fiercest. But in reality, it’s not quite like that. The red ghost is simply a vengeful spirit, while the truly sinister and terrifying ones wear blue.
It’s said that red ghosts can retain some sense of reason and won’t indiscriminately kill. But wherever a blue-dressed ghost goes, nothing remains. A movie called Mountain Village Ghost was made based on this, and it left a deep impression on Ye Xue’s childhood.
As a child, after watching the film, she couldn’t sleep all night, insisting her master stay by her side. Even after growing up and realizing the character wasn’t real, she remained terrified, much to Ye Yangyun’s amusement.
In Ye Xue’s eyes, ghost movies were still scarier than real ghosts — you can fight a ghost, but you can’t punch a movie character!
Taking advantage of her roommates’ distraction, she whispered to Xu Zhou and Bai Liu, “I plan to check out the building across the street before it gets dark.”
Xu Zhou had the same idea and nodded.
The group quietly devised a way to sneak into the science building. But when they arrived, their plans proved unnecessary.
There was no one in Building 404!
Not only was it empty, but even the red-dressed ghost was nowhere to be seen. Contrary to rumors, it didn’t look like a dilapidated building at all. It seemed recently built, with brand-new equipment inside.
Though there was a faint, eerie aura lingering, typical of places passed by spirits, there was no sign of the red ghost. Ye Xue’s spirit-banishing sword remained unresponsive.
“404, huh…” Bai Liu muttered, rubbing his arms against the chill. “Who came up with that name?”
Xu Zhou explained, “Some places are named after the construction date. But—” He paused, inspecting the building. “This place does have bad feng shui.”
Ye Xue reminded them, “It’s getting dark, let’s go.”
Universities don’t allow outsiders to stay overnight, so despite their curiosity, they have to leave. Before departing, Ye Xue placed a few talismans in the corners of the building.
If the ghost appeared again, the talismans would burn to ash, alerting her.
Unexpectedly, they managed to sneak into the science building unnoticed but were caught by security on their way back. The reason? Carrying dangerous weapons.
Just as Ye Xue was about to put the spirit-banishing sword back in her bag, she was spotted by the campus security.
Shining his flashlight, the guard stopped the group and asked why they were carrying a weapon.
It was Ye Xue’s first time being scolded by an elder for such an absurd reason.
Initially intending to reprimand them further, the guard took a second look at Ye Xue—she was polite, pretty, and innocent-looking, not the type to cause trouble. He softened and asked her to hand over the sword.
Ye Xue obediently handed it over, explaining, “This isn’t a weapon, Uncle. The sword is made of jade.”
Worried he wouldn’t believe her, she unsheathed the sword for him to inspect.
The spirit-banishing sword only harms evil spirits, so to regular people, it was just a valuable antique.
The guard, now at a loss, sighed, “Why are you carrying a jade sword around? I thought you were dangerous!”
If Ye Xue hadn’t quickly produced her student ID to prove her identity, the guard was ready to call the police.
Ye Xue didn’t know how to explain. She couldn’t exactly tell him they were ghost hunting.
That would land them in a psychiatric ward instead.
After a moment of thought, she said, “Uh… let’s just say I’m cosplaying.”
The guard, baffled: “???”
Satisfied that they weren’t carrying anything dangerous, the guard waved them off, mumbling, “Kids these days…”
Ye Xue: “…”
Do you know about cosplay? How trendy.
Ye Xue saw the two off at the campus gate.
While waiting for their ride, Bai Liu suddenly became overly dramatic, as if they were parting forever. “Auntie! How will I live without you? Auntie, I—oh wait, wrong script.”
He quickly corrected himself, but continued, “How will I live without you, Auntie—”
Xu Zhou, noticing the stares from nearby, quietly inched away, pretending not to know him.
Ye Xue, however, played along with a serious face. “I’ll miss you too, nephew. How about I skip class and go back to the temple with you?”
Hearing her call him “nephew” with a thick northern accent and then suggest she’d drop out, Bai Liu froze.
He glanced at Ye Xue, who was smiling sweetly at him.
Suddenly, he felt a chill. If his father found out he got his precious junior to quit school, he’d probably chase him down with a fruit knife!
Terrified by the thought, Bai Liu immediately jumped into the taxi. “Good afternoon, Auntie! Goodnight, Auntie! No need to see me off!”
The taxi driver, curious about their conversation, asked, “What do you guys do? Why are you calling each other ‘Auntie’ and ‘Nephew’? Are you from Shaolin Temple? Didn’t know they had women there.”
Bai Liu, exasperated, replied, “Uncle, we have hair. We’re not monks. Watched too many martial arts movies, huh?”
The driver chuckled awkwardly as Bai Liu added, “We’re Taoists.”
The driver fell silent. Taoists? Without robes? What kind of joke was this?
Ye Xue couldn’t help but laugh at the exchange.
After saying their goodbyes, Xu Zhou handed Ye Xue a small pouch. “Auntie, take this as a gift for your new school year.”
He handed the pouch to Ye Xue, got into the car, and waved to her from the window, saying, “No need to see me off, just go back.”
Ye Xue waved back at them.
Soon, the car drove away.
Ye Xue opened the gift and discovered it contained a bank card and a small note with a password written on it.
She felt a warm sensation in her heart as she looked at the distant figures that were already fading away. She smiled and turned to walk back to the school.
In the study, Yu Qi was flipping through the Bao Pu Zi, but the noise outside grew louder and louder. He seemed to ignore it, continuing to read the book that he had already memorized.
Suddenly, the door to the study was forcefully flung open, and someone charged in with great vigor.
His assistant looked apologetic as he said, “Sorry, sir, we couldn’t stop Ms. Yu.”
“Ms. Yu” referred to Yu Qi’s aunt, who glared at him with a displeased expression, her eyes filled with anger. She demanded, “Yu Qi! How could you send your cousin to the police station? He was doing well at Jin Xin! Why did you terminate his position? Why didn’t you inform me beforehand?!”
Yu Qi’s pace of reading finally came to a halt. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with a handkerchief, tossed it into the trash can, and then raised his eyes to look at Yu Zhu.
He coughed a few times and replied calmly, “Aunt, if one didn’t know better, they might think the Yu family’s assets already belong to you.”
Yu Qi’s parents had built their fortune from scratch; the business had nothing to do with his grandfather’s generation. If Yu Zhu weren’t his father’s sister, she wouldn’t even be qualified to approach the board of directors.
However, because Yu Qi’s condition required medication that was difficult to find, Yu Zhu had long regarded his family’s fortune as her own.
That was why she had allowed her son, Zhang Hesong, to work in the Yu family business.
In her eyes, the Yu family already belonged to her, so her son could do whatever he wanted in the company.
Yu Zhu’s eyes flickered, and with a fierce tone, she said, “So this is why you called the police?”
Yu Qi retorted, “Why don’t you ask him what he did in the company?”
Yu Zhu scoffed, “It’s just a small company under the Yu name. What trouble could he cause?! Are you unable to tolerate your cousin? Don’t you remember who took care of you after your parents died? Who raised you?!”
“Of course… it was the nanny,” Yu Qi replied, clearing his throat. His clean handkerchief was now stained with blood. He continued, “If your ‘taking care of me’ refers to moving into the Yu home with your husband and children when my parents were still cold in their graves, attempting to claim the wealth as your own, then I can’t commend you.”
If it weren’t for Yu Qi’s master still being well-known in the Xuanmen, and those he had helped in the past continuing to look after him after his death, he would have likely been eaten alive by the predatory relatives and friends surrounding him after that car accident.
“So, you won’t allow the lawyer to bail out Hesong?” Yu Zhu asked coldly.
Yu Qi replied indifferently, “If he can’t control himself, I don’t mind teaching your son a lesson.”
“Do you just believe whatever they say? Who knows if those scoundrels saw Hesong as my son and are trying to slander him because they couldn’t get close to him…”
Yu Qi didn’t want to hear any more of her filthy words and told the bodyguard, “Please take her out.”
Yu Zhu’s speech was interrupted, and she was forcibly escorted out by a tall and strong bodyguard. As she was leaving, she cursed, “Yu Qi, if you treat me like this, just wait until the day you die! I wonder how you’ll face your parents in the underworld!”
“Is that so?” Yu Qi’s expression remained calm. “If that day comes, I’ll be sure to convey your regards.”
The outside fell silent instantly.
Yu Qi lowered his gaze, seeming to smile slightly. He looked at the blood stains between his fingers and slowly wiped them dry with a tissue.
His assistant, seeing his pale complexion, worriedly called out, “Sir…”
Yu Qi shook his head, “You can go out for now; I want to be alone for a while.”
As he listened to the faint ghostly voices around him, he continued to read the scriptures to calm his mind. But when he turned to the next page, he suddenly found himself lost in thought.
He recalled that night—the clean female voice that had broken through the darkness.
It felt so distant; since then, he hadn’t heard it again.
Yu Qi even began to doubt whether he had truly heard that vibrant and energetic voice.
Maybe it was just a dream he had.
On this day, it just happened to be Friday afternoon with no classes. Ye Xue said goodbye to her roommates with her backpack, preparing to return to the Daoist temple.
As of now, there were only three people in their dormitory. Even during military training, the other roommate hadn’t been present.
The counselor had mentioned that there was some trouble at her home, and she couldn’t attend classes for the time being.
As soon as Ye Xue stepped out of the dorm building, her phone rang. She took it out to see that it was Lu Xuezheng.
After Lu Xuezheng visited the Daoist temple last time to offer incense, Ye Xue exchanged phone numbers with him.
He initially wanted to add her on WeChat, but she declined. At the time, Lu Xuezheng had been quite surprised, exclaiming, “Is this what it means to have the demeanor of a master?”
What demeanor? It was simply that her phone was outdated and had no storage left.
Ye Xue couldn’t bear to shatter his illusion.
“Big shot, we have business!” As soon as the call connected, Lu Xuezheng said, “It seems like there’s a ghost at the company where my dad works. He wants to find someone to take a look, and I immediately thought of you.”
Ye Xue perked up at the mention of business. “Are you out of class? Let’s meet and talk.”
Lu Xuezheng seemed to check the time before saying, “Soon. Classes end at 3:30 on Fridays. Should I come to the Xuan Zhen Temple to find you?”
Ye Xue replied, “No need, just come to Haicheng University to find me. I’ll be waiting for you at the milk tea shop near the entrance.”
“Ah?!” Lu Xuezheng was momentarily taken aback and cautiously asked, “Are you exorcising ghosts at Haicheng University?”
Ye Xue was somewhat puzzled. “No, I’m studying here.”
Lu Xuezheng was even more shocked.
“Wait, are Daoists supposed to go to university? And it’s a 211 university? Is the competition this fierce now? Even Daoists can’t escape?”
Haicheng University was his dream school.
He never expected that not only was this big shot excellent at exorcising ghosts, but also a top student.
With a newfound sense of awe, Lu Xuezheng spoke more solemnly, “I’ll be right over!”
After hanging up the phone, Ye Xue still felt a bit confused.
Is it that strange for her to go to university?
Her master had said that if she were in the world of cultivation, she would have the potential to become immortal.
wannaberecluse On SRTT Chapter 98.2