Sitting down, Ye Xue smiled at the ghost and said, “Teacher, it’s boring to just solve problems. Why don’t we have a little competition?”
The ghost snorted, “And what do you propose?”
Ye Xue replied, “You give us problems to solve, and if we don’t understand, we can ask you questions, right?”
The ghost, seemingly pleased by the respectful “teacher” title, nodded smugly. “That’s right.”
Ye Xue continued, “I have a few problems I don’t quite understand. Let’s exchange questions and see who finishes first.”
Bai Liu was stunned and whispered, “Shishu, you’re bold! You’re challenging a ghost?!”
Ye Xue whispered back with a grin, “And you, a Taoist, let a ghost steal your soul? If your dad found out, he’d skin you alive.”
Bai Liu opened his mouth to protest, but Ye Xue had already scribbled down several problems in her notebook and handed them to the ghost, “Teacher, please.”
Bai Liu peeked at the paper but couldn’t make heads or tails of it. He could read the words, but together, they made no sense.
Wei Caining also glanced at the paper and was shocked.
Ye Xue smiled faintly and proposed to the ghost, “Let’s race. Whoever finishes first wins. How about that?”
The ghost snorted with disdain, “There’s no problem in this world that I can’t solve.”
Both women picked up their pens and began working.
Ye Xue quickly finished several problems, while the ghost, upon opening the notebook to the first page, froze.
She stared at the paper for a long time, unable to put her pen down. After pondering it for a while, a frown creased her face, and she glanced at Ye Xue, a trace of frustration in her eyes. She realized something.
By that time, Ye Xue had already finished the ghost’s entire problem set.
Bai Liu watched in astonishment.
He knew Ye Xue was impressive, but he didn’t realize just how incredible she could be. In just a few moments, she had solved the problem that had been troubling them for so long.
It had only been a few minutes.
Uncle Ye Xue was truly a genius among geniuses!
Wei Caining was also astonished. It wasn’t that she couldn’t solve the problem, but it would take her at least ten or twenty minutes to do one. Compared to Ye Xue’s lightning speed, her pace was like a snail’s crawl.
“The shadow Ah Xue has left on me is this deep? Even in my dreams, she’s still this amazing,” Wei Caining thought in shock.
“Teacher, I’m done,” Ye Xue set down her pen and said with a bright smile.
“…” The female ghost didn’t need to check to know Ye Xue’s accuracy was 100%. She glanced at the untouched problem in front of her and, with a sigh of grievance, said, “Taoist, you’re deliberately making this hard for me.”
The red-clad ghost could tell that Ye Xue wasn’t an ordinary student, and the sword in her hand wasn’t something just anyone could possess.
She also understood clearly that Ye Xue had come here to save people.
Ye Xue, hearing this, asked in surprise, “Why do you think that? Weren’t you the one who just said, ‘There isn’t a problem in this world you can’t solve’?”
The ghost was stumped. “Hmph!”
She waved her hand, instantly releasing Bai Liu and Gao Lan from their restraints. Without sparing them another glance, she muttered, “Forget it, just take them and leave.”
…
As the three walked out of the classroom, the red-clad ghost remained inside, still facing the problems Ye Xue had set for her, determination filling her face. She was resolved to finish them no matter what.
Wei Caining whispered, “Ah Xue, those problems you gave her just now… were they the ones the professor mentioned that stumped him for a long time?”
These were problems even the professor couldn’t solve yet.
Ye Xue only smiled faintly, saying nothing, wearing an air of quiet achievement.
Wei Caining then said, “But it’s so strange. My dreams have been too vivid lately. Before, it was always just me being forced to do problems, but this time, it’s like a series—now I’m solving them with you guys.”
Bai Liu also found it amusing.
Uncle Ye Xue’s roommate is too funny. Even now, she still thinks she’s dreaming.
This person’s an atheist, to the point of explaining away everything science can’t account for as just a dream.
When they reached the outside of the science building, Ye Xue suddenly stopped and called Wei Caining’s name, “Caining!”
Wei Caining turned back, and Ye Xue bit her finger, lightly tapped her forehead, and drew a talisman.
Wei Caining stood there dazed, as her soul gradually became transparent.
The next second, she vanished, returning to her original body.
Wei Caining’s situation was unique. She had been forcefully summoned by the ghost, so when she woke up, she wouldn’t remember much about what happened in the dream—only vague memories of having dreamed.
Therefore, Ye Xue wasn’t worried that she’d recall the nightmare of being forced to solve problems by the ghost in reality.
After taking care of her roommate’s situation, Ye Xue turned to look at Bai Liu and raised an eyebrow, asking, “So, what are you doing here?”
At this, Bai Liu’s face immediately fell. “Oh, Uncle, it’s a long story! Heaven helps me, who could’ve thought my first part-time job as a ghost warden would end up with me lost and getting caught by a ghost to solve problems instead of reaping souls? Is there no greater suffering in the human world? I’ve graduated, and I still have to do homework! It’s unbearable!”
Ye Xue’s mouth twitched.
Getting lost as a warden and then being bullied by a ghost—Bai Liu had to be the first person in both the human and underworld realms to experience this.
Bai Liu continued lamenting, “Why out of so many people did she fixate on me?!”
“Huh? Are you asking me?” The ghost, with sharp ears, heard him, immediately putting down her pen and phasing through the wall to confront them.
She was quite pretty, but her face was deathly pale with an eerie, chilling white. Both Bai Liu and Ye Xue were so startled they took two steps back.
Ye Xue almost couldn’t stop herself from drawing her sword.
The ghost pointed at Bai Liu’s nose and scolded, “How dare you complain! You reek of a bad student from head to toe—who else would I target?! Huh?! I worked my butt off to get into a top university, but I slipped and died in the science building before I even got to enjoy college life! Now I’m dead! The thing I hate most are students like you who don’t take their studies seriously! And don’t even get me started on those couples from Hai City University who come here just to make out. The stink of their love is suffocating!”
“Do you think this is easy for me?! All I wanted was to study hard and make something of myself, contribute to the country, and nurture the next generation! Who could’ve known I’d die like this?!”
As she spoke, her resentment grew stronger. Her long hair came undone, and her red clothes deepened in color.
Ye Xue drew her demon-slaying sword, calmly watching the ghost.
Sensing the danger from the sword’s aura, the ghost immediately calmed down. She smoothed her hair and said, “Sorry, I get worked up when I see bad students.”
“But I was just passing by, not deliberately bothering you…” Bai Liu muttered, “It’s all that warden Wei Xingteng’s fault!”
“Hey, who’s calling me?” The white-clad warden, wearing a high hat, floated over.
The ghost’s expression changed instantly. She feared the presence of wardens, and quickly turned invisible and fled.
Seeing this, Bai Liu couldn’t help but complain, “This is discrimination! She fears him but not me.”
Ye Xue couldn’t help but laugh, then patiently explained, “You’ve only just started as a warden. After some time, once you’ve absorbed the dark energy of the underworld, they’ll all fear you.”
Bai Liu felt somewhat consoled his mood lifting.
Wei Xingteng still had two newly deceased souls tied to his soul-reaping rope.
The freshly dead souls hadn’t yet come to terms with their deaths, their faces blank and lifeless.
The warden found Bai Liu and let out a sigh of relief. “Kid from the Bai family, you’re pretty useless. Couldn’t even catch an old man, huh? Now I have to clean up after you.”
Bai Liu flared up. “How can you even say that?! When you join a company, they always have veterans mentoring the newbies. Shouldn’t I get some one-on-one guidance as a warden?”
“You expect me, on my first day, to go reap souls?! And you know what happened?! That ghost made me do thirty calculus problems—thirty calculus problems, and I didn’t know how to do a single one, QAQ!”
“Cough, cough.” Ye Xue couldn’t hold back a cough.
That last part was probably the main issue, wasn’t it?
Wei Xingteng, seeing him so riled up, gently reassured him, “You’re young. After you’ve seen a few more ghosts, you’ll get used to it.”
He originally wanted to say that Bai Liu was still too inexperienced, but when he saw Ye Xue standing there with her sword, he swallowed his words.
Though he had been promoted, the psychological shadow Ye Xue left on him was too large. Every time he saw her, he still felt a sense of dread.
So, the warden handed Bai Liu one of the soul-reaping ropes. “Kid, take this. I’ll take you to the underworld to report in and show you the way.”
Then, Wei Xingteng turned to Ye Xue. “Taoist, I’m taking your nephew with me now.”
What nephew?!
Bai Liu corrected him. “I’m not your nephew!”
The warden shrugged. “Eh, all the same. We’ll all be family soon.”
Ye Xue glanced at his pale, blue-tinged face, silently thinking to herself, Who’s family with you?
Now that Bai Liu was fine and with the warden present, normal ghosts wouldn’t dare approach them. Ye Xue felt reassured.
As for her roommate’s issue, that had been resolved. After this, the ghost wouldn’t bother her anymore, and Wei Caining could finally sleep peacefully.
Bidding them farewell, Ye Xue returned to her dorm.
Bai Liu held the soul-reaping rope, ready to take the new soul to the underworld. But just then, the new soul began to regain consciousness. Realizing that they had died, the elderly man broke down in despair and tearfully pleaded, “Sirs, it’s my first time dying. Couldn’t you give me a few days to go back home, see my children, and maybe even spend the money I saved up? I scrimped and saved for half a year, didn’t even smoke a single cigarette!”
The old man’s lament was accompanied by bitter tears.
Bai Liu thought, Is this a competition for who has it worse?
He lectured the newly departed soul, “Uncle, this is my first time working as a reaper too. Just think of it as the underworld’s version of rural teaching outreach!”
The old ghost: “…”
The next day, Ye Xue woke up early.
Surprisingly, Wei Caining slept in until 10 a.m.
Luckily, there were no classes in the morning, so sleeping a bit longer wasn’t a problem.
When Wei Caining finally woke up, she looked much better, no longer as drained as before.
Seeing this, Ye Xue felt relieved and asked, “Caining, how are you feeling today? Did you dream about doing more problems?”
Wei Caining smiled, not as upset about it now. She nodded and said, “Yeah! Last night, I even dreamed that I was solving problems with you. Hehe, but it didn’t feel as bad with someone else there. I didn’t feel so pitiful.”
Ye Xue: “…”
Well, that’s one powerful reason.
Sam Williams On TYMIMA Chapter 152