Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Five

"Heh, naturally. Let me tell you, while this academy appears solemn, it harbors all the 'things' one might expect," the old Taoist said, setting down his belongings.

"But what exactly are those things?"

"A drowned ghost."

"Master, I think we should just give up. We never catch anything anyway," the young apprentice complained. They had been exorcising for years without a single success; they were either scared senseless or hung up and beaten by some terrifying spirit, yet his master remained stubbornly undefeated.

"How can you be so spiritless as my disciple? You must have confidence in yourself!" the old Taoist scolded loudly.

"Waaaah, I understand," the master was so fierce.

The two were currently upstream of the academy. Just as they were scattering sticky rice into the water, they felt a chill crawl up their spines. Turning around, they saw a dense gathering of demonic aura and a woman whose features were impossible to discern.

The master-and-disciple duo—who were nothing more than frauds looking for a free meal—were frozen in terror. A series of ghostly wails and howls echoed through the mountains.

***

A melodious sound of a zither drifted over, and Fubao found herself in that familiar place again.

The man was still playing the zither by the shore. Fubao knew who he was, though she hadn't had this dream in a long time, not since her memories had returned.

"I can only see you in my dreams. Tell me, where on earth are you?" Fubao watched her past self dancing gracefully to the music. She didn't know what to feel; back then, she hadn't yet taken human form and was merely a chubby carp, but she was a pretty chubby carp nonetheless.

Hahaha.

"Fellow cultivator, why do you hide here?" A voice came from behind, making Fubao jump in surprise.

"Ah! Ice-face, you can see me?" Fubao turned around to find the man who had been playing the zither now standing right behind her.

"Naturally, I can see you."

"Look at me now, I've changed into a human."

"You still ran out in the end."

"Ice-face, where are you now? I can't find you," Fubao said, clutching his sleeve.

"You know where I am. You will find me."

The voice grew distant, and her vision faded into darkness.

"Fubao, wake up! Something terrible has happened!" Early the next morning, Fubao was shaken awake by the "super-strong" Miss Chen.

"Mmm... what is it? What happened?" Fubao rubbed her eyes, poking her head out from under the quilt and muttering.

"That Taoist from yesterday is dead. He died in a miserable state."

"Ah! What happened?"

"This morning, the water flow in one part of the academy suddenly dropped. When the servant went up the mountain to check, he found the connection between the bamboo pipes and the stream was blocked. When he looked closer, he discovered a dead body stuffed in there!"

Miss Chen felt a wave of nausea. She had been hungry all night and had eaten the academy's breakfast first thing in the morning. Who knew if that meal had been prepared with that water?

"Eww, gross," Fubao clearly had the same thought.

"Let's go take a look." Fubao rubbed her chin, grabbed the clothes from the rack, and turned back.

"Ah!" Miss Chen wore a look of horror.

"Come on, hurry up," Fubao dragged Miss Chen out.

Gu Li had arrived there early. He had had a dream last night. As for what he dreamt—for years he had seen a chubby fish jumping around him, but he never expected to see that girl Fubao in his dream last night.

His head ached. "Cousin, your complexion isn't looking good. What's the matter?" Gong Shaoyu fanned himself and peered at Gu Li.

"It's nothing, I just didn't sleep well last night," Gu Li said, rubbing his temples.

"Tsk, tsk. If you're not well, don't go pushing yourself."

Gu Li: "..." What have I been pushing myself with?

"Oh, look, Liu Feier's complexion doesn't look good either," Gong Shaoyu said, noticing Liu Feier, who had turned pale across the way.

Liu Feier was stunned with fear. Wasn't this the Taoist they had hired to catch the ghost yesterday? How could he be dead here? Could it be that there really were monsters?