Chapter 316: Gan Su Xin

I rubbed my head, slowly waking up, when I discovered I had returned to QingSongShu's house. As soon as I opened my eyes, I saw Pangzi and Shen Yuan Ning, one on the left and one on the right, sandwiching me.

I shoved them both away, sat up from the bed, and then I found I could walk and jump, completely unharmed, even the poison on my body gone.

What's wrong? I looked at my palm in disbelief, and found the black lines were gone.

Pangzi and Shen Yuan Ning were both sound asleep, and I slapped each of their faces twice.

"Hey, wake up," I shouted, slamming down hard. Shen Yuan Ning woke up, but Pangzi was still like dreaming; no matter how I pushed, I couldn't wake him. Helpless, I kicked him hard twice.

When my size-42 shoe left the fifth footprint on Pangzi's clothes, Pangzi finally woke up groggily.

After waking up, Pangzi and Shen Yuan Ning both had faces full of bewilderment, just like me.

"Where am I?" Pangzi scratched his head blankly, stared blankly at the room for a while, then said, "Isn't this my home?"

I: "..." Really speechless. Pangzi, you must be so dense, so dense that you need half a day just to remember your own home.

"Sigh, I remember we were clearly injured, how come after one nap we're back home?" Pangzi knocked his dazed head hard.

I don't know about this problem either; I only recall that after the armored phantom appeared last night, I was knocked unconscious by his killing intent. Judging by this, Pangzi and Yuan Ning were also knocked out. But I don't know how they got back here after passing out.

"Could it be a ghost?" Pangzi blurted out, then after speaking he uh-ed, realizing how stupid his question was.

The three of us stared at each other for a long time, then simultaneously did the same thing and rushed to my room. I and Pangzi were recalling last night's events; as for Shen Yuan Ning, he followed subconsciously.

Pushing open the door, the three entered together. The room had a small altar; on the altar there happened to be a small red coffin.

The coffin enshrined Little Fat; last night's events must be somehow connected to him. That soaring killing aura of the military spirit—I still can't figure out how Little Fat summoned it.

Through my spiritual eye, I saw Little Fat snoring asleep inside the coffin. I formed a hand seal and woke him from his sleep.

Little Fat floated out of the coffin, his chubby little fists rubbing his eyes, as if still not fully awake.

As soon as he appeared, he gave me a silly hehe grin and called, "Hai Sheng, Hai Sheng, I'm hungry." After saying that, he rubbed his own little belly.

I and Pangzi stared at each other for a long time, unable to believe that this harmless little fatty could summon such a fierce military spirit as last night.

"Little Fat, tell me honestly, what's the deal with that armored military spirit from last night?" I took a deep breath and asked him.

Little Fat shook his head blankly, and after a moment he spoke.

"Hai Sheng, I'm hungry, I'm really hungry!"

I: "..." My mind full of black lines—is this answering the wrong question?

Pangzi slapped the table, picked up a willow twig, and pretended to threaten Little Fat: "You talk or not, if not I'll beat you."

"Wuu, Hai Sheng, I'm hungry, I'm really hungry!" Little Fat, scared by Pangzi, burst into tears, looking at me pitifully.

"Hehe, Little Fat Brother, Little Fat Grandpa, tell me—name whatever ingot candles, mountain delicacies and seafood, I'll offer them all for you to eat." One plan failed, Pangzi hatched another, switching from threats to flattery.

But Little Fat wouldn't buy it—whether Pangzi coaxed and tricked, or cried, made a fuss, threatened suicide, all he did was shake his head and say he was hungry.

Seeing this, I couldn't bear to press him further; I quickly lit three sticks of incense and placed them in the burner before the coffin, then scooped several bowls of white rice from the pot and set them on the table.

After Little Fat saw the incense and rice, he finally stopped crying and smiled, contentedly floating back into the coffin.

Looking at his completely childlike appearance, I and Pangzi couldn't help but smile. Perhaps Little Fat isn't as simple as I imagined; perhaps the master was right—every general's spirit has some unknown ability. But not everything in this world can be answered clearly; if you insist on breaking the pot to ask for a straight answer, it's pointless.

I only need to know that Little Fat is my kin, he won't harm me—that's enough. As for that military spirit, whatever; whenever we meet, we'll meet.

"Hai Sheng, I put Big Pangzi's clothes in the drawer." Little Fat inside the coffin added.

"Holy crap, right, where's my Daoist robe?" Little Fat's reminder made Pangzi recall that his clothes still held a female ghost; he hurriedly opened the drawer.

Opening the drawer, seeing the clothes intact, Pangzi finally relaxed.

"What's in here?" Shen Yuan Ning leaned over to ask.

I said this is the female ghost we retrieved last night; Shen Yuan Ning froze a moment and asked me, "Is this female ghost related to the black-clad person (Ou Yaofeng) from last night?"

I shook my head, said no. I explained the whole story to him, and Shen Yuan Ning suddenly understood with an "oh."

"So you went to school at midnight last night to collect this female ghost."

"And you? Why did you run to school at midnight last night?" Pangzi interjected.

Shen Yuan Ning scratched his head: "Yesterday after the exam I dropped the 'Doctrine of the Mean' in the school garden; last night I remembered and went to the school to look for the book, and that's how I ran into you."

I: "..." Pangzi: "..." Indeed a bookworm.

What is the Doctrine of the Mean? It's a famous Confucian classic, one of the books ancient people had to read to cultivate themselves, manage families, and govern the world. Shen Yuan Ning, for a copy of the Doctrine of the Mean, went to the school in the pitch dark last night—truly deserving of the title 'bookworm'.

"Right, should we check what kind of deity this female ghost is, why her grudge hasn't faded and she's scaring my sister?" Pangzi pointed at the Daoist robe and said.

Shen Yuan Ning nodded and said: "That's good; lingering spirits usually remain because of an unfulfilled wish or unresolved grudge. If we can discern the cause and effect and resolve her resentment, that might itself be a merit."

Saying done, Pangzi shut the doors and windows to keep sunlight out, then with a thought formed a hand seal and unfolded the Daoist robe.

A white-clad woman's soul suddenly appeared in the room; having been sealed by the Daoist robe for too long, her soul was still very weak.

As soon as she appeared, she grabbed me and begged: "Please give it back to me, give it back."

"Holy crap, how could it be...?" Pangzi saw the female ghost and stammered.

This female ghost's appearance is also very familiar, but I just can't remember where I've seen her.

"Aren't you the famous talent from school, Gan Su Xin? How did you become like this?"

Thanks to Pangzi's reminder, I suddenly recalled seeing her in a school newspaper. Gan Su Xin, our former senior sister, a renowned talent at school, in ink painting and sketching even some professional teachers felt inferior.

But how did she now become like this, and become a resentful spirit lingering in the art studio?

Moreover, she wants me to return something; I only knew her before, but she doesn't know me. Besides, I never took anything from her.

"Please return that thing to me, please." She begged me pitifully.

I... damn it, you gotta tell me what I took from you.

"Senior sister, what exactly are you asking Hai Sheng for?" Pangzi interjected.

"That bell, you took it out last night—I beg you, give it back." Gan Su Xin pleaded.

I instinctively reached into my pocket and pulled out the bell I had picked up.

As soon as Gan Su Xin saw the bell, she screamed and lunged at me to grab it—but being a ghost, she couldn't grasp a physical object. So she could only watch helplessly as the bell fell to the ground.

She crouched down, hands straining to grab the ground, but as I said before, she's a ghost and the bell is a physical object; no matter what she does, it's futile—she could never catch the bell.

I suddenly recalled that last night Pangzi and I had stayed at school for most of the night, yet she still hadn't appeared; but when the bell fell out of my pants pocket, she immediately showed up and kept dead‑on chasing me, saying things like "give it back, give it back." There's no doubt the bell summoned her—this string of bells is still very important to Gan Su Xin from her life.

After trying for a long time she couldn't catch the bell, Gan Su Xin gave up. She resentfully faced the string of bells, murmuring, "Zhiyuan, what..."

"Zhiyuan... senior sister, are you talking about Teacher Su?" Pangzi asked her doubtfully.

Gan Su Xin nodded, then hastily shook her head.

"No, no, it's not Teacher Su; he has nothing to do with me, don't casually tarnish his reputation." Gan Su Qin's tone became tense.

I felt his tone was strange, as if he were hiding something. But Pangzi sensed nothing, and thinking she feared Teacher Su Zhiyuan, he said to her, "Senior sister, don't worry—I won't tell Teacher Su Zhiyuan I've seen you when I meet him in the future."

Who would have thought, Gan Su Xin jumped up immediately after hearing Pangzi's words.

"What are you saying? You've seen Teacher Su—how is that possible? Isn't he dead?" Gan Su Xin questioned Pangzi, raising her voice several notches.

Pangzi said, "How could that be? I just saw Teacher Su with Hai Sheng a couple days ago—how could he be dead?" After saying that, Pangzi looked at me.

Gan Su Xin also looked at me, seemingly expecting my answer.

I nodded, confirming Pangzi's words—Teacher Su Zhiyuan is a fairly well‑known art teacher at the school; I've seen him a few times, so I couldn't mistake him.

"Impossible, you're lying to me, you're deceiving me—Zhiyuan is clearly dead, he's dead."

Gan Su Xin was unwilling to believe us, but after our later questioning we found that the "Su Zhiyuan" she mentioned was the same person we were talking about, and he is surely still alive in this world. As for why Gan Su Xin thinks he's dead, we don't know.

We hadn't even gotten a chance to ask when Gan Su Xin suddenly rushed at Pangzi.

"I remember you, you're Wang Weiqiang, you once brought me flowers—I beg you, please take me to see Zhiyuan just once, even if it's the last time; after that, whether you want to take me or kill me, I'll obey you."

She suddenly seized Pangzi and begged, which indeed startled us.

Pangzi is fine in every way except he can't stand a woman's plea—once a woman begs him his heart softens. Moreover, Gan Su Qin used to be one of Pangzi's dream lovers...

"Senior sister, rest assured, your matter is my matter—I'll handle it." Pangzi agreed readily, without blinking an eye.

I quickly glared at Pangzi and asked Gan Su Xin, "First tell us what's going on; we're deciding whether to help you." It's not that I'm suspicious—it's just my habitual vigilance. If I can help, I will; if I can't, there's nothing I can do. Before doing anything, I must think twice—this is one of my principles.

Under the gaze of the three of us, Gan Su Xin slowly began her story—or rather, her and his story.