Chapter 8 Troubleshooting

Li Ang kept his composure, casually pulling out ordinary sunglasses and the almond-colored eye orbs that could see through illusions from his pocket, and deftly pressed the orbs into his eye sockets as he donned the sunglasses.

In his mind, he silently thought "accept" the moment he bent his knees and leaned forward, beginning to sprint down the corridor.

From inside the classroom, Wang Congshan hurried out, shouting, "Hey! Where are you going? Class is about to start."

"Nature calls!" Li Ang didn't even turn his head back.

The task description didn't specify a particular time limit, but that wasn't necessarily a good thing.

'Slay the possessing wraith within the Experimental High School.' In other words, if the possessing wraith left the confines of the Experimental High School, would that be considered mission failure?

Or rather, might it be that, once the possessing wraith left the grounds of the Experimental High School, it would bring about consequences as dire as mission failure....

Behind his sunglasses, the almond-colored orbs swept across rows of classroom windows, quickly scanning each person.

Nothing out of the ordinary caught his eye.

Li Ang reached the ground floor, where quite a few people were leaning against the railings in the side corridor.

He took a deep breath and, with a full-bodied voice, shouted at the entire building, "I am Zhang Wuji of 'Ming Jue,' if my fellow Martial World companions upstairs trust me, then leap down, and I'll catch you using Qiankun Movement!"

Regrettably, in an age where trust between individuals runs thin, no one jumped down; instead, various heads popped over the railings, mocking laughter directed downwards.

No one was found.

Li Ang withdrew his gaze calmly,

This was normal, after all. Experimental High School had nearly two thousand students, one hundred and fifty teaching staff, covering an area of forty thousand square meters, with teaching buildings, a comprehensive building, science and technology building, cafeteria, dormitories, and all necessary amenities.

Even with the help of the unusual eye orbs, searching one by one was still too inefficient.

After a moment of thought, Li Ang dashed toward the school's astronomical observatory.

The rooftop of the observatory was the highest point of the school, allowing a bird's-eye view of the entire campus. Li Ang stood at the edge of the rooftop, pulling out a pocket telescope with a magnification of more than twelve times.

As he surveyed the campus, everything looked normal, except for a mottled blur near the entrance to the underground parking, which was slowly moving toward the parking area.

Found you.

Li Ang put down the telescope.

————

Footsteps echoed in the empty, deserted underground parking lot as "Shi Qingsong" walked slowly.

His pace was sluggish, his legs pointed like a ballet dancer's as he shuffled forward awkwardly.

The rubber soles of his sneakers made an irritating squeaking sound against the shiny concrete sealant, which reverberated through the parking area.

He took out his car keys, pressing the button in different directions time and again.

He didn't know which car belonged to Shi Qingsong, but the car keys did.

"Beep Beep."

A silver sedan responded, its headlights flashing twice.

"Shi Qingsong" cracked a smile, the exaggerated grin looking somewhat eerie under the dim lights.

Just as he approached the car, about to pull open the door, a pair of hands grasped his wrists.

"Teacher Shi!"

Panting heavily, Li Ang gripped Shi Qingsong's wrist tightly and said urgently, "I've finally found you!"

"...." Shi Qingsong looked stiffly at Li Ang, barely mustering a smile, and said, "Ah... it's you, is there something you need from me?"

He tried to shake off Li Ang's hands, only to find the latter's strength was astonishingly powerful, akin to a tiger's vice, and despite struggling for quite some time, he couldn't break free. Instead, his own wrist was about to be dislocated.

"Teacher Shi, I've encountered a very troubling issue recently. You are my homeroom teacher, my mentor, my guiding light, and I hope you can help me clear up my doubts."

Homeroom teacher? Am I "his" student?

Shi Qingsong nodded slightly, coughed twice, and put on the air of a teacher, "Go ahead."

"It was like this, yesterday afternoon I was taking a nap at home when suddenly there was a knocking at the door, and when I opened it, I saw Sister Zhao, from the apartment across the hall, standing at my door in her nightgown.

She was crying her eyes out with tears streaming down her face."

I asked her what was wrong, and she told me through her tears that her husband was no good! She hoped that I, being young and strong, could help and solve her family's problem...."

Li Ang paused, then said earnestly to Shi Qingsong, "Teacher Shi, what do you think I should do?"

I think you should splash some urine on your face and wake up.

Shi Qingsong's expression became even more rigid as he said woodenly, "Hmm... student, I don't really have any good advice on this matter. You are almost eighteen, you need to have your own thoughts. I'm in a bit of a rush now, could you please step aside....."

Before Shi Qingsong could finish, Li Ang slapped his thigh and sighed, "Alas, at that time, smelling the perfume on Sister Zhao, my heart pounded wildly, and I was tempted and followed her into her home."

Hey, hey, hey, young man, are you even listening to me? Why are you starting to fantasize now? Could you show me some respect? After all, I am your teacher!

"After going into her home, guess what?"

"... What?" Shi Qingsong asked with an expressionless face.

Li Ang shook his head and sighed, "I tutored her son all night with his elementary school homework. Sister Zhao was really not wrong; her husband is indeed hopeless—he couldn't even do elementary school math word problems."

"...."

I feel like you are teasing me.

A vein on Shi Qingsong's forehead bulged as he said stiffly, "I see... student, I really am in a hurry. Could you let me pass, please."

"How could that be okay? Besides that issue, I have other questions to consult you about."

Li Ang said seriously, "Seeing Sister Zhao and her husband so affectionate, I felt the loneliness of being a single dog and so I went to the temple and sincerely knelt in front of the statue, but even after my fervent proposal, the statue did not react at all, firmly rejecting me."

??

"Since then, I've been down in the dumps, often feeling overwhelmed, and I'd run to the supermarket squeezing instant noodles, shrimp sticks, chips, oranges, and the fragile bones of elderly grandfathers and grandmothers."

???

"They were very satisfied with my massage technique and raised funds to make a 'Gynecological Saint Hand' banner to hang on the wall at my place."

By this point, Shi Qingsong knew the other person was completely toying with him.

His complexion turned dark, his palms drooped, his fingers curled like chicken claws, his nails rapidly grew longer and covered with a ghostly blue fluorescence, shining ominously under the light.

"Student... will you... step aside?"

Li Ang also dropped his smile, gripping Shi Qingsong's wrist, and spoke softly, "No need to pretend anymore, I cut the surveillance cameras in the parking lot on my way here."

He took off his sunglasses to reveal the almond-colored pupil in his left eye.

In his sight, behind Shi Qingsong, clung a specter clad in construction worker attire; the two were tightly pressed together, front to back, arm to arm, tip to toe.