Chapter 124: Delivering Instructions

Ever since Su Chunfeng gave him a simple pointer, deepening his understanding of the Esoteric Art of Qimen and even of a secretive Jianghu of Esoteric Arts, although Qian Ming did not dare to reference the techniques in his own tattered book for cultivation anymore, he became much more diligent in consolidating his shallow cultivation base, waiting for the return of the Esoteric Technique expert named Wang Qimin.

He believed that with Su Chunfeng’s recommendation, his own hard work, and a solid cultivation foundation, he would definitely move that reclusive expert, whom even the powerful Su Chunfeng considered a master, to take him as a disciple.

However, this indefinite waiting, with no clear timeline, made Qian Ming feel both anxious and somewhat lost.

Many times, he wanted to seek out Su Chunfeng, but he did not know what to say if he found him — asking to become Su Chunfeng’s disciple had already been clearly rejected, and asking Su Chunfeng for discussions or advice on Esoteric Technique matters… Su Chunfeng had said not to look for him casually, as he disliked having his peaceful campus life disturbed.

This feeling of helplessness, hesitation, confusion, and hope grew stronger with each passing day, to the point where even during his cultivation, Qian Ming found it hard to calm his mind.

Fortunately, he had excellent innate talent and was an adult with a mature disposition, so it did not affect his teaching work.

Unexpectedly, Su Chunfeng visited tonight.

This made Qian Ming feel incredibly honored, as if his dorm room was suddenly graced with presence. He hurriedly invited Su Chunfeng to sit down, then brewed tea and poured water, his face full of respectful enthusiasm.

After two brief polite exchanges, Su Chunfeng took out a small object with a serious expression and said, “Teacher Qian, have you seen this thing before?”

“Hmm?” Seeing how serious Su Chunfeng was, Qian Ming immediately did not dare to be negligent. He took the small object, held it between two fingers, examined it carefully, and thought back. After a good while, he shook his head and said earnestly, “I am certain I have never seen this thing before.”

Su Chunfeng frowned and said, “Then tell me in detail about the supernatural incident that happened in the girls’ dormitory building the year before last.”

“Does this thing… have something to do with that supernatural incident?” Qian Ming asked in surprise.

“Not necessarily.” Su Chunfeng shook his head.

Qian Ming sighed in relief, then after a moment of thought, slowly recounted the incident from the year before last at the No.1 Middle School Girls’ Dormitory Building — the female student’s suicide by jumping, the subsequent string of supernatural events, and later his own process of performing Art Casting and setting up an Arcane Array to deal with the supernatural events…

It happened in September of ’95.

Summer vacation had just ended, and school had only started a few days ago. A senior-year female student living on the fourth floor of Building No.1 in the school’s Girls’ Dormitory Building left her dorm room alone at 1 a.m., went to the fifth floor, climbed up the ladder, pushed open the cover plate at the top, went onto the roof, and then jumped down, dying on the spot.

After a detailed investigation, the police determined it was suicide, with an unknown cause.

It was reported that the deceased had played a spirit-summoning game called “Planchette Writing” with other girls in her dorm that night. But such things could only be treated as speculative grounds for psychological loss of control, and naturally could not be called supernatural events.

After the incident, the school quickly took measures: they locked all the roof access cover plates on the dormitory buildings and even the teaching buildings to prevent similar incidents from happening again. They also provided psychological guidance and comfort to all the students, especially the girls living in Dormitory Building No.1, while doing their best to stop rumors that students playing “Planchette Writing” games had caused mental breakdowns and jump suicides, to avoid creating panic and fear throughout the school.

However, such rumors were difficult to stop, and the fear in people’s hearts could not be completely eliminated in a short time.

In the following three months, supernatural events frequently occurred in Dormitory Building No.1. Girls often screamed in their nightmares late at night, some girls sleepwalked… and a few even said they had personally witnessed a female ghost floating in the dormitory building’s hallway, entering dorm rooms, and so on.

The continuous fermentation of supernatural events directly led most girls in Dormitory Building No.1 to move out in extreme terror. Some started commuting from home, some rented rooms outside the school, or stayed with relatives or classmates.

Under these circumstances, the school had to take strong measures, forcing students not to live off-campus, and requiring originally boarding students to return to the dormitories.

Thus, the girls who had left had no choice but to return one after another.

Even the girls who had lived in the same dorm room as the deceased had to continue living there.

However, the school repainted and renovated that dorm room and replaced the beds. They also arranged for male security personnel to patrol the hallway of the Girls’ Dormitory Building every half hour after 10 p.m., to reassure the girls in Dormitory Building No.1.

At the same time, the teachers at the school constantly sought out students for reassurance and counseling…

After that, Dormitory Building No.1 really did not experience a single supernatural incident again. It seemed everything was just as the teachers had comforted them: these so-called supernatural events were just hallucinations caused by psychological fear, there was actually nothing there, no need to be afraid.

But the school’s leaders, staff, and students did not know that behind all of this, there was a self-taught Half-Baked Practitioner who, driven by passion and a sense of justice, muddled through without knowing he was risking his life to become the legendary unsung hero.

On the rooftop of the Faculty Dormitory Building, Qian Ming spent time, energy, and his health to set up a defensive-type Arcane Array specifically designed to resist and disperse Yin Evil Energy, resolving the Yin Evil Energy in Dormitory Building No.1.

That was why supernatural events no longer occurred.

After the supernatural events finally subsided, Qian Ming felt a great sense of satisfaction inside, feeling as great as a savior… it was just a pity he couldn’t become famous.

After listening to Qian Ming’s account, Su Chunfeng frowned and said seriously, “Teacher Qian, an incident similar to the one from the year before last might happen again recently.”

“What?” Qian Ming was greatly shocked.

“I just said it’s possible.” Su Chunfeng took the small object back from Qian Ming, held it in his hand, and said to him, “This thing was accidentally found by a male student behind the Girls’ Dormitory Building, and by coincidence, I discovered it and got my hands on it… do you know what this is for?”

Qian Ming shook his head. “No.”

“This was made by hand by an Occultist, and it has had a technique cast on it, with a small Arcane Array placed on it.” Su Chunfeng seriously explained the function of this small object, saying, “If my worry is real, then this thing should have been inserted into the wall. Think of a way to go specifically behind the Girls’ Dormitory Building during the daytime and carefully search the walls to see if there are any more objects like this. I think there should be at least two or three more.”

Su Chunfeng of course knew that this thing should have been embedded in the wall. That cowardly little pervert, Cui Hao, must have accidentally kicked it off while climbing the wall, allowing him to find it.

But naturally, there was no need to tell Qian Ming about this.

“Going there…” Qian Ming said somewhat awkwardly, “If I just walk over there, it’s nothing. But to carefully search, it’s too easy to arouse suspicion.”

Su Chunfeng said, “If you go secretly at night, the lighting is too poor to find anything easily, and if you’re discovered, it’s even harder to explain.”

“But this… how do I go?” Qian Ming wore a bitter expression.

“Find an excuse.”

“Where is there a suitable excuse? I can’t get past that, I’m a teacher.” Qian Ming rubbed his forehead hard and said, “How about we ask someone else to look?”

“No!” Su Chunfeng firmly refused.

The room fell quiet for a moment.

After quite a while, Su Chunfeng sighed helplessly and said, “Forget it. After midnight tonight, you and I will go together.”

“With the poor lighting at night, can we find it?” Qian Ming asked doubtfully.

Su Chunfeng glanced at him. “Can you sense the Esoteric Technique aura on this thing?”

“No.” Qian Ming shook his head.

“I can.”

“Oh.” Qian Ming suddenly understood, looking at Su Chunfeng with even more admiration — his own skills were too shallow, while Su Chunfeng’s were profound.

Su Chunfeng waved his hand with a somewhat irritable expression.

If Wang Haifei weren’t living in the Girls’ Dormitory Building, even with good intentions, he would have hesitated and considered whether to do this. After all, doing this kind of thing might very well provoke an Occultist. On his way to find Qian Ming earlier, he had thought that he could give Wang Haifei a Talisman, enough to protect her from harm. But if supernatural events happened in the Girls’ Dormitory Building, even if Wang Haifei wasn’t harmed, she would be badly frightened.

And wandering around behind the Girls’ Dormitory Building late at night, if someone discovered them, it would really be hard to explain even with reason.

That’s why Su Chunfeng wanted Qian Ming to do this. Unfortunately, Qian Ming was too much of an idiot, or rather… he was helpless too.

“Also,” Su Chunfeng leaned forward slightly and said quietly, “without making people too suspicious, find a reasonable way to investigate all the girls in the Girls’ Dormitory Building who have played any spirit-summoning Planchette Writing games in recent days. Then find out who played first, and ask… who taught her to play. You should be able to do this, right? Oh, by the way, do you know what Planchette Writing spirit-summoning games are?”

“I know that.” Qian Ming nodded.

“Good.”

Qian Ming thought for a moment and said, “Investigating this matter isn’t difficult. It’s originally a teacher’s duty and responsibility to prevent students from playing such things, so investigating it is perfectly justifiable.”

“Good.” Su Chunfeng added, “Remember, it’s best not to let anyone notice you’re investigating. If you really can’t hide it and have to investigate personally or it’s exposed that you’re leading it, you must definitely not mention me, don’t actively look for me…” Here he raised his hand to stop Qian Ming’s question and said, “I won’t ignore it. Before the matter is fully investigated, meet me in the restroom during morning exercises every day, and briefly tell me about it. If it’s too complicated to express briefly, write me a note. I’ll be keeping an eye on this matter from the shadows.”

“Chunfeng, I… I’m a little scared,” Qian Ming asked, his voice trembling slightly. “Is this… is this going to involve Magical Duels with Occultists? Does this count as Jianghu of Esoteric Arts grievances?”

“Count my foot,” Su Chunfeng looked at him disdainfully. “It’s a minor matter. With such little courage, do you still want to continue cultivating and make a name in the Jianghu of Esoteric Arts?”

“But I… I’ve never had a Magical Duel with an Occultist. How do I duel?”

“I’ll handle everything, don’t worry.”

“But…”

“If you’re really troubled and scared, forget it, ah.” Su Chunfeng sighed lightly, his expression gentle. “I understand. You have a sense of justice, you can’t tolerate evil techniques harming people, so that’s why you performed Art Casting and set up an Arcane Array back then to drive away Yin Evil Energy and calm Dormitory Building No.1. But when facing this kind of thing now, feeling fear inside, being so timid about such a small matter, is only human. So, you’re not suited to be an Occultist.”

Qian Ming immediately widened his eyes, raised his head, and said, “No, I’ll listen to you!”

“That’s more like it.” Su Chunfeng smiled and said, “It’s not that I’m trying to provoke you. Think about it carefully; this really is just a small matter. Otherwise, why did the supernatural events stop after you set up that Arcane Array? It shows the other party was still afraid of you.”

“Right, right, right…” Qian Ming’s heart instantly swelled with pride.