Chapter 28: The Truth Will Out

The office door closed.

Seeing Su Chunfeng’s look of surprise, Wang Qimin said kindly, “Chunfeng, don’t be nervous, sit down.”

“Oh.” Su Chunfeng pretended to look nervous as he sat on the stool, only perching on half of it. He glanced suspiciously at the slovenly and disreputable-looking Gong Hu, perfectly mimicking the manner of a timid, honest student of his age. Tilting his handsome, fair-skinned face upward, he asked timidly, “Mr. Wang, what did you want to see me about?”

“This gentleman here has some questions he wants to ask you.” Wang Qimin smiled and looked toward Gong Hu.

Su Chunfeng wore a puzzled expression.

“Little brother… you are from Hetang Village, Guanmiao Township, right?” Gong Hu asked cheerfully through puffs of smoke, eyeing Su Chunfeng up and down with apparent satisfaction and approval.

“Yes.” Su Chunfeng nodded.

Gong Hu continued, “Your family and Liu Jinming’s family are neighbors, correct?”

“Mm-hmm.” Su Chunfeng’s face was full of astonishment. “How do you know that? I don’t know you…” At this moment, his inner tension skyrocketed — he and Gong Hu should have been complete strangers now. Why had Gong Hu suddenly come here to look for him? And how did he know his identity and home address?

It was too strange!

Thinking about the mysterious, powerful figures in the perilous Jianghu of Esoteric Arts, Su Chunfeng couldn’t help but shudder.

Gong Hu grinned, revealing some disgusting yellow teeth. He chuckled and glanced at Wang Qimin, then looked back at Su Chunfeng. “A few months ago, Old Madam Liu suddenly fell ill. You know about that, right?”

“I know.” Su Chunfeng’s expression showed surprise and confusion, but inside he grew even more tense — Could it be that Old Madam Liu learned that minor Folk Sorcery from Gong Hu? That didn’t seem right… Gong Hu was from Xishan County. Hetang Village was in Guanmiao Township, Jinzhou County, over two hundred miles away. Old Madam Liu was just an ordinary old woman. In all her years, she had probably never traveled farther than Pingyang City. How could she possibly know Gong Hu? Even if they did know each other, given Gong Hu’s character, he shouldn’t have taught such a minor Folk Sorcery to an old woman just over some trivial matter for her to harm another family.

It must be understood that even the smallest Folk Sorcery was still a form of teaching.

And among those in the Jianghu of Esoteric Arts, the passing down of these Esoteric Techniques was a very particular matter.

“So, do you know why she suddenly fell ill?” Gong Hu asked. The look in his eyes as he watched Su Chunfeng suddenly became much sharper.

“How should I know?” Su Chunfeng looked stunned. His expression showed no trace of anything unusual.

Gong Hu sucked on his tobacco pipe and chuckled. “That’s not right, is it? News of her sudden illness spread all around your village…”

“Oh.” Su Chunfeng seemed to have a sudden realization and looked somewhat awkwardly toward Wang Qimin as he scratched his head.

As a People’s Teacher, Wang Qimin felt a pang of guilt under the gaze of Su Chunfeng—his student who had shown the fastest improvement—looking to him for help while also seeming puzzled. It really wasn’t quite appropriate to call this kid to the office and have a strange, slovenly middle-aged man whose disreputable appearance practically screamed “scumbag, villain” ask questions that had absolutely nothing to do with a middle school student.

Thinking this, Wang Qimin said kindly, trying to reassure him, “Chunfeng, we’re just asking casually. Don’t be nervous.”

Su Chunfeng gave a silly smile, then took on a mysterious expression, whispering carefully, “Actually, now that you mention it, it’s pretty strange. The village rumor says that old woman originally wanted to use Folk Sorcery to harm my family, but the sorcery backfired and ended up hurting her badly. Her daughter-in-law even had a nervous fit once.”

“Do you believe it?” Wang Qimin suddenly spoke up.

“Maybe…” Su Chunfeng pursed his lips. “The old folks in the village say it’s better to believe it exists than to believe it doesn’t. Anyway, after hearing the village gossip, even though I didn’t really understand it, I thought it sounded pretty impressive.”

Gong Hu laughed. “But I heard that you knew about that kind of Folk Sorcery. You even went to Liu Jinming’s house yourself and tried to persuade them not to use it.”

“Yeah.” Su Chunfeng admitted without hesitation, nodding, then added with some indignation, “I had heard Teacher Cai Heping talk about this kind of feudal superstitious stuff before. So that day, when I saw an earthen jar placed on Liu Jinming’s roof with its opening pointed toward my house, I wasn’t happy about it, of course. It really bothered me. I went to their house wanting to talk it over with the family, but they unreasonably chased me out. Sigh.”

Gong Hu immediately frowned and looked at Wang Qimin. “Who is Cai Heping?”

“An ordinary teacher.” Wang Qimin showed a somewhat helpless smile and waved his hand.

Geography teacher Cai Heping was one of the most popular teachers in the whole school. In his forties, he had a childlike disposition and taught in a humorous and engaging way. Geography wasn’t a highly valued subject these days, so the well-read and widely knowledgeable Cai Heping, during his lessons, would often show off his extensive learning by rambling on about all sorts of random, unrelated topics with the students. After finishing, he probably didn’t even remember what he had said.

So Su Chunfeng claiming he heard about cursed Folk Sorcery from Cai Heping was quite believable.

But if they tried to go and verify it with Cai Heping…

That wasn’t very likely.

And besides, Cai Heping really was just an ordinary People’s Teacher, with no connection to any Occultist whatsoever.

Hearing Wang Qimin describe him as an “ordinary teacher,” Gong Hu, though still having doubts, understood that Cai Heping was definitely not some hidden Occultist from the jianghu. And this minor Folk Sorcery involving an earthen jar to cast a curse did indeed have some circulation among the common folk, so there wasn’t much room for suspicion.

Thinking this, Gong Hu frowned. His expression turned serious as he looked at Su Chunfeng. “You, or anyone in your family, do you know any Occultists?”

“Huh?” Su Chunfeng looked confused.

“That is…” Gong Hu chose his words carefully. “Spirit mediums, charlatans, or what some call yin-yang masters, fortune tellers, or, for example, Great Masters who can catch ghosts or cast spells?”

Su Chunfeng immediately nodded. “There are several in our village! Liu Jinming’s mother can perform rituals. She can even invite Chairman Mao’s spirit to possess her. She’s really powerful!”

Gong Hu and Wang Qimin were both amused and exasperated. They felt talking about such topics with a kid like Su Chunfeng was like playing the lute for a cow.

But they were also quite helpless.

The conversation had reached this point. Su Chunfeng had not revealed the slightest flaw. In the eyes of Gong Hu and Wang Qimin, he clearly was just an ordinary teenager.

Gong Hu couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed. After hearing about the incident with Old Madam Liu from an unworthy disciple, he had specifically traveled over two hundred miles from Xishan County to Hetang Village, Guanmiao Township, Jinzhou County to look into it. After conducting some private investigation and questioning, he was basically certain—Old Madam Liu suffered a severe backlash from a powerful surge of malignant energy triggered by that minor earthen jar curse Folk Sorcery. There was definitely an Occultist behind the scenes. After careful analysis, Gong Hu had come to Dongwangzhuang Township Middle School, found Wang Qimin, whom he had known for many years, and had the suspect Su Chunfeng called in for questioning.

Wang Qimin had been keeping an eye on Su Chunfeng for a long time. Furthermore, there had been abnormal magnetic field fluctuations at the school this year. Su Chunfeng had inexplicably frightened a classmate. And a notorious madwoman in Dongwangzhuang Village had had the evil entity possessing her expelled by a mysterious person using Art Casting… All of these had made Wang Qimin pay extra attention.

After hearing about the incident from Gong Hu, he too couldn’t help but become suspicious and somewhat worried, which was why he had called Su Chunfeng in for questioning.

He never expected this to be the result.

Although he still had many doubts, Gong Hu knew further questioning would be useless. It was better to investigate on his own. He knocked his pipe bowl hard a few times against the leg of the stool he was sitting on, stood up, and said, “Mr. Wang, congratulations on finding a good disciple. The foundational potential really is excellent. I’ll be going now.”

“Mm. Remember not to spread this matter around.” Wang Qimin sighed softly.

“I know.” Gong Hu grinned and said, “However, I already reminded you earlier. The matter in Hetang Village is not simple. It’s possible this little brother here was already noticed by interested parties, who then secretly stepped in to help him. Mr. Wang, such excellent foundational potential… Even I felt tempted to snatch this disciple from you. You should seize the time and not lose him.” As he said this, he walked slowly toward the door, adding softly, “Besides, how long can you keep hiding it? Cheng the Blind said, contemporary heroes are emerging frequently, the jianghu is beginning to appear. Within ten years, great turmoil will arise…”

Wang Qimin said with a low expression, “That has nothing to do with me.”

“Deceiving yourself.” Gong Hu let out a loud laugh, pulled the door open, went out, and didn’t forget to close it behind him.

The dimly lit office grew quiet.

Su Chunfeng wore a look of confusion mixed with a little pleasant surprise, as if he had received praise yet found it hard to believe and felt excited—the kind of praise that felt so mysterious.

Wang Qimin sat dejectedly at his desk, looking up out the window, silent, as if burdened by heavy thoughts.

It was near dusk.

The school campus was quiet.

A row of trees in front of the office, their withered leaves long gone, swayed slightly in the cold wind, appearing quite bleak. Occasionally, a couple of students would pass by the edge of the basketball court, chatting and laughing softly…

“Mr. Wang, who was that man?” Su Chunfeng pretended he couldn’t help but ask quietly.

Wang Qimin snapped out of his thoughts and smiled gently. “Just a friend of mine. Don’t mind him.”

“Why was he asking me those things?” Su Chunfeng looked puzzled, then a bit excited and eager, narrowing his eyes as he asked, “And what did you mean, talking about taking on a disciple?”

Wang Qimin paused. His expression became serious and solemn. He said earnestly, “Chunfeng, actually, from the day you arrived at this school, I had already begun observing and paying attention to you.”

“Oh?” Su Chunfeng looked surprised.

Wang Qimin slowly stood up, putting his hands behind his back to assume a look of a lofty master. He said calmly, “Your foundational bones are peculiar, your talent extraordinary. In the future, you will definitely not be someone ordinary… It’s just that, in the mundane world, you are like a pearl covered in dust, unnoticed by others. Now, I have peerless Esoteric Techniques I can teach you. Do you want to learn?”

Hearing this, Su Chunfeng nearly laughed out loud—because he was a reincarnated soul. Wang Qimin’s words, so mysterious and enticing, dripping with strong jianghu style, were extremely similar to the classic jokes that would become popular on the streets over a decade later. But in this current era, young teenage kids were exactly the age group obsessed with martial arts TV dramas and novels. Hearing words like these, they would absolutely find them utterly relatable, believe them one hundred percent, get extremely excited, and feel incredibly fortunate…

Wasn’t this just the rhythm of becoming a legendary martial arts master!