Chapter 28: Jin Zhu, the Beloved

Standing motionless, Zhou Changcai pondered deeply. Glancing at the fog that had swallowed Wu Aguai, he took two steps back, turned for a quick look behind him, then hurried back to the dormitory.

The dormitory was empty.

He rushed off to the library.

With so many students in the three-story library, how long would it take him to find the right ones one by one?

Hardening his resolve, he stood at the doorway and loudly called out their names.

Startled, the students all turned to look at him.

Some of the more irritable ones scolded him directly. “Speak no impropriety!”

A surge of spiritual power wrote a talisman across the library’s entrance, abruptly cutting off his loud voice.

“Was he calling for us?” Lu He asked in surprise.

“It’s Brother Zhou,” Cheng Yan confirmed.

The two hastily packed up their things.

Zhou Changcai opened his mouth wide, trying his best to shout, but it was as if he had lost his voice—he couldn’t make a sound.

In his panic, he stumbled forward, intent on barging into the library.

But once again, a voice sounded: “Enter not without cause.”

Another pale talisman layered itself atop the first, and Zhou Changcai crashed into the spell and fell aside. He couldn’t enter, nor could he speak. With a whimper, tears streamed down his face.

He truly had no idea what to do. Any indifference he’d once felt toward those with magical powers vanished, replaced by deep awe.

“Brother Zhou!” Lu He hurried over to help him up.

Cheng Yan turned to the library, folded his hands and bowed. “Brother, please show mercy.”

“Let it be,” came a clear male voice, cool and indifferent.

The talisman’s patterns faded.

Zhou Changcai, still unable to speak, let out a loud cry—then quickly covered his mouth, terrified that another senior within the library would slap him with a new spell.

He couldn’t speak, but he also couldn’t keep silent. In a strained, high-pitched whisper, he said, “Something’s happened!”

Cheng Yan’s first reaction was to glance at the old cat sprawled atop his book basket.

The black cat flicked its thick tail, narrowed its golden eyes, and continued to lick its fur—seemingly indifferent.

Physical habits are hard to break.

“Let’s talk as we walk.”

“Yes, yes!”

Three men, a cat, and a mouse set off together.

……

Cheng Yan frowned deeply. “So you’re saying Brother Wu went to the mural hall behind the Zen temple?”

“Oh no, we only spoke of opportunities, not of dangers. That mural houses a nest of mountain spirits and old ghosts—they eat people at the slightest provocation.”

Lu He recalled the scene from that day, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

If it hadn’t been for Fairy Fanlou guiding them out later, he and Cheng Yan might have perished in that tavern.

And Master Sanshan, like the Elder with the Purple Beard, should have already left—the current situation inside was unclear.

“What are we going to do?” Zhou Changcai’s soul felt as if it were fleeing his body.

“Meow.”

The cat still looked as calm as ever.

Cheng Yan and Lu He exchanged glances, and immediately felt somewhat reassured.

But there was no time to lose. The three humans and their two unusual companions hurried toward the monastery at the back of the mountain.

A journey that normally took the time it takes an incense stick to burn was completed in an instant.

When they reached the great hall, they saw a crack had split open the massive mural at its center.

“Maybe we should tell the Headmaster,” Zhou Changcai suggested, unwilling to enter himself. For all his wild ways, he was in fact a coward. Wu Aguai was the brave one—he’d even dared to seduce the old man’s concubine. Zhou Changcai at most would play one or two big pranks, only to be met with his father’s slipper upon returning home. The last time he’d gone too far, he’d been sent to the academy as punishment.

“Reporting to the Headmaster would take too long,” Cheng Yan added. “I don’t think the danger is too great.”

“Here’s what we’ll do: you and Brother Lu stand guard at the door. I’ll go in and look for Brother Wu. If I’m not out in half an hour, go alert the Headmaster.”

With his book basket on his back, Cheng Yan took the lead, trusting in his martial skills to handle most situations.

Besides, Uncle Cat was sitting right atop the embroidered pouch on the book basket.

“I’ll go in with you,” Lu He declared, stepping forward.

“I—I’ll…” Zhou Changcai stammered for a while but couldn’t manage a complete sentence.

Suddenly—

A surge of mist billowed from the crack.

Cheng Yan drew his treasured sword from his waist.

Before their astonished eyes, a figure stepped through the mist and out of the fissure.

“Brother Cheng? Brother Lu?” the newcomer asked in surprise. “What are you all doing here?”

“Wu Aguai!” Zhou Changcai shouted. “Are you a man or a ghost?”

“Of course I’m a man,” replied Wu Aguai, who had just emerged. His chest and back bulged with mysterious bundles. Before anyone could react, the mist instantly vanished, the mural collapsed with a crash, and there was no sign of any hidden passage—only a ruined wall remained.

Cheng Yan kept his sword drawn. “You’re unharmed?”

“How could anything have happened? Didn’t you all say there was a chance for fortune inside?”

“I didn’t see any sages, but I did run into a man wearing a bamboo hat.”

Wu Aguai quickly checked his pocket.

He opened it and dazzling light spilled out—gems and jade packed it full, making him look like a pregnant woman.

Wu Aguai boasted, “I didn’t gain any magical powers, but hey, I got my fortune!”

“Well, Brother Zhou, are you regretting not coming with me?”

“If you’d come with me, you’d have gotten lucky too.”

As he spoke, Wu Aguai glanced back at the collapsed mural and sighed, “But it’s all gone now.”

“Are those real jewels?” someone asked.

“Real!”

Everyone wore different expressions. Only Lu He, surprised, then thoughtful, asked, “Did the man in the bamboo hat tell you to exchange these gems for silver, saying he’d come for them later?”

Wu Aguai was stunned. “How did you know?”

Lu He’s tone suddenly shifted. “Before we came to the academy, someone died in the county.”

“We all heard about it.”

“When we arrived at the county office, the magistrate was in the middle of a trial.”

Wu Aguai asked, “What does that have to do with anything?”

Lu He replied with conviction, “That man was killed by a demon.”

“A demon?” Cheng Yan was shocked.

“Yes.” Lu He turned to look at Cheng Yan, then fixed his gaze on Wu Aguai’s sack of jewels. “I was fishing on the Xunyang River with Old Chai’er when we ran into a demon. It didn’t harm us, but gave us some pearls instead, asking us to exchange them for silver. We could even keep a share for ourselves.”

“That explains it!” Zhou Changcai finally understood—no wonder Lu He, so poor, was able to donate enough silver to enroll at the academy. There couldn’t be that many lucky breaks—what kind of fortune would allow someone to get pearls worth hundreds of taels of silver all at once?

Wu Aguai hastily threw his gems to the ground, trembling. “What should I do? I don’t want to die!”

Cheng Yan, sensing the crux of the matter, said, “As long as you keep your promise and exchange the jewels for silver as instructed, you should be safe.”

“At the trial, it was said the fisherman spent several days carousing at the Drunken Tower. When he left, he ran into the demon—likely after he’d spent all the silver he’d gotten for the jewels.”

“Brother Cheng is right,” Lu He nodded. “With my living example, as long as Wu Aguai follows suit, there should be no danger to his life.”

Wu Aguai hurried to gather up the jewels again.

“What does a demon want with silver?”

“Who knows?”

“Best just exchange as much as possible for silver.”

“With the mural passage gone, the demon may not dare enter the academy—the teachers here are all formidable.”

“Don’t risk it. My life’s on the line,” Wu Aguai insisted.

The group debated loudly, voices overlapping.

The black cat, Lu Xun, shifted to a more comfortable position.

His literacy and martial arts were advancing well—he could now recognize almost all commonly used characters.

But the four million still eluded him.

“Peach Blossom Village”

“Sage Monk, Living Buddha?”

“There must be treasures valuable enough, surely.”