A Night Encounter by the Lake

Li Jue told Chu Liang a story.

The protagonist was named Situ Yan, an ordinary girl. She could not be called beautiful, but her family was well-off, and she had lived in comfort.

She should have been able to live out a happy and fulfilled life.

Unfortunately, two years ago, a fire broke out in Situ Yan's home. Though she escaped with her life after being rescued from the blaze, half her face had been burned away, leaving ugly scars that would never fade.

They had originally been classmates in Nanshan Academy's Gengzi Class. After Situ Yan was disfigured, everyone was frightened by her appearance. Though she covered her face with a veil... and let her thick hair hide the left half of her face, it could never be fully concealed.

A few unruly bullies began tormenting her frequently, hoping to force her out of Nanshan Academy.

Zhang Cong would loudly call her an ugly freak every day... Wu Shaoan often threw paper balls at her... Chen Da knew she had been especially afraid of fire ever since that incident, yet often frightened her with burning dry grass... Yan Xiaohu demanded five taels of silver from her every month...

Situ Yan had considered giving up. She no longer wanted to attend the academy. At that time, it was Li Jue who encouraged her.

That was right.

Everyone at the academy either bullied her or did not dare look at her. Only Li Jue treated her sincerely. The normally taciturn Li Jue and Situ Yan, who had gradually withdrawn into herself after her burns, seemed to share the mutual appreciation of kindred souls.

He encouraged Situ Yan to bravely come to the academy, helped her catch up on the lessons she had missed, and stood up to speak for her whenever those bullies harassed her...

Though the result was often that he became their target as well.

Before Situ Yan was burned, they had only been casual acquaintances. Afterward, they became good friends.

Li Jue had thought that by doing this, he could slowly help Situ Yan recover.

But he had not expected that one day, while they were reading together by the lake, he would unknowingly fall asleep... When he woke, he found that Situ Yan had tied him up!

Situ Yan bound Li Jue's hands and drew out a small knife. A frightening light flashed in her eyes.

She said she had already fallen in love with Li Jue. As long as she slashed up his face too and turned him into a "monster" as well, they could be together forever.

Li Jue tried to dissuade her, but she seemed hysterical and paid no heed to his words. She only wanted to turn him into the same kind of "ugly freak," the same kind of "monster"...

Luckily, Li Jue struggled madly and finally broke free before her knife could reach him. He shoved Situ Yan away, cursed her as a lunatic, then turned and fled, never daring to look back at her again.

The next day, he heard that Situ Yan had met with an accident by the lake.

Li Jue was lost.

He did not know whether he had been right or wrong. Why had his sincere kindness toward her all this time earned him such a return? Had that single word—lunatic—been the final straw that broke her back...

Seven days later, the bodies of Wu Shaoan and Zhang Cong were found in the lake as well.

Everyone at the academy guessed that Situ Yan's resentful soul had returned for revenge. Li Jue thought so too.

It had to be!

She had to have come back. Everyone who had bullied her would be repaid.

But he did not know... would he become one of her targets for revenge?

Li Jue was terrified.

When Chu Liang walked out of the room, his feelings were somewhat complicated. It truly was a heavy story, but cultivators ultimately had their own duties.

Lin Bei was waiting outside. Seeing him emerge, he asked, "How did it go?"

"Since Zhang Cong and Wu Shaoan died, Chen Da has not gone to the academy again. He has been hiding at home alone... Yan Xiaohu, on the other hand, has continued doing as he pleased, but he probably will not be able to leave home these next couple of days either..."

"If Situ Yan became a Vengeful Spirit, she would probably still appear by the lake behind the academy..."

"I'll go take a look there. You stay here and keep an eye on Li Jue."

Chu Liang roughly recounted to Lin Bei what he had learned, then prepared to investigate the lake behind the academy.

"Alright, leave this place to me." Lin Bei said, "You should still be careful facing a vengeful soul alone."

"Don't worry. Situ Yan had no cultivation in life. Even if she became a Vengeful Spirit, she would not be difficult to deal with," Chu Liang replied.

Sword-flight was too conspicuous, so he chose the slower but more unadorned method of riding the wind.

The city should have already been sealed after nightfall, but that actually made things easier for cultivators. During the day, they had to worry about alarming the common folk while flying around. At night, they could simply take off.

By the time he reached the lake behind the academy, night had deepened, and there was not a soul in sight. Tree shadows lay slanting across the ground, the wind wailed mournfully, and it seemed as though countless people were rustling and whispering within the darkness.

It was quite a fitting night for ghosts to stir.

Chu Liang concealed himself among the trees, hiding his aura for fear of alerting the enemy, and waited quietly for midnight.

But before long, he heard a gust of wind sweep past.

Someone?

Chu Liang extended his divine sense and caught only a fleeting silhouette not far away.

It seemed to be the back of a woman.

She had come early.

Chu Liang carefully restrained his aura, darted forward through the air, sword in hand.

But when he reached the spot where the woman's figure had flashed past, not a trace remained.

Hm?

Even a ghost could not vanish for no reason at all...

And there was not the slightest trace of yin energy nearby.

Just as he was wondering about it, his feet had barely touched the ground when he heard something split the air overhead.

Sssht—

A streak of emerald green descended from the sky, seeming like sword radiance yet also like astral force!

"Who goes there?" Chu Liang raised his sword to meet it.

Clang! Radiance collided, and a fierce gale erupted, shredding every fallen leaf within several yards!

Only then did he see clearly that the weapon attacking him was not a sword, but a jade ruler. The jade ruler was undoubtedly of far higher quality than his flying sword. Though their cultivation levels were nearly equal, his sword blade trembled violently upon impact.

Just one strike.

The person wielding the jade ruler then flipped through the air and landed more than a zhang away.

Chu Liang did not pursue, because this person's true qi was vast, upright, and proper. She clearly could not be a ghostly entity.

She turned out to be a tall woman. Her black, fitted outfit made her graceful figure even more striking, and her chest was exceptionally ample. Her fair, jade-smooth skin reflected the moonlight.

"Instructor Song?"

"Chu Liang?"

Both cried out in surprise.

The person who had suddenly attacked him was none other than Song Qingyi, the female instructor from earlier that day.

But...

Song Qingyi's chest had not seemed so grand in scale during the day. Yet in only half a night, it had grown so much... truly strange.

After staring at each other for a moment, they spoke in unison once more: "You're a cultivator too?"

After a pause, they again said at the same time, "What are you doing here?"

Song Qingyi's face reddened, then she put on a stern expression. "Don't copy the way I talk!"

Chu Liang could only smile faintly, raising a hand in a gesture of invitation.

"I thought there was something off about you earlier. Where are you a cultivator from?" Song Qingyi asked.

"I am a disciple of the Shushan Sect. I came to Nanshan Academy... actually, I was invited to protect one of the academy's students," Chu Liang answered truthfully. "What about you, Instructor Song?"

"I am from the Jiangnan Hall of Gentlemen..." Song Qingyi said as well. "A strange case has appeared at Nanshan Academy, so naturally it should be resolved by us Confucian cultivators. But I was worried about startling the snake in the grass, and acting openly was inconvenient... so I entered the academy under the identity of an instructor."

So that was it.

No wonder this instructor was so young.

Chu Liang said, "This matter truly should not have involved me, a Shushan disciple. But having accepted someone's trust, I must fulfill their task. I only just learned some information, which is why I came to inspect the lake behind the academy. Since Instructor Song is here, I presume you already know about Situ Yan as well."

Song Qingyi nodded. "Yes. I have kept watch here every night these past two days, but there has been no movement... Until today, when I saw a suspicious figure sneaking about. That is why I attacked you. I hope you will not take offense..."

"It is nothing." Chu Liang shook his head slightly, then said, "Since we both seek to solve this strange case, could we share the information we have gathered?"

What he was thinking was that Song Qingyi, as someone from the academy's side, might know certain hidden details that even Li Jue, a student, did not know.

Song Qingyi did not object and nodded lightly. "What do you want to know?"

"I want to know..." Chu Liang curiously looked at Song Qingyi's chest and gestured with both hands. "Instructor Song, were you wearing a chest binder earlier... How is it... that there is such a difference between daytime and nighttime?"