Night Encounter by the Lake

Li Jue told Chu Liang a story.

The protagonist of the story was named Situ Yan. She was an ordinary girl, not particularly beautiful, but her family was wealthy and her life was comfortable.

It was enough for her to live a happy and fulfilling life.

Unfortunately, two years ago, a big fire broke out in Situ Yan's home. Although she was rescued from the fire and survived, half of her face was burned, leaving an ugly scar that would never fade.

They were originally classmates in the Gengzi Class at Nanshan Academy. Since Situ Yan was disfigured, everyone was afraid of how she looked. Although she would cover her face with a veil... and wear thick hair to cover the left side of her face, it was still impossible to completely hide it.

A few mischievous bullies started to frequently torment her, trying to force her to leave Nanshan Academy.

Zhang Cong would shout "ugly monster" at her every day... Wu Shaoan often threw paper balls at her... Chen Da, knowing that she was particularly afraid of fire since that incident, often scared her with burning dry grass... Yan Xiaohu would demand five taels of silver from her every month...

Situ Yan thought about giving up; she didn't want to go to the academy anymore. At this time, it was Li Jue who encouraged her.

That's right.

The people at the academy either bullied her or didn't dare to look at her, only Li Jue was genuinely good to her. The usually taciturn Li Jue and the gradually withdrawn Situ Yan, who had been burned, seemed to have a kind of mutual understanding between kindred spirits.

He would encourage Situ Yan to bravely come to the academy, help her with her missed lessons, and stand up for her when those bullies picked on her...

Although the result was often that he also became a target of bullying.

Before Situ Yan was burned, their friendship was superficial, but after she was burned, they became good friends.

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

But he didn't expect that one day, when they were reading by the lake together, he fell asleep without realizing it... When he woke up, he found himself tied up by Situ Yan!

Situ Yan tied Li Jue's hands, took out a small knife, and her eyes gleamed with a terrifying light.

She said that she had fallen in love with Li Jue. As long as she also scarred Li Jue's face, making him a "monster" as well, then they could be together forever.

Li Jue tried to dissuade her, but she seemed hysterical, completely ignoring his words, only wanting to make him the same "ugly monster," the same "monster"...

Fortunately, Li Jue struggled frantically and finally broke free before her small knife got close. He pushed Situ Yan away, called her a lunatic, then turned and ran away, never daring to look back at her.

The next day, he heard the news that something had happened to Situ Yan by the lake.

Li Jue was confused.

He didn't know if he was right or wrong, why his genuine kindness towards her had resulted in such a return, and whether his calling her a lunatic was the final straw that broke her...

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

Everyone at the academy speculated whether it was Situ Yan's vengeful spirit returning for revenge, and Li Jue also thought so.

It must be!

She must have returned, and everyone who had bullied her would be retaliated against.

But he didn't know... would he become a target of her revenge?

Li Jue was very scared.

When Chu Liang walked out of the room, his mood was somewhat complex. This was indeed a very heavy story, but cultivators ultimately had their own responsibilities.

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

"Ever since Zhang Cong and Wu Shaoan died, Chen Da hasn't been back to the academy. He's been hiding at home... Yan Xiaohu is still doing his own thing, but he probably won't be able to go out for the next two days..."

"If Situ Yan turns into a vengeful spirit, she'll probably appear by the lake behind the academy..."

"I'll go check there. You stay here and watch Li Jue."

Chu Liang briefly explained what he had found out to Lin Bei, then prepared to go explore the area behind the academy.

"Alright, I'll take care of things here," Lin Bei said. "Be careful going after the vengeful spirit by yourself."

"Don't worry, Situ Yan had no cultivation when she was alive. Even if she turns into a vengeful spirit, she won't be hard to deal with," Chu Liang replied.

The sword light was too dazzling, so he chose the slightly slower but more discreet method of flying with the wind.

It should have been past curfew and the city sealed by now, but for cultivators, it was actually more convenient. During the day, flying around would require worrying about disturbing the common folk, but at night, you could just take off.

When he arrived at the area behind the academy, the night had deepened, and there wasn't a single soul around. Tree shadows stretched across the ground, and the wind howled, sounding as if many people were rustling in the darkness.

It was a perfect night for ghosts.

Chu Liang concealed himself in the bushes, not letting any of his aura leak out, afraid of startling the snake by beating the grass. He waited quietly for midnight.

But before long, he heard a whooshing sound of wind.

Someone?

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

It seemed to be the back of a woman.

She came quite early.

Chu Liang carefully restrained his aura, leaped forward, and held his sword ready.

But when he reached the spot where the woman's figure had just flashed, there was no trace of her to be seen.

Hmm?

Even a ghost couldn't just disappear without a reason...

There wasn't a hint of Yin energy around either.

While he was wondering, his feet had just landed when he heard a sound of something breaking through the air above his head.

Whoosh—

A streak of emerald green light descended from the sky, looking like a sword beam, yet also like a burst of vital energy!

"Who's there?" Chu Liang raised his hand and lifted his sword to meet it.

Clang! The energy beams clashed, and the strong wind stirred up, instantly shredding all the fallen leaves within a radius of several feet!

Only then did he see clearly that the weapon attacking him was not a long sword, but a jade ruler. The quality of the jade ruler was undoubtedly far superior to his flying sword. After the clash, although his cultivation was similar to the opponent's, his flying sword's body trembled.

With just one strike.

The person holding the jade ruler flipped in the air again and landed about ten feet away.

Chu Liang didn't pursue, because the person's true energy was vast and righteous, clearly not a ghost.

It turned out to be a tall woman, dressed in a black outfit that accentuated her graceful figure, with a particularly prominent chest. Her skin was fair and delicate, reflecting the moonlight.

"Instructor Song?"

"Chu Liang?"

Both of them exclaimed in surprise.

It turned out that the person who had suddenly attacked just now was none other than the female instructor from the daytime, Song Qingyi.

But...

During the day, Song Qingyi's chest didn't seem to be this large. It had grown so much in just half a night... it was truly strange.

After looking at each other for a moment, both of them asked in unison, "You're a cultivator too?"

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

Song Qingyi's face flushed, then she put on a stern expression. "Don't copy me!"

Chu Liang could only smile slightly, raising his hand in a gesture of "please."

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

"I am a disciple of the Mount Shu. I came to Nanshan Academy... actually, I was invited to protect a student in the academy," Chu Liang answered truthfully. "What about Instructor Song?"

"I am from the Gentleman Hall in Jiangnan..." Song Qingyi also said, "When strange cases appear in Nanshan Academy, it is naturally for us Confucianists to resolve them. However, I was worried about alerting the enemy, making it inconvenient to act... That's why I enrolled as an instructor."

So that was it.

No wonder this instructor was so young.

Chu Liang said, "It is true that this matter should not be interfered with by a Shu Mountain disciple, but having been entrusted with the task, I must be loyal to it. I just learned some information, which is why I came to the back mountain lake to investigate. Since Instructor Song is here, you must also be aware of the matter concerning Situ Yan."

Song Qingyi nodded and said, "Yes, I've been guarding here for the past two nights, but I haven't seen any movement... It wasn't until today that I saw a figure acting suspiciously, which is why I attacked you. I hope you don't mind..."

"It's fine." Chu Liang shook his head slightly and added, "Since our goal is to solve this strange case, shouldn't we share the information we've obtained?"

He thought that Song Qingyi, being someone from the academy, might know some inside information that even the student Li Jue didn't know.

Song Qingyi didn't object, nodding gently. "What do you want to know?"

"I want to know..." Chu Liang looked curiously at Song Qingyi's chest, gesturing with his hands, "Instructor Song, did you wear a chest binder before... How is it... that there's such a big difference between daytime and nighttime?"