"Hehe, I'm taking my sister back, and I'll drop by her place for a visit while I'm at it. Our teacher took leave, so I can rest for another day." Shuhang deliberately emphasized the word "sister."
He had to make the relationship between himself and Soft Feather clear.
Otherwise, once this bunch of big mouths spread the news, the entire department would think by tomorrow that Song Shuhang had gotten himself a girlfriend with a figure even more Tyrant-like than a model's.
If that happened, Song Shuhang's innocence would be completely ruined. Trying to get a girlfriend at university and end his virginity would become even more difficult.
Besides, he did have a little revenge in mind for Soft Feather calling him "Senior." He was an eighteen-year-old boy, yet a girl kept calling him "Senior" this and "Senior" that. Good grief!
"Ah, so she's your older sister, Shuhang." The eyes of the boys from his dormitory lit up, and the same thought welled up in their minds—Shuhang, shall we be friends?
If they could take the word "friends" one step further and become Shuhang's brothers-in-law, that would be even better!
"We'll be off first. See you later!" Shuhang laughed heartily. Without giving these fellows a chance to cozy up to him, he waved and left with a carefree flourish.
Soft Feather smiled and waved at the boys before quickly following Song Shuhang out of the men's dormitory.
"I can't believe Shuhang has such a beautiful older sister. I've decided—from tomorrow onward, Shuhang is my brother. I'll have his back," someone said with a laugh.
"What you really want is to become Shuhang's brother-in-law, right?" another person snickered.
"Be careful that you don't fail to become Shuhang's brother-in-law and end up becoming his little brother instead. Remember, your family has a beautiful older sister too."
"Tsk, if Shuhang would introduce his sister to me, I'd sell my own sister to him right away. I could even throw in a buy-one-get-one-free deal!"
The group chatted and laughed as they returned to the dormitory.
After all, being stunning was one thing, but which modern person hadn't been baptized by the internet's countless beauties? Who would still be so pure as to fall in love at first sight?
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Tickets would be checked at three-thirty, and the train would depart at four.
Soft Feather had the window seat, with Song Shuhang sitting beside her.
To be honest, when he had just boarded the train with Soft Feather, Shuhang suddenly thought of several urban novels he had read recently.
In those stories, whenever the male lead went out with a beautiful female lead, whether they were driving a luxury car, taking the subway, riding a bus, or even cycling, some powerful and arrogant villain extra would always take a fancy to the female lead's beauty and come over to provoke them.
The male lead, naturally possessing extraordinary skills, would show off spectacularly and ruthlessly trample the villain extra. The villain would be beaten into the shape of a pile of shit and bear a grudge. Daring not to target the protagonist openly, he would resort to all kinds of underhanded tricks in secret.
And then came all sorts of grudges, resentments, love, and hatred.
Shuhang knew he wasn't destined to be a male lead, but Soft Feather's beauty was probably no less than that of the female leads in those urban novels. So Song Shuhang wondered whether some impressive man would come over to get close to the beauty and then provoke him in all sorts of ways.
When that happened... should he beat the other man to death to nip the trouble in the bud? Or would beating him half to death be enough?
Unfortunately, novels were novels after all. In real life, arrogant and brainless villain extras might exist, but they were far too rare. They were as scarce as giant pandas, so running into one wasn't easy.
During the long two-hour journey, no one came over to provoke Shuhang, and no one tried to cozy up to Soft Feather either.
This left Shuhang feeling a little disappointed...
Half an hour after departure, Soft Feather woke up groggily. She fell asleep as soon as she leaned back in her seat. Before long, her body tilted, and her head rested on Shuhang's shoulder.
Song Shuhang could only relax his shoulder as much as possible so the girl could sleep more comfortably.
The two-hour train ride passed in the blink of an eye.
"Ding ding ding~~ Dear passengers, the train has arrived at Black Elephant Station. Please take your luggage and valuables with you. Please exit through the doors on the right side in the direction of travel. When getting off, please mind the gap between the train and the platform."
"We've arrived." Song Shuhang gently patted Soft Feather.
Soft Feather opened her eyes groggily. As she rubbed them, a transparent string of drool hung from the corner of her mouth. "Is it morning already?"
He had been struck by her cuteness. He had actually been struck by the cuteness of this older-sister-type woman who looked somewhat older than him.
"The train has arrived at the station. Let's get off quickly." Song Shuhang took her hand, picked up the heavy suitcase, and hurried out of the train carriage.
Only after the train roared away did Soft Feather truly wake up.
"Senior, what time is it?"
"It's 6:07 p.m. We're already at Black Elephant Station in J City. Once we leave, we'll take a taxi straight to Luoxin District, then find somewhere to stay for now," Song Shuhang replied.
"Okay, I'll follow Senior's arrangements." Soft Feather nodded... This was what she liked most! Someone arranged all the food, drink, lodging, and travel along the way, while she only had to follow them to the destination. She didn't even have to use her brain. That feeling was true happiness.
There was a dedicated taxi passage inside Black Elephant Station, where many taxis waited for passengers.
"Little brother, where are you headed?" A taxi stopped beside Song Shuhang and Soft Feather.
"Luoxin District." Song Shuhang opened the front passenger door and answered.
"Luoxin District in J City!" Soft Feather added. The girl had been traumatized by the Luoxin District in the Jiangnan Region.
The taxi driver froze, then laughed. "Hehe, young lady, you're quite interesting."
Soft Feather realized she had made a fool of herself and flushed bright red again.
Luoxin District in J City was very close to Black Elephant Station. It took little more than ten minutes by car.
After getting out, the two followed the directions on the navigation and found a hotel in Luoxin District to stay at temporarily. Since they weren't husband and wife, ordering a single room at the hotel was out of the question.
Even if Song Shuhang wanted to and Soft Feather didn't object, the hotel owner still wouldn't agree! These days, inspections were too strict. If something went wrong, the hotel would bear joint responsibility too.
After dinner, while it was still early, the two prepared to stroll around Luoxin District and search for Ghost Lantern Temple.
Soft Feather had to put the large suitcase in their room first. Shuhang had nothing to organize, so after putting away the room card, he waited at the front desk.
There weren't many guests today, and the girl in charge of reception wasn't busy.
Song Shuhang took the opportunity to ask, "Hello. May I ask whether there's a place called Ghost Lantern Temple here in Luoxin District?"
The receptionist thought for a long while before shaking her head. "I'm sorry, sir. There are quite a few temples in Luoxin District, but I've never heard of Ghost Lantern Temple."
A temple with such an unusual name would be impossible for her not to know about if it existed.
"Are there any temples with a similar pronunciation? Perhaps it isn't necessarily called Ghost Lantern Temple. It could be Ghost Ascension Temple, Locust Lantern Temple, or Return Stool Temple. Any of those are possible." Shuhang continued asking.
With the internet so advanced nowadays, a temple for which they couldn't find even the slightest clue might well have a homophonic name.
The receptionist thought very responsibly for a long time, then shook her head apologetically again. "I'm sorry, I'm afraid I can't help you. Perhaps it was a temple from long ago. If you really want to find it, you could try asking the elderly people in Luoxin District."
"Thank you." Shuhang nodded.
As they spoke, Soft Feather emerged from the room.
"Where are we going next?" she asked.
"Let's stroll around at random. More importantly, let's see if we can find some elderly people gathered together chatting and ask whether they know anything."
The two chatted as they left the hotel.
Just after Song Shuhang and Soft Feather left the hotel, a woman in the hotel's front hall pulled out her phone with a solemn expression. "Altar Master, I saw someone at the Luoxin Splendor Hotel asking about Ghost Lantern Temple. A man and a woman, both appearing to be around twenty."
"So they've finally come..." A cold voice sounded from the other end of the call. "How strong are they?"
"The woman looks very powerful. Although the man appears to be an ordinary person, she has always treated him with great respect and privately addressed him as Senior," the woman replied.
"How powerful?" The voice remained steady and cold.
"This subordinate can't see through her at all. I can only sense that she's very strong."
"I understand. Continue tracking their positions, but don't let them discover you. I'll arrange an opportunity to test their depths. Also, tell the members at the other surveillance points to stay alert. The people searching for Ghost Lantern Temple may not be limited to those two."
"Yes." The woman put away her phone, hurried out of the hotel, and followed in the direction Song Shuhang and Soft Feather had left.
Before you continue