Come to Wangsheng Funeral Parlor!

(Brain storage)

"He's alone. What are you afraid of?"

The tall one spat, then attacked alongside the burly man.

Lin Yiyi looked around, making sure everyone else had left and there was no one nearby to see them. His gaze turned cold.

The tall guy threw the first punch. Lin Yiyi casually batted aside the completely harmless blow. Wing Chun emphasized deflecting and striking in one flow. After neutralizing the incoming force, he immediately drove his other fist into the man's face.

The man cried out in pain and stiffened from the blow. Lin Yiyi released him, lowered his body to dodge another hook from the burly student beside him, then returned the favor with a hook of his own.

Unable to withstand such tremendous force, that student also collapsed to the ground and could not get back up for a while.

Fortunately, Lin Yiyi had held back somewhat. The guy looked solidly built, so he should not have been seriously hurt. The youth turned to the last student.

The last student wore glasses and looked even frailer. Seeing that he had no intention of fighting, and confirming that the tall student no longer dared to make a move, Lin Yiyi looked toward the girls.

"Interesting. I kindly helped you, and you repay me by putting on a farmer-and-the-snake act?"

The three girls trembled. One of them still stubbornly argued, "Wasn't it you who lied to us first?"

Lin Yiyi sneered. "I helped you out of kindness, and you refuse to appreciate it?" Then he looked at the unfamiliar girl. "You're the victim?"

The girl was frightened and only dared to nod.

"You stepped on someone's spirit money, didn't you? Ever since you came back, you've had constant headaches, no strength in your body, and unexplained nausea and dry heaving?"

The girl suddenly froze. Her head was indeed still aching, and immediately afterward, she dry-heaved for no apparent reason.

Lin Yiyi asked again, "Where's my talisman?"

The remaining two girls looked at each other. One of them answered awkwardly, "We burned it..."

Lin Yiyi did not know what to say. He could only ask the victim first, "Where did you step on it? Take us there."

The three girls did not know what to do for the moment. Then the bespectacled male student, who had barely made his presence known until now, stepped forward.

"There's no other way at this point." He looked at the victimized girl. "Chen Yue, why don't we go with this gentleman? Better to believe it than not."

Lin Yiyi glanced at him without saying much. He was the only sensible one here.

"Chen Yue, why don't we go with him?" a girl beside her urged.

There was not much change in Chen Yue's expression. That made sense—no one would readily believe a stranger who told them they were about to encounter a ghost.

But this youth did not even know her. How could he have described her symptoms so accurately?

After thinking deeply, Chen Yue gritted her teeth. The place where it happened was not far from her home, and if things got bad, she could always turn and run.

Hu Tao watched the group from the side. Even with all her quirky little tricks, she did not know what to say at the moment.

By then, the two beaten students had finally recovered somewhat. But they could neither win a fight nor dare to curse at him, so they could only stand there like two deflated balloons.

After some discussion, they finally compromised and decided to follow Lin Yiyi to resolve the matter.

Then the bespectacled guy said, "Sir, we offended you earlier. Please forgive us."

It was worth noting that among ordinary people, those involved in mysticism were often called yin-yang masters, commonly shortened to "sir."

After the two boys forced themselves to apologize, the three remaining girls followed along.

"What are you two girls going for? She alone is enough."

"? Why?"

"You aren't planning anything improper with her, are you?"

The two girls were immediately displeased upon hearing that, and the other three boys also looked somewhat unhappy.

Lin Yiyi's expression did not change. "The three men can go. Men belong to yang, women belong to yin. If you two go too, you'll be more likely to attract unclean things."

The two girls immediately looked embarrassed. They had overthought it and nearly misunderstood his good intentions.

After saying goodbye to Chen Yue, the two got onto a tricycle and left.

The whole misunderstanding had taken less than three minutes. One minute of cursing, one minute of fighting, and the remaining minute had just passed.

As they walked, Chen Yue introduced Lin Yiyi and Hu Tao to the boys.

The tall one was called Yang Shenglong, while the solid-looking one was Luo Ren. Both were track-and-field students.

The bespectacled guy was quite outgoing. He introduced himself, and Lin Yiyi learned that his name was Zhou Cai. Unlike the first two, he was the studious type.

Because of the earlier awkwardness, no one chatted much. They simply followed Chen Yue at a slow pace.

Even though it was nearly ten o'clock, there were still pedestrians on the streets, most of them students. For them, nighttime was when they could finally relax.

"Hmm—this scene calls for a poem!"

Perhaps because she sensed the awkward atmosphere, the voice of that dark alley doggerel poet reached everyone's ears, breaking the silence.

Lin Yiyi looked at her. "Oh? Does the Director have some inspiration?"

The quirky girl grinned.

"Fine street, fine view, fine moonlight bright, making my stomach rumble with hunger tonight!"

"..."

Everyone became even more awkward.

"Ahahaha, good poem, good poem," Lin Yiyi still humored her.

Hu Tao was neither angry nor annoyed. "Such lovely scenery, such a lovely moon, just like a Mora Cake."

"Fellow traveler, once this is over, how about we get something to eat?"

Lin Yiyi smiled and shook his head. "Sure. Let's get hotpot afterward."

The group then continued along in awkward silence.

After a while, Zhou Cai walked up to Lin Yiyi and asked, "Sir, the martial art you used earlier—was that the Wing Chun used by Ip Man in the movies?"

Lin Yiyi nodded. "Mm. As an inheritor of traditional culture, I understand traditional martial arts better than Western boxing."

"Then which do you think is superior, Western martial arts or traditional martial arts?"

How could anyone ask such a stupid question?

Without even thinking, Lin Yiyi answered, "Each has its own strengths and weaknesses. I won't boast about how powerful traditional martial arts are, but neither will I belittle Western boxing, combat sports, and the like."

"There are no invincible styles of boxing or martial arts, only people who have not mastered them."

Zhou Cai smiled sheepishly. "You're far too humble. So many martial artists nowadays are restless and arrogant, looking down on everyone else."

"Being able to meet someone like you is our good fortune."

As one of the only two girls, Chen Yue finally gathered the courage to approach Hu Tao. "Big sister, are you cosplaying?"

Lin Yiyi had told her to treat herself as someone cosplaying a character. But if she wanted to say she was the real person, that was fine too.

Because she was the real person. Who could portray herself more faithfully than herself?

Hu Tao looked at her with her bright plum-blossom eyes. "Mm, what is it? Do you know this Director?"

Chen Yue was still a little shy. "You're Hu Tao from Genshin Impact, right? But I don't play it."

"Looks like this Director is quite famous. Even people who don't know me recognize me."

"Since we're fated to meet, come to Wangsheng Funeral Parlor sometime. How about I introduce you to our services?"

"..."

Chen Yue would never dare play Genshin Impact again in her life.