"Qin Ze..." Lin Youwei thought for a moment, then shook her head. "No, I've already accepted a D+ solo mission. I don't have time."
Her tone was rather cold, leaving Yang Chan little room to say anything more.
After all, apart from not coming from an established family, Lin Youwei was one of the leading figures among Jiangbei City's younger generation in terms of strength alone. She had no need to tag along with a team; she could handle D+ incidents herself.
Jiang Chen had two classes that morning. After class, he had just finished lunch when their counselor, Sun Zhibing, notified everyone in the department group chat that it was time to gather at the square and wait for the bus.
When Jiang Chen arrived, he was surprised to find Li Jie there too. The guy went out early and came back late every day chasing girls, and skipping class was routine for him. Seeing him was a rare treat.
"Well, well, even the great Young Master Li showed up. Hoping to score a free stay at the Resort Manor?" he teased.
"Pah!" Li Jie bristled with fury, then suddenly rolled his eyes. "It's only because I'm worried someone will murder you out in the middle of nowhere, you ungrateful son. Your father's coming to protect you."
"I could take ten of you," Jiang Chen said, exasperated.
"Heh." Li Jie sidled over and winked. "This is why you deserve to be single, Jiang Chen. A vacation, a get-together, the great outdoors, and all these girls from our department-what an opportunity! Look. This is all my hunting ground for romantic conquests."
He swept a hand out with outrageous swagger, looking very much as though he were saying, "Behold the empire I conquered for you."
The thing was, most of the girls he pointed at weren't angry at all. Instead, they smiled demurely in their direction, and some even waved to greet Li Jie.
Once nearly everyone had gathered, a luxury car approached from the distance. The driver opened the door, and Zheng Shaoming stepped out, drawing every girl's gaze toward him.
"Uncle Liu, sorry for the trouble, but please drive the car back. I'll take the bus with everyone," Zheng Shaoming said. The driver then drove away.
His approachable manner prompted several girls to squeal in admiration.
"That's Young Master Zheng for you. He's so polite!"
"...Are you serious?" someone couldn't help asking.
"What the hell do you know? Young Master Zheng might usually be domineering, but he's still this polite to his household staff. That just proves how well brought up he is. Sweet or fierce, he's exactly my type!"
"Exactly. Young Master Zheng has to run the Student Union. How could he manage without being strict? This is his true character."
"I'm not pursuing Young Master Zheng, but to be fair, we're about to visit the Resort Manor sponsored by his father. Have a little decency and don't bad-mouth him!"
"Exactly! Some people happily take the handouts, then turn around and bite the hand that feeds them..."
"..."
One male student's "Are you serious?" had immediately earned him a verbal onslaught from a crowd of girls.
Even watching from a distance, Jiang Chen's mouth twitched.
He figured he could try hiring a group of female students to unleash a torrent of abuse at ghosts next time. Maybe he could harvest a huge amount of ghost qi.
The bus soon arrived, and everyone climbed aboard.
The sun blazed outside, but the bus was air-conditioned, and the atmosphere was lively. The students chattered away, all eagerly anticipating their two-and-a-half-day vacation.
After all, this Mountain Villa belonged to Zheng. They had heard it was extremely luxurious, with a single night costing an astronomical sum. Even the students from relatively wealthy families had rarely visited anywhere of this caliber.
Li Jie sidled up beside a pretty girl and flirted with her, making her giggle over and over.
Jiang Chen sat in the back row, with Zhao Erhu beside him like a wooden post, his arms folded, apparently indifferent to everything.
Jiang Chen, meanwhile, glanced a few times at Zheng Shaoming in the front row, an odd look in his eyes.
Compared with two days earlier, the handprint on Zheng Shaoming's back had faded somewhat.
That was highly unusual. If left untreated, resentment generally grew stronger and stronger until it killed its living victim outright!
Does Zheng Shaoming have an expert backing him, someone helping him dispel the curse a ghost left on him? This possibility occurred to Jiang Chen, but it raised another question.
If he's cursed, why go on vacation?
Couldn't he wait until the curse was dealt with?
Something's wrong, but I'm already here. I'll soon find out what's really going on. Jiang Chen stopped dwelling on it and closed his eyes to rest, conserving his energy.
Over two hours later, the bus left the urban area. Flowers bloomed along the roadside, wild grasses filled the air with fragrance, and the constant cries of cicadas gave everything a distinctly summery feel.
The bus drove for nearly another three hours, then passed through a tunnel. Ahead lay a refurbished stretch of road lined with ornamental trees, and an enormous Resort Manor was already visible in the distance.
Traditional wooden buildings combined with thoroughly modern glass roofs and gray-white stone walls, giving the place the air of an aristocratic estate.
The students, exhausted by the long ride and almost asleep, all sat up excitedly at the sight, looking around and taking photos.
The bus stopped in the parking lot at the end of the road. Zheng had built this road specifically for the Mountain Villa. A mountain rose behind it, shielding it from the fierce summer sun, and the parking area stood near an artificial lake.
As soon as everyone stepped off the bus, they could feel cool breezes blowing from all around. The oppressive heat outside was gone; it was as comfortable as being somewhere air-conditioned.
"This is so fancy! So this is what a real summer resort looks like."
"Exactly. They use the terrain, trees, and lake to create natural shade and cooling. They really know how to enjoy themselves."
"Just what kind of life does Zheng Shaoming's family lead...?"
"If I could marry into the Zheng Family, I'd live in comfort for the rest of my life."
The girls all cast glances his way.
Zheng Shaoming smiled reservedly without saying anything.
Whether he was simply happy to be on vacation or there was some other reason, his usual arrogance and overbearing manner were gone. He even took the initiative to introduce the place to everyone.
"Digging this lake alone cost over fifty million. You can swim in it, and the Mountain Villa has goggles and swimsuits. Feel free to give it a try."
Once Zheng Shaoming finished speaking, the Mountain Villa employees who had been waiting up ahead called out loudly under the lead of a middle-aged man.
"On behalf of all the staff at Zheng Group's Serene Summer Resort, we warmly welcome Young Master Zheng and all his classmates!"
"Hehe, thank you, thank you." Sun Zhibing's face was wreathed in smiles as he led the applause in response.
Clap, clap, clap.
Everyone obligingly joined in, clapping as they excitedly surveyed their surroundings.
"I'm the manager here. You can call me Steward Zhang or Uncle Zhang. Please follow me. We'll get your luggage settled in your rooms first. Dinner is being prepared as well."
The middle-aged man walked over, first smiling and nodding at Zheng Shaoming before turning to the students.
Led by Steward Zhang, the group followed the path along the artificial lake, crossed a wooden arch bridge, and reached a lakeside building on the Mountain Villa's left side. The architecture here was traditional and elegant, with buildings made entirely of wood. Several of the best rooms stood right beside the lake.
Everywhere had been cleaned until it was spotless, and sophisticated-smelling incense was burning.
All the students were excited, clamoring for lakeside rooms. Several girls even went straight to Zheng Shaoming and coyly told him they wanted rooms with lake views.
Among the crowd, Jiang Chen had a strange look in his eyes.
He had noticed a problem: the buildings were too clean, especially on the side facing the water. A little moss there would have been perfectly normal, and would even have added to the scenery.
Yet the exteriors of these buildings had all been wiped spotless, and their paintwork looked practically brand-new.
"No, the paint actually is new. Is this incense covering up the smell of fresh paint? Why repaint the side facing the lake? Did something happen here? Did something crawl out of the water?"
Jiang Chen murmured to himself as several different possibilities sprang to mind.
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