Three alarm clocks failed to wake Ji Tong.

Grandma pushed her several times. “You’re going to be late.”

“Tong Tong, get up quickly.”

“Tong Tong?”

Ji Tong slept like a dead person. Grandma almost went to check her breathing when Ji Tong suddenly opened her eyes, looking at her vacantly.

Grandma’s heart jolted, and she tentatively said, “Tong Tong?”

Ji Tong made a sound of acknowledgment.

Grandma breathed a sigh of relief. “How did you sleep so deeply? You stayed up late again last night, didn’t you?”

Ji Tong glanced at the time. She was done for.

She got up in a panic, washed up quickly, didn’t even eat breakfast, and rushed out with her backpack. Grandma followed behind shouting, “Take breakfast to eat on the way! Being a little late is fine! You can’t skip meals!”

Ji Tong ran back, grabbed an egg from the table, and ran downstairs with clattering steps.

At the second-floor turn, she encountered a female ghost.

Their four eyes met, and both were startled.

Ji Tong had no mind to care whether she’d bumped into a person or a ghost. The new school’s morning inspections were too strict, and she didn’t want to be made to stand outside the school gate as punishment by the grade director.

During the day, yang energy was strong, and wandering souls mostly walked in shadowy places. As long as they weren’t terrifyingly ugly or deliberately trying to scare her, Ji Tong usually wasn’t afraid.

The bus was still three stops away, and Ji Tong couldn’t wait, so she ran all the way to school.

Students and teachers stood at the school gate checking appearances. Ji Tong glanced at the time—not only was she not late, she was seven minutes early.

She slowed her pace, caught her breath, and looked at the egg in her hand, which had been crushed to pieces from her grip. She couldn’t throw it away or eat it, so she simply wrapped it in a tissue and stuffed it into her backpack.

Trees were planted on both sides of the campus boulevard, and a male student in a Zhongshan suit sat on the flower bed under the trees.

Ji Tong knew he wasn’t human and calmly walked past. Only then did she ponder about seeing ghosts so early in the morning. The talisman was clearly on her body, so it seemed to have lost its effectiveness.

She’d been having bad luck lately—surely nothing else was about to happen?

Just as she was thinking this, a beautiful female ghost in flowery clothes darted to Ji Tong’s side, startling her into a shudder. After seeing clearly who the ghost was, she calmed down.

The female ghost circled around her, trying to attract her attention, but Ji Tong acted as if she couldn’t see her and walked her own path.

“Stop pretending. I know you can see me. You finally threw away that broken rope. I wanted to tell you before—that talisman is useless. I’m not afraid of it at all. Only the wooden bead on that rope was somewhat powerful.

I’ve been looking for you for so long. Why did you move?

Let me possess you one more time. I have something important to do.

Fair trade—what do you want?”

This little female ghost was someone Ji Tong had met over a year ago, called Da Hua, who had been stationed long-term at her former school.

Forty years ago, on her wedding day, her husband had ridden a bicycle to pick her up. The ground was icy, and both of them fell into a ditch. She died when she was not yet seventeen, and her coffin was under the school cafeteria. Her husband had long since reincarnated, but she hadn’t been scheduled yet and had remained a solitary ghost all these years.

“Oh please, I’m begging you.

You can also make a wish, and I’ll definitely help you fulfill it. Like before, one thing for another.

I know you’re angry. That old ghost who attached to you last time was too scary. I was afraid he’d swallow me alive—it’s not that I didn’t want to help you.

I promise! If you encounter this kind of thing again, I’ll never run away. I… I’ll call a group of friends to help you, okay?

Just for the sake of knowing each other for so long, help me one last time.”

She was as chatty as always.

Students were coming and going around them. If Ji Tong spoke to the air, others would surely think there was something wrong with her.

Ji Tong quickened her pace, leading Da Hua to a secluded spot to say a few words. “Stop following me. I’m going to be late.”

“Then promise me.”

“No, then other ghosts will all come looking for me too.”

“I’ll keep it secret!”

“That still won’t work.” The bell rang, and Ji Tong waved her hand, running toward the classroom. “Don’t follow me anymore. If you follow me again, I’ll find a Taoist priest to capture you.”

Da Hua wasn’t afraid of her threats. Ji Tong often said such things but never followed through. Da Hua knew she was kind-hearted and wouldn’t harm her.

Ji Tong took a shortcut to the teaching building.

Running too fast, she couldn’t stop in time and encountered several delinquent troublemakers gathered nearby, swearing loudly.

She couldn’t advance or retreat.

Three male students looked at her in unison but didn’t take it seriously. Hu Chongjing continued gripping a fat classmate’s hair, forcefully slapping his face while cursing, “Will you remember next time? Will you remember?”

She couldn’t afford to provoke them.

Seeing that they had no intention of bothering with her, Ji Tong lowered her head and tried to slip past from the side, but unexpectedly had her arm grabbed and was forcibly pulled back.

“Hey classmate, which class are you in?”

Hu Chongjing lifted her chin. Ji Tong stepped back and forcefully shook him off.

Hu Chongjing shook his hand and said with a playful smile, “How come I’ve never seen you before? What grade are you in? What’s your name?”

Ji Tong turned and ran.

“Why are you running! It’s not like I’m going to eat you.” Teasing voices came from behind, “I’ll wait for you at the school gate after school.”

Seeing them harass Ji Tong, Da Hua angrily stirred up a ghostly wind, swirling dust everywhere and blinding several people.

The boys cursed a few times, pushed and shoved the fat classmate they’d been bullying, and prepared to leave.

Da Hua tripped one of them, making Hu Chongjing fall and cry out in pain.

“Who the hell tripped me!”

…

The homeroom teacher was lecturing students when Ji Tong rushed into the classroom, drawing everyone’s attention.

She retreated to the doorway. “Reporting in.”

“Come in, be earlier next time.”

Ji Tong sat back in her seat with her head lowered, pulling out books from her backpack. Gan Ting whispered, “Rare to see you late.”

“Overslept.”

Da Hua followed her in, still not giving up, chattering beside her: “Help me, help me, help me. Just help me out.

One last time.

Really the last time.

Please, please, please.”

Ji Tong: “Stop being noisy!”

The homeroom teacher looked at her. “What?”

“…” Ji Tong wanted to find a crack to crawl into. “Nothing, teacher.”

Da Hua pouted, seeing her head lowered and even her ear tips red, her voice weakened: “Please.”

…

During math class, Da Hua sat on the podium for a while, hung from the window for a while, then followed the teacher back and forth.

Ji Tong pretended not to see her and listened to the lesson and did problems seriously.

“Alright, let’s look at this problem.”

Ji Tong looked up from her scratch paper but couldn’t see Da Hua anymore. She looked around in all directions—she’d really left.

“My Lord, you… what do you want with me?” Da Hua trembled with fear, not daring to look directly at He Feng. “I’ve been law-abiding and never done anything bad. Please investigate clearly, my Lord.”

“Then what are you doing here?”

“I… playing.”

“Playing?”

From this tone, Da Hua felt she was doomed. “Just wandering around… randomly wandered here.”

He Feng said nothing.

During these few seconds of silence, Da Hua had already gone through hundreds of punishments in her mind.

She knew of He Feng, who had just taken jurisdiction over this area a couple days ago. Regarding this new patrol envoy, the ghosts had been discussing him extensively, and through various accounts, she roughly understood his temperament and methods.

In short, when he was human, people feared him; when he became a ghost, all ghosts dreaded him.

“Who else is pestering her?”

Da Hua was stunned for a long while before understanding the meaning in his words, and hurriedly explained, “There’s no pestering, I just…”

He Feng looked at her coldly.

Da Hua admitted defeat and confessed truthfully, “We’re friends. Before, she would help us get some food and drinks, all small matters. I know of three or four others who occasionally look for her too. But we’ve never harmed her!” Da Hua raised her head, and from this angle she could just see that under the cloak, He Feng’s left eye was covered by a black eyepatch, while his other eye gazed down at her coolly. Da Hua quickly lowered her head again. “I’ve always done good deeds! Last year I even helped her avoid a car accident! Really!”

Seeing her constant trembling, He Feng’s tone became slightly gentler: “Continue.”

“At the beginning of this year, a very fierce ghost attached to her. We all didn’t dare get close and hid far away. Later she went to live in a nunnery for a while. After she came out, she moved here, and I… just followed here a few days ago.”

“Very fierce. What’s its name?”

“Not sure. I just know it’s a wild ghost from the Qing Dynasty who was never registered. Recently it seems to be in the south of the city. Not only does it harm people, it also bullies us law-abiding citizens.”

“Lead me there.”

Da Hua trembled violently. “I don’t dare.”

He Feng said nothing.

Da Hua quickly compared in her mind. Though the Qing Dynasty ghost was cruel, Patrol Envoy He seemed more ruthless. Moreover, he had a soul whip coiled around his waist.

So she obediently turned around, bowing as she led the way, “Please follow me.”

…

When they found the Qing Dynasty ghost, he was possessing an old lady, tormenting her into painful groaning.

Seeing He Feng, he hid deeper in the human body and dared not come out.

He Feng called to him twice, and seeing no response, he struck with the soul whip.

The soul whip was forged from the souls of one hundred thirty-seven fierce ghosts, extremely vicious, shaped like a human spine but thin and flexible, with adjustable length.

This whip’s taste was not something an ordinary ghost could endure. Unless it was an extremely vicious ghost or one difficult to subdue by hand, He Feng wouldn’t easily bring it out.

The Qing Dynasty ghost knew the power of this thing. Before the whip fell, he came out from the human body and fled in panic.

Before he could run out of sight, the soul whip wrapped around his neck and yanked him back, suspending him in mid-air.

Da Hua hid to the side, stealing glances, not daring to breathe.

He Feng stood with his hands behind his back, looking at him. “Underworld Law Article Three, Article Nine, Article Seventeen. Do you think that because ages have passed and the underworld is busy with affairs and has no time to attend to you, you can commit evil everywhere and ignore the law?”

The Qing Dynasty ghost groaned in pain, kicking his feet frantically.

Thinking of how he had once clung to Ji Tong this way, He Feng burned with rage, dark energy swirling around him. “If I destroy you, at most they’ll charge me with abuse of power.”

Just then, two underworld messengers passed by and greeted the patrol envoy when they saw him conducting business.

He Feng regained his composure, retracted the soul whip, and the Qing Dynasty ghost fell down, rolling left and right in pain.

He Feng handed this wretch to the two messengers. “Help me deliver him to Shiyi Dian.”

The messengers were heading to the Seventh Hall, and the journey to Shiyi Dian was quite far. If they refused, it would be awkward, but they were also afraid of angering Patrol Envoy He, so they could only agree, “Yes.”

One lash of the soul whip would be enough for that ghost to suffer for a while.

The messengers escorted the Qing Dynasty ghost away.

He Feng looked toward the hiding Da Hua and called her over to speak.

Having just witnessed the patrol envoy’s ghostly power, Da Hua crawled over trembling. “What other orders does my Lord have?”

“Stay away from her from now on. If I see you again, I’ll send you to Shiyi Dian’s blade-testing pool.”

“I won’t dare anymore! I promise to stay far away.”

He Feng knew this ghost’s nature wasn’t bad, so he spared her.

…

He Feng returned to the school and stood outside Ji Tong’s window, watching her from afar. If he didn’t want to manifest, even yin-yang eyes couldn’t see him.

Ji Tong listened attentively to the lecture, her pen scratching as she wrote.

He Feng stood from class time to break time, then from break time to class time again.

He discovered that even during breaks, Ji Tong rarely moved. She either lay on her desk sleeping or read books and did problems. When others spoke to her, she only answered perfunctorily with a word or two, always with a cold expression, rarely smiling. This point was quite similar to her previous life.

Today the temperature had dropped suddenly, and the classroom windows were wide open.

In September weather, ordinary people felt it refreshingly cool, but Ji Tong was physically weak and naturally afraid of cold, shivering enough to sneeze several times.

Afraid she would catch cold, He Feng summoned a fierce wind to close the doors and windows, but the female student by the window immediately pushed them open again. After several rounds of this, He Feng became somewhat annoyed and simply made the wind stop.

“Eh? Why did the wind suddenly stop?” The female student reached out her hand, feeling not a trace of breeze. She complained, “It was blowing so nicely. What strange weather.”

…

Ji Tong had a solitary personality and kept to herself. After being in this class for over half a month, she had only spoken to five or six classmates. She appeared quiet and honest, cool and indifferent. Though her appearance was good, her personality was quite uninteresting.

She didn’t provoke trouble, but trouble always came to provoke her.

That day during the long break, Gan Ting went upstairs to find her boyfriend, and Ji Tong lay on her desk sleeping. She was kicked awake—the one kicking her desk was a female classmate with a high ponytail and phoenix eyes, called Zhang Xinrui.

She wasn’t from their class, and Ji Tong didn’t recognize her or know her.

Ji Tong sat up straight, looking at the imposing figure blocking her way.

“So you’re Ji Tong.” Zhang Xinrui had brought two other female classmates for backup. She folded her arms and looked down at Ji Tong arrogantly. “You can’t judge a book by its cover—sure enough, the most honest-looking people are the sluttiest.”

Ji Tong didn’t understand, but the discomfort these words brought was stronger than her confusion.

Zhang Xinrui kicked her chair again. Ji Tong almost fell off, but her hand pressed against the desk in time and she stood up. She was somewhat afraid—these people didn’t look like good people at all.

Sometimes, humans are more terrifying than ghosts.

“Speak up! Are you mute?” Zhang Xinrui raised her voice.

Ji Tong asked, “How have I offended you?”

This light, casual question made the already irritable girl even more annoyed.

“Still pretending with me?” Zhang Xinrui picked up a book and hit the desk hard with it. “You use this harmless appearance to seduce boys, don’t you? What did Hu Chongjing say to you?”

Oh, it was him.

“He asked for my phone number. I didn’t give it to him.”

“Be more aware from now on.” Zhang Xinrui poked her shoulder. “Stay away from him, got it?”

“You should make him more aware.” As soon as she said it, Ji Tong regretted it. This statement undoubtedly added fuel to her anger.

Sure enough, Zhang Xinrui sneered and pointed to her own ear. “I didn’t hear clearly. Say it again.”

Ji Tong didn’t speak. Among so many classmates in the class, whether male or female, no one was willing to invite trouble by helping her.

Only the class monitor spoke up, “Talk nicely, don’t get physical.”

Zhang Xinrui picked up a book and threw it at the monitor. “Shut the fuck up. Did anyone ask you to speak?”

The monitor was helpless, knowing he couldn’t provoke this group of famous troublemakers in the school, so he quietly slipped away to find the homeroom teacher.

Seeing Ji Tong’s unperturbed expression, Zhang Xinrui became furious and was about to smash the book into her face when suddenly a large hand gripped her wrist, suspending it in mid-air.

“Oh, another hero to the rescue.” Zhang Xinrui looked at the male student behind her. “Who the fuck are you? Let go—”

Li Qu didn’t give her a chance to speak. He grabbed her neck and pressed her down on the desk. The impact was too great, scattering books all over the floor, and several female students around cried out in alarm.

He used real force in this move. Zhang Xinrui’s head was hit hard, and a numbing sensation spread throughout her upper body.

The two girls who came with her tried to pull Li Qu away, but he shoved them both aside. One fell to the ground, and the other hit her waist on a desk corner, her face turning pale with pain.

Ji Tong stared blankly at this furious male student.

Who was this? A classmate from the same class?

Li Qu wore glasses and had a scholarly appearance. At first glance he looked gentle and weak, yet his whole body emanated a fierce aura that didn’t match his appearance, his face wearing an expression as if he wanted to devour someone.

The windows were surrounded by students watching the excitement, their attention all focused on Li Qu. This usually well-behaved student who minded his own business had completely changed into a different person, shocking everyone.

People whispered, “Holy shit, is that Li Qu? What triggered him?”

“He even dares to hit Zhang Xinrui. So tough.”

“Must have studied himself crazy.”

Li Qu leaned down, approaching Zhang Xinrui’s face, his eyes frightening, his voice even more frightening.

Others were far away and might not hear clearly, but Ji Tong was only half a meter away, and every word of his was exceptionally distinct.

“I don’t want to hit women, but if you dare touch her, I’ll make sure you don’t have peace even as a ghost.”

Zhang Xinrui kicked at him, but Li Qu pressed harder, choking her until her face was distorted and her eyes turned red.

At this rate, he might actually strangle Zhang Xinrui to death.

Ji Tong grabbed his sleeve. Li Qu’s body immediately stiffened, and he turned his face toward Ji Tong, his eyes filled with complex emotions.

Afraid the situation would become more serious, Ji Tong tried to dissuade him, “Let go, stop fighting.”

Li Qu listened to her and released his grip.

Zhang Xinrui immediately turned to one side, clutching her neck and coughing violently.

Ji Tong bent down to pick up the scattered books, but Li Qu gripped her shoulders and lifted her up. He gazed at her with deep emotion, the light in his eyes swaying intensely, as if he might cry the next second.

What was wrong with this person?

She looked at him in confusion. “Are you… alright?”

“A—” The words didn’t come out and were forcibly swallowed. “I’m fine.”

Suddenly, Zhang Xinrui bared her teeth and raised a chair, smashing it fiercely toward them.

Li Qu turned to block it. With a thud, his body leaned forward, his glasses fell off, and his hands slipped from her shoulders to brace against the desk.

Another round of screams erupted around them.

Li Qu didn’t even furrow his brow, instead asking Ji Tong, “Are you hurt?”

Ji Tong supported him. “Your back.”

Everything around became blurry. Li Qu shook his head and rubbed his eyes, extremely uncomfortable.

Ji Tong picked up his glasses without saying anything.

Li Qu took the small thing, examined it, and put it on his face with unusual clumsiness. The world immediately became clear.

The class bell rang.

The students watching the show outside were reluctant to leave. The homeroom teacher hadn’t arrived yet, but the chemistry teacher came over with books first. Seeing a crowd gathered outside the classroom, he asked, “What are you all doing?”

“There was a fight,” some student said.

The chemistry teacher stood at the doorway, looking at the mess on the floor and several students from other classes. “What are you few doing?”

Zhang Xinrui was dragged away by her two accomplices through the back door.

“You three stop!” The chemistry teacher couldn’t stop those few and turned to look at Li Qu. “Which class are you from?”

Li Qu ignored him, picked up the books, straightened the desk, and said to Ji Tong, “Study well, don’t be afraid. I’m leaving now.”

Ji Tong remained confused.

Did she know him? Why did he speak in a tone like they were long-time friends?

She watched his retreating figure, feeling an inexplicable sadness in her heart.

The chemistry teacher stood at the door, blocking Li Qu’s path. “I’m asking you a question. What’s your name? Who’s your homeroom teacher?”

Li Qu suddenly looked at him and said expressionlessly, “Move aside.”

The chemistry teacher’s heart suddenly shuddered. He was actually intimidated by this young punk’s single glance?

Outrageous.

“I’m asking which class you’re from? What are you doing in our class?”

Li Qu pushed past his shoulder and walked straight out.

The chemistry teacher was dumbfounded. In all his years of teaching, he had never seen such an arrogant student!

By the time he reacted, Li Qu had already walked far away.

“Come back here!”

…