Chapter 2: The Mysterious Affairs of the Academy

  On the way to Jiang Paozi's school, I gave him a call. When Jiang Paozi heard that I and Fēngzi were already on our way, his voice became excited and changed tone. I also heard him say to someone beside him over the phone: "The savior has arrived! My master is rushing over!"

  Next to it was a relaxed cheer, after hanging up the phone I secretly wondered, but the madman said: "Younger brother, do you really want to introduce that old god stick over?"

  I sighed helplessly: "No way, who made me work under him now? Besides, I've been making extra money during this time, so let's just split it. Originally, I wanted to settle it privately and be done with it, but didn't expect to alarm the school authorities. However, according to what Jiang said, the school has secretly found a Taoist priest to take a look, so let's see how things develop before saying anything."

  The madman collected his smile and said, "I'm not saying it's about the money. I just feel that this matter is not so simple. Jiang Pangzi said that in school, one died and one went crazy. If it were really just a death and a madness, either the family of the student who had an accident has a very strong background, or the school is still hiding some things. If it's just an ordinary student having an accident, which school doesn't have any?

  Our university used to have a big road in front of the east gate, didn't at least two students die there every year? Then the principal had no choice but to find a Taoist priest and built a Bao Ma Zhen Dong Men (Precious Horse Guarding the East Gate) there.

  If it were that simple, there would be no need to gamble with the school's reputation. Think about it, if you invite a Taoist priest, it's clear that the school is haunted, so how can you recruit students in the future?

  "So because of this move towards the principal, I still think this matter is a bit troublesome. That old man coming might not be a good thing. If something else happens to him, it will be hard to handle."

  According to the madman's analysis, I was also startled. Having stayed in the mountains for a long time, many things that were complicated and confusing didn't seem so clear-cut. Now hearing the madman say this, I actually think it's indeed the case. Even the principal of Jiamusi Art Academy knew to try not to make a big deal out of it. If it was just one death and one madness, why would they go to such great lengths to invite the Taoist priest to the school?

  It seems I still thought things were simpler than they are.

  With the crazy guy's warning, my attitude towards things also started to become more serious. Soon, after a bumpy ride, we arrived at Jiang Paozi's school. We got off the car and saw that this place was indeed very remote, and I immediately saw the tower that Jiang Paozi had mentioned before, which was built by a high-ranking official to suppress evil spirits because of the area's evil geomancy.

  Jiang Paozi's plump figure was standing under a tree, his right hand fanning non-stop, his round face covered in sweat beads, and his large T-shirt already soaked with sweat.

  Standing with him were Liang Yuhao and another girl I didn't know.

  The girl had a high ponytail, with bangs that fell to her eyebrows, and wore a white T-shirt with a large red heart on it. She looked okay, but her eyes were painted like a ghost's, and her expression was anxious and impatient.

  As soon as I got off the car, Jiang Pangzi, with his plump body shaking with each step, came to me and shouted: "Master, ah, Master! I've been waiting for you day and night, and finally, I've managed to wait for your arrival!"

  Liang Yuhao also came over, shyly nodding at me. I was just about to ask what was going on when the unfamiliar non-mainstream girl suddenly jumped over and shouted in a shrill voice: "I x, dead fatty, this little guy is your so-called master?"

  Jiang Paozi nodded proudly and pointed at me, saying: "My master is absolutely a superior person..."

  Before I could finish speaking, the non-mainstream girl directly went "Pfft" and gave me a disdainful glance, saying in a dissatisfied tone: "Are you kidding me? I thought your master was really old. This kid is obviously about our age, why don't you just die?"

  I furrowed my brow, are all girls like this nowadays? One word "die", one sentence "I x!"

  The madman took two steps forward, saying: "Little fatty, whose girl is this who lacks discipline? What's going on? Is she your new mare? Tsk tsk, still needs training!"

  As soon as I saw the madman show up, I immediately wanted to laugh. This madman has always followed the principle of "presenting facts, talking reason, and playing hooligan!" In fact, he is essentially a hooligan himself, with his own philosophy of being a hooligan in dealing with people. Dealing with this kind of person, giving him absolute power is definitely the most effective way.

  The non-mainstream girl rolled her eyes and snorted: "Who the hell are you? Who is this lady who needs to report to you?"

  The madman waved his hand repeatedly: "No need, no need, lady, you have many wrinkles on your face, and it's not easy to cover them up with makeup. Don't get angry with me."

  I saw the crazy guy and that girl chatting, so I used my eyes to ask the fat guy. The fat guy wiped his sweat and said in a low voice: "Master, you don't know, this girl is indeed a rich lady, her dad donated over 10 million yuan to our school every year, a whole teaching building! Look, that newly built one over there was built with her father's money."

  I frowned and said: "I'm not talking about that, whether her family has money or not has nothing to do with me. Who is she? What did she come here for?"

  "Alas, don't mention it. Something's happened at school again! It's inconvenient to talk about on the phone."

  "What's wrong?" I asked hurriedly. Jiang Pangzi said with a start, "It's a big deal, a huge one! Let's go and talk while we walk. The farmhouse has been booked, it has air conditioning inside, this weather is too hot."

  I looked at him going on and on without getting to the point, so I asked Liang Yuhao beside me: "Yuhao, you tell me."

  Liáng Yǔhào was stunned for a moment, then began to tell me about what had happened.

  It turned out that this non-mainstream girl was named Huo Wenwen, and she had a boyfriend in school named Wang Dong. This Wang Dong was also in the same dormitory as Jiang Paozi, often playing cards together, and their relationship was not bad. Wang Dong's temper was good, but his mind was very active. Few people could tolerate Huo Wenwen's temper, but Wang Dong didn't care, pursuing her passionately, and Huo Wenwen agreed to him.

  Huò Huò likes stimulation, the school used to have an old teaching building, that building was built in the mid-1990s, it is said that when the school was first established, the building was already there, it used to be a factory dormitory. When the school was first established, it didn't have money, so classes were always held in that building. It's the school's earliest teaching building.

  Later, it was said that the broken building affected the school's image, so the building was completely abandoned and had been abandoned for many years. In addition, the school as a whole shifted to the west, making the broken building seem like it was outside the school, desolate and uninhabited, with weeds growing thickly. Usually no one goes there. There are also rumors that the place is haunted by ghosts. At night, you can see dark shadows, and hear women's crying voices.

  Huò Wēngwēng didn't know which nerve was wrong, but she insisted on making an appointment with Wang Dong to go to that haunted place for adventure on her birthday. She said the more thrilling and romantic it is, the better. Wang Dong had no choice, so he decided to go there a day in advance to check out the environment. At that time, he also dragged Jiang Pàngzi along. However, Jiang Pàngzi was still scared half to death from encountering ghosts while playing cards before, so how could he dare to go?

  After Jiang Pangzi shirked, Wang Dong found another classmate Wei Zi, and the two went to explore the terrain. Who would have thought that they disappeared after going there? It was only later that Huo Niu Niu ran over to say so.

  The next day, Wang Dong didn't attend class. Jiang Pangzi thought he had a date with Huo Mengmeng and didn't think much of it. With brotherly affection, he even helped him answer the roll call by saying "present"! However, after class, Huo Mengmeng came to look for him and scolded Wang Dong, calling him shameless and giving him a good scolding.

  However, Jiang Pangzi did understand that Wang Dong didn't go on a date with Huo Mengmeng. The two of them usually exchanged text messages until late at night, but that evening Wang Dong unexpectedly didn't accompany her, and when she called him, it was "unreachable". This made Huo Mengmeng, the young lady, so angry that she wanted to sleep. But no matter what, she couldn't fall asleep. At 2 am, she persisted in calling Wang Dong again, but this time someone picked up as soon as the phone rang.

  She heard the man's moans, and at that time the mobile phone signal was poor, with a constant buzzing sound, as well as a woman's voice, which couldn't be determined whether it was laughter or crying, but in any case it was very strange. There were also intermittent whispers, like lovers' murmurs, accompanied by the background buzzing interference, and she couldn't hear clearly. Huo Mengmeng was furious at that time, thinking that Wang Dong had gone to bed with another woman.

  Huò Huàihuā and Wáng Dōng hadn't slept together, but she wasn't stupid either. Plus, since they couldn't get through on the phone, it was only natural to think of that aspect. After scolding him, she grabbed Pàngzi's ear and asked if he knew where Wáng Dōng had gone? Had there been any girls recently who were close to him?

  Jiang Pangzi's heart skipped a beat, and he told the whole thing to Huo Mengmeng. He said that Wang Dong didn't have any other women, and he hadn't returned to the dormitory either. Jiang Pangzi also spilled the beans about Wang Dong wanting to go to the old teaching building ahead of time to check out the location. Huo Mengmeng was half-believing and half-doubting, but after Jiang Pangzi guaranteed it three times and pulled in Liang Yuhao as a witness, she finally believed him.

  So the three of them went to find Wei Zi, but they found out that Wei Zi didn't go to class either. This made several people afraid, and Jiang Pang Zi was also afraid to tell the teacher because he had helped Wang Dong take roll call earlier. They just hoped that these two people would come back soon after playing somewhere. But it's already been two days and they still haven't returned. No matter how hard they looked for me, they couldn't find me, and they were anxious enough.

  Huò Wēngwēng also became anxious, and Jiāng Pàngzi said he had a master who was a high-ranking person. He told Huò Wēngwēng to find me, saying that if it's really a ghost, she wants to see it for herself. She also said that if I can really solve the problem, she'll give me a generous thank-you fee and an introduction fee to Jiāng Pàngzi.

  Jiang Paozi said a lot of things, calling him "Shifu" and "Gao Ren", but didn't mention my age. It was only then that Huo Mengmeng mistakenly thought I was quite old, which led to the scene earlier.

  After hearing the whole story, I felt that something was not quite right. Hurriedly asked Jiang Paozi: "You said Wang Dong disappeared in the teaching building, then after he disappeared, didn't you go to check during the day?" The mountain bag on the outskirts of the school, Zhenxie Tower

  "Hey, my dear Master, how dare I go check? None of us dare to go. That building is old and dark all day and night, it's eerie. We're waiting for you to come and rescue us, aren't we? Otherwise, Master, bring your gear and let's...go take a look inside that building?"