Li Jue told Chu Liang a story.
The protagonist of the story was named Situ Yan, an ordinary girl, not particularly beautiful, but from a wealthy family and living a comfortable life.
This should be enough to have a happy and fulfilling life.
Unfortunately, two years ago, a major fire broke out in Situ Yan's house. Although she escaped with her life from the fire, half of her face was burned, leaving a permanent, disfiguring scar.
They were all classmates in the Gengzi class at Nanshan Academy. Since Situ Yan's disfigurement, her classmates were afraid of her appearance. Even though she would use a veil to cover her face, and thick hair to hide the left half of her face, it was still not completely concealable.
A few unruly classmates began to bully her constantly, trying to force her to leave Nanshan Academy.
Zhang Cong would loudly call her "ugly freak", Wu Shao'an would frequently throw paper wads at her, Chen Daming, knowing she was especially afraid of fire since the incident, would often scare her with burning hay, and Yan Xiaohu would demand five taels of silver from her every month.
Situ Yan thought about giving up, she didn't want to go back to the academy. It was Li Jue who encouraged her at this time.
Yes.
Her classmates either bullied her or dared not look at her, only Li Jue genuinely treated her well. The usually reserved Li Jue and the gradually withdrawn Situ Yan, after the burn incident, seemed to have a kind of mutual sympathy between them.
He would encourage Situ Yan to bravely come to the academy, help her with her missing lessons, and stand up for her against those bullies.
Although the result often made him the target of bullying too.
Before Situ Yan was burned, their relationship was casual, but after her burning, they became good friends.
Li Jue thought that by doing this, he could slowly help Situ Yan recover.
But he did not expect that one day, while they were reading books by the lake, he fell asleep unknowingly... When he woke up, he found himself tied up by Situ Yan!
Situ Yan tied Li Jue's hands, took out a small knife, and her eyes flashed with a frightening light.
She said she had fallen in love with Li Jue. As long as she could also scar Li Jue's face, turning him into a "monster" too, then they could be together forever.
Li Jue tried to dissuade her, but she seemed hysterical, completely ignoring his words, only wanting to make him into the same "ugly freak," "monster"...
Thanks to Li Jue's frantic struggle, he finally broke free before her little knife got close. He pushed Situ Yan away, called her a lunatic, and then ran away, never dared to look back at her again.
The next day, they heard that Situ Yan had thrown herself into the lake to commit suicide.
Li Jue was perplexed.
He didn't know if he was right or wrong, why, despite sincerely treating her well all this time, he got such a response, and if his calling her a lunatic was the final straw that broke her...
Seven days later, the bodies of Wu Shao'an and Zhang Cong were also found in the lake.
People at the academy speculated whether it was Situ Yan's vengeful spirit coming back for revenge, and Li Jue also felt that way.
It must be!
It must be her coming back, and all those who bullied her would receive retribution.
But he didn't know... if he would become the target of her revenge?
Li Jue is very scared.
...
When Chu Liang walked out of the room, he was feeling somewhat complicated. It was indeed a very heavy story, but cultivators still have their own responsibilities.
Lin Bei was waiting in the outer room, and when he saw Chu Liang come out, he asked, "How is it?"
"Since Zhang Cong and Wu Shao'an died, Chen Da has not been to the academy again, and has been hiding at home all this time... Yan Xiaohu, on the other hand, continues to do as he pleases, but he probably won't be able to go out for the next two days..."
"If Situ Yan turns into a vengeful spirit, he will probably appear by the lake in the back mountains of the academy..."
"I'll go there to check it out, you stay here and watch over Li Jue."
Chu Liang briefly explained the things he had asked Lin Bei, and then he prepared to go to the back mountain of the academy to investigate.
"Okay, leave it to me here," Lin Bei said. "Whether you are dealing with a vengeful spirit alone, be careful."
"Don't worry, Situ Yan didn't have much cultivation before, so even if he turns into a vengeful spirit, he won't be difficult to handle," Chu Liang replied.
The dazzling light of the sword made him choose the slightly slower but more unadorned winds' flight.
It should be nighttime and the city gates should be closed, but for cultivators, that's actually more convenient. During the day, flying around would disturb the people, but at night, you could simply take off.
When he arrived at the back mountain of the academy, the night was getting darker, and there was not a soul in sight. The shadows of the trees slanted, the wind whispered, and it seemed like there were many people hiding in the night.
It was a perfect night for ghosts to appear.
Chu Liang hid himself among the trees, not revealing his aura, afraid of alerting the enemy, and waited quietly for midnight.
But before long, he heard a rustling sound of wind.
Someone?
Chu Liang extended his spiritual senses and only detected a fleeting figure not far away.
It seemed to be the back of a woman.
Arriving quite early.
Carefully concealing his aura, Chu Liang swiftly approached with his sword in hand.
But when he arrived at the place where the woman's figure had just flashed by, there was no trace of her presence.
Hmm?
Even if it's a ghost, it can't just disappear for no reason...
There was also no trace of any ominous aura around.
Wondering, just as his foot landed, he heard a sharp sound from above.
Chi-
A streak of emerald-green silk descended from the sky, resembling a sword aura and also a violent energy!
"Who goes there?" Chu Liang raised his sword to meet the oncoming threat.
The clash of the energies resulted in a fierce wind, shattering the surrounding fallen leaves into pieces!
Only then did he see clearly that the weapon attacking him was not a long sword, but a jade ruler. The quality of the jade ruler was undoubtedly superior to his flying sword. In the exchange, their cultivation levels were quite similar, but his flying sword trembled.
Just one strike.
The person wielding the jade ruler somersaulted in mid-air and landed about thirty feet away.
Chu Liang did not pursue, as the person appeared to have a righteous and noble aura, evidently not a ghostly creature.
It turned out to be a tall and slender woman, dressed in black martial attire that accentuated her graceful figure, with a prominent chest. Her fair and delicate skin sparkled under the moonlight.
"Instructor Song?"
"Chu Liang?"
Both of them exclaimed in surprise.
As it turned out, the one who had just attacked them was none other than the instructor of the day, Song Qingyi.
However...
During the day, Song Qingyi's chest did not seem so large, but now it had dramatically increased in size overnight...truly strange.
After a brief moment of eye contact, they both asked in unison, "Are you also a practitioner?"
After a pause, they simultaneously said, "What are you doing here?"
Song Qingyi blushed, then put on a stern expression. "Don't mimic my speech!"
Chu Liang had no choice but to smile faintly and raised his hand in a gesture of invitation.
"I noticed something off about you earlier. Where are you from as a cultivator?" Song Qingyi asked.
"I am a disciple of the Shu Mountain Sect, and I came to the Southern Mountain Academy...actually, I was invited to protect a student in the academy," Chu Liang answered truthfully. "What about Instructor Song?"
"I come from the Gentlemen's Hall in Jiangnan," Song Qingyi said, "Strange occurrences have appeared in the Southern Mountain Academy, so we, the Confucianists, are here to resolve them. It's just that I was concerned about stirring up trouble, so I came in the guise of an instructor."
That explains it.
No wonder this instructor looked so young.
Chu Liang said, "This matter here should indeed not involve disciples of our Shu Mountain. However, I received a request and it is a matter of loyalty, so I just learned some news and came to check the back mountain lake. Since Instructor Song is here, he must already be aware of the situation with Situ Yan."
Song Qingyi nodded and said, "Yes, I've been guarding here at night for the past two days, but didn't see anything... until today, when I saw a suspicious figure, so I took action, hoping you won't mind…"
"No worries," Chu Liang shook his head slightly and continued, "Since our goal is to solve this mysterious case, should we share the information we have?"
He thought that as a figure in the academy, Song Qingyi might know some insider information that the student Li Jue might not know.
Song Qingyi also didn't object and nodded lightly, "What do you want to know?"
"I want to know..." Chu Liang curiously looked at Song Qingyi's chest and gestured with his hands, "Did you wear a chest binder before... why... the difference between day and night?"