Teacher Xu looked at Li Xiu and smiled, with a hint of understanding.
"Are you scared?"
He asked.
"Teacher Xu..."
Li Xiu didn't know why, but after exchanging a few words with Teacher Xu, his mind suddenly cleared up and became clear. It was then that Li Xiu suddenly realized that he seemed to have been a little confused.
Indeed, if he hadn't been dizzy, he wouldn't have followed Fang Qian'an so foolishly. He clearly felt something was wrong in the villa, and when he heard the strange footsteps, he still chased after them like a fool.
"That's the effect those things are supposed to have. Otherwise, why do they always say that when someone is frightened, they're 'terrified to death'? The more afraid you are, the more vulnerable you are to damage. So, students should study hard. Only when the mind is calm can the soul be stable. When the soul is stable, it won't be bothered by trivial matters. Young people, it's best to believe in science and study hard. Books contain righteousness, and I see that you are a good student, so don't be afraid, it's okay."
Teacher Xu was talking softly, and while speaking, he stretched out his hand and tapped Li Xiu's forehead.
Li Xiu suddenly shuddered, and actually felt that his shoulders and back felt much lighter - as if he had suddenly taken off some invisible heavy burden.
"Thank you, Teacher Xu."
Li Xiu looked at Teacher Xu in surprise. After a moment of stunned silence, he couldn't help but say.
Teacher Xu just smiled and said nothing.
The man was still concentrating on observing Li Xiu's eyes. Seeing that the other person's eyes became bright again, he turned his head slightly and looked at Fang Qianan.
"Come."
He waved at Fang Qianan.
"What's this for?"
Fang Qianan asked vigilantly.
"Hey, you little brat, don't be so ungrateful—"
Seeing that Fang Qianan still dared to refuse to cooperate, a young man behind Teacher Xu couldn't help but speak.
However, Teacher Xu spoke before he finished speaking and carefully explained to Fang Qianan.
"It's nothing. I'm just checking your condition. Just think of me as a Chinese medicine doctor taking your pulse."
"But--"
Seeing that Fang Qianan still looked unwilling to move forward, Li Xiu couldn't help but stretched out her finger and secretly poked Fang Qianan hard on the back.
[Don't make trouble! ]
By the way, he also gave him a glare.
After being poked by Li Xiu, Fang Qianan, such a big man, staggered for a moment. Then he looked at Li Xiu, and then reluctantly stepped forward, allowing Teacher Xu to press gently on his head.
Seeing the gloom on Fang Qianan's face suddenly dissipate with his finger movements, the imperceptible solemnity in Teacher Xu's eyes gradually faded away.
"alright."
Teacher Xu clapped his hands and laughed.
"From now on, don't pay attention to these weird things. Study hard and get into a good university. That's better than anything else."
The man who had been acting like a master just a few minutes ago, now spoke like a boring relative from someone's family, and all he said was full of ignorant and clichéd remarks.
"Yes, Teacher Xu is right!" The vice principal quickly agreed. "You two are going to take the college entrance exams too. Study hard from now on and stop engaging in these dangerous... these unnecessary feudal superstitions. For once, I'll pretend I didn't see you two here. But if I catch students skipping school and hanging out at the villa again, don't blame me for making a fuss."
It was obvious that the vice-president was also very wary of what happened in the Xiao family villa and did not even dare to pursue it further.
Li Xiu and Fang Qianan escaped the disaster in a daze. Before they could ask any more questions, they were hurriedly driven away from the Xiao family haunted house by the group of people.
They didn't want Li Xiu and Fang Qianan to know what they were going to do next.
In fact, Li Xiu didn't want to know at all - just like Teacher Xu said, what he should really do is study and take the college entrance examination, instead of being inexplicably scared to death by ghosts in a haunted house.
Before they were about to leave, Teacher Xu suddenly called them again.
"Wait a minute, this is for you... just in case."
Teacher Xu rummaged through the inside pocket of his suit for a while, and finally took out two red ropes that were faintly warm from his body temperature. He handed one to Fang Qianan and one to Li Xiu.
"When you get home, tie it around your waist and don't take it off, even when you're showering. Wear it for at least, uh, for forty-nine days."
Teacher Xu said with a smile.
After saying that, his gaze lingered on Li Xiu's face for a moment.
"Li Xiu, right..." Teacher Xu's voice seemed to sound a little more serious than before.
Li Xiu involuntarily tensed up her nerves and looked at the man, but after a brief silence, all she heard was Teacher Xu's solemn warning.
"You must study hard."
Li Xiu nodded in confusion.
"I will."
He promised.
*
"That little kid, shouldn't we remind his parents..."
After a moment, the backs of the two young men gradually disappeared behind the lush shade of the wild woods.
Teacher Xu's apprentice stood beside him, staring at the direction where Li Xiu left. He couldn't help but mutter.
"Shhh."
Teacher Xu made a gesture to stop his apprentice from continuing.
Different from the gentle breeze and drizzle in front of Li Xiu, the man at this time had a serious expression and looked unusually majestic.
"That child has a strong Wenquxing (literary star) in his physique, so even with that kind of constitution, he doesn't need to go down that path." Teacher Xu said each word seriously, "When it comes to a child's future, the more uncertain things are, the more we should not talk about them, lest we actually commit to them."
The young apprentice shuddered at Teacher Xu's stern gaze, and couldn't help but shrink his neck, not daring to say anything more.
The others also heard what Teacher Xu said and fell silent. However, it could be seen from their expressions that even though they were studying together with Teacher Xu, they all had different thoughts.
Only the vice-principal stood among them, looking at this and that, his face full of confusion, completely unaware of what these people were talking about.
He had been in Qiming for so long, but he only vaguely knew that there were indeed some things in the Xiao family villa that could not be explained by common sense and science - and the school would hire people to carry out some special treatment every few years.
In fact, the time has not come yet this year. However, in just a few days, a lot of things happened at once, including the school's English teacher committing suicide and students dying mysteriously in villas. The person above the vice-principal seemed to be very scared. He made many phone calls and begged for help during this period. Finally, today, the person named "Teacher Xu" came.
The vice-principal could vaguely feel that Teacher Xu's status seemed to be different from those who usually came to the school.
It was precisely because of this that the vice-principal became curious when he heard their confusing conversation.
After irrelevant people like Fang Qianan and Li Xiu left, Teacher Xu didn't pay much attention to the vice principal. He told him to wait outside the door and walked into the villa with a few close disciples, very cautiously.
The vice-principal was waiting outside, wiping his hands. He was getting a little impatient, so he handed a cigarette to the "master" next to him.
The master who was squatting outside with him had also been here a few years ago. The vice-president had some face for him, so he happened to be able to strike up a conversation with him at this time.
"Master, I just want to ask... Is there any problem with Li Xiu, the student you mentioned earlier?"
The vice principal asked in a low voice while puffing on a cigarette.
The "Master" had a cigarette in his mouth and rolled his eyes when he heard the vice-principal's question.
"Not really."
The man muttered.
After a pause, he leaned close to the vice-principal's ear and said in a low voice, "Just treat it as a story and don't tell anyone else... The student named Li Xiu just now is most likely a 'human coffin'."
In a world that cannot be explained by science for the time being, there has always been a saying that some special things are very suitable for nourishing yin energy and raising ghosts.
They usually call these things "soul-nurturing coffins."
"...It's called a 'coffin,' but it's just a name. In some places, there's a naturally formed cave in the deepest darkness, and that's also called a soul-nurturing coffin."
The master took another puff of his cigarette and unconsciously glanced in the direction of the school while smoking.
"There's also a soul-raising coffin, which is the most powerful place for raising ghosts, because that 'coffin' is not dead, but alive."
"ah?"
A cluster of cigarette ash landed on the back of the vice-principal's hand, burning him so much that he jumped back.
"Some people are born with special horoscopes, with weak yang energy and strong yin energy, making them perfect for raising ghosts. Look at that student with a limp, it's just his destiny, just like fortune tellers often have flaws. Before liberation, many powerful masters would specifically adopt people like this, because they were usually disabled and had no parents. Just give them some food and they'd raise ghosts for them. They were especially useful. But now..." The man took another drag on his cigarette and glanced at the villa with fear, "You definitely can't do something illegal like that now. This kind of natural human coffin is rare. I didn't expect to run into one in your school."
"Oh, but what can this human coffin do?"
The vice principal couldn't help but ask further.
"Didn't I tell you? Raising ghosts, raising evil ghosts. We're not allowed to do that anymore. But it's no wonder two students would run into ghosts like this. They're probably attracted by the yin energy of that human coffin. But Teacher Xu also said that even though that student is a human coffin, he has a strong Wenqu star in his destiny... As long as he studies hard, these things won't happen to him..."
…
"A-choo——"
In the busy shopping mall, Li Xiu sneezed.
"What's wrong? Cold?"
Fang Qianan walked over with two cups of hot milk tea and just heard Li Xiu sneeze, so he couldn't help but ask.
Li Xiu said nothing, simply reaching out to take the milk tea. The scalding hot tea burned Li Xiu's palms red through the cup, but Li Xiu made no move to remove her hand. Her body wasn't cold anymore, but deep down, she still felt a faint chill.
After coming out of the villa, Li Xiu took the initiative to skip class for the first time and followed Fang Qianan.
The two of them left school at the same time and came to the most crowded shopping mall in City A. They went straight to a popular milk tea shop that was famous for its overcrowded and long queues and stayed there.
Li Xiu has always hated such noisy crowds, but now, he feels that it feels really good to be among the crowd.
"I don't know if Teacher Xu is any use at all. You don't look very happy, do you?"
Fang Qianan leaned forward slightly and stared at Li Xiu with a frown.
The table in the internet-famous milk tea shop was very small. Fang Qianan only moved slightly, and Li Xiu could feel his knee against her.
The 1.9-meter-tall high school boy's strong and tall body was stuck in the various white and pink girlish-style seats, which even looked a little funny.
Li Xiu blinked and couldn't help but smile.
"I'm really fine, I was born this way."
Grandma is old and has always been unable to take care of Li Xiu.
The consequence of long-term malnutrition and excessive brain use is that Li Xiu's complexion is always a shade paler than that of his peers.
"Okay."
After confirming that Li Xiu was fine, Fang Qianan seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.
"That's good. I was really... scared to death before."
Li Xiu was stunned for a moment when she heard Fang Qianan's extremely worried voice.
There was a slight palpitation in my chest, a very unfamiliar feeling.
Li Xiu quickly lowered his eyes and took a sip of milk tea to suppress the inexplicable discomfort.
"Um?"
The boy opened his eyes wide in surprise at the sweet taste that entered his mouth.
What Fang Qianan brought to Li Xiu was not the store's most famous milk tea, but hot cocoa with a lot of taro, red beans, cream and pudding.
Li Xiu was stunned.
"It's delicious."
The boy said in a low voice.
Unable to help himself, he quickly glanced at Fang Qianan.
"How do you know I like this?"
By the time he realized it, Li Xiu had already asked the question accidentally.
...Unlike ordinary boys, Li Xiu loves sweet things very much, and his favorite is super sweet cocoa with a lot of ingredients.
Fang Qianan was stunned. He looked at Li Xiu's lips and cheeks stained with blood due to the heat of the cocoa, and was stunned for a moment.
"I, I just bought it casually." The boy replied gruffly. For some reason, his voice sounded a little panicked. "Who knew, um, you actually liked this kind of sweet stuff?"
Li Xiu blinked. Actually, he came to his senses as soon as he asked the question. It was impossible for Fang Qianan to know what he liked to drink: Li Xiu didn't interact much with his classmates, and a cup of hot cocoa like this was too expensive. Even if Li Xiu was greedy, he could only think about it in his heart and never told anyone about his preference.
But no matter what, the hot cocoa still made Li Xiu feel relaxed both physically and mentally.
The boy's eyes and eyebrows were unconsciously filled with a soft warmth. It must be because the seats in this crappy internet-famous restaurant are too crowded, Fang Qianan thought anxiously. Otherwise, how could he still smell the sweet chocolate flavor emanating from Li Xiu's lips the moment he opened his mouth?
"Thank you, Fang Qianan."
Li Xiu said to Fang Qianan.
Fang Qianan's face turned red instantly.
...He suddenly felt like drinking hot cocoa.