Coincidentally, the fracture they had come to investigate was located inside Jing City University.
According to Zuo Zhe’s map, it was technically just barely within the university grounds, on one of the mountains.
Qin Shu had studied the campus beforehand. The environment was excellent. The vast campus had been built against the mountains, with teaching buildings surrounded by hills and water, abundant greenery, and several old structures scattered throughout. Those historic buildings had miraculously survived wartime and were now protected cultural heritage.
The campus was so large that getting from one end to the other for class could be tiring on foot, so students usually needed bicycles.
The moment Qin Shu first saw the map, he had privately felt something was suspicious.
Building a university in a place like this meant excellent feng shui, sure, but it was also exceptionally easy to attract ghosts. Ghosts appreciated good feng shui too, and ancient buildings were practically premium buffs for supernatural creatures, gathering the spiritual energy of Heaven and Earth and nourishing their souls until they grew stronger…
Then he looked at the three miserable ghosts sprawled on the luggage rack and sighed. The problem was not small.
He and Pei Zhao tacitly remained silent until the teacher finished counting heads and the bus started smoothly. Once everyone stopped staring curiously at one another and shifted their attention toward the unfamiliar Jing City scenery outside the windows, Qin Shu moved.
He rose slightly, reached out, seized the nearest ghost, and yanked it between himself and Pei Zhao at maximum speed, trapping it from both sides. The ghost let out a shriek and started to struggle, only to meet Pei Zhao’s mild, tilted gaze.
Its eyes instantly became crystal clear. Then it cautiously looked back at Qin Shu, became completely obedient, straightened its grotesquely twisted leg bones, curled into a weak little ball, and tentatively asked, “My… lords, what do you need?”
Calling them “my lords” in a panic proved it was certainly not some ancient ghost from thousands of years ago. This was simply a young ghost who had not been dead very long. Technically, it could almost count as an upperclassman of Qin Shu and Pei Zhao.
Qin Shu raised a brow and communicated directly through divine sense. “Just call me Qin Shu. What’s your name, what year did you die, and was the compensation handled properly?”
“I… I’m Li Xiao Feng. I think I was hit and killed at the university three or five years ago. I don’t really know exactly how long it’s been.” The ghost senior named Li Xiao Feng spoke timidly. “The driver was fired. My family didn’t file a lawsuit. They came here, took five hundred thousand yuan, and never came back after that.”
“Five hundred thousand is quite a lot, though it’s slightly low if nobody sued…” Qin Shu paused. “Forget that. Why are you still a ghost? Didn’t your family bury you?”
“I-I don’t know. My remains should’ve been taken away and cremated, but I’m like those other two seniors.” Li Xiao Feng looked toward the other trembling roadkill ghosts. “We can’t leave this bus. Wherever the bus goes, we can only follow it.”
“Ghosts without cultivation really can’t travel too far from where they died, but their movement shouldn’t be restricted this badly… And you don’t look like you carry much resentment. You could’ve been collected immediately after death. Why did Black and White Impermanence completely ignore their jobs?”
Qin Shu found the situation increasingly wrong. “And this bus has killed people three separate times, yet there were no news reports, and the vehicle wasn’t scrapped. It’s actually still operating. That’s way too strange.”
Pei Zhao joined the conversation at the right moment, looking thoughtful. “I just checked it. This bus has been operating for at least twenty years. It’s been repainted, and the interior fittings and engine were replaced, but almost everything else is old equipment.”
That made the situation even stranger. If the university could easily pay a victim’s family five hundred thousand yuan in one lump sum, its finances were obviously healthy. Replacing a bus would not be a meaningful expense.
Why would they rather replace drivers and pay compensation than replace a vehicle already stained with human lives? If other students’ parents learned about it, surely they would object too.
Qin Shu had a bad feeling, but asking the newly hired driver probably would not help, while questioning the teacher might alert whoever was behind it.
In the end, he could only investigate among the ghosts themselves. So Qin Shu squeezed out a friendly smile. “Senior Li, please call your two friends over. We mean no harm. We only want to understand what’s happening. Maybe we can solve the problem and let all of you leave freely afterward. Sounds good, right?”
Whether it sounded good or not, Li Xiao Feng could only agree. The oppressive aura from the two of them had nearly frightened him unconscious. Extremely cooperative, he called the other two ghost seniors over in a voice already trembling with tears.
The ghost seniors slowly and unwillingly drifted closer. Finally all three hugged each other tightly and floated above the rear luggage rack for warmth, refusing to move even one step closer to Qin Shu.
These ghosts were much more timid than the ones in Jiangcheng. Probably because cultivators were rare here and they had spent all their time trapped on a bus without ever interacting closely with anything much stronger than themselves.
The demons, ghosts, and monsters inside No. 2 High School usually wandered back and forth without even watching where they were going. They practically tried to walk straight through Qin Shu’s body, each pretending the other did not exist… After becoming accustomed to that kind of mutual disregard, Qin Shu found this reaction strangely unfamiliar.
“It’s not like I’m going to eat people. You guys are the ones who might eat people, right?”
Qin Shu could not resist teasing them, only to receive a trembling chorus of “Wouldn’t dare, wouldn’t dare!”
There was nothing he could do about it. Making friends and closing the distance looked difficult, so he could only ask about serious business first.
According to one of the older ghost seniors, during the very first year the bus entered service, it had already hit and killed a student. That student’s family had likewise been pacified with compensation and did not make the matter public.
The ghost senior himself had been killed around ten years ago and had spent some time trapped on the bus together with that original senior.
But the first student’s mental state gradually collapsed. Unable to endure an endless prison with no freedom, the ghost found a way to disperse his own soul, effectively ending himself. Only after becoming unconscious fragments of soul was he finally able to enter the Yellow Springs.
Other students had been hit and killed one after another during the years in between. There had been more than these three. According to the memories of the longest-trapped ghost, seven people had died so far.
Most trapped souls could not withstand such a despairing existence. Even their final desire to survive gradually disappeared, leaving nothing but hopelessness and collapse. One after another, they found ways to destroy themselves and leave. In the end, only these three remained, huddling together for comfort and at least able to chat with one another, barely preserving their sanity.
Seven again. That peculiar number. Qin Shu and Pei Zhao exchanged a glance and already had a rough suspicion regarding the person behind all this.
Even more importantly, the victims came from very similar family backgrounds. They were from rural areas or small counties, had earned admission to the country’s best university through their own hard work, and usually had several siblings. Their families had practically no ability to support or advocate for them, tended to be timid and honest, and badly needed money…
Honest, poor, timid, with other children still needing support. Naturally, those families would not dare storm the university and create an enormous public scandal. Receiving a sum of compensation they might never earn in an entire lifetime would be enough to make most choose silence.
If someone had deliberately selected students whose families were unlikely to make trouble, these deaths could not possibly have been accidents. Every fatal collision had been planned.
The first death had occurred after Zuo Zhe returned to Huaguo but before he permanently settled in Jiangcheng. Seven victims collected exactly, a preference for targeting students… All of it fit Zuo Zhe’s style remarkably well.
The innocent people of Jiangcheng had not been his only victims. Wherever world fractures existed across the country, his malicious schemes had probably left damage behind.
Qin Shu no longer forced the trembling ghosts to remain nearby and let them scatter like startled birds and animals, hiding on the roof of the bus.
His gaze swept over the young, energetic faces filling the seats, and he fell silent once again.
“Zhaozhao, tell me… if Zuo Zhe were still alive, this winter camp gathering talented young students from all over the country at Jing City University, could it have been part of his plan too?”
“Fresh, high-quality flesh and souls have always been favorites among the lowest kind of cultivators,” Pei Zhao replied softly. “Zuo Zhe must have accomplices inside Jing City University. Find them. Kill them.”
“Agreed.”
With a new target decided, the rest of the bus ride was no longer boring. They spread their divine sense through the vehicle and inspected it inside and out. For the moment, they found no unusual marks or formations, but the whole bus was indeed wrapped in dense resentment and yin energy.
Qin Shu had originally assumed that resentment belonged to the three ghosts, but unexpectedly, that was not the case. The ones who had truly harbored deep resentment had already been unable to endure and destroyed themselves, while the remaining three held practically none and looked capable of hanging on for quite a while longer.
The rest of the journey vanished amid thought and quiet discussion. The bus entered the university campus smoothly and stopped beside the dormitory buildings prepared specifically for the winter camp.
There were two buildings, separated by gender, and the accommodations were quite good. Every room housed only two or three people, and the buildings even had elevators. They had only been constructed in recent years and were normally used to host or accommodate short-term domestic and international exchange students, rather than regular campus residents.
This winter camp gave the high-school students an early chance to experience the better accommodations. The group leader introduced everything while guiding them off the bus, responsibly counting the students yet again.
She had done the same throughout the journey. The teacher leading the group had the surname Ouyang and possessed an extraordinarily considerate, patient personality.
She spent a full half hour merely explaining safety precautions and emphasizing that nobody should casually climb the mountains or approach the ponds. She gave detailed examples and repeatedly reminded everyone that if anything felt wrong, they should message her on WeChat first and let her deal with it.
Considering the various incidents universities had experienced in recent years, Teacher Ouyang’s behavior was perfectly reasonable and sensible. She might know that students had died in the past, but she clearly had nothing to do with those deaths.
To be cautious, Pei Zhao even used his aura-reading art to inspect both her and the driver closely. Neither was a bad person. Presumably, the drivers fired after the previous fatal accidents had also been deliberately set up. Everyone involved was an ordinary person… and no one would willingly want blood on their hands.
Since the adults present had nothing to do with the scheme, the two could relax slightly. Qin Shu squeezed through the crowd and deliberately introduced himself to Teacher Ouyang, then added the driver’s contact information as well, making it easier to find either of them if something happened later.
After receiving their room cards, Qin Shu did not waste any more time. Carrying his suspiciously light suitcase, he went with Pei Zhao to inspect their assigned room.
They had applied in advance to share the same double room. It was more spacious than expected. There was no private bathroom, but separate washrooms stood on both sides of every corridor, so with everyone spread out, it was not especially inconvenient.
The dormitory’s decor was simple and attractive, with movable, detachable loft beds over desks. Their thick wooden frames looked extremely sturdy.
Qin Shu had never lived in a dormitory and did not particularly enjoy climbing a ladder to sleep suspended in midair, so he casually lifted one bed down on the spot and pushed it into the corner beside the window.
“Mm. This looks much safer.” Satisfied with the new layout, Qin Shu opened the suitcase, took out several neatly folded coats and scarves, and hung them inside the wardrobe ahead of time so they would not wrinkle over the next few days.
While Qin Shu tidied the room, Pei Zhao checked security. After quickly confirming there were no unusual mechanisms or arrangements inside the dormitory, he picked up his phone and reviewed the schedule and class timetable Teacher Ouyang had sent them.
The specialized gaokao intensive-training courses were mandatory, and there would be two examinations. Apparently, anyone who ranked near the top would gain an advantage in Jing City University’s future independent admissions assessments.
Even for students whose dream university was somewhere else, this was the main reason they had signed up: half a month of intensive score-raising preparation before the gaokao, supported by some of the country’s best educational resources.
Of course, there were plenty of optional activity classes too.
“There’s a bonfire barbecue and an icebreaker tonight. Want to go?” Pei Zhao tilted his head.
“You definitely don’t.” Qin Shu laughed. “Too many people, too crowded, too annoying. On the bus, a bunch of people kept secretly turning around to stare at you. I noticed every single one. So irritating.”
As a genuine social butterfly, Qin Shu had actually loved lively group activities in the past. Icebreakers had a terrible reputation all over the world, but Qin Shu had always thought watching everyone act awkward and stiff while they barely knew one another was… genuinely entertaining.
Things were different now. After starting a relationship, Qin Shu felt as though some switch in his brain had finally turned on, making him suddenly realize countless things that had never occurred to him before.
For example, he really did not like the way other people looked at Pei Zhao. No matter how beautiful Pei Zhao was, they could not keep staring at him, and they definitely were not allowed to look ready to march over and ask for his contact information!
At Qin Shu’s words, Pei Zhao gave him a meaningful glance. “You think they were only looking at me?”
“Don’t tell me they were looking at me too?”
“Why wouldn’t they?” Pei Zhao narrowed his eyes slightly, his tone suddenly dangerous. “From the bus until just now outside the dormitory, it was the same. Qin Shu, you have an extremely strong presence, and you can’t hide it even if you try… exactly the opposite of me.”
“…Cough. I didn’t notice.”
Being stared at like that made Qin Shu inexplicably guilty. He immediately emphasized, “I’ll definitely pay attention from now on! For the rest of the activities, let’s pick ones with fewer people and just have fun. Otherwise we’ll somehow end up… um, getting jealous of each other.”
“Tea arts, gardening, photography. There are quite a lot.” Pei Zhao nodded in agreement and continued scrolling through the optional classes on his phone. “Students who are legally adults according to their IDs can also audit the alcohol-appreciation class offered during winter break. It includes cocktail mixing.”
“That sounds really fun. Wait, Zhaozhao, you’re not stopping me from drinking anymore?” Qin Shu’s eyes slowly brightened. “My behavior when drunk is terrible. You know that.”
“I’ve never considered… that a flaw of yours. Sometimes it delayed serious matters and made you torment me, but things are different now.”
Pei Zhao’s gaze remained on his phone. His expression looked perfectly ordinary, yet his voice quietly softened. Only after a pause did he continue, “I like you when you’re unreasonable.”
How exactly were things different now? Qin Shu’s thoughts stalled for a second before realization hit him.
Right. They were dating now. Kissing and hugging, however much they wanted, were perfectly ordinary… Many behaviors that had seemed inappropriate before apparently played directly into Pei Zhao’s preferences.
Understanding the implication made Qin Shu’s face heat instantly. Somewhat awkwardly, he grabbed Pei Zhao’s cheeks and kneaded them back and forth without reducing his strength at all. “Zhaozhao, you’re terrible. Fine. We’ll kill whoever needs killing first, then go take that class. That way neither serious business nor private business gets delayed. No problem with that plan, right?”
“No problem.” With his cheeks being squeezed, Pei Zhao’s voice naturally came out slightly muffled, and he deliberately answered as though he could barely take it. “…Be gentler. You’re hurting me.”
Pei Zhao was clearly putting on that tone deliberately, so why was it so devastatingly effective?!
Qin Shu felt his self-control being challenged every second, growing thinner and weaker, practically ready to collapse. Before the two put on their coats and scarves and went outside again, he even secretly glanced at the calendar on his phone and counted exactly how many days remained until New Year’s Eve.
Only after finishing the count did he realize what he had just done… Truly. Extremely strange behavior from a pervert.
He hurriedly shoved his phone into his pocket, then pulled Pei Zhao’s hand over and tucked that inside too, enclosing Pei Zhao’s hand, which was even colder than the phone, and warming it together with his own.
The white dragon, who had deliberately shrunk himself into a miniature form, had long since grown impatient. He spiraled down onto Qin Shu’s shoulder and immediately spoke with absolutely no manners. “Why did you two take so damn long? Started kissing everywhere again?”
“Wasn’t it all to give our reconnaissance officer enough time to produce some results and earn a promotion?” Qin Shu had no reason to be embarrassed in front of him and merely raised a brow. “We gave you plenty of time to investigate. So? Find anything strange inside Jing City University?”
“Tsk… There’s a spiritual-energy formation on that mountain where you said the breach is. It’s specifically designed to gather spiritual energy. No idea what they’re trying to do with it.”
The white dragon obediently added, “Another cultivator definitely set it up. The technique is very experienced. I didn’t want to alert anyone, so I only circled the mountain twice from a distance and couldn’t find the formation core right away.”
As expected, a hidden expert had stepped in. If a specialized formation had to be used to gather spiritual energy, the consumption involved had to be tremendous, beyond what one person could sustain indefinitely.
And anything that consumed that much power meant whoever had set it up was either constantly doing something terrible or constantly doing something good. Considering the special nature of a world fracture, there were basically no other possibilities.
“We’ll go up the mountain now.” Qin Shu held Pei Zhao’s hand and followed the map he had memorized in advance, circling around the landscaped pond and taking a more secluded trail up the rear slope. At the same time, he tilted his head toward the white dragon. “Anything else? Humans with unusual auras, for example?”
“No. This university is thick with dragon qi too. The air’s excellent. Aside from a few little ghosts, there’s basically none of that strange Nine Netherworld smell… Honestly, after circling the mountain a few times, I practically got oxygen-drunk.”
“Interesting.”
Qin Shu grew even more curious about the mountain formation and immediately sped up. Once their figures disappeared completely among the trees and they left every surveillance camera behind, their pace multiplied several times over.
Only the faint rustle of wind moved through the woods. Three minutes later, Qin Shu stood at the core of the spiritual-energy formation and fell into thought.
“This is… that’s definitely a dragon pearl, right?” Qin Shu asked weakly.
“Mm. It’s a dragon pearl.” Pei Zhao nodded.
Pei Zhao did not normally take his own out, but Qin Shu had already seen the shen dragon’s dragon pearl. It was huge, several sizes larger than the white dragon’s… Yet the one before them was almost even larger than the shen dragon’s pearl.
“Using a dragon pearl this huge as a formation core isn’t that a little extravagant? No wonder you said the campus is full of dragon qi.” Qin Shu looked toward the white dragon. “Can either of you tell whose family it belongs to?”
“…Mine,” the white dragon answered gloomily.
“…Huh?”
The white dragon moved closer for another look, almost as though he could not believe his own eyes. Yet after checking again, he had no choice but to confirm it. “That’s right. This belongs to my imperial father.”