This Damned Thirst for Survival

If there is a real ghost, it is unlikely that the Yin Yang Ring would not detect it.

But the little ginseng didn’t look like a lie either, so Jiang Luo thought for a moment and came up with one last possibility.

It is not a female ghost that is imprisoned at the bottom, but a woman.

Gee, Jiang Luo’s interest rises.

The door was locked and Jiang Luo would be discovered tomorrow if he forced his way out. Not wanting to be chastised by Feng Li at this juncture, he went to bed with the ginseng doll in his arms and said perfunctorily, “Yes, yes, there are ghosts down there. I’ll go back tomorrow at dawn and have a look.”

The ginseng doll agreed and dared not sneak off again, falling asleep next to Jiang Luo.

The next morning, Zhou Wudu came to pick up Jiang Luo with Wen Renlian. Jiang Luo handed the ginseng doll to Zhou Wudu, “Brother Wudu, from now on this ginseng will be yours to raise.”

Zhou Wudu’s eyes widened with joy, “Really?”

“Really.” Jiang Luo nods genuinely.

He doesn’t like bringing up children at all.

The ginseng doll looked at him incredulously, her chubby arms and legs flailing about, “How dare you give me to someone else to raise, I’m a ginseng spirit!”

“Yes, yes, you’re a ginseng spirit,” Zhou Wudu said with a toothy grin, “you’re a little ancestor.”

“Oooooooooo,” the ginseng doll reacted to Jiang Luo as a fledgling, rolling its eyes in tears, “I want Daddy.”

The dark-haired young man ignored it and concentrated on tidying up the bed.

After finishing their things, the group exited the door of the confinement cell. Jiang Luo remembered what the ginseng doll had said and returned to the confinement cell alone, on the pretext that he had forgotten something.

At the end of the corridor, where the light does not reach, it is slightly dim and gloomy. Jiang Luo didn’t waste any time in searching the ground, but he couldn’t make out anything at first glance.

Jiang Luo thought about the size of the ginseng doll and patiently searched inch by inch, not finding anything on the floor but a vent opening in the corner.

The mouth of the pipe is just thick enough for a small ginseng to walk into.

Jiang Luo looks inside and inside is a circular pipe. The size is a bit of a stretch for him to climb, but it’s OK.

Jiang Luo was trying to remove the vent opening when someone shouted from the back: ” Jiang Luo, hurry up!”

Jiang Luo gave up and reluctantly shone his torch inside, where a few drops of yellow ginseng juice dripped onto the floor. The little ginseng spirit had indeed escaped from here, and there was another place underneath the ventilation ducts where people were kept.

Jiang Luo whistles inwardly.

Feng Li is serious and serious, while the old master of heaven is kind and affectionate. What other secrets are hidden in this Tian Shifu?

Feng Li is not hiding some kind of perverted fetish under his emotionless and lustless appearance, is he?

He got up, patted the dust off his body, and ran out the door, suppressing the strange itch that tickled his heart.

*

Tian Shifu will be giving a lecture today.

There were many people arriving at Tian Shifu early in the morning.

The lecture was held in the open gymnasium, and Zhou Wudu came to pick up Jiang Luo so early in the morning to take him to the lecture.

On the way, Zhou Wudu said, “Every year Tian Shifu has two or three lectures, either by the old master or by other direct disciples of the old master. Our master has never lectured there. The last time the person who gave the lecture was none other than Mr. Mister’s senior brother, our second senior uncle.”

“Who is lecturing today?” Jiang Luo asked.

“It should be the Old Heavenly Master,” Zhou Wudu whispered as he looked around, “the Old Heavenly Master loves being a teacher.”

When the group arrived at the training ground, it was already full. Each one was sitting cross-legged on a mat with an air of unbridled anticipation.

Tian Shifu’s disciples stood around, giving space to the guests who had come from afar. Also standing around were some elders and other personnel from the six great families.

A short while later, Feng Li came over with Wang Santan, and Jiang Luo said goodbye to his friend and went up with Zhou Wudu to meet Feng Li. Feng Li nodded lightly, looked around and frowned, “The Old Master hasn’t come yet?”

The disciples looked at each other, not daring to speak.

“It’s not just the Old Heavenly Master, several of your uncles have not arrived either.” Feng Li’s voice was a little displeased, “You go to the Old Heavenly Master and invite all the guests.”

The three brothers rushed to the old master’s residence. When they entered the door, Wang Santan said, “I’ll go to Old Heavenly Master, you guys go to find Uncle Shifu, we have to be quick, Sir doesn’t like people being late.”

Jiang Luo and Zhou Wudu walked towards the others, and Jiang Luo asked, “Brother Wudu, are Sir and Old Master Tianshu related by father and son?”

“No,” Zhou Wudu shook his head, “but Mister was raised by the Old Master, and if we go by the generation of kinship, Mister is the son of the Old Master’s own sister and is the Old Master’s nephew.”

O nephew.

Jiang Luo narrowed his eyes, “And what about your mother? I don’t think I’ve seen Sir’s parents since I’ve been a teacher.”

Zhou Wudu’s face changed and he shushed him. He looked around carefully and was relieved to see that no one was there, wiping the sweat from his head, ” Jiang Luo, don’t say that in front of others. Sir and Old Master Tian are most reticent to talk about Sir’s parents, and we don’t know where they are, it’s a taboo in Tian Shifu.”

He even shivered when he finished, so it was clear that he was scared to death.

Jiang Luo smiled and said, “I know, thank you for reminding me.”

There were two places where the guests lived. Jiang Luo and Zhou Wudu are on one side and Jiang Luo is walking towards the west side of the house when a man comes up to him.

Jiang Luo walked up quickly, but when he got closer, he found that the man was none other than the Custodian who had tea with the Old Master yesterday.

The fatalist also saw him.

From a distance, it looked as if a layer of white snow was draped over the hair of the fatalist’s shoulders, and the snow coloured his eyebrows and eyelashes white as well. But that was only the colour of the fatalist’s hair.

The background behind the predestined man is clearly green, but he himself looks as if he has just stepped off a snowy mountain, somewhat like an albino.

Jiang Luo’s speed slowed as the fatalist walked up to him, a pair of eyes that seemed to be over a hundred years old looking at him gently, “What are you doing here, young friend?”

It was strange, obviously young looking, but with the attitude of an elder.

Jiang Luo smiled and said, “Sir invited Old Tian Shifu’s guests to the front to listen to the lessons.”

The Fatalist nodded knowingly and said gently, “Then let’s go.”

Jiang Luo said, “I have to go back to the other guests.”

The predestined man suddenly laughed as he said, “I am the only one who lives here.”

As soon as Jiang Luo froze, he walked back alone with the predestined man.

Halfway down the path, a bird fell from a nearby tree. With a twist in his step, the predestined man walked to the tree and held up the bird, which was wailing with a wounded wing.

The fatalist patiently wrapped the broken wing of the bird with the talisman paper, but the bird continued to chirp, its cry becoming more and more mournful and angry.

The fatalist looked up and there were spots of blood on the tree, which he followed to the other side of the tree, where he saw a young bird that had fallen to its death underneath.

“So it was the death of the young bird and the mother’s heartbreak.” The fatalist sighed compassionately and brushed his fingertips over the bird’s feathers, “It’s pitiful too.”

Jiang Luo is an accurate judge of people, and as he looks at the fatalist at this moment, he can see that the fatalist is truly grieving for a bird.

He is compassionate as if he were accommodating all beings, without a trace of falsehood.

Jiang Luo sighs, a complete contrast to Chi You’s hypocrisy.

But in the next second, the predestined man had the bird by the neck, but his hand tightened slowly and calmly.

The bird’s call grows in pitch and eventually returns to silence.

Jiang Luo looked at him in shock.

The fatalist noticed the look in his eyes and he looked towards Jiang Luo, confused, “What is it?”

Jiang Luo asked, “Why did you kill it.”

The predestined man said, “It is not killing.”

He smiled, his eyes still as full of pure kindness as ever, “It was in too much pain and I was just helping to put it out of that pain.”

He answered so righteously that Jiang Luo was unable to speak.

But the predestined man clearly did not need Jiang Luo’s answer, and after burying the mother bird and the fallen young under a tree, he lifted his steps and said, “Let’s go.”

Jiang Luo was still too shaken by the scene he had just witnessed to say anything, but the fatalist took the initiative and said to him, “Your master thinks very highly of you.”

“Is that so?” Jiang Luo faked a smile, “Thank you, Master, for looking up to me.”

“You are a good boy,” whispered the predestined man, looking at Jiang Luo with a strange look, “and one day you will make a name for yourself.”

Jiang Luo was looking at him, but remembered the bird he had crushed to death. What kind of person can take a life without a trace of malice?

After a long moment, he curled his lips, “You are very complimentary.”

*

While the Old Master was lecturing, three people were sitting in Tian Shifu’s study.

Feng Li said with an expressionless face, “So you suspect that my disciple is possessed by an evil spirit?”

A layer of sweat rose behind Chi Zhongye’s back as he took the lead in clearing the air, “I didn’t say that, Qi Yong did.”

Qi Ye’s father Qi Yong laughed bitterly, “That was an idea I had earlier, but Chi Lao was right, Jiang Luo was right under your nose and there was no way he could have been possessed. But I lost Yuan Tianzhu there, and Qi Ye went through another car accident last night ……”

His voice shook, “If it wasn’t for the amulet, he would have died! Qi Ye told me that last night he saw Chi You in the guise of a powerful ghost and that Chi You threatened him, which is why the accident happened.

Feng Li twirled the jade trigger finger in his hand and said slowly and deliberately, ” Why would Chi You make a move against the Qi family?”

Qi’s father and Chi Zhongye look at each other.

Tian Shifu was not involved in their death of Chi You, and the Old Master probably did not tell Feng Li the truth about the incident.

Then they would be even less likely to tell the truth.

Chi Zhongye looked straight and lowered his voice, “I wonder if the Heavenly Master has ever seen Chi You’s soul?”

“I’ve seen him,” Feng Li added, “and he’s not to be underestimated.”

Chi Zhongye’s voice was even lower, “As you can see, Chi You has a lot of resentment.”

Feng Li narrows his eyes.

He could see it.

Even at the first sight of Chi You, Feng Li noticed the powerful aura of resentment.

“If you refine such an evil spirit, its power will be boundless,” Chi Zhongye said, “People say that the Chi family’s most powerful art is the art of puppetry, but in fact, the most powerful art should be the art of soul refining, after all, even the souls of the dead can be refined… …If Master Feng agrees to cooperate with us, our Chi family will definitely refine Chi You’s soul into your god or into your weapon.”

When you make a deal with Feng Li, you have to put the benefits on the table.

Feng Li asked, “What do you want.”

Chi Zhongye hastened to say, “We don’t need anything from you either. According to you, your disciple Jiang Luo has already separated from Chi You, but Chi You is still pestering Jiang Luo. …… The first mid-term exams are coming up at the twelve universities across the country. We just want to make some moves to use your disciple as bait to catch Chi You in the midterm exams at Bai Hua University …… What do you think?”

Father Qi added, “Don’t worry, we will definitely not let your pupil get hurt.”

Feng Li is lost in thought.

Feng Li nods, then picks up his tea to say goodbye.

Qi and his father had the good sense to leave, and when they were far enough away from Tian Shifu, Chi Zhongye asked, “How do you plan to use Jiang Luo to catch Chi You?”

Qi’s father’s face went cold, “Do you really want Jiang Luo to come back alive? Have you forgotten what he once said about avenging Chi You?”

Fearful of Feng Li, Chi Zhongye said with some trepidation, “But isn’t he distant from Chi You?”

“Who knows if it’s true or not,” Qi’s father’s dark clouds overshadowed him as he said with a sullen face, “the safest outcome would be for them to come back and die together in the mid-term examination.”

“That predestined person?”

“The Fatal Man has not come down from the mountain for twenty-seven years,” whispered Father Qi as if he was afraid of disturbing something, “he has stayed on Chang Baishan since Chi You was born, and it was only after Chi You’s death that he was seen coming down in the last few months. ”

“Sacrificing a few more people for the sake of the future of the metaphysical community, I’m sure the Fates will understand us.”

*

After the lecture, Jiang Luo and his friends stayed overnight in Tian Shifu and returned to school the next day.

The first thing Jiang Luo did on his return to school was to see the trap he had laid, but all he saw on the coffee table was the heart of the idol and a ruby rose pin.

There are scorch marks on the heart of the idol, and it looks like the trap cost Chi You a hand.

Jiang Luo was disinterested as he put his things away. As for the rose pin, every time he saw it, he thought of that extremely dangerous encounter at the entrance to the alley. Jiang Luo threw the pin straight into the lake.

Chi You If this can still be found, he is completely convinced.

After that, Jiang Luo took a good two weeks off. Two weeks later, it was time for the mid-term exams.

The mid-term exams of twelve universities across the country are held at the same time, but in different locations and at different levels of difficulty. When Dean Xu hands them the information, Jiang Luo discovers that the location of the next level turns out to be a luxury cruise ship at sea.

The cruise ship is called the Angonese and a picture of it is shown below. It has a beautiful and grand appearance, like a beautiful and extravagant aristocratic lady, beautiful and charming enough.

“There are only three kinds of people who can get on the Angonese cruise ship,” Dean Xu said, holding out his finger, “one is the crew, and the other two are the civilians and the rich and powerful. You will need to play the roles of the civilians and the rich and powerful, and join this sailing tour without attracting suspicion to complete this test. The purpose of this mission is to investigate a strange kind of fish.”

“Strange fish?”

Dean Xu said, “Yes, a fish called blood eel.”

“After investigation, the cruise ship travels deep into the Caribbean every year at this time of year, a few miles off the sailing route, where it has reached the high seas. No one knows what happened on the ship, but after each return, many people died on board. But even so, the following year’s ship sailed with untold numbers of people running to this ship.”

“What was even weirder was that every person who came on and off the boat kept their mouth shut about the purpose of the trip. It took us a lot of effort to learn that they were going to look for a fish called ‘blood eels’.”

Dean Xu said solemnly, ” Qi Ye is injured and he is unable to take part in this examination. We got eight tickets for the boat, so we hope you can complete your mission and return successfully.”

“Of course, the boat tickets are all purchased using someone else’s real information, and you will have to play someone else’s identity from the moment you board the boat. Among the tickets, there are two tickets for the rich and six tickets for the commoners, which you will choose by lot.”

Jiang Luo casually drew one and turned it over to see that it was a rich man’s boat ticket.

The person he was impersonating was called ” Zhong Wei”, Jiang Luo read through the identity card and raised an eyebrow.

” Zhong Wei” is a well-spent playboy, good-looking, flirtatious and bold. Jiang Luo liked this setting.

Another rich man’s ticket was also drawn, and it was Ge Zhu, a poor man’s ticket. Ge Zhu’s hand trembled slightly as he held the rich man’s ticket, weeping with surprise and choking back tears, “I never thought I would have this day!”

Dean Xu laughed at their antics for a while and clapped his hands, “All right, all right, pay attention. The boarding of the Angonese is very strict and will check every guest from the hairline to the teeth, so be prepared and don’t reveal yourselves.”

“Most importantly,” Dean Xu laughed harshly, “be safe.”

Several people agreed with smiles, “Don’t worry Dean.”