Chapter 19

Chapter 19: Ashes (Part 2)

Li Xianzhou’s concerns were not without reason.

On the contrary, he had actually beautified many of the things that Ming Yue and Guo Tianyang had said.

As one of the leading media outlets in the southern faction, Jinling Morning News had made a successful transition into the information age, with its user base covering the six southern provinces of Huaxia.

Once the headline about the ghost haunting at Jinling Medical School was released, the click rate skyrocketed.

— It was hard to understand how the Jinling Morning News, which had always been fond of singing revolutionary songs, suddenly seemed to have pulled a muscle and reprinted an article from the Jinling University student newspaper.

Reporter: Naturally, it was because the article was well-written and eloquent.

School of Journalism: Thank you, seniors, for the praise!

Spirit-Sealing Institute: … Get lost!

At the end of the old year and the beginning of the new.

It was the time for the fifth round of the national subject evaluations.

The spiritual medium major (which includes ghost hunters) was a large program offered by over a hundred universities. This field could organize a nationwide entrance exam covering hundreds of schools and had always been a highly contested area, with its style being "the more you try to hide, the more you reveal"—low-key and cautious.

If at this time, the issue of Jinling University’s old ghost issue hadn’t been dealt with properly and had triggered a public opinion crisis, then Jiang University, Jinling's old rival in the neighboring province, would definitely find an opportunity during the fifth round of subject evaluations to raise the issue and criticize Jinling University, rubbing salt in their wounds.

One could never be too sure.

The "dogs" from Jiang University’s Spirit Institute (according to the president of the Spirit-Sealing Institute, Chen Xiu) might submit a thirty-thousand-word report to the Ministry of Education, listing the various sordid events of Jinling’s Spirit Institute from modern times, making it thought-provoking and eloquently written, deeply disgusted by Jinling’s Spirit Institute. That would truly be something they wouldn’t be able to handle.

If that were the case, Liu Guanshan, the president of the Spirit-Sealing Institute, would be up all night again, unable to sleep.

Sigh, what would happen if they failed to secure a top subject A ranking?

Sigh, what if they couldn’t even keep their A?

Sigh, what if the hundred-school joint exam was squeezed out by the Imperial Capital University?

Liu Guanshan: "……"You bunch of little brats, don’t you know how to cherish my hairline?

One night, the clouds gather; one night, the mountains turn over.

The reputation of a century-old university is as fragile as a cloud heavy with rain, about to collapse.

Ming Yue woke up in the morning, opened her phone, and found that both the department group and the school group had exploded, with the message history full of "99" notifications. The Jinling Morning News app was also frequently tagging @JinlingUniversity, and her eyes could barely keep up with all the updates.

The comments under Jinling Morning News nearly caused a myocardial infarction:

【Damn, what a huge scoop, Jinling University is haunted! 1080p Ultra HD!】

【On the rooftop, who took this picture? It's so damn clear!】

【Look at that black woman in the window, doesn’t she have a belly full of red eyes?】

【Please share the high-definition image above!】

【Damn! Who photoshopped this picture? It scared the hell out of me this early in the morning!】

【Bullshit Photoshop, have you ever seen such a high-definition image? And there are testimonies, a whole bunch!】

【Haha, Jinling University is in trouble now, let’s see how they explain this to Marx】

【Oh my god, Jinling University actually dug up Qing Dynasty corpses for dissection? Isn’t the Ministry of Culture going to do something about this?】

【Tagging @MinistryofCulture】

【@MinistryofCulture】

【@MinistryofCulture】

【Still not erecting a monument, really shameless!】

【Jinling University is trash!】【Trash Jinling University!】

Ming Yue: "......"

Is this netizen serious or not?

What do you mean, digging up ancient corpses? Are you kidding me?

The dirty water of public opinion doesn’t care who’s the enemy or not, but it’s already been splashed all over the century-old Jinling University.

Ming Yue opened the school group, and it was full of anonymous messages, but she could guess who was speaking from the content.

The senior students of the Spirit Institute, who were protective of their own, were engaging in a grand verbal battle with the new media students:

"Damn it! Is exorcising demons and killing monsters a crime? If our institute hadn’t taken care of that female ghost, the Medical School would still be waiting to raise a few more years' worth of slaughtered pigs!"

"Ridiculous, that’s not even our new media department’s business!"

"Bullshit! Your people’s article got spread around, does Jinling University even care about its face anymore!"

"It’s our duty to report the truth!"

"Duty my ass! What do you know? There’s a saying, ‘crossing fields is like crossing mountains.’ With the huge energy explosion from the yin-yang clash last night, do you think it can be hidden? The Medical School created such a big mess and is still afraid others will expose it?"

"Upstairs, say whatever you want, but don’t drag the Medical School into it..."

"How dare you speak? In the end, isn’t this still the Medical School’s problem!"

"Exactly! The Medical School has no right to speak, their butt isn’t clean!"

"Alright, guys, a few insults to vent are enough, but the most important thing now is how to handle this. My mom asked me early this morning in the family group what’s going on with the haunting at the school!"

"I just saw Jinling University trending on Weibo for the ghost incident, but it was taken down. I bet the school’s publicity department is cursing right now."

"My dad asked too, and said the photos in the article looked so lifelike, saying Jinling University is so immoral, digging up corpses to use as teaching tools—without even making a monument."

"......Damn, is the Medical School really that shameless?""Damn it! Am I the last one to know that the Medical School dug up corpses?"

"Upstairs, do you guys even have internet in your village?"

"What digging up corpses? Stop spreading rumors."

"Fuck! Is the new media department a parasite? Digging this deep!"

"New Media Department, come out and take a beating!"

"Fine, we in New Media admit it, but the Medical School needs to come out and take a beating with us!"

"Enough, everyone who has time, come to the publicity department to handle the public opinion! Are you all so free this early in the morning?"

In the group, each department was tossing blame like crazy.

Ming Yue quickly skimmed through the messages: "......"

These dozens of messages felt like a voice chat room.

Ming Yue, feeling uneasy, sent a private message to Yan Jun, who quickly replied:

"Yes, people from the New Media Department think last night’s events are ‘a rare commodity’ and wrote an article overnight."

"Although we blocked the door at the time, the soundproofing of the cold storage room isn’t good, and many of the events were heard by students outside."

"We can’t stop it anymore."

Ming Yue felt guilty and replied:

"I'm sorry, it's all my fault. I wish I hadn't been so harsh when exorcising the ghost."

Yan Jun disagreed with Ming Yue’s self-blame:

"It has nothing to do with you."

"You don’t understand the yin-yang clash? Don’t you get it? That kind of noise can't be small.""I heard Senior Guo Tianyang talk about what Li Xianzhou said, and I don't think there's any way to resolve last night's incident in a peaceful manner."

"How many times has the formation been removed? That female ghost has seduced so many seniors, created countless innocent karmic obstacles, burdened many seniors with irrelevant responsibilities and karmic chains, affected their luck, and disturbed their career prospects—these things cannot be measured."

"She died early this morning, and even if she were Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang, she should have died completely."

Guo Tianyang pushed open the meeting room door and just happened to see the head of the Spirit Institute, Chen Xiu, standing on a chair arguing fiercely with Zhang Anyang, the president of the New Media Institute, their faces red, necks thick with emotion.

Li Xianzhou sat on the side, his face dark as he checked the online public opinion.

"Our institute only handled the female ghost emergency at midnight for the safety of the Medical School!" Chen Xiu said.

"Oh? How many times has the formation been removed? Why did something happen this time?" Zhang Anyang, the all-rounder, was logical as always.

"Of course, before, no one knew how many generations of seniors were tricked into thinking it was an illness that needed treatment! It's fine if they don't thank our Spirit Institute, but now they're blaming us for exposing the festering wound?" Chen Xiu replied sharply.

"What a joke. You removed the formation, and by chance, this time, you grew some insight and saw through the ghost's scheme?" Zhang Anyang said sarcastically.

"You—" Chen Xiu’s lungs nearly exploded with anger.

"Enough!"

Li Xianzhou coldly reprimanded, "The last time the formation was removed was back in the late 80s, and the way public opinion spreads now is nothing like before."

"Instead of wasting your energy here, why not think about how to change the public opinion?"

"Whether or not there will be any punishment doesn't concern the two of you. The Medical School will take the fall, no discussion."

"The most crucial thing right now is how to recover the public's perception of the ghosts."

At this point, Zhang Anyang, the president of the New Media Institute, finally took a deep breath and lowered his head: "What else can we do? Jinling University knows that the Spirit Institute’s profession isn’t something made up, but outsiders don’t understand."

"Once the ghost exposure becomes public, how will the government view our Jinling University?"

China was founded on materialistic theory—if this layer of skin gets peeled back, wouldn’t Jinling University become a thorn in their side, a bone stuck in their throat?Thinking of this, Zhang Anyang shuddered, knowing that this time the students from their own institute had truly gone too far—

Tracing back to the origin, and being meticulous to the smallest detail, methods that applied to materialistic events.

Non-materialistic events, however, shouldn’t be explained too clearly or in too much detail.

That would only wear down the will of ordinary people. After all, matters of yin and yang are deeply mysterious, and aligning them with the transparent and advanced modern world is not exactly harmonious.

Guo Tianyang, listening to these words, felt heavy-hearted. He stepped forward and handed the draft of the report to Li Xianzhou:

"Teacher, this is the draft written according to your request."

Li Xianzhou took it without even looking, directly tossing it to Zhang Anyang: "Take it. Public opinion warfare is your New Media Institute’s forte."

"According to the 'Heroic Spirit Theory' in this report, turn the tide of this public opinion battle for me, understand?"

Zhang Anyang quickly scanned the report, his eyes shining. "Brilliant. If we focus the public opinion on exploring the identity of the Qing Dynasty relics, while simultaneously establishing these ghosts as heroic figures, people’s attention will quickly shift."

"Then, with a little guidance, saying a few ambiguous things, who knows, the public might even think these heroes voluntarily donated their bodies."

"After all, they are heroes." Zhang Anyang’s words were chilling, his mouth saying praise while his smile was bitter.

Chen Xiu, suspicious, asked: "Is this reliable? Will netizens be this foolish?"

Zhang Anyang waved his hand: "You engineers don’t understand."

"Netizens have the memory of goldfish, flipping public opinion is a matter of just one minute."

Chen Xiu frowned, deciding not to embarrass himself in an area outside of his expertise. Instead, he raised a practical issue: "Then what about the students from the Spirit Institute who got exposed in the report?"

"Our Spirit Institute is full of handsome men and pretty women. Last night, those dogs from the Medical School saw everything clearly under the cover of night. They immediately reported it to the New Media Institute, and the students who went into the cold storage have already been dug up online!"

Li Xianzhou’s expression remained unchanged. "Who did they expose?"

Chen Xiu: "Ming Yue, the freshman who’s incredibly beautiful and radiates so much yang energy."Li Xianzhou: "……"

Li Xianzhou glanced at him. "You don't need to add a string of adjectives, I know who it is."

Chen Xiu: "……"

Chen Xiu held his breath. "Teacher, now is not the time to nitpick."

Outside the meeting room, Ming Yue, who had been following Guo Tianyang, leaned against the door and looked up at the sky, letting out a sigh after a while.

What Li Yanwang said was right.

In the information age, reputation is like paper.

The fame of a hundred-year-old prestigious school can be destroyed or built in just one night by a spark.

Taking out his phone, Ming Yue took a deep breath and dialed Ming Ye’s number.

Three rings.

It was picked up right on time.

Ming Ye’s voice was deep and cold, not the kind of cool and warm-hearted tone Li Xianzhou had, but a true coldness like ice.

"Yue, it should be your class time now."

"Give me a reason why you're calling."

Ming Yue forced a laugh. "Big brother."

Ming Ye: "Spit it out."

Ming Yue: "Did you see today's Jinling Morning Post?"

Ming Ye: "I'm busy, haven’t seen it yet."

Ming Yue was silent for a second. "Then you should take a look first."With heavy steps, Ming Yue returned to her dormitory, reflecting on herself all the way.

Li Xianzhou was right.

Passion alone can't make a career; only meticulousness and attention to detail can.

There is still so much I need to learn.

This incident wasn't handled well; I paid for the lesson and dragged a lot of people down. In the future, I must hold a banquet to apologize.

Thinking of this, Ming Yue lowered her head and sighed, feeling like a frostbitten eggplant.

She took out her keys, preparing to open the door, but when she looked up at the dormitory door, her pupils constricted—

A pale yellow letter was pinned to the door with a dagger, the blade stained with blood.

The paper only had a few words:

[Found you, are you happy?]

Ming Yue: "……"

Ming Yue pulled a talisman out of her bag and wrapped her hand with it. She reached out to touch the dagger, but the moment her fingers made contact, the dagger turned to ash and disappeared.

The letter fell to the ground.

Ming Yue picked it up and examined it in her hand.

Bai Linlang opened the door. "I heard some noise. What’s up? Why aren’t you coming in?"

Ming Yue turned the letter over and showed it to her, expressionless.

"Room leader, look."

"Someone sent a threatening letter."At noon the next day, twelve hours after the article about the ghost incident at Jin University was reposted, Jinling Morning News published another special edition, calling the previously viral in-depth article worthless. It claimed that the article violated core values and principles, that it was dross, and should be strictly suppressed, while also publicly distancing themselves from it.

A round of operations, a flip-flop, slapping themselves in the face, not a bit of discomfort.

The online public opinion erupted.