Chapter 37

Chapter 37: Fragmented Words One

Ming Family Village Station.

The No. 2 line runs every ten minutes, and it's still in the interval.

Ming Yue, with a large bag and a small bag on her back, was going through the text messages on her phone, deleting them one by one.

In the second half of the winter break, she was bombarded with congratulatory messages from everyone at the academy—voices overlapping, all jumbled together.

Her finger swiped over a message from Chen Xiu:

【It’s an honor to be on the fine list with the junior. Chen Xiu】

Underneath this message were over a hundred similar "works."

Ninety-nine percent of the senders, before Ming Yue even looked at the signatures, she had no idea who they were.

The content was all the same.

Congratulating the junior for making it to the top of the fine list, bringing glory to Sealing Spirit, blah blah blah.

Ming Yue: "......"

It wasn't until she received so many messages in the few days after being listed on the official website that Ming Yue truly believed it. Apparently, people from all the major spiritual academies really thought that having their name on the fine list was something "honorable."

Pfft.

Ming Yue deleted the last message from Chen Xiu, then sighed.

The subway roared past, blowing her hair into a bird’s nest.

sigh.

After waiting for half a month, she still hadn't received a message from Jun Weiran.

Ming Yue, feeling down, got on the subway.

The new semester began, and the miscellaneous tasks piled up endlessly.

The first week was chaotic for Ming Yue.

Classmates, who had previously been as indifferent as strangers, now surrounded her like they were watching a panda. They came over to look at Ming Yue while having lunch, and came by to chat with her while getting water.The annoyingly straightforward class president posted a notice right outside the dormitory door:

【No reason to visit, pay up to look】

【30 yuan per person】

Ming Yue: "......"

Ming Yue seriously thought about how much of the 30 yuan she could keep for herself.

When she went to register and turn in her student ID, Yan Jun teased her: "Oh, the top name on the fine list is here."

Ming Yue: "......"

Ming Yue decisively tossed her student ID at the class president, who caught it with quick reflexes.

"Someone makes fun of me, and you’re still like this?" Ming Yue was a bit angry.

"I don’t know who followed me to kill ghosts in the middle of the night before the New Year," Yan Jun chuckled, putting Ming Yue's student ID away and softening his tone, "My bad."

"That night, we built a deep revolutionary friendship, huh."

"Come, sit."

After speaking, he opened the drawer of the desk, wrapped the student ID with a rubber band, and placed it inside.

Before his words even finished, Jin Yuanbao, wearing headphones, climbed up from his bed with a blanket over him and shouted, "What? Yan Lao-da, you and Ming Yue have a classmate friendship now?"

"Digging at your brother’s corner isn’t very righteous."

Yan Jun: "……What nonsense are you talking about?"

Seeing that Yan Jun’s expression wasn’t good, Ming Yue quickly explained to Jin Yuanbao: "No, no, it’s about the Baoshan hospital incident. At that time, I was partnered with the class president. If others teased me, I could let it slide, but he laughed at me?"

"Then I really should’ve let the multi-eyed monster eat him back then."

"What digging corners."

She then looked at Jun Weiran's empty bed with a motherly gaze, and said with exaggerated sincerity, "My heart is as sincere as the sun and moon."Jin Yuanbao: "......"

Jin Yuanbao secretly looked at Yan Jun, realizing that his face had turned even worse.

What’s going on here?

Jin Yuanbao dug at his ear.

It’s been a whole winter break, and the plot twists in this drama are crazy.

Ming Yue finished handing over her stuff and left Yan Jun’s dorm.

There wasn’t much time left; the cafeteria probably had no food left.

The two guys started cooking dumplings to deal with lunch.

Just as the door closed, Jun Weiran came back with groceries, arriving just after Ming Yue. It made people wonder if he had been waiting for Ming Yue to leave before coming in.

He walked in to find his roommates already putting dumplings in the pot and starting to eat.

Jun Weiran: "......"

Jun Weiran dropped the bag of groceries and said helplessly, "Are you two planning to make me drink dumpling soup?"

After saying that, he squeezed in with his two roommates, fighting for the food in the pot.

Jin Yuanbao, whose mouth was blistering from the hot dumplings, mumbled:

"Old Jun, Ming Yue just came by."

Jun Weiran stopped fishing out dumplings and coldly glared at him: "So?"

Jin Yuanbao was really good at pulling tiger whiskers, grinning with bits of vegetables still stuck in his teeth: "What else? Watching a Qiong Yao drama."

"'My heart is as sincere as the sun and moon,' haha."

What?

Jun Weiran was confused.

"Yuanbao!" Yan Jun shot a warning glare at his roommate.

Jin Yuanbao truly deserves to be single. Grinning, he said, "What else could it be? Ming Yue clearly came to our dorm and said it.""Jun, you really have a heart of stone."

"Such a beautiful girl, and you haven't been moved in half a year."

Jun Weiran impatiently swatted away Jin Yuanbao’s arm that was draped over his shoulder. "If you don’t know, don’t say nonsense."

Jin Yuanbao shrugged.

The only sound left in the air was the boiling of the dumpling soup in the pot.

Suddenly, Yan Jun spoke up: "Old Jun, are you and Ming Yue childhood friends?"

The moment the words were out, both roommates paused.

Jin Yuanbao perked up his ears: "What’s going on? Childhood sweethearts?"

Jun Weiran frowned. "Yan Jun, where did you hear that from?"

Yan Jun mumbled, "From the upperclassmen."

"Didn't expect that, Old Jun."

Yan Jun’s words didn’t carry any malice, but Jun Weiran, though he wasn’t keen on talking about the past, was too proud to lie:

"Yes, we’ve known each other for more than ten years."

"Yama, you’re only in your teens, and you’ve known each other for more than ten years—" Jin Yuanbao clicked his tongue.

The scalding hot dumplings were shoved into Jun Weiran’s mouth, and he mumbled: "Our parents had business dealings."

"That’s all."

Yan Jun put down his bowl without speaking.

The task of starting the conversation had already been done, and the rest was naturally left for Jin Yuanbao, the firecracker, to finish asking.

And sure enough—

"What do you mean, Old Jun? Ming Yue’s father passed away a long time ago.""Everyone knows about Ming Dinghai’s deeds," Jin Yuanbao nudged some food towards Jun Weiran. "If you’re going to lie, at least make it believable."

"Who’s lying?!"

Jun Weiran seemed to have had his patience snapped. He suddenly exploded, leaving Jin Yuanbao stunned:

"My father is dead too!"

"By her..." Jun Weiran started to speak but suddenly bit his tongue, sitting back down in silence.

"Go on."

"I want to hear about the mess between Huang and the childhood sweethearts, whether it’s good or bad," Jin Yuanbao continued.

"It’s definitely bad." Yan Jun interjected.

However, no matter how much Jin Yuanbao teased or how much Yan Jun subtly probed, Jun Weiran didn’t say another word. He silently finished the cold dumplings in his bowl, turned, and stormed out of the dorm room, slamming the door with a deafening bang.

BANG!

Jin Yuanbao winked at Yan Jun: "I guess he’s mad."

Yan Jun revealed his sly side: "It’s normal. Old Jun has too much pride. We teased him like that, of course, he’d get mad."

Jin Yuanbao scooped up some dumpling soup, "I’m really curious, no other intentions."

"I’ve heard from the upperclassmen for a while, they say Jun Weiran’s father’s death is all fuzzy, and some say it’s related to Ming Dinghai—who knows what’s true or not."

"Living with Jun Weiran in the same dorm is like living with a bomb, always ready to explode, just look at his strange face."

Sigh.

Yan Jun stood up to clear the dishes, "His father’s death is related to Ming Dinghai?"

Jin Yuanbao looked around, signaling for Yan Jun to lower his voice: "I don’t know."

"It’s just piecing together rumors."

"There are so many gossiping upperclassmen, I’m telling you."

"The Jun family’s history is long, but too bad it didn’t rise again like the Ming family did.""Life is just full of ups and downs, down, down, down."

The faucet turned on as Yan Jun washed the dishes and scrubbed the pot. Jin Yuanbao thought the boss had lost interest and continued playing games on his pad. Just as the game of King of Glory started, Yan Jun suddenly spoke:

"What's Jun Weiran's father's name?"

Jin Yuanbao scratched his head, "I don’t know."

"Seems like he’s not particularly famous."

"That’s why I thought Old Jun was lying earlier, saying his father’s death was related to Ming Dinghai." Ming Dinghai is so famous—how can anyone just pin all the blame on him like that?

"Though, if he fathered a son as amazing as Old Jun, his father must have been pretty great too."

Then he went back to playing his game.

Yan Jun continued washing the dishes slowly.

When they first started their freshman year, and he had just become class monitor, he was busy handling data for over thirty classmates and had once seen Jun Weiran’s information.

His father seemed to be called Jun Yuanshan.

There was no name listed for his mother.

The dorm brothers were all quite pitiful.

After a while of playing, Jin Yuanbao multitasked and felt something was off. He took off his headphones and asked suspiciously:

"Boss, what's up with you today?"

"Why are you asking about Old Jun’s dad?"

"Your family deals with real estate, not census checks."

"Even if you find out the reason, all it’ll do is explain why Jun Weiran and Ming Yue fell out."

"So what?"

So what?

Nothing at all.Knowing the reason for the falling out of childhood sweethearts,

I can make sure they never reconcile again.

Yan Jun wrung out the wet rag, the veins on the back of his hand rising like threads. He smiled at Jin Yuanbao and said:

"What do you want me to do?"

"As you said, dig the wall," Jin Yuanbao replied.

A new semester, a new atmosphere.

The freshman class schedule was adjusted, and the combat course that should have been taken in the second semester of sophomore year was moved to the second semester of freshman year.

In the large gymnasium, the students of the Sealing Spirits Academy stood out the most.

Everyone was dressed in black tight clothing, looking like a group of ninjas, their heads and faces completely covered in black, only revealing two cockeyed looks. They stood in two rows, staring at each other.

Li Xianzhou knocked his teaching stick and loudly said:

"Combat usually occurs between two hostile sides."

"You all should know who the enemies a ghost slayer faces are."

"We're all classmates, so I don’t expect you to try any deadly moves."

"But don’t think you can play around with pushing hands like it's a game."

"Your opponent is right in front of you for this lesson, one-on-one. After a match, you will randomly select your next opponent. After class, I’ll tally the number of matches and wins."

The thirty or so students stood obediently, heads lowered, silent as death.

Students from other departments stood about ten meters away, circling around like watching monkeys, whispering to each other:

"Who’s this teacher? He's pretty handsome."

"Stop it, he looks like a demon king. He’s Li Xianzhou from the Spirit Academy, and he’s really fierce."

"Yeah, when he talks, it feels like we’re not students, we’re just a bunch of dogs, hahahaha."

Li Xianzhou ignored them, speaking to the thirty or so students, whose heads were spinning."Now, draw your swords."

One by one, the students drew their swords.

The cold weapons weren't dazzling, but they illuminated the entire gymnasium, blinding everyone’s eyes.

Students from other departments gasped.

"Oh my God!"

Real swords!

Quick, call your friends over to watch the show!

"..."

Ming Yue awkwardly made eye contact with her opponent.

An Xueru looked back at her coldly and slowly drew her sword.

The cold steel scraped against the scabbard, making a sharp sound.

An Xueru looked at Ming Yue’s trident, sneering, "Is this your sword?"

"Quite unique."

Ming Yue moved her lips but didn’t explain the origin of the trident:

"My family’s old sword belongs to my brother, I can’t use it."

"Don’t look down on the manure fork."

An Xueru: "..."

An Xueru incredulously asked, "What? What do you call this?" As she spoke, she took her stance, gripping her long sword, ready to strike.

Ming Yue gave a bright smile, "This is my sweetheart, my honey."

"It says it's very happy to meet you."

Then, she flung her hand and rushed forward.