Chapter 4

Chapter 4: The Exorcist Formation

The explosion incident on Line 2, after urgent negotiations late last night, was no longer the kind of news that could strike at the government's backbone when it broke out during the day.

In the hospital bed, Ming Yue scrolled through the Jinling Morning News on her phone, and the headline "Real-Life Horror! Suspect No. 2 in the Guangcheng Station Incident Commits Suicide at the Airport" caught her eye.

"..." Ming Yue paused, her finger sliding as she scrolled down to read more.

Wandering ghosts have choices in life. They would rather give up the chance for a peaceful reincarnation and harm the living instead. If they choose this path, they shouldn’t blame the law of the afterlife for being merciless—it’ll turn them to ash and dust.

Speaking of which, Ming Yue initially got involved in the subway ghost case simply because she couldn’t stand seeing ghosts passing by Mingjia Village and still not abiding by the afterlife's rules. She felt a moment of pity for these vengeful spirits who died with lingering hatred and were destined for punishment in the afterlife—not out of sympathy for the disgraceful Zhou Pingping.

Having been in the hospital for almost three days, Ming Yue obediently informed the hospital, her school, and the police before packing her bag and heading back to campus. The afternoon sunlight was just right, but the people around her kept eyeing the curse mark on her temple. Ming Yue put on her headphones and pretended not to see.

She had seen the scenery of Jinling University’s Langxia Campus for half a year, the familiar sights like a rotating lantern, but today, with her newfound sight through her Yin-Yang eyes, everything looked completely different.

The world now seemed to shimmer with a strange glow. The lively colors on everyone’s body turned into a misty jade white hue, which, from a distance, looked like the pale yellow of water jade. Ming Yue knew that was the "yang energy" only living, fleshy beings possessed.

Upon a closer look, the karmic chains that sometimes emerged from the living on the street became even more apparent.

What is a karmic chain?

Living in the world of the living, every action, every thought forms karma. The thoughts create causes, and actions are the consequences.

Everyone forms karma, boiling flesh in the pot, adding fuel to the fire, cooking the karmic chain.

Ming Yue looked at a passing student, watching as a karmic chain appeared from his body, puffed out, and then shrank back in, much like a carp feeding. A surge of heroic spirit rose from her heart.

She had been at Jinling University for one semester, and her Yin-Yang eyes had been exhausted, unable to practice in her professional courses. Even in the demonstration lessons, she was always pushed to the back of the line. Heaven knows how many times she had been verbally bullied by these students with high scores—just like her roommate Bai Linlang had once said:

"If you weren't the daughter of the Ming family, a famous exorcist family, you wouldn't even be able to lick the threshold of the Spirit Sealing department."

Ming Yue stuck out her tongue: "..."

Hey, I walked into that threshold properly.

But Ming Yue was someone who kept a straight face. She knew her Yin-Yang eyes were problematic, and in arguments, she had always been in the wrong. She had silently endured it all in the past.But now, it's different.

Everything is different!

My Yin-Yang eyes (barely, scratch that) are working!

And in half a month, the exam week will begin, the time to shine and make a huge comeback has arrived!

Time to show you all!

Thinking of this, Ming Yue’s mood immediately soared.

On the shaded path, Ming Yue, who was running like a trail of exhaust fumes, managed to make the students along the way at Jinling University fall into silence.

Back in the dormitory, Ming Yue immediately began a late-night study session. Bai Linlang, who had just woken up from her nap and was applying a face mask, was startled by the sound of the dorm door slamming open. She saw Ming Yue sitting down, turning on the desk lamp, and focusing intently on... looking at the class schedule.

Bai Linlang: "…"

Bai Linlang looked outside. It was just past four o'clock, and the sky was still bright. The sun hung in the western sky. Then she looked at Ming Yue, who was ready for a late-night study session and almost seemed to need a cup of coffee. She felt a long-lost sense of speechlessness.

Does she think electricity is free?

An Xueru poked her head out from the makeup mirror and greeted, "Ming Yue, you're back."

Ming Yue, holding some leftover bread, took a bite and nodded seriously, "Yes, I’m back alive."

An Xueru: "…"

An Xueru and Bai Linlang exchanged glances. An Xueru gave a silent signal, and Bai Linlang coldly asked, "Disappearing for three days without a word, Ming Yue, aren’t you going to explain anything?"

"The work at Mingjia Village could keep you busy for three days?"Ming Yue’s eyes flicked, and she sweetly said, “I knew the monitor was worried about me, the counselor even talked to me about it.”

Bai Linlang’s expression stiffened, and she awkwardly said, “Li Xianzhou is unreliable, don’t listen to him.”

Ming Yue immediately turned into Sherlock Holmes, her gaze sharp as she locked eyes with Bai Linlang, “So it was really the monitor who called the counselor to report that I came back late.”

Bai Linlang: "…"

Suddenly, it felt like she had fallen into a pit.

What the heck, I was clearly just concerned about my roommate, not tattling.

Bai Linlang sneered, “With your half-blind eyes and your gas tank of a body, don’t you fear being a lightbulb when you go out in the middle of the night?”

Ming Yue didn’t answer but instead asked, “Didn’t the newspaper say it?”

Beside them, An Xueru chuckled and casually offered her support with a kidney machine, scrolling through the Jinling Morning News. Ming Yue nodded, “It’s about the subway explosion.”

Bai Linlang shot An Xueru a glance, and An Xueru shrugged, “I guessed it.”

Inside the Spirit Binding department, news travels fast. It’s not that the walls don’t have ears, but there’s not even a piece of paper to cover the door. If something happens, with the wind blowing, the whole dormitory building knows about it.

But that day, when Li Xianzhou came back, he had something urgent and rushed off without talking to even the class monitor, Yan Jun. Professor Wang Yangming didn’t stay on campus, and there hadn’t been any curse-writing lessons in the past few days. It wasn’t until now, when the main party revealed it, that anyone in Spirit Binding knew — it turned out that Ming Yue had been involved in the recent subway explosion on Line 2.

Bai Linlang squinted, “Was it a vengeful ghost?”

“Yes.” Ming Yue flipped her hair, showing her two “scheming” roommates the scar on her left eye, pretending to scare them, “It was a big baby spirit, and my left eye devoured it!”

Bai Linlang: "…"

Bai Linlang dryly said, “Do you think you’re a purple-gold red gourd?”

Ming Yue shook her head, “I knew you wouldn’t believe me, you always love to tease me.” She walked over to draw the curtains, concentrating, and with a snap of her fingers, she said, “Open!”

Roommates: "…"

Bai Linlang was speechless, “What are you doing now?”Ming Yue closed her eyes and waved her hand, “Get with the vibe, don’t disturb me.”

She then opened her eyes, and her right eye blazed with a brilliant golden light, like a small sun. The intense yang energy made even her roommates, who had been with her for so long, feel their hearts race and their skin crawl.

An Xueru immediately patted her chest and said, “Oh no, I just remembered seeing Ming Yue go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. There was a yellow eye floating in the air... oh my god.”

Like a lightbulb.

Bai Linlang hissed, “Look at her left eye.”

The originally dull and lifeless gray left eye now emitted a faint grayish glow. Though still murky, it was barely clear enough to make out the pattern of the pupil.

Roommates: “!!!!!!”

Both spoke at the same time, “Your left eye!”

Ming Yue jumped up, “That’s right! My Yin-Yang Eye is working! Hahahahahahahahaha!”

Along with her laughter came the long silence of her two roommates.

Students admitted to the Spirit Binding Academy are always selected with high standards and limited numbers. Those with Yin-Yang Eyes are rare, and those with Yin-Yang Eyes who can make it into the top tier of Jinling University are even rarer, so rare that if one dies, the academy’s leaders will cry for days.

There were only about thirty students in total, with the Equipment department having slightly lower scores, while the Comprehensive and Information Systems departments ranked at the very top. These few dozen people, before entering university, were all top-tier talents, so competition among them was inevitable.

In the entrance rankings, Ming Yue and Bai Linlang were in the top tier, while An Xueru ranked slightly lower, which made her feel off for a while.

However, after practical exams began, Ming Yue’s abnormal Yin-Yang Eye was discovered, and her grades quickly plummeted to the bottom, dropping out of the top tier. This finally allowed An Xueru to feel better.

After all, no one wants to be the last in their dorm, right?

The Spirit Binding exams had a system of elimination, with the bottom ten percent of the Comprehensive department being demoted to the Equipment department. An Xueru had already prepared snacks, eagerly waiting for the show when Ming Yue failed the practicals and was directly kicked to the Equipment department.

But to everyone’s surprise, halfway through the semester, Ming Yue, by sheer luck, had her Yin-Yang Eye clear up again.

This reminded An Xueru of Ming Yue’s exceptional intellect when the semester began—her unease grew.

Meanwhile, Ming Yue’s thoughts had shifted from “I’m no longer half-blind” to “Watch me show my true power at the end of the semester.” An Xueru narrowed her eyes, crossed her arms, and dropped a comment, “You still need a lot of practice for the practicals. You’re far from ready.” After saying that, she went back to her own bed.Ming Yue's mindset was as tough as a cockroach, completely unaffected, and she began delivering a passionate speech about her newly awakened vision.

The lone listener, Bai Shizhang: “……”

Bai Linlang’s feelings were even more complicated.

The Bai family was also a demon-slaying family, but they couldn’t compare to the Ming family in terms of legacy and power. The previous head of the Ming family, Ming Dinghai, dominated South China, his fame spreading far and wide. Bai Linlang had grown up idolizing Ming Yue’s uncle from the Ming family. But who would have guessed that the Ming family’s daughter, Ming Yue, was a complete failure? The psychological gap was quickly overcome by Bai Linlang, and when she saw Ming Yue daydreaming during class, she almost wanted to give her a good beating.

She viewed Ming Yue with a “shame on you for not trying” mentality.

Ming Yue didn’t deserve to carry the Ming surname, nor did she deserve to be in the Spirit Binding!

But now, look at this—this dog-shit luck, her Yin-Yang Eye has cleared up.

Look at her smugness. Bai Linlang couldn’t stand it any longer. The Ming family was known for their disciplined education and dignified conduct—who was this girl, acting so full of herself?!

The Ming family fangirl, Bai Linlang, was having an existential crisis, holding in a bellyful of anger but unable to explode due to her poor manners. Fuming, she sat back in her bed.

That night, the girls' dorm room 405 witnessed a strange sight. All three of them stayed up late, drinking coffee, studying passionately, each competing to stay up later than the others.

Classmates who passed by their dorm, struck by a sense of crisis, shivered and asked, “What are you guys doing?”

The three of them answered in unison, “We’re studying!”

“Studying makes me happy!”

Classmates: “……”

Seeing even Ming Yue, the class slacker, working hard to draw the Clear Mind charm, the classmates were shocked. What was happening here?! Cold sweat trickled down their backs, and they quickly rushed back to their own rooms to study.

Before the curfew, Class Leader Yan Jun came to check the dorms. Seeing every room lit up with students studying late, he was deeply pleased. When he reached room 405, he took a special photo and sent it to Counselor Li Xianzhu, with the caption:

[Teacher Li, look, even Ming Yue is studying hard now.]

[This year’s class is going to do great.]

Upon receiving the message, Li Xianzhu: “……”