Chapter 16

After all, it doesn’t matter whether I send one teacher to the hospital or two!

If I’m going to do it, I might as well do it thoroughly. I’ll send this Smith’s English teacher to the hospital too! A determined look flashed in Yuruko’s eyes… along with a hint of murderous intent!

"Senior Song, is this Smith teacher a foreigner? What does he look like?" Yuruko pretended to be curious and asked.

"That guy is a stern old man, but his teaching skills are excellent," Song Shuhang replied with a smile, casually tapping on the name 'Professor Smith' in the message.

A photo of a serious-looking old British man with meticulously combed hair popped up.

The campus network of Jiangnan University was a large, independent information system. With the right permissions, one could access the information of all students and teachers.

"Looks a bit stern. Does he live in the faculty apartments too?" Yuruko asked nervously.

"Yep," Song Shuhang nodded, not thinking much of it, and continued to add Yuruko’s ID to book the train tickets.

Yuruko smiled awkwardly, then quietly went to the balcony and put on the magical artifact: 'To see a thousand miles, one must climb to a higher floor.'

Soon, she found her target.

Professor Smith was walking his pet dog by the college river.

"Strange, is it getting chilly?" Suddenly, the stern old British man pulled his collar, feeling an inexplicable chill, puzzled.

"Sorry, sorry. Just like Teacher Ren Shui, I’ll make it up to you after this is over." Yuruko muttered to herself for a while, then rubbed the golden talisman paper with both hands.

By the college river...

The stern British old man felt that today wasn’t his day and decided to return to his dormitory to rest: "Ham, let’s go back. It’s a good time to prepare for tomorrow’s class."

As he spoke, Professor Smith tugged on the dog’s leash.

"Ugh... Ugh!" At this moment, the usually obedient pet dog suddenly let out a low growl, its eyes turning blood red.

Professor Smith felt a powerful force coming from the dog’s leash. The usually gentle Ham was now baring his neck.

Professor Smith frowned and pulled the leash hard.

"Arf!" The pet dog did come back, but it lunged at him with red eyes! Its mouth opened wide, aiming for the old British man’s thin legs, and bit down hard.

"Oh, no! Help! Help me!" The riverbank echoed with Professor Smith’s cries for help.

...

...

Fifteen minutes later.

In a two-person ward at the Jiangnan University-affiliated hospital.

Teacher Ren Shui lay in bed, his legs raised high in a rather embarrassing position. His wife held their child, looking both amused and exasperated.

At this moment, the door to the hospital room opened, and a stern British old man was wheeled in.

"Hey? Professor Smith? Weren’t you supposed to take over my class tomorrow afternoon? What happened to you?" Teacher Ren Shui asked in surprise.

The British old man replied in clear Chinese with a hateful tone: "I was... bitten by Ham. Ouch, the dog I raised. The doctor said the bite was too severe, damaging the bone. Ouch, I have to be hospitalized. As soon as I’m discharged tomorrow, I’ll have it slaughtered for soup! Ouch..."

This stern British old man was clearly heartbroken by his own pet, feeling that the dog was an ungrateful beast that almost cost him his life. Soup, it must be made into soup!

"..." Teacher Ren Shui felt that today’s events were getting bizarre!

***

On the other side, Song Shuhang had already booked the train tickets for Yuruko.

At this moment, a new message popped up on his campus network account.

"Attention, students of the 19th class, 43rd group, Mechanical Design and Manufacturing College: Due to Professor Smith’s injury and hospitalization, tomorrow afternoon’s university English class is canceled. Tomorrow afternoon, the 19th class, 43rd group, of the Mechanical Design and Manufacturing College will have a half-day off. Please inform each other and make the necessary preparations! Thank you."

This short message was repeated three times.

It was also set to repeat every half hour, covering the previous message.

"..." Song Shuhang stared at the short message, feeling a million horses galloping through his mind.

He turned to look at Yuruko, who was smiling brightly, and felt that today’s events were getting bizarre!

***

In the end, Shuhang still accompanied Yuruko to City J—because he had no reason not to.

He never would have thought that two professors would be sent to the hospital one after another. Such a low-probability event, akin to winning the lottery, had actually happened to him. Because of the unfortunate incidents involving the two professors, he now had a whole day off. With Yuruko’s excited eyes, he booked the train tickets to City J.

The ticket numbers were consecutive, so they would be sitting next to each other.

"Yuruko, is it a coincidence that two professors were hospitalized one after another?" Shuhang stared intently at Yuruko, not blinking. This was a deadly technique of staring someone down and intimidating them with his aura. Under such a direct gaze, a liar would feel uneasy.

Today’s events were too coincidental. One professor was hospitalized, and the other, who was supposed to take over the class, was also hospitalized within three minutes. What kind of ridiculous plot was this?

Shuhang believed he was past the age of fantasy, with dreams of martial arts and immortals long gone from his life. But now, he really suspected that Yuruko might have some special abilities to send the two professors to the hospital.

He even let his imagination run wild and thought in a sinister direction—this girl might actually be the daughter of a terrifying dark force, like in the movies, with a large group of people hidden around her, ready to fulfill her every wish. Then, because she wanted him to accompany her to City J, those hidden subordinates cruelly sent the two professors to the hospital?

When Song Shuhang’s dark eyes stared at her, Yuruko remained calm: "How could that be? I’m not the type to do such things. Senior Song, you have to believe me!"

Her eyes were as clear as an unpolluted holy lake, but... what was with the 'I' in her speech?

Fortunately, Shuhang didn’t dwell on the topic. He was just expressing his thoughts and asking casually.

"We’ll leave around 3:10 PM and arrive at the Jiangnan University station by 3:30 PM. Since we still have some time, why don’t you try to find information about ‘Ghidō Temple’ online? I’ll go buy lunch. Do you have any dietary restrictions?" Song Shuhang asked.

"No, I can eat anything," Yuruko replied. At this moment, to hide her unease, she would even swallow her most hated green peppers!

"Then, try your best to find information about Ghidō Temple. I’ll be back soon. If my roommates come back, just tell them I’m with a friend," Song Shuhang waved and left.

After Song Shuhang left, Yuruko, feeling guilty, huddled in front of the computer and continued searching for all the temples in the Luoxin district of City J, checking them one by one.

***

June 2nd, 3:00 PM.

Song Shuhang’s three roommates had already received the notification on the campus network, so they didn’t return to the dormitory today.

"Yuruko, let’s go," Song Shuhang called out.

"Coming," Yuruko stood up from the computer, looking dejected.

She had searched for a long time but still couldn’t find any information about Ghidō Temple. And Beihex Sanren was also offline all afternoon, for some reason.

Song Shuhang sorted the items he bought from Food Paradise and put them in the fridge, leaving a simple note for his roommates, indicating that there was food in the fridge for them to enjoy.

For this trip, he brought a shoulder bag containing his phone, charger, and power bank. He didn’t know how long they would be out, and it would be troublesome if his phone ran out of power.

Yuruko followed Shuhang, pulling her large suitcase.

Seeing her dejected look, Shuhang asked, "Didn’t find Ghidō Temple?"

"Nothing at all. I don’t know if it’s been renamed or demolished. We’ll have to ask the locals in City J," Yuruko said gloomily.

"Everything will fall into place. Let’s go and see."

They talked as they walked and took the elevator down.

At 3:00 PM, the number of people in the dormitory building gradually increased as the part-time students from various departments started returning to school.

"Ahhang, where are you going?" A classmate of Shuhang’s waved and greeted him. Their attention was quickly drawn to Yuruko behind Song Shuhang—what a tall and beautiful woman!