Gu Xu, unusually, wasn't uninterested in his topic as she usually was; instead, she took the initiative to ask, "How so?"

"You have no idea, we encountered something absolutely disgusting during this mission..."

He Wangyao talked endlessly about what happened in Xianyuan Village, eager to vent her frustrations.

Although that thousand-year-old evil spirit wasn't as disgusting as the monsters we'd fought before, its inner ugliness was absolutely legendary, leaving us feeling heavy and oppressed.

Gu Xu: "What you're doing is a good deed. As for that village, it's completely rotten. You reap what you sow, so there's no need to worry about it."

He Wangyao: "You have no idea, many people don't understand what the boss is doing, and almost thought he was vicious and dangerous..."

Gu Xu frowned slightly. "Absurd! How could those people think that way? How can a Bodhisattva's compassion be shown without the fierce wrath of a Vajra?"

Mingzhuo said happily, "I knew you would agree with blood for blood and tooth for tooth, and you wouldn't think I'm bad."

Many people are easy to talk about when they're not in the situation, and they like to advise others to be magnanimous.

The blade didn't touch him, so of course he felt no pain or itch, let alone empathy.

Gu Xu: "How could that be? You've always been very good."

Li Wenhe suddenly asked casually, "Boss, what's the origin of that horizontal barb in the lake?"

The topic was abruptly changed.

Pei Di suddenly remembered something, "You also said it likes to collect corpses!"

He Wangyao got goosebumps all over. Collecting corpses sounded really weird. He almost thought he was going to have a big fight, but the other party was surprisingly easy to talk to.

Mingzhuo: "Oh, it likes to collect corpses, but not in the way you think."

Gu Xu: "Is it Henggong fish? According to the Classic of Mountains and Seas, Henggong fish is shaped like a carp but red. It lives in the water during the day and transforms into a human at night. It cannot be pierced by a needle, nor can it be killed by boiling. But it will die if boiled with two dried plums. Eating it can cure evil diseases. It is said that people would try to catch Henggong fish in order to cure diseases and prolong life."

Mingzhuo was somewhat surprised; Ah Xu was indeed very knowledgeable.

"Yes, the Henggong fish needs to live in cold pools, but they are naturally fond of lively places and will come to play in the human world at night. In order to lure the Henggong fish, people will deliberately light a campfire in the wild and cook hot food. The Henggong fish are simple-minded and will go to eat. But what awaits them is often a cruel killing. So they both like to be close to humans and are afraid to approach them."

"When they see a corpse that someone has thrown to the bottom of the lake, they will instinctively carry it back to their cave to keep it, because the corpse will not harm them, so everyone can be good friends."

He Wangyao never expected the truth to be like this.

I thought that such a huge creature, which liked to collect corpses, must be a demon, but I never expected it to be such a naive and innocent person.

During the second half of the journey, Mingzhuo fell asleep.

She's been quite exhausted these past few days, battling a thousand-year-old evil spirit, summoning the Henggong Fish, and performing rituals to open the gates of hell for the departed souls.

Gu Xu told Ah Hu to drive slowly so she could sleep more peacefully.

When Mingzhuo woke up again after this sleep, it was already the next day.

She went downstairs in high spirits and saw her family sitting downstairs, all very neatly arranged. Even Xu Shanglou had already returned from Xiangshi.

When Ruan Mingying saw Mingzhuo, she quickly pulled her to sit down next to her.

There was something she had thought about for a long time, but she finally decided to say it: "Zhuozhuo, you're only in high school, you don't need to work so hard to build your career."

Other people's children are still innocent and carefree at this age, but my own younger sisters are all very capable.

Being the older sister was naturally very happy, but at the same time, she felt particularly heartbroken.

Every time Zhuozhuo goes out, she comes back so exhausted that she sleeps for more than ten hours. That's too much of a challenge.

Ruan Mingying herself had a very hard life when she was young, but it was all for survival. She had no demands on her younger sister, only hoping that she would be happy.

"I know I shouldn't interfere, but you're still a minor, and your health is the most important thing right now. Listen to me, don't go out anymore, okay?"

Ruan Mingying was clearly anxious, which is a common problem for parents. They worry about their children at the slightest sign of trouble, let alone Mingzhuo, who seemed to have a serious problem.

"I swear I won't interfere in your affairs once you turn eighteen. Just this once, okay?"

Mingzhuo blinked. Xu Shanglou, worried that the two might misunderstand, said, "Mingying, Zhuozhuo has things she has to do. How about we compromise and try to reduce the frequency of going out in the future?"

Ruan Mingying hesitated for a moment, then looked at Mingzhuo.

"I'll listen to my older sister." Mingzhuo nodded obediently.

She had originally planned to find an opportunity to confess to her mother and sister, but now it seems better to keep it a secret.

If Ruan Mingying knew that she was dealing with ghosts and monsters, she would be anxious to death every day.

After taking a long leave of absence, Mingzhuo finally returned to school to continue attending classes.

Her homeroom teacher, Li Huili, had a talk with her, focusing on two points: whether she had any health problems and how she got involved with the education association.

Li Huili originally had some reservations about Mingzhuo taking leave. Even if he had good grades and a high IQ, he shouldn't keep skipping classes.

Learning is like rowing against the current; even the best talent cannot be wasted. If you keep slacking off, what if you fall back to the bottom of the class?

Who knew that the leave slip that Li Wenhe submitted on behalf of Mingzhuo was actually stamped with the official seal of the Education Association.

That's not the scariest part. The scariest part is that Mingzhuo's reason for taking leave was actually a business trip.

Li Huili went to the principal and called the education association to confirm the authenticity of the leave request.

A group of teachers and school leaders were puzzled as to why a high school student would be specially invited by the Education Association to go on a business trip.

Li Huili herself had never enjoyed such treatment. Thinking of the cases of some genius scientists abroad, she suddenly felt that she had seen the truth!

She's training a teenage genius scientist!

"If you need to take leave in the future, feel free to do so. It's okay, as long as you don't fall behind in your studies," Li Huili said with a particularly gentle smile.

Mingzhuo: "No, no, no, teacher, I won't ask for leave. I will attend classes properly from now on and won't cause any trouble for the teachers."

Li Huili: "You're only following up on confidential projects, aren't you? I understand, I won't say anything more."

Mingzhao: "..."

What do you know? You think you understand that?

Mingzhu left the office in a daze, feeling that she and her homeroom teacher had misunderstood each other.

However, she did stop taking leave and attended classes diligently every day.

Several of her teachers inexplicably became respectful towards her, and whenever they saw her sitting in the classroom, they would subconsciously feel nervous and pressured, fearing that they might have made a mistake in what they were saying.

In his spare time, Mingzhuo would eat, drink, and have fun with Xie Xiao and the others, spending a happy time like a normal high school student.

Xie Xiao recently saw some gossip and was a bit annoyed. "Yang Juntong is so pitiful!"

"Yang Juntong? What happened to him?" Ming Zhuo was immediately intrigued. Wasn't this Yang Xiaoqiang, who had once been separated from his body?

Xie Xiao: "A woman posted a photo of herself having dinner with Yang Juntong on a social media platform, which was suspected to be an exposure of Yang Juntong's relationship and caused a stir on the trending topics."