Ruan Bei regretted it.
Knowing full well that Bai Miaomiao isn't smart and is a little fool, why bother arguing with him?
Now look what happened. Just a moment ago, he was full of fighting spirit, like a victorious rooster, but one sentence from him made him turn back and reflect.
Why didn't he do this sooner? He said everything he could, and then he ran away.
He ran away, leaving behind an embarrassed Ruan Bei, Qin Gu who was laughing nonstop as if he had caught a laughing disease, and Zeng Peng below who was almost turning into a senile person from keeping a blank expression for too long.
Ruan Bei: "...Cough, stop laughing!"
Ruan Bei gave Qin Gu a push, and now he was in a difficult position. With Bai Miaomiao's actions, he definitely couldn't continue learning hand seals while the curtain was drawn.
It's impossible not to learn; this is a matter of life and death, and he cannot afford to be negligent or careless.
“We…” Ruan Bei wanted to get closer to whisper to Qin Gu, but as soon as he turned to the side, Zeng Peng’s eyes widened and stared at them.
Ruan Bei: "..."
Ruan Bei had no choice but to sit up straight and mumble in a strained voice, "Can I learn like this?"
Qin Gu really wanted to say no, let's keep the curtain closed and do what Bai Miaomiao suggested.
But when faced with the blatant "You're finished if you dare lie to me" written on Ruan Bei's face, Qin Gu wisely hid his true thoughts and said seriously, "Okay."
The horizontal and vertical optical spells are useless; they have no spiritual energy. For ordinary people, these spells are at best good for showing off.
Rather than being mistaken for having sex with Kunkun in bed, he'd rather be misunderstood as having a delusional disorder. Ruan Bei simply hung up the bed curtains, leaving them wide open, clearly indicating that they hadn't done anything.
"Come on, let's continue." Ruan Bei called to Qin Gu, "Which one did you teach just now?"
When he was studying diligently, Qin Gu didn't want to bother him, so he taught him honestly. However, these hand seals were indeed complicated, and just talking about them was useless. In the end, Qin Gu still had to teach him by pointing with his fingers.
At first, I was a little distracted by my roommates' thoughts, but as I studied, I gradually got into the material and focused my mind.
Ruan Bei learned a new hand gesture, and Zeng Peng finally reconnected to the network, just like a phone that had lost connection and then reconnected.
At his speed, he's probably still in the 2G era.
"You two...you actually..." He belatedly realized his mistake and blushed deeply.
Ruan Bei: "..."
No, you're on top of Bai Miaomiao now? Are you two messing with me?!
"Let's both learn! Learn!" Ruan Bei kept his handprints still and raised them high for Zeng Peng to see: "Look carefully, I'm learning this."
Zeng Peng said angrily, "You couldn't even fool Bai Miaomiao, and you think you can fool me? Your attempt to cover up is too clumsy."
Ruan Bei: "...You seem quite superior to Bai Miaomiao."
They're both idiots, why do they look down on each other? There are only two of them, is it appropriate to engage in such a comparison and denigration?
Bai Miaomiao was resting her face on the table, reflecting on life, when she was suddenly called upon. She was stunned for a moment before realizing what they were talking about, and immediately changed her stance to stand on Ruan Bei's side.
"Yes, what do you mean you couldn't even fool me? Do you think I'm easy to fool? Do I look stupid?"
Zeng Peng nodded honestly, but Bai Miaomiao exploded in a second, making Zeng Peng run away with his head in his hands. Finally, he said pitifully, "Is it really necessary? I was just stating the facts..."
"You still dare to talk!"
"I'm not going to say anything more," Zeng Peng muttered. "It's not like I haven't seen it before. It's just gay stuff, you guys do it, I have no problem with it."
Although Zeng Peng's words were crude, the meaning was clear: he didn't care about his roommate's sexual orientation.
Ruan Bei and Bai Miaomiao breathed a sigh of relief at the same time. After they relaxed, they met each other's eyes, awkwardly looked away, and then felt something was wrong. Why do I feel awkward?
But there was another person who loved to watch the drama unfold. Qin Gu leaned against the wall and lazily said, "You're wrong. I don't do just anyone. I only... uh!"
Ruan Bei silenced him with a single elbow strike, then asked with a forced smile, "Just what?"
"Just...look, I won't say anything."
Bai Miaomiao clicked her tongue in disapproval: "Qin Gu, you're no good. You're not a proper husband."
Ruan Bei realized that Bai Miaomiao was someone who never learned her lesson. She had just been knocked out by his words and hadn't even sorted out her own thoughts before she came to provoke him again.
Ruan Bei immediately retorted: "You're something else. You're very assertive as a husband. I believe that even if you climb over your brother's head, he'll still hold you up so you don't fall."
Bai Miaomiao put her hands on her hips and said smugly, "That's right, it's not like I haven't tried to climb over my brother's head before."
Don't blush, be shy, or get anxious; blushing means you've lost!
Ruan Bei: "..." Why did he evolve so fast?
"You admit it!" Bai Miaomiao suddenly seized on the loophole in Ruan Bei's words: "You admit that your husband's authority is weak, which means you admit that Qin Gu is your husband, hahaha..."
Ruan Bei angrily grabbed a pillow and threw it at him, while Qin Gu smiled broadly behind him and bowed to Bai Miaomiao to express his gratitude.
Bai Miaomiao was overjoyed. He knew he hadn't misjudged; look, the parties involved had confirmed it.
Ruan Bei has the nerve to call him arrogant. He's the one who's stubborn and refusing to admit it. What straight man could be so innocent and close to another person after being mistaken for gay?
"You're one to talk, but you admitted it yourself." Ruan Bei completely forgot that she had just regretted arguing with Bai Miaomiao. Her IQ seemed to plummet whenever she got into a fight with him.
"I'm not like you. My brother and I are brothers. You confused me just now. We've been like this since we were little. My brother is used to spoiling me." Bai Miaomiao raised her chin, looking super calm and not panicked at all, but actually she was panicking inside.
Just now, Ruan Bei said that his relationship with his brother was abnormal, and Bai Miaomiao lay on the table thinking for a long time.
He reflected on his relationship with his brother, wondering if it was really abnormal. Then he realized that no one could say for sure. His brother had always been incredibly good to him since they were little. He couldn't possibly say that his brother had any disharmony with him at such a young age. Just thinking about it would be an insult to his brother.
If that's the case, what if his brother is good to him simply because an older brother takes care of his younger brother and has been spoiling him since childhood?
As Bai Miaomiao thought this, she felt a pang of sadness and a strange, indescribable feeling in her heart.
Ruan Bei felt wronged: "...Who's messing with you? I only said one sentence and you ran away. You're just feeling guilty!"
Besides, he and Kunkun have been like this since they were little.
Zeng Peng's stance wavered: "Didn't you say there was no blood relation?"
Bai Miaomiao forced herself to say, "...They're brothers too, from the same household registration!"
After he said that, the others were speechless.
Zeng Peng breathed a sigh of relief and said, "It's good that you're not dating anyone, otherwise I'd be the only single person in the dorm, and I'd look terrible if word got out."
Ruan Bei stared at Bai Miaomiao, a thought rising in her mind: Could it be that Bai Sen is in unrequited love?
Is it possible that in his past life, Bai Sen unintentionally revealed his feelings, which led to Bai Miaomiao distancing herself from him?
But if Bai Miaomiao had no feelings about what he said before, shouldn't her first reaction be anger? Why did she go back to think about it with a thoughtful look on her face?
Could he do more harm than good? If Bai Miaomiao becomes less close to Bai Sen in an attempt to prove their brotherly relationship is purely platonic, Bai Sen won't let him off the hook!
Just as he was struggling with this decision, Qin Gu leaned closer and whispered in his ear, "Ask his brother's girlfriend."
Girlfriend? Bosen doesn't have a girlfriend.
Yes!
“Miaomiao, you’re right.” Ruan Bei’s gentle tone immediately put Bai Miaomiao on guard.
“I’ve thought about it carefully, and it’s quite normal for brothers to have a good relationship. My sister and I have a very good relationship too.” He said with a smile, “However, the relationship between siblings is not long-lasting. When your brother finds someone he likes, gets married and has children, or when you find someone you like, you will naturally not be as close as before.”
To prove his point, he continued to use Ruan Xi as an example: "Look at my sister, she used to care about me the most, but now that she has a boyfriend, she tells him everything first. Before, she would give me all the good food and fun things first, but now she has to give at least half to her boyfriend."
I'm sorry, sister, I know you love me.
As Ruan Bei spoke, he observed Bai Miaomiao's expression and found that he looked shocked and his eyes were filled with sorrow, as if he had already imagined that scene and could not accept it at all.
Ruan Bei pressed on: "To be honest, I'm quite worried. If my brother-in-law and I have a conflict in the future, I don't know who my sister will side with. If she sides with my brother-in-law, I'll be heartbroken."
Bai Miaomiao clutched her chest, feeling completely unable to accept that her brother treated another person better than he did.
Lu Sibai caused trouble, but his brother always stood by him. He was worried that his brother might be fooled. Just thinking about it made Bai Miaomiao feel like she was going to explode.
"But even though that's what they say, I can understand. I can't stop my sister from finding a partner. She's my sister, and I can't spend my whole life with her."
Speaking of this, it was actually what Ruan Bei really felt. He sighed and said, "What else can we do? We should wish her well. If her brother-in-law treats her badly, we should stand up for her."
What if his brother finds a girlfriend who isn't good to him?
Why?! His brother is so good, why is that person so mean to him?!
Bai Miaomiao was holding his breath. Rationally, he knew that Ruan Bei was right. As a younger brother, he shouldn't stop his older brother from dating and getting married. But emotionally, he couldn't accept it at all!
He couldn't imagine what it would be like to have another person between him and his brother; it would make him very uncomfortable.
Bai Miaomiao irritably rubbed her hair, climbed the bed ladder, and collapsed onto the bed, shutting herself off.
Zeng Peng, who had observed the entire conversation, finally got a clue: "I think Miao Miao doesn't want her brother to get married."
Bai Miaomiao threw down a pillow: "I didn't!"
Ruan Bei smiled smugly, "Done! I'd be doing Bai Sen a disservice if I didn't give him a big red envelope."
"Come on, let's continue learning." Ruan Bei happily pulled Qin Gu to get back to work, this time without anyone bothering him.
After learning the remaining hand seals, Ruan Bei recited the incantation several times to Qin Gu to confirm that he hadn't made any mistakes. The rest was up to Ruan Bei to practice on his own.
Ruan Bei used it and then threw it away, shooing him away: "Go away, go away."
Qin Gu held onto his hand tightly, seemingly wanting to say something but then stopping himself.
Ruan Bei asked, "What?"
Qin Gu glanced at the bed opposite him. Bai Miaomiao had also drawn the bed curtains and was chatting with someone inside. The WeChat notification sounded twice and then stopped, so it was probably turned off.
"Say something!"
Qin Gu coughed lightly and said shyly, "I can also tell you bedtime stories, so don't envy Bai Miaomiao."
Ruan Bei: "...???"
"Get out of here!" Ruan Bei's face flushed instantly. He pushed Qin Gu and told him to leave quickly. Who wanted to listen to a bedtime story? No, who envied Bai Miaomiao!
The next day, the professional courses started, and the few people in the dormitory rushed to get up and get ready for class. The course schedule was not very tight at the beginning of the freshman year. There were only two long classes today, one in the morning and one in the afternoon.
The morning session is an introduction to archaeology, and the afternoon session is on cultural relics management and regulations.
Although Zeng Peng and Bai Miaomiao don't seem very smart, in reality, anyone who can get into Jinzhou University is smart. Even if they barely made it in, they still barely made it into a top-tier university.
The course was relatively simple at the beginning, and it felt okay to learn. After the first big class, Zeng Peng and Bai Miaomiao went back to the dormitory. Instead of playing games together, they studied with Ruan Beiqingu.
Bai Miaomiao seemed to have gone to bed very late last night, and she was a bit listless today. She took a nap after lunch.
The afternoon class was the second period. Ruan Bei silently practiced the spells and hand seals for a while, and then went to see Niu Niu's little house.
Considering that Niu Niu's room would be placed in the dormitory, and that it might not be good if the boys said something joking that Niu Niu might overhear, Qin Gu drew a soundproof note on the door.
As long as the door is closed, Niu Niu can't hear what's being said outside.
He tapped the door with his finger, which was equivalent to knocking. After a while, the door was opened, and Niu Niu stood at the door with Pudding beside her, looking up at Ruan Bei.
Ruan Bei pushed a piece of mung bean cake from the small box into the box, and the two little ones happily climbed up and started eating it.
"What are you doing?" Ruan Bei asked in a breathy voice.
Niu Niu mimicked him, whispering, "Niu Niu is teaching Pudding to recognize words."
Ruan Bei: "?"
Niu Niu ran to get a "big book" the size of a matchbox. It was custom-made by someone at a small shop that specializes in selling dollhouses. He originally thought it was just for decoration, but it was actually real.
Ruan Bei then remembered that Niu Niu was at an age where she needed to go to school.
He decided to go out in a little while and buy some literacy books to teach Niu Niu.
"Brother is going out tonight, so you two stay home and wait for me, okay? If you want to go out to play, you two have to stay together and don't run around."
"Brother, where are you going?" Niu Niu asked, and Pudding also called out a few times.
Niu Niu translated for it: "Pudding asked if it was going to find bad people, and it said it was going too, and I want to go too."
"No," Ruan Bei said. "I have other things to do. Next time I'm going to find bad guys, I'll take you with me."
He summoned a hundred ghosts tonight, but he didn't know what kind of ghosts he would summon. What if some of them were evil ghosts and bullied them?
"Okay, brother, come back soon."
After class in the afternoon, Ruan Bei told his roommates that he had something to do and had made an appointment with Qin Gu, so he would be back late that night and asked them to leave the door open for him.
Then he took his Yu'an umbrella and left in a hurry.
Zeng Peng muttered in confusion, "Is it going to rain?"
The two had a simple dinner first, and then waited for Shen Linpeng to pick them up and take them to the eastern suburbs.
This area wasn't originally this desolate; there were several factories here. But one of the factories had a problem, polluting the land and making the air very bad.
Then the factory was ordered to shut down, and the local government reclaimed and rectified the land. The effects are just beginning to appear, and there hasn't been time for it to be redeveloped yet.
"Is this place okay?" There's no one around for at least five miles.
"Okay." Qin Gu looked around. It had taken them some time to get here, and now that the sun had set, they could start making their move.
So he told Shen Linpeng to drive a little further away first, and he put a ghost-repelling talisman on Shen Linpeng's car and told him not to get out of the car.
After Shen Linpeng drove away, Qin Gu said, "Let's begin."
Ruan Bei nervously licked her lips: "What if... what if we fail..."
"It's alright, I'm here. At worst, we won't be able to summon any ghosts, nothing will happen."
The words "I'm here" inexplicably calmed Ruan Bei's tension and fear. He took a deep breath and said, "Then I'll begin."
The incantations and hand seals that you know by heart are used together, but unlike during practice, you need to mobilize the spiritual energy in your body at this time.
It's already difficult to do two things at once, this is doing three things at once.
Ruan Bei failed the first time; his spiritual energy went out of control and things went awry before he could even finish forming the hand seals.
We took a short break and tried again, but the three functions failed to synchronize, resulting in failure.
On the third attempt, he finally succeeded. Ruan Bei clearly felt that as he finished uttering the last word and completing the last incantation, the spiritual energy in his body was extracted at an extremely fast speed. Because the speed was so fast, he even felt something rushing through his meridians.
In the darkness, Ruan Bei sensed that his incantation spread like sound waves, summoning the wandering spirits in the city.
"It's done?"
"It's done."
The moment Ruan Beishu succeeded, Qin Gu had already activated the Yin Qi Talisman. The Ghost Summoning Incantation, carrying the burning aura of the Yin Qi Talisman, attracted the ghosts from afar.
Although the eastern suburbs are remote, it is precisely because of this remoteness that ghosts who dislike crowds have made their home here.
They arrived the fastest, a group of five or six ghosts, their heads throbbing from the aura of the Yin Qi Talisman, and they roared in.
Before they even got within five meters of Ruan Bei, sensing Qin Gu's aura, these ghost heads turned and ran without even looking back.
Qin Gu tossed the Yin Qi talisman to Ruan Bei and quickly formed a hand seal: "Bind!"
East Suburb Ghost: "!!!"
What kind of heartless and treacherous Taoist master is this, who even goes so far as to fish for ghosts!
"Don't run, we won't arrest you."
This is when Ruan Bei steps forward: "You want this, right? I have a favor to ask of you. If you do it, I'll give you a Yin Qi Talisman."
The ghosts in the eastern suburbs then realized that this time the Celestial Master was communicable and didn't immediately attack them, which meant they still had a chance to survive.
"What do you want us to do?" asked one of the ghosts that looked like the leader.
Ruan Bei said, "We're looking for people. A group of human traffickers have hidden abducted children in this city, and we need to find them. So we hope you can help us."
The reason Ruan Bei dared to tell them the news was because they knew they couldn't tip off the traffickers. Even if some bad guys wanted to do something wrong, could they really go and warn the traffickers?
They can't do it! They might even scare the human traffickers to death.
Fortunately, none of these ghosts were wicked or insane; upon hearing the request, they were all willing to comply.
Besides, they only need to look for people, they don't need to do anything else. They can just wander around and take a look. It doesn't matter if they fail. If they find someone, they can get a Yin Qi Talisman, which is a free benefit.
A dark-faced ghost rolled its eyes and smiled obsequiously at Ruan Bei: "We are very willing to serve you, sir, but as you can see, with several of us brothers, one Yin Qi Talisman might not be enough to go around..."
Ruan Bei thought for a moment, then looked at Qin Gu. Qin Gu gave him a look, indicating that he could make a decision.
Ruan Bei said, "Here's what we'll do. I'll give you this one in my hand, whether you find the person or not. But you have to keep it and help me explain to the other ghosts."
He didn't want to waste his breath trying to convince those ghosts to believe him again and again.
"Okay, okay." The ghosts were all happy to agree. Although the Yin Qi Talisman had already been used, it still had seven or eight tenths of its effectiveness. They could get it by explaining it to others, which was more cost-effective than finding someone. They might not even be able to find someone.
Just as he agreed, more ghosts came. They followed the same route as the previous ghosts from the eastern suburbs, rushing over excitedly, but turned and ran away as soon as they sensed Qin Gu.
This time, before Qin Gu could even chant the incantation, the ghosts from the eastern suburbs rushed up excitedly, grabbed those guys, and started promoting the message to them.
That dark-faced ghost was particularly eloquent, elevating their actions to a higher level by saying that helping to find people was accumulating merit, leaving the new ghosts completely bewildered.
Of course, the final decisive factor was the Yin Qi Talisman; few ghosts who heard about this reward could resist its allure.
Ruan Bei clicked his tongue slightly, because Qin Gu drew the talismans so easily that he was completely unaware of their preciousness.
Qin Gu had told him that Yin Qi Talismans were more difficult to draw than ordinary talismans, but he also said that they were only moderately difficult, judging by how generously and readily he gave them to Niu Niu.
Seeing so many ghosts excited over a Yin Qi talisman, Ruan Bei realized just how amazing his childhood friend was.
"What's wrong? Why are you staring at me?" Qin Gu asked with a smile.
Ruan Bei, holding his Yu'an umbrella, muttered, "I just think, Kunkun is too amazing."
Qin Gu's eyes crinkled into a smile: "Xiao Bei will be more capable than me in the future."
Ruan Bei pursed her lips, then smiled: "I know you're just trying to comfort me, but I'll try my best."
I'll try my best to catch up with you, so that at least when we're in danger, I won't hide behind you, but fight alongside you.
Ruan Bei's half of the Yin Qi Talisman was not wasted. Several ghosts from the eastern suburbs worked hard to help them pull ghosts out of the way. Those who wanted to compete for the Yin Qi Talisman but had no news of it took action without hesitation.
They also encountered ghosts who didn't believe them and ran away without any intention of coming back. Ruan Bei didn't care. There were already hundreds of ghosts in a short time; he had never seen so many ghosts before.
To be honest, Qin Gu had never seen them either, and neither of them paid any attention when a few ran away.
There were some audacious individuals who, despite seeing Qin Gu standing next to Ruan Bei, still treated him like an easy target and rushed over to try and snatch the Yin Qi Talisman.
These ghosts were probably old ghosts, quite imposing, and they brought with them gusts of cold wind as they charged forward.
Ruan Bei was startled. Just as he drew his Zhao Han sword, Qin Gu blocked his way and used a Five Thunder Talisman to teach the ghost to do evil.
The ghosts from the eastern suburbs present, as well as those being persuaded by them, all shuddered in fright, their eyes filled with awe and fear as they looked at Qin Gu.
The ghosts came and went, and after about twenty minutes, no other ghosts came.
Ruan Bei thought that there must be more than that many ghosts; it must be that his abilities were insufficient and the range of his ghost-summoning spell was not wide enough.
However, releasing about a hundred ghosts was enough, so they waited a while longer to make sure no more ghosts came.
Ruan Bei asked, "Should we wait here, or go back?"
"Let's go back. It will take time to find someone. If we get back too late, we won't be able to get back into the dorm."
“Okay.” Ruan Bei handed the Yin Qi talisman to the eagerly watching East Suburb Ghost: “If any ghosts come to report news, please remember it for me and tell them to come back tomorrow. I will verify it and then give them the talisman.”
"Yes, sir." The ghost from the eastern suburbs hurriedly agreed.
Just as they were about to leave, a thin, small female ghost suddenly appeared out of nowhere and said timidly, "I...I saw a group of children being locked up..."
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