Chapter 53

If the previous incident, when Ning Shu returned from the underworld to the world of the living and the Judge of the Underworld paved the way for her, had made her name famous along the roads of the netherworld, then this latest incident involving kidnapped women, amplified by the media, had made her famous throughout the world.

The shadow of a phoenix she had seen amid the thunder and lightning that day had not been an illusion.

Fu Nansheng had seen it too. In the due west, a phoenix had ascended into the Ninth Heaven. Due west was the direction of Ning Shu’s destiny palace.

She… had attained the Dao.

If opening her Heavenly Eye had given Ning Shu the potential and talent to become a Yin-Yang practitioner, then after experiencing this latest incident, she had truly become a master with genuine spiritual cultivation.

Fu Nansheng explained that it was not because she was particularly powerful or had mastered a great many skills. It was because she had saved others.

It was both a turning point and a matter of good fortune.

In this world, some people opened their Heavenly Eyes, while others would never be able to enter the path of cultivation.

People pursued fame and fortune for their own selfish desires.

But what Ning Shu had done was entirely unrelated to fame or profit. She had acted purely according to her conscience. That was kindness.

Perhaps in this materialistic world, talking about kindness would make people laugh until their sides hurt. But kindness was still kindness. People who helped others selflessly might be rare, but they still existed.

And that was why Ning Shu could attain the Dao.

A Daoist bone had grown along her spine. Such a bone was also known as an immortal root.

With this bone, she would not need to complete the entire path through the mortal world. When the time came, she would be able to become an immortal.

Listening to Fu Nansheng explain all this, Ning Shu found it rather mystical. She did not particularly care whether she could attain the Dao or become an immortal. She simply wanted to live her life well as it was now, living freely and to the fullest.

Not long after returning to the city, the new school term arrived.

On the first day of school, Jiangcheng No. 1 High School held an important opening ceremony. The student ranked first in the entire year group was invited to give a speech, encouraging everyone to embrace the new term with a fresh outlook.

The top-ranked student was Lu Zheng. Naturally, the honour fell to him.

In the early morning, the rising sun shone at an angle across the school grounds. The students, dressed in neat uniforms, stood in orderly rows on the sports field.

Lu Zheng walked up to the podium, looking full of energy.

Over the winter holiday, his skin seemed to have grown even fairer. He also looked a little thinner than before, making his features appear more sharply defined.

He stepped onto the platform and casually swept his gaze across the students below.

His eyes were like drifting leaves in autumn. Wherever his gaze fell, it seemed to stir ripples in people's hearts.

Everyone was already accustomed to Lu Zheng's usually cold, indifferent gaze. Yet when his eyes settled on Ning Shu amid the sea of people, the corners of his mouth suddenly lifted into a slight smile.

Ning Shu looked up at the sky, refusing to meet his gaze.

The group of girls standing around her, however, immediately erupted.

"Lu Zheng is smiling at me!"

"Don't be ridiculous. He's obviously smiling at me!"

"You're so full of yourself!"

Fang Ruoyun leaned closer to Ning Shu and whispered gossipingly, "He's looking at you, Ah Ning, isn't he?"

Yi Qiu laughed. "Isn't that obvious?"

Lu Zheng's speech had already begun. His voice was clear, and he spoke impeccable Mandarin, with a measured, expressive cadence that captured the attention of students throughout the school.

Yet the only person in the entire school who wasn't looking at Lu Zheng was Ning Shu.

She wasn't watching him. Instead, she tilted her head back and stared intently at the sky.

Only moments earlier, the sky had been bright and sunny. Suddenly, winds began to surge and clouds to gather, layer upon layer of dark clouds swallowing the sun completely.

Ning Shu furrowed her brows slightly and calculated the omen with her fingers.

Li below, Kun above.

Misfortune lay to the north.

The north. Due north.

Ning Shu raised her head. That was precisely the direction where Lu Zheng was standing.

She had a vague premonition that something was about to happen, but she couldn't predict what form the accident would take.

Lu Zheng's speech was nearing its conclusion. Ning Shu had no time to worry about anything else. She charged towards the stage.

She was too far away for Lu Zheng to hear her, so he continued with the closing portion of his speech.

Ning Shu took out her demon-subduing staff and sprinted towards the platform.

"Hey! What are you doing?"

"Stop pushing!"

"You've just bumped into me!"

A commotion broke out among the students.

Finally, Lu Zheng raised his head.

"Ah Ning?"

"Run!"

He could make out the shape of her mouth. Realising what she meant, he immediately turned and ran. Just one second after he had stepped down from the platform, a tremendous crash rang out.

BOOM!

A massive pillar beside the stage suddenly collapsed, crashing down directly onto the spot where Lu Zheng had been standing moments earlier.

Had he been two or three seconds slower, he would have been crushed into a bloody pulp.

Holding his speech notes, Lu Zheng stood below the stage, still shaken. He looked at the fallen pillar, then turned around to search for Ning Shu.

She had already disappeared into the crowd.

Every student was stunned. The school administrators in the front row were especially dumbfounded.

That massive pillar had been standing since the school was first built. Nothing had ever gone wrong with it. How could it suddenly collapse?

Gradually, sunlight began peeking through the clouds, and the ominous, murderous energy vanished completely.

Ning Shu breathed a sigh of relief.

The calamity had been averted.

After the opening ceremony ended, Lu Zheng caught hold of Ning Shu.

"What just happened?"

Quite a few students nearby were casting curious glances at the two of them. Ning Shu simply pulled Lu Zheng into a small grove where nobody else was around.

"Have you been feeling that something is wrong lately?"

Lu Zheng looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, have you been feeling unwell or anything like that?"

"Yes."

"Hm?"

Lu Zheng smiled and placed his hand on Ning Shu's shoulder, shameless as ever.

"When you're not by my side, I feel unwell every single day."

Ning Shu was speechless.

"Can you be serious? I'm talking about something real."

Lu Zheng ran his tongue over his thin, sharply defined lips.

"I haven't felt anything physically wrong with me. But it's true that accidents have been happening one after another lately."

Ning Shu immediately asked, "What kind of accidents?"

Lu Zheng thought for a moment before answering.

"Yesterday afternoon, I attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony for one of the Michelin-starred restaurants under our company's name. The ceremonial platform collapsed, and quite a few people were injured. If Lu Jian hadn't shielded me, I probably would have ended up in the hospital too."

Only then did Lu Zheng remember that he could take the opportunity to act spoiled in front of Ning Shu.

"My arm is injured. It hurts."

Ning Shu glanced at him and finally softened a little.

"Roll up your sleeve. Let me see."

Lu Zheng promptly rolled up his sleeve and showed her the wound.

A piece of white medical dressing covered it.

"It was a gash as wide as a bowl," Lu Zheng said. "I lost a lot of blood."

Ning Shu let go of his hand, but Lu Zheng immediately offered it to her again.

"Look at it one more time."

Ning Shu wanted to laugh but held it in.

"Does it hurt?"

"It hurts."

"I'll recite a pain-relieving spell for you."

"Maybe if you kiss me one more time, it'll work better than a spell." Lu Zheng leaned closer to her face, his breath almost touching hers.

"Hey!" Ning Shu pushed him away. "How many times do I have to explain it? The person who kissed you that day wasn't me! Wasn't me! Wasn't me!"

"So you're admitting that someone kissed me."

"Yes, but it wasn't me."

"There were only two people in that room that day, right?"

Strictly speaking, that was true: the two of them, plus one ghost.

"So, apart from you, who else would be shameless enough to steal my first kiss?"

"It wasn't your first kiss! She only kissed you on the cheek!" Ning Shu protested in a panic.

"Oh, she kissed me on the cheek." Lu Zheng's smile grew even wider.

Ning Shu pressed a hand to her forehead. She didn't even want to explain anymore. The more she tried to clarify things, the guiltier she sounded. In the end, she would still have to take responsibility for what her dear little ghost girl had done.

"All right, all right! Stop chattering in my ear. So what if I kissed you?"

"Finally, you've admitted it." Lu Zheng's lips curved upwards. "You're going to take responsibility."

"Not a chance."

"Then let me kiss you back."

Ning Shu grabbed Lu Zheng by the collar.

"For nearly two months, you've been nagging me nonstop! If I let you kiss me back, will you finally leave me alone?"

Lu Zheng raised an eyebrow.

"That depends on my mood."

"Fine. Go ahead, then."

Ning Shu closed her eyes.

"Hurry up."

The early morning sunlight filtered through the mottled shadows of the trees, falling across her face. Her smooth, glistening lips looked as tempting as fruit-flavoured candy.

Lu Zheng couldn't resist. He slowly leaned towards her.

Ning Shu could even feel his breath just inches away.

But the cool sensation merely brushed against her dry lips ever so lightly before disappearing.

Ning Shu's heart gave a little jolt. At that very instant, the sunlight slanted across them…

She actually felt as though an electric current had passed through her.

"Forget it."

Ning Shu opened her eyes and looked at him.

His gaze was lowered, and his long eyelashes cast a shadow at the corners of his eyes.

He raised his head, looked at her, and said seriously, "One day, you'll kiss me willingly."

Lu Zheng turned and walked away, seemingly not in a very good mood.

When school let out, Gouwa found Ning Shu.

"Sis, something super terrifying happened in class today. It was horrifying!"

"What happened?"

"Our maths teacher was teaching, and suddenly the electric fan above our heads started spinning."

Ning Shu laughed. "It's so cold. Why would you turn on the fan?"

"I don't know who switched it on. Everyone says they didn't touch it. But that's not the point!" Gouwa continued excitedly. "It was spinning and spinning, and then suddenly it fell down! It started spinning through the classroom and flew straight towards Big Brother Lu!"

Ning Shu's heart lurched. She grabbed Gouwa by the sleeve.

"What happened to him?"

"H-he's fine!" Gouwa said. "My little niece in the red dress suddenly appeared, remember? She's amazing! That huge fan came flying at her, and she caught it directly and tossed it to the side."

Ning Shu finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Gouwa, however, asked indignantly, "Sis, weren't you the one who sent her there?"

Ning Shu replied, "No matter how powerful I am, I can't predict other people's dangers every single moment."

Especially when she wasn't paying attention.

"Did Lu Zheng see Yuanzi?"

"Probably not," Gouwa said. "If everyone could see ghosts, how would ghosts manage to get by?"

"That's true." Ning Shu nodded. "Yuanzi seems to like Lu Zheng quite a lot."

It seemed that Lu Zheng really had fallen into a streak of bad luck lately. One accident after another kept happening.

If he hadn't had benefactors protecting him, who knew how many times he would have died by now?

Among those protecting him, Lu Jian was one. So was his utterly devoted housekeeper. Naturally, Ning Shu herself counted too, as did little Yuanzi.

But none of them could protect him every second of every day. More accidents could still happen unless they figured out who was targeting him behind the scenes.

When school let out, Ning Shu found Lu Zheng waiting at the school gates. He was sitting on his motorcycle, preparing to go racing with a few friends.

"Lu Zheng."

He turned around and saw Ning Shu. His expression was still somewhat gloomy.

He was still upset about what had happened that morning.

Lu Zheng was a sensitive person whose moods were difficult to predict. Sometimes, he could also be rather petty.

"Didn't you tell me to stay away from you?"

Ning Shu placed her hand on the handlebar of his motorcycle.

"Don't go racing. Go home early."

Lu Zheng turned his face towards her, his expression cold.

"What gives you the right to tell me what to do?"

"Your luck has been terrible these past few days. Something will happen to you."

"Do you even care what happens to me?"

His question left Ning Shu speechless.

"Is it really so difficult to admit that you care about me?" Lu Zheng sneered.

"I just don't want you to lose your life for no reason."

"Typical Ning Shu." A trace of mockery flashed through Lu Zheng's eyes. "The great philanthropist. The great master. Exorcising demons and defending the righteous, overflowing with moral integrity. But… I never paid you to protect me from disasters, did I? So why are you meddling in my affairs?"

Ning Shu couldn't be bothered to entertain his sarcastic remarks. She simply said, "I've told you everything you need to know. Something will happen to you. Your life belongs to you, so do whatever you think is best."