After much persuasion and a detailed explanation of their mission, Ye Yang felt even more conflicted. So this special mission was issued by Director Tu.
Well, that made sense.
Overwhelmed by the day’s revelations, Ye Yang sat for a while, then suddenly stood up without a word and walked toward the door, looking completely dazed.
Fortunately, Zhuang Li remembered the important matter and quickly called him back. “Wait, Little Ye Ye. Keep an eye on Li Chanyi, alright?”
Ye Yang turned around, his eyes vacant. “I… I don’t know what to do…” He was experiencing an unprecedented crisis of self-doubt, completely lacking in confidence.
Qin Zhi couldn’t help but sigh and shook his head in frustration. “Weren’t we supposed to just keep things stable, watch over Ye Yang, and let these few years pass by smoothly? Now look what’s happened.”
Zhuang Li said nothing. Shen Xiuyun, however, could somewhat understand his reasoning. Now that everything was out in the open, a lot of things would be easier to handle—they could directly warn Ye Yang without having to twist themselves into knots. Still, understanding didn’t mean approving.
He had a feeling their workload was about to increase quite a bit.
In the end, it was Zhuang Li who provided a solution. “Alright, Little Ye Ye, don’t worry. We have a good sense of your disguise abilities. And I’ve already figured out what to say. Just tell Li Chanyi that you went back to your hometown’s welfare home to handle government subsidy paperwork. Tell him you’re an orphan and receive a monthly allowance. He definitely won’t ask any more questions after that.”
·
The days that followed seemed no different from before—only small changes, but all of them good.
With his three roommates having revealed everything, Ye Yang no longer had to put on an act in the dorm. He used cleaning spells, object-manipulation spells, and other minor magic like they cost nothing.
Shen Xiuyun grumbled jealously, “So now you’re not even trying to hide it anymore. You have zero respect for me as the oldest.” Neither he nor Qin Zhi had such abundant spiritual energy, and Zhuang Li’s demonic energy was nearly nonexistent. None of them could afford to use magic so lavishly—of course he was envious.
Ye Yang didn’t argue. He simply and decisively expanded the range of his spell and cleaned all the dirty clothes and smelly socks in the entire dorm in one go.
Shen Xiuyun immediately changed his tune. “Little Ye Ye, from now on, you’re the boss of this dorm. Who’s with me? Who’s against?”
Qin Zhi said nothing. He just pulled out two more pairs of mud-caked shoes and respectfully placed them before a smug-looking Ye Yang.
Zhuang Li looked utterly disgusted. “You… ugh, fine. But next time, don’t put your filthy shoes next to my suitcase.”
…
Although Ye Yang didn’t blame Shen Ming at all, Shen Ming seemed quite guilty and started appearing around Ye Yang frequently. Whenever both of them had no classes, he’d even take Ye Yang along to the research institute. The way many female students and his institute colleagues looked at the two of them had already started to turn strange.
Ye Yang had no idea what Shen Ming had done, but although they now openly walked home together every weekend, none of their classmates bothered Ye Yang because of Shen Ming anymore.
This allowed Ye Yang to focus all his energy on his studies and gradually integrate more and more into daily university life.
His relationship with Li Chanyi remained just as good—even better, in fact.
Under the guidance of his three roommates, Ye Yang finally learned that he should eat regular meals and couldn’t skip the cafeteria just because he was a demon.
He also learned how to order takeout. Occasionally, he’d go off-campus with Li Chanyi to have fun. He used some of his leftover living expenses to buy a few new clothes and a new pair of shoes. He felt more human now.
At first, Li Chanyi worried that such expenses might strain Ye Yang’s finances—until he learned that the monthly living allowance the government gave orphans was actually several hundred yuan more than his own living expenses. Then he was completely relieved.
It was also then that Ye Yang finally realized just how wild and imaginative Li Chanyi’s thinking could be.
“Why didn’t you just say so earlier? So you were handling those forms. I was so worried—I thought you couldn’t afford tuition and were about to drop out!”
“How could that be?”
“How could it not? Don’t you remember? Those days you were gone happened to be right when the school was pressing everyone to pay tuition and dorm fees!”
Ye Yang: “…” Yeah, that was true.
With that, the whole matter of Ye Yang’s absence was finally settled for Li Chanyi. Soon after, the investigation results for that mission—which had far exceeded C-class standards—also came through.
·
It was a Saturday. Ye Yang was at home by himself, experimenting with his newly purchased air fryer, when he suddenly heard a knock at the door.
He opened it to find Ling She.
Before Ye Yang could even say a word, Shen Ming suddenly darted out from the elevator lobby. He raised his hand, and Ling She vanished.
“Sorry to bother you.” With that, he turned on his heel to leave.
“Hey, wait!” Ye Yang called after him. “Shen Ming, um… would you like to come in and have something to eat?”
Ye Yang was deeply grateful for Shen Ming’s care and attention, but lately, Shen Ming seemed more emotionally distant, which made Ye Yang feel perpetually awkward.
Seeing this rare opportunity, it suddenly occurred to him—he could treat Teacher Shen to a meal.
Qin Zhi had once said that treating someone to a meal was the best form of social bonding!
Shen Ming hesitated for a moment, and then Ling She popped out again. “Yes, yes! I can already smell it—what’s that delicious aroma?”
Seeing an opening, Ye Yang grew even more enthusiastic. “I’m making French fries, chicken wings, and popcorn chicken. It’s more than I can finish on my own anyway.”
Shen Ming’s eyes flickered. For once, Ye Yang was sharp enough to notice immediately. Boldly reaching out, he grabbed Shen Ming’s arm and began pushing him inside.
He didn’t stop talking either. “I also bought coconut milk, hairy crabs, razor clams, and roasted pork trotters.”
Feeling the resistance in his hands grow weaker, the smile on Ye Yang’s face became more genuine. So Teacher Shen really did have a craving for good food, huh? He’d finally discovered one of Shen Ming’s hobbies besides taking walks.
By the time Shen Ming half-resisted, half-relented and sat down at the dining table, Ling She had already abandoned him entirely, slithering smoothly into the kitchen on his own. When he reappeared, his belly was already bulging. “So good, so good! This is delicious!”
Ye Yang followed Ling She out carrying two plates, grumbling, “You could’ve at least left me a couple of chicken wings. I bought them and haven’t even tried one yet.”
Shen Ming looked up. One plate held French fries; the other was empty—no, not completely empty. One fried chicken wing remained, its golden, crispy, oily skin looking absolutely delicious.
Behind Ye Yang, several more plates flew out on their own—roasted pork trotters, popcorn chicken, and freshly steamed hairy crabs—all neatly arranging themselves on the table.
“Little bunny, you eat this much all by yourself? Good thing we came, or it would’ve gone to waste!” Ling She said shamelessly, gulping down half a roasted pork trotter in one bite.
Ye Yang picked up the sole surviving chicken wing and placed it in Shen Ming’s bowl. “At least leave some for Teacher Shen!”
Ling She: “Me eating is the same as him eating. What’s the difference? Little bunny, weren’t you cooking for us?”
“That’s not the same thing.”
Amidst this playful bickering, they polished off the entire table full of food in no time. The two humans and one snake moved in unison, sitting in a row on the sofa, rubbing their full bellies. No one spoke, but the atmosphere was incredibly relaxed.
Perhaps Ye Yang had some kind of magic. Without realizing it, Shen Ming had completely let his guard down, revealing a side of himself he never showed to outsiders.
From Ye Yang’s observation, Shen Ming genuinely loved to eat. Don’t let his elegant demeanor fool you—he wasn’t slow at all. Even Ling She couldn’t outpace him.
If not for Shen Ming occasionally serving food to Ye Yang, Ye Yang might not have gotten enough to eat—Ling She would have devoured everything.
Looks like his cooking wasn’t half bad. Maybe next time he could invite his roommates and friends over to eat as well.
“Burp~” Ling She’s belly had swollen several times its normal size. He let out a satisfied burp. “Ah, if only we could eat like this every day. Little bunny, you have no idea—this guy Shen Ming is absolutely starving for good food, but he’d rather spend months hunting for some creature that might not even exist than spend a little bit of time learning how to cook.”
Ye Yang defended him. “He can eat out. Or order takeout at the very least.”
Ling She’s eyes went wide. “I want to eat out too! But Shen Ming won’t go. And takeout is always cold by the time it arrives—it’s not good at all.”
“It’s just a matter of one spell—you could teleport the food directly from the restaurant in less than a second. Shen Ming is stubborn about the strangest things.”
“Is that so? I’m sure Teacher Shen has his reasons.”
Ling She was a bit speechless. “Little bunny… aren’t you babying him a little too much?”
Shen Ming suddenly sat up straight and interrupted them. “Ahem. The investigation results from last time are in. Let’s look at them together.”
He had just received news: the C-class mission Ye Yang had taken had been reclassified as A-class, and had already been investigated and closed by other field personnel.
Ye Yang and Ling She were instantly distracted. They both crowded around Shen Ming’s phone screen, reading quickly. The more they read, the more complicated their expressions became.
It turned out the spirit hadn’t been malevolent. She didn’t want to harm anyone, nor was she trying to play tricks on people. She was searching for her beloved.
Earlier, Shen Ming had suspected that the spirit was a local mountain deity who had degenerated after losing her offerings and followers. The truth was indeed close to that—but she hadn’t lost her mind all at once. She had merely lost most of her powers.
The mountain deity didn’t want to simply fade away. She wanted to save herself, but to do so, she needed humans to worship and believe in her again.
The girl from the old Teng family who had died—she was the human the mountain deity had chosen.
Back then, little Teng Hua was only seven years old. She thought she had simply met a beautiful girl her age while playing. She was too young. Even though she earnestly prepared offerings and cleaned the altar and that little cave, in her heart, she treated it all as a strange kind of game.
No matter how much the mountain deity tried to explain that she needed genuine faith, little Teng Hua couldn’t understand. After trying for half a month, the mountain deity gave up and attempted to find a new believer.
But aside from Teng Hua, no other children ever came to that place.
And adults wouldn’t listen to a mountain deity at all—the best she could hope for was that they wouldn’t try to take her away.
During the month the mountain deity spent trying to find someone else, little Teng Hua was confused. Why had the older sister stopped playing with her? She returned to the cave, but never saw that beautiful older sister again.
Time passed. The mountain deity grew weaker and weaker, nearly ready to give up. Then suddenly, she felt strands of power flowing into her body!
Following the source of that power, she returned to that small, dilapidated cave she had long since abandoned.
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