“Professor, are you angry?”
“No.” Shen Mo flatly denied it. There was no way he would feel upset just because a kid kissed him. That would be like acting like a scorned wife!
Shen Mo continued reading, not even bothering to look up. Jiang Xiaosi tried to win him over with a smile, pulling out a small bottle from her pocket.
“Alright, I’ll help you wipe it off.”
She took out a white handkerchief with a cartoon dog print, poured some of the liquid from the bottle onto it, and walked closer to him, reaching out to move his hair aside.
Shen Mo tilted his head away. “I’ll do it myself.”
“You can’t see it.”
“And you can?” Shen Mo snorted.
“I remember where it is.” Jiang Xiaosi gently placed the handkerchief on his forehead, and the red stamp slowly appeared. She reluctantly began wiping it away, a little at a time.
However, deep down, she was secretly smug. This was just a distraction—she had secretly stamped another mark on the back of his neck. Surely, he hadn’t noticed yet. After all, he had his back to her all night while he slept!
The coolness on his forehead reminded Shen Mo of Jiang Xiaosi’s icy lips from the previous night when he had a fever.
He abruptly closed his book and stood up.
“Why are you dawdling?” He snatched the handkerchief from her hand, wiped his forehead hastily, and tossed it back to her.
“How are Kou Dan and the others?”
Jiang Xiaosi put the handkerchief back in her pocket. “They’re fine now. They’ve made it out of the tomb and are on their way back. Dad said Kou Dan is a bit sick, so they might be delayed for a couple of days.”
“Sick?” Shen Mo turned to face her.
“Don’t worry, Dad said it’s just exhaustion and some dehydration. A few days of rest and she’ll be fine.”
Shen Mo nodded, but his face remained full of worry. He could understand Jiang Xiaosi being reckless, but the fact that Kou Dan had thrown caution to the wind and jumped after Jiang Liu was surprising. Of all people, she had to develop feelings for Jiang Liu—that was going to cause trouble later on.
“Have your senior classmates’ curses been removed?”
“Yeah, they were just cured. Master Yixiu came here specifically for that. The Purple Seal Crest hasn’t been found yet, so you owe him another favor.”
“Who exactly is this Mei Xin? Did you know him in the past?” And judging by Dad’s reaction, he seemed to know that corpse called Cai Wen too.
Shen Mo was silent for a long time. “In short, he’s not a good person. If you ever see him, stay far away.”
“He’s a ghost, right? So is his plan to use the body of that tomb owner?”
“That’s probably it.”
Ghosts don’t have physical bodies. They might be able to deal with regular people, but fighting against someone with magic? That’s usually beyond their ability. Zombies, on the other hand, are different. No matter how skilled you are, you’re still human—humans can get hurt and die. But zombies are immune to weapons and poisons. They’re already dead, so it’s tough to hurt them at all.
If Mei Xin succeeded, it would be difficult to subdue him again.
“Professor, was that person someone you killed?”
Shen Mo nodded slowly.
“I think I’ve been followed by ghosts lately. Is it him?”
Shen Mo stiffened, then pulled a talisman from his pocket. “Keep this with you.”
Seeing that he seemed to have calmed down and was even concerned for her, Jiang Xiaosi beamed. “I’m sorry. I won’t mess with your things again. And about yesterday, I was just caught up in the moment…”
Shen Mo looked out the window. “Let’s not bring that up again. It was my mistake. Focus on your studies…”
As he was speaking, Shen Mo’s phone buzzed with a message.
He checked his phone for a long moment without moving, looking puzzled. Jiang Xiaosi, curious, peeked over his shoulder. Just then, her own phone buzzed too. She took a look and nearly dropped her jaw.
—”Xiaosi, Piaopiao and I will be getting married at 8 p.m. on December 7th. Please honor us with your presence at Jinhu Hotel, 8 Li Zi Road, Xiangyun District. Xiao Tang sincerely invites you.”
“Pro-Professor…” She stared at Shen Mo with wide eyes.
“You got the message too?” Shen Mo calmly put his phone away.
“Xiao Tang is actually getting married! And to Pink Piaopiao! How is this possible?”
“It does seem unlikely.” Shen Mo had seen him just today, and he hadn’t mentioned anything. This was way too sudden.
“Xiao Tang must have kept it hidden all this time. Lin Qiang is going to strangle him before the wedding’s over. The seventh… when’s that? I need to think about whether I should buy a gift for him, maybe something like a baby stroller…” Despite her shock, Jiang Xiaosi was excited and already planning.
“This is strange. Xiao Tang isn’t the impulsive type. Shen Mo guessed that Xiao Tang might be in trouble, but if this marriage was real, it could still be a good thing. Regardless, they’d find out tomorrow.”
He waved her off and told her to go downstairs for dinner.
Jiang Xiaosi, seeing that Shen Mo was no longer angry, was in a great mood. Her father was coming back soon, and Xiao Tang had happy news—it was a good day. She pulled Shen Mo downstairs, only to find that Master Yixiu had eaten all the rice. He sat upright in his chair with a solemn expression as if thinking, ‘If I don’t go to hell, who will?’ Jiang Xiaosi could only sigh and make another pot of rice.
Just then, there was an urgent knock on the door. When Shen Mo opened it, it was no surprise to see Lin Qiang.
Lin Qiang looked panicked, as if something had been stolen from him.
“Xiao Tang is in trouble.”
Lin Qiang had been a cop for many years and was highly experienced. He had worked with Shen Mo on many cases and was always calm and composed, even in dangerous situations. Shen Mo had never seen him this flustered before and frowned.
Jiang Xiaosi peeked out of the kitchen, smiling. “We know, he’s getting married, right? Captain Lin, you’re going to the wedding too, right? Xiangyun District is pretty far. Can we hitch a ride with you tomorrow?”
“No, listen. I got a call from him earlier. He only had time to say, ‘Captain Lin, help!’ before the line went dead.”
Lin Qiang had been in the shower when he got the call. At first, he thought Xiao Tang was just joking. But a few minutes later, he received the text message about the wedding to Pink Piaopiao, and that’s when he realized something was wrong. He tried calling Xiao Tang back repeatedly, but there was no answer. He dried off, threw on some clothes, and rushed to the station.
After investigating, he found out there was no Jinhu Hotel in Xiangyun District, and 8 Li Zi Road was an empty plot of land in the suburbs. That journalist, Pink Piaopiao—real name Hao Hong—had drowned herself in a lake over a year ago. None of Xiao Tang’s friends or family had heard anything about a wedding or received any invitations. The more Lin Qiang thought about it, the more suspicious it seemed, so he rushed over to Shen Mo’s house.
Hearing this, Jiang Xiaosi and Shen Mo realized that Xiao Tang might really be in trouble. Could he have been forced into marriage? By a woman? Or… a female ghost?
Jiang Xiaosi shivered, turning to look worriedly at Shen Mo.
Shen Mo was unimpressed. “We’ll find out tomorrow after we ‘attend’ the wedding.”
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