Jiang Xiaosi was quite busy, so she didn’t have much time for cultivation, but she had managed to gain a bit of spiritual power. She decided to personally catch the mischievous ghost she had accidentally let loose, so that night, instead of sleeping, she sneaked out while Jiang Liu was out working. She wandered over to Baili Street and asked a few acquaintances to notify her if the little ghost showed up. Then she went to look for Miao Yan, but she wasn’t around.
Ever since seeing Yixiu at Xiaoli Village, Miao Yan had changed. She no longer spent her days recklessly having fun but instead roamed the world, searching for something called the Memory Soul Pill. Although there were many pills in Tuogu Xiang that could help recover memories of past lives, Yixiu had been reincarnated too many times. Even for a normal person, memories from hundreds of years ago would fade, let alone someone who had repeatedly drunk Meng Po’s soup of forgetfulness. Therefore, Miao Yan sought the Memory Soul Pill, a legendary pill that could allow someone to recall their memories all the way back to the very beginning of their soul’s existence—so clearly that they could even remember the color of a roadside flower from a thousand years ago.
Because of Miao Yan’s presence in Taoyuan City, Yixiu had almost completely avoided coming back, even neglecting to retrieve the Purple Seal Emblem from Shen Mo. There had been no news of Meixin either—he was likely hiding somewhere to recover and rebuild his corpse. However, Shen Mo, with the matter stuck in his throat like a bone, hadn’t stopped pursuing the case for even a moment.
The next morning, Jiang Xiaosi headed to school. After two classes, she was free for the rest of the day, so she spent her time at the library. At lunchtime, she went to the cafeteria, where Hu Hui spotted her and rushed over like an octopus, clutching her hands with a shocked and anxious expression.
“Little junior sister!” Hu Hui grasped Jiang Xiaosi’s hands tightly.
“What’s going on?” Jiang Xiaosi asked, grinning while shoving a ketchup-covered fish fillet into her mouth. “Did senior brother find a new flame?”
Chen Anyuan had graduated from his master’s program and gone straight to work at the archaeology institute. Hu Hui, on the other hand, stayed on with Shen Mo to pursue her PhD, and Jiang Xiaosi often teased her about becoming a female doctor and warned her that she should be careful lest her senior brother lose interest.
Hu Hui shook her head frantically. “Junior sister, brace yourself! It’s not your senior brother who’s found someone new! It’s the professor!”
Jiang Xiaosi blinked, then laughed. “Which brave little junior sister this time had the guts to confess to him?”
Everyone who first arrived at T University and didn’t yet know Shen Mo’s personality was inevitably deceived by his looks, demeanor, and aura. But anyone who tried to get closer would end up meeting a disastrous fate.
Hu Hui grew more anxious. “No! It’s not a student! Some woman showed up out of nowhere! She’s really pretty too. I got a bad feeling the moment I saw her. I told her that the professor wasn’t in the office yet, so she said she’d just go find him at home. I quickly lied and said he was at the museum, but she insisted on waiting. When the professor finally came back, he seemed really happy to see her. They even hugged! They were all smiles and laughter together all morning.”
Jiang Xiaosi frowned and immediately grew more alert. What worried her wasn’t the fact that Shen Mo had hugged this woman, but rather that Hu Hui said they had been laughing together. In all these years, had she ever seen Shen Mo laugh? If this woman really was a rival, then she was a serious threat!
“Could she be a relative?”
Hu Hui shook her head decisively. “No way. As far as I know, besides Shen Koudan, the professor has no other relatives.”
That was true. Jiang Xiaosi mentally sounded the battle alarm at full force. “Where is she now? Has she left?”
“No, she went home with the professor. He said he needed to properly welcome her and make her feel at home.”
Jiang Xiaosi was furious. She hadn’t eaten Shen Mo’s cooking in ages. No way! She had to go investigate!
“Sister! I’m going!”
“Go for it!” Hu Hui and Jiang Xiaosi bumped fists, and both their eyes seemed to burn with cosmic energy.
Thanks to having Hu Hui as an inside informant, even though Jiang Xiaosi hadn’t seen Shen Mo as often over the past two years, she still knew his every move, right down to what he ate for lunch.
Jiang Xiaosi grabbed her bag and headed straight for the back mountain. Once she arrived at Shen Mo’s house, she paced around outside, debating whether to ring the doorbell or just use her key to go inside.
She was here to catch them in the act, after all. If she rang the bell and they caught her, she wouldn’t be able to see anything suspicious. But if she didn’t ring and barged in, and it turned out there was nothing going on, wouldn’t that be super embarrassing?
Jiang Xiaosi finally decided on a compromise. She’d pretend she had a question to ask, casually holding a book as her excuse, and then sneakily—but still sort of justifiably—open the door and go in.
When she entered the living room, it was surprisingly empty. The kitchen was busy with food cooking, but no one was around. Jiang Xiaosi’s heart sank. Were they in the bedroom already?
She tiptoed up the stairs and then abruptly flung open the door to Shen Mo’s bedroom—
But it was empty. Jiang Xiaosi let out a sigh of relief, only to hear a cold voice behind her.
“Jiang Xiaosi, what are you doing?”
Jiang Xiaosi froze on the spot and turned around with an awkward laugh, only to see Shen Mo standing there with another person. Her smile stiffened.
“Professor…” Jiang Xiaosi’s heart sank. Hu Hui had been right—this woman really was beautiful.
She had fair skin, almond-shaped eyes as dark as ink, and looked ageless. Her long, wavy hair cascaded down to her waist, tied casually to one side. She wore a beige trench coat that was both fashionable and stylish, combining femininity with a hint of coolness. Her slim black pants and high heels emphasized her long, slender legs.
Jiang Xiaosi looked down at herself: a sweater, jeans, and sneakers with built-in height insoles. Her over-the-shoulder hair was a tangled mess that looked like a bird’s nest. It was over. Utter defeat…
“What are you doing here?” Shen Mo asked impatiently.
Jiang Xiaosi snapped back to reality and hurriedly shoved the book into his hands. “I came to ask you a question.”
“Ask in class. I’m busy right now.” Shen Mo tossed the book back to her.
The woman beside him chuckled, and even Jiang Xiaosi had to admit that her smile was enchanting—it made her heart race and her blood pressure rise.
“Shen Mo, is this your student?”
Shen Mo didn’t even bother nodding.
“I didn’t know you were teaching middle school now.”
Jiang Xiaosi’s eyes immediately blazed with fury, and any positive impression she had of the woman vanished.
Shen Mo headed downstairs. “Alright, you can leave now.”
Jiang Xiaosi thickened her skin and said, “Professor, can I stay for dinner?”
Shen Mo’s eyes turned cold. “Jiang Xiaosi, have you forgotten what you promised?”
Jiang Xiaosi quickly raised her hand as if swearing an oath. “I just want to have dinner. It’s been so long since I’ve had your cooking.”
The woman beside him chimed in. “Shen Mo, having one more person will make things livelier. Besides, you’ve cooked so much food—we won’t be able to finish it all.”
Jiang Xiaosi nodded enthusiastically.
Shen Mo let out a cold snort and went into the kitchen. Jiang Xiaosi beamed, knowing that he had given in.
The woman looked at her curiously. “Your name is Jiang Xiaosi, right? You’re one of Shen Mo’s students?”
Jiang Xiaosi didn’t want to talk to her, but for the sake of gathering intel, she nodded. “And you are?”
“My name is Yu Shuixin.”
“Are you the professor’s friend?”
“I’m his… Daoist companion.” Yu Shuixin smiled sweetly.
Jiang Xiaosi was floored. Great, she thought, this was another woman like Shen Koudan—a female Daoist in sheep’s clothing. Jiang Xiaosi’s nerves started acting up, and she avoided looking directly into Yu Shuixin’s eyes.
Yu Shuixin leaned in close and whispered in Jiang Xiaosi’s ear, “You like your professor, don’t you?”
“Huh?”
“Otherwise, why do you look like that whenever you see him? What’s your relationship with him?”
“Huh?”
“You have a key to his house, right? I remember seeing him lock the door before.”
Jiang Xiaosi frantically shook her head and waved her hands in denial. “He… I… We… Something happened when we went on an archaeology trip, so I stayed at his place for a while. But nothing happened between us!”
Yu Shuixin finally backed off. “I thought so!” She took a satisfied sip of tea.
“How did you meet the professor? Through ghost hunting?” Jiang Xiaosi tried to probe for more information.
Yu Shuixin pursed her lips. “Oh, we’ve known each other for ages. The Shen and Yu families are old friends. We almost became a family.” Her eyes softened as if lost in memory. “But… something happened ten years ago…”
Jiang Xiaosi desperately wanted to know what she meant by “almost became a family” but seeing Yu Shuixin’s downcast expression, she didn’t dare press further. She could only guess it was related to the Shen family’s demise. Her heart sank with dread. No wonder she’d felt an instinctive jolt of fear when she first saw Yu Shuixin—she was a Daoist, after all, a natural-born nemesis. Sigh, Jiang Xiaosi, how could you compete with someone like that?
After a while, Shen Mo brought out the food, and Jiang Xiaosi’s eyes widened in surprise. How come when it was just the two of them, he never made anything this elaborate? It was always simple stir-fry, but today there were all kinds of rich dishes. Humph.
Jiang Xiaosi glared at the fish head as if it had wronged her, stabbing it furiously with her chopsticks before biting into it.
Ow! It got stuck…
Jiang Xiaosi started coughing, and Yu Shuixin laughed as she handed her some water.
“Eat slowly. But no wonder—Shen Mo’s cooking has really improved. Back in the day, he couldn’t even boil an egg. He’d toss it in with the shell and add a ton of salt, MSG, and chili.”
Jiang Xiaosi looked at her in disbelief before bursting out laughing, covering her mouth. Shen Mo’s face began to twitch.
“Was the professor always this stern with people?” Jiang Xiaosi asked curiously.
Yu Shuixin shrugged. “Yeah, he was always so fierce, always with that stern face. He used to scare me to tears when I was little. And we weren’t even supposed to be engaged—every day I’d cry to my grandfather, saying I didn’t want to marry him.”
“Shuixin!” Shen Mo suddenly frowned and interrupted. Jiang Xiaosi’s chopsticks froze in mid-air as she was completely stunned by this revelation.
“Alright, alright, I won’t say anymore.” Yu Shuixin smirked at Shen Mo before turning to Jiang Xiaosi and whispering, “See? Still the same grumpy face after all these years.”
Jiang Xiaosi felt as though her soul had left her body. She could no longer hold on and stood up.
“Professor, I’m full. Thank you for the meal. Shuixin, you enjoy your dinner—I’ll be going now.” And then she drifted out like a ghost.
Standing in the bamboo grove outside for a long time, she suddenly realized—was Yu Shuixin here to get engaged to the professor? But she and the professor were already married! Even if they hadn’t gotten a certificate, it was still an official marriage!
She quickly pulled out her phone and called Shen Koudan.
Shen Koudan had just finished a monster hunt and was dozing off in the car on her way home when she lazily answered the phone.
“Hello?” But before she could say anything else, Jiang Xiaosi rattled off a barrage of questions.
“Sister Koudan! Who is this Yu Shuixin? Did she really have an engagement with the professor? Is she here to marry him? Is the professor really going to marry her? What am I supposed to do?”
Shen Koudan thought she was hearing things. “Who? What are you talking about?”
“Yu Shuixin! She’s at the professor’s house. Who is she? Is she really his fiancée?”
Shen Koudan suddenly sat up straight. “Yu Shuixin? You saw her? She’s back? Where is she?”
“At the professor’s house! I just had dinner with them. Who is she, really? Hey! Sister Koudan, why did you hang up? You haven’t told me anything yet!”
But Shen Koudan had already snapped wide awake, tossing her phone onto the seat behind her. “Kitty, turn the car around. We’re going to uncle’s house.”
She immediately started redoing her makeup and changing her outfit.
Poor Jiang Xiaosi tried calling over and over, but no one answered. The anxiety inside her only grew worse.
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