To Get Married - Chapter 14

Chapter 14

If Mu Chensan had caught a whiff of the little girl’s jealousy, he would have undoubtedly scoffed and sarcastically sneered, “No way, no way, does someone on this earth really treat Man Shan Hong like a treasure?”

Two thousand years ago, Manzhu was known as Man Shan Hong.

Back then, any yāo who had cultivated for a few years in the Shennongjia mountains knew about the Red Python there. She was born beautiful and seductive, but her temper was so volatile that even thousand-year-old tigresses in the mountains avoided her.

Later, she changed her name to Manzhu at some point. She was clearly a grumpy old sister but acted as if she were graceful, beautiful, gentle, and virtuous.

Although this grumpy old sister had left the deep mountains and had become much easier to deal with under the influence of the human girl, this couldn’t change her old friend’s inherent impression of her from two millennia ago.

The reason Mu Chensan sent Manzhu a text message, arranging to meet her at a nearby cafe, was entirely because, after dealing with the bothersome boys, he had vaguely sensed something unclean within the school.

At the time, he followed the spiritual scent to investigate, but the thing was so frightened that it scurried directly into the girls’ restroom in the teaching building…

“Did you catch it?” Manzhu asked.

“Do you expect me to chase it in there?” Mu Chensan spread his hands.

“Is there any rule in the Yāo Code that says a male yāo cannot enter a girls’ restroom?” Manzhu retorted.

“Damn it!” Mu Chensan gritted his teeth. “I’m a man. You want me to enter the girls’ restroom? Do I have no shame?”

Yāo who had spent a long time in the human world developed a stronger sense of shame. Even though he knew the girls’ restroom in the academic block would likely be empty during the lunch break, he stood at the door, hesitated for a long time, and ultimately couldn’t bring himself to cross the threshold.

Hearing this, Manzhu gave him a look of disdain. “So, what was it?”

Mu Chensan said, “It was a Nightmare Ghost, low in cultivation. Its presence there means there’s a host nearby that it’s targeted. It’s looking for a chance to strike.”

A Nightmare Ghost typically feeds on fear. Though it doesn’t possess the ability to physically harm people, it can summon people’s deepest fears in their dreams, causing them to generate a continuous stream of dread.

Those possessed by a Nightmare Ghost are often tormented by nightmares, and in severe cases, may suffer a mental breakdown.

These small entities have weak spiritual power and can generally only attach themselves to two types of people: those who are mentally very weak and those who are entangled with yāo or wicked energy.

The former have low resistance and are easily breached, while the latter have a spiritual aura similar to its own, making it easy to integrate.

Evidently, Lu Yudong, who accidentally absorbed Manzhu’s yāo power, was the latter in the Nightmare Ghost’s eyes. Though there was a slight misunderstanding, the ultimate effect was the same.

“Having yāo power on her but not knowing how to control or use it is a very dangerous thing,” Mu Chensan said. “Right now, it’s only a Nightmare Ghost. It’s hard to say what it will attract later. My suggestion is…”

Manzhu interrupted Mu Chensan. “I can seal her spiritual consciousness and yāo power together, but I don’t know why her spiritual channels are absorbing the yāo power I use to seal her.”

Mu Chensan speculated, “Since she can completely absorb your yāo power, could it be because of your soul bond?”

Manzhu looked down, thoughtfully, for a few seconds. She then looked up at Mu Chensan. “Does that mean my yāo power can’t seal her, but someone else’s can?”

Mu Chensan: “Uh, perhaps?”

Manzhu instantly understood. “Then why don’t you do it?”

“It doesn’t have to be this complicated, does it? What I was going to suggest is, since the little girl’s spiritual channels are already open, why not teach her some simple spells for self-defense? It would save us the trouble of constantly having to reinforce the seal…” Mu Chensan stopped mid-sentence as he saw Manzhu looking at him with a half-smile.

Her eyes seemed to be telling him: Just try to refuse.

He cleared his throat a couple of times and hesitantly continued, “Your method isn’t entirely unfeasible, but it does consume spiritual energy. You have to give me some time to consider it.”

Manzhu nodded, picked up the coffee cup on the table, and took a small sip with an elegant posture. “Take your time. Think carefully. You have plenty of time.”

Mu Chensan felt a certain threat lingering in those words.

Sure enough, after a few seconds of silence, Manzhu gently placed the cup back on the table, a beautiful and dangerous curve forming on her lips. “Ten…”

Mu Chensan: “Hmm?”

“Nine, eight, seven…”

Oh no, oh no, is she seriously starting a countdown?

“W-wait, wait!” Mu Chensan became frantic, sitting bolt upright. “Hong Hong, you’re not yourself. Something’s wrong with you!”

“Six, five…”

“No, Hong Hong, Elder Sister Hong, this isn’t fair!”

“Four, three, two…” As Manzhu counted down to “two,” her smiling eyes were filled with the character for “DANGER.”

In the final second of the countdown, Mu Chensan violently slapped the table and, in the most heroic tone, spoke the most cowardly words: “Okay, no problem! I’ll take care of it!”

Manzhu smiled, her eyebrows curving. “Then thank you in advance.”

Mu Chensan hesitated for a long time, but finally couldn’t help but look up and ask, “Why don’t you want the child to cultivate?”

Manzhu fell silent.

Back in the hospital, Lu Yudong had woken up several times in a cold sweat from nightmares, shouting, “Don’t eat me…”

Manzhu knew Lu Yudong was dreaming about the day they formed the soul bond.

She is a human child, after all. How can she accept what I look like?

If Lu Yudong were to really find out that she was that Red Python, she would likely fear her, detest her, and avoid her forever.

She wasn’t ready to explain that to the child—at least not yet.

That evening, Lu Yudong sent her a text message.

In the message, Lu Yudong happily told her that the boys had stood on the podium, read their self-criticisms, and apologized in front of the entire class. The homeroom teacher had also clarified the different types of bars to the students, resolving the misunderstanding. No one would mock her with that subject again.

During the intermission, Manzhu saw the text message and quickly replied: “That’s good. If anyone bullies you again, be sure to tell me.”

Half a minute later, a new message arrived.

Lu Yudong: Elder Sister, can I come listen to you sing after evening study hall?

Manzhu thought for a moment, pulled out her stylus, and replied: You need to rest early. You still have class tomorrow during the day.

Lu Yudong: If not today, can I come tomorrow? Tomorrow afternoon is the New Year’s Day break.

Manzhu couldn’t help but smile, her eyes full of warmth.

This little girl is truly clingy.

Just as she finished writing the sentence, “I’ll pick you up after school,” and before she could send it, she felt the light behind her being blocked.

She looked back to see Yan Zhaomu standing behind her with a tray of drinks, his face serious. “Elder Sister Hong, c-children, c-can’t enter a b-bar. If we’re, we’re c-caught, we’ll, we’ll, we’ll be…”

“Fined!” Xiao Zhi supplemented from the side. “The bar will be fined!”

Manzhu blinked, gently tapped her finger, and sent the text message: “Put it on my tab.”

Yan Zhaomu: “…”

Manzhu smiled mischievously. “A lot of debt doesn’t crush you.”