PCJ – Chapter 512 It Turns Out to Be a Set-Up

Just like that, Zhang Jiaohua continued as a day student, but even when he was occasionally late, no one pursued the matter. The school security had also been informed: no matter how late Zhang Jiaohua arrived, he was to be let in without question. He was absolutely not to be forced into risking climbing the school fence again.

Zhang Jiaohua hadn’t expected that one instance of being late would cause such a commotion. But in a way, it was for the best. That Cultivation Diagram was somewhat unreliable—once he entered, he completely lost track of time. Even though the diagram was something he had visualized himself, he still wasn’t fully aware of its capabilities. The two times he had entered the night before had yielded different time lapses. Once for the maturing of chestnuts, and once for a full season of pears. The first time had passed four or five hours in the real world; the second took even longer—around seven or eight hours. There was simply no way to accurately estimate the time flow inside.

Still, Zhang Jiaohua never really considered how to exploit the diagram for advantage. To him, the greatest significance of the Cultivation Diagram lay in using it to find the gateway to immortality. Everything else was trivial. Now that the Zhang family had a solid financial foundation, Zhang Jiaohua no longer needed to worry about economic issues.

Once Wei Yunlong left, Xu Xiaoting immediately came over.

“Zhang Jiaohua, is something going on at home? We’ve been classmates for a long time—if there’s anything troubling you, just say it. I might not be able to help directly, but I could at least give some advice. Don’t you agree?” Xu Xiaoting pulled a chair over and sat down beside him.

“It’s nothing. Really. I just stayed up a bit too late last night,” Zhang Jiaohua replied.

Xu Xiaoting assumed he had been studying late and looked at him admiringly. “Zhang Jiaohua, I really admire you. Success never comes by luck alone. You already have such good grades and still study so hard. I really need to learn from you. But you should make sure to rest and strike a balance. After all, we still have three years until the college entrance exam. If we don’t take care of our health now, how will we make it to the end?”

Like most academic high-achievers, Xu Xiaoting’s imagination quickly filled in the blanks. Zhang Jiaohua was stunned for a moment. I wasn’t up late studying at all… I was… well, fine, let’s just say I was studying hard.

Zhang Jiaohua scratched his head. “I just studied a little later than usual last night. I’ll make sure to manage my time better from now on.”

“That’s the spirit. If you’ve got any good study methods or materials, be sure to share them with us!” Xu Xiaoting said.

Xu Xiaoting was the type of girl blessed with both brains and beauty. Upon entering the school, she instantly topped the school’s “New Student Beauty Rankings” and ranked fourth on the general “School Flower List.” And that was without factoring in her academic achievements—if those were considered, she might’ve topped both. Keep in mind, Xu Xiaoting was still just a developing young beauty. If she continued maturing without any major changes, her rise to the top was practically guaranteed.

She paid no attention to most of the boys in class, but she was openly friendly toward Zhang Jiaohua. The reason for that was known only to Xu Xiaoting herself. Naturally, Zhang Jiaohua didn’t pay much attention to it, but the rest of the class—boys and girls alike—couldn’t help but notice.

As soon as Xu Xiaoting left, Han Qiulong came over. Naturally, he wasn’t there to butter up Zhang Jiaohua—more likely, he was there to gloat.

“Jiaohua, didn’t you say that haunted house was super dangerous? But our paranormal investigation team completed the exploration smoothly last night. It’s a pity, though—the tunnel was sealed off. Otherwise, we planned to explore the underground section too. The haunted house has been completely transformed by the crew of Haunted House Chronicles. What a waste. Now that the film crew has taken it over, I bet they’re not just filming, but also planning to hype up the location to turn it into a tourist attraction. I heard Japan has similar horror sightseeing spots, with all sorts of gruesome scenes made using optics and acoustics. Our Beijing haunted house has real history behind it—if developed with ghost culture in mind, it has great potential. But now the public has lost a great place to explore,” Han Qiulong said with exaggerated pride, as if he’d accomplished something extraordinary.

Zhang Jiaohua smiled. “So, did your paranormal investigation team discover anything amazing?”

Han Qiulong grinned. “Actually, yes. We really did find something inside the haunted house. Look, this is what we brought out.”

As he spoke, he pulled out a small bag from his backpack and took out several items. They were all different in appearance but shared one thing in common—they were all made of paper.

Zhang Jiaohua frowned as soon as he saw them. “You actually brought this kind of stuff back with you?”

“These are obviously just props made by the film crew. Or maybe some prankster used them to spook the crew. I don’t buy it. You think this kind of stuff can really turn into some monster?” Han Qiulong said carelessly.

“If I were you, I’d throw all that junk away immediately, then burn it to ashes,” Zhang Jiaohua said.

Han Qiulong laughed loudly. “Zhang Jiaohua, last time you told me not to go exploring that haunted house. Well? The five of us went in, and all five came back safe and sound. And now you want me to burn this stuff? I’m not buying it anymore.”

“That’s up to you. Sure, you made it back in one piece, but you brought something you shouldn’t have. Just because you’re not visibly harmed doesn’t mean there’s no damage. You might not see it, but I can. Have you noticed that since you returned from the haunted house, you’ve been especially drowsy? Feeling weak all over? Or do you still think you all just got a little cold in there?” Zhang Jiaohua fired off a series of questions.

“How do you know that?” Han Qiulong was baffled. He had been feeling off the past day or two—unusually sleepy and weak—but he hadn’t mentioned it to anyone. How could Zhang Jiaohua know that so clearly?

“How I know isn’t important. You don’t need to know that. I’m only telling you this because we’re classmates. If you were a stranger, I wouldn’t have said a word. Whether you believe me or not—that’s your business,” Zhang Jiaohua replied calmly.

“If I don’t get rid of this stuff, what will happen?” Han Qiulong felt a chill run down his spine.

“Within a week, you’ll find out. There’s no need to say more about what kind of result it’ll be,” Zhang Jiaohua shook his head. No matter how much Han Qiulong questioned him afterward, he refused to say another word.

Han Qiulong was torn. Zhang Jiaohua clearly wasn’t making baseless claims—being able to perceive so much at a glance must have some truth behind it. But as a member of the Paranormal Exploration Society, simply tossing out their findings would invite scorn from the others. Zhang Jiaohua’s warnings sounded mystical and hard to verify.

Zhang Jiaohua didn’t care whether Han Qiulong followed his advice. Everyone has to make their own choices—he neither could nor needed to make them for others. What puzzled him more was why such sinister things had appeared in the haunted house in the first place. Who were they actually targeting?

Technically, the haunted house was now under the jurisdiction of Jingying Studios, so it stood to reason that any spiritual presence would be aimed at them. But Zhang Jiaohua knew these evil things had little connection to the terrifying entity hidden in the underground tunnel. Still, the aura they carried was deeply malicious.

Originally, this had nothing to do with Zhang Jiaohua. But now that Chen Cheng might be appearing at the haunted house, he couldn’t just ignore it. When he left, Crazy Chen had asked him to look after her. At the time, he’d agreed offhandedly, thinking he wouldn’t even have the chance to interact with her. Yet here they were, meeting so soon. Clearly, Crazy Chen’s request hadn’t been made lightly.

“That Crazy Chen—so cunning!” Zhang Jiaohua cursed Chen from Meizi’ao under his breath.

In Meizi’ao, Crazy Chen sat in the courtyard with his wife Chen Fang, sipping some Hongyu Immortal Brew they’d “liberated” from Zhang Jiaohua’s house, relaxing as they admired the bright crimson rooster comb flowers blooming in the corner.

“That girl Chen Cheng really did go to Beijing to shoot a movie. You think she’ll be okay?”

Back during summer vacation, Crazy Chen had cast divinations for his two daughters. The elder would have no issues. But the younger, Chen Cheng, would face a crisis in the capital—dangerous, but not fatal—and she would be aided by a noble person. With his own cultivation level, Crazy Chen couldn’t see who that noble person might be. So, to be safe, he sought out Zhang Jiaohua during one of his visits and asked him to look after his daughter.

Despite his young age, Crazy Chen could tell that Zhang Jiaohua’s cultivation far surpassed his own, having already reached a realm he could only dream of. In the past, he might have begged Zhang Jiaohua to share his knowledge, but nowadays Crazy Chen had grown more understanding. Cultivation was about fate. In his younger days, cultivation had torn his family apart—now that they were finally reunited, how could he abandon everything again in pursuit of the Dao?

“Don’t worry. With Jiaohua around, nothing will happen to Chen Cheng. His cultivation is far deeper than mine. Maybe he is the noble one from the divination,” Crazy Chen said, looking toward the north.

“Hey! You monkey! Stealing peaches from my yard again!” Crazy Chen suddenly darted toward a peach tree outside the courtyard.

Perched in the branches was a monkey, happily munching on peaches, one in each paw. But it was no ordinary monkey—it didn’t care to savor the fruit. It would take one or two bites, then toss the peach aside and look for a better one. It always thought the next peach—untouched—was the tastiest.

As Crazy Chen charged toward it, the monkey dropped the two half-eaten peaches and scampered off through the treetops, vanishing into the distance. Crazy Chen could only shake his head and chuckle helplessly at the ground littered with barely-nibbled fruit.