8mi Chapter 54 The Strange Water Monkey, the Man from the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs
Chapter 54 The Strange Water Monkey, the Man from the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs
After leaving the cemetery, the four of them took a car back to school.
Qingjiang University is located in the northeast corner of the city. The plane trees at the school gate are already lush and provide a dense shade.
In June, the campus was filled with graduates taking photos in their graduation gowns, in small groups, their laughter echoing throughout.
"Let's go back to the academy to get our certificates first, then we'll go get our uniforms." Jiang Jun and his group arrived at the academy's first-floor lobby.
Several long tables were set up here, with stacks of red graduation certificates and blue degree certificates piled up.
The person in charge of issuing the certificates was Teacher Wang from the student affairs office. She spoke quickly and urgently: "Please state the last four digits of your student ID number...sign it...take yours, next one!"
After receiving his certificate, Jiang Jun went to the next classroom to pick up his uniform. Several class officers were busy in the classroom.
"Jiang Jun, here's your graduation gown. And this Zhongshan suit, try them on to see if they fit. If they don't, change them right away."
Jiang Jun took the clothes, held them up, and nodded: "They're about the same, no need to change."
"Tsk tsk, with a figure like yours, you can pull off anything." The male student in charge of distributing the clothes patted him on the shoulder, his tone tinged with envy.
There were still a few students trying on clothes in the classroom, chattering away.
A boy named Li Lei, who looked quite energetic but was a bit of a chatterbox, was chatting with a few girls.
"Have you heard? What happened to Jia Ke's family isn't an ordinary murder case," Li Lei said in a low, mysterious voice.
Several girls looked at him curiously.
"I heard it from my cousin: the monster that killed their whole family was a child carrying a schoolbag with a black cat inside."
"If you accidentally touch him, he'll fall down, and the black cat will dart out and attach itself to the corpse..."
"Oh, stop talking!" A short-haired girl covered her ears and stomped her feet. "That was terrifying!"
"What's there to be afraid of? They're not really coming." Li Lei chuckled. "Besides, Jia Ke's mess was his own doing. He seduced someone else's wife and fell to his death from a window. It's not his death that's the problem, but the whole family is implicated..."
"Alright." Jiang Jun frowned and elbowed Li Lei. "The person's gone. Don't joke about this. You don't find it scary, but others will find it creepy. Aren't you unlucky?"
Li Lei paused for a moment, then awkwardly shut up. The girls next to him also breathed a sigh of relief and whispered, "That's right, that's right."
At 2:00 PM sharp, all students gathered at the library entrance to take a group photo of the entire college.
"Click—"
The shutter clicked, and the last official group photo of our four years of university was captured.
Next up is the class group photo. The location was chosen to be a small river outside the north gate of Qingjiang University.
This river is called "Qingxi". Although it is called a river, it is only seven or eight meters wide, and you can see the bottom in the shallow parts.
Weeping willows line both banks of the river, their branches brushing against the water's surface. When the wind blows, it sounds like someone is combing their hair.
During my junior year, the whole class had a picnic here, and it has been the "official location" for class photos ever since.
However, with the promotion of the talisman "Guibuxu," these willow trees have also suffered. Their once thick and beautiful branches are now mostly bald.
Everyone changed into clothes in the style of the Republic of China era: the boys wore black Zhongshan suits, and the girls wore blue diagonally-buttoned school uniforms with black long skirts.
At first glance, it looks like you've traveled back a hundred years.
"Come on, let's take a group photo first!" The class monitor organized everyone to line up.
The photographer was a senior student we hired, carrying a DSLR camera. He directed everyone, "Boys, squat in the front row; girls, stand in the back row; smile!"
After the group photo, it was free time to take photos. People gathered in small groups and took pictures with classmates they knew.
Jiang Jun was surrounded by several girls who wanted to take photos with him alone. He smiled and let them take the pictures.
He is indeed good-looking, over 1.8 meters tall, and usually has a friendly personality. He can chat with anyone and has always been popular in class.
After taking a few pictures, the boys came over to join in the fun, including Li Lei, whom he had just mentioned, who awkwardly gave a peace sign.
Jiang Jun was working non-stop when he suddenly heard a "splash" from the riverbank, followed by a scream.
"Someone has fallen into the water!"
Jiang Jun turned his head sharply and saw Li Lei splashing around in the river.
He was two or three meters from the shore, the water was already up to his chest, and he was being dragged towards the center of the river by something.
"Li Lei!" Li Cheng rushed over and reached out to pull him up, but Li Lei's body suddenly sank, almost submerging him.
Jiang Jun narrowed his eyes and saw a blurry black shadow in the water, tightly gripping Li Lei's ankle.
The thing wasn't big, about two feet long, and its whole body was covered with short, grayish-black fur. It looked like a monkey and a fish at the same time, with its mouth stretched to its ears, revealing a row of fine, sharp teeth.
The Rogue-level Monster [Water Monkey]!
If they were to meet alone in the wild, Jiang Jun could kill them with a flick of his finger, but this happened in broad daylight.
At this moment, Li Lei's head was already submerged in the water, with only one hand flailing wildly on the surface.
Some people screamed in fright, while others frantically searched for sticks and ropes, but no one dared to go into the water.
Before Jiang Jun could think too much, he pulled out two items from his "Hidden Universe": a mind-controlling sand and a vampire fang.
After obtaining the "Hidden Universe in the Sleeve," he carried many odds and ends with him, never expecting them to come in handy today.
Jiang Jun bit his fingertip and dripped his blood onto the bewitching sand. The bewitching sand instantly absorbed the blood, and a faint blush appeared on its surface.
He took out a lighter, held it under the rock, and a flame shot out, producing a cloud of smoke that made one dizzy.
He blew the smoke towards the water. The dark figure visibly swayed and its movements became sluggish, as if it were drunk.
Taking advantage of the water monkey's dazed state, Jiang Jun picked up the bloodsucking fangs and stuck the tip of one fang into his fingertip. A mere drop of blood was enough to fully activate it.
"Go!" He pointed his fangs at the dark figure in the water.
The fang flew out of his hand, leaving a dark red afterimage, and shot straight into the water.
With a muffled "plop," the dark shape trembled violently, abruptly releasing Li Lei's foot and quickly retreating into the deep water.
Having completed its mission, the fangs flew back on their own and landed in Jiang Jun's palm, returning to their original color.
Li Lei surfaced, choked on several mouthfuls of water, and was pulled ashore by several boys.
"Cough cough cough..." He collapsed to the ground, his face pale, his whole body trembling, and his lips purple.
Jiang Jun squatted down, looked at Li Lei, and said calmly, "Don't talk nonsense anymore. See, you really confessed, didn't you?"
Li Lei's lips trembled as he nodded frantically.
The way the students around Jiang Jun looked at him changed. There was awe, curiosity, and a touch of estrangement.
A girl whispered, "Jiang Jun, what... what were those things you were using just now?"
"It's nothing, just a small self-defense item a friend gave me." Jiang Jun casually took it back without further explanation.
Not long after, the sound of sirens grew louder as they approached.
Two vehicles belonging to the Mystic Bureau were parked by the river. The doors opened, and Zhao Chen got out first, followed by Zhou Xia and Cai Liang.
Jiang Jun's gaze swept over the three men, lingering on Cai Liang for a moment before he suddenly realized: 'It seems he's been transferred to the News Center of the Department of Supernatural Affairs.'
"Liu Yan invited him before, I didn't expect her to act so quickly." Jiang Jun said calmly.
"Who reported the incident?" Zhao Chen glanced at the scene.
"I...I reported it." Kong Lingchen raised his hand. "My classmate fell into the water, and there was something in the water..."
Zhao Chen nodded, his gaze falling on Jiang Jun, and he paused slightly in surprise: "It's you?"
"Officer Zhao, we meet again." Jiang Jun stood up and nodded politely.
Zhao Chen glanced at him, then looked at the river, seemingly lost in thought: "Did you handle what happened just now?"
"I used a little something to scare the monster away." Jiang Jun didn't hide it, nor could he, so he casually showed off the bewitching sand and the vampire fangs.
Zhou Xia walked over from behind, somewhat surprised: "Boss Jiang...when did you become a Ghost Tamer?"
"It was a coincidence." Jiang Jun smiled, without elaborating.
Zhou Xia didn't press the matter further. She had always remembered the favor Jiang Jun had done for her by reducing the rent.
Cai Liang followed at the very back, and the moment he saw Jiang Jun, his eyebrows twitched slightly.
He couldn't quite put his finger on what was wrong, but he felt a strange sense of familiarity with the person in front of him.
Jiang Jun noticed Cai Liang's gaze, but did not respond, simply shifting his gaze away.
"Brother Liang, what are you standing there for? Help me set up the cordon." Zhou Xia called out to him.
"Oh, they're here." Cai Liang looked away, temporarily suppressing his doubts, and turned to pull up the cordon.
Zhao Chen didn't make things difficult for Jiang Jun, but simply asked a few questions, such as the strange characteristics and which direction he fled in.
He took a stack of documents out of the car and handed them out to the students present to sign. Jiang Jun leaned over and glanced at them; the words "Confidentiality Agreement" were written on them.
"Signing this is enough, no need to erase the memory?" Jiang Jun asked casually.
Zhao Chen didn't even look up: "Events outside the Ghost Realm are generally not subject to forced memory erasure. Just sign a confidentiality agreement and don't talk about it."
Jiang Jun nodded thoughtfully.
On the way back to school, everyone was quiet. Occasionally, someone would steal a glance at Jiang Jun, seemingly wanting to say something but then stopping themselves.
Kong Lingchen walked beside him and whispered, "Brother Jun, you were really fierce just now."
"It's nothing, just a way to save my life," Jiang Jun said calmly.
Wang Wenhao and Li Cheng also came over and each patted him on the shoulder: "You're a hidden talent, Brother Jun."
Jiang Jun didn't reply, but was thinking about something else: "I'm not going to the farewell dinner tonight."
"Why?" Kong Lingchen was taken aback.
"I'm a little tired, I want to go back and rest." Jiang Jun smiled. "You guys go ahead, eat more for me."
Kong Lingchen glanced at him, then at Wang Wenhao and Li Cheng, and suddenly said, "Then I won't go either. How about the four of us find a place and eat by ourselves?"
"Okay," Wang Wenhao nodded.
"I agree too," Li Cheng echoed.
Jiang Jun looked at them and felt a warmth in his heart: "Let's go then. I know a barbecue stall near the back gate of the school that's pretty good."
The four of them went there without going back to their dormitory to change their clothes, still wearing their Zhongshan suits.
The barbecue stall was located in a small alley behind the school. The owner was a man in his fifties, wearing an apron and fanning the charcoal fire with a palm-leaf fan.
The air was thick with smoke, and the aroma of cumin and chili mingled together, making one's mouth water.
"Boss, give me a hundred skewers of lamb, twenty skewers of beef tendon, ten skewers of chicken wings, and a case of beer."
Kong Lingchen sat down casually, tugging at the collar of his Zhongshan suit: "Wearing this to eat barbecue, I guess I'm the only one who would do that."
"That's called a sense of ritual." Li Cheng took apart a pair of chopsticks.
When the beer was served, the four of them each opened a bottle, clinked them together, and gulped down half of them.
"Four years of university have come to an end just like that." Wang Wenhao sighed, looking at the foam in his cup.
"Don't get sentimental," Kong Lingchen glared at him. "It's not like we're parting ways forever. We can get together anytime we want in the future."
"You make it sound so easy. You're in Beijing, I'm in Shanghai, he's in Shenzhen, and Brother Jun is in Qingjiang. We're all scattered across the country. It's not that easy." Li Cheng shook his head.
Jiang Jun smiled but didn't say anything. He raised his bottle and clinked it against each of the three men: "We're all on the same planet, so we can always see each other if we want to."
"That's a very insightful statement," Kong Lingchen said, giving a thumbs up.
The four of them ate and chatted, the dim lighting at the barbecue stall casting long shadows.
After finishing the last skewer of lamb and the last bottle of beer, Jiang Jun took out his phone and checked the time; it was almost eleven o'clock.
"Let's go back and pack our things. We'll all go our separate ways tomorrow." He stood up and dusted off his trousers.
The four of them walked side by side on the tree-lined path on campus, their shadows stretched long and short by the streetlights.
As they reached the dormitory building, Jiang Jun suddenly stopped, turned around, and opened his arms wide: "Come on, give me a hug."
The four of them huddled together, and no one said a word.
A night breeze blew in from the playground, carrying the scent of fresh grass.
Jiang Jun released his grip, glanced at the dormitory building where he had lived for three and a half years, and suddenly felt a little empty inside.
But it's not that free.
He knew that starting tomorrow, he would be embarking on a completely different path.
A path completely different from that of these classmates.
But tonight, he's just a recent college graduate.
A few brothers, a barbecue, a case of beer.
This is enough.