"That's right, you have no manners for being so serious!" "Sneaking around behind people, you don't look like a good person at all!"

The three girls were vehemently lecturing Zhu Hei Huang for eavesdropping, as they had been sharing secrets with Wu Qianfeng, making them especially annoyed by his secretive behavior.

Wu Qianfeng, however, began to worry for the girls. He wasn't afraid of the spider fiend himself, but the girls didn't know his true nature. If they offended him, how would they face his retribution? Wouldn't that mean he had implicated them? Thinking of this, he quickly stopped the girls: "Forget it, let's go talk somewhere else."

The girls continued to glare at Zhu Hei Huang with reluctance, but to Wu Qianfeng's surprise, Zhu Hei Huang didn't press the issue further. Laughing, he quipped, "You actually believe this phony Taoist? He can even catch ghosts? He'd be lucky if a ghost didn't catch him first!" With that, he strode away.

Wu Qianfeng breathed a sigh of relief, but Zhu Hei Huang's dismissal of him as a phony Taoist left him deeply displeased. Without waiting to hear the rest of what the girls were saying, he thumped his chest and declared, "Don't you worry, no matter what kind of specter or monster it is, once it falls into my hands, I guarantee I'll send it on its way to reincarnation in the Western Paradise." Wu Qianfeng didn't notice his slip of the tongue—that "going to the Western Paradise" and "reincarnation" weren't quite the same thing—as he was certain these three girls wouldn't grasp the distinction anyway.

Although the young women still harbored some doubts about Wu Qianfeng, operating on the principle of grasping at straws, they decided to ask for his help in exorcising the ghost. So, Wu Qianfeng returned to his dormitory to gather some props, successfully skipping his afternoon classes. Dressed in his most cherished Taoist robes, he completely ignored the pointing and whispering of classmates and teachers along the way and arrived as promised beneath the girls' dormitory building.

The three girls furtively led him into the women's dormitory, strictly forbidden to male students, much to the envy of many male students who witnessed the scene.

"See? It's that one, the room where all the windowpanes are shattered," Xuanxuan pointed out to Wu Qianfeng from the window.

Wu Qianfeng glanced over and couldn't help but frown. He had initially assumed this was all just the girls' collective hallucination, that they were frightening themselves. He had only come seriously to offer them psychological comfort and reassurance. But seeing that derelict building, his heart tightened—how could such a house, brimming with an eerie aura, be so close to the school, and he, a man of the Tao dedicated to slaying demons and eradicating evil, had never noticed it? Fortunately, the three girls had sought him out before it could truly harm anyone; otherwise, the consequences would have been severe.

Wu Qianfeng took out several talismans and affixed them to the windows and walls of the girls' dormitory facing the ruined house. Then he told them, "There is indeed something amiss, but it's nothing major. I'll go take a look now. You all stay here and keep the doors and windows locked; whatever happens over there, just ignore it."

The three girls nodded, and observing their expressions, Wu Qianfeng noted they seemed more excited than afraid. Kids these days... he mused, heading toward the back wall of the campus, not realizing he was the same age as the girls.

The back wall of the school was unusually tall because it bordered a stretch of ruins outside, and numerous shards of glass were embedded along the top, glinting in the sunlight. Wu Qianfeng deftly avoided the view of the surveillance camera mounted on the high wall and climbed over with agility, muttering to himself, "Seriously, glass shards and cameras on the wall—it's like a prison! What do they take our student rights for..." He didn't seem to notice that the school had a main gate precisely because it didn't want students scaling the "prison-like" high wall.

Outside the wall lay the expanse of ruins. Having just scaled the wall of a sumptuously built aristocratic school, Wu Qianfeng felt a jarring sense of incongruity facing the desolate scene before him. The low-slung buildings had long been deserted; the doors and windows were mostly just suggestions, either broken or entirely missing their glass, gaping open like black, dark holes. The ground was littered with trash that rolled underfoot as the wind blew. Silence reigned all around, with no living things in sight.

"It really looks like a haunted place," Wu Qianfeng murmured to himself. Relying on his memory of the general location of the derelict house, he found it—all these buildings looked pretty much the same from the outside.

The intense evil energy radiating from the house confirmed for Wu Qianfeng that he hadn't mistaken the entrance. He paused at the doorway to observe for a moment, feeling a tinge of regret that in his haste, he hadn't asked the girls for details on the ghost's modus operandi. Knowing the enemy is knowing oneself for a hundred battles won; he realized he was still too young... While lamenting this, Wu Qianfeng raised his hand and flung several curse talismans, dispersing the evil energy near the doorway before stepping boldly inside.

The moment Wu Qianfeng entered, he sensed something was wrong. He immediately bounded backward without pausing to think, intending to retreat from the ruined house first. But before his foot could cross the threshold, the half-collapsed door slammed shut heavily. Then, both windows snapped closed rapidly. A light, characteristic of activated talismans, flared in every corner of the room, trapping Wu Qianfeng inside the ruined structure.

Wu Qianfeng spun around the room, discovering that over a dozen talismans sealed every exit tight. Upon closer inspection, he noticed a common feature on every talisman: countless fine threads were entwined around them, and it was these very threads that constituted the talismans' power, locking him within the derelict house.

This is demonic power, nothing to do with a ghost. I've been tricked! Wu Qianfeng thought to himself.

He lightly touched the fine threads on the talismans. Though his finger was immediately repelled by the energy on the charms, the sticky sensation of the threads lingered on his skin. This is spider silk. Zhu Hei Huang, it was you stirring up trouble. I won't let you get away with this. Wu Qianfeng spun around in anger: That spider fiend must have eavesdropped on his conversation with the three girls and set a trap here to ensnare him.

Wu Qianfeng wasn't afraid of Zhu Hei Huang's trap. His own magic was on par with the fiend's. While Zhu Hei Huang had innate demonic arts to use, Wu Qianfeng possessed several Taoist treasures for self-defense. Although he had fallen into a snare and was at a disadvantage, Zhu Hei Huang’s trap could only hold him for a limited time. If the fiend dared to attack him, their chances would still be fifty-fifty. However, to break this trap, he estimated it would take at least three days. Three days! He wouldn't be able to settle the girls' matter by then, and they would surely dismiss him as a braggart.

The thought of losing face in front of the young women sent a wave of dejection through him, especially since he had just accepted their commission after eating and drinking his fill at their expense. They would certainly assume he was a phony Taoist who scammed free meals. One's head can be lost, blood can be spilled, but the reputation of a Taoist practitioner must not be disgraced! With this thought, Wu Qianfeng gritted his teeth and resolved to break the trap as quickly as possible to give the girls a satisfactory result for their investigation.

Having stuffed himself thoroughly at noon, Wu Qianfeng didn't feel hungry. He paced around the room, calculating which talisman to tackle first for the quickest result.

The sky gradually darkened. The ruined house was drafty, and he could clearly see the stars through the gaps in the roof.

Wu Qianfeng had just managed to break two talismans and had to sit down to catch his breath. Zhu Hei Huang's magical power was slightly stronger than he had anticipated, requiring more effort. At this rate, he had no idea how long it would take to get out.

Wu Qianfeng pulled out his canteen from beneath his Taoist robe and took a sip. Thankfully, he always carried fresh water to moisten his throat when parched. Although the water was now infused with the ash of talismans meant for ghosts, the taste was quite unpleasant. Still, Wu Qianfeng wasn't a ghost, so a few sips when desperately thirsty wouldn't matter.

Alas, it's all because I was too careless... Wu Qianfeng complained about his haste while resting. He should have scouted the surroundings before entering; instead, he had blundered right in.

Just as he felt his strength and magical energy had sufficiently recovered and he stood up, ready to "fight" again, a cold sneer echoed from outside.

Wu Qianfeng had been waiting for this moment for a long time, so he wasn't surprised. He called out angrily, "You surnamed Zhu! If you have any guts, come in for a one-on-one fight! Eavesdropping and then setting a trap isn't what a real man does!"

Zhu Hei Huang’s handsome face appeared outside the window, looking at Wu Qianfeng with a half-smile through the glass covered in "cobweb patterns." After a pause, he drawled, "Did you really think there was a ghost in here?"

Wu Qianfeng froze. "What do you mean?"

Zhu Hei Huang chuckled, "That girl is my girlfriend."

"What?"

"Xuanxuan is my new girlfriend. I had her trick you into coming here."

"What?" Wu Qianfeng repeated in disbelief.

"That girl has been pursuing me very actively lately, so it was a sudden idea: I used her to lure you here and trap you."

"You actually... she knows you're a demon!" Wu Qianfeng was astonished by the girl's infatuation—how could she like a "person" like Zhu Hei Huang and even help him trap a fellow human?

"I just told her I couldn't stand you, this fake Taoist, and asked her to help me set up a scenario to trick you into spending the night outside school, then have the Dean's office catch you and give you a major demerit. And she believed it." He began chuckling again. "Who would tell a foolish woman like that the truth? Even if I told her, she might not believe it. Humans are so interesting; they are clearly afraid of the dark and the unknown, yet they insist there are no demons or monsters in the world..."

Wu Qianfeng was infuriated by his attitude. "You just wait until I get out..."

"Heh heh, I forgot to tell you, this place is scheduled for demolition in one day. With the talismans I set, the demolition crew won't even see you. By the time those large machines start up, bricks, tiles, and broken walls flying everywhere, if you don't die, you'll probably be lying in the hospital for half a year or more. Heh heh, dreaming of revenge on me? Don't even think about it."

"You!" Wu Qianfeng’s teeth ground together so hard they ached. "Zhu Hei Huang, if you have the guts, fight me fair and square! What kind of man ambushes people from behind! If you have the nerve, come inside, and I'll settle this with you!"

Zhu Hei Huang watched his fury with an appreciative gaze. He hated Wu Qianfeng, who had dared to embarrass him publicly, but he couldn't deal with him inside the school due to the presence of Teacher Lin. Thus, he devised this method to lure Wu Qianfeng out. Outside school grounds, what he did to the human was his own business. "You just wait there for the demolition, hahahaha. I'll come visit you when that day arrives." Zhu Hei Huang laughed triumphantly, his figure vanishing into the darkness.

Wu Qianfeng watched him leave helplessly, angrily pounding the wall. He truly was too foolish. Even knowing this spider fiend was plotting against him, knowing he used his newly acquired handsome face (Wu Qianfeng refused to believe Zhu Hei Huang's appearance was natural) to flirt with girls and have girlfriends all over campus, he still dared to trust a girl's word, failing even to inquire if she had any connection to Zhu Hei Huang. And these girls nowadays, they fall for someone based only on a pretty face, even going so far as to help him harm others. Has their conscience dissolved?

Wu Qianfeng understood that self-pity was useless. If he couldn't break these talismans and escape within a day and a night, he would be demolished along with the ruined house... He dared not contemplate that outcome.

Meanwhile, in the girls' dormitory, the three girls were deep in discussion: "That little Taoist is really stupid, acting as if ghosts actually exist, that he actually went." "But Xuanxuan, your boyfriend is a bit too wicked, causing someone to get a major demerit like that." "It's just a demerit. He's in the special class; everyone in that class deserves expulsion anyway. Are we afraid of one demerit?" "You're wrong to say that; Xuanxuan's boyfriend is also in the special class." "Can't he be an exception? But Xuanxuan, you still haven't confessed how you landed such a handsome boyfriend. Shouldn't you tell us now?" "Yeah, confess and be lenient; resist and be severely dealt with..."

Lin Qingping frowned as she looked at the classroom. Usually, there were always a few empty seats in the Class Nine classroom of the first grade, though the location of the empty seats shifted depending on the subject. But today, the empty seats were conspicuously numerous, at least half the room. Some students tried to pretend they had stepped out temporarily by placing a school bag or an open textbook on their desks, while others made no pretense at all; the bare tabletops were glaringly conspicuous.

Lin Qingping sighed helplessly. She truly had no way with these students. She didn't want to force them to attend class diligently, listen attentively, and study hard; she would be content as long as they didn't cause trouble. In truth, some of these children were extremely bright. They usually didn't study seriously, yet they always managed to score well on exams (Teacher Lin had slightly miscalculated the number of bright students, as her count included several students who habitually stole exam papers from the teacher's office before tests). If these children applied themselves, they would surely become top students.

Perhaps children's lives shouldn't revolve entirely around academics, but weren't these children's lives revolving too far away from studying? Lin Qingping thought helplessly and picked up her textbook.

"Hey, the little Taoist isn't in class today, is he?" Xue Ziyun looked around and whispered to Chen Kangshan.

Chen Kangshan replied with his book held up to his face, "He wasn't here yesterday either."

"How strange, I thought he was a good student." Xue Ziyun, who skipped nearly two-thirds of all classes except for Teacher Lin Qingping's (the skipping rate increasing proportionally to the distance of the class from Teacher Lin's subject), was surprisingly judging someone else for skipping class.

"Doesn't everyone want to skip class sometimes?" The old saying "Environment changes a person" was undeniably true. Even an honest student like Chen Kangshan, having spent so long in Class Nine, had begun to believe that skipping class was an inalienable right for every student.

"But something even stranger is that that 'pig' actually came to class," Xue Ziyun said maliciously. "He must have been warned by Bifang for skipping Teacher Lin's class too often."

Zhu Hei Huang was quite popular in school, especially among the girls, where he was practically the top candidate for the 'ideal boyfriend.' However, his standing among the other demons was very poor; every demon in the class disliked him, especially He Xinran, who was practically his nemesis. After a few clashes early in the school year, Xue Ziyun's relationship with him was also at freezing point, with daily bickering born of mutual distaste. Zhu Hei Huang had always dared to fight for privileges enjoyed by human students: skipping Teacher Lin Qingping's class. So when Xue Ziyun saw him present today, he naturally thought ill of him.

Chen Kangshan recalled the firebird named Bifang he had seen previously—it had come to warn the demon students not to cause trouble in the class of its friend's mother. For some reason, Chen Kangshan had been included in the group being warned. Thinking of how terrifying it was when that seemingly cute bird instantly incinerated several pigs set up as demonstrations with a single flap of its wings, Chen Kangshan shivered uncontrollably and muttered, "I hope not. That fire-bird was terrifying!"

Xue Ziyun snorted dismissively. "He deserves to be taught a good lesson."

Wu Qianfeng leaped high into the air, snatching something from the empty space above the roof while shouting "Break!" He landed holding a paper talisman. Sweat streamed down his face, dripping heavily onto the floor, instantly soaking the spot beneath him. Wu Qianfeng gasped for air, realizing he had much untapped potential. What he had estimated would take three days, he had managed to complete more than half of in his desperation within just two days and one night. Now only two crucial talismans remained; breaking those would neutralize the entire formation, and he could escape. Even so, he had utterly exhausted his strength; sitting there now, he could barely move an inch.

Daybreak was approaching. The sounds of vehicles and human voices grew from distant to near outside the ruined house. Wu Qianfeng knew the bustling demolition work was about to begin. This old residential area would soon be reduced to rubble and dust by the roar of machinery and the hands of workers. But must he really be trapped here, waiting to be demolished with the ruins?

Wu Qianfeng forced himself to steady his frantic spirit, attempting to recover some magical power before the construction reached his location, hoping to try breaking another talisman, to see if he could seize a sliver of opportunity to escape. But luck seemed to be against him; Wu Qianfeng clearly heard that the construction work was starting right near the ruined house where he was located.

The roar of machinery engines, the crashing and shattering of bricks and tiles, the sound of collapsing walls, the clamor of workers... slowly drawing nearer. His heart could no longer remain still. His mind was a chaotic mess of terrifying imaginings. Finally, he jumped up and threw his body against the door, attempting to force a path open with brute strength. Although deep down he knew that under the influence of the talismans, the walls, doors, and windows of this house were impregnable from the inside, and no single human body could smash through them, he couldn't just wait to die—he had to try something.

The machinery had reached the front of the ruined house. Workers began dismantling the doors and windows, yet they acted as if they couldn't see Wu Qianfeng inside. This showed that Zhu Hei Huang had also performed manipulations outside, preventing them from seeing the trapped occupant. Wu Qianfeng couldn't help but feel a grudging admiration for the spider fiend's meticulous and venomous planning—to expend such effort and magic setting a trap over a mere conflict between classmates.

Under the workers' practiced hands, recoverable materials like doors and windows were swiftly removed. Then, the large machinery moved in, the excavator extending its massive 'claws' and striking the wall, instantly creating a large hole. Even though there was now a gap in the wall, Wu Qianfeng couldn't escape through it. As long as the overall structure of the ruined house remained, the remaining talismans would continue to function. He walked toward the opening only to be thrown back by an invisible barrier.

Wu Qianfeng darted around the ruined house like a headless fly, dodging falling bricks and searching desperately for an exit. It seemed Zhu Hei Huang had calculated everything with chilling precision; even with half the house demolished, the effects of the talismans persisted, refusing to release Wu Qianfeng until the very last moment.

Wu Qianfeng watched the area where he could take cover shrink smaller and smaller, the bricks and debris raining down like a shower. As a piece of the roof began to crash down directly toward him, he could only close his eyes, preparing to meet his end.

"Spider fiend, you just wait! Even as a ghost, this Daoist master will not let you go..."