Chapter 126: Spiritual Energy

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“Eh? Isn’t that the Daoist who went up to the academy yesterday? How did this happen...?” Zi Feng, a disciple of Mirror Abyss, stared at the curled-up corpse.

“How strange.”

The crowd buzzed with speculation and began discussing the matter.

Before long, people from the Court of Judicial Review arrived, and the case was handed over to them.

By the time Fu Bao arrived, the place had already been cleaned up.

“Eh? Has the body been taken away?”

“They just carried it off to the Court of Judicial Review,” one of her colleagues replied.

“That quickly?” Fu Bao asked in surprise.

“Of course! Those people from the Court of Judicial Review are swift and decisive. Which case do they ever handle slowly?” the man said, curling his lip.

“All right.” Fu Bao was speechless. She had still wanted to take a look.

“Then let’s go back. Someone died here, and I’m a little frightened.” The timid young lady of the Chen family tugged at Fu Bao’s sleeve.

“Mm... all right.”

“Lin Cenbao!”

Gu Li had been inspecting the condition of the water source nearby. When he looked up, he saw Fu Bao and Miss Chen tugging at each other.

What sort of behavior was that?

“Ah! Brother Li, you’re here too.” Fu Bao greeted him when she heard his voice.

“What are you three doing?”

“We’re planning to go down the mountain.”

“Then let’s go.”

“Er—sure, sure.”

The three of them descended the mountain together. As for Gong Shaoyu, when he returned from relieving himself and discovered that he was the only person left on the entire rear mountain, he recalled what had just happened there and fled down the mountain howling like a ghost.

...

“You two, slow down a little.”

Once they reached the dining hall, Fu Bao and Miss Chen began eating ravenously. Gu Li had to keep an eye not only on himself but on both of them as well.

“Tell me, how many days have you two gone without food? How did you get this hungry?”

Gong Shaoyu picked up a steamed bun and took a huge bite. The food here was actually quite good.

“No, it’s simply that the meals here are delicious,” Fu Bao said between mouthfuls.

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“Delicious? They’re only so-so,” Gong Shaoyu remarked.

“I know of a restaurant whose dishes are so delectable that one simply cannot stop eating.” Gong Shaoyu paused with his chopsticks in hand, recalling a restaurant he had once visited with a friend. The place had felt somewhat strange, but the food there had been first-rate.

“Really? How come we’ve never heard of it?” Miss Chen and Fu Bao were both food enthusiasts. Thanks to their relationship with the little princess, what delicacy had they not tasted? They had never imagined that the capital still held such a wondrous place.

“What place? Where is it?”

“Mm... I went there with a friend last time. Where exactly was it? Somewhere along West Street, I think.” Gong Shaoyu spoke vaguely; he could not remember clearly.

“West Street? That isn’t too far.” Fu Bao rubbed her chin.

“Once we get back to the academy, we’ll go there.”

“Wonderful, wonderful!” Miss Chen was the first to nod in agreement.

“Finish what’s in your bowls before you start making plans.” Gu Li placed a mung-bean pastry in Fu Bao’s bowl.

“Oh.”

Fu Bao paid it no mind, but Miss Chen’s gaze flickered back and forth between the two of them. Gong Shaoyu gave a quiet laugh and shook his head.

The first class that afternoon was taught by the qin master. He was an unusual teacher who never wasted words. He went straight into a piece called *High Mountains and Flowing Water*.

As everyone around her listened with rapt fascination, Fu Bao could only admit that she understood nothing at all.

Ahhh! She was simply tone-deaf—a complete musical idiot.

Even Miss Chen was immersed in the music. Before long, the qin master instructed the students to practice on their own.

Fu Bao acted at once. Her determination was admirable, but the result was another matter entirely.

“Lin Cenbao, stop that at once!!”

Her playing was enough to silence every bird in the mountains.

That evening, Fu Bao lay dejectedly over the railing outside, utterly devastated.

Sigh. After so many years of music lessons, everyone around her had grown accustomed to her dreadful playing. Who would have thought that the teacher’s reaction would be so extreme?

“Sigh! How can there be something so terrifying in this world?” Fu Bao muttered as she plucked a leaf from a tree.

“Ow! Stop pulling my hair!” a childish voice cried out.

“It’s all right. Just let me vent a little.” Fu Bao rested her chin on her hand, then plucked off another leaf without hesitation.

“Ow! Stop it!”

“Why?”

“Because your music really is unbearably awful.”

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“What can I do about it?”

“Hmph, hmph! Let me tell you something. Today, a pothos plant in one of the classrooms at the boys’ academy told me that among all those young gentlemen, there is one whose qin playing is exceptionally beautiful. And let me tell you—his music carries a trace of spiritual power.”

The little sapling shook its branches as it spoke.

“Spiritual power?” Fu Bao asked in astonishment.

Apart from the depths of Mount Dabe, spiritual power could generally be found only in the imperial palace. Such places possessed a special, naturally occurring spiritual aura.

This was the first time she had ever heard of someone playing the qin so powerfully that spiritual energy overflowed from the music.

“That’s right. Hmph! That pothos has actually developed spiritual power. I’m furious!” the little branch grumbled indignantly.

“Did you see who it was?”

“No. Some stupid giant kept walking back and forth in front of it. The pothos was small to begin with, and then someone moved it and tossed it aside. It couldn’t see a thing.”

“I see.”

Perhaps she should sneak in and take a look another day. She was sure she would find him eventually.

After Fu Bao entered her room, a figure appeared in the darkness.

“Spiritual power. That’s a wonderful thing. There’s no reason to turn it down if it comes freely.”

Meanwhile, atop the artificial hill—

“I say, why don’t we just get rid of this female ghost? She’s ugly enough to be an eyesore.” A green cockroach ground its saber—one of its forelegs—as it spoke.

Before it could finish, a giant grasshopper beside it kicked it with one hind leg.

“Why kill her? Besides, can you even beat her? Her cultivation was built upon all those human lives. Even the two of us together wouldn’t be enough for her to defeat in an instant.”

“Then let’s leave her alone.”

“Why bother with her? As long as we keep watch over that fat fish, everything will be fine.”

“All right.”

The next day, Fu Bao never expected to encounter Master Yu. But why were his legs trembling like a sieve?

“Master, what’s wrong?” Gong Shaoyu asked in astonishment as he watched Master Yu tremble violently while holding a bowl.

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