The atmosphere inside the special-selected student bus was warm and lively. A dozen boys and girls were chatting in pairs and groups, their conversations mostly revolving around the Tiangji Pavilion they were about to arrive at. For these children from Spirit Handler families, that thousand-year-old sanctuary of inheritance represented future glory and opportunity.
Jiang Han sat by the window, idly watching the scenery rush past outside. His sister Jiang Yu beside him wore earphones and was bent over a book on spirit-handling theory, her cool side profile serene in the sunlight, drawing frequent glances from the boys in the back row.
"Ahem."
Jiang Han straightened deliberately, positioning himself like a wall to block those prying gazes. Watching the peeking boy sheepishly withdraw his attention, he felt a smug satisfaction: You think you can be my brother-in-law? Get in line—the bar is high.
"Excuse me, hello. What's your name?"
A clear girl's voice came from behind. Jiang Han turned and saw a short-haired girl looking at him with a bright smile, two shallow dimples gracing her cheeks.
Seizing the chance to chat with a girl, Jiang Han immediately switched to a sunny, cheerful expression. "Hello, I'm Jiang Han."
"I'm Xu Ya. My parents are members of the Blue Star Spirit Handler Squad." The short-haired girl introduced herself with ease.
Jiang Han's eyes lit up, feigning surprise and admiration. "Wow! I've wanted to join the Blue Star Spirit Handler Squad since I was little—that's a top-tier team!"
"Really? Then do you know Xu Rui? He's my father, and he resolved the Day-Night Demon Incident in Jincheng." At the mention of her father, Xu Ya's eyes sparkled with pride, and her tone warmed considerably.
Jiang Han nodded vigorously, looking utterly worshipful. "Of course I know! I saw your father's heroic figure on the news! So cool! I can't believe you're his descendant. Xu Ya, right? Can I call you Little Ya? Could you tell me how he became a Spirit Handler?"
Xu Ya had not expected to find someone who understood her so well and immediately opened up.
Just as Jiang Han was preparing to spin more nonsense, Jiang Yu beside him suddenly removed one earbud and shot him a cold glance.
"..."
Jiang Han's heart skipped a beat. It was bad enough that his sister refused to play wingman—she was clearly about to sabotage him on purpose.
Xu Ya blinked between Jiang Yu and Jiang Han, seeming to sense something subtle in the air. Her earlier excitement cooled at once.
Trying to smooth things over, Jiang Han quickly broke the silence. "Little sister, don't be so aloof. Make another friend. We're all Tiangji Pavilion classmates from now on."
"Then how come you don't look this happy chatting with boys?" Jiang Yu shot back without mercy, her eyes full of contempt.
Jiang Han coughed dryly and turned back to Xu Ya. "Little Ya, well... I can't remember the exact skill details at the moment. Could you describe for me in detail how your father killed the Day-Night Demon back then?"
As he spoke, he shifted his seat, trying to move a little closer and make himself more comfortable.
But Xu Ya had clearly started to sense how unreliable he was. Suspicion entered her gaze. "Jiang, may I ask which Spirit Handler team your parents belonged to?"
"My parents?" Jiang Han said without blinking. "They were from the Dawn Spirit Handler Corps."
"What?!"
Xu Ya gave a startled cry, then quickly covered her mouth, her beautiful eyes wide with disbelief. "The Dawn Spirit Handler Corps?!"
"What's wrong?" Jiang Han asked, feigning ignorance.
Xu Ya looked full of admiration. "The Dawn Spirit Handler Corps is a legendary team that has suppressed several large ghost domains! It's said every member of the team was at least a sixth-rank powerhouse! Jiang, I never imagined your parents were that amazing!"
Seeing the fish take the bait, Jiang Han climbed right up the pole. "That's right. Ever since I was little, my dream has been to become a legendary Spirit Handler like them."
He paused, then smoothly changed tack. "Actually, Little Ya, your father is incredible too. In their letters, my parents used to mention the Blue Star Spirit Handler Squad all the time. They especially praised your father Xu Rui's fighting spirit."
"Really?" Xu Ya seemed to believe him completely. Her eyes reddened with emotion. "I never thought the great seniors of the Dawn Corps thought so highly of my father..."
"Naturally it's true. If my parents hadn't been away on missions all year, they would have taken me to visit your family long ago."
Jiang Han spoke with utter seriousness, though his eyes still could not help drifting toward the rise and fall of Xu Ya's chest. He swallowed unconsciously.
This girl was only sixteen and already had that kind of figure. The future was bright indeed.
"So many people knew my father..." Xu Ya was almost moved to tears. A parent's glory was the most precious inheritance a child could receive.
Jiang Han pressed the advantage with a sigh. "What a pity. We could have met much earlier. No wonder I felt a sense of closeness the moment I saw you. It was as if some fate had always connected us."
"It's all right, Jiang. There's a very good chance that we special-selected students will be assigned to the same class," Xu Ya said earnestly.
"Really? But what if we're split up? The Tiangji Pavilion is so huge. If we don't exchange contact information, that would be troublesome. I remember my father once said his greatest regret was that he never got to mourn your father in person..."
"This is my VX number..." Xu Ya immediately pulled out her phone.
Jiang Han was overjoyed and just reached out to take it—
"Jiang Han!!! I'm going to tear that mouth of yours apart!"
A furious shout suddenly exploded. Jiang Yu had finally had enough and erupted completely.
This shameless idiot did not even understand the basic structure of a Spirit Handler team, yet he had managed to bluff his way this far. And that nonsense about their parents praising Xu Rui repeatedly in letters? Their parents had been missing for nearly seven or eight years. What letters was he even talking about?
He had only been talking to that innocent girl for a moment and had already tricked her into giving him her VX number. What was next—late-night duo queueing?
...
Time slipped past amid the uproar.
Because of Jiang Yu's "unreasonable troublemaking," Jiang Han's deepening exchange with Xu Ya was forcibly cut off. Before long, the bus drove into a long, gloomy tunnel.
To everyone's surprise, however, the bus continued through the darkness for a very long time, yet no light from an exit ever appeared ahead.
"Do we even have a tunnel this long in Yuzhou? We've been driving for almost thirty minutes, haven't we?" a boy with a crew cut asked uneasily.
Jiang Yu's delicate brows drew together, and worry appeared on her small face. In a world where ghosts ran rampant, a tunnel this dark and endless naturally made people think of supernatural incidents.
Jiang Han turned to look out the window. There was not even a finger's breadth of visibility outside—nothing but pure blackness. Not a single light shone inside this tunnel.
"This isn't right. Something is seriously wrong."
Panic began to spread. The boys and girls all pulled out their phones, only to find the glaring words No Service in the top corner of their screens.
"Hey! Driver! Did something happen?" Jiang Han shouted toward the front.
"I... I don't know. This tunnel seems... strange..." The middle-aged driver was already drenched in sweat, flustered like an ant on a hot wok.
No matter how long a tunnel might be, there should still be some trace of light at the far exit. But here there was nothing except dead, suffocating darkness.
"What about the other buses?" Jiang Han strode to the front of the vehicle and peered ahead by the weak wash of the headlights.
Concrete roadbed, painted lane markings, a semicircular ceiling—this truly was a tunnel.
The driver shook his head in terror. "I don't know, I don't know! There were obviously two buses ahead of us, but somehow they've all disappeared!"
Jiang Han's face darkened. "Looks like we've really run into a supernatural event..."
The entire bus fell deathly silent at once. The boys and girls all turned pale. Fortunately, they all came from Spirit Handler families and had grown up hearing of such things, so they had not yet completely broken down.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
As though by prior agreement, everyone summoned their natal spirit tools. Long swords, shields, rifles, curved blades—lights from all kinds of spirit tools flashed in the dark.
Jiang Yu also gripped that heaven-grade fan, her little face tense, waiting in full readiness.
"Pull over. If we keep driving like this, the bus will run out of fuel," Jiang Han said after glancing at the fuel gauge.
"O-okay... okay..." At this point the driver's nerves were worse than those of the children. He stomped on the brakes in panic.
The bus came to a slow stop in the middle of the tunnel.
"Should we get out?" Jiang Han frowned deeply as he stared into the thick darkness beyond the windows.
At that very moment, one of the boys stood up and said loudly, "Everybody, don't panic! We're all special-selected students of the Tiangji Pavilion. As long as we stay here and don't act recklessly, the Pavilion will definitely send someone to rescue us!"
Those words loosened the taut nerves a little. It was true—their parents had all contributed greatly to society, and since the Tiangji Pavilion had already granted them special-selected status, surely it would not simply abandon them.
Jiang Yu sat back down as well, though deep worry remained hidden in her eyes as she looked out into the tunnel.
"Is that really how it will be?"
The boy's reasoning sounded sensible, yet a powerful sense of unease rose within Jiang Han's heart.
"...The dim tunnel was filled with unknown terror. Somewhere in the darkness, a pair of eyes was quietly watching the group. At this very moment, you decide to get off the bus..."
Suddenly, that line of mysterious text reappeared in Jiang Han's vision.