Lin Yan received a call from the school on the fifth day after returning home, informing her that she had met the requirements for skipping a grade. She would be able to directly enter Class Five of Senior Three at the start of the next semester.
Lin Yan accepted the news calmly and then informed her parents.
Although Lin's father and mother didn't show much on the surface, Lin Yan discovered the next day that the entire Lin family seemed to know about it.
Facing the gazes of her family, Lin Yan chose to go into seclusion to draw talismans and declared she wouldn't come out before the Chinese New Year.
However, Lin Yan participated in all the family's pre-New Year activities. As the Lin family believed in Taoism, their preparations before the festival were quite meticulous.
This lively period continued until after the New Year, and Lin Yan returned to school early.
When Lin Yan left the old house with her bag on her back, her grandmother no longer seemed reluctant to see her go. She only asked her to call home often.
After Lin Yan promised to call whenever she had time, she got into a car and left the old house.
Upon arriving at the school, Lin Yan was greeted by a new class of classmates.
"Hoo, hoo, hoo!"
She ran breathlessly through a dark forest, with dense darkness chasing her. She didn't know what she was afraid of, but she knew she couldn't stop. If she was caught, something terrible would happen.
The path in the forest was rugged, and her legs felt as heavy as lead. She ran slower and slower, and the sounds behind her grew louder.
They were about to catch up. She had to run faster, faster. As long as she could escape this forest, she would be safe.
"Zeng Jingjing, you can't escape." The voice seemed to whisper in her ear.
"Ah!" She sat up in bed, her pajamas soaked with cold sweat.
"So, it was just a dream."
Zeng Jingjing let out a long sigh, looking at the sky, which was already bright outside. The fear and panic from the dream still lingered, but she couldn't recall the specific details.
"It was a nightmare. It's good that I woke up, it's good that I woke up." Zeng Jingjing got out of bed and went to the bathroom to wash up and change.
Although she had forgotten the scene from the dream, the lingering terror remained in her heart. She decided not to sleep anymore.
She glanced at the clock on the wall; it was already 8:30. She might as well get up and have some breakfast. She could also go to the supermarket afterward to buy some daily necessities.
Zeng Jingjing thought to herself, but she didn't notice a handprint on her back, as if someone had placed their hand on her shoulder.
Senior Three life was intense and fulfilling. Wei Wanru watched everyone diligently studying and felt that no one had it easy.
Now that everyone had access to education, getting into college was akin to the Imperial Examinations in her time. Back then, only a few thousand, at most tens of thousands, took the exams annually. Now, each province had hundreds of thousands, even millions, of candidates.
"Studying is even harder!" Wei Wanru sighed lightly. Everyone in every era faced their own challenges.
People of this era enjoyed more, but they also faced greater pressure. During this period, she had seen quite a few suicides.
She had previously suspected supernatural interference, but upon careful investigation, she found it was merely the despair of adults.
The pressure was too immense to bear, and they chose to end their lives. However, Wei Wanru truly didn't understand. Didn't they know that those who died by suicide would go to the City of the Abandoned, unable to reincarnate?
Some ghosts would endlessly replay the scenes of their deaths at the place of their demise.
Perhaps they had truly lost the will to live. If they were not afraid of death, why couldn't they face life?
This era was so good. Wei Wanru envied these people immensely; she couldn't even achieve the desire to live.
Among these high school students, Lin Yan seemed out of place. To them, Lin Yan's life appeared too refined.
Moreover, they had never seen Lin Yan diligently solving problems, yet her scores were consistently among the top three.
Gradually, the teachers realized Lin Yan was a genius and thus relaxed the requirement for her homework. As long as she maintained her grades, she didn't need to write as much.
This left Lin Yan with more time to draw talismans and study ancient texts.
By the time Zhang's mother freed Lin Yan from the heavy burden of studies, Lin Yan was capable of drawing higher-level talismans herself.
"Auntie, is there something I can help you with?" Lin Yan was curious about the reason for her visit. However, judging by her expression, it didn't seem like she was in any dire trouble, so why the urgency?
"Lin classmate, a relative of ours seems to have provoked something unclean. We'd like to ask you to come and take a look.
I know this is a rather abrupt request, but we truly don't know who else to turn to, so we could only come to you."
"What happened?" Lin Yan understood that such matters were usually urgent and did not engage in small talk with Zhang's mother.
Zhang's mother's relative was a distant cousin of Zhang Li Li. Although they were cousins, they lived close to each other, and their fathers had grown up together, so their relationship was very intimate.
Therefore, when something happened to her, Zhang's mother rushed to find Lin Yan. She knew Lin Yan possessed genuine abilities and hoped Lin Yan could save her niece.
Her niece had always been well-behaved and obedient. After graduating from university, she started working for a company in another city.
She was articulate and good at handling matters, earning the favor of her superiors and colleagues. She was doing very well at the company. However, since last month, she had been experiencing persistent body aches, and medical examinations revealed no abnormalities.
As the pain intensified, she was unable to work, yet the hospital could not find any physical cause for her ailments.
Zhang's mother could only place her hopes on Lin Yan, the heavenly master she had recently met. She had no other heavenly masters she knew.
"Then I'll go with you. I'll ask the teacher for leave first." After hearing her description, Lin Yan had a general idea of the situation. However, whether it was as she suspected would require personal verification.
"Thank you so much, thank you so much, Lin classmate." Zhang's mother was very emotional. In just a few days, she had watched her niece transform from vibrant to emaciated and haggard.
Not only had her illness gone untreated, but she had also lost her job. Seeing her like this deeply pained Zhang's mother and their family.
"Whether I can help remains to be seen. We'll know more after I've had a look. But Auntie, please don't worry, I'll do my best to help her recover."
Lin Yan didn't pull her hand away from Zhang's mother. She knew that she was now the hope for that family, which explained her emotional reaction.
Although she didn't yet know how the girl had provoked the unclean entity, it probably wasn't something very powerful.
She planned to go tonight. Since Zhang's mother was here, she could also help her ask the teacher for leave.