After five bigwigs in Beijing's elite circle fell into their trap, I fled.

Chapter 217 Bored Men
"Magic Puppet...Master?" Jiang Shu tried hard to recall, but she had never seen anyone around Li Yubai who matched this title. The people she saw most often were the three special assistants, Yang, Gao, and Shen.

"Yes, yes, the school has a 1:1 replica!" a student exclaimed, eyes sparkling. "I'm totally into the Puppet Master!"

Good grief! The new master and the old master are still in the dark, and now some kind of magical puppet has appeared...

Jiang Shu wanted to ask again what the Puppet Master was, but seeing that the journey was more than halfway over, she shifted her focus to a more pressing question:
"If you really can't find any gossip about the old and new masters, then tell me about the thugs in Misty Continent?"

“There are no thugs in Misty Continent,” a classmate said matter-of-factly. “There’s only a bunch of weaklings who fled from outside and made their home in the mysterious rainforest ten kilometers away from Holy Spirit Academy.”

"Ten kilometers away..." Jiang Shu paused for a moment, "Do you have a map showing their distribution?"

"We won't create a map specifically for weaklings like that. But if you'd like, we can take you there?"

"Is it okay?" Jiang Shu sat up straight.

"Of course, the dean has asked us to meet all your conditions." The classmate looked at her intently. "All the scholarships will be yours too. Don't worry, none of us will compete with you."

"A scholarship..." Jiang Shu was intrigued. "Is it a lot?"

"Many," the classmate sighed. "It ranges from three hundred to five hundred, and the highest-level scholarship is an Apple iPhone 11, which is said to sell for three or four thousand outside."

Jiang Shu: "...I'm not going to compete for the scholarship. Now take me to find that bunch of weaklings."

"It's not possible now. The dean is waiting for you at the academy. Let's go register first, and then we'll take you there after the freshman welcome ceremony."

"Okay." Jiang Shu suppressed her anxiety and nodded indifferently.

The imperial capital of China.

In private waters, five men sat idly on the shore fishing.

"No news for two days. This isn't like our benefactor." Ning Yunzhan threw the baited fish into the sea and looked thoughtfully at the vast ocean.

Feng Li gave him a disdainful look: "You think you can recover in two days from your mother's death?"

"..." Ning Yunzhan retorted disapprovingly, "Your Highness's personal attacks are going too far."

Feng Li sneered: "If you're bored, go build houses. There's a ton of work waiting for you at the film and television city project. I can't stand people like you. You clearly miss my baby, but you're too embarrassed to say it outright."

"Then do you want to?" Ning Yunzhan asked in return.

"Yes, I miss it!" Feng Li said seriously. "It's been so long since she's patted my head, I really miss it—oh, speaking of which, Rong, your bird of paradise is broken, why don't you just go back to France yourself?"

Rong Jingchen, feeling like he was being burned, glared at him expressionlessly: "She promised to give me a new one. She'll arrange it for me as soon as she's calmed down."

Beside her, Yan Yu pondered, "I wonder what my sister is doing now, is someone... testing the waters?"

Li Yubai didn't say anything, but simply took a picture of the sea and posted it in the pet camp group:

The Queen's Loyal Dog: [Image.jpg. The sea is beautiful, perfect for fishing]

The 'sugar daddy' patted the 'queen's loyal dog' on the shoulder.

Yan Yu looked at the group chat on her phone and chuckled sweetly, "Looks like my sister's getting a little impatient; she reacted so easily..."

He sent a cute emoji: [What is my sister doing?]

The 'sugar daddy' patted the 'canary'.

Then, as if sharing the rain, he patted the others as well.

After filming, they disappeared again.

The men fishing: "..." Misty Continent.

Jiang Shu frantically edited the chat window, wanting to speak but afraid of revealing her whereabouts. After struggling for a while, she forced herself to shut down the computer.

She looked out the window, and after two days apart, she found herself missing the men at home. But the thought of Li Yubai's enigmatic identity added a layer of unease to her heart, a sense of mystery stirring within her…

A few minutes later, the double-decker bus stopped in front of a forest-themed college. She cleared her mind of her thoughts and got off with curiosity.

The building in front of me looked like an ordinary university, with mottled walls that showed it was quite old. Not far away, however, stood a building that was clearly in Ning Yunzhan's style, obviously recently built, with smooth, flat walls and high-tech glass reflecting a dazzling light in the sunlight.

The magnificent academy has a distinctly Western fantasy style, with a tall, artistic stone pillar standing in the center of the plaza. At the top of the pillar, a huge, dazzling magic wand-shaped structure adorns the space.

Jiang Shu stared at the magic wand for a while, then asked, "What's that?"

"One of the three sacred artifacts of our clan, the Spirit Staff." The student closest to him pointed to the chest of his school uniform under his black robe, "It's here too, the Spirit Staff school badge."

Jiang Shu glanced at it casually, and the familiar X shape on the school badge made her heart sink slightly!
She reached out and touched the school badge: "The Spirit Staff Badge?"

"Yes. It simulates the sharp spikes at the tip of a spirit staff. When those spikes pierce the body, this is the shape of the wound. In our academy, the spirit staff holds supreme authority; it represents protection and rebirth."

Jiang Shu's eyes were slightly blank.

From time to time, images of her mortal enemy being stabbed by her would appear in her memory. The shape of the wound, which she had reviewed countless times, was exactly the same as the wound inflicted by the spirit staff.
After a moment of silence, she couldn't help but ask, "Could... I see your spirit staff?"

"It's right there, feel free to look around." The student pointed to the towering stone pillar. "If you want a clearer view, there's a life-size replica over there on the platform later. If it's you, the principal will definitely allow you to handle it as you please..."

"A counterfeit?" Jiang Shu paused. "Can I see the real thing?"

“We can’t see it.” The student glanced at her cautiously, his voice extremely low. “Our academy doesn’t have the real thing. The real spirit staff has been missing for many years; perhaps only the elders know its whereabouts…”

Jiang Shu had no choice but to put aside her confusion about the spirit staff and obediently walk into the school.

The college specially prepared a grand welcoming ceremony for her.

Hundreds of students, dressed in matching college uniforms and draped in black cloaks, stood on either side of the red carpet.

At the end of the red carpet, the principal, also dressed in a black robe, looked very kind and gestured for her to enter.

Jiang Shu: "..."

She never imagined in her life that she would have such a wonderful experience, with the entire school revolving around her!

After hesitating for a few seconds, she walked onto the red carpet, step by step, to the principal. Then she cleared her throat and said awkwardly, "Hello, I am Jiang Shu, an exchange student from the China Imperial Capital Film Academy."

"Hello, Jiang Shu, welcome back to Holy Spirit Academy." The principal said excitedly, extending an invitation to her, "Please take a seat in the center of the stage."

"Isn't this... inappropriate?"

“There is no one more suitable than you,” the principal said patiently. “Today, you are the sole protagonist of the entire Holy Spirit Academy.”

Jiang Shu felt an indescribable sense of absurdity welling up inside her.

Her gaze fell on the podium.

Many people in black robes with titles sat on both sides of the platform, while the central seat was empty, with her name written on the nameplate above it.

Behind the stage was a platform covered with a red cloth. On the platform were three items, one of which was the life-size replica of the spirit staff that the classmate had mentioned earlier.

Besides these, there was a deep blue knife that faintly glowed with blood, and a... black doll.

Jiang Shu glanced at the doll casually, but her gaze suddenly froze!