The Great Song Dynasty: You were put in charge of teaching, and you produced a whole bunch of prime

In the west corner of Daming Mansion, there is the Ghost Crying Garden.

The two large, peeling red-lacquered doors had rusted brass rings that looked like the cloudy eyes of dead fish. The cracks in the doors were filled with withered leaves that had drifted in from who-knows-when, and when the wind blew, they made a "whooshing" sound like an old woman's sobbing.

"Mountain...Mountain Chief, are we really staying here?"

Su Shi stood at the gate, his legs shaking rhythmically as if he were playing a pipa.

He clung tightly to Niu Aihua's clothes—though with his physique, if anything happened to him, he would just be a mere accessory to the girl in red.

Jiang Lin stood on the steps, gently waving a folding fan in his hand. His gaze swept over the thick layer of moss on the courtyard wall and the withered grass swaying in the wind. He nodded: "This place is good. It's quiet, saves on rent, and most importantly... it's down-to-earth."

"This isn't down-to-earth, it's like a government office!" Su Shi said, his voice trembling with tears.

"Enough with the nonsense." Jiang Lin stepped across the threshold. "Shen Kuo, survey the terrain. Zhao Ling, find a house that hasn't collapsed and clean it up. Niu Aihua... you're in charge of keeping an eye on Su Shi, don't let him escape."

The crowd filed in.

The courtyard looked even more dilapidated than it appeared from the outside.

Withered vines, old trees, and crows at dusk; broken tiles and debris scattered on the ground. In the very center stands an octagonal, dry well, its opening weighed down by a huge stone slab, upon which are pasted several talismans faded to white paper, exuding an indescribable malevolence.

……

Two hours later.

As darkness fell, the Ghost Cry Garden grew even more eerie. But even more terrifying than the eeriness was—hunger.

"Gurgle—"

Su Shi's stomach rumbled in protest. He slumped onto the steps, staring weakly at the closed door: "What's going on? Where's the person Master Qian sent to deliver the food?"

"We can't get in." Zhao Lingjun stood on the wall, his face slightly cold as he jumped down. "Xue Gang and his men have surrounded this place. They say it's to protect our safety, but in reality, they've cut off all supplies. I just saw several vegetable vendors have their legs broken and be thrown out."

"This is outrageous!" Shen Kuo pushed up his glasses and said angrily, "Are they trying to starve us to death?"

Suddenly, an extremely exaggerated chewing sound came from outside the wall.

"Ah, the roast chicken from Daming Prefecture is so fragrant!" Xue Gang's raspy voice rang out from outside the wall, radiating a smug, petty arrogance. "Brothers, eat up! We're not like that talented scholar Su inside, who can only starve!"

"Snapped!"

Two moldy, blackened, spoiled steamed buns were thrown in from outside the wall. They rolled twice on the ground and came to rest right at Su Shi's feet.

"Lord Su, don't say I didn't take care of you. This steamed bun is a bit hard, but it'll be perfect for eating on the 'Road to the Underworld'—it won't stick to your teeth! Hahaha!"

A burst of laughter erupted outside the wall.

Su Shi stared at the spoiled steamed buns on the ground, his eyes reddening with anger—the shame and indignation of a scholar's last shred of dignity being trampled upon. He looked up at Jiang Lin, his face contorted with the grievance of a two-hundred-pound child: "Headmaster..."

Jiang Lin lay on a freshly wiped rattan chair, not even lifting his eyelids, and simply said, "Miss Niu."

Niu Aihua, who was wiping her machete in the corner, looked up.

"Your author is starving." Jiang Lin pointed at Su Shi. "He wrote in the outline that Guo Jing died from exhaustion because he didn't have enough to eat, Xiangyang fell, and Huang Rong remarried."

"Click."

The whetstone in Niu Aihua's hand broke in two.

She slowly stood up, her red dress blazing like a raging fire in the setting sun. She didn't speak, but simply carried the still-dripping oil-stained saber and walked step by step towards the gate.

Su Shi swallowed hard and instinctively shrank back. At that moment, he felt that Niu Aihua was a hundred times more terrifying than Xue Gang outside.

"boom!"

Without any further ado, Niu Aihua raised her long, powerful leg and kicked it directly into the two heavy solid wood doors.

A loud bang, and dust flew everywhere.

The two large doors, weathered by decades of wind and rain and impervious to termites, flew off like two fragile blocks of tofu, frame and all, and crashed heavily onto the ground five meters away.

The laughter outside the wall stopped abruptly.

Xue Gang was holding a plump, juicy chicken leg, his mouth agape, watching as the gate flew past his nose, slamming the two guards who were making a ruckus behind him into the ground.

As the smoke and dust cleared, the girl in red stood there, sword in hand.

"This...this is a restricted area by the government! Do you want to rebel?!" Xue Gang was so frightened that he dropped the chicken leg in his hand and shouted fiercely but inwardly.

Niu Aihua tilted her head, her clear eyes revealing a hint of foolish confusion: "Rebellion? I just came to borrow something."

"Borrow...borrow what?"

"I need to borrow some grain. And, while I'm at it, a light."

Fifteen minutes later.

Inside the Ghost Cry Garden.

The once lifeless courtyard is now bustling with activity.

A huge iron pot, big enough to stew a cow, was placed in the center of the yard—it was the pot Xue Gang and his men used to cook large meals, and now the pot and stove had been brought in.

Su Shi carried two bags of fine rice, Shen Kuo carried half a pig, and Zhao Lingjun carried two jars of fine wine. Everyone's face was filled with the joy of a bountiful harvest.

As for Xue Gang?

At this moment, it was only wearing a pair of underwear, hanging on the crooked tree outside the door, swaying in the wind, with a stale steamed bun stuffed in its mouth, emitting a mournful wail in the wind.

"Miss Niu, the meat is cut too big, it won't absorb the flavor well." Su Shi instructed while drooling. "It should be three parts fat and seven parts lean, cut into pieces the size of mahjong tiles."

"Shut up. If you keep nagging, I'll throw you in to stew with everyone else." Niu Aihua swiftly chopped the pork into neat pieces.

However, a problem arises.

"There's no firewood." Shen Kuo pushed up his glasses and looked at the damp wood all over the yard. "The wood here is rotten and damp; it won't light."

"Demolish the house?" Niu Aihua looked at the few shaky pillars.

"No! Those are cultural relics!" Su Shi cried out in distress.

"No need for that."

Jiang Lin, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke. He walked to the dry well in the center of the courtyard, which was covered with talismans, and fiddled with a tinderbox in his hand.

"Shen Kuo, move the stone slab over the well."

Shen Kuo was taken aback, then called on Niu Aihua for help.

With a loud crash, the heavy stone slab was moved aside.

A pungent smell of rotten eggs instantly filled the air. Su Shi pinched his nose and jumped back: "It stinks! There must be a corpse in here!"

"This smells of sulfur, and...methane?" Shen Kuo's nose twitched, and his eyes suddenly lit up. "Is this well hollow?"

"It's not just empty, it's a treasure trove." Jiang Lin smiled slightly, lit the tinder in his hand, and gently tossed it a foot above the well opening.

"call--"

There was no explosion, and no black smoke.

A ghostly blue flame, like a phantom, suddenly ignited above the well. The flame seemed devoid of heat, flickering in the wind, exuding a chilling aura.

"Will-o'-the-wisp! It's will-o'-the-wisp!" Su Shi screamed, falling to the ground in fright and pointing at the blue flames. "I knew this place was unclean! A vengeful spirit has come to claim my life!"