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

"What a load of crap." Jiang Lin rolled his eyes. "Shen Kuo, set up the pot."

"Huh?" Shen Kuo was stunned. "Headmaster, cooking up here?"

"This is called clean energy. Natural gas, understand?" Jiang Lin pointed with his fan. "It burns a lot, saves firewood, is smokeless, and is environmentally friendly. Don't waste it, hurry up and put the braised pork in the pot."

Fifteen minutes later.

A bizarre scene unfolded.

In this legendary Ghost Cry Garden, forbidden to the living, above the dry well said to seal away vengeful spirits, eerie blue "ghost fire" licks at a large, black iron pot. Inside, braised pork simmers in sauce, making an enticing "bubbling" sound, the rich aroma of meat mixed with caramel coloring forcefully dispelling the musty smell of the courtyard.

Su Shi squatted by the pot, holding a bowl in one hand and chopsticks in the other, his eyes fixed on the meat in the pot, his expression extremely conflicted:

On one hand, there is an extreme fear of "cooking with will-o'-the-wisps," and on the other hand, there is an extreme craving for braised pork.

"Eat up." Jiang Lin picked up a piece of glistening braised pork, put it in his mouth, and squinted his eyes in satisfaction. "This meat has been smoked and roasted by the essence of the Song Dynasty for millions of years underground. Eating it will help you pass the imperial examination with top honors."

"I've already passed the exam..." Su Shi replied weakly, but in the end he couldn't resist the temptation and picked up a piece of meat and stuffed it into his mouth.

In that instant, the oil bursts on the tip of the tongue, soft, sweet and fragrant.

"Waaah..." Su Shi cried as he chewed, "It's so delicious... There's a murderous aura in this meat, but I like it... I'd accept it even if it's my last meal before I'm beheaded..."

Niu Aihua glanced at him disdainfully, then picked up the bowl and poured the soup and meat into her mouth, eating with the air of a Liangshan hero.

Late at night.

After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, they each found a room that had been cleaned out and went to sleep.

Xue Gang was still hanging on the tree outside, and no one dared to come in and disturb him.

The courtyard returned to deathly silence, with only the blue flames at the mouth of the dry well still burning eerily, casting shadowy reflections on the surrounding ruins.

Su Shi lay on the hard bed, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep.

Su Shi had eaten too much braised pork earlier, and coupled with the shock, his stomach was cramping.

"No... I can't hold it in anymore..."

He struggled to his feet, put on his coat, and hunched his shoulders as he slipped out of the room, intending to go to the outhouse in the corner of the yard to relieve himself.

The pale moonlight shone into the courtyard.

Su Shi's heart pounded as he passed the dry well. The blue flames had been extinguished by Shen Kuo with the lid, and the well opening was dark and gaping, like a gaping maw ready to devour someone.

"Don't look...don't look..."

Su Shi was reciting the Diamond Sutra and hurried through.

Sudden.

"Hiss—hiss—"

A faint yet clear sound came from the bottom of the dark well.

Su Shi's feet felt as if they were nailed to the ground.

The sound was like someone desperately scratching at a hard stone wall with their fingernails. Once, twice, three times... In the silent night, it sent chills down one's spine.

"The wind... it must be the sound of the wind..." Su Shi's teeth chattered, and he was about to run away.

"...Save...me..."

A faint sound drifted along the well wall and into Su Shi's ears.

The voice was extremely faint, carrying endless despair and chill, as if it came from the deepest hell.

Su Shi froze, his belt loosening so much he nearly lost control of his bladder. He slowly lowered his head, and in the dim moonlight, he seemed to see a pair of pale hands gripping the edge of the well wall, slowly climbing upwards…

"Give me...back...my...life..."

The sound was like sandpaper rubbing against a rusty piece of iron, carrying a chilling aura from hell, climbing up the well wall in circles, and finally turning into an icy, bone-chilling hand that gripped Su Shi's ankle tightly.

Su Shi felt as if his soul had left his body, floating in mid-air watching the two-hundred-pound body undergoing some indescribable trembling.

What is this?

Is this Sadako splitting up in the Song Dynasty? Or is it the KPI of the Black and White Impermanence?

"No...don't grab me..." Su Shi cried, his legs going weak. He knelt down by the well with a thud, clasping his hands together and shaking them frantically. "Every wrong has its perpetrator, every debt its debtor! I just got here too! My flesh is sour, it's not tasty. The red-clad heroine next door has firm flesh, go grab her!"

The pale hand didn't loosen its grip; instead, it tightened its hold even more. The nails dug deep into Su Shi's flesh, the sensation like being bitten by a thousand-year-old turtle.

Su Shi was in despair.

He thought of his glorious yet short life, of the lyrics he hadn't finished writing, and of the braised pork he had just eaten that hadn't been digested yet.

"Help...help! Murder! There's a ghost!"

Su Shi focused his energy, preparing to unleash the most piercing scream of his life, attempting to shatter the ghost's eardrums with high-decibel sound waves.

However, the moment he opened his mouth, the eerie voice from the bottom of the well suddenly changed its tone.

It was no longer a mournful scream, but a furious curse filled with extreme anger and the brilliance of humanity:

"Don't you fucking step on my finger! It hurts like hell!"

"Huh?"

Su Shi's scream was abruptly caught in his throat, producing a strange sound like a duck being choked.

He froze, looking down at the hand.

In the pale moonlight, he noticed that although the hand was frighteningly white, the nail crevices were full of black dirt, and there were several obvious mosquito bites on the back of the hand.

Even ghosts are afraid of mosquito bites?

"Are you... are you a human or a ghost?" Su Shi asked tremblingly.

"I'm your grandpa!" The person at the bottom of the well was clearly in a bad mood. "Pull me up! My legs are numb!"

Su Shi was still hesitating whether this was some kind of trapping strategy by a vengeful ghost when a lantern suddenly lit up behind him.

The warm orange light dispelled the gloom of Ghost Cry Garden.

Jiang Lin, wearing an overcoat and carrying a lantern that read "You Must Get Rich," strolled over slowly. Behind him followed Niu Aihua, who was carrying a horse-slaying saber, looking grumpy and almost ready to kill.

"In the middle of the night, instead of sleeping, you're here swearing brotherhood with the Well God?" Jiang Lin yawned and glanced at Su Shi kneeling on the ground.

"Mountain...Mountain Chief!" Su Shi cried out as if he had seen his own father, scrambling towards Jiang Lin, "Someone in the well...someone in the well is cursing me!"

"Oh?" Jiang Lin raised an eyebrow and held the lantern out of the well. "I'd like to see who's so bold as to dare to insult the top scholar of the current dynasty."

The person at the bottom of the well seemed to sense the light and struggled even more violently: "There's someone up there? Help! I'm Jin Suanpan! I have money! Help me up, and I'll reward you handsomely!"

"The Golden Abacus?"

Before Jiang Lin could speak, Niu Aihua had already lost her patience.

She planted her broadsword in the ground, strode to the well, her red skirt fluttering in the wind. She glanced down, her gaze as if she were looking at a radish in the ground.

"Get out of the way."

Niu Aihua shoved Su Shi aside, who was blocking her way, and stretched out her hand, which, though not thick, contained terrifying explosive power, and grabbed the dirty hand that was still waving wildly.

"rise!"

There were no unnecessary movements or fancy techniques.

Pure power.

Su Shi felt as if a blur had appeared before his eyes, as if he were witnessing Lu Zhishen uprooting a willow tree.

With a "pop" sound.

It's like pulling out a thriving radish.

A dark figure was pulled directly from the well by Niu Aihua, tracing a graceful arc in the air before crashing heavily to the ground.

"Holy crap! My back!"

The figure rolled twice on the ground and let out a scream.