Eighteen Ghost Emperors of my ancestors, how dare you make me live in terror?

More than an hour later.

Zhao Mengde stood at the door of his house, dusted off his clothes, carefully wiped away the blood from his nose, and grimaced as he relaxed the swollen parts of his face.

He put on a smile and pushed open the door to enter.

"Dad, Mom, I'm home."

In the small but cozy three-bedroom apartment, dinner was already prepared on the dining table, and his parents were waiting for him.

"Why are you only just getting back? Did you spend some time in Lu Ye's neighborhood again?"

"No, Mom, something came up at school and I was delayed for a while."

"Still trying to lie to Mom? You must be starving! Go wash your hands and eat... What happened to your face?"

"It's nothing, I just tripped and fell. Mom, what did you make? It smells delicious!"

"Go wash your hands first!"

"hey-hey."

The food on the table wasn't lavish; it was mostly home-style dishes.

The biggest expense in the household has already been used to pay for his tuition.

Moreover, even if one has become a Ghost Master trainee, a low-level Ghost Master does not actually bring any change to one's life; it simply means that one has successfully survived from the day one becomes an adult.

But for my parents, this is already a huge blessing.

So even though the family lived a somewhat impoverished life, his parents always felt that as long as he was safe and sound, that was enough.

After dinner, Mom went to wash the dishes, while Dad sat on the sofa watching the news. Suddenly remembering something, he turned his head and muttered something unintentionally.

"That Lu Ye is really something. He's been gone for almost three months and hasn't even come back to see you. Have you even called him?"

"We fought, and everyone's doing fine," Zhao Mengde mumbled, eating an orange.

"You two used to be so close, but not anymore..."

"Enjoy your TV show," Zhao Mengde said with a smile, stuffing the remaining half of the orange into his father's mouth. "I'm going back to my room."

Go to bed early, you have class tomorrow.

"Um."

In the small bedroom.

Zhao Mengde locked the door and pulled the secret box out from under the bed.

Upon opening it, one side contained his personal collection, which had already accumulated a considerable amount of dust.

The other pile, on the other hand, appeared to be very clean.

Talismans, underworld contracts, soul-suppressing rice, incense sticks used for severing heads...

These were all things that Lu Ye had stuffed into him when he entered the bizarre instance on the day he came of age.

I used it once, and there was a lot left over, so I stored it in the box.

Because apart from that one time, he never challenged any other bizarre dungeons.

"Three months. You only have three months to memorize all that damn basic knowledge, understand it, apply it, and build a solid foundation so that you can at least become a mediocre person who is good enough."

"And what about three months later?"

"Three months later..."

The words Lu Ye said to him before leaving that day seemed vivid in his mind.

So while other students who became Ghostmasters kept challenging low-level dungeons and advancing in teams.

He simply took notes diligently in class, memorizing all the basic knowledge he had previously dismissed.

While the other Ghost Masters were excitedly discussing what kind of monster they had defeated and what amazing level-one ghost artifacts they had obtained.

He would repeatedly take his books into the deserted library and study until school ended.

During those three months, he seemed not to be a demon hunter, but rather an ordinary student, oblivious to everything else around him.

He even became the kind of student he used to despise the most; studying hard and such was completely out of his style.

In the eyes of others, he seemed to have become a freak.

But he persevered.

Because he remembered that his brother spoke very seriously that day.

They grew up together, and he knew that when Lu Ye showed that kind of expression, it meant he was planning something big.

And no matter what, we will definitely succeed in the end!

"Tomorrow will mark three months, bro."

Zhao Mengde closed the box, pushed it back, lay on the bed staring blankly at the ceiling, and smiled.

"If you don't come back soon, I'm going to sell all these things you gave me and become a rich man. I've heard that this pile of stuff is worth a lot of money."

........

The next day, at the Mysterious High School.

"Zhao Mengde, the head of the grade is looking for you."

"Oh, here it comes."

Zhao Mengde, who was studying in the classroom, was called out.

The head of the grade, who had a receding hairline, stood in the corridor, looking at him with a very troubled expression.

Without turning around, Zhao Mengde could feel the amused gazes from the class behind him, as well as the undisguised laughter.

"I got pulled out for a talk by the head of the grade again. This time, the head of the grade came to call me personally."

"How many times has this happened?"

"This is the third time, isn't it?"

"Hehe, Zhao Mengde is going to get a scolding again."

"I don't think it's that simple. Didn't you see the look on the head of the grade's face, like he was looking at a fly? He looked disgusted with it."

"It's his own fault for being so useless. We're all working hard to improve our skills, but he's the only one holding us back."

"Wasn't he quite outstanding on his coming-of-age day? How did he become so pathetic now?"

"Hehe, I guess I was just lucky back then."

Zhao Mengde could hear all of this, and it seemed as if he deliberately made sure he heard it.

During those three months, aside from academic subjects, he did indeed become the worst student in the class.

"Zhao Mengde".

The head of the grade looked intently at the student in front of him, who was almost a head taller than himself.

"I remember you weren't like this before. Weren't you quite the troublemaker before?"

"On the day you came of age, you were the one who received the highest reward and a perfect score among those who survived the D-level bizarre dungeon. That shows you have potential."

"What exactly happened these past three months? Look at the other students who survived with you; they've all made tremendous progress, while you, who initially had the highest grade, haven't improved at all!"

Sensing the grade head's anger at his lack of ambition, Zhao Mengde scratched his head. "I've been busy studying, and now I'm in the top ten in both academic and theoretical subjects in the whole school."

"Academic and theoretical courses..."

The head of the grade got even angrier when he heard this and scolded in a low voice.

"What's the use? Are you the kind of person who loves learning? Don't create this persona for yourself. Even if you have a great grasp of culture and theory, will it elevate your level of understanding?"

"You should understand that all those academic courses offered by the school are just for show. In this era, the ability to control supernatural beings is everything; the ability to control supernatural beings is your life! Understand?"

The head of the grade was almost blunt and explicit in his last sentence.

Zhao Mengde remained silent.

He can't exactly say, "I know it's useless, but my brother wants me to become a cultured person."

"This is the last time I'm going to talk to you."

The head of the grade's gaze turned cold.

"You haven't entered the eerie dungeon for three months. In the academy's eyes, this is escapism. People who escape are not worthy of being students of the Eerie Spirit High School. I'll give you seven days. If you still haven't challenged an eerie dungeon even once within seven days..."

"You should transfer to another school; it will be better for you to go to a less stressful one."

"Let's go back to class."

The grade head shooed Zhao Mengde back to his class like he was swatting a fly.

In the classroom, Zhao Mengde sat in his seat, feeling the gazes from all around him, and revealed a slightly helpless smile.

The grade head was still standing outside, seemingly trying to create even more pressure.

"You should transfer schools sooner rather than later. What kind of monster hunter are you if you're not going to challenge bizarre dungeons?"

"Is it useful to spend all day studying from a tattered book?"

"He used to be on good terms with Lu Ye, but now that Lu Ye has become a genius, he's left him behind. It's ironic."

"Lu Ke is an S-rank, destined to be one of the strongest in Great Xia in the future, how could we possibly care about him?"

"Yeah yeah."

Zhao Mengde clenched his fists tightly and gritted his teeth.

Damn it...

Why don't we just fight them?

Just as he was thinking this, a commotion suddenly broke out outside.

It seems something extremely shocking has happened.

The commotion stretched upwards from the bottom of the teaching building, through the stairwells and corridors, and finally appeared at the classroom door.

Da da da.

It was a series of synchronized footsteps that seemed to disregard everyone else.

Zhao Mengde looked up,

Suddenly, a group of men in black appeared at the classroom door.

The group consisted of burly men dressed in matching high-end designer suits, wearing reflective sunglasses, and with bulging waists.

These are all high-level Ghost Masters! Even higher than the grade head!

Just by standing there, the aura he exuded was enough to intimidate everyone.

At that moment, a group of men in suits suddenly appeared, surrounding a woman. She was wearing a dark purple business suit, black, had long legs, sunglasses, and big, wavy hair.

It displays a noble air that ordinary people can only look up to.

The woman extended her slender index finger and pushed up her sunglasses. Her beautiful eyes, which seemed to see through people's souls, scanned the classroom and finally settled on Zhao Mengde.

Then, to the stunned gaze of everyone in the class, the woman led the man in black into the classroom and came to Zhao Mengde.

She smiled and spoke elegantly in a voice that everyone could hear.

"Mr. Mengde, there's no time to stay in this place pretending to study anymore. The organization needs you."

Zhao Mengde's eyes widened in disbelief as he pointed to his own nose.

"Are you talking to me?"

"Of course, the King of the Night is waiting for you outside. Come with me; this ordinary world is no longer suitable for you."

Other students: "Huh?"

The King of Night has arrived?

wrong!

Who is the King of the Night?