This celestial master cultivates both physical and magical arts; why did you provoke him?

School beauty Liu Ruyan quickened her pace to catch up with Xia En.

"Master Xia."

"Um?"

Are you free tomorrow night?

Xia En glanced at her: "What's wrong?"

I'd like to invite you to dinner.

Liu Ruyan said, "The formal kind. Not a roadside stall, but a proper restaurant."

Xia En thought for a moment: "How much?"

Liu Ruyan was both amused and exasperated: "It's my treat, what's it to you how much it costs?"

"I mean," Shane said seriously, "if it's a very expensive restaurant, I'll need to bring a few more people."

Liu Ruyan: "..."

She glanced at Fang Zijian, then at Cuihua floating in the shade of the trees, and suddenly realized that this meal might cost a lot of money.

"Fine," she said through gritted teeth, "you take it."

Xia En smiled, a rare, genuine smile.

"Just kidding," he said. "It's my treat."

Liu Ruyan was stunned.

"You're treating me?"

"Yes," Xia En said, "You've helped me a lot, so it's only right that I treat you to a meal."

He turned and continued walking forward.

Liu Ruyan stood there, watching his back, her heart suddenly racing.

She quickly chased after him.

"It's a deal! Tomorrow night! No standing me up!"

"I won't let go."

"No one else is allowed!"

"No, I won't bring it."

"What about Cuihua?"

"She doesn't eat."

Liu Ruyan smiled.

As the sun sets, it bathes the entire Qingshan Lake in gold.

Four people.

One person, one reporter, one female ghost, and one school beauty.

Walking along the lakeside path, my shadow stretched very long.

In the distance, the lake surface shimmered, as calm as a mirror.

But deep in the lake, the thing embedded in the rock wall was staring at the water with its pale eyes.

It dares not come out.

That human who sent it flying with one punch was terrifying.

But it remembered that sentence.

"Next time, don't eat people, eat fish."

It looked down at the school of fish at the bottom of the lake and remained silent for a long time.

Then it extends its long, thin claws, grabs a fish, and stuffs it into its mouth.

The taste... was alright.

The next evening, in downtown Jiangzhou, at a very expensive restaurant.

Liu Ruyan wore a light blue dress, her hair was loose over her shoulders, and she wore light makeup, making her look even more beautiful than usual.

She sat by the window with two glasses of red wine in front of her.

Xia En sat opposite him.

He changed his clothes.

Wearing a black shirt, dark jeans, and with his hair washed, he finally didn't look like a college student skipping class.

Liu Ruyan glanced at him and smiled: "You look different today."

"What's different?"

"Be like a normal person."

Xia En: "..."

Liu Ruyan laughed even harder: "Just kidding. You're actually quite handsome, you just dress too casually usually."

Xia En picked up his glass and took a sip.

"I don't really care about that."

"I know."

Liu Ruyan looked at him, resting her chin on her hand. "What you care about is money."

Xia En almost choked on the alcohol.

Liu Ruyan laughed heartily, her laughter drawing the attention of guests at several nearby tables.

After she finished laughing, she looked at Xia En seriously.

"Master Xia."

"Um?"

Have you thought about what you want to do in the future?

Xia En thought for a moment: "I'll continue being a Taoist priest."

"So you'll just stay a Taoist priest forever?"

"Um."

"Not getting married?"

Xia En glanced at her:

Why are you suddenly asking this?

Liu Ruyan blushed slightly, but still bravely looked at him.

"I'm just curious."

She said, "You seem like you don't care about anything, but I think you care about a lot of things."

Xia En didn't say anything.

Liu Ruyan continued:

"You care about those who have been harmed by evil spirits, you care about your master and senior brother, and you even care about that female ghost Cuihua. You just don't say it."

Xia En was silent for a few seconds, then smiled.

"You..."

He said, "He's very good at judging people."

Liu Ruyan's eyes lit up: "I guessed right?"

"You guessed part of it right."

Xia En picked up his wine glass, looking at the red wine inside. "I do care about a lot of things, but I don't like to show it."

Why?

"Because if it's shown, someone will take advantage of it."

Liu Ruyan was stunned.

Xia En put down his wine glass and looked at her.

"You're an intern reporter,"

He said, "You should know that the most dangerous thing in this world is not evil, but the human heart."

Liu Ruyan fell silent.

She thought of Liu Zhiyuan, the man who disappeared in the chemical plant, and that eye.

She suddenly understood why Xia En used a carefree and nonchalant appearance to cover up his true self.

It's not that he wasn't serious, but that he was too serious.

So serious that they dared not let others know.

She reached out and placed her hand on the back of Xia En's hand.

Xia En looked down at her hand, then looked up at her.

"What's wrong?"

"It's nothing," Liu Ruyan smiled. "I just wanted to tell you that you don't need to keep pretending."

Xia En looked at her and remained silent for a few seconds.

Then he laughed.

"OK."

That night, the two talked for a long time.

They talked about the restaurant closing time and how the waiter came over to remind them it was time to leave.

As I stepped out of the restaurant, the night breeze was slightly cool, and the streetlights cast a dim yellow glow.

Liu Ruyan stood next to Xia En, looking up at the sky.

There are so many stars tonight.

"Um."

"Master Xia."

"Um?"

"Can I call you Xia En from now on?"

Xia En thought for a moment and said, "Okay."

Liu Ruyan smiled, her eyes curving into crescent moons.

"Shane".

"Um."

"See you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow."

She turned and walked toward the taxi stand.

After taking a few steps, he turned back.

"By the way, regarding the extra money, my cousin has already transferred the funds. One hundred thousand yuan, have you received it?"

Xia En took out his phone and glanced at it.

"received."

"That's good." Liu Ruyan smiled. "I'll recommend you to them next time I have business."

"OK."

Liu Ruyan got into the taxi, rolled down the window, and waved to him.

"Good night!"

"Good night."

The taxi disappeared into the night.

Xia En stood there, looking in that direction, for a long time.

Fang Zijian peeked out from behind the utility pole next to him.

"Gone?"

Xia En glanced at him: "You've been following me the whole time?"

"I was just worried about you..."

Fang Zijian chuckled, "How was it? Did the date go well?"

"It's not a date."

"Yes, yes, it wasn't a date." Fang Zijian winked. "Then what did you two talk about?"

Xia En didn't answer, and turned to walk towards Qingheju.

Fang Zijian caught up with him: "Tell me!"

"I won't tell."

"mean."

Xia En ignored him.

After walking a few steps, he suddenly said, "She said I don't need to keep pretending."

Fang Zijian was stunned: "What are you pretending to be?"

Xia En didn't answer, he just smiled.

Under the moonlight, that smile was very gentle.

Looking at his smile, Fang Zijian suddenly felt that this person wasn't so hard to understand after all.

He just kept himself too hidden.

And that school beauty seems to be able to see what's hidden underneath him.

Fang Zijian quickened his pace and caught up.

"Shane".

"Um?"

"That school beauty is really nice."

Xia En didn't speak, but the corners of his mouth slightly turned up. .

"I know."

Two people and a ghost walked down a street late at night.

The streetlights cast long shadows on them.

In the distance, on the eastern horizon, that dark cloud still lingers.

But the stars tonight are really bright.