Stepdaughter of a wealthy family? The little darling of a Beijing tycoon

These past few days, although her boyfriend Lu Ze has treated her as usual on the surface, Shen Xinyi sees through him. Now that the Shen family has fallen on hard times and she has no family background to rely on, Lu Ze could abandon her at any time.

The thought of her family having to squeeze into that tiny apartment in the future, compared to Shen Jingshu being able to live comfortably in the Li family's magnificent villa, gnawed at her heart with a huge sense of imbalance.

Why should they suffer so much while Shen Jingshu enjoys wealth and luxury?

Shen Xinyi lowered her eyes, remaining silent and refusing to say a word in defense of Lin Wanqing. A faint resentment even lingered in her eyes.

Seeing her daughter's attitude, Lin Wanqing's last bit of hope vanished.

In the ward, the eldest son was full of resentment, while the younger daughter watched coldly. The gap between mother and son was deep, and there was no warmth left.

Lin Wanqing knew that staying would only invite more criticism and arguments. Feeling bitter, she offered no further explanation, her expression somber as she turned and left the ward, driving back to the Li family home.

Shen Jingshu's departure from the Mo family and her return to school were not solely for academic purposes, but also because she had received an urgent private message earlier.

The message came from Lin Yueru, a junior disciple of the Xuanmen sect.

The other party sounded earnest and anxious, saying that they had encountered a strange and difficult problem and specifically asked her for help.

Lin Yueru and Shen Jingshu are about the same age, but in terms of seniority in the Xuanmen sect, Lin Yueru is several generations younger.

Upon seeing Shen Jingshu, Lin Yueru immediately bowed, her expression extremely respectful: "Greetings, Sect Leader."

Shen Jingshu waved her hand helplessly: "There's no need for such formalities in private. Just call me Jingshu."

"Jing Shu," Lin Yueru obediently changed her address.

Shen Jingshu cut to the chase: "You said in the message that you needed my help, what exactly happened?"

"Here's the thing, I've taken on a job, but it's incredibly complicated, and I'm afraid I can't handle it, so I came to ask the sect leader for help. I originally planned to go find my master, but I can't get in touch with him no matter what I do."

Shen Jingshu frowned slightly: "Your master is often unreachable?"

"Yes." Lin Yueru nodded. "It's almost always my master who takes the initiative to find me; it's very difficult for me to reach him."

"So how does he usually teach you his skills?"

"My master would send me books every now and then, but I mostly had to study them on my own. He would only occasionally give me some pointers."

Upon hearing this, Shen Jingshu couldn't help but feel speechless at Lingxu Zhenren's laissez-faire teaching style. How could he be so indifferent to his only direct disciple? In contrast, she felt even more grateful for her own master, Xuanjizi, who had always carefully guided her and imparted all his knowledge.

At this thought, a feeling of longing welled up in my heart. I wondered where that old man was now and whether he was doing well.

Meanwhile, in a secluded cave shrouded in mist, the white-haired old man Xuanjizi was playing chess with someone when he suddenly sneezed without warning.

He rubbed his nose and chuckled, "Who's talking about me? It must be my little apprentice."

He shook his head, a hint of expectation in his eyes: "So be it, everything has its own destiny. When the time comes, we, master and disciple, will reunite."

After speaking, he withdrew his attention and focused all his attention back on the chessboard.

Inside the small park on campus.

Shen Jingshu came to her senses and joked, "Your master is really unreliable."

Lin Yueru stuck out her tongue, looking completely used to it: "Master has always been like this. I've grown up with him since I was little, so I'm used to it."

Shen Jingshu pondered for a moment: "Since we can't contact your master, if you encounter anything you don't understand in the future, just come and ask me. Now tell me, what exactly happened to you this time?"

Lin Yueru quickly and earnestly explained:

"It's like this, a fellow Daoist contacted me privately, wanting to invite me to go on a mission together."

Shen Jingshu raised an eyebrow slightly: "You even have a special circle for taking on missions?"

She immediately took out her phone and said, "I'll add you right now! People often post all sorts of paranormal tasks in the group."

Many fellow practitioners, when faced with troublesome supernatural occurrences that they cannot resolve on their own, will post a request for help in the group. Nearby practitioners with similar abilities will see this and team up to help, splitting the reward afterward. And just between you and me, these official and privately posted paranormal tasks offer exceptionally high rewards.

After explaining the rules of the circle, Lin Yueru got down to business, her tone serious yet tinged with trepidation:

"The person who contacted me this time is a fellow Daoist who did a mission with me before. This case he took on is too big and too strange. After seeing the photos and the location, I was scared and didn't dare to go alone, so I came to you specifically."

Only when you're here can I truly feel at ease.

Shen Jingshu's expression turned slightly serious, and she asked in a deep voice, "What exactly is the case?"

"The incident occurred in an extremely remote, desolate village deep in the mountains of Province C."

Lin Yueru lowered her voice, her eyes revealing apprehension:

"Strange things have happened in that village for many years. The most bizarre thing is that the entire village disappeared overnight. The village was completely deserted, with no one alive or dead in sight."

This matter had remained dormant for many years, with no one daring to set foot there. But just a month ago, surveillance equipment in the mountains inadvertently captured unusual activity in the village, bringing the matter back to light and prompting a direct report to special authorities.

"Special forces have sent people into the mountains to investigate, but all the team members were trapped in the village and eventually disappeared without a trace."

"The authorities are at a loss and dare not send people to their deaths again. They can only issue a high-reward mission to all independent cultivators and sects, seeking experts to solve the mysterious case in the deserted village."

The whole thing was extremely dangerous; even official professionals never returned. No wonder Lin Yueru was terrified and immediately sought help from Shen Jingshu.

Shen Jingshu felt a little suspicious upon hearing this.

How could the special departments not contact them about such a dangerous and serious mystery?

Just as she was pondering this, her cell phone suddenly rang.

Looking down, he was surprised to see that the caller was Chen Hai.

It's truly a case of getting exactly what you wish for.

Shen Jingshu immediately answered the phone, and Chen Hai's heavy and tired voice came from the other end of the line. He was talking about the mysterious disappearance case in a remote mountain village in Province C.

It turned out that the special department had previously determined it was just a common supernatural occurrence and only sent two team members, Ye Shuang and Lin Feng, to investigate. However, after the two entered the village, the signal was completely cut off, and they disappeared without a trace.

It wasn't until his team members went missing that Chen Hai fully realized the situation was extremely dangerous and far from an ordinary ghost story. Unfortunately, he was currently swamped with major cases and couldn't spare the time, so he had no choice but to seek help from his specially appointed consultant, Shen Jingshu.

After hearing the whole story, Shen Jingshu calmly agreed.

They had originally planned to accompany Lin Yueru to investigate the deserted village, but now that they happened to be on a mission with a special department, it saved them a lot of trouble and killed two birds with one stone.

When Chen Hai learned that she was willing to take over, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief and sent her the exact address of the deserted village, the whole story of the incident, the doubts over the years, and the details of the team members' disappearances. He also specifically stated that this was an official business trip and that all travel expenses, food and lodging expenses would be fully reimbursed.