Revised

At noon, Wenren Lian and Kuang Zheng arrived at the Hospital.

People who studied Xuanxue seemed to carry a strange power in their bodies; their physical condition was far better than ordinary people's. The hole in Lu You's head had already begun to heal today. One more day of rest and he could be discharged to recover at home.

The wound was a minor matter. Lu You's hairstyle was the real problem.

To make stitching easier, the doctor had shaved the hair around the wound. But shaving just a small patch looked like alopecia, so Lu You had no choice but to despairingly let the doctor shave his whole head.

To express his sympathy for the injured, Wenren Lian had specially bought Lu You two hats: a plain baseball cap, and another with a wig attached.

'Wear whichever you want,' Wenren Lian said sincerely, looking at Lu You's egg-smooth head. 'They say only a real handsome guy can pass the bald-head test. Lu You, your head is very round.'

Lu You said plaintively: 'I'd believe you if you weren't laughing.'

Jiang Luo couldn't help but smile, then saw Wenren Lian take out hair-dyeing tools and look at him. 'Didn't you want to dye your white hair black?'

'...' Jiang Luo realized. 'I'd almost forgotten about that.'

He sat in front of Wenren Lian, who skillfully unpacked the Hair Dye tools. 'Don't worry, I'll dye it so naturally you won't even tell.'

Jiang Luo lifted the strand of white hair by his ear and looked at it. 'I didn't need to dye it in the first place.'

Wenren Lian neither agreed nor disagreed. Jiang Luo had never told them why one strand had gone white, so they hadn't pressed. 'But I think this strand of white hair is rather nice-looking.'

He took the strand from Jiang Luo's hand. Jiang Luo's hair had always been as smooth as satin; touching it once was addictive. Wenren Lian said, reluctant to let go: 'But Qi Ye told me you don't actually like this strand of white hair.'

Jiang Luo pressed his foot against the stool leg, his long legs bent. He thought for a moment. 'I think I really did say that.'

Wenren Lian smiled. After finishing combing Jiang Luo's hair, he asked, as if casually: 'What happened to your mouth?'

Jiang Luo instinctively touched his lips. Even with medicine, they hadn't fully healed. He almost let a grim expression slip, but at the last second remembered Wenren Lian standing behind him and held it back. 'Guess?'

Wenren Lian wasn't Ye Xun or Lu You; Jiang Luo hadn't figured out how to tell him yet.

'I guess—' Wenren Lian drew out the word, speaking slowly, 'someone took a bite out of you.'

Troublesome.

Jiang Luo ground his teeth, then suddenly had an idea. His cheeks flushed faintly; he coughed, uncomfortable and embarrassed. 'Mm.'

Wenren Lian's fingertips paused.

Jiang Luo turned back and lowered his voice: 'Wenren, if anyone asks, cover for me. Whatever you do, don't tell my shifu. If he finds out I'm still mixed up with Chi You, that'll be bad.'

So it was Chi You. Wenren Lian's smile didn't change. He soothed: 'I won't. Don't worry.'

In truth, alarm bells were ringing in his heart.

It had been a long time since they'd heard Chi You's name from Jiang Luo. Wenren Lian had assumed Jiang Luo was gradually recovering from the grief of losing his lover, but hadn't expected they were still in contact — even kissing.

What on earth was Chi You thinking?

Didn't he know what would happen to Jiang Luo if he kept tempting a human into falling for a Livid Ghost?

Could death really change someone's nature so completely? Things Chi You would never have done while alive — why, after dying, did he become so obsessed with Jiang Luo, so fixated he was like a demon?

Jiang Luo had already killed himself for him once, driven a car into a river once. How much more did he want Jiang Luo to drown in this?

Wenren Lian not only decided to tell Feng Li, but immediately strengthened his resolve to matchmake Jiang Luo with Qi Ye.

He said, without any trace of intent: 'Speaking of which, Qi Ye hasn't come back to the School once since you went out on your mission.'

Jiang Luo's attention was successfully drawn to Qi Ye. He said thoughtfully: 'Really?'

Wenren Lian said: 'The teacher did call the Qi Family, but according to them, the Qi Family's matters weren't finished yet; they needed more time before sending Qi Ye back. Their attitude was polite enough, but really, the School's courses aren't that important for Qi Ye. What the Qi Family can teach him is far more than what the School can.'

Jiang Luo smiled without much meaning.

He didn't quite think so himself.

The Qi Family had kept Qi Ye at home, all the way until they finished the mission — as if, in case they died, they didn't want Qi Ye dragged into the trouble.

As for whether Qi Ye knew the Qi Family had acted during the mission... Jiang Luo recalled Qi Ye's awkward expression and leaned toward him not knowing.

By now, Jiang Luo could be a hundred percent certain: the Qimen Dunjia illusion they'd encountered during the mission was absolutely the Qi Family's work.

Chi You was in on it too, playing a role of his own.

He knew the Qi Family and the Chi Clan were going to move against Jiang Luo's group, knew when the illusion would begin, so he went along with their plan and joined in.

But strangely — who had broken the illusion?

Jiang Luo set the question aside and went to wash his hair with the Hair Dye.

The strand of white quickly turned black. Jiang Luo's natural hair was already black, glossy, and thick; the dyed hair wasn't quite as lustrous as his natural color, but mixed in, the difference was indistinguishable.

Jiang Luo tied up his blow-dried hair, put on the baseball cap. 'I'm going out to buy some duck necks.'

He had just been trending online, so just in case, Jiang Luo put on a Mask. Head lowered, the high ponytail emerging from behind his cap was neat and sharp; he slipped out of the Hospital quietly.

Jiang Luo took a cab to the filming location of Next Stop, Idol, found the Overall Director, and got last night's surveillance footage from the dormitory building.

Ye Xun had cut the electricity from the first to fifth floors, but the Sixth Floor still had power. Jiang Luo watched the remaining footage with a serious expression.

The human eye could be fooled by illusion, but a camera's couldn't. The Sixth Floor wasn't where the trainees stayed, so cameras were only installed at either end of the Corridor. Both surveillance videos went black at the end. Before the blackout, Jiang Luo watched the footage several times and finally spotted something wrong in one frame.

He hit pause, maximized the image. In the corner near the Staircase, a thumb-sized knife handle flashed briefly in the lower right.

That was Dead Ghost's knife.

Jiang Luo stood up, looking at the frame expressionlessly.

Why would Dead Ghost have gone up to the Sixth Floor?

At that point in time, none of them were on the Sixth Floor.

The Director said carefully: 'Master, would you like to see anything else?'

'No need,' Jiang Luo said. 'Director, copy this footage for me. After that, make sure you delete these videos.'

Jiang Luo took his things and left, rode to the street to buy some pork jerky, duck necks, and chicken pieces, then carried a watermelon back to the Hospital Ward.

A few people came over to take the things. Jiang Luo sat on the sofa's armrest, took off his Mask and cap. 'Dead Ghost, aren't you eating?'

Teng Bi hesitated for a moment, then picked up a slice of watermelon and started eating.

The melon flesh was sweet and cool going down. He finished the slice in two or three bites. Jiang Luo asked: 'How is it?'

Very good.

Teng Bi only said: 'Not bad.'

Jiang Luo didn't ask further, lay down on the sofa and closed his eyes to rest.

The next day at noon, Lu You was discharged. They went downstairs and took a cab. Since Dead Ghost had nowhere to go, they brought him back to the School too.

Lu You sighed: 'Last time we brought someone back, it was a headless ghost.'

'The headless ghost is doing great now,' Wenren Lian shrugged. 'It often discusses hair care with the Dean.'

Jiang Luo thought he'd misheard: 'The Dean still has hair?'

Wenren Lian said quietly: 'The Dean has a beard.'

After a week apart, Jiang Luo was finally back at the School. He returned to his room, cleaned up, bought some cooking utensils. At six in the afternoon, he received an invitation delivered by the teacher.

'What's this?' Jiang Luo took it and looked it over.

The teacher said: 'An invitation to a banquet from the Qi Family.'

Jiang Luo grew interested. He said with a half-smile: 'Does everyone get one?'

'Only those who made it to the Third Trial of the National Science Competition get an invitation. It's also a Celebration Banquet for you. Other families hosted in previous years; this year it's the Qi Family's turn. The young talents of the Xuanxue World will all gather at the Qi Family — it's a sort of matchmaking event in disguise,' the teacher teased. 'Jiang Luo, you mustn't let anyone lure you off to another school.'

Jiang Luo raised an eyebrow. 'Teacher, when did the invitation arrive?'

'An hour ago,' the teacher said. 'What a coincidence — you just got back and the invitation arrived.'

Jiang Luo laughed a couple of times and said goodbye to the teacher.

Alone, he read the invitation carefully.

The banquet was in two days. Fortunately, his lips would have healed by then no matter what.

The rest was no different from a normal invitation.

Jiang Luo opened his wardrobe.

There were several formal outfits in the wardrobe. He casually picked one out to try; the fit was decent. The pure black Tuxedo was tailored, making his waist slim and legs long — tall and striking.

Since it worked, Jiang Luo didn't plan to spend money on a new one.

Two days passed in a flash. Jiang Luo had seen all his classmates, except Sailor.

Two mornings later, he had just finished his run and returned to the dormitory when he saw Sailor walk in with weak limbs, dark circles under his eyes, and bloodless lips — a dazed, hollow look.

The look of someone who'd overindulged to the point of kidney deficiency made the dorm manager shake his head. 'Xiao Sai, you really...'

Sailor opened his drowsy eyes, his gaze vacant and empty, looking thoroughly used up. 'Huh?'

His golden curly hair looked so worn that Jiang Luo almost didn't dare recognize him. He said carefully: 'Sailor?'

Sailor looked at him listlessly. After a long pause, he registered it. 'Jiang, you're back?'

'I've been back for two days...' Jiang Luo said. 'Why didn't I see you these past two days?'

'These two days were rest days. I was sleeping,' Sailor yawned, recovering a bit of energy but still wilted. 'I'm so sleepy.'

Jiang Luo asked: 'Haven't you rested at all these past nights?'

Sailor thought about it, uncertain: 'I feel like I rested, but also like I didn't... And I don't know why, but now whenever night comes, I get kind of scared. I want it to always be daytime.'

He shivered.

Jiang Luo remembered — Sailor didn't remember the Walk of the Unseen at night.

He patted Sailor's shoulder heavily. But the way Sailor looked, it was genuinely worrying whether he might drop dead.

Called out every night for unpaid shifts — look at Sailor. Even without remembering, his subconscious had already started fearing the dark.

Jiang Luo felt he needed to have a word with Hei Wuchang.

After saying goodbye to Sailor, Jiang Luo went back to his room and showered.

They were to depart for the Qi Family at ten o'clock. With the time set so early, they expected to stay at the Qi Family for the whole day. Jiang Luo washed himself clean, dried his hair in a bathrobe, picked up the Tuxedo he'd prepared, and put it on piece by piece.

But as Jiang Luo fastened his shirt buttons, a glance from the corner of his eye caught a set of Tuxedo accessories resting on top of the jacket.

A pair of Ruby Red Sleeve Ornament cufflinks, a ruby-red rose brooch, and a pair of ruby-red ear studs.

Jiang Luo stared for a moment, then bent down, his black hair spilling over his shoulders, and took the accessories in his hand.

These things were very familiar. He had once seen them on Chi You.

Jiang Luo pulled his lips into a cold smile.

He'd only been out running for an hour. The room was locked; no one else could get in.

Humans couldn't get in, but ghosts could.

What did Chi You mean by giving him these things?

Jiang Luo swept his gaze over the accessories without a ripple at the corner of his eye. He walked lightly to the trash can, opened his hand, and dropped the ruby-red set of Tuxedo accessories into it.

Without the slightest hesitation.

'Nice things, but what a pity,' he said, his thin lips curving up — like a king on high, casual and unhurried in his judgment. 'I hate things someone else has already worn.'

Jiang Luo picked up the Tuxedo jacket and stepped out the door.

His companions were almost all ready, a row of formal wear. Even Wenren Lian had shed his long dress for a Tuxedo, and was chatting amiably with Kuang Zheng.

For this occasion, Lu You couldn't wear a hat, so he sensibly wore a wig. Seeing everyone was gathered, he said: 'I borrowed a few cars from my parents. Let's go.'

Lu You's cars were, of course, luxury cars. Jiang Luo was the first to claim the driver's seat — he hadn't driven anything this expensive yet.

The Dean went with them as their supervisor. The Qi Family's banquet was held at a mountain villa. When Jiang Luo's group arrived at the Mountain Summit, a row of luxury cars was already parked Below the Mountain.

Those who'd made a name in the Xuanxue World never lacked money. Just look at the Qi Family's villa — along with the villa, they'd bought nearly the entire mountain.

After getting out, members of the Qi Family led them to the villa entrance. At the door, staff with inspection lights were checking invitations.

The whole check was thorough and polite. The moment they stepped inside, Qi Ye — who not far off had been forcing himself to patiently entertain guests — froze, then hurried forward. He glanced at the classmates behind the Dean and greeted the Dean first. 'Good afternoon, Dean.'

Xu Yuxiang beamed: 'Qi Ye, I haven't seen you in a week.'

Qi Ye pressed his lips together. 'I'll be back at the School on Monday.'

Xu Yuxiang nodded, handed Jiang Luo's group over to Qi Ye, and went off to catch up with old friends.

Qi Ye looked at Jiang Luo. 'You three are alright?'

A flicker crossed Jiang Luo's eyes. He countered: 'What could possibly happen to us?'

'Best that you're fine,' Qi Ye snorted. 'Don't you dare get hurt just because I wasn't on the mission — that would make you real losers.'

It seemed Qi Ye really didn't know what the Qi Family had done.

Jiang Luo smiled. 'You've been home this whole week?'

Qi Ye nodded. Irritation flickered across his features. 'They won't even let me out the door.'

While they were talking, a group of people walked over. They were also participants in the Third Trial, but in the end had gained nothing — among them were direct disciples of the Six Great Families.

Feng Li wouldn't come to a young people's gathering like playing house. These people were therefore somewhat uninhibited, looking at Jiang Luo — the first-place winner — with hidden hostility and jealousy. 'You're Jiang Luo, the one who took the Yuantian Pearl?'

His companions gathered around Jiang Luo. Lu You said bluntly: 'What do you want?'

The leader of this group was a pockmarked-faced man. He snorted. 'You took first place in the Competition and we're not convinced. Before the Competition, no one had ever heard of you — who knew a dark horse like you would show up. We watched your Competition videos, but they only had the first two trials. We grudgingly accept those, but who knows how you broke through the Third Trial. Brothers, seeing you today still leaves a grievance in our hearts. We want to compete with you again.'

They had hostility, yes, but they were open about it. Jiang Luo wasn't angry. 'How do you want to compete?'

The pockmarked-faced man rolled his eyes, the group whispered among themselves for a while, and finally he puffed out his chest: 'Today is a Celebration Banquet, so we won't compete on real combat. The Qi Family has prepared many activities for us to play. Today, we'll compete on cultivation of character and luck-insight.'

Jiang Luo's eyelid twitched: 'Luck-insight?'

He knew what cultivation of character meant — calligraphy, painting, chanting sutras and drawing talismans, or at worst, playing music and composing.

Those who studied Xuanxue had to value 'composure' and 'steadiness.' To train their temperament, both the School and the Six Great Families cultivated hobbies of character refinement in them.

The way Feng Li cultivated Jiang Luo was to make him write talismans non-stop.

But luck?

As an extremely unlucky person, Jiang Luo didn't feel great about this.

His companions clearly knew his constitution well; their expressions all subtly shifted, revealing looks too painful to watch.

Done for, done for. They weren't afraid of other competitions, but luck... they might as well go to bed.

Qi Ye clicked his tongue and explained: 'The Celebration Banquet doesn't start until evening. Having you come this early is so you can get to know each other and get closer. Our family has prepared many things — racing on the mountain road, horse racing, stone gambling, board games... It's called luck-insight, but at the root of it, it's just gambling.'

The pockmarked-faced man protested: 'How can it be gambling! Take horse racing, for example — if you have good eye, you can naturally see which horse will win, which proves your talent. If your luck is good, that's also a kind of strength.'

Qi Ye sneered and said to Jiang Luo: 'His name is Li Cheng, he's good at gambling. Do you want to compete with him?'

The pockmarked-faced man said indignantly: 'We must compete, otherwise we really can't swallow this anger.'

Jiang Luo's side actually tried to dissuade them: 'Forget it, forget it, don't compete, don't compete. Let's just say you win, alright? You win!'

But saying that only enraged the troublemakers. Among them was a tall thin man, his eyes red, raising his voice as if about to cry: 'What do you mean, are you looking down on us?!'

The noise gave Jiang Luo a splitting headache. He took a deep breath: '...Compete.'

He asked immediately: 'What's the first trial?'

'A contest of steadiness,' Pockmark-Face said, glancing around until his eyes settled on a Piano off to the side of the hall. 'Let's compete at playing. We set Glass Bead pieces on the keys — whoever has the most Glass Bead left on the keys at the end wins.'

Jiang Luo wanted to refuse. He couldn't play the Piano.

But before he could refuse, Qi Ye's father came over laughing heartily from the side. 'That's a good idea. Uncle will watch from the side and be your judge — is that alright?'

Qi Ye frowned. 'Dad, you—'

'Hey,' Qi Fu patted his shoulder. 'Today is a rare chance to relax. Don't overthink it. Just make some friends.'

Then he looked at Jiang Luo and said with a smile: 'Jiang Luo, I happen to know your former shifu Chen Pi! Chen Pi has told me quite a bit about you these past days. I remember you used this method to train your mind before, didn't you?'

Jiang Luo paused, then slowly smiled. 'That was all when I was a child.'

In the original body's memories, he had indeed practiced the Piano this way — but only because everyone else did, spending a few years in the piano room, muddling through and freeloading on others' practice.

Such a small thing, the original body hadn't even kept in mind. How would Chen Pi remember?

The Qi Family had probably already investigated his background inside and out.

But the original body had been quite mediocre. Even when jealous of Chi You, he had no one to confide in. He didn't have the habit of recording his feelings online; at most, when cursing Chi You at the School, Lu You had overheard. Jiang Luo wasn't worried his lies would be exposed.

He had previously wondered if the Chi Clan wanted to kill him because they knew he had killed Chi You. But Chi You and the Chi Clan were clearly at odds; the moment this thought arose, he threw it completely out of his mind.

And thinking carefully, the Chi Clan and the Qi Family didn't seem to know he had once used a Forbidden Art to frame Chi You.

The Qi Family had investigated so thoroughly but probably found nothing, so now they were testing him.

'Jiang Luo' had been so mediocre before — why was he so outstanding now?

A complete change in personality, striving upward and uncovering talents that had never been noticed — that could still be explained by 'devastated by his lover's death' or 'a prodigal son turning over a new leaf.' But if he could play the Piano before and now couldn't, how would that be explained?

But Jiang Luo truly felt that even if the original body were here, he couldn't play a single piece.

But Qi Fu definitely wouldn't believe that.

Qi Fu said: 'It's fine. This tests cultivation of character, not technique. As long as the heart is steady enough, that's the standard.'

With things said to this point, Jiang Luo smiled, frantically recalling the sheet music and Piano keys the original body had seen as a child. 'Then I'll embarrass myself.'

He walked toward the Piano, step by step, his pace elegant and slow. Jiang Luo appeared calm on the surface, buying himself time, but the original body had truly had no interest in these sedentary pursuits. He'd tried very hard, but still couldn't recall anything.

Jiang Luo had now reached the Piano. He sat down unhurriedly, preparing to plan how to reasonably stop this performance.

His fingers tapped lightly on the Piano keys, as if testing the sound. A pleasant, deep Piano tone rang out, its tail trembling softly, as distant as the deep sea.

A servant brought a small bottle of Glass Beads and poured them onto the keys.

The moment they fell, one or two Glass Beads nearly rolled off the keys. Jiang Luo thought: how is this even playable?

Could even the best pianist really keep the beads from falling?

He cleared his throat, about to say he was giving up, but the hand on the keys was suddenly covered by another pair of hands.

The other pair of hands was invisible to anyone. Under everyone's gaze, they crawled onto Jiang Luo's hand like a sticky, slimy snake. The hands were cold as a corpse's; the slender fingers slid slowly forward along the back of Jiang Luo's hand, raising a ticklishness and goosebumps, then ambiguously slipped between his fingers.

A chill that made his scalp prickle pressed against Jiang Luo's back as well.

Someone laughed softly in his ear.

The next moment, the ghost hands, carrying Jiang Luo's hands with them, began to dance and leap across the keys.