FI CH27: This Entourage of Yours Is No Simple Matter

Lu Yanzhou sat in his wheelchair, his noble air tinged with a hint of gloom. Disciples of his clan flanked him. Presumably, because they were at the Master’s Association, they had not brought along Chen Qiu, who was still a ghost.

The president’s emblem was pinned to his collar.

Lin Su blinked lightly. Excellent. So everyone has been busy with their own things.

Fang Ling looked over in surprise, seemingly unable to comprehend why the head of one of the four great families would come to take over a small branch in Huicheng. He greeted him cautiously and respectfully, “Family Head Lu.”

Seeing that Fang Ling knew him, Cui Zhen followed his lead. “President Lu.”

He then took the opportunity to subtly stir up trouble. “President, today is our branch’s reopening day, but for some reason, the president of the Supervisory Association and a feng shui master from another branch have shown up…”

Halfway through his sentence, the sound of wheels turning was heard. Lu Yanzhou didn’t spare them a single glance. He steered his wheelchair straight to a stop in front of Lin Su and called out respectfully, “Mr. Lin.”

Then he addressed He Zhenling, “President He.”

Lin Su nodded. “So you’re the one taking over.”

Lu Yanzhou lowered his eyelashes, hiding the expression in his eyes, and gave a slight smile.

Cui Zhen’s words died abruptly in his throat. His lips moved, and he looked at Fang Ling in confusion, only to see that Fang Ling seemed even more shocked. An inexplicable sense of dread rose in his heart.

“Sir,” one of the accompanying disciples stepped forward. “The reopening ceremony is about to begin.”

Lu Yanzhou nodded and said to Lin Su, “My apologies for the neglect. I’ll head over first. You two may do as you please.”

The wheelchair moved forward two paces, then stopped again. Lu Yanzhou suddenly turned his head. Bathed in the morning light, his cold, pale face held a pair of black eyes as deep as an abyss. He swept his gaze over the three men standing frozen to the side and slowly curled his lips into a smile.

“And you three… you’ve finally made it back. You should come along as well.”

The cold morning air sent a shiver down their spines. After speaking, he wheeled himself inside. Fang Ling and his two companions did their best to steady their nerves and followed, completely bewildered.

…

Once the group in front of them had left, Lin Su withdrew his gaze, a sense of wanting more lingering. “I knew Xiao Lu wouldn’t let this go so easily. After all, he became a gambling king in his early twenties.”

He Zhenling: “…What gambling king?”

“A master of shuffling the deck.”

“…”

Xuenima: [Putting everything else aside, when did he become ‘Xiao Lu’?]

Lin Su replied to it: It’s just a nickname for one of our own.

He then sighed on behalf of the three men. “…Now this is true servitude. I believe that with Xiao Lu’s methods, their future lives will be as full of surprises as the moment they received that document.”

He Zhenling neither confirmed nor denied it, simply glancing at him and asking, “Do you want to go in and watch the ceremony?”

“Since we’re already here, let’s go.”

The two of them walked inside together. Lin Su suddenly paused and looked sideways. “Did you already know Xiao Lu was taking over, and that’s why you specifically called me here to watch the show?”

He Zhenling’s profile was stern and calm. He didn’t refute it.

No refutation meant it was a tacit admission.

Lin Su narrowed his eyes. So he’s even preparing little surprises…

He cheerfully turned back to face forward. “The Supervisor is getting better and better at making me happy.”

A voice floated over from his side. “After all, we’re already at the stage of spending wonderful nights together.”

“…”

Xuenima felt a sense of empathy: [Magic defeats magic. Xiao He is starting to give up and play along too.]

Lin Su said seriously, “What nonsense. It’s clearly just everyone being happy together.”

Inside, the reopening ceremony had already begun. Seventy to eighty percent of the people in the branch were Lu family disciples, with members of the Supervisory Association standing guard around the perimeter.

Fang Ling and his two companions stood in the middle, trembling with fear. The reopening ceremony looked more like a sacrificial offering.

Lin Su and He Zhenling watched the entire process from the side. After the ceremony ended, the members of the branch dispersed. Fang Ling and his group also tried to leave but were stopped by the members of the Supervisory Association.

At this point, Fang Ling was furious but dared not speak out. He turned to He Zhenling. “President He, what is the meaning of this? The case is already closed. Are you still going to use your authority to hound us…”

Before he could finish, there was a sudden noise from above.

The next moment, a shadow descended with a gust of wind—

He Zhenling drew his Tang knife in a reverse grip. In that instant, he raised his arm with speed and precision. Bang! The flat of the blade struck Fang Ling on the jaw. He then followed the momentum upwards, parrying a falling plaque.

Clang! The plaque was sent flying, crashing right into Cui Zhen and Du Fan who were standing nearby. The two cried out in pain as it hit them on the head. “Ah!”

The blow left Fang Ling with a mouthful of blood. His old face was purple with pain, and he clutched his mouth, unable to speak, only able to glare at He Zhenling with a mixture of shock and anger. “You…”

He Zhenling coolly withdrew his hand. “You collected so much money, yet you couldn’t be bothered to repair the plaque? I blocked it for you. No need to thank me.”

Fang Ling trembled all over, baring his teeth in a pained grimace. This was a hell of a lot more serious than being hit by a plaque!

Lin Su’s eyelashes twitched slightly. He spoke in his mind: …Ni Ma, come back.

A ball of white light floated down innocently from above.

Fang Ling’s mouth was full of blood, rendering him almost speechless. Cui Zhen was dazed from the impact and tentatively glanced at the new president. “Lu…” His voice abruptly stopped as he met a pair of cold, ruthless eyes. He couldn’t help but shiver, starting to wonder how he had offended the man.

Du Fan had a bit more tact. He said nothing about the incident and asked carefully, “President, now that the three of us are back, what positions will we be appointed to?”

As his words fell, Lu Yanzhou suddenly smiled.

A familiar small ceramic jar was placed on the table with a thud.

Lu Yanzhou said, word by word, “You three will be responsible for making offerings to this ceramic jar, day and night. The incense in front of the jar must not be extinguished for a single moment. Otherwise…”

Under the three men’s shocked and deathly pale faces, he looked at them directly.

“My beloved will be angry.”

…

The ceremony ended. Lin Su and He Zhenling also walked out.

The good days had just begun. Fang Ling and his group couldn’t even think about running away. After all, within the association, they could still serve ‘soundly’ as dogs and horses. If they left the association, who knows what would happen.

A voice suddenly spoke beside him. “Did you do that with the plaque?”

Lin Su paused. He Zhenling is far too perceptive…

He looked straight ahead. “What do you mean, I did it? Weren’t you the one who blocked it?”

He Zhenling gave him a deep look but said nothing.

Lin Su glanced sideways again. “I was wondering why the Supervisor was dressed so revealingly today. Turns out it was for the convenience of making grand, sweeping movements.”

“…”

He Zhenling said calmly, “When you asked me to take off my clothes at your residence, did you not think it was revealing then?”

Lin Su: “Can broad daylight and drawn curtains be the same?”

“…”

Three steps away, a subordinate who had come to report stopped in his tracks.

Xuenima closed its eyes: Heh, my reputation. Heh heh.

After attending the reopening ceremony, Lu Yanzhou left the branch in the hands of his subordinates and went back. After all, compared to a reopening ceremony, a far more important ceremony was waiting for him.

On his phone was the latest message from Lin Su: The process is complete.

…

The Lu family residence.

In an extremely cold room, candles were lit all around, and a complex formation was drawn on the floor.

The young man lying on the bed had a serene face, his brow free of worry.

The incantation was recited seven times, and the paper talisman burned to ash. As the lengthy ritual of returning to the living world concluded, a soul returned to its body, and the soul-guiding lamp that had been lit for seven years was abruptly extinguished.

Lu Yanzhou held Chen Qiu’s hand tightly, motionless. Time passed, drop by drop, and the wax pooled at the bottom of the candles. In the long silence, it felt as if a century had passed.

After a long while, there was a slight movement in his palm. A teardrop fell with a splat onto his trembling hand.

“…You’re awake.”

…

In his apartment, Lin Su closed the Book of Fate.

“He’s finally back.”

“Once the soul returns to the body, the memories will also slowly recover.”

He picked up his phone again and scrolled through something. Xuenima popped its head up: [What are you doing?]

“Customizing a return gift.”

Lin Su had already placed an order as he spoke. “Chen Qiu just woke up. His body has been lying down for seven years, so he’ll have trouble moving. I’ve ordered them a custom front-and-back tandem electric wheelchair.”

He sighed, “Times are really changing so fast… This way, they can spend a wonderful night together anytime, anywhere.”

Xuenima’s pupils quaked: […]

Then its expression changed: [Then A’Qiu will probably be as happy as ●▽●! like this.]

Lin Su glanced at it appreciatively. “You’re quite vivid and lifelike.”

With this matter resolved, the end of the term arrived. Lin Su had chosen the liberal arts track. Aside from the politics questions that changed every year, he had long since mastered the other subjects over his long years.

After breezing through finals week, summer vacation began.

[After those two live streams, your spiritual power has skyrocketed.]

Xuenima floated beside him, fanning him. [It seems that making appropriate public appearances is not a bad thing.]

Lin Su was thankful. “Good thing I took the language arts exam myself.”

No clients, no school. He idly flipped through some comedy skits for a while. After discovering they weren’t as funny as the supernatural live streams, he turned off the TV and picked up his phone.

“I should invite Xiao He over to watch ghost movies.”

[Su-Wakes-Up-Naturally]: Tomorrow, during the day. Come to my residence for a get-together.

[Ling]: Can’t make it.

Lin Su: “?”

[Su-Wakes-Up-Naturally]: The moment you hear it’s during the day, you’re not coming. [heh]

After a full half-minute of silence, the next message came back: “I have a business trip.”

Lin Su’s interest was piqued. “Supervisory Association business?”

[Ling]: A variety show that my company invested in has started filming. They invited me to the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

“…” Almost forgot Xiao He has this identity too.

But all of He Zhenling’s identities in the mortal world were for the purpose of carrying out his duties as a divine messenger. A casual investment in a variety show needing a ribbon-cutting shouldn’t have been enough to get him to attend personally.

Thinking this, Lin Su asked, “For such a small matter, why do you need to show your face in person?”

Xuenima, lying on the side, saw this: […What’s the difference between your language arts and mine?]

A hand pushed its head to the side.

[Ling]: The show’s content is similar to a deserted village adventure. They want to create some supernatural effects. I’m going to take a look to make sure they don’t actually provoke anything, and do the ribbon-cutting while I’m at it.

Lin Su pushed Xuenima back and showed it the screen. “I just asked casually. Why did he reply in such detail?”

Xuenima: […]

But a deserted village adventure, with a supernatural theme. It sounded a bit interesting. He happened to be free during the holiday, with no clients.

Lin Su’s gaze lingered on those few words for a few seconds, then he sent a message with great interest.

[Su-Wakes-Up-Naturally]: Hearing you say that, I did a special divination for you. I’ve discovered that this trip of yours… the entourage is no simple matter.

[Ling]: How so?

[Su-Wakes-Up-Naturally]: This trip of yours includes me.

Lin Su typed seriously: Take me.

He Zhenling: “…”

Author’s Note:
 

Lin Su (closing his eyes): Let me read the future for you…
He Zhenling: Make it simple. Your reason for coming along, make it simple.
*
Lu-Qiu Brand Electric Wheelchair: ィ(▼へ▼＃)-ィ(●▽●！)
Lu Yanzhou: I’ll make them apologize to your piggy bank! (▼へ▼＃)
Chen Qiu: ●▽● Oh!
 

*To prevent anyone from forgetting, I’ll mention the previous setting again: The protagonist’s main job is a Fate Immortal, not a student. Being a student is just one of his alternate identities to serve his duties as a divine messenger. His spiritual consciousness only does homework, not exams; the cognitive level of his spiritual consciousness will not exceed that of his main body. The protagonist will not take the regular college entrance exam because this is just an alternate identity! Not his main profession.

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