After that, nothing major really happened. Every day, I’d just hang out with Brother Xiang at the internet café to play some games or mess around with drawing talismans. At first, I was super excited to learn how to make talismans, but that wore off pretty fast. Turns out, it’s not as cool as I’d imagined—just drawing symbols over and over. Not exactly the thrilling stuff I was expecting.

After Han Si Fan came back that day, she stayed at the Old fortune-teller’s place for a couple of days, then left for home without even telling me. I mean, come on! We fought side-by-side, right? You’d think she’d at least say goodbye. But then again, thinking about that whole embarrassing first encounter, I should probably just count myself lucky she didn’t tear me to pieces.

The Old fortune-teller was still in his usual mysterious mode, lounging around watching TV at home, rarely stepping out. Honestly, life was pretty chill. Even though my mom wasn’t thrilled about me learning Daoist magic, she didn’t bring it up again. And the evil spirit at home had quieted down a lot too, so no more of its disturbances.

Two months of summer vacation went by in a flash, and before I knew it, it was time to start school again. Brother Xiang and I were both going to college in Chongqing University City.

This university town has about fifteen universities, with Chongqing Normal University being the most famous. Rumor has it, that place is practically overflowing with beauties—you look around, and nine out of ten people are gorgeous girls, with that tenth one being a guy. But yeah, sadly, that wasn’t the school we got into.

We got accepted to a police vocational college. Yep, you heard that right, training to be cops. This was all my mom’s idea. She’s always wanted me to be a civil servant. Honestly, I don’t get it. What’s the big deal about being a civil servant? In ancient times, being one was pretty much a ticket to an early grave, and nowadays it’s not much better.

My dream is actually to be a singer. Just picture it—on stage, belting out a tune, with a bunch of crazy fans screaming “I love you!” just for me. The thought alone makes me feel pumped! But, with my mom’s relentless pressure, I ended up enrolling in the police academy.

Brother Xiang, on the other hand, wasn’t too concerned with his own dreams. He just heard that police academies are full of beautiful, fit policewoman, so he signed up just for the chance to flirt with them.

The night before registration, my mom packed up some clothes and gave me a thousand dollar, with the usual reminders to study hard and strive to be a good cop for the people.

In my mind, I was thinking, “Sure, I’ll work my way up, get a cushy job, and rake in the benefits.” Laugh at me if you want for not having noble ambitions, but that’s just how society works. If you’re always yelling about serving the people, they’ll probably think you’re nuts. Even the people you’re serving would laugh at you.

Before I left, the Old fortune-teller called Brother Xiang and me to his place. He handed us each a talisman with a fire attribute symbol drawn on it.

Let me explain: talismans are divided by elemental attributes—metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. Each type has a different symbol at the start, like the radical in Chinese characters, and each one has to be drawn correctly.

“These are two ‘Five Thunders Strike Talismans,’” he explained. “Each of you take one for protection, but only use it in life-threatening situations, understood?” I looked at the talisman in my hand. It was pretty complicated; no way I could’ve drawn it myself back then.

Of course, Brother Xiang and I knew these were valuable, so we tucked them away carefully.

The next day, we were off to the bus station, with my mom and the Old fortune-teller there to see us off. After the usual round of fussing, the Old fortune-teller pulled me aside as I was boarding and whispered, “Don’t worry, kid. I’ll keep an eye on your mom and make sure that the Shanghun ghost doesn’t cause any trouble.”

I figured he knew I’d be worried about my mom’s safety, so I thanked him, saying, “Thanks, old man.”

As the bus started up, I didn’t feel all that sentimental since I’d travelled far from home before. But Brother Xiang, who hadn’t, immediately asked, “Xiao Hui, are there a lot of beauties in Chongqing?”

“Yeah, tons,” I replied, pointing to a girl a few seats up. “Look, there’s one right there.” Truthfully, I hadn’t even gotten a good look at her face—I’d only noticed her fair legs and made a wild guess. But hey, from what I’ve observed, if someone has a good body, people usually consider them a beauty, while someone with a nice face but a bit of extra weight tends to be ignored.

Anyway, Brother Xiang was bouncing with excitement, and soon enough, we arrived at the station. When we got off, there were loads of attractive girls and guys, most of them around eighteen or nineteen, probably also here for their freshman orientation. We searched around the station square for a while and finally spotted the reception staff from our police academy.

And why did it take so long to find them? Well, they were set up right next to the traffic police platform. These reception teachers probably wanted to emphasize the special nature of the police academy, so they were all in uniform. At first, Brother Xiang and I thought they were actual cops, but it turns out they were our teachers.

There were about three teachers and seven upperclassmen there. One of the teachers, a chubby guy who looked about thirty, introduced himself as Li Ming Jie. He smiled warmly at us, calling us “comrades” with a closeness that felt a bit… off, especially since he kept holding my hand a little too long. Later, I heard that his “preferences” were a bit unconventional.

But at the time, we had no idea, and Teacher Li pointed to a bus nearby, saying, “That’s the bus for the new students. You two can get on board.”

So, grinning like fools, Brother Xiang and I hopped on. The bus driver, a guy with a scar on his face and a cigarette in his mouth, gave us a sharp look. We found seats near the front and settled in.

Now, most of the students enrolling at the police academy were big, brawny guys. With our thinner frames, Brother Xiang and I stood out. Pretty soon, two students behind us started a fight, which escalated fast, and they were even grabbing stuff to use as weapons. It was pretty intense, so I turned to the driver in front and said, “Teacher, there’s a fight going on back there!”

“No big deal. Young people, you know? Fighting’s just normal,” he replied, glancing back nonchalantly. “Besides, this is a police academy. As long as nobody dies, they’re fine.”

“Wow, what a badass teacher,” Brother Xiang said, clearly impressed with the driver’s attitude.