The Language Arts office had a total of four teachers, but after Xiang Decai called Yan Junze into the office, the others who had classes went to teach, and those who did not also had the good sense to leave.
Xiang Decai didn't enter the office either, and after Yan Junze went in, he closed the door from the outside.
Yet the moment Yan Junze entered the office, his expression faltered, feeling Ke'er, who had been lying on his back, twist quickly and slide down.
Glancing back, he saw Ke'er, dressed in red, had already passed through the recently closed door and left him.
Turning his head back, inside the office, a short man in a familiar-looking white suit sat in a chair, his gaze fixed on the window, as if lost in thought.
The breeze outside gently brushed the green-leaved branches, causing them to sway with the wind, as the morning sunlight spread across the windowsill.
At this moment, it felt as if the world outside, buzzing with strangenesses, was far removed from him.
"So it's you," Yan Junze recognized the man in white; it was the exorcist who had suddenly appeared yesterday and subdued the Possession Spirit.
The man in white swiveled around in his chair, smiling at him, "Hello, let me introduce myself, I'm Huang Chen. 'Chen' as in 'Wu'an libu bu si, ru gui yu wei chen' from Du Fu."
This poem was from Du Fu.
Yan Junze had already figured out that some things in this world were exactly the same as on Earth, some were completely different, and others simply had different names. Hence, Du Fu could exist here, as could Michelangelo, but everything had changed quite a bit after the modern era.
Just like if a river crab emerged from the water and stared you down, daring you to be impertinent, a single clamp from it could silence the whole world.
"Hello, Mr. Exorcist," Yan Junze was very reserved.
The exorcist's decision to meet him after the incident with Zhang Tiantian gave Yan Junze an uneasy premonition.
"Just call me Huang Chen," Huang Chen stood up and extended his hand towards Yan Junze, appearing very friendly.
Yan Junze reached out to shake his hand and noticed that Huang Chen's suit buttons were all in place. He remembered that yesterday this man had torn a button off his suit and thrown it at the possessed Zhang Tiantian, causing an explosion of energy that forced the Possession Spirit out of Zhang Tiantian's body.
Huang Chen, noticing Yan Junze's gaze, laughed it off, "This is a Hidden Buckle, a product of the Exorcist organization, specially used for eliminating strangenesses. However, it is forbidden to circulate it to the public, and there would be severe consequences if discovered."
"Is it very expensive?" Yan Junze clicked his tongue and withdrew his gaze.
"Not expensive, but rare," Huang Chen pointed at a chair nearby, inviting Yan Junze to sit down.
Before Yan Junze even touched the chair, Huang Chen added, "Tell me, why did you enter Teacher Zhang's office?"
Yan Junze paused and shook his head, "I don't know what you're talking about."
Huang Chen revealed a smile, pulling a cellphone out of his pocket, which Yan Junze recognized as Zhang Tiantian's phone.
"This is your Teacher Zhang's phone; I've checked the call logs, and there were no calls made to you, nor any texts sent to you," Huang Chen said confidently, as if he controlled everything, "I also checked the office's landline, and no numbers were dialed during that time period."
Pausing for a moment, Huang Chen stated the purpose of calling Yan Junze over, "What method did Teacher Zhang Tiantian use to ask you to bring the test papers to her office? What were you doing in her office? You already knew she was possessed, so why did you go in there alone?"
After making these remarks, Huang Chen's eyes pierced into Yan Junze's, trying to see whether he would lie.
Confident in his deductions, Huang Chen had always placed a great deal of trust in his own reasoning—a mysteriously unfounded confidence.
Even sometimes, Huang Chen thought that being an outstanding detective was countless times better than being an exorcist, if only the times had been different.
However, Yan Junze was just stunned for two seconds. He didn't seem to overthink it and shattered Detective Huang's mysterious confidence into pieces with a single sentence.
"Teacher Zhang told me before class, if you don't believe me, you can go ask her."
Huang Chen's expression instantly stiffened, followed by a twitching at the corners of his mouth.
Yes, damn it, I was just thinking about checking the phone, but couldn't she have just spoken face to face before the possession spirit erupted?
Miscalculation!
And how could he ask Zhang Tiantian? That woman was still going crazy in the sanatorium.
Huang Chen's facial expressions changed four or five times within a few seconds, then he tried to squeeze out a smile: "I was just... casually asking. You know, some kids just love to flock to strangenesses and even take it upon themselves to record things everywhere, then upload it online, without realizing how dangerous that is. For some strangenesses, even if we get there, we can't deal with it."
"Hmm, I understand, I won't do that. I'm still a student, and I love studying so much, I never go out to play after school," Yan Junze nodded "obediently."
Although Huang Chen smiled awkwardly and Junze didn't seem to be lying to him, Huang Chen still had a feeling that something was off.
"Mr. Huang Chen, I've always been very curious about something. Can exorcists directly see those strangenesses that deliberately hide themselves?" Yan Junze took the opportunity to ask.
"I can't yet, but three-star exorcists can," Huang Chen shook his head.
"Then how many stars are you?" Yan Junze asked again.
"One star," Huang Chen stood up, realizing that since his speculation was wrong, there was no point in continuing the investigation. "Go to class! Your studies are important, but so is your health. Eat more nourishing food and don't dress like a zongzi."
Yan Junze felt these people had a deep obsession with zongzi, and he mentally sneered. If he had known, Ke'er wouldn't have needed to scurry outside to hide.
However, in another way of looking at it, Ke'er's alertness was quite strong. At least she knew that the person sitting in the room was a threat to her and would react immediately.
After leaving the office, the class teacher Xiang Decai was waiting outside the door, but they were sensible and didn't ask anything. Normally, exorcists would choose to inquire about the people who had experienced spiritual encounters, which was also a standard procedure.
After Huang Chen left, as soon as Yan Junze stepped out into the corridor, Ke'er emerged from nowhere, very adeptly climbed onto his back.
Then, Yan Junze said something that, if Huang Chen had heard it, he definitely would have been able to spew out an old blood.
"Actually, you didn't need to hide; as long as you wanted, that person wouldn't have noticed you. He's just a one-star exorcist, pretty lousy."
Back in the classroom, he told Zhou Dali about registering an account on the "Open Your Eyes" video platform.
Zhou Dali was very supportive, but his words were evasive, obviously afraid of Yan Junze dragging him into some so-called adventure with strangenesses.
"You don't have to worry," Yan Junze patted his shoulder to comfort him, "I'll try recording a broadcast myself first. If there are fans and some income, next time I'll definitely include you."
"Hehehe, I'll be an audience member first and help pep up your show," Zhou Dali quickly changed the subject, "What's your account name?"
"Night Traveling Puppy."