Upon entering the store, Cui Wenyan barely had time to look at the decor before following Dong Xiao to the backyard. There was a four-cornered courtyard, and as soon as he stepped in, a mouth-watering aroma wafted through the air.

"Go wash your hands and come eat," Tianmiao said with a smile, pointing to the sink in the courtyard. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

"Okay!" Cui Wenyan nodded vigorously, quickly washed his hands, and sat down next to Tianmiao.

"This is our new member, my apprentice, Cui Wenyan. This is Kong Hou, and this is Dong Xiao," Tianmiao introduced briefly, "Alright, let’s eat."

Cui Wenyan politely greeted Kong Hou and Dong Xiao, and both smiled warmly back at him. Kong Hou even poured him a glass of ice-cold cola, muttering, "The happy fat-house water you guys talk about, ice cola, fill it up! From now on, we’re family, don’t be shy."

A big smile spread across Cui Wenyan’s face, and he felt that the days to come would be very joyful.

As they started to eat hot pot, Cui Wenyan’s eyes widened in amazement.

Spicy, numbing, fresh, and fragrant!

Cui Wenyan vowed that this was the best hot pot she had ever had in her life.

Fatty beef rolls, tripe, lamb rolls, baby octopus, goby fish, duck intestines, thousand-layer tripe... ah, so delicious! The dipping sauce was also really fragrant; she had no idea what was in it but found it incredibly aromatic.

After finishing the hot pot, Tianmiao sipped his tea contentedly and said to Cui Wenyan, "Disciple, did you discover a new world today? Did you see something you’ve never seen before?"

"Yes." Cui Wenyan nodded, then told Tianmiao about the encounter with the ghost on the way.

"Were you scared?" Tianmiao asked.

Cui Wenyan thought for a moment, "At first, I was a little scared, but then I gradually calmed down."

"That’s good. Disciple, there’s a saying that practice yields true knowledge, so I’m giving you a task to do on your own tonight," Tianmiao said with a smile as he put down his teacup.

"Huh? Okay." Cui Wenyan blinked, a bit puzzled and slightly nervous. She thought her master would first teach her a lot of knowledge, then take her on tasks, and only after she could handle things independently would she be left alone. But her master didn’t seem to follow the usual script?

"Doesn’t your school have power outages once every month or two during night classes? And then some students faint, but they’re fine the next day and come back to school," Tianmiao said slowly.

Cui Wenyan thought carefully and said in surprise, "That’s actually true!"

"That’s because there’s a mischievous ghost. Go check it out tonight, and with a full belly, you can burn off some calories doing some work. I’ll have Dong Xiao take you there in a bit," Tianmiao waved his hand, "Go, catch it and come back early to rest. Didn’t you sleep last night?"

"Yes, I was too excited to sleep," Cui Wenyan said a bit sheepishly.

"Get some rest after you’ve finished the task tonight. Go, prepare a little, and when you’re ready, Dong Xiao will take you," Tianmiao instructed.

Cui Wenyan changed into sportswear, and Dong Xiao took her to the school.

By this time, there weren’t many students left at the school. Only the security guard at the gatehouse remained. Cui Wenyan thought for a moment, walked around the school’s boundary wall, reached a secluded corner, stepped back, and with a leap, climbed over the wall smoothly. She might not be good at academics, but her athletic skills were remarkably strong. Every sports meet, she could win several first-place medals all by herself. Now they finally came in handy.