Peerless Bodyguard of a Stunning Beauty

After sending the Laoshan Ghost-Hunting Instructor flying, Zhao Rong walked toward the Ghost Hunting Academy with his three beautiful companions and his assistant. The surrounding crowd watched his retreating figure, unable to help but let out gasps of astonishment.

A student smoking a cigarette said incredulously, ”This new guy, how is he so strong? With just one punch, he sent the arrogant Laoshan Ghost-Hunting Instructor flying. He’s basically a real-life One-Punch Man…”

Another student, who was charging his phone with a power bank, said in shock, ”With such a badass coming to our Ghost Hunting Academy, won’t that be a huge embarrassment for our school’s four great Ghost-Hunting Instructors?”

Amidst the gasps and murmurs of the onlookers, Zhao Rong stepped into the freshman venue of the Ghost Hunting Academy. Looking at the banners and slogans hung on the walls, he approached a nearby Ghost-Hunting Instructor.

”Hello, Instructor. We’re the students who registered yesterday,” Zhao Rong said. ”Has the academy’s annual Ghost Hunting Cleanup started yet?”

The Ghost-Hunting Instructor turned his head but didn’t look Zhao Rong in the eye. ”It’s not a question of whether it has started—it’s already finished.”

Hearing that the annual cleanup had already ended, Zhao Rong said in disbelief, ”Instructor, the whole reason we rushed here overnight was to participate in today’s Ghost Hunting Cleanup. How could we have missed it?”

Just as Zhao Rong was wondering about this, a ghost-hunting team in white uniforms rushed in. They reported to the instructor before them, ”Reporting to Zhengyi Ghost-Hunting Instructor, our ghost-hunting mission is complete!”

When Zhao Rong heard that the man before him was the so-called Zhengyi Ghost-Hunting Instructor mentioned by the Laoshan instructor, he immediately sized him up. Damn it. I just thrashed his brother, the Laoshan Ghost-Hunting Instructor, and now I’m here to report to him? Isn’t this a little awkward?

As Zhao Rong stood there feeling embarrassed, another ghost-hunting team ran in. This team was carrying a beautiful woman on a stretcher. Clearly, someone had been injured during a hunt.

The team leader looked at the Zhengyi Ghost-Hunting Instructor anxiously. ”Instructor Zhengyi, the beautiful Xueli was severely injured while we were capturing the vicious ghost An Qilong at the Chaotic Gravesite…” After he finished speaking, the team leader had his teammates carry Xueli over to the instructor.

When the Zhengyi Ghost-Hunting Instructor examined Xueli’s wounds, he shook his head with a look of pity. ”She was injured by the vicious ghost An Qilong. I’m afraid she doesn’t have long.”

Hearing this, the team leader exclaimed in a panic, ”Instructor, is there really no hope for Xueli?”

The Zhengyi Ghost-Hunting Instructor sighed. ”The vicious ghost An Qilong is one of the most malevolent spirits in the Chaotic Gravesite. Anyone he injures is afflicted with a potent poison. Not even the Divine Doctor Sun Simiao himself could save her now.”

Hearing that the beautiful Xueli was beyond saving, the team leader knelt, cradling her in his arms as he sobbed. ”Xueli, my beautiful Xueli, I never even got the chance to confess to you! How could you die? You know, I’ve had a secret crush on you ever since you came to the Ghost Hunting Academy. I was always looking for the right moment to tell you. I had finally worked up the courage, but now… how could you be bitten by that vicious ghost, poisoned so badly that you can’t be saved?”

Standing nearby, Zhao Rong witnessed this moving scene and immediately decided that he had to save this woman, no matter what. He stepped forward, crouched beside her, and examined the wound. ”The wound isn’t deep. Although the flesh is black, the poison hasn’t spread throughout her body via the bloodstream. From what I can see, she can still be saved.”

Hearing this stranger claim that Xueli, the woman he secretly loved, could be saved, the team leader turned, his eyes wide. ”Really? Can she be saved?”

While quickly searching the alchemy manual in his mind, Zhao Rong nodded at the team leader. ”Let me try. I should be able to save her.”

When the surrounding people heard a new student shamelessly claim he could save someone the Zhengyi Ghost-Hunting Instructor had already declared a lost cause, they burst out in ridicule. The Zhengyi Ghost-Hunting Instructor didn’t mince words either, scolding Zhao Rong, ”Damn it, who the hell do you think you are, challenging my authority? Don’t you know that I, the Zhengyi Ghost-Hunting Instructor, am the best ghost doctor in this entire academy?”

The surrounding students immediately voiced their agreement.

A bootlicking student deliberately stood next to the instructor and shouted, ”You’re new here, what do you know? Our Instructor Zhengyi is a legend! In this academy, he saves lives and works miracles. How many students bitten, scratched, or even scared to death by ghosts have been brought back from the brink by his skilled hands? Since the instructor said her injuries are too severe, then she can’t be saved! For you to doubt his word is the height of foolishness!”

Another sycophantic, opportunistic student said to the Zhengyi Ghost-Hunting Instructor, ”Instructor, I believe you. If you say someone can be saved, they can be saved. If you say someone can’t be saved, they’ll surely die. You’ve said this woman can’t be saved, so she’s a goner. So, you new guy, get lost and stop showing off!”

Hearing their disbelief, Zhao Rong, who had already found the antidote in his alchemy manual, calmly stated, ”This woman was indeed harmed by a vicious ghost, but the poison she’s afflicted with isn’t fatal. It’s a specific type called Elixir King Poison. I, Zhao Rong, can responsibly tell all of you that not only can she be saved, but she won’t suffer any lasting side effects.”

When the crowd heard this new student claim he could save Xueli after the Zhengyi Ghost-Hunting Instructor had already sentenced her to death, they jeered loudly.

A timid student who looked remarkably like a turtle sneered, ”Hey, new kid, if you can actually save her, I’ll change my name. I won’t be Kameda anymore, you can just call me ’Bastard’!”

When Zhao Rong heard this timid student had a name from the Island Country, he looked straight at him. ”You little bastard, let’s get this straight. If I save this woman, you’re going to get down on the ground and crawl like a turtle.”

Kameda roared with laughter. ”No problem! If you can save her, forget about me crawling on the ground like a turtle—I’ll even admit that three generations of my family are nothing but bastards!”

As soon as Kameda finished, a student with a thin mustache and glasses chimed in, ”You Chinese, if you can save this woman, then I, Abiko Taro, will call you ’Grandpa’!”

Zhao Rong looked at the student, pondering his strange name. ”You’re from the Island Country, kid?”

Abiko Taro nodded. ”Yeah, I’m from the Island Country! So what? Can’t I come to your nation of Hua Xia to learn some ghost-hunting techniques?”

Hearing that this little punk was indeed from the Island Country, Zhao Rong gave him a harsh glare. ”You’d better remember this. In a little while, you won’t just be calling me ’Grandpa’—you’ll be calling every Chinese person here ’Grandpa’.”

With that, Zhao Rong took out a pressure cooker and the Yi Fire from his Magic Ring, preparing to begin the alchemy. He knew that for Elixir King Poison, he just needed to concoct a pill called the Chicken Heart Pill to cure the woman.

However, just as he filled the pressure cooker with water and began to control the Yi Fire, he realized he had forgotten to prepare the ingredients. The ingredients for the Chicken Heart Pill left him stumped. It turned out that creating the pill required a Speckled Hen, a Lord Lao Zi of the Great Monad Garlic, a Queen Mother Ginger, and a Barefoot Immortal Onion. Faced with these ingredients he had never seen or even heard of, Zhao Rong scratched his head, completely at a loss.

Just as he was struggling, Huazi, who was embedded in his Daoist robe, suddenly seemed to read his mind. She asked, ”Zhao Rong, are you worried about the ingredients for the Chicken Heart Pill?”

Desperate for help, Zhao Rong immediately replied when he heard Huazi’s voice, ”Yes, exactly! If you can get me a Speckled Hen, a Lord Lao Zi of the Great Monad Garlic, a Queen Mother Ginger, and a Barefoot Immortal Onion, then I can make the Chicken Heart Pill and save this woman!”

Hearing Zhao Rong talking to himself, the people nearby stared with wide eyes.

One student who loved to stir up trouble remarked, ”This guy claims he can heal people, but it feels like he’s just fooling around. I mean, how can stewing a chicken with some onion, ginger, and garlic in a pot save the woman on the ground? Is he trying to make a healing chicken soup?”

Even the team leader sounded skeptical. ”My friend, I know you want to save my girlfriend, and I know you’re eager to help, but saving someone requires an elixir. You’re talking about a chicken, onion, ginger, and garlic… Brother, I have to tell you, fine cuisine isn’t an elixir. It can’t save a life.”

The Zhengyi Ghost-Hunting Instructor was even more sarcastic. ”Kid, if you’re hungry for stewed chicken, just say so. Don’t use ’saving someone’ as an excuse to cook yourself a pot of chicken soup.”

Zhao Rong ignored their mockery and said to Huazi, ”Fine. Go get those ingredients for me now. I’m going to make the Chicken Heart Pill, save this woman, and show this bunch of scumbags that I’m performing alchemy, not making chicken soup!”

Upon hearing this, Huazi immediately flew out of Zhao Rong’s Daoist robe and went off to find the Speckled Hen, the Lord Lao Zi of the Great Monad Garlic, the Queen Mother Ginger, and the Barefoot Immortal Onion.