“That's already considered late to wither.”

“Oh.”

“What about people? Are there any people who specifically interact with demons, who can see demons, like the Taoist priests on TV?” William Carter was a bit unsure how to phrase it.

“You mean the kind who specialize in subduing demons and exorcising evil spirits?”

“Something like that, but I didn’t mean it exactly that way…”

“Me neither. Anyway, you mean people with special talents who can see demons like you? There are. Ordinary people and demons have a lot of names for them, the most common are mage and celestial master, and also immortal elder.” Ethan Miller smiled as he spoke, “I knew you’d be interested in this, so I specifically asked around for you.”

“Thank you.”

“You should be able to do this in the future.”

“You have to study for this too, right?” William Carter asked.

“Yeah, but I don’t know how to learn it, and that little demon doesn’t know either. Do you want to do it?”

“I kind of want to learn.”

“You should learn. Since you can see demons, you need to learn how to deal with them.” Ethan Miller said to William Carter, “Maybe one day some trouble will come looking for you, and if you can’t handle it, you’ll suffer.”

“Mm.” William Carter thought that made sense.

“What do you want to do in the future?” Ethan Miller asked again.

“I like animals.”

“And then?”

“I want to be a zoologist, or a zookeeper, or a manager, or go to the grasslands to photograph animals, be a photographer.” William Carter had thought about this for a long time, since it related to filling out his college application.

“You’re not going to take the college entrance exam?”

“I am!”

“You’re going to college, just to feed animals?” Ethan Miller found this a bit hard to understand. From what he’d seen, people who went to college became astronauts and scientists, or teachers and doctors.

“Pretty much.”

At that moment, some noises came from outside, and both of them fell silent at the same time.

William Carter heard the sound of slippers hitting the floor—it should be his younger brother Helen Reed, followed by the sound of the fridge opening, and somehow Aunt Harris found out. Aunt Harris had recently become very into health and wellness, so she warned Helen Reed not to eat at night, saying it would cause a series of health problems.

Helen Reed didn’t care, saying if you’re not supposed to eat at night, why does the fridge have a light?

Aunt Harris kept nagging.

Helen Reed didn’t argue, just ran to William Carter’s door and asked, “Bro, do you want some dried mushrooms?”

“No.”

“Oh.”

It gradually quieted down outside.

Ethan Miller swallowed and continued looking at William Carter: “But if you want to practice other things, like physical skills, I can teach you. Also, in the future we can ask around in the circle to see where there are really powerful people. As long as you find these people, you’ll probably be able to learn how to become a celestial master.”

William Carter nodded, “Let’s talk about it after the college entrance exam.”

Right now, the exam was the most important thing.

They chatted idly, and before they knew it, it was very late. William Carter, considering that Ethan Miller had gone out of his way to ask other demons to help answer his questions and then came over late at night to tell him, naturally couldn’t bear to let him leave, so he let him sleep on the top bunk for another night.

The next day, because seniors had an extra morning self-study session, William Carter left the house before Helen Reed got up.

He brought a bag of dried mushrooms for Ethan Miller, and it took all twenty-five flights of stairs for Ethan Miller to finish eating them.

William Carter arrived at the classroom early, gazing out the window in a daze. Not long after, he saw a slender girl riding a bicycle, zooming in through the school gate, even standing up to pedal, and only braking hard when she reached the bike parking area.

Soon, Emily's Desk Mate came into the classroom, put her shoulder bag next to the desk, and greeted William Carter.

“Morning!”

“Morning.”

Ethan Miller stood next to William Carter: “She’s the one I saw that night, the one being chased by the dog.”

William Carter didn’t answer him.

Suddenly, Emily's Desk Mate noticed the little cake in her desk. Her expression was quite something. After scanning the classroom, she quietly tossed the cake into the trash can, then sat back down and asked William Carter, “Yesterday was all about going over the test papers, right? Was there anything especially important? If there was, tell me about it, so I don’t lose points if it comes up on the exam.”

“When the English teacher was explaining the questions, he mentioned a part that’s easily misunderstood. Only you got that question right in the whole class. He said you must have guessed.”

“That old pervert, he’s got it in for me!” Emily Thompson frowned, then quickly relaxed, “Whatever, since I guessed right this time, I’ll definitely guess right on the college entrance exam too!”

“Okay.”

William Carter knew the English teacher always liked to pick on Emily Thompson.

As for the nickname ‘old pervert’, it was just because the English teacher got divorced last year and started hanging around the single female teachers at school. Plus, with his greasy looks, when he smiled his eyes squinted and his wrinkles piled up—he’d probably be in high demand as a typecast actor for perverts in a film crew.

No one knew who started it, but a lot of students called him that.

Not long after, Emily Thompson scooted over to William Carter again: “Hey, do you know why I didn’t come yesterday?”

“You went to the hospital.”

“How did you know? Did Brian King tell you?” Emily Thompson’s expression froze.

“She didn’t.” William Carter shook his head.

“I thought so! But your guess was pretty…”