Tan Xiao had seen Mu Fei in a soul-lost comatose state before. Although now he couldn't directly make contact through the glass, he was quite confident in his judgment.

After hearing Tan Xiao's words, Zhu's father and mother obediently wrote it down with a pen -- they would still put the red envelope, and at the same time also do as Tan Xiao said.

"When I have time, I will also help call for Teacher Zhu's soul." Tan Xiao said to Teacher Zhu's family. "Hope the teacher wakes up soon, we all miss him very much."

"Oh, thank you..." The teacher's wife reached out and shook Tan Xiao's hand. She originally felt this student was just comforting them. But after making eye contact with Tan Xiao, she blanked for a moment.

What kind of feeling was this?

Although she was the elder, but making eye contact with him, that composure, determination, and reassurance actually relaxed her tense nerves of the past days quite a bit. It felt a little like seeking help from a doctor when sick, and she even felt like crying a little.

"Thank you, we will go." The teacher's wife unconsciously murmured again.

As soon as they left the hospital, Lin Yang said to Tan Xiao in a low voice: "I didn't dare say it just now. Do you know recently quite a few people said that when walking by the river at night, they heard the sounds of a dragon boat race. But when they asked around, there was absolutely no team practicing there. I didn't expect that Teacher Zhu also... oh my god."

"The kind that Teacher Zhu heard?" Tan Xiao really didn't know about this news.

"Yes! But when I saw other people mention it before, I thought someone made up a new urban legend. They also said that it was the rowers who drowned and died in previous dragon boat races practicing, preparing for the race in a few days." Lin Yang felt goosebumps all over. Luckily he always had talismans on him.

Looking again at the unfazed Tan Xiao, mm, he had even more talismans on him, definitely not afraid.

"It might just be a coincidence. If you're scared, just go to the river less." Although Tan Xiao didn't show much on his face, he was a bit unsettled in his heart. After saying goodbye, he immediately called Mu Fei to confirm with her if there really were these rumors recently.

"There are. You heard about it too?" Mu Fei scratched her head. "We dispatched people to investigate if it's some water ghost or underwater spirit monster causing trouble."

"Sister Mu, have someone go check at the Third Hospital. Our PE teacher fell into a coma before. When we went to see him today, we found out he fell into a coma at night while watching some dragon boat practice. I said, what dragon boat practice is there at night?" As Tan Xiao thought of something, the speed of his speech also slowed.

"Got it, I'll see if a case has been opened. If not, I'll open one immediately." Nanchu was so big, Mu Fei also wasn't sure if their officers had discovered Tan Xiao's teacher's situation.

After further contemplation, she said in exasperation, "Dragging someone into the water without immediately drowning them, that's not a substitute ghost. If it was just stealing souls, under normal circumstances, we would consider this a 'River God's Marriage'."

This was a euphemism, basically meaning something from the bottom of the water had taken a liking to a person, dragging them down to keep them company, or using this to demand offerings.

"But the image of the dragon boat repeatedly appears in this, so I'm actually more inclined to suspect that they want to drag people to race dragon boats together!"

"I think so too, especially since our teacher's wife said that Laoshi also quite enjoyed dragon boat racing," Tan Xiao thought about this, "Perhaps we should investigate further, the state of preservation of the dragon boats, besides the new fiberglass boats, also those old boat hulls. I'm afraid judging from the perpetrator's behavior, they won't just steal people, but boats as well."

He recalled Tan Chunying mentioning some story about water gods borrowing boats before. If water gods borrow boats, then regardless of whether this thing is a water ghost or water monster, since it loves dragon boat racing, it's hard to guarantee it hasn't stolen boats. If there are any, it will definitely leave traces.

"Makes sense, alright!" Mu Fei agreed and hung up.

Tan Xiao informed the Bureau 404 on his side, and truly prepared to summon Teacher Zhu's soul himself.

When Kong Xuan heard Tan Xiao talk about the hospital matter, he was very concerned, even angry. He slammed the table and stood up, "I knew this was a plot against us!"

Tan Xiao: "......?"

Tan Xiao hesitantly asked, "What are you talking about?"

Kong Xuan: "Maliciously increasing our physics classes."

Tan Xiao: "......"

He suggested removing the word "our". Tan Xiao merely said, "Mm, then let's summon the soul."

"I vow to summon the soul for PE class," Kong Xuan said heavily.

Since it should be at the bottom of the water, Tan Xiao didn't use the rooster sacrifice to lure the soul, but set up an altar to chant the soul-chasing spell.

"Yin soldiers rise, Yang soldiers rise, chasing the soul outside the three heavenly gates..." Tan Xiao chanted nine times, but didn't sense any sign of Teacher Zhu's soul returning. "Huh?"

It couldn't be that he had regressed, right? Tan Xiao glanced at Kong Xuan.

Kong Xuan pressed Tan Xiao's hand to sense Zhu Dayong's state, and said unhappily, "How come he's still reveling and forgetting to return?"

"Hm?" Tan Xiao suddenly recalled the teacher's wife saying that Teacher Zhu was still cheering in his dreams. His train of thought opened up, "The thing is, we speculated earlier that the other party took Teacher Zhu's soul in order to race dragon boats. Could it be that Teacher Zhu is still immersed in rowing boats?"

The teacher's wife had thought he was trying hard to wake up, but thinking about it now, it was more likely he was trying hard to row the boat.

Kong Xuan was furious, "How can this be? Has he not considered what kind of days we are going through?!"

"...It's probably not on purpose, Teacher Zhu is also in a coma." Tan Xiao thought for a bit, "Not everyone can maintain their senses after their soul leaves the body."

Unless they were a cultivator like Mu Fei, many people might just be in a daze, not even realizing their soul had left their body, until their family came to summon their soul.

But if the other party was still detaining Teacher Zhu, or he himself was unaware of his predicament and "reveling and forgetting to return" like Kong Xuan said, then it would indeed be very difficult to summon him back.

"No, we have to go find him directly," Tan Xiao said. He realized a problem - the dragon boat race was coming up in a few days. If the other party was still diligently practicing at this time, could there be a possibility that they not only wanted to indulge in it privately, but also take part in the actual dragon boat race?

Originally, just their boat rowing practice had become an urban legend. If they appeared during the Dragon Boat Festival, not to mention whether they would scare the citizens, they would definitely give Tan Chunying, the chief sacrificer, a fright. Moreover, Teacher Zhu couldn't continue lying in bed, his muscles would atrophy.

Failing to summon the soul and coming up with this guess, the more Tan Xiao thought about it, the more it seemed plausible. He suddenly felt a sense of urgency.

Just then, Mu Fei contacted him again, "I went to check, and no boats are missing from the storage place. I plan to go search the river, are you coming?"

Her asking like this actually meant she hoped Tan Xiao would come, after all, Tan Xiao had studied the water techniques of the Pai sect.

"Of course. But how do you plan to search the river?" Tan Xiao asked.

"How else can we search, borrow a lifeboat," Mu Fei said, "Then push Fang Zhu into the water and have him search..."

Tan Xiao: "......"

Tan Xiao felt this was also a method, but the Nanxi River segment was so long and not Fang Zhu's territory. He was afraid it would take some time.

But now they needed to race against time.

"I'm worried this thing will show up at the Dragon Boat Festival event. Sister Mu, do you know that in the past, during the Dragon Boat Festival period, dragon boats would go up and down the river looking for practice targets and randomly challenging others."

"You mean, we get a dragon boat to lure the other party out to challenge us?" Mu Fei felt this was feasible. "You know what, I'm right at the place where they store the boats now. Let me ask and see if I can borrow one."

Rather than waiting around, it was better to take the initiative. This was something Tan Xiao had learned.

After all, he often had classes and really didn't have the time to drag things out...

While Mu Fei went to borrow a boat, Tan Xiao started calculating manpower here. With a dragon boat, they still needed to find some people to pose as rowers. "The Bureau 404 has enough people, but they need to know the basic rowing techniques as well. And positions like the helmsman and drummers require even more technical skill, not just anyone can do it."

Kong Xuan didn't have much understanding of the dragon boat positions. He said loftily, "You handle it."

Give him a good position.

"But you can't steer either. How about you wedge the rudder?" Tan Xiao said hesitantly, "I can be the drummer, but I think Fang Zhu might need to be the helmsman."

Kong Xuan looked at him in disbelief, as if he couldn't believe his choice. "You're choosing Fang Zhu?"

For a moment, Tan Xiao felt like he had somehow betrayed him. "But Fang Zhu is a water creature... Or else, you..."

Tan Xiao was quite hesitant about what position would be most suitable for Kong Xuan.

"Tan Xiao?" Mu Fei's voice sounded again, "I just communicated with them. They said they have a spare old boat they can lend us, but the village committee is unwilling to lend out the dragon head... Does the dragon boat have to have a dragon head to work?"

Of course, without a dragon head, how could it be called a dragon boat? This was the most important part. The dragon heads preserved by the village committees or temples were likely the best bait, but those were all antiques. With the race approaching, who would casually lend them out? What if something happened to them?

"Then can I make a new one or use a craft product, would that work?" Mu Fei said in distress, "Hey, why don't you use a willow branch substitute to make a dragon head."

"The dragon head is quite important, so a substitute might be more suitable. Oh right, on our side, we can use not just dragons, but qilin, tiger, and phoenix heads as well..." As Tan Xiao spoke, he suddenly looked at Kong Xuan. Come to think of it...

Kong Xuan: "......?"