Versatile Mage

 Early in the morning, the group took a train to Tongxiang. Mo Fan was excited, since it was his first time being a mentor, especially with how the students were being extremely respectful toward him. Even though he had never treated his teachers respectfully when he was a student, it did feel great when these proud young students were being extremely polite to him!

 “Yeah, that’s the sore spot, rub it more, harder,” Mo Fan leaned on the comfortable seat and instructed the cute-looking girl.

 “Is this the spot? Sir, you must have overworked yourself. You should be more careful and get more rest,” the girl said seriously.

 “It’s fine, it’s fine, I’m still young and strong, you… Zhou Lixin, right? Get me a glass of orange juice, with ice,” Mo Fan looked to the back and said to the old-fashioned student.

 “Right away!” Zhou Lixin immediately sprinted to the dining coach.

 The handsome young man Bai Hongfei had a displeased look. Wasn’t their mentor ordering them about too much?

 Besides, their mentor was just too young. Even though some men in their thirties still looked like they were only around the age of twenty if they took good care of their skin, the other mentors under Dean Xiao were already in their forties and fifties. The students under them normally had a better chance of graduating With Excellence. He could not help but wonder if their young mentor actually had the right to let them graduate With Excellence.

 “Bai Hongfei, I can tell that you’re an arrogant young man that has grandiose aims, but puny abilities. You should keep your feet on the ground instead of reaching for what is beyond your grasp. There’s no such thing as reaching the sky in a single bound!” Mo Fan began to advise Bai Hongfei, as he had nothing better to do.

 “Yes sir, I understand,” Bai Hongfei answered respectfully, despite the unpleasantness in his heart.

 Mu Nujiao was amused when she saw how shameless Mo Fan was when he was pretending to be an experienced mentor. Wasn’t he arguing with Dean Xiao that he had no intention to be a mentor not long ago? Look at him now, he was fully indulging in it!

 ——

 Mo Fan opened the map when the group arrived in Tongxiang. He discovered that many canals in Tongxiang had been modified as part of the project. However, it did not feel any different from down here. They could only see how brilliant the modifications were when they were looking down from five hundred meters.

 “Let’s go, we’ll leave the safe zone and follow the waterway to see where it has stopped flowing…” Mo Fan said to the students.

 The students were extremely cautious after they left the safe zone. Unlike Mo Fan, who had been dealing with demon creatures since high school, these students did not really have much experience of life and death. They began to feel nervous as soon as they left the safe zone.

 “The waterway here should lead us to Biyuan Mountain, which means its source of water should be Qingyi Lake. Sir, I’ll go to Biyuan Mountain to do some investigation. I’ve been there before, so I’m quite familiar with the area,” Bai Hongfei volunteered bravely.

 “You sure you’re going to be fine?” Mo Fan asked.

 “We have come here for training. If our mentor is doing all the work, how are we supposed to be better? Besides, we are put on the team because we are expected to lend the mentor a hand. Our goal is to find the reason why the water has stopped flowing as soon as possible,” Bai Hongfei said sternly.

 The other students quickly looked disdainful after hearing Bai Hongfei’s words. The man was acting arrogantly before, but he was shamelessly fawning upon the advisor now!

 “Sir, I’ll investigate Xujia River then. I will definitely find the reason why it has stopped flowing!” another conceited student blurted out.

 “Sir, I’ll take charge of Ming River!”

 Mo Fan nodded gratifyingly when he saw the students volunteering to split the work.

 It felt great to have lackeys doing the work for him. He felt like he did not even need to get his hands dirty.

 “Be careful, and give me a signal right away if something goes wrong, I’ll be there as fast as I can!” Mo Fan said.

 As a mentor, he was responsible for the students’ safety. He could not afford to be careless.

 “Mu Nujiao, you should go after Bai Hongfei. The density of demon creatures at Biyuan Mountain is quite high. I’m worried about him,” Mo Fan said to Mu Nujiao.

 “Sure, Biyuan Mountain is huge. I wouldn’t want him to go alone, either,” Mu Nujiao nodded. She suddenly realized something did not feel right after agreeing to the suggestion. She pinched Mo Fan’s waist and snapped, “Are you ordering me around like a student too?”

 “Of course not, hehe, you’re the leader, you’re the leader!” Mo Fan smiled awkwardly.

 “That’s more like it! I’ll be going!” Mu Nujiao quickly went after Bai Hongfei.

 However, Mu Nujiao was only following Bai Hongfei from a distance. After all, the students would be evaluated based on their performance, to see if they were qualified for graduation. The mentor and assistant only had to guarantee the students’ safety. The students had to complete the work themselves.

 “Sir, what should we do then?” the cute-looking girl stood beside Mo Fan and asked naively.

 Mo Fan looked around him. It was a perfect crime scene consisting of a typical spot in the wild where the victim had no chance of getting any help. He turned around to the female student Cao Qinqin and said, “Let’s take a shower in Qinyi Lake, I’m dying in the heat.”

 Cao Qinqin blushed instantly. The others had claimed all the places that needed to be investigated. She had no choice but to stay with the mentor. To her surprise, the mentor had said something that was against the exemplary character he was supposed to have.

 “Oh, I meant I’m going for a swim, you just need to wait on land for the others,” Mo Fan quickly corrected himself when he saw the girl giving him a strange look.

 “…”

 ——

 Mo Fan realized why the lake was called Qinyi Lake when he saw the surface that was smooth as blue silk. It was a stunning sight, but unfortunately, the lake was located outside the safe zone. Otherwise, many people would have driven to this place late at night. The cars would be shaking as they were enjoying the view of the lake… something that the people living in the cities were fond of nowadays.

 “Damn it, why do I keep having these vile thoughts when I’m a mentor?” Mo Fan murmured. Shouldn’t he be a model of virtue with his sense of righteousness for the students!?

 “Sir, what did you say?” Cao Qinqin asked in confusion.

 “Nothing, nothing at all. By the way, if we can somehow make a waterway from this Qinyi Lake to Tongxiang, wouldn’t we be able to turn it into an energy generator with a magic formation, too? The water is deep here, and the altitude is high. Unfortunately, it doesn’t flow in the direction of Tongxiang,” Mo Fan exclaimed while looking at the beautiful lake.

 “Sir, didn’t you realize something strange?” Cao Qinqin suddenly stood behind Mo Fan as if she had just seen something terrifying.

 “Something strange? I don’t see anything. This place has the mountains and the lake, and there’s no sign of demon creatures around too. It’s the perfect place to cleanse your soul… Cao Qinqin, now that you mention it, it does feel a little odd, but I can’t exactly tell why,” Mo Fan was standing around five hundred meters away from Qinyi Lake. Something felt odd to him as he looked at the perfectly calm lake.

 “Reflections, sir, the reflections…” Cao Qinqin said in a soft voice.

 Mo Fan was startled. He quickly lifted his gaze and shivered in fear after a glance.

 The water was so still that he could not see the slightest ripple on it, yet he did not see any reflections on it, either!

 The surface of the blue lake was extremely smooth, yet he could not see the reflections of the white clouds on it, nor was it reflecting the mountains and trees nearby. Mo Fan finally understood why Cao Qinqin was terrified!

 “How can there be no reflections? Is it not water?” Mo Fan did not get any closer.

 The lake had a diameter of over three kilometers. It was occupying a huge space, surrounded by mountains and trees, yet there was not a single reflection on it! It felt incredibly odd!

 “Sir, can…can we leave?” Cao Qinqin was panicking.

 The lake was so huge. If it wasn’t water, what was the lake filled with?

 “Mm, let’s call the others back. Something doesn’t feel right here,” Mo Fan said.

 Mo Fan did not go any closer. The heavens knew what the blue thing that had filled up the lake was. He would take a closer look if he was on his own, but he could not afford to do anything reckless when the students were scattered across the place!

 —

 Mo Fan soon summoned the others back to him. Mu Nujiao and Bai Hongfei were the last to regroup with the team. They were obviously caught in some trouble along the way.

 “Anything strange?” Mo Fan asked.

 “No, the water is normal. It’s also flowing in the direction of Tongxiang. It doesn’t seem to have a blockage anywhere.”

 “Yeah, everything is perfectly normal.”

 Mo Fan looked at Mu Nujiao. She spoke after a slight hesitation, “Apart from some Blood-Breaking Mosquito Demons, everything was normal.”

 “Did you take a close look?” Mo Fan asked.

 “No, we assumed there were demon creatures drinking water from the source, so we didn’t dare to go too close,” Bai Hongfei said.

 “Then… did you see reflections on the surface?” Mo Fan asked.

 “Reflections?”

 The students were startled by Mo Fan’s sudden question. They were struggling to remember it clearly. After all, apart from calm lakes and ponds, it was difficult to see any reflection when the water was flowing.

 “I…I believe not!” Mu Nujiao looked shocked as she realized something.

 “Maybe the water was flowing…”

 “No, I kept feeling that something did not seem right, so it turned out to be the lack of reflections. The surface of the pond that I investigated didn’t have a single reflection on it. It was just blue,” Mu Nujiao said confidently.

 Mo Fan’s heart sank. It turned out that it was not just the water in Qinyi Lake that had the problem.

 Was something wrong about the water, or was there something on the surface that was difficult to see?