Free Web NovelIn the auditorium, in the front row of the audience seats, a white-haired old man stared intently at the stage, his expression seemingly anxious, occasionally turning his head to ask something of the person beside him.
"Xiao Wang, is the performance order list you gave me correct? Why hasn't it been Lu Yibei's turn yet?"
"Professor Ma, I helped you ask when I went to the restroom just now. They said there was a slight issue and she was delayed, but it should be her turn very soon."
Yes, the old man was Professor Ma. He heard that Lu Yibei was participating in the school anniversary speech and specifically sneaked out of the hospital to rush back to the school.
"Oh..."
Lu Yibei, well, having a slight issue, isn't that a common occurrence for her? As long as she can make it... Professor Ma's expression relaxed a bit, and he nodded thoughtfully.
"By the way, Professor Ma, if you don't mind me asking, what is that Lu Yibei to you?"
Professor Ma glanced at the young man beside him, straightened his back, and said, "My star student."
"No wonder you rushed back specifically." The young man smiled and echoed, his lips slightly parted, just about to say something, when the host's announcement suddenly came from the stage.
"...Next, please welcome our next speaker, Lu Yibei!"
"Listen quickly, listen quickly!" Professor Ma urged, waving his hand.
The young man named Wang parted his lips twice, but ultimately swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue, nodding as if to accommodate Professor Ma, and quieted down, looking towards the stage.
He saw a clean-faced young man slowly walk to the center of the stage, his expression incredibly calm, looking confident, and stood in front of the microphone.
"Cough, cough cough! Good afternoon, everyone. I am Lu Yibei. The topic of my speech today is 'The Minor Matter of Being Stabbed While Acting Righteously'...
"Although many people think that acting righteously is a glorious and major event, in my opinion, it is indeed a minor matter. Not only is it a minor matter, but it is also a particularly foolish matter..."
...
Hearing Lu Yibei speak to this point, the young man named Wang turned to look at Professor Ma and said weakly, "Professor, your star student seems to be..."
"Isn't she not finished speaking yet?" Professor Ma said with a livid face.
Damn it, what is Lu Yibei doing? Can't she even write a decent speech draft? Even a superficial and empty draft would be better!
Professor Ma was thinking, when he suddenly heard a chorus of boos from the audience, mixed with someone's loud shout.
"Is that all? Is that all? I thought it was something! Can this compare to my 'How College Students Should Start a Business'? Hurry up and get lost!"
Professor Ma, "..." This Lu Yibei, when she gets back, I'll have to teach her properly how to write a speech draft. If she doesn't write ten drafts that satisfy me, she can forget about getting credits for this course!
...
On the stage, Lu Yibei continued her speech.
"...
Romain Rolland said, 'There is only one heroism in the world, and that is to know life and to love it.'
Acting righteously belongs to this kind of heroism; it is a glorious major event.
Being stabbed eighteen times while acting righteously, almost dying, is a foolish minor matter.
This foolish minor matter is not worth praising or learning from. Loving one's own life while loving the lives of others is what is truly meaningful.
May all those who treat life kindly also be treated gently by life.
Well, my speech as a negative example is finished. Thank you, everyone."
She spoke somewhat decently, barely passing, but don't think I didn't hear it; you're just a coward, a complete coward! Citing scriptures and historical texts, no matter how well you hide it, it's useless!
Professor Ma watched Lu Yibei bowing and curtsying on the stage, thinking disdainfully in his heart, while standing up and applauding loudly without regard for his image, shouting, "Good, well said!"
Originally, Lu Yibei's performance could only be considered passable, and coupled with her somewhat peculiar views and presentation style, the entire auditorium was very quiet after the speech ended.
However, with Professor Ma taking the lead, others followed him and started applauding.
Anyway, most of the people in the audience hardly listened carefully to anyone's speech. They probably thought that everyone's content was more or less the same. Since the Professor said it was good, just follow along and applaud!
...
Amidst the waves of applause from the crowd, Lin Yiqi narrowed her eyes, watching Lu Yibei bowing and leaving the stage, and narrowed her eyes slightly, lost in thought.
May all those who treat life kindly also be treated gently by life?
Easy to say. As a Psychic, you must know about the existence of urban legend. I just don't know if you can still say such things when facing urban legend.
Even if she could...
She thought, gently stroking the Ghost Infant on her shoulder that had long since quieted down, a hint of warm and gentle color flashing in her eyes.
Even if she could, she is merely an entry-level Psychic. What could she possibly do? Lin Yiqi thought.
...
On the other side, backstage at the auditorium.
As soon as Lu Yibei left the stage, she didn't have time to bother with the vice president of the newspaper club who was crying profusely with emotion. She grabbed her guitar bag and ran out of the auditorium.
Although the school anniversary speech process had several twists and turns, it was ultimately completed without incident. Now that it was almost dark, the only thing on her mind was finding a deserted place to undergo urban legend transformation and then waiting for the Bamboo Scroll Illusion to descend, which could open at any time after dark.
When Lu Yibei hurried to the main entrance of the auditorium, the last rays of the setting sun had almost completely faded, the sky was a leaden gray, and night was about to fall. She could even feel the two forces, one cold and one hot, within her body beginning to stir restlessly.
However, as soon as she exited the auditorium door, she saw Professor Ma, who had been waiting at the door for a long time, and couldn't help but freeze slightly.
Damn it, why did the Professor have to show up at this exact moment? Isn't this causing trouble?
Lu Yibei muttered inwardly, just about to turn around and run away by a different route, when Professor Ma's shout echoed in her ears.
"Lu Yibei! Stop right there!"
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Lu Yibei, "..."
Seeing her stop, Professor Ma took a few steps forward and blocked her path, saying with a serious expression, "Lu Yibei, what were you talking about just now?"
"Let me tell you, that level of just getting by is not acceptable! I think it is necessary for me to properly teach you how to write a draft."
"Otherwise, as a student of the School of Literature, as my student..."
Before Professor Ma finished speaking, he suddenly saw a wisp of white smoke floating from between Lu Yibei's hair, and his voice stopped abruptly.
He was too familiar with this scene. Once upon a time, in his research lab, a nearly identical scene had played out.
Feeling her body temperature gradually rising, Lu Yibei glanced at Professor Ma resentfully and said, "Professor, you see, the situation is special today. I can only learn from you another day."
Is this... going to happen again? Professor Ma's lips parted slightly, but he said nothing more, and moved aside, making way for her to pass.
Lu Yibei hurried past Professor Ma, but before she had run far, she was stopped by him again.
"Lu Yibei, wait a minute!"
"What? Professor, you..." freёwebnoѵel.com
"Where do you want to go? I'll drive you." Professor Ma said sternly, "I've seen you when you're having an episode. What if, I mean, what if you don't make it to where you want to go and something happens on the way... Uh, in my car, I can still help you cover up a bit."
"After all, you're a girl, you still need to be a bit careful about appearances, right?"
Lu Yibei, "..."
She felt a tiny bit of emotion when listening earlier, but what the heck was that last sentence?
Complaining inwardly, she looked at Professor Ma and said in a deep voice, "Then I'll trouble you, Professor. Take me somewhere deserted."
I always feel like there's something strange about what she said... Professor Ma muttered inwardly, beckoning to Lu Yibei, "Come with me!" Then he walked towards the parking lot.
...
As the saying goes, the older the ginger, the spicier it is. Professor Ma was quite prescient.
Lu Yibei sat in Professor Ma's car. As soon as they left the area of Huacheng Institute of Technology, the two forces within her body already showed signs of being almost uncontrollable.
"Thump thump—thump thump—!"
Her heart was pounding wildly, influenced by something, seemingly more intense than usual at the same time. The fierce beast was wildly crashing, and the bloody coldness was constantly spreading.
Her eyes also erupted with even more intense energy, as if to resist the increased coldness.
In an instant, her blood felt ignited. The blood vessels beneath her skin burst with golden-red light, surging like turbulent magma through her veins.
In a flash, the coldness and the heat collided violently within her body, chasing and fighting.
"Uh—!"
Lu Yibei's body twitched and convulsed as if electrocuted, and a painful groan escaped uncontrollably from between her teeth.
Hearing the unusual noise from the back seat and noticing the temperature in the car gradually rising, Professor Ma glanced back out of the corner of his eye, silently adjusted the rearview mirror to avoid looking at Lu Yibei, and then turned on the car's player, selected Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, and turned the volume up to the maximum.
Confucius once said: "Look not at what is contrary to propriety; listen not to what is contrary to propriety."
Taking advantage of one's student, especially a student suffering from an incurable illness, would truly be a disgrace to scholarship. Professor Ma thought.
"Ah—so painful—!"
From the back seat, a soft cry suddenly came, almost drowning out the stirring music. Professor Ma's mouth twitched uncontrollably.
This... I didn't mean to eavesdrop!
Damn it, I'll have to clear the dashcam later. Otherwise, if my old lady finds out, what will happen? Professor Ma thought.
Huacheng Institute of Technology is located on the edge of Hua City's downtown area. Driving out of the campus, Professor Ma took a shortcut, and soon the surroundings turned into a desolate mountain wilderness, with only a faint sliver of the setting sun remaining in the sky.
After driving on the bumpy mountain road for a while, the view ahead suddenly opened up. /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ An abandoned sand quarry near the riverbank, piled with sand and stones, appeared in their line of sight.
The car slowed down. Before Professor Ma could even stop the car properly, Lu Yibei pulled open the door and jumped out. Her fair, tender, but extremely hot little feet stepped over the sand dunes, leaving behind patches of faintly glowing crystals, and finally plunged into the icy river water.
"Gulp gulp—gulp gulp—!" The river surface churned as if boiling, with a lot of bubbles rising.
Professor Ma looked at the back seat, where a loli-shaped burn mark was left on the chair, and felt a surge of worry.
Sigh, I hope my old lady doesn't find out while it's being repaired at the garage!
...
A few minutes later.
Professor Ma and Lu Yibei sat side by side on a large rock by the river, each holding a cooked wild river catfish. A tempting aroma wafted in the air.
"You came here to deal with that set of bamboo scrolls." Professor Ma looked at Lu Yibei with a serious expression and asked, "Do you have to enter the bamboo scrolls?"
"Professor, don't worry. It's not as dangerous as you think." Lu Yibei said expressionlessly, opening her tender little mouth and tearing off a small piece of meat from the river catfish.
Hmm... it actually has a taste? And it's quite fragrant! Could it be that this fish was already close to becoming a Strange Tale?
Professor Ma watched Lu Yibei, pondered for a few seconds, and said, "Is there anything I can help you with?"
"Probably not?" Lu Yibei tilted her head. freewёbnoνel.com
Instead of helping, you should go home early. It's a desolate place here; a Strange Tale might pop out from somewhere later. Lu Yibei thought.
"Do you need me to watch the bamboo scrolls for you? If no one watches them and some wild beast carries them away, you won't know what the situation is when you come out."
"This..." Lu Yibei opened her lips, just about to say something, when she suddenly seemed to feel something and abruptly looked towards the bamboo scrolls not far away, which she had already placed on a large rock.
Under the night sky, the bamboo scrolls had opened on their own at some point. An unsettling aura permeated the air, and bright light gathered around them, as if swallowing the moonlight...
