Rules-related weird stories: 4016

Just as it was absorbing the ashes, the bizarre art teacher and her fanatical followers were returning on the corridor bridge connecting Building B and Building A of the teaching building.

However, some high-ranking fanatical followers wearing tattered cloaks had joined the group.

“Your Eminence, I feel that this batch of ashes… should have been collected well. Whether it is in terms of quality or quantity, it feels much better than before.”

The bizarre art teacher reported her work sincerely as she walked.

Even the so-called fanatical followers who had embarked on the "Glorious Evolution" had not abandoned the obsequious side of their humanity.

“Well done, but still need to work harder. When things are over here, I will definitely report it truthfully for you.” The cloaked figure nodded slightly, feeling very gratified, and spoke with the practiced ease of a seasoned official.

The surrounding fanatical followers also looked happy. A good harvest meant good rewards. Although many companions had been lost, these were necessary sacrifices. When they received their rewards, they would definitely thank their companions in their hearts and then say, "Ladies first."

After all, those companions could indeed be considered to have "fallen into powder and ground into silk."

“Your Eminence, look, it’s right there.” The bizarre art teacher pointed to the B group corridor at the end of the corridor bridge and smiled, “It’s the place where that fire man is.”

“Yes, the fire man, I see him too.” The high-ranking fanatical follower was about to nod when he suddenly paused, his voice a little strange, “Wait, what… a fire man?!”

“…” The bizarre art teacher also suddenly reacted, and the humanity that Lin Yi had tricked out seemed to awaken once again, “No, what… what is that fire man?!”

Her eyes widened, and her mouth opened so wide that she could almost fit Li Huiyuan’s baseball bat in it.

“You’re asking us? We want to ask you!” Another high-ranking fanatical follower shouted.

“Ash Apostle?!” The high-ranking fanatical follower exclaimed, but immediately felt that something was wrong, “No, that’s not right! Even a newly born ‘Ash Apostle’ shouldn’t look like that!”

“Why ask so much? Go, follow me to take it down! Then interrogate it properly!” The high-ranking fanatical follower was furious.

“Okay!” The bizarre art teacher’s face was full of heartache and anger. The path to promotion had been so good, but suddenly a fire man had appeared!

It would have been fine if it had just appeared, but why hadn’t she ever known about this thing before?

The appearance of this thing not only ruined her work results but also cut off a piece of her path to promotion!

Of course, if she had come a little earlier, she would have seen Lin Yi frantically picking ashes. It was just that now, she only saw the Ash Apostle Fire Man, and naturally, she blamed it all on him.

A moment later…

“You guys hold it back, I’ll go get reinforcements!”

The high-ranking fanatical follower no longer had the demeanor of an expert, dragging his tattered body and fleeing in a mess on the corridor bridge of Building A…

The bizarre art teacher and Ren Jianxiong, along with some lower-level fanatical followers, also ran away…

“We will remember your sacrifices!”

That somewhat absurd slogan floated over from the corridor bridge of Building A.

All the fanatical followers who had been "ordered" to stay behind and cover the retreat were left with only fear in their eyes.

In front of them, the Ash Apostle Fire Man had just shattered the last blood bodhi stone pillar and was enjoying the absorption of the last part of the ashes with a look of enjoyment.

Then, it slowly straightened its body and cast its gaze, which was filled with some madness and cruelty amidst the calmness, on all the fanatical followers who had been left behind…

…

Lin Yi’s guess was not wrong at all. The fanatical followers left the teaching building A and entered the green belt. After entering the green belt, they did not stop at all, but ran non-stop to the vicinity of the barren land before daring to stop and catch their breath.

But as soon as he stopped, Ren Jianxiong discovered the problem and exclaimed, “Oh no, Zhang Lingzhen is gone!”

“So what if she’s gone? What’s the big fuss?!” The high-ranking fanatical follower scolded directly upon hearing this, “A road full of thorns always requires someone to sacrifice!”

“But…”

“But what? If you want to find her, go back yourself, we’ll keep going!” After scolding, the high-ranking fanatical follower rushed towards the barren land without looking back.

Ren Jianxiong pursed his lips and hesitated for a long time. In the end, he gave up the idea of finding Zhang Lingzhen and quickened his pace to catch up with the flow of the fanatical followers.

…

Teaching Building “Forbidden Area - B-5F”, the Ash Apostle Fire Man stood alone in place, his body ablaze with flames, the scorching temperature seeming to distort even the air around him.

Around him, all the blood bodhi stone pillars had been destroyed, and there were charred remains everywhere. The fanatical followers who had been left behind to cover the retreat had all died.

One of the remains was Zhang Lingzhen, who had been completely disfigured, as shriveled and twisted as charcoal.

The Ash Apostle Fire Man looked around, unable to find any “food”, so it planned to leave.

But suddenly.

“Crack…”

A faint sound attracted its attention.

It slowly looked over and saw that a faint spark had actually grown out of Zhang Lingzhen’s carbonized body. The spark quickly flowed throughout her cracked body like water flowing into a canal.

She had swallowed a large number of pseudo-human corpses in the convenience store, and something unknown had happened the next night, and her entire body seemed to have become other “parts”. Now, whether by accident or by chance, her body had begun to undergo strange changes under the burning of the ashes…

As the charred epidermis peeled off, a brand new milky white body slowly appeared in this dim environment.

There were still thread-like traces of splicing on her body, but the whole body looked integrated.

She staggered up from the ground, her newborn body was still unstable, and her back looked a little hunched, like a Silent Hill nurse.

But her body was surrounded by a faint, dust-like shimmer, and her aura became fiery and bizarre…

If Lin Yi were here, he would definitely find that Zhang Lingzhen was now very similar to him when he was beaten to near death by the boss and then stood up again.

“Ash Apostle”

Zhang Lingzhen… to some extent, touched the threshold of the “Ash Apostle”.

【“Ashes”…】

The Ash Apostle Fire Man’s eyes gradually widened, and looking at Zhang Lingzhen now, it showed a greedy and eager smile.

But strangely, the newborn Zhang Lingzhen on the other side, even though she hadn’t stood up straight yet, had already sensed the existence of the Ash Apostle Fire Man, and then tilted her head and looked at it.

“Hehehe…”

Zhang Lingzhen showed an evil smile.

“It’s my turn…”

…

May 10, 2023, 10:16 AM, Teaching Building B, 4F.

At the handle at the end of the stairwell, space seemed to fluctuate slightly. The next moment, Lin Yi, with Li Huiyuan, walked out as if passing through a mirror.

As soon as he returned to the normal layer of the teaching building, Lin Yi crushed the wolf-fang-shaped stone pillar in his hand and absorbed all the ashes.

Only then did Li Huiyuan ask the questions that filled her mind: "Lin… Lin Yi, were those zealots collecting ashes? And did you just absorb the 'ashes' they collected?"

Back in the school district, there was no need to use pronouns, and she called Lin Yi by his name.

She looked at Lin Yi's empty hand, a trace of fear lingering in her eyes, but more of it was worry and concern for Lin Yi.

Lin Yi nodded. He knew that Li Huiyuan would report the situation to the boss, so he didn't intend to hide it from Li Huiyuan and admitted it directly.

Moreover, he also explained the principle of the strange art female teacher collecting ashes.

Li Huiyuan didn't pay much attention to the method of collecting "ashes" when she heard this. Her mind was full of Lin Yi's problems, and the worry and horror in her eyes became stronger.

She grabbed Lin Yi's hand, her tone a little hurried: "Didn't the boss say that he helped you eliminate all the ashes? Why do you still have them on you?"

Lin Yi pursed his lips and said, "Last night, something happened near the art building. I… got ashes on me again."

"But don't worry about me, it's okay…"

"Nonsense!" Li Huiyuan looked at Lin Yi angrily, "How can it be okay? I don't care, you must go to the gymnasium with me this afternoon and let the boss help you eliminate the ashes again!"

"This time the situation is different." Lin Yi shook his head and said, "This time the ashes should not be eliminated, but look, am I not doing well? I… can be considered to have perfectly integrated the ashes and can now carry the ashes."

Li Huiyuan's face changed drastically, and her tone trembled: "You… you have become that 'Ash Apostle'?"

When she was in the teacher's office, although she couldn't bear to see the homeroom teacher - 040 being so close to Lin Yi, she still pricked up her ears like a cat and listened to all their conversations, and she also had some understanding of the Ash Apostle.

In addition, through the "introduction" of the strange art female teacher in Class 15 of Group B, she knew that becoming an "Ash Apostle" meant becoming a Gu worm, and in the entire Gu pot, only one Gu worm could eventually break through.

"It's okay, it's really okay." Lin Yi shook his head slightly and comforted, "Just like you have mastered the blue extraordinary power, I now have an extra part of the ability to use 'ashes'. Although I can't do it as easily as I want, I can already not be burned by its power."

"But that zealot said that you kill each other…" Li Huiyuan was worried.

Lin Yi continued: "They want to collectively 'gloriously evolve'. They must have found some way. Besides… if the Gu worm wants to fight to the death in the Gu pot, it will be fine if I jump out of the Gu pot."

"Do you mean leaving the school district?" Li Huiyuan asked. Although she wanted Lin Yi to stay, it seemed that leaving was the best option for Lin Yi at the moment.

Lin Yi nodded, but sighed in his heart.

He had to leave, but the real "Ash Apostle"—the concept-level sculpture—was still wandering around the school district. He really had no idea what would happen in the days to come.

All he could do was watch from the sidelines and wait and see.

Besides, he was about to go to the cafeteria to find the store owner. He wanted to get answers to many questions from the store owner.

But then again, would the store owner ignore him?

Wouldn't he just throw him out of the store as soon as he got Lao Mo's heart?

Li Huiyuan looked at Lin Yi, not knowing what Lin Yi was thinking, and sighed: "Let's leave then…"

Lin Yi also sighed.

"Why are you sighing?" Li Huiyuan asked.

Lin Yi said cheekily: "I just suddenly feel a little pity. Give me a few more minutes, and I feel like I can steal all the ashes over there… and keeping that thing is also harmful to others. I feel like I am also sacrificing myself for others."

Li Huiyuan was so angry at Lin Yi's words that she didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She was still worried that Lin Yi would be affected by the "ashes", but he retorted that he felt he could eat more…

She put her hands on her hips angrily: "Are you taking advantage of me and still acting like a good boy? Do you know how worried the boss and I are about you? Do you believe I'll beat you up?"

As she spoke, she raised her fist, but the slightly downward-turned corners of her mouth showed that she was not at ease at all.

Lin Yi shrank his neck. He thought he had diverted Li Huiyuan's attention a little, but he immediately realized from Li Huiyuan's micro-expression that he had failed.

Li Huiyuan's concern for him could not be diverted with a few words.

"I will pay attention myself."

He could only say that.

Li Huiyuan took a deep look at him and said in a low voice: "You better not lie to me."

The atmosphere was a little heavy, and Lin Yi looked at his watch with a guilty conscience.

"Oh, right, it's already 10:18, we can prepare to go to the cafeteria!" Lin Yi patted his head and quickly changed the subject.

Li Huiyuan said: "Then let's go, but do we need to call Brother Liangzi?"

"Yes." Lin Yi nodded. Because of the time, he didn't have time to take another look at the library.

Of course, it might be a little difficult to observe the library from Teaching Building C during the day.

Of course, Lin Yi didn't plan to go that route, but just planned to see if he could see the library when the layers fluctuated.

He had always been curious about whether the bell tower-like building he had seen in the school district before was the library. If so, why was the library he arrived at a structure of ivory carved balls, but the outside looked like a relatively normal building.

But he himself didn't have such a deep obsession with the library. Right now, it was important to hurry up and call Wei Liang to eat in the cafeteria. Of course, if he encountered the strange art female teacher and other zealots, he had to immediately inform Homeroom Teacher - 040.

The good news was that the itinerary for these two things was synchronized.

As soon as he left the stairwell, Lin Yi immediately discussed with Li Huiyuan: "Huihui, I'll tell the teacher about the zealots. Can you help me go to the classroom and call Liangzi to eat?"

"Okay." Li Huiyuan agreed without hesitation.