Rules-related weird stories: 4016

Chapter 460: As expected... (Valentine's Day Bonus!)

Lin Yi frowned slightly, feeling that the relationships within this campus were quite intricate.

Old Mo's accounting skills were already outrageous enough, and the fact that the convenience store harbored an alien angel with a high divine rank, "Burial Body," was also a bit much. But now, the convenience store owner, 003, knowing everything yet letting the fanatical believers run amok, was truly the most outrageous...

But then again, was this the confidence and assurance of the convenience store owner, 003?

"Then I won't say much more! Good—bye!" Lin Yi put away the three rolls of biscuits, greased his soles, and slipped away, exiting the convenience store.

"Poof..."

The portal's light halo fluctuated slightly, and the area quickly calmed down.

Staring at the calming portal, convenience store owner 003 secretly breathed a sigh of relief: "Lin Yi, ah Lin Yi... We've finally met..."

He murmured softly, and amidst the shifting light and shadows, a face faintly emerged, revealing a heretical aura of an angel and demon intertwined...

"You said... you would take us away..."

...

May 10, X023, 11:45 AM, Cafeteria Area, Student Tunnel.

Pale yellow lights illuminated the pitted and uneven world, and a damp atmosphere permeated the tunnel. Many trainees had just finished lunch and were descending the student tunnel, their expressions numb and their steps hurried, as if they had sealed their hearts within their bodies, trying to isolate the fear from the depths of their souls.

As they walked, a figure suddenly joined the flow of people...

This figure was none other than Lin Yi, who had just left the convenience store.

When Lin Yi entered the portal, his vision was once again filled with a hazy white light. He tried to expand his senses to explore the connection between the portal and the campus.

Unfortunately, as soon as his sensory tentacles probed out, they were immediately twisted and scattered by the violent fluctuations between the layers, turning into a bunch of pom-poms waving in the wind.

The sensory failure was only a moment. Before he could regroup, the white light had dissipated, and he was in the student tunnel, surrounded by the familiar environment and a large number of trainees.

He glanced at his watch, then silently blended into the crowd, walking towards the exit of the student tunnel.

[Lin Yi...]

A gust of yin wind blew through the student tunnel, carrying whispers, like a ribbon缠上Lin Yi.

Lin Yi's footsteps paused subconsciously, but he continued walking with a normal expression.

[Lin Yi, ah Lin Yi...]

The voice was sometimes near and sometimes far, but it was incessant.

In the wind, there seemed to be the sound of iron chains rattling, "Clang, clang, clang."

Lin Yi ignored it and walked down the student tunnel.

Just as he left the student tunnel, he could still faintly hear some "Hehehe" laughter, as if even if Lin Yi ignored them, they were very happy—for some unknown reason.

There wasn't much sunlight at the exit of the student tunnel. The weather on campus in the morning was gloomy, and it was already lucky that it wasn't raining.

As soon as Lin Yi walked out, he felt a chill in the air.

He rubbed his arms and hissed: "This rain... it seems unavoidable..."

"Hopefully it comes later..."

Although Lin Yi felt it was unlikely to come only at night, it was still necessary to have a good wish in his heart.

He took a deep breath, tightened his clothes, and planned to return the "Cafeteria Rules" to the bulletin board. However, before he could take a few steps, he seemed to sense something, so he turned his head to look towards the other tunnel...

A black-aproned chef was standing there with a pig-slaughtering knife in his hand, watching something.

He squinted subconsciously, and a golden light flashed in his eyes. "Vision Insight" was quietly activated.

"Buzz..."

An invisible wave spread out, and the world in front of him blurred for a moment, then quickly zoomed in on the other tunnel.

He found that the black-aproned chef was not in the regular layer, a bit like Old Mo's state. However, the pig-slaughtering knife in his hand seemed to be stained with some viscous dark red substance, as if he had just killed someone.

Lin Yi only took two glances, and the black-aproned chef sensed Lin Yi's insight. He immediately turned his head slightly, keenly meeting Lin Yi's gaze.

A wisp of invisible killing intent, like a blade, rested on Lin Yi's neck.

But he also immediately saw another bag behind Lin Yi—Old Mo's bag.

At that moment, the black-aproned chef's eyes widened slightly, as if he had seen something incredible, and then, as if he had remembered something, he nodded to Lin Yi.

The chilling killing intent on his body also vanished at this moment.

Then, he turned and entered the other tunnel, leaving Lin Yi still standing there somewhat bewildered, with several question marks above his head.

"What's going on?" He was a little puzzled, but he suppressed the doubts in his heart and continued to walk towards the bulletin board.

As he walked closer, a look of joy couldn't help but appear between his brows.

"Tian Gongzi! Wei Shan! Kuai Kuai!" He called out excitedly.

Tian Bufan and the others were waiting for him in front of the bulletin board.

Hearing Lin Yi's call, the few people who were chatting immediately looked over.

"Old Lin." Tian Bufan smiled and nodded.

"Old Lin!" Wei Shan was obviously more excited.

Kuai Hongji simply folded his arms and nodded.

"Hey, hey, hey! Old Lin, how can you treat us differently? Why don't you call me? Am I not a person?" Wei Liang grinned and expressed his dissatisfaction, revealing half a turtle... a sneaky head from the bulletin board.

"Liangzi." Lin Yi responded with a smile.

Wei Liang waved his hand: "Forget it, forget it... You guys chat, who told you that a day apart is like three autumns?"

Lin Yi smiled, inserted the "Cafeteria Rules" back on the bulletin board, and then looked at Tian Bufan and the others, saying seriously: "I just went to the convenience store."

"Yeah, Wei Liang said so." Tian Bufan said, "Any new news?"

Lin Yi pondered for a moment, then tentatively said: "I actually have a lot of new news to say, but I feel... you might all know it."

Tian Bufan smiled noncommittally, and then said mysteriously: "You can talk about the news after 6 o'clock."

"What about before 6 o'clock...?" Lin Yi narrowed his eyes.

Tian Bufan asked rhetorically: "What do you think?"

"So... you can actually dream about what happens to me?" Lin Yi asked in a deep voice.

Tian Bufan put his hands behind his back and looked at the clouds in the sky: "More or less..."

"So you actually know everything?" Lin Yi pressed, suddenly feeling that some things might not need to wait until night to be discussed.

"Not all of it... For some special reasons, we share some of the perspectives we've experienced in our dreams." Tian Bufan said, "The principle is similar to the way the 毛子 transmit pollution to us..."

"But that's not the point." Tian Bufan interrupted Lin Yi's urge to press further, "I said, everything will be answered to you tonight."

"Not now? Must wait until tonight?" Lin Yi really didn't understand, "Does the time really have to be so rigid?"

"You also mentioned 'time,' which is a very important concept, Old Lin." Tian Bufan sighed, "Due to various considerations, the answer can only be given to you at night."

Lin Yi was silent for a moment, and then slowly asked: "All of it... the answers?"

"All..." Tian Bufan said affirmatively, "We will tell you what we have been doing these days, and what we will do next... But, there are still some questions that you need to find the answers to yourself."

"Okay..." Lin Yi compromised. He knew Tian Gongzi too well. When he said this, there was no room for discussion, "Then what can you tell me now?"

Tian Bufan then said: "We are very familiar with the campus, but this sense of familiarity has been stripped away, and the only person who can regain this feeling is you."

"Your 'adaptability' is enough to reconstruct the campus in 'My World.' This is why I asked you to explore the campus."

Lin Yi pursed his lips: "We... did we participate in the construction of the campus, but we don't know it?"

Tian Bufan smiled helplessly.

Kuai Hongji on the side said gloomily: "How could we have participated in the construction of the campus at our age? Old Lin, don't overthink it."

Tian Bufan also said: "Before we set off, we looked at the architectural drawings of the campus... Perhaps you are starting to remember this part of things."

"The campus'... architectural drawings?" Lin Yi was even more puzzled, "How could those drawings... be materialized?"

When repairing the city wall, he vaguely recalled some words from the boss and the PE teacher, knowing the mystery of the drawings, and didn't believe that the drawings could be materialized.

Tian Bufan shook his head: "I don't know about that."

Lin Yi didn't speak, but felt that there was a problem with the statements of either Tian Bufan or the boss.

But speaking of this, he really did recall some fragmented memories. In those memories, there seemed to be a blurry blueprint of the art building...

Could it be that they really had seen the campus blueprints?

Could it be a cognitive bias?

Did Young Master Tian and the boss have different understandings of the source of the campus blueprints?

He stopped thinking about the problem, knowing he would find out tonight anyway.

So he said, "By the way, Shan Nan..."

He then spoke about the things related to Shan Nan, because Tian Bufan had unreservedly confessed that they had seen Lin Yi's experiences in a dream, so he didn't need to elaborate on the previous tedious information.

"That Shan Nan, I don't know what he wants to achieve by using the 'Ash Apostle · Fire Man'...".

"When I saw that Fire Man on the 5th floor of the teaching building, that thing was already at the level of excessive ash accumulation and self-combustion."

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Speaking of this, he also mentioned that he and Li Huiyuan went to the 5th floor of the teaching building and encountered the strange art teacher and Zhang Lingzhen.

These things all happened after 6 o'clock.

"Besides seeing Zhang Lingzhen, I also saw the people who entered the school with us in the same batch. After those people were taken away by the strange art teacher, almost all of them were still alive and had become fanatical believers."

"They are people from the 'Domain of God' who infiltrated to collect ashes. After becoming fanatical believers, they have a greater chance to collect ashes. I don't know if they will confront us."

"That Zhang Lingzhen, when I went to the convenience store just now, the convenience store owner - 003 told me that she ate some of the flesh and blood of a malformed angel called 'Burial Body' and became the carrier of part of the 'Burial Body's' will."

"Zhang Lingzhen and the 'Ash Apostle · Fire Man' are both on the 5th floor of the teaching building, and they both want to absorb ashes. I wonder what will happen if Zhang Lingzhen confronts the 'Ash Apostle · Fire Man'?"

"When I encountered the 'Ash Apostle · Fire Man' before, I felt a lot of pressure... but Shan Nan seemed to have a way to suppress it."

"And me, the convenience store owner just gave me a bone spur..."

He spoke slowly, the information was a bit chaotic, but overall he expressed it little by little using his own logical expression.

After listening, Tian Bufan gently rubbed his temples, seeming to have a bit of a headache: "The Night Watcher gave you the 'Ouroboros Ring', and the convenience store owner gave you a bone spur. It seems they both have high hopes for you..."

"Ah? What do you mean?" Lin Yi seemed a little slow on the uptake.

Tian Bufan glanced at him and said calmly, "Chekhov once said that if a gun appears in a story, it must be fired. Edward Murphy also said that the more you worry about something, the more likely it is to happen..."

"Now the 'Ouroboros Ring' has subtly guided you to use it several times, so that bone spur will most likely be inserted into Zhang Lingzhen's chest."

"And the convenience store owner also said that it is not difficult for him to find and kill Zhang Lingzhen, but why let you go?"

Lin Yi shook his head.

"Use your brain. Are you giving me your brain just because you're standing with me?" Tian Bufan frowned and reprimanded.

"Uh..." Lin Yi quickly thought, "The convenience store owner wants to use my hand to kill... something else? Not just Zhang Lingzhen?"

"That's one thing, think about it again?" Tian Bufan asked with some pressure.

"Anything else?" Lin Yi thought and thought, but still couldn't figure it out.

Kuai Hongji sneered: "What else is there... the convenience store owner himself is injured, far from as relaxed as he shows you."

"I suspect that his slovenly appearance is his true form. What you saw is another side he deliberately showed you, so there are no signs of injury."

Kuai Hongji's statement hit the nail on the head.

A flash of light appeared in Lin Yi's eyes: "Kuai Kuai, what you said seems right!"

"It's just that you lack microscopic judgment," Kuai Hongji reprimanded mercilessly.

Lin Yi scratched the back of his head embarrassedly.

"The campus is turbulent, and it will probably rain again in the afternoon..." Tian Bufan looked up at the sky, "Don't move around in the afternoon, conserve your energy, and we'll talk about it when we get back to the dormitory at night."

Lin Yi's expression tightened, Tian Bufan was implying that he shouldn't go to the gymnasium.

But it was more like a warning.

"No matter what the weather is like tonight, Lao Lin, after you leave the classroom, wait for Wei Sang at the entrance of Class 3 and go back to the dormitory with Wei Sang. If you really encounter trouble on the road, don't take action, let Wei Sang solve it."

"If you take action, you will immediately attract the attention of all the Grinning Angels, Wrathful Angels, Malformed Angels, and even the 'Ash Apostle' in the area. Then you will really be the Train King."

Lin Yi was so frightened by Tian Bufan's words that he shivered, and Wei Shan, who had been silent on the side, stood up at this moment and nodded.

Looking at Wei Shan's unusually calm performance, Lin Yi had a faint ominous premonition, but the matter was of great importance, so he didn't dare to casually make a flag.

He felt that something was wrong, as if he had missed something.

After thinking about it for a while, he suddenly remembered that he had missed Wei Liang.

"What about Liangzi?" he asked.

"Damn, I'm convinced! Of course I'm going back to the dormitory with you guys. With Wei Shan's tonnage, it must be safely dapper!" Wei Liang grinned and came out, wanting to take Wei Shan's hand.

But Wei Shan quickly moved his hand away, for fear of being touched by him.

"You together, at that time, it is indeed very safe," Tian Bufan took a deep look at Wei Liang, "Blessed Wei Liang Celestial Venerable, what do you think?"

"Damn it, Lao Lin can joke, but you can't joke with me!" Wei Liang looked at Tian Bufan, a little exasperated.

"By the way, Young Master Tian," Lin Yi said at this time, "You have also been above the 5th floor, right?"

Tian Bufan nodded, not concealing it, and said directly: "I've been there, to Class 18... I found that most of the classroom windows were broken, but some were not. I don't know if there is any explanation for this."

"I mean, if the areas above the 5th floor of the three teaching buildings can all be delineated, and then the broken areas are marked, will any clues be obtained?"

"For example, you can guess whether it was broken by some kind of behemoth all at once."

"Or, for example, are there any hidden resources in the classroom? If the intact and broken windows are regarded as the on and off of a circuit, will the classrooms with broken windows form some kind of mysterious matrix?"

"I have been taking the time to run to the classrooms these past few days, but time is still a bit tight."

"Especially since I have to find a way to avoid those fanatical believers."

Lin Yi suddenly had a flash of inspiration: "Speaking of this, do you want to wait until I confront Zhang Lingzhen and the others, and then you go through the other areas?"

"Divert the tiger away from the mountain?" Tian Bufan looked at Lin Yi.

"Yes," Lin Yi said, "Shan Nan's 'Ash Apostle · Fire Man', Zhang Lingzhen and the others are all over there. I'll go do some underworld operations in the afternoon, pull them around, and then you go and observe the remaining classrooms?"

Hearing this suggestion, Tian Bufan did not consider the feasibility, but first asked about Lin Yi's approach: "What are you going to do?"

Lin Yi frankly said: "I plan to construct a 'puppet'."

Hearing this, the corner of Wei Liang's mouth twitched slightly.

"Shan Nan can construct puppets, I think I should be able to too," Lin Yi said, "I'll go to the Green Forest Belt to dismantle a few pseudo-human sculptures, then piece them together into a new puppet, and then secretly inject ashes into it..."

"The puppet made in this way should be similar to Shan Nan's 'Ash Apostle · Fire Man', and will most likely burn immediately, but no matter what, it should be enough to attract their attention and lure them away."

"Moreover, when assembling, maybe I can also take the opportunity to speculate on Shan Nan's thinking when constructing the 'Ash Apostle · Fire Man'."

Lin Yi narrated slowly.

After listening, Tian Bufan nodded slightly: "It is feasible."

"So, where do I need to 'place' the puppet?" Lin Yi asked.

"Go to Group C, Class 18," Tian Bufan said without hesitation, "I still haven't been to Building A, you go to Group C, Class 18 to lure them away, and then I'll set off."

"Okay, then I'll go to the Green Forest Belt later," Lin Yi was bold in his skills, and besides, the necessary adhesive for constructing the puppet was indispensable, which meant that he had to go to the Barren Land.

"Don't go too deep," Kuai Hongji said coldly, "I have already taken care of the 'transcendent substance' that serves as an adhesive."

Lin Yi was stunned: "Ah????"