VAP - Chapter 184
Chapter 184: The Ruler in the Endless Deep Darkness (17)
“Indeed, this is the only way. I’ve been trapped in the academy for three years, so there’s no need to hide it from you. I’ll make a long story short.”
“Three years ago, a few students here were punished by a teacher for not completing their schoolwork properly. They were unhappy and resentful, so they took an opportunity when no one was looking to throw themselves into the sacrificial fire and died. These few failed to withstand the baptism of the sacrificial fire and instead became evil believers of the God of the Undead. They killed nearly a thousand teachers and students in the academy. Only I, through the protection of the Revered Lord, was fortunate enough to survive.”
“Since then, the academy has been sealed by them. I wanted to restore the academy to its original state, but unfortunately, my abilities were insufficient. I can only barely maintain the peace during the day. At night, they revert to their undead forms and act wantonly, even oppressing and enslaving the residual spirits of other students. It truly pains me.”
“The academy is now a place of death, completely covered in resentment. To leave, the only way is to exterminate their spiritual bodies.”
No one else spoke. The office echoed with the man’s helpless yet firm statement. His expression was pained, but more than that, it was filled with righteous indignation, as if he were a benevolent elder who knew right from wrong.
If she didn’t know what the academy was like during the day, Yue Du would have almost been fooled by Mr. Geng’s acting.
She found it laughable, and a mocking smile touched her lips. “Is that so? Then Mr. Geng has truly worked hard. The fact that we can enjoy such a peaceful academic life during the day is all thanks to you, sir.”
Mr. Geng said, “It is my duty. It’s not worth mentioning.”
He actually seemed quite proud.
Drawing on her experience from the last instance dealing with cultists, Yue Du knew that reasoning with this kind of person was pointless. She might even end up having a heart attack from the anger.
She closed her eyes for a moment, recalling his words, trying to distinguish what was true and what was false.
The part about several students throwing themselves into the fire should be true, but it was definitely not for the simple reason of “being unhappy after being punished” that Mr. Geng so casually mentioned.
The claim that nearly a thousand teachers and students were killed was doubtful.
It was true that the academy had become a place of death due to the resentful spirits, but the claim that it was sealed by them was equally doubtful.
As for the idea that killing the resentful spirits was the only way to leave, that was certainly a lie. The instance belonged to both the God of All Undead and the Undying Flame, the Red Copper Bird; of course, the key wouldn’t lie with just one of them.
Besides, those resentful spirits clearly could have attacked the players last night, yet they only told them to leave. If killing them was the only way to break the seal, why would they have said such things?
As the game’s creator, Xuan Jiu knew without even having to listen.
The former headmaster Geng’s words were not credible. She simply watched Yue Du’s profile as she pondered, feeling that there wasn’t a single thing about this person she didn’t adore.
Seeing Yue Du remain silent for a long while, Xuan Jiu said nonchalantly, “A Red Copper Bird cultist full of lies. You’d be better off asking me than him.”
Yue Du was still mulling over the information Former Headmaster Geng had inadvertently revealed. Just as a flash of inspiration struck, she subconsciously replied, “Don’t talk right now.”
Xuan Jiu: “…”
Yue Du realized what she had just said, cleared her throat, and pretended nothing had happened. “Thank you for your kind offer, but we shouldn’t trouble you with such a small matter. We can handle it.”
Hearing this, Mr. Geng grew anxious. “That won’t do! Those students are filled with resentment. A few transfer students like you can’t possibly deal with them. It would be best to ask this lady for help.”
Yue Du ignored him and asked in her mind, “System, do you have a tracking function?”
Ah Jiu understood. “Tracking him is possible.”
After their private chat, Yue Du finally looked at Mr. Geng, her smile not reaching her eyes. “Who said I was going to deal with the students?”
Mr. Geng was stunned. “If you’re not going to kill them, are you trying to reform them? Impossible. I’ve tried for three years, and it’s been completely ineffective.”
“Is your method of reform praising the Lord of Fire, the Red Copper Bird?” Yue Du sneered. “But you’re right. Reformation alone is certainly not enough to dispel their resentment.”
She put extra emphasis on the word “resentment.”
Mr. Geng realized something and fell silent. He took a step back, his back hitting the windowsill, leaving him with no room to retreat.
Yue Du said slowly and deliberately, “I was wondering earlier, with so much resentment, they couldn’t possibly just want to drag the people who bullied them around every night. Now it seems that if their greatest enemy weren’t still alive, their resentment wouldn’t have grown deeper and deeper, would it?”
“Killing me is useless! Even if you kill me, you still can’t leave the academy!”
“Perhaps not,” Yue Du tilted her head, “but it would make me happy.”
A fierce glint appeared in Mr. Geng’s eyes. Then, as if remembering something, he glanced fearfully at Xuan Jiu and, without hesitation, vaulted over the windowsill and jumped.
The moment he moved, the black threads beside Xuan Jiu shot forward, nearly piercing through his body in an instant and annihilating his very existence.
But Xuan Jiu suppressed her instinct and looked at Yue Du.
Just say the word…
But instead, she saw Yue Du retract her icy smile, calmly walk back, and bow to Xuan Jiu. “Thank you for your generous assistance. Unfortunately, we have other matters to attend to, so we must regretfully take our leave.”
After speaking, she picked up the teacup. With impeccable etiquette and an expression that seemed quite willing—though it couldn’t hide the look of someone facing death—she drained the dark blue tea in one gulp.
A unique, rich, sweet fragrance bloomed in her mouth. Drinking it all at once wasn’t cloying, and the aftertaste was light and sweet. Yue Du’s eyes lit up, but she still said reservedly, “Thank you for your hospitality.”
Xuan Jiu: “There’s no need to thank me. That Red Copper Bird cultist…”
Yue Du: “I’m sure you have more important matters to attend to. We won’t disturb you any longer.”
With that, she turned and left without a hint of reluctance. Ah Jiu picked up the glass pot filled with the tea of the kin’s horns from the table and followed gracefully behind Yue Du, not forgetting to cast an inexplicably pitying glance at Xuan Jiu.
The great Lord of the Endless Deep Darkness lowered her gaze to an empty teacup, then looked up to see two figures walking away. The one in the back was particularly detestable.
For a moment, she didn’t know whether she should drag Yue Du back and bully her fiercely, or go and twist off the horns of another ten or eight kin.
After a moment of solitary silence, she suddenly smiled, raised the teacup to her lips, and took a light sip.
“The way her eyes lit up… so, so, cute…”
“Not quite accurate.”
“Makes me want to cover them, to collect them, to…”
Xuan Jiu looked forward again. Ah Jiu had closed the door behind her as she left, but the door obviously couldn’t block the senses of the Deep Darkness Ruler.
That girl named Ah Jiu walking with Yue Du… from the first moment she saw her, Xuan Jiu knew that this was also “Her,” even if she couldn’t sense it, even if their consciousnesses weren’t unified.
Because She had always been aware that She was not a complete existence, but rather a trait, a fragment, suppressing six evil gods who had condensed the power of numerous small worlds.
Just as there are worlds beyond worlds and gods above gods, the main body could not be considered the true main body.
Before this, She had never paid it any mind.
Xuan Jiu raised a finger. A thin black thread slithered away like a hidden, swift snake and entered the figure’s back, but it found nothing beyond flesh and bone—no spirit, for instance. It was just a manipulated shell.
Xuan Jiu retracted the thread and tapped her chin.
She probably isn’t using her own body, nor did she dare send her full consciousness into the small world. Instead, she’s expressing her will through some medium… is she afraid the small world can’t bear it and would collapse?
Is it one of the other fragments?
Or all the rest of them?
Just as Yue Du and Ah Jiu returned to the classroom door, the bell for the end of morning class rang. An old teacher on his way out saw them, glared, and huffed, “I’ll let it slide today, but tomorrow during morning class, you’ll recite both texts together. Don’t think you can escape recitation just by going to see the new headmaster.”
Yue Du gave him an emotionless smile.
There won’t be a morning class tomorrow, sir.
Walking into the classroom, under the class monitor’s gaze that shifted from impatience to surprised anger, Yue Du went to the desk of Li Wei, who was sitting in the corner.
“Student Li Wei, can we talk?”
Li Wei looked up, hesitant and wary. The dark circles under his eyes were much lighter than others’, and the right side of his face was swollen, though the swelling was slowly subsiding.
The academy’s students healed quickly, so this was clearly a fresh mark from being hit.
“If you have something to say, say it here,” he said calmly. “Or you can hit me here, too.”
The boy sitting in front of him turned around angrily. “What nonsense are you talking about? Has anyone hit you? That’s called education!”
Li Wei didn’t look at him. “Oh. Then educate me here.”
The boy gave him a hard shove and turned back around.
Yue Du smiled. “Let’s go outside. There’s something I want to ask you.”
As soon as she said this, the atmosphere in the entire classroom clearly froze. Faces turned, expressionlessly watching the corner.
After a brief standoff, Li Wei agreed to go out and talk. He spoke with the maturity of an old soul in a young body, “There’s no need for this. They’ll think you need guidance, too.”
Yue Du: “You mean guidance from the seniors? That’s not guidance, it’s bullying. It counts as intentional assault.”
Li Wei glanced at her. “Oh. Right, we should talk about this outside. If they heard that, they’d only hit harder.”
Yue Du didn’t know what to say. She subconsciously glanced at Ah Jiu, who came over and took her hand, lacing their fingers together and giving it a small swing.
Li Wei stared at their joined hands for a few seconds, then suddenly said, “You two weren’t actually sent here for hanging out in internet cafes and playing games, were you?”
Yue Du: “Hm?”
Her ears turned slightly red before she could process it. For some reason, she didn’t explain further.
Li Wei took that as a silent confirmation. “It’s nothing. I’ve seen a few others sent in by their families for that reason. But from now on, don’t act like this in front of the people here.”
Yue Du: “Will it have an effect?”
“Of course. Your parents definitely didn’t tell the teachers here the reason, otherwise you would have been assigned a senior for guidance the moment you arrived.”
This was something Yue Du hadn’t expected.
“The Red Copper Bird cares about this stuff?”
Li Wei clicked his tongue. “Who knows if It cares, but the crazy old fossils in this academy sure do.”
He subconsciously lowered his voice on the word “crazy.”
Yue Du sighed internally. By this time, they had reached the back door of another classroom. They could see all the students inside through the glass window. After all, there were only twenty people in a class, and to make it easier for the teachers to observe them secretly, the desks were all arranged in view of the back door.
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