Edited by Ea

  Lin Shu thought that although it was a happy thing that Immortal Lord Yuehua was not dead, it can not be a legitimate reason for the interruption of the secret script.

  He read the previous part over and over many times, trying to figure out what Demon Lord Qingming wanted to write.

  However, Lin Shu had already experienced just how broad a range this Demon Lord’s thoughts were in the previous part, so now it was even more impossible to guess the following text.

  As for which prefecture or region the “Qingming Mountain” on the last page was located in, the Demon Lord did not mention that. The vicissitudes of life have changed over the past millennia, and who knows if the same place names still exist. Even if future generations read this secret book, he’s afraid it is also difficult to find where this so-called “Qingming Mountain” is.

  The cheap apprentice Lin Shu guessed that the Demon Lord’s intention was fruitless, and silently closed 《Extinction》.

  At this time, the night was already deep, and the practice of Yue Ruohe and Yue Ruoyun in the bamboo forest outside had also ended.

  Yue Ruoyun said: “Father wrote again today, saying, Grandpa’s mind has become more and more confused these days, unable to distinguish between objects and him, and often speaks mysterious and unpredictable words in his sleep, I am afraid that he is not far from Amalgamation. If we have a break this time, let’s not go outside. Let’s go home and visit him instead.”

  Yue Ruohe said: “Okay.”

  Lin thought for a while, he hadn’t contacted Li Yamao and family in Min Prefecture for a long time.

  The last correspondence exchange they had was in June.

  It can be said that Li Yamao’s entrance examination to Shangling Academy was very bumpy.

  In the first year, that is, the year when Lin Shu came to Shangling Academy, Mr. Meng asked Li Yamao to go back and learn more words. Otherwise, I’m afraid he could not understand the mind meditation techniques and secret scripts, he won’t be able to keep up with the Academy’s curriculum.

  However, Li Yamao didn’t know big characters before. Even though he was a little smart by nature, he could not read many characters in one year. So he was beaten back by Mr. Meng the next year to continue to read.

  In the third year, he finally learned enough words and he was confident that he could pass the examination. However, before the examination, he had a serious illness. He had a high fever and was so confused that he couldn’t even get out of the door. Naturally, he missed the Shangling entrance examination which lasted only one morning.

  It is now half of the third year. Lin Shu thought for a while, unknowingly, it has been two and a half years since he came to Shangling Academy.

  He looked at the copper mirror in the corner. After two years, the person in the mirror had grown a lot, and his stature was not very short. At least, if the Big Miss saw himself now, she would not use the adjective “short sick rice seedling” on him anymore.

  Thinking of Li Yamao’s family, he wrote a letter asking how the family was and whether they were safe.

  After writing the letter, he put it in a conspicuous position. He planned to take it with him when he goes out to class tomorrow. He will give it to the spirit pigeon in the back mountain and send it to Min Prefecture.

  After doing this, he had nothing else to do. He raised his eyes and looked out the window, looking at Ling Fengxiao’s bamboo house.

  \r \r \r

  It was dark there, and it’s been like this every day for two years, as if no one has ever lived in it.

  The new younger martial brothers and sisters in the Academy are not familiar with the name of the Big Miss anymore.

  But for Lin Shu, his life in the past two years has been the same. There was nothing new to say, and nothing novel and profound had happened. He feels that only the days he spent with Ling Fengxiao two years ago can be vividly seen. As if the Big Miss was just sitting in the atrium with a red umbrella yesterday, looking bright and dazzling.

  At this moment, he looked at the Big Miss’s room, and then at the letter on the desktop, and suddenly felt that he still had some attachments to this world.

  After a while, after washing and rinsing, he emptied his mind, took the cat from the middle of the bed to one side, and went to sleep.

  Every day was as peaceful as this one.

  In the blink of an eye, many days had passed.

  There was no change in his life with the cat, but the atmosphere in the Academy was getting more tense day by day.

  First of all, there had been a dispute within the Confucianism Institute. The Elder Martial Sister Xie Zishe and the Senior Martial Brother Ping Ruxu in the Institute turned against each other because of their different views and opinions. The main Peace Faction and the main War Faction led by them were irreconcilable, and the Immortal Institute and Shu Institute also gradually divided into two factions.

  Those who advocate peace regarded the main war faction as heresy, and those who advocate war treated the peace faction as killing their fathers and enemies. Not only did they feel ashamed to sit with the hostile factions in class, but even the dining hall was divided into two parts: the main battle faction in the East, which occupied a large area, and the main peace faction had a relatively small number, occupying one part in the West.

  ——Even the girl who often asked him questions after class in Alchemy class timidly asked, “Senior Brother Lin, which faction are you?”

  Which faction?

  None of them.

  ——Even when eating, he had to see where the two factions had pushed the battleline in the dining hall today so that he could choose a middle position to sit down.

  Therefore, when Lin Shu was asked, he did not speak and left after packing up his things.

  From then on, the girl did not talk to him.

  Although Lin Shu did not know the external situation, he also understood some objective laws. The more serious the dispute between the War Faction and the Peace Faction, the more imminent the war was.

  Nobody knows when the troubled times will come, and he can’t do anything about it, so he can only cultivate hard.

  In such a tense atmosphere, the semester was drawing to a close, and the disciples could travel freely outside and complete the commissions.

  Lin Shu doesn’t want to go out. After all, the Big Miss won’t let him run around.

  “Elder Martial Brother Lin,” the girl spoke to him for the first time in a while, and asked, “Are you going down the mountain to do a task? What’s the mission?”

  Lin Shu: “No”

  “My roommate and I took on a very difficult task. We have to sneak into the North-South border to look for the limbs of the living dead in Northern Xia and give them to the Academy for research. Would you like to join us?”

  Lin Shu: “No.”

  The girl’s eyes became strange and distant in an instant: “Brother, do you support the Peace Faction?”

  Lin Shu said: “No.”

  The girl lowered her head and said: “Really.”

  Lin Shu felt this was very boring and left.

  He felt that it was easier to live when the Big Miss was here. At least, there was no problem with which side to take. He acquiesced to follow whatever position Big Miss took.

  Back to the bamboo house, a snow-white pigeon stopped on the eaves corner.

  ——After so many days, did Li Yamao finally reply?

  He called down the pigeon and took down the jade tube from its feet.

  The jade tube was stuffed with a piece of rough paper for wrapping dim sum snacks, and it was rolled up hastily, with no careful consideration.

  Lin Shu opened the paper roll.

  The scribbled handwriting only wrote one word.

  Ball.

  Ball?

  What does it mean?

  What trick was Li Yamao playing?

  Lin Shu was extremely puzzled.

  However, although Li Yamao was a little naughty, he would not reply from thousands of milles away to Lin Shu’s letter with only an incomprehensible “ball”.

  He turned the rough paper over and over and looked at it from a distance, but he couldn’t see any mystery.

  What ball?

  Rubber ball? Leather ball?

  There is not even ancient Chinese football in this era, so how can there be rubber balls?

  Lin Shu suddenly understood.

  In this era, the word “ball” is not a commonly used Chinese character at all.

  The moment he realized this problem, he looked at the scribbled handwriting and the hastily rolled crease, and a word appeared in his mind.

  Help!