Translator: Strivon

  “It’s on fire! It’s on fire!”


  “Let the flames burn! Burn through this cloak of dark curtains!”


  "Cloak…… dark curtains!"

  Suddenly, Luo Nan opened his eyes. He had yet to adapt completely to the lighting here, so he always felt that the wall lights were like flames on the eve of going out. They flickered uneasily under this cover of a cloak-like dark curtain.

  This cloak-like dark curtain pressed down over his body and isolated him from the world. His whole body became lethargic, and he was unable to spur some energy. It was as if he was oxygen deprived.

  He understood that this feeling was bad. He removed his feet from the stool to lay completely on the ground, as his fingers rapped the circular chair above his body. The smart lights on the wall began to increase in brightness, as it sprayed warm colors beneath.

  The imbalance between darkness and light took a turn. Shadows of the wall ornaments were projected onto the fine grain of the wooden walls and the bookshelves. These shadows formed a compositional whole. The composition merged together with an extended ladder, which caused this narrow space of three square meters to unfold and possess a marvelous sense of layers.

  Luo Nan felt a lot better.

  Right now, he was in the tree house of the Withered Tree Sandbar. This room was a secret area his mother built.

  Two weeks ago, he had come to the school for the first time. Thanks to multiple factors, the majority of people did not know that there was a student who had quietly faded away for a time before he had quietly returned. These included the fact that the school had an elective based system, his small social circle, and Xie Junping helping him arrange sick time off from school.

  After the conclusion of an entire day of courses, Luo Nan, the one and only official member of the Ritual Club, had arrived at Gear. He arrived at the treehouse that still remained unknown to most, and he rested there quietly.

  Here, time had washed away the aura of his mother, but countless minute vestiges still remained that highlighted her former existence. Luo Nan had meticulously tried to search for traces of his mother, but after awhile, he felt that it was unnecessary. Then, he sat in the resting area on the lower floor and focused his back on the designs that slightly protruded from the wall. He sat there in a daze. His mind was entangled with countless things, but none of these things possessed meaning.

  This lasted until he fell asleep in a daze. Then, his memories startled him awake—recollections of the mad words of his grandfather.

  Those mad words had tormented Luo Nan for the past two days, and he always sought to discern the logical thread hidden within them. However, this wishful thinking was like smacking one’s head against the wall…… It made one’s brain go a bit numb.

  He glanced at his wristband; two hours had passed amidst his daze. He heard a sound come from the ladder below. This ladder was a convenient tool installed at the end of the long corridor submerged with water. The ladder was used for normal entry and exit. It was one of the results of the work Xie Junping did during this past half a month.

  It was half an hour into the afternoon. Soon, Xie Junping made his way inside. There was now an additional person in the resting room, and it immediately made the space quite crowded. Xie Junping simply sat on a step of the ladder. He yawned and tears came out of his eyes, as he asked without thinking, "Have you seen the video I sent you?"

  "……Not yet." Only now did Luo Nan recall that Xie Junping had sent him a video. Xie Junping said that he found the culprit who had snuck into the treehouse.

  "It’s a muskrat, not a mouse!"

  Xie Junping gnashed his teeth, as he corrected Luo Nan’s mistaken thought. The muskrat had been engraved in his mind after he was entangled in battles with the brown-haired rodent for half a month.

  "That thing is absolutely abnormal! It’s absolutely impossible for normal rodents to possess those reactions and that type of behavior. This must be a rejected mutant of a laboratory experiment!

  Luo Nan could sense Xie Junping’s mood. Xie Junping’s attention had to be on more than just a rodent.

  Xie Junping had arrived today at Gear with a completely new look. It surprised Luo Nan. Two weeks had passed and Xie Junping must have painstakingly racked his head and come up with a plan.

  There were few people who could treat Luo Nan this way besides Luo Nan’s relatives, and the first was Xie Junping. Luo Nan had no intention of taking these emotions and placing it under the frame of the Format Pyramid. Luo Nan was also unwilling to say dry words of thanks. He just silently memorized this favor, and his lips split into a grin.

  "I’ll look at it when I get back. When you catch that mouse, uh that muskrat, let’s eat some braised stir-fry."

  Xie Junping’s mind went wild, as he imagined the beautiful scene of the brown ‘mouse’ being tossed into a pan of hot oil. However, he soon came back to reality and asked Luo Nan, "Aren’t you going to that gym? When are you leaving?"

  "It’s about time. Right now."

  He had already obtained permission from his aunt in regards to the matter of training in breathing techniques. However, the matter was not finalized. According to Xue Lei, Gym Master Xiu would rather go without a disciple than have a shoddy disciple when it came to teaching. Luo Nan had to meet the gym master in person before he could finalize things.

  According to Xue Lei’s stories, Gym Master Xiu had once said, "Whether I teach. Regardless of purpose. Let us talk in person."

  For this, Luo Nan had scheduled a time with Xue Lei to meet at Divine Yu Gym. After he heard about this matter, Xie Junping had volunteered to drive Luo Nan over.

  During this half month period when Luo Nan was not at school, Xie Junping and Xue Lei’s friendship had continued. Xue Lei’s issue with the school societies had stagnated at Limestone Water Village Pub, but it was resolved thanks to Xie Junping.

  Xue Lei’s monstrous body and powerful martial ability was the target of Xie Junping’s extreme envy. His heart was drawn toward the gym master that Xue Lei spoke of.

  Luo Nan and Xie Junping came out from the jungle of the north bank and saw that the skies were getting dark. Xie Junping started up the electric transport cart and transported Luo Nan along speedily on campus. There were not many people on campus during this time. Most people had already gone home.

  Xie Junping pushed the electric cart to its highest speed. At the same time, his mouth spewed words like a raging torrent. He talked about the repeated battles with the brown-haired rodent.

  Xie Junping was describing how he had controlled the underwater vehicle to pursue the animal when Luo Nan suddenly spoke up without warning.

  "Slow down."

  They had just made it to an intersection and Xie Junping instinctively pressed the brakes. It was a good thing he did so, for a semi-trailer truck came whistling past down a different road. The dark green truck was inharmonious with the atmosphere of the campus, and its sealed trailer brushed against the front end of Xie Junping’s electric cart. The truck caused a great gale to blow leaves all around, and the leaves spattered against the windshield of the cart with pattering sounds.

  "Holy sh*t!" Xie Junping was the only one on campus who put on airs. This was the first time he met someone else be so ostentatious.

  Also, what the hell was with that heavy freight?

  Acumen College strictly prohibited external vehicles from entering the school. Regardless of the countless wealthy students with high-status parents, they all had to use electric carts to get around. As for transportation vehicles for construction, there were special roads for them. It made no sense for them to charge and bash around on campus.

  The semi-truck had not stopped at all. It just galloped straight along. Soon, it entered a special underground road. However, it certainly made a serious violation at the intersection just now.

  Xie Junping, a candidate for vice-president of the Student Council, a high ranking member of the Honor Society, chuckled darkly. He rightfully made a call to the school security department and sent over the license plate, model number, and other images his HoloFilm captured.

  "To make sure it doesn’t leave the school gate."

  Xie Junping gave Luo Nan a wink. Of course, this matter was not really important. Soon, he and Luo Nan forgot all about it. They rode the electric cart to the parking lot and switched to Xie Junping’s flying car, a Phantom. They flew off and docked onto the magnetic rails, setting the coordinates to the River Wu District.

  A call came through before they could travel far. Xie Junping glanced at the caller id and used the car’s phone to put the call through. He answered in a jolly mood, "Old Du, what’s up? It must be quite relaxing to have nothing to do, now that you’re resigning from the Mystic Arts Research Society……"

  The voice was so sharp in fury that it nearly damaged the high-end acoustics of the car. "Oh Bigshot Xie, are you having fun!? So it turns out you folk like to splash hot tea on one’s face before one leaves!?"