Rules-related weird stories: 4016

"Door?" Homeroom Teacher - 040 paused slightly, then explained, "Under normal circumstances, the office door is always closed."

"Ah?" Lin Yi was taken aback.

Homeroom Teacher - 040 continued: "But the situation these past few days has been slightly special."

"I keep the door open for 'hunting'."

"'Hunting'? Are you staking me out?"

"Why would I stake you out?" Homeroom Teacher - 040 retorted, "I'm lying in wait for non-human entities that break into the office… Why did you break in?"

"I…" Lin Yi was about to argue with Homeroom Teacher - 040, but suddenly realized a very abstract problem.

That is, in Homeroom Teacher - 040's perception and cognitive judgment, he, who broke into the office in the first place, didn't seem to be within the category of "human".

But speaking of hunting…

"Your injuries, were they sustained during hunting?"

Homeroom Teacher - 040's long eyelashes trembled slightly, and she responded softly: "I suppose so…"

Lin Yi asked with concern: "What caused them?"

Homeroom Teacher - 040 shook her head slightly: "I'm not sure either, probably some kind of angel statue that is mutating towards 'Angel'. Of course, it could also be some kind of evil angel statue variant created by fanatical believers."

"It has a human-like outline, but it's somewhat special. Its hands seem to be holding a large cleaver, but I can be sure that it's not a weapon, but some kind of extended bone…"

"Could it be the 'Ashen Apostle'?"

"What 'Ashen Apostle'?" Homeroom Teacher - 040 looked at Lin Yi, her eyes clearly showing some strange emotion.

Seeing Homeroom Teacher - 040's reaction, Lin Yi suddenly felt that Homeroom Teacher - 040 seemed to know something related to the Ashen Apostle, so he quickly said: "It's, it's that… a colorful, mysterious creature made up of countless glass shards, with a human outline, like a sculpture but definitely not a sculpture…"

Homeroom Teacher - 040 became more and more confused as she listened.

Seeing this, Lin Yi couldn't help but become anxious, but he also felt that he couldn't describe it clearly, because the appearance of that conceptual-level sculpture might just be the form in his perception.

He had a flash of inspiration: "That's right! Did Teacher 039 leave you any information about the 'Angel' she encountered?"

Homeroom Teacher - 040's brow furrowed obviously, and her gaze towards Lin Yi carried some emotions intertwined with doubt and ruthlessness: "How do you know she would leave me that information?"

"I deduced it," Lin Yi confessed, "Besides, didn't the investigation record she left behind say that she was burned by ash? That ash came from the Ashen Apostle, but she didn't know that the 'Angel' she thought it was, was actually the Ashen Apostle."

"Wait! Wait, wait, wait!!" Lin Yi said here, suddenly thinking of something, and slapped his head, exclaiming, "That's right! Why didn't I connect these two points just now!"

Homeroom Teacher - 040 also had amazing comprehension: "You mean…?!"

The two looked at each other!!

Lin Yi continued to exclaim: "Teacher 039's understanding of 'Angel' was wrong, so her investigation direction lacked a key 'hub' from the underlying logic!"

"If we substitute [Angel is the Ashen Apostle], no, substitute [Teacher 039's perceived 'Angel' is the 'Ashen Apostle'] into the previous investigation records, we can arrive at the truth of the Yuan Datou incident!"

"That infiltrating force, using Yuan Datou and Mu Daxian as pawns, plus some layouts that we haven't sorted out yet, took advantage of a certain time…"

"The 70th time," Homeroom Teacher - 040 corrected.

Lin Yi nodded and continued: "Yes, taking advantage of the 70th Gray Mist Invasion, they used stepping into the 'Supreme Judgment' path as bait to trick them into creating conditions for the 'Ashen Apostle' to descend upon the campus!"

"You said earlier that during the Gray Mist Invasion, the campus's layers are like ships in the sea, the draft is constantly changing, and layer penetration is easily achieved based on the deterioration of stability!"

"And the source of the 'Ash' lies in that 'Angel' in the Art Building layer… It just so happened that Mu Daxian stepped onto the observation deck at that time!"

"The person from that infiltrating force told Mu Daxian and Yuan Datou that the path to step into 'Supreme Judgment' was actually not the path to [step into 'Supreme Judgment'], but the path to [enable the 'Ashen Apostle' to cross the layers between the Art Building and the campus]!"

"This is also why Mu Daxian is in the Art Building and Yuan Datou is on campus!"

"Basic theorem—two points can determine a straight line!"

"Mu Daxian and Yuan Datou are like two walkie-talkies, and the so-called path is like a channel. When they use the same unique channel to communicate between the two layers, the bridge for the 'Ashen Apostle' to descend is already built!"

"Ordinary life forms simply cannot bear ash, and although Yuan Datou is a second-order sports student, his rank is obviously not enough, so when the 'Ashen Apostle' descended, Yuan Datou sacrificed himself due to overload!"

"This may be a ritual, and Mu Daxian and Yuan Datou are the sacrifices of that ritual!"

But Mu Daxian was, after all, under the eyes of the Night Watchers. When an accident occurred, he might have been saved by the Night Watchers, while Yuan Datou was not so lucky. He was on campus, and the Supreme combat power, the convenience store owner, didn't notice anything at first, so all the sports students and art students who were with him sacrificed!

From this point of view, the path to 'Supreme Judgment' that Mu Daxian is now exhibiting, which he has touched, is very likely what he touched when the Night Watchers saved him.

There is also the reason why Mu Daxian knows a part of the "Night Watcher Iron Law", which also seems to be explained by this!

"This—is the truth of the Yuan Datou incident!!"

"When the Ashen Apostle enters the campus, it is equivalent to a mobile mine entering the campus. Those forces that want to collect 'Ash' only want to collect 'Ash'. While they drain the pond to get all the fish, they don't care about the future of the fish pond."

"For them, it is just harvesting a big wave of fat. After the harvest, what does the follow-up have to do with them?"

Homeroom Teacher - 040's expression was a bit ugly: "What you said is very cruel, but it is also very consistent with my understanding of certain forces…"

Lin Yi sighed. Time was limited, and he didn't want to dwell on this topic for too long now: "So, teacher, think about it, was your injury caused by the Ashen Apostle?"

"It should be," Homeroom Teacher - 040 nodded.

"Then will you be contaminated? Like Teacher 039?" Lin Yi asked with concern.

"Oh, are you worried about me?" Homeroom Teacher - 040 suddenly curved her eyebrows and revealed a sincere smile with some expectation.

"Wow, please, your focus seems a little strange..." Lin Yi subconsciously curled his lips, then retorted, "I'm leaving campus in three days, I just don't want you to fail faster than me, okay... I don't want to have to deal with three homeroom teachers in one experience cycle..."

"I've never heard of anyone outlasting three homeroom teachers either." Homeroom Teacher-040 said with some helplessness, then asked, "When you were healing me, did you sense any 'Ashes' in my body?"

"No, I didn't." Lin Yi shook his head.

"If you didn't, then there probably aren't any." Homeroom Teacher-040 said, "'Ashes' don't have a dormant period. Either they ignite, or they don't. There's no third option... well, except for yours."

"Your life structure, besides being a 'person,' has absolutely no relation to what I understand as a 'person'." She gave Lin Yi a deep look.

"Should I feel proud when you say that?" Lin Yi revealed a helpless wry smile.

"Be proud for a moment. After all, in this era, a 'person' like you is extremely precious."

"Besides hunting down the Ash Apostle, what else did you hunt down?" Lin Yi asked.

"You're asking the wrong question." Homeroom Teacher-040 said, "That Ash Apostle was passing by here. I went out to test its strength, and then I got injured..."

"In a sense, it didn't enter the office, so I can't really say I hunted it down..."

"After I got injured, I originally closed the door, but the injury was a bit irritating, making it hard for me to sleep. So I simply put on my combat suit and squatted down, using the method of focusing my attention on hunting to distract myself from the injury, and also to see if any unlucky person would actually come in."

"And then you showed up not long after."

"Okay..." Lin Yi's mouth twitched. He didn't expect the cause and effect of the matter to be so dramatic.

But Homeroom Teacher-039 clearly said to go to the office to get that dictionary on the night when she was outside...

Could there be another way to enter the office?

It was a bit unpredictable.

Lin Yi shook his head. Anyway, he had seen the information in the dictionary, and he also knew about the door, so he simply stopped pursuing this temporarily unimportant question.

"Then I'll go now..." Lin Yi said, "I don't know when those clouds will drift over the teaching building. I have to go there and camp out, waiting for the rabbit to come."

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"Okay." Homeroom Teacher-040 nodded. "You... all of you, be careful. There are many night-stalking species over there."

"Don't worry." Lin Yi smiled. "'Those who chase the light through the mist will eventually become phantoms.' Let's see if they dare to chase after my glimmer of light."

As he spoke, he revealed an indescribable smile, confident yet chilling, like a black moon hanging above the endless storm in the dark night.

"Hui Hui Zi, let's go." Lin Yi came to the sofa and smiled at Li Hui Yuan.

"Hmph!" Li Hui Yuan said softly, pouting her small mouth. She was obviously a little unhappy, but as soon as she heard that they were leaving, her unhappiness was mixed with a bit of faint happiness. "Then let's go!"

Lin Yi then led Li Hui Yuan to open the office door. Before leaving, he glanced at the clock on the wall, and then glanced at the watch on his wrist.

9:22.

"Okay, not bad."

He opened the door.

A person was standing at the door, startling him.

"Holy..."

He almost subconsciously sent a stick over.

Taking a closer look, he suddenly realized that the person standing there was... Mountain Man.

Mountain Man seemed to be hesitating whether to knock on the door. He wasn't startled when he saw the door being opened, but when he saw that the person opening the door was Lin Yi, and Li Hui Yuan was with him, he couldn't help but frown.

Mountain Man looked at Lin Yi, and Lin Yi looked at Mountain Man.

Li Hui Yuan helped Lin Yi look at Mountain Man together.

Mountain Man's eyes met two pairs of eyes, and he immediately fell into a disadvantageous position.

Mountain Man frowned inwardly.

That's how a battle of gazes is. If someone glares at you and you don't glare back, it seems very impolite.

But one person can't glare at two people at the same time, otherwise, you'll have politeness, but your eyes will be scattered, which will make you look very foolish.

And if you increase your foolishness for the sake of politeness, it would be a losing proposition.

So Mountain Man didn't freeze up. Seeing that the atmosphere was wrong, his brows immediately relaxed, and then he nodded at Lin Yi, making way for Lin Yi and Li Hui Yuan to come out first.

After Lin Yi closed the door with his backhand, and led Li Hui Yuan along the corridor in the opposite direction to where the class was, he reached out and knocked on the office door.

"Who is it?" Behind the door, Homeroom Teacher-040's usual, programmed inquiry sounded.

Only then did Mountain Man withdraw his attention from Lin Yi and Li Hui Yuan's backs, and then said: "Yuan Lijian... My student ID number is 'X0230508132'..."

...

Lin Yi kept leading Li Hui Yuan past the corner before suddenly changing his movements, shrinking behind the wall, carefully sensing the situation on Mountain Man's side.

Seeing Lin Yi's expression, Li Hui Yuan pursed her lips unhappily.

"Don't be angry, I just want to see what Mountain Man wants to do." Lin Yi explained softly.

"Oh..." Li Hui Yuan responded reluctantly, suddenly her face changed, "Wait, how can you see that I'm unhappy? Do you have eyes on the back of your head?"

Lin Yi curled his lips, thinking that just a moment ago, the entire office was filled with the aroma of glutinous rice and lemon... How could I not know?

Of course, I know everything, but I have to pretend to be ignorant...

Take a look at the wisdom of a scheming frog!

But Mountain Man didn't seem to show many problems. After verifying his identity information, Homeroom Teacher-040 opened the door and let him into the office.

"It seems I have to ask the teacher later what that Mountain Man is up to..." Lin Yi rubbed his brow, feeling more and more that the invisible vortex was becoming turbulent and terrifying.

He turned to look at Li Hui Yuan and asked, "Hui Hui Zi, do you still want to go with me to 'other places' in the teaching building?"

Li Hui Yuan was just pretending to be innocent and sweet, but she was very clear-headed, especially when it came to Lin Yi's affairs. She replied, "Are you talking about the area on and above the 5th floor of the teaching building?"

Lin Yi nodded: "Yes, I want to go take a look... Do you want to go together? But don't worry, today is different from the past. The exploration relationship of being 'cannon fodder' is over. We are friends now, and I am only asking you as a friend."

The relationship between people will change. After an experience of life and death together, the friendship naturally gets better.

Li Hui Yuan's eyes lit up, and some kind of eager light seemed to be flashing in her watery big eyes.

"Eh, are you saying that the cannon fodder has become... a fuck buddy?"