Rules-related weird stories: 4016.

Chapter 611 Parting is always uneventful
"Is there a problem?" Lin Yi asked quickly.

“The wick has burned out,” the eldest brother said. “After being transformed into an hourglass for so long, the original wick should have been gone long ago.”

"Is it a big problem?" Lin Yi pressed.

"What's the big deal? We'll just catch a grinning angel, take a feathered eye out of it, and put it in there," the leader said calmly.

Lin Yi's expression hardened; he had almost forgotten that he was facing his boss!
After saying that, the eldest brother walked to the wall, took down an old kerosene lamp, and brought it back to Lin Yi.

"You can use this one for now; it doesn't matter if it gets damaged."

Lin Yi took the old kerosene lamp, and as he held it in his hand, a strange sensation surged into his will.

Even with his current level of pollution, he felt as if he had been given a boost of power when he received the old kerosene lamp.

With the support of such a force, he felt that he was already terrifyingly strong even in his normal state.

"Is this the added benefit of an old kerosene lamp?" Lin Yi exclaimed, his mouth agape in surprise.

He could sense two complementary forces within the old kerosene lamp, like some kind of mysterious game prop.

A force brings about a relatively fixed "value".

This boost is of little use to him, but it's conceivable that the dormitory manager might have gained the power to fight against abnormal units in the dormitory building through this enhancement.

Another power brings a "percentage bonus" based on his own strength—this feeling is subtle, but he really feels that he has become stronger to the naked eye.

However, such power... can indeed easily lead people astray, especially for those who have no power at all, and for those who have reached a bottleneck in their power and are unable to break through it.

Watching Lin Yi hold the old kerosene lamp and watch his expression change constantly, the eldest brother remained indifferent and unmoved, seemingly wanting to see how Lin Yi would react when he first obtained the complete old kerosene lamp.

After Lin Yi finished sensing the lamp, he handed the old kerosene lamp to Wei Shan: "Wei Sang, here, use this one from now on."

"Okay." Wei Shan nodded sheepishly, took the old kerosene lamp quite naturally, and then stuffed it into his backpack as usual.

As the old kerosene lamp slipped from his hand, Lin Yi's aura instantly weakened. At first, he felt a sense of loss, as if his power transmission channel had been drained, but he quickly dispelled this discomfort.

On the contrary, Wei Shan showed no reaction at all, calmly accepting it as if it were an ordinary prop.

Even the leader's eyes flashed with surprise.

After exchanging the old kerosene lamps, Lin Yi didn't linger any longer and left the gymnasium with Wei Shan.

"Boss, let's go!" Lin Yi said.

"Hmm." The eldest brother nodded, and then, unusually, said, "Huihui, let's go see Lin Yi off."

"Yay! Let's go~" Upon hearing this, Li Huiyuan happily took the leader's arm, but then she thought it was wrong and ran to Lin Yi's side and took his arm.

Lin Yi was somewhat surprised, clearly not expecting that he was so shameless as to have his boss personally escort him with Li Huiyuan.

The group walked together to the exit of the stadium.

It was exactly 17:40 PM. The streetlights were still on, but night had already enveloped the campus.

It got dark earlier than usual today, and the night seemed to have been covered by a large basin of ink. Although there was no sign of rain yet, the wind and clouds in the sky had already begun to howl, and countless strange creatures were stirring and watching from both inside and outside the layers of the sky.

Although it was dark and the streetlights were off, it did not stop Lin Yi and Wei Shan from leaving the stadium.

The two first took out their respective "Gymnasium Rules" and returned them to the card-and-return machine. Then, Wei Shan took out the old kerosene lamp.

Carrying a lantern allows you to walk around the campus, and it's much more effective than using a lamppost.

"Boss, I'm leaving~ Bye-bye~" As he left the stadium, Lin Yi waved to his boss and Li Huiyuan.

"Bye-bye~" Li Huiyuan said with a grin.

Almost unusually, the leader beside Li Huiyuan also reached out his hand and gently waved it at him after lighting the coal.

"Bye...bye-bye."

Lin Yi paused for a moment, then grinned, and then prepared to leave with Wei Shan.

But just then, a voice suddenly rang out.

"Old Lin."

Upon hearing this voice, Lin Yi's expression changed abruptly, and an undisguised look of surprise appeared on his face.

"Ryoko?!"

That snarling bark must be Wei Liang.

He turned around abruptly and, sure enough, saw Wei Liang walking out of the stadium looking travel-worn.

Beside him was Xia Lian, who claimed she couldn't find him.

"Where did you go? You disappeared as soon as you got to the gymnastics hall?" Lin Yi seemed to be scolding him, but he was actually extremely concerned.

Wei Liang said with a grin, "Well, things happened so suddenly that we had to change our plans at the last minute!"

"Besides, I actually saw you being trained by the boss, but you were in such a miserable state back then that you didn't even notice me!"

"Later, I went to other places."

"If you don't believe me, ask Xia Lian."

Lin Yi looked at Xia Lian with suspicion.

Xia Lian glanced at Wei Liang, then at Lin Yi, her gaze shifting between their faces several times before she said, "Yes, we went to other places."

Lin Yi uttered a loud remark: "Senior Xia Lian, if you've been kidnapped by Wei Liang, you can blink twice."

"Alright, alright, stop talking about kidnapping. I just saw you were leaving, so I came to say goodbye." Wei Liang's expression turned serious. "I don't really have much to say. If you run into any problems, remember to mention my name!"

Lin Yi was taken aback, then felt a warmth in his heart: "I understand!"

"That's fine then. Just wanted to remind you of this. Oh, by the way, remember to tell Teacher Lin that I won't be going back for now."

"it is good."

As Lin Yi spoke, he felt like he had forgotten something, but when he shifted his gaze from Wei Liang and Xia Lian to his boss and Li Huiyuan, he couldn't think of anything. So he called Wei Shan and they stepped into the night together.

Watching Lin Yi and Wei Shan disappear into the light, Li Huiyuan suddenly realized something, looked at her boss, and said, "Boss, is it just my imagination? Why did you suddenly seem so gentle just now?"

The eldest brother lowered his eyelids slightly, a few soft lights flickering in his usually cold eyes: "Because... this is probably the last time we'll see him."

Li Huiyuan was stunned for a moment: "What do you mean, boss?" She had just finished speaking when she suddenly realized that Lin Yi had been in school for six days, and the next physical education class would be on the eighth day.

But Lin Yi and the others won't wait until the eighth day.

Li Huiyuan was only a junior physical education student; to leave the campus, she would need to be at least a second-level physical education student.

In other words, the eldest sister was right; this was probably the last time she would see Lin Yi.

Thinking of this, Li Huiyuan suddenly felt a tightness in her chest, and she even had an impulse to rush into the darkness to find Lin Yi right now.

But the eldest brother gently patted her shoulder and comforted her, "I let him soak in that pool for a long time."

"There are some things that others cannot absorb, but you can. In the future, when you have free time, you can soak in it more often. That is the last thing he left for you."

Li Huiyuan felt increasingly uncomfortable, but she could still control herself for now: "Then... once I reach the second-tier physical education student level, I can go out and find him, right?"

The eldest brother remained silent.

Li Huiyuan quickly shook the boss's arm, pleading, "Boss, please don't let me go! I need to find Lin Yi, I absolutely have to find Lin Yi!"

The eldest brother sighed softly, "Why wouldn't I let you leave the campus? Second-tier physical education students have the freedom to leave the campus. I'm just worried that even if you leave the campus, you won't be able to find him..."

"If he dares to hide from me, I'll stomp his head into the mud!" Li Huiyuan said fiercely, waving her small fist.

The eldest brother knew the principle that the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment, so he gave Li Huiyuan a heads-up early on: "Lin Yi... he is probably not from our world. His body and his will do not seem to have come from the outside world. He is more like a lost person, a mourner, a phantom entangled in paradoxes."

The eldest sister slowly turned around and walked back to the gymnasium, but the tone of her cool voice, uttered in a low murmur, seemed like an ancient melody lingering in the night:

"In the abyss of fog and darkness, lost souls chase after phantoms..."

As she was walking, she suddenly seemed to remember something, turned around and glanced at Wei Liang: "You're the 'Blessed Wei Liang Heavenly Venerable' that Lin Yi mentioned?"

Wei Liang bowed and lowered his head, clasped his hands together, and greeted him like a waiter: "Hehehe... Boss, you must have a bad memory. You asked Xiao Zhou to put my shoes on for me the other day, have you forgotten?"

The eldest sister was slightly taken aback. When Wei Liang mentioned it, she inexplicably remembered this matter. Before this, she had almost subconsciously avoided these things.

"Perfect timing... I have some questions for you, Xia Lian, go and take care of Huihuizi."

As she spoke, she led Wei Liang into the gymnasium.

Xia Lian hurried to the entrance of the stadium.

Li Huiyuan was still at the entrance of the gymnasium, her boss's words echoing in her mind. She felt her chest tighten and her nose sting. Then, she collapsed at the entrance of the gymnasium and burst into tears.

A slight ripple appeared in the darkness. Just as Li Huiyuan was crying, a small, furious angel sculpture slammed down in front of the stadium with a thud, staring straight at Li Huiyuan.

The next moment, the raging angel swung its long club and brought it down on the unsuspecting Li Huiyuan.

Xia Lian hadn't even reached the entrance of the stadium yet when she saw this scene. Instantly, she unleashed a deep blue aura and swiftly traversed the distance like a blur.

"Boom!"

Just as the long stick was about to fall on Li Huiyuan, she raised her arm without warning and grabbed the stick just before Xia Lian could reach her.

Xia Lian suddenly stopped moving, staring dumbfounded at Li Huiyuan.

Li Huiyuan slowly stood up, sobbing. The Angry Angel tried to pull out the long stick, but found that he couldn't budge it at all.

"Why did you have to bother me when I was sad... you jerk!!"

A cold, golden light flickered in her eyes. She turned around, grabbed the long staff, and pulled the raging angel over, punching it in the chest and piercing it through.

The ashes surged, turning into sky-blue flames that burned the enraged celestial master into a clay statue.

Li Huiyuan smashed the enraged angel to the ground, and the murderous intent that had surged across her face vanished. After calling Lin Yi's name twice in a tearful voice, she looked sadly at Xia Lian, who was standing beside her with her jaw practically dropping in astonishment, and said, "Senior Xia Lian... let's go back..."

He even sniffled a couple of times as he spoke.

Xia Lian stared in disbelief. Why did that seemingly yandere-like state just now appear so unpredictable... and extremely dangerous?

……

X023年5月11日，17:56，体育馆区域的鹅卵石道路上。

Wei Shan carried the old kerosene lamp slowly forward. The old kerosene lamp, which looked extremely dim in the gymnasium, created a warm space in the darkness.

Wei Shan, carrying an old kerosene lamp, cast a shadow that seemed magnified by the light, making him look like a security guard.

After walking for a while, the two arrived at the lamppost "Gymnasium-009".

Even in the darkness, the lamppost numbers were still out of order.

Lin Yi suddenly slapped his forehead: "Oh! I remember now!"

"What's wrong, Lao Lin?" Wei Shan was startled by Lin Yi and quickly asked.

Lin Yi sighed, somewhat annoyed, "I suddenly remembered that I didn't say goodbye to the boss properly earlier!"

"This is my last PE class, and the boss isn't leaving the gym area. Do you think I'll ever see him again?"

"Should I say a proper goodbye to the boss? Maybe I should even swallow my pride and give him a hug?"

"Oh my... the boss must have already thought of that, which is why he waved goodbye to me so gently."

Listening to Lin Yi's words, Wei Shan suddenly said, "Old Lin, that's how it is many times. We don't have the chance to deliberately say goodbye."

Lin Yi was stunned when he heard this. He didn't expect Wei Shan to say something so insightful.

Is this what parting is like?
It's like turning off the kids' channel one day and never turning it back on.

So bland.

But... it still leaves one with a slight sense of regret.

"Sigh!" Lin Yi shook his head slightly. "Liangzi didn't even remind me!"

Just then, at 18:00 PM, all the streetlights on campus turned on at the same time.

Under the inky darkness of the night, the scattered lights looked like stars fallen onto the campus.

Lin Yi seemed to have thought of something and suddenly stopped in his tracks.

Lin Yi stroked the lamppost and suddenly smiled: "Wei Sang, I suddenly thought of something fun."

(End of this chapter)