Rules-related weird stories: 4016.

Chapter 640 "The Principal's Office"

"You fucking deserve a beating!" "Lin Yi" chuckled sinisterly, seemingly bearing a resemblance to Kuai Hongji.

"Okay, okay... don't hit me, don't hit me..." Wei Liang raised his hands in surrender. "Let's get down to business. Since that's the case, you need to have a name, right..."

"Does a name... really matter?" Lin Yi asked, munching on potato chips.

"Very important."

"If it's very important, then just pick one."

"Hey, you're kidding me! I said it's important! Hey, stop eating snacks and come up with a name first, Cao!"

Wei Liang reached out and snatched the bag of snacks from his hand.

But the moment each bag of snacks left Lin Yi's hand, it immediately split into colorful, glass-like crystals, as if he had grabbed the "original Ash Apostle". When it fell into Wei Liang's hand, the glass-like crystals would then look like they had left a bag of snacks.

"Snacks..." Lin Yi couldn't help but narrow his eyes.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Wei Liang shouted, "Lin Shi? What kind of ridiculous name is that! You're the 'protagonist' this time, shouldn't you be a little more serious!"

"For the first time... the main character... let's not call it snacks, let's call it Zero One..."

"Hey, you can't really be that casual...?"

"It's alright." As Lin Yi spoke, he caught a glimpse of the cover of the book "Layer Anchor Points and Architectural Design between Black Moon Outpost and S City University" left behind by the principal.

The cover seemed to be covered with strange symbols, some of which looked like mathematical formulas, and others like pictorial runes. Among them was a string of text that looked like something like "4-0-1-6".

Just as "Lin Yi" saw the string of mysterious symbols, countless fragments flashed before his eyes, only to disappear immediately.

"Zero One it is then. So, Old Zero, what kind of help do you need?"

As soon as Wei Liang finished speaking, the shadowy area resembling the cabinet council immediately swelled with activity, with countless figures seemingly eager to try and awaiting "his" summons.

But Lin Yi made the final decision as soon as he opened his mouth: "Let's stick to the old rules. There are already many variables, and the tactics have changed, but the familiar combination still needs to be retained."

"Hehehe..." A series of cold laughs echoed from the dark shadows, seemingly expressing extreme dissatisfaction with "his" hasty decision.

"I've made up my mind, so stop clamoring." Lin Yi frowned slightly, his eyes unusually serious, as if he were suppressing some strange thoughts surging within him.

Thus, in the dimly lit space resembling a cabinet council meeting, several beams of light descended, like spotlights, locking onto four figures in the seats.

When the spotlight shone on him, the light falling on "Lin Yi" became somewhat diluted, as if it had been evenly distributed.

Lin Yi's gaze followed the changes in light and shadow.

All four figures were blurry and indistinct. They had looked humanoid in the darkness, but now they had no form at all.

They were respectively a mass of dark gray gas, surrounded by countless golden sand-like glimmers, like stars and spring water, reflecting the dim, dark gray moonlight of two rounds.

A cloud of blue-gold gas, within which were a pair of scarlet eyes, filled with murderous intent.

A dark green mass with hints of gold, its core resembling an emerald gem, drifting erratically as if it might vanish at any moment.

And a wisp of pale golden light, scattered like stars, completely invisible under the spotlight, like nothingness, or like a vortex.

These four auras, at first glance, appear to be just auras, but upon closer inspection, one can discern that there seem to be human figures beneath them...

"In that case, let's each choose a name..."

Do you need a name? What's your name?

Lin Yi said, "I'll call myself... Zero... One..."

"Are you serious?" Wei Liang asked one last time to confirm. "Zero One...it sounds awful..."

“Then let’s go with ‘Lin Yi’,” said “Lin Yi”.

"So what should we call ourselves...?"

"Since we have zero and one, let's just count the rest... zero, one, two... three, four, five! Hahahaha..."

"What do you think?"

As they chatted and laughed, the figures in the shadows slowly dimmed, and in a daze, everything seemed to be distorted.

"Whether you feel it or not doesn't matter anymore, first come, first served. Since none of you are saying anything, I'll go..."

When the first spotlight on the dark staircase went out, a figure appeared eerily on the table in the center.

A slender figure was surrounded by countless golden sand-like glitters, reflecting the dark, blackish-gray moonlight of two orifices.

"Two moons make up Kuai... so I'll call myself Kuai Hongji."

"Then I... Wei San?"

Another beam of light dimmed, and then a blue-gold aura appeared on the table.

The energy writhed and shifted, then seemed to shrink completely, retreating into the body of a fat man.

This is clearly a picture of Wei Shan.

"Use a homophone?"

"Wei Shan?" the fat man asked.

Lin Yi looked around. "And what about you?"

Kuai Hongji chuckled sinisterly: "Since Young Master Tian isn't going to speak, why don't you call him Old Fourth Tian and Old Fifth Mao?"

"Mao Laowu is laughing his head off, Mao is practically a good-for-nothing..."

"Mao...waste...flying...five...why not call him...Mao Fei...Yang?"

"Mao Feiyang is alright... Tian Laosi, what about you?"

"It doesn't matter," Tian Bufan said slowly. "Let's just call him Tian Bufan."

As they spoke, two figures gradually appeared on the table. The dimly lit, cabinet-like environment dimmed completely as the group gathered, and finally, with the light converging, only a dormitory room remained in the darkness.

In the dormitory, Wei Liang sat on one side, while Lin Yi, Tian Bufan, Wei Shan, Kuai Hongji, and Mao Feiyang were scattered around.

"How casual..." Wei Liang shook his head helplessly, "These are all names that could potentially go down in history."

“‘Unofficial history,’ I suppose.” Tian Bufan smiled.

“You can’t be too absolute in your statements. As the saying goes, official histories are always biased, while unofficial histories are the truth,” Wei Liang said.

Lin Yi shook his head slightly: "Whether it's official history or unofficial history, it doesn't really matter. Let's live in the present and leave the rest to future generations to tell."

Wei Liang said, "Don't worry, time will remember everything."

As he spoke, everything around him suddenly rippled and undulated, and Lin Yi found that everything he saw gradually became blurry, as if the reflection in a mirror had been washed away by water.

At the same time, he began to hear Tian Bufan's voice: "That's roughly the whole story... Old Lin, it's time to wake up, wake up."

Tian Bufan's voice was like the last wave stirring up this mirage, causing everything around him to distort and change. As his vision cleared, he saw Mao Feiyang's figure once again.

Gradually, everything around me became clearer.

Lin Yi was surprised to find that this was a natural tree hole. The surrounding walls and dome were covered with ancient, gnarled veins, and some substances on the inner walls that resembled fluorescent moss emitted a cold, eerie green light.

The entire tree hollow is almost entirely illuminated by a lamp inlaid with mysterious amber above the dome. This lamp, which looks like it was formed by vines, resembles a bird's nest. The hollowed-out lamp wall releases wisps of light, illuminating the entire tree hollow.

Inside that amber bird's nest lamp, it seemed as if a mysterious flame was floating.

The flame looked soft and not dazzling. If you didn't look closely, you would only feel that the lamp provided some light. But if you looked closely, you would find that this mysterious flame was constantly emitting a lot of glitter as it burned, like stardust falling.

However, once these stardust particles fall from the hollowed-out lamp wall, they immediately disappear and never reach the ground.

Before long, Lin Yi, who was staring at the lamp, gradually felt his senses begin to slow down, and everything seemed to slow down.

Realizing something was wrong, he quickly looked away and then looked at other parts of the tree hole.

Inside the tree hollow was a strange desk, formed entirely of thick, sturdy branches or some kind of strong root system intertwined together.

There was nothing particularly eye-catching on the desk except for a few rolled-up parchment scrolls and bamboo slips stacked together, and a crystal ball with a faint mist swirling around it, perched on a small wooden stand.

On the floor beneath the desk, there were faint patterns that looked somewhat similar to the starry sky patterns on the bluestone floor of the observatory. In the corner, there seemed to be a woven fireplace, from which orange-yellow light rose faintly.

The entire tree hollow was arranged as if it had been carefully prepared, so neat and full of a sense of farewell ritual.

On the inner wall of the tree hole, Lin Yi saw cracks, through which he could see what was outside.

At this moment, Lin Yi's memory fragments connected with the scenes of his previous journey through the star path, and he couldn't help but mutter in surprise, "Is this the 'Principal's Office'?"

“That’s right,” Mao Feiyang replied confidently. “Isn’t it amazing?”

"Amazing..." Lin Yi exclaimed, "I feel like I've traveled through time. The feeling here... is so retro. No, it's not exactly retro, it's just that it feels like I've traveled to some fantastical place..."

"It feels like stepping into a tree hollow where the high elf elder resides in a fantasy world..."

He looked around curiously, his eyes filled with amazement.

He approached the desk step by step, and then saw some strange yet extremely familiar commandments in the crystal ball shrouded in a light mist—"4-0-1-6".

"This is..." Lin Yi gently touched the crystal ball. The mist swirled around him, making his will solidify. Then, in the form of a phantom genie, it floated in the tree hole.

A short while later, Tian Bufan, who resembled a genie, floated out and explained, "These are the 'coordinates.' Once the 'Principal's Office' leaves, the coordinate information will change."

Seeing that he and Tian Bufan had both transformed into a strange form with human upper bodies and smoke lower bodies, Lin Yi opened his mouth wide in astonishment: "Young Master Tian, ​​what's going on here...?"

Tian Bufan said calmly, "This is the effect of the 'Star Dream Crystal,' which can materialize will. The 'First Apostles' of ancient times often used this method to hold secret meetings."

“There were once eighteen ‘Star Dream Crystals’ like these, each corresponding to one of the eighteen ‘First Apostles’ who held a title. The one in the ‘Principal’s Office’ should have been passed down from the ‘Astrologer’ who was the last to leave the Black Moon Outpost,” Tian Bufan said, reciting the names with great familiarity.

“An astrologer’s crystal ball?” Lin Yi murmured, an image of a girl in a cloak, reminiscent of a character from a Halloween fairy tale, inexplicably popping into his mind—his preconceived notion of an astrologer…

Tian Bufan said, "There's also a 'Star Dream Crystal' on our dormitory doorplate, so this coordinate information will be synchronized to our dormitory doorplate."

"Won't someone see that?" Lin Yi couldn't help but ask.

Tian Bufan paused for a moment, then looked at him as if he were an idiot: "No."

“Apart from Fusheng Weiliang Tianzun, no one can find our dormitory. Even if they could, nine out of ten people who accidentally saw the door sign would go crazy.”

"Uh..." Lin Yi was speechless for a moment.

Tian Bufan said, "You were stunned for a long time just now. Did you regain some of your memories?"

"Hey, you reminded me just in time!" Lin Yi slapped his forehead, his hand disappearing like smoke through his body before instantly returning to normal. "Didn't we agree that we were just here to get the 'Principal's' notebook and take it out of the school?"

"How come there's not a single mention of that 'notebook' in my memory?"

Upon hearing this, Tian Bufan's expression turned serious, and he touched the bridge of his nose. "Speaking of this notebook... actually, 'Boss' already warned you, 'Principal' doesn't actually have a notebook."

"The person who owns the notebook is Fusheng Weiliang Tianzun."

"Do you remember, do you remember how you got your notebook?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Yi couldn't help but recall that his notebook... Come to think of it, it was Wei Liang who brought it to him on the evening of May 6th!
"hiss--"

"So that notebook... is the so-called 'Principal's Notebook' from our mission?!" Lin Yi gasped, the smoke itself distorting.

Tian Bufan shook his head slightly: "There are still some key events missing before it can become the 'Principal's Notebook'."

"Are you telling me that I didn't become Sun Wukong because I didn't meet the person who imprinted three moles on the soles of my feet?"

Tian Bufan said, "That's roughly the idea..."

"Then...who is my Zixia? The 'Principal'? Or someone else...?" A strong sense of unease suddenly welled up in Lin Yi's heart. "Could it be...that this person will sacrifice themselves for me?"

(End of this chapter)