Her words came as a surprise, leaving Ling Yun bewildered. Just as he was about to speak, the ordinary-looking girl suddenly said, "Ling Yun, thank you for letting me go. I promise I will never harm you again, but I still hope you can keep my secret and not tell your girlfriend."
“Xia Zhen is my friend, but not my girlfriend.” Ling Yun really didn’t want to explain too much about this issue. “I promise to keep your secret. You can go now. I need to go back too, otherwise the dorm will be closed.”
"Thank you," the ordinary girl said simply. "I'll come back to see you again." With that, she leaped into the vast night sky. Her figure was as light and graceful as a swallow, and in the blink of an eye, she became a tiny black dot in Ling Yun's eyes.
“…………” Ling Yun watched the ordinary girl’s departing figure, his eyes filled with deep thought. He really couldn’t understand what was so noteworthy about him. He had only been in college for less than a week, and military training was not yet over, yet he had already encountered so many bizarre things. Ling Yun didn’t know if he was just too lucky or too unlucky.
Where is the ghost possessing Yang Yuqi? How could it have disappeared without a trace? And halfway there, a strange, ordinary girl suddenly appeared. Ling Yun's fists clenched suddenly. He suddenly had a feeling that he had one foot caught in some kind of whirlpool, and that the peaceful campus life he used to have seemed unrealistic.
With a whoosh, a small object pierced the long night sky and flew swiftly towards Lingyun. Although the figure of the ordinary girl had disappeared, her voice seemed to still be there: "Put this in your dormitory, it might come in handy."
Ling Yun caught the small object with his hand. He opened his palm and saw that it was an ordinary black clothes hook with double-sided tape on one end, so it could be stuck to the wall and clothes could be hung on it.
Ling Yun carefully stroked the top of the clothes hook. The black plastic surface suddenly became somewhat transparent. Following the faint starlight, Ling Yun's heart skipped a beat. The top of this black clothes hook was actually a small, well-disguised camera. Even in bright light, an ordinary person would probably have difficulty spotting it without careful observation. This was definitely not something that could be sold on the market.
Although Qin Zhengwei and his two companions were outwardly polite to Ling Yun, they secretly harbored deep resentment towards him. Ling Yun was naturally aware of this, but he didn't take Qin Zhengwei and his group seriously, assuming that a few freshmen couldn't cause much trouble. However, since this ordinary-looking girl had asked him to install cameras in the dormitory, she must know something. It seemed he needed to be more careful, and Ling Yun couldn't help but feel secretly vigilant.
Ling Yun wondered what the ordinary girl's name was. Suddenly, he felt a strong curiosity about her, and with a flicker, he disappeared into the vast night sky.
Chapter Forty Archives
When he returned to the dormitory, the entire dormitory building had already turned off the lights according to school regulations. Qin Zhengwei and the other two were still half asleep and didn't even know that Ling Yun had returned. Ling Yun quietly stuck the clothes hooks to the wall facing the door, so that not only could the situation in the bedroom be seen at a glance, but also most of the living room could be seen.
After entering the barrier again, Ling Yun couldn't help but tell Yu Xiujie about his experiences over the past few days. Yu Xiujie was his most trusted teacher, so naturally he could confide everything to him.
Yu Xiujie listened silently but said nothing, only nodding expressionlessly: "It seems you've been drawn into the troubles of those with superpowers. What you need to do now is speed up your cultivation. Only by becoming stronger will you have the ability to protect yourself when you encounter danger in the future."
"But teacher, I have already done my best in my cultivation," Ling Yun said with a wry smile.
“I know,” Yu Xiujie said calmly. “So I haven’t been idle during your cultivation time. I’ve mainly been working on changing the structure of the barrier. Now, one night of cultivation inside the barrier is equivalent to twice the time spent outside. At this rate, you can enter the fifth layer of the barrier and engage in real supernatural battles in a month!”
"Yes, teacher." Ling Yun nodded, seemingly understanding, without paying attention to what it meant to slow down the time within the barrier by half. "Teacher, what is the battle within the fifth layer of the barrier? Is it, like now, also a sparring match using supernatural techniques?"
Yu Xiujie shook his head: "The fifth layer of the barrier is actually a simulation of different segments of reality. The level of realism is completely identical. You will encounter various types of opponents arranged without any rules. The strength of the opponents will change according to the growth of your strength. Moreover, it is not just a simple fight. You will encounter all kinds of traps, ambushes, and assassinations. Just like the program in the computer game you mentioned, everything in the fifth layer of the barrier is random. I can't give you any hints. It all depends on yourself."
Ling Yun was dumbfounded. Was this the legendary online game? He took a deep breath: "It sounds interesting?"
“It is indeed extremely interesting.” Yu Xiujie smiled meaningfully. “I need to remind you that the fifth layer of the barrier is a barrier with obstacles. If you cannot ultimately win in a certain simulated reality, you will be trapped inside forever, and even I will not be able to save you.”
"Mr. Yu, is it possible that I will starve to death?"
"With your current physical condition, you can definitely go without drinking any water for a month."
"…………" Ling Yun was completely speechless.
A month of peaceful life passed quickly.
In the morning, Lingyun stood in front of a classical two-story building behind the main building on campus.
"Student, this is the student archives, not a public place. Unauthorized personnel are not allowed to enter." A woman in her thirties, wearing thick black glasses and looking like she was going through menopause, didn't even lift her eyelids as she was engrossed in a romance novel, speaking routinely. Then she leaned to the side, revealing a white wooden sign with red lettering behind her: "No entry for non-staff members."
Ling Yun smiled faintly: "Teacher, I have a note from Xia Zhen, the student council president, here. I need to check a student's file. I don't need to take it with me. It will only take about ten minutes. Would you be so kind as to do me this favor?"
He was standing in the student archives of Jinghua University, which houses the files of all students, including freshmen. These files are not simply thin resumes with birth dates and other basic information. They record every student's life from birth to the present, including details of parents, relatives, social relationships, family background, and major life events such as the middle school and college entrance exams, complete with various government certifications. It is one of China's most unique forms of population recording.
The middle-aged woman was clearly very dedicated to her job. Since sitting at the door every day as a boring security guard was utterly tedious, reading romance novels became her only form of entertainment. Of course, she occasionally found a sense of accomplishment in refusing to let students who came to inquire about their files, even if their paperwork was incomplete. This unfamiliar student seemed to be a perfect example.
She lazily put down the romance novel she had been reading so much that the corners were curled up, crossed her legs, and stretched them out onto the table where the red paint was almost completely peeling off. She said, word by word, "Student, the student council president is also a student, not a teacher. Go back and complete the formalities before you come back. Don't waste my time, okay? I still want to read my novel."
A piece of paper floated lightly onto her somewhat swollen legs, and Ling Yun's calm voice came from beside her: "Teacher, this is a verification certificate issued by the Department of Bioengineering. Is this enough now?"
The middle-aged woman grabbed the certificate and scanned it several times as if it were a check before taking her leg off the table and saying sullenly, "You only have half an hour. You can't stay any longer after that."
"Thank you, teacher." Ling Yun chuckled, gracefully walked past the middle-aged woman into the archives, leaving behind a parting remark: "Teacher, your pants are torn, go back and mend them properly."
"Ah?" The middle-aged woman was startled and quickly stood up, looking around for the tear in her pants. After a while, she noticed a small hole in the thigh of her pants. She couldn't help but think angrily: This little guy has pretty sharp eyes.
Ling Yun went straight up to the right side of the second floor, where the freshmen's records were kept. When the records were transferred, they were already arranged in order according to the department, class, and each student's student number.
Reaching the second-to-last storage room at the end of the corridor, Ling Yun stopped, gently pushed the door open, and then quietly closed it behind her. The sign on the storage room indicated the department: English Department.
The storage room was lined with several rows of file racks about two meters high. On the iron racks were neatly arranged student files, and under each file was a piece of paper labeled with the student's name and student ID number.
Ling Yun stopped in the middle of a row of file shelves. His gaze fell on a file, and after a moment, he reached out and took it down. Opening the lid, he revealed a pale yellow cover. On the cover was a one-inch color photograph of a girl, the ordinary-looking girl, with her name and grade printed in underlined print: Gu Xiaorou, female, English Department.
Ling Yun slowly flipped through Gu Xiaorou's file, but only glanced at each page before turning over it. He quickly reached the last page and then put the file back on the iron shelf.
"Have you discovered any secrets?" A somewhat familiar voice suddenly rang out.
Ling Yun was startled. He hadn't even noticed someone enter the storage room. When he turned around, he saw the ordinary-looking girl, Gu Xiaorou, standing between two rows of file shelves, looking at him expressionlessly.
"I didn't find anything." Ling Yun shrugged awkwardly. Peeking into someone's file didn't seem like a respectable thing to do. Ling Yun originally wanted to find an excuse, but after thinking about it, he finally decided to tell the truth.
Gu Xiaorou slowly said, "I am very disappointed in you. For ordinary files like this, forgery is commonplace. You're just wasting your time trying to find clues in the files."
“I originally intended to check someone else’s file, but then I suddenly remembered that I didn’t know your name, so I just took a look.” Ling Yun raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t intend to pry into your secrets. Believe it or not.”
"Whether you believe it or not doesn't matter, I've already seen your file anyway." Gu Xiaorou smiled, a rare occurrence. "I'm not at a disadvantage."
Suddenly, she raised her hand, and three thin sheets of paper flew towards Ling Yun like pieces of iron: "It's a good thing you haven't looked at their files yet, otherwise it would have been a waste of time. These are their real identities, you can take a look."
Chapter Forty-One Revenge
Ling Yun took the paper in astonishment: "How did you know I was investigating who?" He glanced down at the paper, and his expression immediately changed: "Is this real? No wonder!"
"There are only a few people connected to you, so you can probably guess who you're looking for. Good that you know. I'm leaving." Gu Xiaorou turned to leave.
"Hey, wait a minute..." Ling Yun looked up and suddenly called out.