Chapter 63

Chapter 63: Entry Two

Yuzhou's dialect is quite amusing.

If it were on the Spring Festival Gala, it might just rival Northeast dialect for supremacy.

This was Mingyue's thought after eavesdropping for ten minutes while crouching behind a bush and rock.

Bai Linlang looked at the backside in front of her, rolled her eyes, and whispered, “Didn’t you say you couldn’t understand?”

“It’s been ten minutes. Aren’t your knees numb?”

Mingyue turned around and signaled with her finger: “Shh, I can understand part of it now.”

“I also tried to remember as much of the first part as I could, I’ll find someone who speaks Yuzhou dialect later and have them translate.”

Bai Linlang: “……”

Bai Linlang stared: “Do you remember it?”

Mingyue: “Why wouldn’t I?”

“Yuzhou dialect is very catchy, much easier to remember than Wenzhou dialect.”

“Wenzhou dialect is practically another language.”

Bai Linlang felt suffocated.

“Brother Ming, could your skill points be any more overpowered?” The head of the room, Bai, asked willingly.

She wasn’t really expecting a response, but Mingyue answered seriously:

“Of course.”

“My brother has an eidetic memory, he can recite things just by hearing them.”

“Compared to him, I’m just trash.”

Bai Linlang: “……”

I’m so stupid, why did I even ask.

Bai Linlang, flustered and embarrassed, slapped Mingyue’s head and turned it back around: “Pay attention!”A few of the Yuzhou-affiliated Ghost Slayers were very chatty. Despite the gloomy sky and thick fog, it didn’t affect their mood in the slightest, and they kept talking loudly.

One of the seniors even rappelled down into the ground fissure, and when pulled up, his face was flushed red from the high temperature underground.

Truly, the skilled are also daring.

Mingyue thought to herself, quickly guessing and learning Yuzhou dialect while focusing on extracting the Fengdu information held by the organizers.

The seniors’ conversation was very open, and no one knew if they were aware that the exam candidates were not far away:

“This year there’s been quite a few fissures. Counting down 49 days, this is already the sixth one, right?”

“Who cares, the yin and yang are clashing fiercely, happens every year.”

“Last year wasn’t this weird.”

“Let’s not talk too far, if this continues, the exam at Xiang University will definitely take advantage, that’s not good.”

“Yeah, with so many walking corpses and yin creatures, if this keeps spreading, won’t those who practice corpse herding profit from it?”

“Stop it, corpse herding? They’re using puppet techniques. Besides, you all know the quality of Xiang University students entering the association these past few years—it’s not as good as it was in the first ten years of this century.”

The one speaking was the senior who had just gone down into the fissure.

Mingyue, fully focused behind the rock, was doing her “Yuzhou dialect listening practice”: “…”

She furrowed her brows and wrote a summary of the conversation in her phone’s notes.

Bai Linlang quickly climbed over to read it upside down.

The conversation behind the rock continued:

“Don’t know what Xiang University is doing. A few years ago, they were mixing well with Jinda’s technical stream, but now they’ve turned to the idealism stream of Emperor University.”

“Jinda has been declining these past few years. People go higher, water flows lower—normal.”

“I’m not lamenting, but think about it. If Xiang University had stuck to the curriculum of the last century, focusing on technical skills and neglecting the humanities... I know it’s hard to stand behind the top leaders, but with this year’s exam, if they still have the technical level of the last century, wouldn’t they have a chance to turn things around? My wife helped with the fissures twice, and she graduated from Xiang University. She’s almost regretting it.”

“Regretting what?”

“When Xiang University changed its curriculum, they invited many alumni back to discuss it. They sided with Jinda and Emperor University. She voted in favor of the changes.”

“Sigh, it’s a shame. The Dragon Gate’s ahead, but we can’t leap.”This sentence "can't jump over the Dragon Gate" was also understood by Bai Linlang. She and Mingyue exchanged glances, and their eyes sparked with a silent conversation:

【Xiang University jumping over the Dragon Gate? Why?】

【They say there are a lot of yin creatures this year, so... does Xiang University's puppet technique specialize in controlling yin creatures?】

【Damn! This is not fair!】

【Hmm, I agree, but listening to these seniors, they said Xiang University messed up in recent years. They’ve switched from materialism to idealism now.】

【Tch, opportunistic. They used to criticize Jinda for focusing too much on technical skills and neglecting the humanities, but now they’re sucking up to Emperor University. Look at them now. Tsk.】

【I'm curious, why didn’t these Yuzhou-affiliated seniors mention Yuzhou University? Didn’t they set up a forum with a "military order" to take first place?】

【Silly Ming Er, just because they’re Yuzhou-affiliated Ghost Slayers doesn’t mean they’re actually from Yuzhou—does where you work have anything to do with your place of origin?】

【...True.】

The two continued listening for a while. Their knees were sore and their butts were aching from kneeling. The Ghost Slayers finally finished clearing the fissure and were about to draw in the walking corpses and close the rift.

“…” Mingyue suddenly jumped up and grabbed Bai Linlang, sprinting back like a wild dog set loose.

Behind them, the Ghost Slayer who was lighting the talismans let out a chuckle but didn’t chase them.

Cheating was inevitable.

Moreover, discussing the exam topics before the test was a usual practice.

This year’s hints were so obvious—the rift happened to intersect with these two fortunate schools, and there was no need to hide it anymore.

After all, they were later arrivals, and the seniors would take care of them. Nothing wrong with that.

Look, we haven’t even said anything yet.

The two little girls ran off like rabbits.

Li Hesan, though wild and rough, was from a prestigious family. Before coming, he had already checked the headcounts of Xiang University and Jinda. He arranged two waves of vehicles—one wave of Hummers went ahead to seize (dangerous) opportunities, and another wave of extended Lincolns followed closely behind, packing the people from both schools like pigs, hauling them back to Fengdu.

As expected, everyone was easily subdued by Young Master Li’s simple and crude display of wealth. When the second wave of Lincolns arrived, the "piglets" willingly climbed into the cars, and they were taken to Fengdu, leaving the Yuzhou transportation department staff to clean up the mess.

Transportation Department: “…”

Transportation Department: “I’m exhausted. Don’t want to talk.”Once they entered Fengdu's territory, the clouds above were turning almost black, heavy and pressing down on them as if a dramatic storm was coming, like the special effects of an apocalyptic film.

Chen Xiu was sitting beside, looking at Mingyue's "listening notes." Ming Erge was leaning against the glass, his cheek pressed against it, but it didn’t stop him from exclaiming:

"I have to admire the residents of Fengdu."

"This kind of phenomenon happens frequently here, with corpses popping up one moment, then earthquakes and rifts the next. Even a truckload of yin-yang lies wouldn’t be able to cover it up. But those people? They just keep doing their thing, it's amazing."

"Their mental resilience."

"This... they'd be wasted not being Ghost Slayers."

Chen Xiu frowned, not responding to the younger student’s sigh.

Guo Tianyang, who was beside them, playfully answered:

"They're all residents of an old yin-yang territory, probably settled here for years. What haven’t they seen?"

"Living next to Fengdu for ten years, their yang energy could rival that of a three-year Ghost Slayer."

Mingyue still felt it was unbelievable:

"But... every year at the exam, around the imperial temple, didn’t they say there are real NPCs?" Don’t real people get scared or affected?

NPC.

Guo Tianyang burst into laughter at this explanation.

"Don’t worry, Mingyue."

"Since the organizers are using someone else’s territory, they’ll definitely make sure it’s safe."

"Every household has a protective charm posted, for peace of mind."

Mingyue: "What kind of charm? That sounds powerful."

Guo Tianyang thought for a moment: "It could be the Xuan Yun Charm, or maybe the Big Dipper God Charm, hard to say."

One prevents disasters, the other alleviates misfortunes.

Mingyue let out a sound of acknowledgment, signaling that she understood."Xuan Yun Charm is one of the Eight Divine Charms. This... won’t it be criticized as being biased towards the Spirit-Sealing Institute?" After all, the Eight Divine Charms originated from the rules of the Spirit-Sealing Institute.

Guo Tianyang didn’t care: "Is the refrigerator too good because the manufacturer is skilled?"

"If people are going to criticize us, they should first argue about how Yuda managed to set up a Fengdu campus—"

Before he could finish, Chen Xiu spoke from behind:

"Mingyue."

"Ah."

Mingyue quickly perked up her ears.

"Are these listening notes authentic?" Chen Xiu gave a meaningful glance at the luxurious extended Lincoln nearby.

This is "enemy-controlled" territory, speak carefully.

"…"

Mingyue nodded.

Chen Xiu: "So, did the Ghost Slayers mention how to maintain fairness in the exam?" At the same time, he held up his phone, and on the screen was a line of text:

[To prevent recording in the vehicle, do not mention specific details, just answer whether or not.]

Mingyue: "…"

Mingyue nodded. "They didn’t mention it."

"They only talked about who has the advantage."

Hearing this, Chen Xiu rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath, "What’s going on, such a clearly biased exam question…"

Mingyue thought carefully: "Could it be, that they’ll add more?"

Chen Xiu chose his words carefully: "What we already know is complicated enough."

"Simply put, the exam is about seeing who can handle the pressure, who can hold out until the end."

"Even if they increase the difficulty, we won’t even know whether there will be more living people or more dead ones in the exam."Mingyue scratched her head: "Definitely not living people."

That night, the students checked into the hotel arranged by the organizers. The hotel complex was right next to the exam site—

The Fengdu exam site was set up in the Fengdu Ghost City, not including the surrounding living area. The central point was the North Yin Great Emperor Temple (also known as the Emperor's Temple), covering a radius of five kilometers. During the exam, transportation and communication would be cut off, and everything would rely on the communication devices provided by the exam site. The five-square-kilometer area would fall into a 20th-century state with only water and electricity—how students managed would be up to them.

The hotel was built quite well, but it looked gray and eerie.

The Fengdu Ghost City Scenic Area Management Company had already suspended operations for half a month at the request of the Ghost Slayer Association. By the time the evening glow faded, the Ghost City in the distance looked dark and creepy, with strange colors floating in the dim sky.

Room 405 housed three people. An Xueru was hanging clothes on the balcony, looking at the Ghost City for a while before rubbing her arms and coming inside.

"Scary, what are those strange colors? It's too dark to see clearly."

Mingyue's bed was by the balcony. After hearing An Xueru’s words, she sat up, squinted her left eye, and looked out with her right. After a moment, she said:

"Statues, I think."

"Like Ox-Head and Horse-Face, in color."

"Strange, the carving is so ugly."

An Xueru punched her: "Watch your mouth."

"I told you, the underworld is managed by the organizers."

"You’re still talking nonsense on their turf."

Mingyue stuck out her tongue and was hit on the forehead with a bath towel by Bai Linlang, who had just come out of the bathroom:

"Don’t mind her."

"Her big mouth has been a problem for days."

"Didn’t Water West Gate almost end up falling into the underworld—alright, alright, I’m done. Who wants the bathroom?"

Mingyue, with the fluffy white towel on her head, snorted:

"Fengdu isn’t managed by the underworld…"

At the Imperial University hotel, public rest area.Li Hesen was reviewing the vehicle surveillance footage.

Su Hui, sitting nearby, was typing, converting the latest gossip from Fengdu into a PDF and sending it to the group chat. He glanced over at Li Hesen:

"Any results?"

"Did you find anything?"

Li Hesen furrowed his brows, rubbing his red hair as if plucking chicken feathers. "No."

"The surveillance recorded a segment where Chen Xiu from Jin University was talking to my younger sister, but—"

"They were talking on their phones, damn, the whole conversation was about the exam content."

"During the land split, I clearly saw Mingya sneaking over to eavesdrop."

"Annoying, babbling nonsense, not talking about the main issue."

Su Hui, the president of the Spirit-Sealing Academy, smiled slightly. "Junior, don't worry too much."

"If we find something, then we do. If not, it's no big deal."

"Eavesdropping wouldn't be something the Spirit-Sealing family would think of."

"Let’s check other cars, maybe we’ll find something."

The next morning, Mingyue went for a run at dawn. She was at the fitness equipment area in the square when she bumped into some students chatting casually.

After overhearing a few sentences, Mingyue was terrified:

"Are you sure the main exam question is about the land裂?"

"Damn, Fengdu is so small, how much is it going to裂?"

"I bet after this, the Geology Institute of Yu University will come to investigate, hahaha."

"True, Yu Zhou is already in an earthquake-prone zone."

Mingyue: "......"

Mingyue almost started doubting whether she had been talking in her sleep last night.

How did everyone already know that the exam was related to the land裂?

I didn’t say anything random!I’m wronged!

Miss Ming thought in frustration.

But... these students seem to be focusing on the wrong points.