Chapter 40

The sound of a broom sweeping through the fallen leaves echoed.

The old school building of Zhongzhou Academy was located at the foot of a mountain outside the high school and university sections.

No, it would be more accurate to say it was located deep in the mountains.

Because of its remote location, this place made significant contributions to the country during World War II by training students. However, due to its remoteness, it had been abandoned for many years. Although it was maintained every four or five years, the old school building was now completely different from other places.

Zhou Xian wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked at the road leading to the old school building.

Their task was to clean this road all the way to the old school building.

Only after they finished cleaning this area would they start cleaning the old school building.

The fallen leaves in the deep mountains were like waves on a beach, endless no matter how much they swept.

After all, this was a desolate place that had been abandoned for many years.

If they wanted to clean the entire area, it would probably take at least two or three days.

"Those girls must have found an excuse because it's too hard here..."

Seeing the condition of the old school building, Wang Ge couldn't help but complain.

"This place has no value at all. Even if it's an old school building, there's no need to clean the road in front of it completely..."

"Exactly, it would have been better to clean the swimming pool. After cleaning, we could have gone swimming. In this hot summer, making us run into the mountains..."

"Right, right. Those girls are probably having a great time right now. Tsk, I really want to go see."

Some people were also complaining.

"What are you talking about! Let's hurry up! We aim to finish this in a couple of days! Once we're done, you can go to the swimming pool to see the girls or cool off!"

Although Wang Ge was also complaining, he was the class leader of the cleaning team, so he immediately put on a serious face.

"Zhou Xian, you're growing up, so don't become a lazy person."

Beidou, standing next to Zhou Xian, suddenly said.

"..."

Beidou's words weren't the problem, but her voice... was a bit too loud...

Zhou Xian awkwardly looked around and found that the college students who had been complaining had stopped talking, and his face turned red for some reason.

"Cough, cough... Beidou, why are you still wearing a swimsuit?" Zhou Xian quickly changed the subject.

"It's cool, isn't it~"

Beidou spun around, looking very happy.

"If you're not afraid of bugs, I have no problem with it."

Zhou Xian looked down at himself. He had specifically changed into long pants and sports shoes to prevent mosquito bites.

"Is that so? I haven't seen a single bug."

Beidou's feet were small, delicate, and smooth, with no signs of mosquito bites.

"Ah, your constitution that doesn't attract mosquitoes is really great." Zhou Xian shook his head, suddenly remembering how last year he had chosen sandals and shorts for the sake of coolness, only to end up with countless bites on his legs.

Comparing people can really be frustrating...

"Hey, Zhou Xian, shall we go explore the old school building later?"

Hearing Beidou's words, Zhou Xian felt both amused and exasperated: "Are you a primary school student?"

"It's interesting, isn't it?"

Beidou pouted.

"Don't worry, after we clean this area, we'll go to the old school building to clean it in a few days. You'll have plenty of time to explore then." From another perspective, it was already quite impressive that Beidou, who had learned social skills from anime, could behave like this, but it was just too "middle school-like"...

"Zhou Xian, don't you know that if there are too many people, the ghosts will run away, and then you won't see anything. That would be a pity."

This girl probably didn't realize that she had already been labeled as a "middle school-like" girl by Zhou Xian.

However, the completely unaware "middle school-like" girl seemed very enthusiastic about exploring: "For some reason, I feel that if we go to the old school building now, something good will happen. Zhou Xian, why don't we go after we finish cleaning? Isn't this world wonderful?"

"..."

The ghost story of the old school building was just a story from a certain era.

Moreover, why was someone still obsessed with believing in such outdated stories from fifty or sixty years ago!

"Zhou Xian, if you agree, I can be your girlfriend!"

Girl, where is your dignity?!

"Ah, okay, okay! But no girlfriend talk!"

Zhou Xian believed that if he continued to refuse, Beidou would only become more persistent.

Because it was thanks to Beidou that he had saved Su Wenlong last time, Zhou Xian decided to repay her a favor.

After the cleaning work was finished, Zhou Xian and Beidou came to this place.

The old school building of Zhongzhou Academy still retained the architectural style of the mid-20th century. When Zhou Xian and Beidou arrived, it felt as if time had returned to that era.

The school building was surrounded by rusty iron railings, but the old iron gate was temporarily opened for cleaning.

On the wall in front of the school building, there were some slogans, though they were no longer clear, but it seemed to say something like "Study hard, protect the country."

"This place is so quiet and mysterious." Beidou looked around, greedily trying to take in everything.

In the afterglow of the sunset, the place was bathed in the red of the evening sky, giving a very strange feeling, as if they were outside of time, watching the world pass by.

Although he was accompanying Beidou, Zhou Xian was also captivated by the beauty of the scene.

"This world is truly wonderful."

Beidou marveled.

"Is that so?" Zhou Xian suddenly thought of the game world. "If you talk about wonders, the world in the game 'Dragon Tomb' has the most, right?"

"Hmm, is that so? I find that world a bit boring and monotonous. After all, this world is more comfortable. Hmm... look, in a world without magic or sorcery, humans can achieve such miracles. Isn't that amazing?"

Beidou's words left Zhou Xian speechless: "I didn't realize it before, but now that you mention it, I suddenly find that our world can be so beautiful."

"Right. In this world, nothing is taken for granted. Anything that seems natural is the result of the efforts and contributions of our predecessors. This exquisite world is not a coincidence but the result of generations of hard work."

"Right, in any world, nothing is taken for granted. Only what we can truly hold in our hands is real."

"Right, so can I go inside...?"

"Of course not!"

Zhou Xian rolled his eyes. This guy suddenly said this, thinking about such things.

"Don't look at our old school building as dilapidated as it is; it's now a cultural heritage site. Although our cleaning team can enter and exit, it's only during working hours. You can't go in now. Besides, there are many artifacts from the Republic of China era inside, not very important, but what if you damage them?"

"Tsk—"

Beidou looked disappointed.

"Alright, since we've seen it, let's go back. We'll come back here in a few days, and you'll have plenty of time to wander around then."

"Just one more look—just one more look—" Beidou said pitifully, "Let me walk around here once more."

"Alright, I'll wait for you at the entrance of the school building."

In fact, Zhou Xian was preparing to guard the entrance to prevent Beidou from sneaking in.

"Okay, okay! That's fine!"

Not understanding why Beidou was so interested in the old school building, Zhou Xian could only let her wander around and keep an eye out for any patrol robots—being discovered by one of those would be bad.

The old school building wasn't very large, but it wasn't small either. It had once been a sacred place for students, and Zhou Xian still felt a sense of reverence for it.

"But what's going on here?"

Zhou Xian looked at the old school building and felt a strange sensation.

The more he stared at the old school building, the stronger this feeling became.

The old school building seemed out of place with the entire environment.

"Too out of place, what's going on here?"

This sudden sense of disharmony made Zhou Xian look at the old school building again.

"——!"

In a daze, Zhou Xian seemed to notice strange characters on the wall of the old school building facing the entrance. These characters were not Chinese but a strange pictographic script.

"Yao race script?!"

Zhou Xian was incredibly surprised.

The characters looked very much like Yao race script. If it weren't for the unclear meaning, Zhou Xian would have already identified it as the Yao race script from the game world.

"Zhou Xian, I'm done. This place is really nice—hey, what are you looking at?"

At that moment, Beidou, who had finished her tour, suddenly walked over.

"No, nothing..."

Zhou Xian was a bit puzzled.

Just now... was it an illusion?

For some reason, after seeing those characters, a strong sense of unease had flooded his heart.

"Alright, since you're done, let's leave. Zhou Xian called out to Beidou and prepared to leave."

"Eh, can't we stay a bit longer?"

Zhou Xian shook his head: "It's almost evening, and this is a mountain. Let's go back quickly!"

Zhongzhou City has karst topography. Although it was a mountain, it wasn't far away. However, it wouldn't be safe to stay in the dark.

"Ah, okay."

Beidou looked a bit helpless.

Zhou Xian took one last look at the old school building before leaving.

However, the sense of unease in his heart lingered...