119: Chapter 119 Strange Costumes? Su Yun can enjoy reading them.

The next morning.

Su Yun stepped out with his backpack on.

The sky was still pressed down by the gray of the aftermath of rain, the clouds hanging so low like an unwrung rag, heavily suspended over Linhai City.

The puddles by the roadside hadn't dried, reflecting the grayish-white sky.

Yet, the breakfast stall at the street corner had already set up again.

The oil pan was sizzling.

The soy milk was steaming.

The owner selling steamed buns lifted the steamer lid while discussing with an old man in line whether that giant tentacle over the East Sea last night was truly some new type of official disaster prevention equipment.

Linhai had almost been swallowed by a tsunami last night.

Yet today, people were still lining up to buy soy milk as usual.

Some people even complained that the soy milk wasn't sweet enough.

Su Yun bit into a bun, strolling slowly out of the residential complex entrance.

Watching this scene, a rare sense of complexity rose in his heart.

Humans, as a species, are sometimes truly quite durable.

As long as the sky hasn't collapsed into their own rice bowls, they can still wake up the next day to go to work, go to school, and buy breakfast as usual.

Of course.

If it really does collapse into their rice bowl, they'll most likely first curse about why prices have gone up again.

Just as Su Yun walked to the entrance of the complex, he saw two familiar figures standing by a street lamp.

Arbiter Lei Zhen.

Arbiter Qin Feng.

The two were dressed in casual clothes.

One was pretending to read a newspaper, and the other was pretending to scroll on their phone.

Their postures were quite natural.

If one ignored the black car behind them bearing internal Sanctuary license plates, and the stiff feeling on both of them of "I am disguising myself, but I am doing it very professionally," they did indeed look quite like ordinary passersby.

Su Yun stopped in his tracks.

"Morning."

Arbiter Lei Zhen's body stiffened.

The next second, he immediately squeezed a smile onto his face that was so kindly it was somewhat eerie.

"Student Su, morning."

Arbiter Qin Feng also nodded.

"The weather is nice."

Su Yun looked up at the sky, which was so overcast it was practically dripping ink.

"You Sanctuary people have quite low standards for weather."

Arbiter Qin Feng was silent.

Arbiter Lei Zhen coughed.

"We were just passing by."

Su Yun looked at the black car behind them, then at the license plate.

"Passing by for twenty kilometers?"

Arbiter Lei Zhen didn't blush or skip a beat.

"Morning exercise."

Arbiter Qin Feng: "..."

Su Yun didn't expose them further.

After all, having Sanctuary Arbiters doing their morning exercise downstairs at his place sounded quite reasonable.

At least in this place called Linhai, it wasn't particularly outrageous anymore.

He waved his hand and continued walking towards the school.

Arbiter Lei Zhen watched his back, lowering his voice.

"The Saint is in good spirits today."

Arbiter Qin Feng nodded.

"Which means he wasn't frightened last night."

Arbiter Lei Zhen breathed a sigh of relief.

"Very good, keep maintaining distance; we cannot disturb the Saint's ordinary campus life."

Arbiter Qin Feng looked at him.

"Then what if someone does disturb him?"

Arbiter Lei Zhen's gaze turned cold.

"Purify according to the situation."

Arbiter Qin Feng was silent for a moment.

"To what extent should we purify?"

Arbiter Lei Zhen thought about it.

"Depends on the other party's identity."

Arbiter Qin Feng asked: "What if it's the Investigation Bureau?"

"Give a warning first."

"The Watchers?"

"Record it first."

"What if it's a female student?"

Arbiter Lei Zhen paused.

This question clearly touched upon a gray area not written in the Sanctuary Arbiter work manual.

A moment later, Arbiter Lei Zhen said solemnly: "That must be reported to the Saintess."

Arbiter Qin Feng asked: "The current Saintess or the former Saintess?"

Arbiter Lei Zhen's expression changed.

"Are you trying to get me killed?"

Arbiter Qin Feng shut his mouth.

No sooner had they finished speaking than a bus stopped at the station in the distance.

Su Yun got on.

The doors closed.

The bus wobbled and drove toward Linhai No. 2 High School.

Arbiter Lei Zhen and Arbiter Qin Feng disappeared simultaneously.

The next second, the two appeared in a taxi thirty meters behind the bus.

The driver was bowing his head, munching on a pancake.

Suddenly, two strong men appeared in the back seat.

The pancake in the driver's hand dropped right onto his pants.

He turned his head stiffly.

Arbiter Lei Zhen handed over a banknote.

"Follow the car in front."

Seeing the thickness of the banknote, the driver's eyes instantly shifted from terror to professional enthusiasm.

"Don't worry, I used to drive race cars when I was young."

Arbiter Qin Feng frowned.

"How old are you now?"

The driver was silent for two seconds.

"Sixty-two."

Arbiter Qin Feng: "..."

Arbiter Lei Zhen was expressionless.

"Drive slowly."

The driver nodded solemnly.

"Understood, the elderly steady style."

...

Linhai No. 2 High School.

The school gate was much livelier than usual.

After the foreign language subject was canceled, the whole school's students walked with a spring in their step.

Some folded their English textbooks into paper airplanes and released them from the classroom windows.

Some stood on the playground, arms raised, shouting "Freedom."

Others secretly placed a bouquet of white chrysanthemums at the door of the English office.

Under the white chrysanthemums, there was even a note pressed down.

— Thank you for the pain you once brought us.

As soon as Su Yun entered the school gate, he saw Li Hao circling around Gu Lang.

Gu Lang was standing by the flower bed, his complexion very poor.

To be precise, ever since he transferred to Senior Year Class 2, his complexion had never truly been good.

Li Hao held a bottle of yogurt in his hand, his tone as earnest as if he were interviewing for state secrets.

"Brother Gu, just tell me, what exactly was the outcome of the Foreign Language Tribunal?"

Gu Lang didn't want to speak.

Li Hao continued to ask: "I'm not one of those muggles; I've at least experienced several Strange Tales events!"

"The Slit-Mouthed Woman, the Pseudo-Human Examination Room, the foreign language teacher coming to enforce the law—which one haven't I seen?"

"Just tell me!"

Gu Lang's temple twitched.

He really wanted to remind Li Hao.

You didn't experience those Strange Tales events because you are strong.

It's because you are always next to Su Yun.

This isn't called being well-informed.

This is called being a permanent resident within the disaster radius.

Li Hao lowered his voice and asked again: "And what about the school beauty Chu Youwei?"

"She was taken away by a Strange Tale last night; can she still come today?"

"She won't be caught by the Investigation Bureau and sliced up for research, right?"

Gu Lang finally couldn't help but look at him.

"You watch too many TV dramas."

Li Hao breathed a sigh of relief.

"That's good."

Gu Lang added: "The Investigation Bureau generally doesn't slice people up."

Li Hao was just about to feel relieved.

Gu Lang added indifferently: "They generally perform full-dimensional testing, mental stability assessment, rule contamination isolation, permission binding analysis, and, when necessary, mandatory containment."

Li Hao's expression froze bit by bit.

"How is this any different from slicing up?"

Gu Lang thought seriously.

"No knife is used."

Li Hao: "..."

Just then, Gu Lang saw Su Yun.

Like seeing a lifesaver, he immediately shouted: "Su Yun."

Li Hao turned his head sharply.

"Brother Yun!"

He rushed over in two or three strides.

"Are you alright last night?"

"I heard the foreign language teacher came to enforce the law?"

Su Yun finished the last bite of his bun and threw the plastic bag into the trash can.

"It was alright."

Li Hao's eyes lit up.

"How was it alright?"

Su Yun thought for a moment.

"The make-up exam experience was average."

Gu Lang's mouth twitched.

Was that a make-up exam?

That was an A-level Rule Strange Tale coming to the door precisely.

This guy treats an A-level Strange Tale like a private tutor.

And he even complains the experience was average.

Absurd.

Very absurd.

But on Su Yun, it was eerily reasonable.

Li Hao still wanted to ask more, but the school gate suddenly went quiet for a moment.

It wasn't because a teacher arrived.

Nor was it because the principal arrived.

It was because all the students' gazes, simultaneously and unanimously, looked outside the school gate.

Su Yun raised his eyes.

Chu Youwei had arrived.

Her blonde hair was tied behind her head.

A black teacher's uniform fit her figure perfectly, the hem swaying gently with her steps, and tiny ink patterns slowly moved on her cuffs, like living letters.

A circle of black rule text was wrapped around her wrist, and she held a red ink fountain pen in her palm.

The morning light after the rain fell on her, and was actually absorbed bit by bit by those black ink patterns.

She walked on the campus path, completely out of style with the students in school uniforms around her.

It was like an Invigilator accidentally wandering into a senior year morning study session.

Or like a dean ten years younger, having also maxed out her looks and sense of oppression.

Li Hao opened his mouth wide.

"Holy crap."

Gu Lang subconsciously took half a step back.

The Corpse-eating Dog inside him curled into a ball.

It wasn't afraid of Chu Youwei as a person.

It was afraid of the rule on her body.

That rule was very quiet now.

But Gu Lang knew very well that once this thing went crazy, the whole country would have to sit down for an exam.

Two hundred and seventy million examinees.

One Invigilator.

This wasn't a Strange Tale.

This was the education System having gained sentience and preparing to unify the six realms.

Chu Youwei walked up to Su Yun.

She saw the oil paper from the bun in Su Yun's hand and paused.

"Morning."

Su Yun nodded.

"Morning."

Li Hao circled around Chu Youwei, his eyes shocked.

"School beauty Chu, what's going on with you?"

Chu Youwei looked at him.

"What?"

Li Hao pointed at her clothes.

"Why are you dressed like this?"

"You make us look like background props."

The surrounding students nodded one after another.

Someone whispered: "Not like, we already are."

Another girl added quietly: "I feel like I don't deserve to appear in the same shot today."

Chu Youwei was silent for half a second.

Then, she looked at Su Yun.

Her tone was calm.

"Because Student Su Yun likes to look."

The air stilled.

Even the students on the playground shouting about freedom were like they had been choked by the throat.

Su Yun looked up.

Gu Lang closed his eyes.

Li Hao leaned back, as if struck by lightning.

"Brother Yun!"

He grabbed Su Yun's shoulder.

"I knew it!"

"My Brother Yun has infinite charm!"

Several boys nearby instantly jeered.

"Marry her!"

"Marry her!"

"The school beauty has been this proactive, are you still a man, Brother Yun!"

"I approve of this marriage!"

"I'll contribute two hundred!"

"You're contributing two hundred? You were asking to borrow my meal card yesterday!"

The girls' side exploded too.

"Chu Youwei, are you for real?"

"Is this a declaration of war?"

"This isn't a declaration of war anymore, this is an ultimate ability to the face!"

"Su Yun, say something!"

Su Yun looked at Chu Youwei.

The tips of Chu Youwei's ears were a little red.

But she did not look away.

Last night, she signed the Investigation Bureau documents.

Last night, she knew she had become the bearer of the lingering echoes of the Foreign Language Tribunal rules.

Last night, she also knew that the so-called national unified examination in seven days might push her onto the throne, or it might tear her into something she wouldn't even recognize herself.

Today, she came to school wearing this outfit.

She certainly knew she would be looked at.

Would be talked about.

Would be targeted.

But she was even clearer that she could no longer return to her original position.

Since she would be seen by everyone sooner or later, it was better to step forward herself.

Moreover, she did not know if these were the last seven days of her life.

If she really had to die.

At least she didn't want to be like before, just sitting in her seat, pretending that she didn't want anything.

She wanted to get close to that boy.

Even if that boy harbored countless secrets she could not understand.

Su Yun sighed.

"You are putting me on the spot."

Chu Youwei said softly, "You haven't exactly been gentle with others in the past."

Su Yun was speechless.

Gu Lang coldly added, twisting the knife.

"Karma."

Su Yun glanced at him.

"Did you finish writing your report last night?"

Gu Lang shut his mouth.

Li Hao looked at Gu Lang in shock.

"Brother Gu, you actually have to write reports?"

"What exactly is your status?"

Gu Lang was expressionless.

"Candidate for Class Study Representative."

Li Hao looked at him with sudden respect.

"No wonder you look so miserable."

Gu Lang: "..."

He suddenly felt that this identity was quite reasonable.

After all, a Class Study Representative is easily driven crazy by this bunch of people in class.

At that moment, the bell for class rang.

Everyone flooded into the teaching building.

In Senior Year Class 2, as soon as Chu Youwei entered the door, the entire class fell silent again.

She sat back in her seat.

The black teacher's uniform contrasted sharply with the desks, piles of books, and workbooks.

Especially the black letters slowly swimming on her wrist, which occasionally formed words like "Discipline," "Exam," and "Judgment."

Her female deskmate stared at her for a long time before whispering, "Youwei, does the teacher… not care about you looking like this?"

Chu Youwei hadn't answered yet.

The Homeroom Teacher had already walked into the classroom carrying her lesson plan.

She caught sight of the black figure in the front row at a glance.

Her expression darkened immediately.

"This student, stand up."

The classroom fell instantly silent.

The Homeroom Teacher looked cold.

"Linhai No. 2 High School is a school, not a convention."

"What kind of look is this to wear to class?"

"Your grades aren't going up, but you're coming up with more and more gimmicks."

"Just because the foreign language subject has been cancelled doesn't mean you can let yourselves go."

"Especially in Senior Year, what matters most is discipline, attitude, and—"

Chu Youwei slowly turned her head.

The Homeroom Teacher's voice cut off abruptly.

She saw that face clearly.

Chu Youwei.

First in the grade.

Consistently a top candidate for Qingbei University.

Now that the foreign language subject was gone.

Although theoretically Su Yun might catch up, Chu Youwei remained a living admission letter.

The Homeroom Teacher was silent for two seconds.

Then she pushed up her glasses, her tone shifting naturally.

"Of course."

"Special circumstances call for special treatment."

"Chu has stable grades, strong self-discipline, and her choice of attire has a certain personal style; that is not entirely unreasonable."

The whole class: "..."

The Homeroom Teacher scanned the crowd.

"If you all had Chu's grades, you could wear whatever you wanted."

"Unfortunately, you don't."

Li Hao clutched his chest.

"Teacher, that's heartbreaking."

Someone in the back row was unconvinced.

"Teacher, if I get first in the grade next time, can I also wear a black teacher's uniform?"

The Homeroom Teacher glanced at him.

"Try getting half of the math multiple-choice questions right by guessing first, then we'll talk."

The whole class roared with laughter.

Su Yun raised his hand.

"Teacher, that's a bit of a double standard."

The Homeroom Teacher looked at Su Yun, her expression complex.

She used to be an English teacher.

She led Senior Year Class 2, and also taught English to Senior Year Class 2.

But now, the foreign language subject was cancelled.

She had gone from being a core subject teacher to just a Homeroom Teacher.

She was still teaching grammar yesterday.

Today, she was almost unemployed.

And the student sitting below with an innocent expression was very likely the biggest beneficiary in the entire class.

Perhaps even the biggest beneficiary in the entire country.

Although this conjecture was absurd.

But what had happened in Linhai recently that wasn't absurd?

The Homeroom Teacher stared at Su Yun.

"Su Yun."

"Yes."

"Say less."

"Okay."

"Also, have you handed in your math homework?"

Su Yun was silent.

The Homeroom Teacher sneered.

"Just because the foreign language subject is gone doesn't mean you're invincible."

The whole class laughed.

Su Yun lowered his head and rummaged through his schoolbag.

He searched very diligently.

So diligently that it looked as if he were searching for non-existent math homework in some other dimension.

He had indeed forgotten it yesterday.

Not far outside the classroom.

Arbiter Lei Zhen and Arbiter Qin Feng stood at the end of the corridor, looking inside through the window.

Their expressions were even more solemn than Gu Lang's.

Arbiter Lei Zhen whispered, "What did that girl just say?"

Arbiter Qin Feng's voice was heavy.

"She said, 'Because Su likes to look.'"

Arbiter Lei Zhen gasped.

"Someone is trying to snatch the Saint."

Arbiter Qin Feng nodded.

"And it's a direct declaration of war."

Arbiter Lei Zhen's gaze turned cold.

"The Saint always belongs to the Saintess."

Arbiter Qin Feng reminded, "The former Saintess or the current Saintess?"

Arbiter Lei Zhen was silent.

This question was too dangerous.

If he answered wrong, it might not just be a pay cut.

It would be his life.

After all, the former Saintess was Su Yun's biological mother.

And the current Saintess had the "Saint" filter for Su Yun turned up to the max.

This was no longer just an interpersonal conflict.

This was an explosive point in the Sanctuary's internal power structure.

Arbiter Lei Zhen took a deep breath, forcibly skipping this death trap of a question.

"In any case, we cannot let outside forces affect the Saint's pure campus life."

Arbiter Qin Feng looked at the rule fluctuations on Chu Youwei.

"Does she count as an outside force now?"

Arbiter Lei Zhen thought about it.

"She counts as half a faculty member."

Arbiter Qin Feng: "..."

Arbiter Lei Zhen added,

"But her intentions toward the Saint are very obvious."

Arbiter Qin Feng said in a low voice, "Do we need to report this?"

Arbiter Lei Zhen thought seriously for three seconds.

"Not yet."

Arbiter Qin Feng looked confused.

Arbiter Lei Zhen whispered, "What if we report it to the current Saintess, and the former Saintess finds out?"

Arbiter Qin Feng was silent.

Arbiter Lei Zhen continued, "And what if we report it to the former Saintess, and the current Saintess finds out?"

Arbiter Qin Feng remained silent.

Arbiter Lei Zhen was expressionless.

"So the safest method is to just pretend we didn't see anything."

Arbiter Qin Feng looked at him.

"You are becoming more and more like a Great Xia civil servant."

Arbiter Lei Zhen: "..."

Just as the classroom was gradually returning to normal.

Su Yun suddenly stopped rummaging through his bag.

He raised his head.

The sky outside the window darkened for an instant.

It wasn't because of clouds.

Nor was it rain.

It was because a massive amount of Strange Tales aura was being released simultaneously at the edge of the city.

One.

Ten.

Dozens.

A-level.

Quasi S-level.

There were even a few strands of complete S-level core fluctuations.

They were sealed.

But a crack had been deliberately opened in them.

It was like a table of food with lids on, suddenly brought to his door, with the lids lifted just enough to let him get a whiff.

The scent spread across the spiritual plane.

Cold.

Filthy.

Twisted.

But to Su Yun, it smelled delicious.

Absolutely delicious.

Deep within Su Yun's eyes, black ripples gently spread outward.

Hunger.

This was not ordinary hunger.

It was the instinctive desire of a higher status to devour lower-level rules.

Like a deep-sea behemoth catching the scent of blood.

Moreover, within this aura was a familiar water-flow imprint.

Blue-black.

Carrying the ethereal aura of the Sea Kingdom Authority.

Su Chen.

Big brother had returned.

And he had brought offerings.

Su Yun put down his workbook.

Gu Lang immediately sensed something was wrong.

He stared at Su Yun.

"What's wrong?"

Chu Youwei also looked over.

The ink-colored letters on her wrist automatically tightened, as if they had sensed some higher-level rule fluctuation.

Su Yun did not answer.

His gaze drifted past the window, toward the direction of Linhai Port.

Su Chen was very high-profile this time.

So high-profile that it was almost as if he were shouting to the entire city.

Or rather, shouting to The Rancher.

"Come and eat."

"I've brought the offerings back."

Su Yun's lips twitched slightly.

Big brother, oh big brother.

You really sent these offerings at the perfect time.

Right now, many people suspected that he was The Rancher.

Gu Lang suspected it.

Executive Jiang Xu suspected it.

Su Yao was probably starting to waver as well.

Even the Investigation Bureau, High Command, and the Sanctuary might have already placed his name on some invisible risk list.

He was, of course, aware of this.

Therefore, he needed a sufficiently perfect alibi.

If, at this moment, The Rancher appeared at the port.

While Su Yun was still sitting in the Senior Year Class 2 classroom.

Still right under the Homeroom Teacher's nose.

Still rummaging for math homework in front of the entire class.

That chain of suspicion would be forcibly broken.

At least on the surface.

As for whether they believed it behind his back, that was Executive Jiang Xu and the others' business.

Humans were best at self-persuasion.

As long as the evidence was outrageous enough, they would actually be more willing to believe in "coincidence."

Su Yun lowered his head and glanced at the math paper on his desk.

The conic section problem was still blank.

The question was very long.

The figure was ugly.

There were too many conditions.

It looked more troublesome than a half-king level Strange Tales.

He suddenly felt that Strange Tales were more approachable.

At least with Strange Tales, he didn't have to calculate eccentricity.

The next second.

He tapped his fingertips lightly on the desk.

Tap.

The sound was very faint.

So faint that even Li Hao, sitting right next to him, didn't hear it.

But the light in the classroom froze for an instant.

Chalk dust hung in mid-air.

The leaves outside the window stopped swaying.

The Homeroom Teacher's page-turning motion stuck halfway.

Everyone's perception felt as if it had been gently covered by an invisible film.

No one noticed.

Only the Corpse-eating Dog inside Gu Lang played dead on the spot.

It curled up in the deepest part of Gu Lang's Soul, motionless, even voluntarily ceasing to think.

Gu Lang's face turned pale.

He didn't know what had happened.

But he knew.

Something had awakened.

The ink-colored letters on Chu Youwei's wrist also froze at that exact moment.

Those rule words representing "Exam," "Judgment," and "Discipline" were like students encountering a true superior; they instantly quieted down, like a group of truant students caught by the Dean of Students.

Su Yun lowered his eyes.

He remained sitting in his seat.

Still that ordinary high school student who hadn't handed in his math homework.

But in a dimension unseen by anyone, a curtain—absurd, false, and precise enough to deceive the world—had already begun to slowly unfurl from beneath his shadow.

In the direction of the port.

An invisible eye opened.

Four words settled into the depths of Su Yun's heart.

Curtain of Delusion.