Daily life of a teacher in the martial arts department

A university cannot be without a board game room, just as a platypus cannot be without its beak!

"Damn it, what's wrong with this school? They really miscalculated; we didn't expect this..."

Ying Qin was furious. There were still five days left! What was he going to do when his gambling urge flared up? Was he supposed to take a taxi outside to play cards? That would be too stupid, taking so much time round trip…

..

But it seems that it's not entirely impossible?

During their casual conversation, Ying Qin Guan and Iris Flower mentioned that not all team leaders were required to be present. Perhaps in the past, teachers did indeed have the responsibility of protecting students. But now, this exchange competition is for promoting friendship between nations. What, are you going to secretly arrange for someone to kill our country's martial arts magic seed?

Honestly...it's completely unnecessary.

In modern times, especially in the core cities of large countries, there are countless methods for solving crimes. If you commit a crime in a remote town, it might indeed go undetected. But if you were to assassinate a foreign student in a place like the City of Truth... there's no doubt you'd be caught.

In other words, the teachers leading the teams no longer need to worry about protecting the students. They only need to be present on the fifth day of the exchange competition. Iris herself plans to attend the opening and closing ceremonies and treat the rest of the time as a vacation.

Ying Qin Guan felt he could follow suit.

He pretended to think for a moment, then left the college and took a taxi to the nearest board game arcade.

-

"It looks just like it, so much like it."

"For three whole years, I have exhausted all my manpower, resources and money to search for a stand-in from all over the country. I have seen forty or fifty people now, but none of them can resemble the little emperor as much as you."

"What a pity... what a pity, you're missing an eye, but it's alright, I'll use the best means to make up for it."

"Replacing eyes is a huge project; it has to be so undetectable... It'll probably take about six months, and that's about the right time, Zixu..."

"It's getting cold, let's make the little emperor sick."

A man with one empty eye and a chest covered in hideous wounds opened his eyes.

It was still that small room, still a messy pile of books, a simple desk, and a dimly lit red candle on it, as if a gust of wind would extinguish it.

He stretched.

"Haha, I actually dreamt of such past events..."

The man casually patted his clothes to shake off the dust.

He remained calm and did not dwell on the memories.

The man's memories were too numerous, too chaotic, too painful; his identity shifted rapidly, and everything seemed like a dream. But as the man walked step by step, he knew with each step he took that he was standing on solid ground, ground irrigated with his blood and sweat.

He is indestructible.

dong dong dong.

A gentle knock sounded, and the man, chin in hand, casually said, "Come in."

A man came in, but he did not go into the firelight; instead, he hid in the shadows.

"Your subject greets Your Majesty."

The man reached out and picked up an old book. He had a scraggly beard, dark circles under his eyes, and unkempt hair that fell behind him. He didn't look like an emperor; he looked more like a disheveled middle-aged man.

"What's the matter?"

The figure in the shadows said in a deep voice, "Your Majesty, Corpse Dog and Devourer are still recovering from their injuries. To rush into battle, especially in such a dangerous place as the City of Truth... even if someone is there to meet them, I am worried about the two of them..."

“I have quite a few cards in my hand.” The man opened his book and said calmly, “But at this moment, there aren’t many that I can play that will help them, and the cost of using those cards is too high.”

The visitor hesitated for a moment, then said, "Your Majesty, I believe..."

"Do you think Wang Qiushui, who appears and disappears like a ghost, can handle this task?" The man scoffed, interrupting the other.

"Your Majesty is wise."

“Indeed, if it were her, bringing those anti-detached minerals would be a piece of cake. That old woman doesn’t care about such things.” The man said casually, “If I were to go to her and insist that she do these things, she would do them. But this alliance is fragile and can’t withstand such torment.”

"Besides... the City of Truth isn't stupid. A crime that's too perfect is itself a hint. Let them know it's okay for Wang Qiushui to be alive, but we can't let them know that Wang Qiushui is on my side."

The person in the shadows had nothing to say.

He bowed and said, "Your Majesty is right... In that case, I shall take my leave."

Despite this, the man felt a pang of regret.

Of the seven souls, five have already perished. Three were killed by Hiyomaru Tan's attack, and the other two, Bing Ning and Shi Gou, couldn't withstand the torture and leaked secrets before the organization could rescue them, losing their lives to the contract. Only Shi Gou and Shi Gou Tun Zei remain, and now they're going to carry out such a difficult mission... These seven, though not exceptionally talented, were still nurtured with considerable effort, and it's a pity they've all been lost like this.

Just as he was thinking about these things, a casual and nonchalant voice suddenly rang in his ears.

"If the seven souls are gone, there can be the seven deadly sins; if the seven deadly sins are gone, there can be the seven virtues; if the seven virtues are gone, there can be the twelve Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches; if the twelve Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches are gone, there can be one hundred and eight angels... What are you thinking? Since you've decided to do this, there's no way people won't die. Whether the task is simple or difficult, since I've entrusted it to them, it means they can complete it."

The man in the shadows looked up and found the man staring at him, his eyes seemingly containing the vastness of the world.

"You're always so anxious and worried, thinking about this and that, feeling that if this is a little bit off, or that is a little bit off, the whole building will collapse. The wheels of time aren't such fragile things. You always treat everything about us as an abyss where one wrong step will lead to utter ruin. But you're wrong. On the contrary, it's not us who will be ruined by one wrong step, but the whole world outside of us."

"Because I am the era."

"Go down and focus your energy on finding the Rebellious Demon, the Demi-humans, and the Primordial Alien Race. That's what you should be working on."

"..yes."

The person in the shadows stepped back.

The man closed his only remaining eye.

"It's just a moment of tranquility before the curtain rises."

Chapter Forty Nursery Rhymes

"What are you looking at?"

Inside the Yorozuya, Shinshin held up his small blackboard.

Since the beginning of September, Yorozuya hasn't received a single proper job. During the day, Shinshin used the card Nocturne gave her to go to the Imperial Palace to play, leaving the lonely old man Yu Kaiten to mind the shop. When she returned today, she found him not lying down to sleep as usual, but looking at something with an excited expression, which surprised Shinshin.

"That disgusting expression...could it be something shameful...?"

Shenxin harbored extreme malice in his speculations about Yu Xietian.

Yu Xietian looked up at Shenxin and waved.

"Tch... I'm not going to bother with your pointless slander. Come over here and see if this is the original version of the Hidden Chronicles!"

The words "The original text of the Hidden Chronicles" quickly caught Shenxin's attention. She walked over while holding up the small blackboard.

"What did you buy? The original copy of the Secret Record? I don't believe it."

"That's why I asked you to come and take a look... I saw it at a street stall while I was out strolling around today, and it cost me 30 Eevee..."

【“..”】

Shenxin felt she had already guessed the ending. She leaned closer for a look, shook her head with a sigh, as if she had seen her foolish son being swindled out of his money.

"Yu Xietian, you idiot, you actually believed that I could buy the Secret Chronicles for 30 Eevee?"

"...Is it fake?" Yu Xietian was still a little unwilling to give up, gesturing aimlessly in the air. "I think it looks quite real. Look at this nursery rhyme, it feels like it's recorded here with a profound meaning..."

"...I told you to study, but you insisted on playing cards with Ying Qin Guan."

Shen Xin glanced at it and saw that Yu Xietian was currently on a page with a creepy nursery rhyme about cutting down a tree. It looked rather eerie. Anyone knowledgeable would immediately see that this nursery rhyme was out of step with the overall style of the Hidden Chronicles. Although the Hidden Chronicles did not adhere to literary forms, its core message was very clear: humanity should strive for self-improvement, not rely on goddesses, and be wary of other races. Regardless of its surface theme, whether it was love or freedom, it was all used to carry the aforementioned core concept.

This nursery rhyme tells the story of a man named John who cuts down a tree. First he cuts the branches, then the roots, and finally the trunk. With each cut, he says, "Tree, does it hurt?" When the tree is finally felled, John walks disappointedly toward another tree. Halfway there, he suddenly turns around and shouts with delight, "Tree, you are shedding red tears!"

If you take this nursery rhyme out of context, it might seem strange. But if you put it in the Hidden Records, it might fool someone like Yu Xietian who only has a superficial understanding of the subject.

"The original nature of the Hidden Chronicles is long lost to history. Many unscrupulous individuals have fabricated fake Hidden Chronicles, adding seemingly philosophical stories that are actually completely different in core and central theme... For example, this nursery rhyme is obviously added by some foreign race. If it wasn't added by a foreign race, then whoever added this story was either stupid or malicious."

Yu Xietian humbly sought his advice.

"How to say?"

"Regarding adding stories to the Chronicles of the Hidden, some people think they can do it, some simply want to add their own, but there are also some individuals or foreigners with ulterior motives, like this one."

[“John is a ‘common’ name. It could be ‘John,’ it could be ‘Mary,’ it could be ‘Zhang Wei,’ but generally speaking, it refers to a human being. So, any common name will do. As for cutting down the tree, you can see from the last sentence that it’s actually about ‘torturing’ the ‘tree,’ and then asking the ‘tree,’ ‘Does it hurt?’”

After a moment's thought, Shenxin picked up the small blackboard.

The last sentence, "You shed red tears," is strange, isn't it? Trees don't bleed, much less shed tears. Clearly, the tree here is also a metaphor for a person, or a different race.

[“'John,' a guy with a common name that represents a human, tortures a creature, but no matter how much he tortures it, he can't get what he wants. So he walks toward another tree in disappointment, but then he suddenly turns around and is very surprised because the tree is shedding red tears.”]

"To be honest, even though he tried to cover it up at the end, it was still quite obvious. Because if you want to convey an idea, some things simply can't be hidden."

"From my interpretation, this nursery rhyme was written by a rebellious ghost, accusing humans of torturing it in order to obtain its eyes. The rebellious ghost is the 'tree' in this story, enduring immense torment but stubbornly refusing to reveal its red eyes. Then, the 'human' 'left in disappointment', heading towards another tree—in other words, another rebellious ghost. This tormented ghost became enraged, revealing its red eyes. The tears flowing from these red eyes were naturally red tears, which were noticed by the humans, hence their immense joy at the end."

[“The entire nursery rhyme condemns human cruelty and greed, praises the indomitable spirit and resilience of the rebellious demon, and also celebrates the greatness of family love.”]

After Shenxin's reminder, Yu Xietian looked back at the nursery rhyme and felt that something seemed amiss.

"If this thing was written by a human and then added to the Hidden Records, that's outrageous. It's completely biased. Even if they think it's inhumane for a human to remove the eyes of a rebellious ghost, they could say it elsewhere. How could they add it to the Hidden Records? It's absurd, completely contradicting the entire philosophy of the Hidden Records. It's obviously fake; someone else added it in."

"There are many of these counterfeit secret manuals. Some were secretly printed by alien races who infiltrated the area, while others are simply made by idiots. They're circulating in the market now, only fooling fools like you."

Yu Xietian was inexplicably looked down upon in the end, and he was very indignant, but he dared not refute it, so he could only secretly drag others down with him.

"Hmph, Ying Qin Guan must have been affected too. I was affected, and he was affected, so I'm equivalent to Ying Qin Guan. He's the number one expert in the world, so by that logic, I'm also..."

"Ha, with his level of education, he wouldn't understand the metaphor at all; he'd just complain, 'How can a tree shed tears? Is the author stupid?'"

Perhaps because Ying Qin was not at the pass, Shen Xin acted unusually bravely.

Yu Xietian secretly noted down this sentence, intending to find time to complain about it.

Just as Yu Xietian was plotting his scheme, a knock came at the door.

"coming."

Yu Xietian responded and took a few steps closer. His martial arts instincts kicked in, and he knew who it was.

"call.."

Yu Xietian exhaled a breath of stale air and opened the door.

Standing outside the door were Hisumura Tanzakura and Kami Kujo, who had disappeared at the end of July and had not been seen since.

"I have come here today because I have something I would like you two to pass on to me."

Chapter Forty-One Turmoil