The Thirteen Trials of the Deceptive Monk

“That’s spot on. You’re much smarter than I was in school.” Bill whistled. “That’s the point of this course. It would be great if you could know all the ghost stories, but I’d much rather you learn flexible thinking in class. That’s much more useful than any ghost story techniques.”

"For you bunch of greenhorns, empty talk is the most meaningless thing. I think what we desperately need is some practice..."

The entire class immediately prepared to participate in the battle royale.

"Lu! Bring your prize to the stage."

Lu Wenjun grabbed the original text and went up on stage, thinking to himself, "Am I going to be the boss in this battle royale?"

Bill poked at the string on the book. “A bit too cautious,” he muttered. “Never mind, I’ll teach you a fun little trick… Grab the cover, pour your magic into it, like you’re casting a spell… and then think, ‘Summon.’”

Lu Wenjun did as instructed, and the next moment, he suddenly "saw" hundreds of strange figures. He saw Bigfoot, dwarfs, Yetis... The figures from those ghost stories were neatly arranged before him like a catalog, as if he could bring them to life with a single grab.

"Let me think... How many pages is 'Eight-Foot Master' again? It should be..."

“Page 178, you stupid cowboy!” the brown-furred rabbit reminded him.

Bill made a face at it.

“Of course I remember!” he emphasized childishly. “Okay, Lu, let’s do as Breeze says.”

Lü Wenjun silently counted in his mind: Page 178.

The many bizarre images before him dissipated, leaving only a huge, pale woman. The woman began to absorb his power, becoming increasingly lifelike.

A massive amount of power instantly left his body, and Lü Wenjun believed he was about to run out of magic. But then Bill patted him—a torrent of magic, like a great river, flowed in, helping him to fully form the phantom spirit.

The eight-foot-tall man stood behind the podium, his height exactly 2.4 meters, exuding a gloomy aura.

"Did you learn it? This is called Phantom Summoning, which is the trick someone uses to mess with you guys." Bill laughed. "Now, thanks to Lu's help, Master Eight-Foot has arrived in class. Can you tell everyone where you came from?"

The eight-foot-tall man stared with dead fish eyes: "Pop."

"She doesn't seem too keen. So..."

Bill stroked his chin and snapped his fingers.

"Why don't you guys come up with one for her?" he said cheerfully.

Chapter 16 A New Tale of the Eight-Foot Ghost

Stepping into the sunlight. Late 20th century.

Ms. Ait needed some sunshine. She had been in rainy Britain for far too long, and even her beloved white dress smelled musty. People weren't very friendly in bad weather either; self-proclaimed gentlemen ignored her, and even the children gave her disapproving looks.

So she boarded a ship and, after nearly six months at sea, arrived at the island nation in the far east. The day she landed was calm and peaceful, with sunlight streaming through thin clouds, casting a golden glow across the low-lying houses. She looked up at the sky with satisfaction and heard the local children's excited chatter.

"She's so tall..." "That woman is huge." "A giant woman!"

Was she tall? Ms. Ait was surprised. She was only about 5.6 feet tall, which wouldn't normally be considered particularly striking, but in a foreign land, it was quite remarkable. She figured it was because the locals were generally shorter than those in her hometown, and the children liked to boast.

In a child's eyes, the world and adults are always very big.

That evening, while washing up, she felt as if she had actually grown a little taller.

The next day, she strolled along the lakeside, where red spider lilies bloomed, and happened to see children playing in the lake. She stood at a distance and teased them with the tip of her tongue.

"Pop. Pop."

The children screamed and jumped onto the lakeshore; they were genuinely startled. The lead child said the woman was at least three meters tall, and the other children echoed his sentiment. She followed at a distance, listening to the discussion and smiling.

When she returned to her room at night, she found that the mirror could only reflect her neck at most.

"Pop. Pop."

She stood behind a large tree, walked through the rice paddies, and waited by a telephone pole. She teased every child she encountered, watching them run away in panic. It was a very amusing pastime; in a child's eyes, even the smallest, most insignificant difference was magnified as if it were a monster.

She grew even taller as a result. She plans to grow even taller.

Her favorite trick was to show herself to scare away a group of children, then secretly follow one of them. She would find his house, squat by the wall, and listen to the child complain to his parents, who would scold him for reading harmful and scary stories.

She waited until the child returned to the room before quietly pressing her face against the window.

So, in the dead of night, out of fear, he drew back the curtains and was met with a pale, smiling face.

"Boom."

The frequent screams echoing through the night made the adults tense. They patrolled with torches and pitchforks, trying to find the elusive, eight-foot-tall woman. They assigned reliable people to watch the children, but they couldn't understand why the children were still crying.

"Pop. Pop."

Ah, of course, they don't realize it.

She stood beside the children, running her cold fingers through their hair, and leaned down to smile in their ears. The adults, however, remained unmoved, no matter how terrified and howling the children were.

They couldn't have found it in the first place.

—Because only children can see it.

·

"This story is honestly a bit scary!" Faris screamed.

Strange noises filled the classroom as the eight-foot-tall adult held up the draft of "Stepping into the Sunshine" as if it were an award certificate.

The in-class writing activity to supplement the background of the eight-foot-tall man had a high participation rate. The first to finish was the monk Mingjue's "The Eight-Foot-Tall Man is a Giant Theory". The female ghost Momo's "The Eight-Foot-Tall Man is an Alien Theory" also received support from many students. Faris's "The Eight-Foot-Tall Man is a Shota Connoisseur Theory" was condemned by all the girls and received loud ridicule from the brown-haired rabbit Bree.

Lu Wenjun's "The Legend of the Eight-Foot True Man" tells a standard Japanese horror story about a tall woman taking revenge on her village after her death, and it was making great strides toward the top prize. However, "Walking into the Sunshine," which was completed at the last minute with a countdown, suddenly emerged and won the top prize with lightning speed.

Ms. Ling Gong, the author of this urban legend, put down her pen and said with a hint of pride: "Most urban legends are based on horror stories; it would be unreasonable if they didn't have a thrilling element."

Lü Wenjun commented: "The slightly perverse narrative actually adds to the flavor of Japanese ghost stories. When I read to the end, I imagined the child's expression when the window was opened..."

"That's enough, stop talking! It's all your fault I didn't dare open the window tonight!"

Bill clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention: "This story is pretty good, isn't it? The evolution of the Eight-Foot Man shows the essence of classical monsters being influenced by fear. I need to remind you that in that era when existence depended on fear and faith, such stories really did happen."

“I especially like the design where a child’s perspective makes an eight-foot-tall adult appear taller. Your height and appearance are often determined by the observer. This idea, this way of thinking, is what we often call inspiration when constructing formulas—girl, would you mind if I borrowed your story for a moment?”

"No problem, teacher."

"Now, I'm going to use this idea to construct a new eight-foot technique..."

Bill pressed his temples hard, making a constipated expression. He suddenly opened his eyes: "It's done! It's an assimilation spell. Anyone want to try?"

Everyone raised their hands excitedly, and Bill shrugged: "Looks like everyone wants to have some fun. Blair, we need you to do your part."

"You poor rascal, you just want to rub my fur."

Blair Rabbit snorted irritably and pulled a doll woven from a ball of yarn from his travel bag. Bill held the doll up.

“This is a voodoo doll. Its synchronized state is often used to cast curses, but it has other uses too.” He smiled mysteriously. “Now, I’m going to synchronize the doll’s state onto all of you—transform!”

He quickly flicked his cigarette across the back of the doll, and the doll suddenly shrank. Immediately afterward, the students all felt a tap on the top of their heads.

Their heads were touching the ceiling.

Linggong scratched the back of her head blankly, looking at the desk that was clearly a size smaller: "It's gotten taller...?"

“Remember what you just wrote? Height is determined by the observer’s perspective. And we happen to have a perfect audience here.” Bill held up the Brear Rabbit. “In its eyes, everyone is as great as a giant.”

"I'll bite your finger off sooner or later," Breeze Rabbit cursed.

The students laughed heartily, commenting on each other's distorted appearances. The rabbit's perspective was quite strange; many people's heads appeared elongated, like their reflections in a funhouse mirror.

Lu Wenjun glanced out the window and saw the little imp slacking off on the rooftop below.

He came up with a rather, rather bad idea.

"Teacher, may I jump down and try?"

Bill raised an eyebrow: "I don't think the school rules say students aren't allowed to jump off buildings."

Lü Wenjun pushed open the window and excitedly jumped out. In mid-air, he activated his spring-loaded leg transformation, leaping across the outer wall into the distance. His classmates stared in astonishment out the window; in the giants' view, he grew smaller and smaller—

However, the little fairy on the seventh-floor rooftop saw him. In the fairy's eyes, he was so enormous; a falling human seemed like a giant descending from the sky—

Thus, due to the relative perspective, the giant that fell from the sky landed with a thud, standing tall next to the teaching building with a body exceeding eighteen meters.

Lu Wenjun stood firmly on the ground and shouted to the stunned crowd, "Xia!"

A second later, all the freshmen, except for the girls in skirts, scrambled to jump out of the windows. Amid the goblins' terrified screams, about thirty giants crashed down on all parts of the academy, creating a series of tremors.

"A bunch of idiots!" Ling Gong screamed.

Faris raised his hands above his head, uttering a sharp, threatening cry: "You're finished, Superman Wenjun! On behalf of the Demon Aliens, I declare your end!"

Lu Wenjun blasted a rousing battle theme from his phone's speaker, his hands crossed in a cross shape: "Justice will not yield! Xia! Lend me your power!"

"I'll form the head!" "The gigantic Four Heavenly Kings are here!" "I'll drive you all out, leaving not a single tooth!"

A grand battle erupts between righteous heroes from Earth and evil cosmic invaders, with the remaining gigantic members choosing sides to join the fight. The campus is instantly abuzz with activity; the giants' movements create massive storms, and (imaginary) beams of light and (imaginary) breath fill the air.

Earl Welton, who was in the middle of an advanced alchemy class, announced a break to watch a special effects show. Students from all grades stuck their heads out of the windows and cheered loudly. News reporters even forgot about their experiments and rushed to the sky to gather material.

This earth-shattering epic battle of heroes lasted for about three minutes, until the Cosmic Emperor Ji Chuanjun descended from the sky and unleashed the Emerald Annihilation Beam, overwhelmingly annihilating both sides.

“Ji Chuanjun is a monster from outer space; ordinary Earth monsters probably can’t match him,” Faris said with a mournful face.

Lu Wenjun lay hunched over on the ground, saying, "No, this is bad, I feel like my bones are broken..."

"You all deserve it!" Linggong emphasized loudly.

Bill lay on the podium, laughing so hard that tears streamed down his face.

"Fine, you bunch of idiots! All the messes I made in my four years of school combined aren't as big as what you guys made on your second day of school."

Lu Wenjun struggled to his feet, feeling a cracking sound in his waist: "Hiss... Did she also use Avada Kedavra to smash you guys back then...?"

“No, she locked us up in the underworld back then.” Bill said nostalgically. “We really met a lot of ghosts that time. After we came out, no one dared to sleep alone for a whole week.”

"That sounds even scarier! How exactly is this kind of punishment carried out?!"

"If there's one thing you absolutely must remember, it's not to mess with Professor Ji." Bill shook his finger. "Alright, kids, get out of class is almost over and I don't want to go over time, so let's do a quick summary."

"In this lesson, we used an eight-foot-tall adult as an example to demonstrate a small spell. You will learn more details in Professor Ji's class, but the general idea is always the same—study the original prototype, construct the logic of the ability, and deduce the details of the magic."

Since you are all newcomers, I will provide the examples for the first few lessons. I believe that by the time the most studious students have finished, they will be able to come up with some techniques on their own. Now… let me think… is there anything I've overlooked?”

Breeze rolled her eyes: "Homework, you idiot!"

"Oh, right! The thing you guys hate the most."

Bill picked up a cigarette and used it as chalk, writing three burning words on the blackboard: Millennium Cave.

"There happens to be a long-standing ghost story on campus, which would be perfect as an extension for our course. It's called the Thousand-Year Cave. Try investigating its origins and share your findings with everyone in the next class. Please note that this is an optional assignment; you can choose not to complete it if you don't intend to..."

He drawled out the last syllable: "Just do whatever you like, okay? Don't believe those damn motivational books. Not doing your homework won't turn you into a idiot. get out of class dismissed now!"

The bell rang just then, and the new students thanked the bell and ran happily out of the classroom. Lü Wenjun put the Eight-Foot Giant back into its original form (the latter being somewhat reluctant to part with it), and walked out of the classroom with the other new students.

“I absolutely loved his classes,” Faris said, still raving. “Bill’s a bit rough around the edges, but he’s a fantastic teacher.”

“I think he’s much more meticulous than he appears,” Lü Wenjun said. “Did you notice? He used three spells in this lesson: Spring Horse, Voodoo Doll, and Eight-Foot Transformation, and the last one was even improvised. He specially adjusted his spell slots for the lesson.”

Linggong was in high spirits, and being praised for her classwork clearly made her very happy.

"Let's go study the ancient cave since we don't have classes this afternoon," she suggested.

Faris, who had been beaming with joy just moments before, suddenly turned around and sprinted 100 meters.

"Well, I still need to tidy up my new apartment, and I'm planning to study hard tonight, so unfortunately I have to leave early today. Have a good time, you two!"

Lu Wenjun grabbed someone by the back of the collar: "Hey, when did you become so fond of studying, Brother Faris?"

Faris spoke with conviction: "It's not worth risking my life for a few worthless equalizers. I'm still young, I don't want to die!"

Ling Gong was curious: "Is it really that scary? I've only heard part of the legend..."

The name "Millennium Cave" was so well-known that even these freshmen had heard of it.

Trista College is known for its excellent academic atmosphere and rigorous scholarship. While the professors are often jovial and easygoing, they are extremely meticulous when it comes to the coursework. If you don't understand something, you don't understand it; if you can't do it, you can't do it. If you finish four years and are still in the same boat, sorry, you'll have to repeat a year to complete your fifth year.

However, monsters are born free-spirited and prone to getting stuck on trivial details. Some monsters feel that four years is too short and that 40 years would be just right. Some monsters stubbornly cling to their own strange logic and insist on producing results before they graduate. And some monsters, driven to the brink of collapse by their studies, simply stay at school and refuse to leave.

New students come every year, and so do those who repeat a year. Therefore, it's not uncommon to see students who have studied for ten years, and even those who have studied for thirty years are not rare. These "monsters," having repeatedly repeated years, are familiar with each other, and for the same reason, they have eccentric personalities, thus forming a force to be reckoned with. Their stronghold is the infamous "Millennium Cave."

“These senior students are all eccentric and extremely twisted, taking pleasure in humiliating newcomers. It’s said that last summer, one of the veterans even blew up most of a mountain on the outer perimeter of our secret realm!” Faris said, his words flowing freely. “You won’t understand if I just tell you, but you’ll understand once you see it.”

He took out his jade pendant and opened the campus forum module to show the two the ghost story section. At the very top was a bold, blood-red pinned post:

[Forum administrators solemnly remind you: Do not approach the Thousand-Year Cave]

“I’ll just say one thing,” Faris said. “This administrator account belongs to Ji Chuanjun.”

"Holy crap," said Lü Wenjun.