Chapter Sixty: Wenshishu the Belonger

The massive brass clover slowly stopped spinning. It was the same time.
It was still just that brief moment.

Wen Xishu had wanted to come to the top floor of the library alone, but Yue Yun and Nissen were simply impossible to shake off.
Therefore, this time, the three of them arrived at the top floor of the library together.

Yue Yun stared intently at the shadowy area; that door-like shadow remained unreadable, just a mess of scrambled characters.
Having learned from their previous experience, both Nissen and Yue Yun simultaneously turned their heads away, preventing their minds from being affected by the negative emotions.

Yue Yun still noticed that Wen Xun's gaze was fixed on the black interface. It seemed even deeper and more focused than last time.
He had grown stronger. After taking that special course, he had grown stronger!
Yue Yun felt a slight shock in his heart. He never expected that, despite training beyond his limits every day, he would still fall behind right from the start.

Nissen, on the other hand, was extremely curious:
"Wen! Quick, tell us, what did you see this time?"

Wen Xishu happened to withdraw his gaze at this very moment.
He rubbed his temples before slowly speaking:
"Three additional characters, and two terms."

Yue Yun urged impatiently:
"Stop keeping us in suspense!"

Wen Xishu said:
"Dean, Principal."

Nissen and Yue Yun exchanged glances. The two of them thought about it for a while, but still did not understand.
The five characters from last time were: Teacher, Core, Ultimate, Supreme, Pure.
This time, as Wen Xishu's Anti-Demon Value increased to 14 points, he was able to decipher the two terms: Dean and Principal.

Yue Yun said:
"As far as I know, within the school, the Dean and the Principal are actually the same position, though occasionally someone might refer to that legendary figure as the Old Dean."
"Or rather, the Dean of Three Towers Academy. Wen Xun, what do you think?"

Wen Xishu said:
"It is very simple. The Dean is independent; the Principal is the Principal, and the Dean is the Dean."
"The Principal holds greater authority and manages the entire Three Towers Academy, but... it is very likely that the position of Dean should have existed."

What Wen Xishu did not say was that he already believed this was the Ghost Tower Academy.
The so-called secret treasure of Three Towers Academy was very likely the Ghost Tower Academy itself.
As for how to open the Ghost Tower Academy and who the Dean was... these secrets remained temporarily unknown.
Yet, Wen Xishu instantly felt the desire to explore them.

He thought of an extremely bold conjecture—
The first person to decipher all the secrets would become the Dean of the Ghost Tower Academy.
Of course, there were too many combinations among the characters and terms; it was very likely that the next time he stared at this shadow, he would have completely different thoughts.

However, Wen Xishu could not help but think that Wenren Jing had hinted to him that he must establish a connection with Albert, an extremely solid connection.
Then—if he could become the Dean of the Ghost Tower Academy, this connection would surely be deep enough, right?

Wen Xishu did not think this idea was arrogant. After all, in this era devoid of game-like thinking, he had the full capacity to become a teacher and a dean, rather than a student.
Of course, the premise to all of this was to explore the Ghost Tower more. Wen Xishu decided to proactively shorten the time interval, contact Liu Jinsen, and explore the Ghost Tower ahead of schedule.

"Let's go, we should head back. The decryption for this time ends here."
Wen Xishu prepared to leave.

Yue Yun said:
"Your progress is simply too fast, Wen Xun. Can you reveal anything about your special course? Or... I can even take you as my master, I want to become stronger."

The pretentious king's words came as a bit of a surprise to Wen Xishu. This person truly had a fierce pride carved into his bones.
Yet this was a genuine yearning to become stronger, for which he could set aside his dignity.
Wen Xishu actually quite liked this kind of person; someone with such a personality, as long as they weren't too foolish, could accomplish great things.

Nissen also looked at Yue Yun in surprise, and then Nissen smiled:
"If possible, count me in too!"

Wen Xishu shook his head:
"You will find out at midterms. If, after finding out at midterms, you are still willing to learn from me, I will spare no effort in teaching you. I promise."
"But not now. If I were to speak of it now, I would face some trouble."

Yue Yun looked at Wen Xishu in silence for a long moment before nodding and standing up.
Nissen also stood up:
"Go, go, go, let's go home to sleep. Once tomorrow's theoretical knowledge classes are finished, we can go check out the Capsized Cabin!"

Yue Yun and Nissen walked in front. The three of them had reached the top floor of the library using gecko-like wall-climbing methods, and on the way back, they still used extremely dangerous maneuvers along the exterior facade of the library.
However, Yue Yun's physical stamina had clearly improved somewhat, now matching Nissen's stride for stride.

Wen Xishu observed this, a very peculiar feeling welling up inside him.
Deep down, he still did not entirely trust Yue Yun and Nissen, yet thinking that these two would continually grow stronger, he actually found himself looking forward to the day when their names might shake the bunker.

...
...

The next day.
At noon, after finishing their classes, Wen Xishu, Yue Yun, and Nissen had already obtained their leave slips, applying to travel to the second layer.

Students of Three Towers Academy were not casually permitted to leave the campus; doing so required completing external departure procedures.
Generally speaking, leave slips for Slaughter Tower Academy were difficult to approve. After all, students of Slaughter Tower Academy lacked powerful backgrounds and mostly preferred solving problems through violence; one needed a very legitimate reason to leave the academy.

Yue Yun and Nissen actually had such reasons, but they didn't end up needing them.
Because Wen Xun was unexpectedly given the green light all the way through. The teacher responsible for the approvals, upon hearing that the student requesting leave was named Wen Xun, approved it without a second word.

This led Yue Yun and Nissen to suspect that Wen Xishu must be some sort of aristocratic scion.
Wen Xishu offered no further explanation and soon joined the two of them, boarding the descent shaft and heading down to the second layer of the bunker.

Inside the descent shaft, there were quite a few dignitaries and wealthy figures.
There were students from Desire Tower Academy, as well as some wealthy merchants and social elites. Everyone seemed to be heading downward for the very same purpose.
This filled Yue Yun, Wen Xishu, and Nissen with great anticipation.

...
...

The second layer of the bunker, the functional layer.
Ever since the Level 6 hospital appeared on the second layer of the bunker, the frequency of upper-layer residents traveling to the lower levels had increased significantly.
In a sense, this was a good thing, as it deepened the upper levels' understanding of the lower levels, preventing the leadership from being entirely out of touch with the grassroots.

Yet to an even greater extent, it also deepened conflicts.
At the very least, the undisguised disdain emanating from the upper levels caused many lower-layer residents to harbor a pent-up resentment in their hearts.

For the past few days, however, these conflicts had been temporarily suppressed.
Because of Wen Xishu.

Wen Xishu had brought life-saving facilities the first time, and entertainment facilities the second time. The intervals between both occasions were extremely short. Coupled with the chuni-style hype machine orchestrated by Sha Ruiqing's team of Japanese mercenaries, his reputation was hurtling toward godhood.

After arriving on the second layer of the bunker, the three of them saw many people holding small colored flags engraved with the character for "Wen." These individuals wore smug expressions, practically treating the flags as some sort of protective talisman.
Along the roadside, there were also people handing out flyers, who would politely say to anyone passing by:
"Excuse me, do you mind sparing a moment to learn about the bunker's new legend, Mr. Wen Xishu?"

At the roadside stalls everywhere, vendors were selling merchandise related to Wen Xishu. Albert was particularly fond of reading fan fiction created by lower-layer citizens; the current hot trend was alternative romance novels featuring Wen Xishu.

Walking down the streets of the second layer of the bunker, one could see groups of three or five people gathered together at any moment, debating whether Xun Hui or Wen Xishu was stronger, or discussing how many floors of the Ghost Tower Wen Xishu had already reached.
Wen Xishu's popularity extended far beyond that. All of this was merely what could be seen on the surface; across the entire second functional layer of the bunker, in almost half of all indoor facilities, people were discussing Wen Xishu.

Witnessing this scene, Yue Yun sighed:
"This is truly a genius who burst forth out of nowhere. He wasn't in Three Towers Academy before, and had no prior reputation whatsoever. It really makes one's blood boil."

Nissen said nothing, because he had already begun awkwardly dancing with passersby to express his adoration for Wen Xishu.
The most awkward person, naturally, was Wen Xishu himself.
He understood all the more that such immense fame, once one was hoisted up onto a pedestal, would prove to be quite a double-edged sword.

"Wen Xun, a person should strive to be like this. Although you are strong, there is still a gap between you and Wen Xishu, and you must never become complacent. I am inferior to you, but one day I will surpass you, and I will surpass him as well!"
Yue Yun clenched his fist.

Wen Xishu's fingertips twitched slightly. My brother, your ability to fire yourself up at any given moment and utter inspiring cries of "I want to strive, I want to become stronger, I want to work hard" is truly commendable, but actually acting this way...
It was nothing short of cringe-inducing.

Wen Xishu had indeed underestimated his own popularity. Fortunately, they walked quickly and soon arrived outside the Capsized Cabin.
A long queue had formed outside the Capsized Cabin. Its current nickname around here was the "Wife and Children Scattering Cabin."
As the name implied, very few people who entered the Capsized Cabin walked out smiling. Yet people loved going anyway; those who had been inside maintained a strict silence afterward, refusing to speak of what was inside, though they looked thoroughly worse for wear.
And yet, if you asked them whether it was worth visiting, they would invariably insist that it was well worth a trip.

In short, the Capsized Cabin was a standard Ghost Tower-style facility, prompting countless people to investigate it.
"This line is way too long, bro. We'll have to spend a full hour just waiting in line," Nissen complained.

Not long after they arrived, quite a few people appeared behind them. Nissen said:
"Just now, I asked around among the people on the street. The Capsized Cabin seems to possess some kind of supernatural ability—it's best to go in with a larger group of people. The more people there are, the more hilarious it gets."
"If two people go in, they'll most likely fall out with each other. If three people go in, it'll probably turn into a three-way melee..."
"But if a whole group goes in, it seems to become extremely interesting. Bro, should we team up with the others?"

Nissen looked toward Wen Xun.
In Nissen's eyes, Wen Xun was the undisputed leader of the three.

Wen Xishu thought for a moment and decided to play it safe. The more people, the merrier; the fewer, the more intense... This mechanism allowed him to guess the potential effect of the Capsized Cabin.
Thus, Wen Xishu raised his hand and called out:
"Are there any students from Three Towers Academy who want to form a group? Shall we go in together?"

As soon as he shouted that out, a few people behind them actually responded.
"Oh? Are there fellow students already waiting ahead? That's great, let's go together!"

It was a female voice that spoke.
Nissen turned his head and saw three women and two men, all of them students from Desire Tower Academy. Because only students from Desire Tower Academy—much like students from certain schools in Wen Xishu's past life—were particularly fond of flaunting their identity.

The status of a Desire Tower Academy student was essentially equivalent to being superior to others. These students, three women and two men, all wore the school's emblem.

Nissen had the sharpest eyes and noticed that all three women were quite pretty, especially the third one, whom he had seen in the cafeteria. By comparison, the two men looked rather mediocre, nowhere near as handsome as Yue Yun or Wen Xun.
Nissen outright regarded this as a social gathering for young people, thinking about how he could help Yue Yun and Wen Xun hook up with the girls; although he himself wasn't blessed with looks, he could certainly act as a wingman.

He was definitely treating Yue Yun and Wen Xun as true brothers. However, neither Yue Yun nor Wen Xishu shared this thought.
"Two guys bringing three girls—if this were Slaughter Tower Academy, it wouldn't be much of a thing, but at Desire Tower Academy, it's hard to say."
Yue Yun broke into a rare moment of gossip.

Wen Xishu noticed that one of the girls looked quite familiar, and he instantly remembered that this girl had once triggered the mental barrage of another upperclassman.
Right there in the library, she had been cursed as a slut or something by an upperclassman from Desire Tower Academy.

Wen Xishu suddenly grew interested:
"Come, come, come, welcome, welcome."

The presence of several Three Towers Academy students attracted the attention of quite a few onlookers. Yue Yun and Nissen felt a bit unaccustomed to it for a moment.
The Desire Tower Academy students, however, thoroughly enjoyed being the center of attention—except for the girl Wen Xishu recognized.
That girl was very calm, showing neither joy nor sorrow on her face, as if she were merely out for a stroll.

Since they were all forming a group to enter together, it didn't count as cutting in line. Soon, these Desire Tower Academy students arrived at the spot where Wen Xishu's trio was standing.
Neither of the two men was particularly tall.
One of them didn't even look like he was one hundred and sixty centimeters tall; he wore shorts and a t-shirt, looked extremely casual, and had his hair dyed bright yellow.
The other looked like the yellow-haired guy's lackey, adopting an extremely ingratiating and flattering tone when speaking to him, yet looking rather scholarly with his gold-rimmed glasses.

Upon learning that Wen Xishu's trio hailed from Slaughter Tower Academy, the yellow-haired guy didn't outwardly show contempt, but clearly held no respect either, dropping this remark:
"No worries, we're all out having fun, we're all fellow students. Nobody needs to feel inferior; at this moment, we are all equal."

These words nearly triggered Yue Yun and Nissen. However, Wen Xishu acted completely out of character and said with utmost politeness:
"It is our honor to play along with you all. I hope we can all have a great time."

The yellow-haired guy evidently considered himself the big boss of the group, patting Wen Xishu on the shoulder:
"You kid know how to act."

Wen Xishu turned his head and signaled Yue Yun and Nissen with a glance. Strangely enough, though the three of them had only met recently, they shared a strong tacit understanding; Yue Yun and Nissen instantly grasped Wen Xishu's intent.
If you're going to cause trouble, don't do it outside. Once inside the Capsized Cabin, cause trouble logically.
Yue Yun immediately felt his anger subside.

After a brief exchange, the group considered themselves acquainted.
The yellow-haired guy was named Wang Xia. The reason for his arrogance was that his father was the influential Official Wang from the bunker's Bureau of Industry and Commerce.
The yellow-haired lackey was named Zhang Tingyao; his family background wasn't bad either, but there was still a significant gap between him and Wang Xia.

The three women were Wang Xia's girlfriend Holgerina, Zhang Tingyao's girlfriend Bai Xiaoyu, and a freshman from Desire Tower Academy hailing from the lower levels named Jiang Xue.

Over the next half-hour, the group of eight waited in line. Throughout the process, Jiang Xue remained almost completely silent.
Yue Yun and Nissen didn't speak much either, while Wen Xishu and Zhang Tingyao played the roles of two exceptional hype-men, constantly cooperating with the yellow-haired Wang Xia.

Wang Xia spent the entire time showing off, boasting about impressive feats from his past. Aside from Wen Xishu and Zhang Tingyao, Wang Xia's girlfriend also continuously praised him, making them look blissfully happy.
However, Holgerina, the woman with Russian heritage, spent most of her time conversing with Bai Xiaoyu, and their remarks were pointedly directed so that Jiang Xue could hear them.

Wen Xishu also understood why Jiang Xue, who seemed so out of place, had ended up here.
During the queueing process, people occasionally exited the cabin; some wore expressions of excitement after hearing juicy gossip, while others wore looks of annoyance and humiliation at having their secrets exposed.
Yet not a single person revealed what actually happened inside the Capsized Cabin.

At that moment, Wen Xishu and his group finally reached the front of the line.
Unlike the apprehension and curiosity felt by the others, Wen Xishu felt mostly anticipation.
He could guess that the Capsized Cabin might be a place where secrets were exposed; rushing blindly into such a place was extremely foolish.

Yet the reason so many people entered was likely because humans were naturally gossipy and loved prying into the secrets of others.
Wen Xishu knew very well that he shouldn't have come.
He was also acutely aware that entering the Capsized Cabin with Wang Xia and his group meant it was hard to tell who would end up capsizing.
And yet, he still held back Yue Yun and Nissen.

Because right while Wen Xishu was waiting in line, he had already heard the prompt:
[Oh~ My master, I have been awaiting your arrival here for quite some time. I never expected you to personally grace the Capsized Cabin with your presence. I have already begun pondering what I might arrange for you, hehe.]

Unlike everyone else by a yawning chasm...
Wen Xishu was not a mere visitor, but the master of the domain. This capsizing journey was destined not to affect him at all.

Wen Xishu made an inviting gesture:
"Young Master Wang, Senior Zhang, Senior Sister Holgerina, Senior Sister Bai, and classmate Jiang Xue, welcome to the Capsized Cabin."

Acting like a host welcoming guests, the smile on his face was exceptionally brilliant.
Wang Xia merely assumed that this Slaughter Tower Academy freshman named Wen Xun was sucking up to him, failing to notice anything amiss.
He had no idea that the social death hell awaiting him was about to unfold.